Auditorium News 25 June 2007.
Last week was chockablock with events once again at the Auditorium. Anne asked me again whether it was possible I would find some time to carry out any normal business “fund raising events” like seeing a few clients. I told her not to be sarcastic again.
Tuesday night was the Weather Workshop presented by the very able and interesting Deon van der Mescht from SA Weather Services based in PE. It was arranged at very short notice by a bunch of avid AVCOMers led by Rod Smith a private pilot and full time teacher at St. David’s School. The information given by Deon in his presentation was fascinating and interesting to see how he, from the inside of SAWS, is trying to change the habits of his fellow forecasters into supplying pilots with more pertinent (to aviators) weather information when we phone up and request it.
Wednesday evening was another relaxed Film Show evening hosted by our Courtney Watson – we watched the film “Memphis Belle” and enjoyed it again on the big screen.
Saturday morning and a little bit of the afternoon was spent “Flipping CAA” – a wonderful initiative by Andre Klepper, Darryl Lush and a few other AVCOM guys to build bridges between the general aviation community and CAA. Andre Klepper financed the cost of all the soft drinks which were supplied by EAA Auditorium and Placo financed the cost of all Boerewors rolls that EAA once again supplied and cooked. Many thanks must go to the EAA guys who turned up at short notice to help with the catering : Russell Dold, Deena Gounden, Claus Keuchel and I think there was another but my mind (and the confusion of so much catering over the last few weeks) is letting me down.
Don’t forget the Talk Show on Thursday the 12th of July. Booking has opened and we are already more than half full for the evening. Our guest as you all know by now is Gavin McKellar, Senior Captain in South African Airways living in Cape Town.
For Gavin’s endeavours in the field of Aircraft Accident Prevention / Investigation he has been awarded among others:The SAA Pilots Association Scroll of Merit (the highest recognition that SAAPA can make) Airline Pilots Association of South Africa (ALPASA) Scroll of Merit (GOLD) He is the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA) Chairman of the Accident Analysis Committee
Gavin’s father was one of the icons in SAA’s Training Section – a man who influenced my outlook on aviation and life in no small way. He spent 10 years in the SAAF and flew Harvards, Impalas, Mirage III’s and Buccaneers.
The subject which Gavin specialises in has an application to all forms of aviation and he is regarded as a world authority in the field of Accident Prevention and Analysis
We are very fortunate that Gavin is prepared to give of his valuable time to the EAA Aviation Legends Talk Show on 12 July 2007 at The EAA Auditorium at Rand. This interview promises to be enthralling as Gavin is also an exceptional public speaker.
Kind regards
Jeremy Woods
EAA Auditorium
Project Coordinator
