SAFA Skysailor Magazine

23 January | February 2021 SKY SAILOR South Australia Strathalbyn SA/Rotax Maintenance Course – 21 and 22 November 2020 Everything was planned and booked. We had even packed Dettol hand-sanitiser, Dettol wipes and two packs of face masks, in case we needed them for the course. Then the outbreak occurred and we noticed an announce- ment scrolling across the bottom of our TV …. Queensland had closed its borders to Adelaide. I checked online for more details and found out that although we were able to fly to Adelaide, we would be required to go into 14 days Hotel quarantine, on return to Queensland, at our own expense. I quickly contacted Larry who had heard the same an- nouncement. Within a couple of hours we had sent an email to the eight attendees and four refreshers (two of whom were driving from NSW), that the course was postponed and then set about cancelling the airport parking, motel accommodation, flights and car hire. Just a day later, South Australia announced a 6 day lockdown. We were very lucky that we were able to cancel when we did and that we hadn’t yet started our journey. Hopefully we will be able to liaise with Larry to reschedule the course once the borders have re-opened and everything is more stable. We may even run two courses over two consecutive weekends to accommodate all those on the list. We also hope to be returning to Rockhampton in the New Year for another course there. Dates (and venues) will be listed in the SAFA Members Area under ‘Events’ once we are in the planning stage. Now on a sad note… R.I.P Moose (CFI Matthew Walter) Mallee Microlights, Lameroo SA Sadly, Moose finally succumbed to a terminal illness and passed away a couple of days before we were due to fly down to Strathalbyn. We were planning on having a farewell drink to him to say our good-byes after our course. However, with the sudden Covid-19 six-day lockdown announced, we heard that the funeral, scheduled for Monday 23 November, had been cancelled. When SA opened up once more, just three days later, we heard it was now going to go ahead on Friday 27 November, albeit with the reduced number of 50 allowed to attend. We only met Moose twice – once when he attended our November 2014 course, and again, when he attended as a refresher the following year. That time he brought several of his students along to do the course. We are grateful to him for demonstrating safer refuelling practices, through use of the TuffJug, which we have since included on our courses. The following quote from his Lamaroo Airpark Facebook page probably sums him up best: “So give us a ring, even if it’s just to have a chat, because there’s nothing I enjoy better than talking about flying or blokarting. Enjoy life!” – Moose Well said, Moose.

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