2013 is the 80th Anniversary of Waikato Aero Club and the theme for the dinner was the 1930s. A good proportion of the attendees got into the spirit of the theme; a good number of "Flappers" (google that if you don't know what they are), bow ties and boaters were in evidence.
After an excellent feed (I had the beef; my good lady the chicken), we had an informative and amusing talk from Ian "Iggy" Wood, a club member and former RNZAF pilot (Vampires, Skyhawks and a Harvard instructor), and then it was on to the trophy and certificate presentations from the recent Club Competitions. This involved calling up the first, second and third placegetters in each competition in no specific order and then presenting certificates to 3rd, 2nd and certificate and trophy to the winner. Much to my surprise I was called up no less than four times; Richard (pilot) and I (dispatcher) gained third in liferaft dropping and I placed second in non-instrument circuits, senior landings and Gentleman's circuits (only 1 point behind the winner in the last of those). I was very pleased with my overall effort and I will collect my "drinkable trophy" from flyinkiwi in due course as I won our little senior landings challenge.
After all that excitement I now have my BFR (Biennial Flight Review) to look forward to in nine days' time.
