Aero Club Annual Awards
The following PASA members received
awards at the Aero Club Annual Awards
dinner held on 7 November 2009:
5th FAI World Cup in Canopy
Piloting
South Africa
2 December to 6 December 2009
Dian Kemp
Christopher Teague
Robert Kruger
Selwyn Johnson
Special Awards for International
Participation
Freefly World Record
Chicago USA
28 July to 2 August 2009
Timothy Hutchings
British Open Skydiving Nationals
England
8 to 10 August 2009
Dennis Parker
David Sumter
Vana Parker
Left
to right: Vana Parker, Dennis Parker,
Steve Hamilton, David Sumter
European Skydiving League
Finals
England
11 to 13 September 2009
David Sumter
Vana Parker
Amy Kirtland
Colin Rothman
World Air Games
Turin, Italy
6 to 14 June 2009
Christopher Teague
Robert Kruger
World Games
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
16 July to 26 July 2009
Robert Kruger
12th FAI World Para-Ski
Championships
Donnersbachwald, Austria
11 March to 15 March 2009
Nicolaos Karagiannakis
Oliver Nöthen
Vinca Cox
Tim Mace
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Don Tilley Memorial Trophy
for the Advancement of Aviation
Safety
Earlier this year, members were asked
to submit proposals for Aero Club Silver
Wings and Aero Club Gold Wings awards.
Based on a number of proposals received
for Gerry du Plessis, the following citation
was submitted to the Aero Club requesting
the Gold Wings award for Gerry:
Gerry du Plessis started skydiving
in 1987 at the Pietermaritzburg Parachute
Club and where he was later made
an honorary life member.
Gerry has served the skydiving
community continuously for 22 years
and has done more than 7000 skydives
in that time. He obtained the highest
PASA licence, D524, in 1990. In addition,
Gerry has held every available PASA
rating: jumpmaster, coach, parachute
technician, professional exhibition,
tandem master, static line instructor
and AFF instructor. With his energy
focused on instruction and safety
rather than competition, Gerry has
always maintained a high level of
safety and has set a standard among
instructors.
Gerry
served as the Chief Instructor
of the Pietermaritzburg Parachute
Club for 15 years. As Chief Instructor,
Gerry helped organise, and took responsibility
for, many boogies and national skydiving
competitions over the years. He was
appointed National Safety & Training
Officer in 2003. During the year
that he held this position, he was
instrumental in updating the Manual
of Procedures which then formed the
basis upon which PASA was granted
its Aviation Recreation Organisation
status.
Gerry
is one of only a handful of instructor
evaluators in South Africa and
serves as an advisor to National
Safety & Training. His
commitment to, and passion for, the
sport remains unwavering.
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After reading this citation, the Aero
Club board chose to present Gerry with
the prestigious Don Tilley Memorial
Trophy for the Advancement of Aviation
Safety.
