Matthias and Lizette Röttcher overall winners of Fly-In 2017

About 20 different types of light aircraft were present in the skies above Uis in the Erongo Region this past weekend for this year’s edition of the Fly-In. It was the third time the competition was hosted at this small settlement. Pilots from all over Namibia, and some from as far afield as South Africa participated in this very popular annual social aviation event.

In total, twelve participants took part in the competition. It was a fun event and pilots had to put their skills to the test not only during different types of flying challenges, but also on the ground.
Pilots had to master the art of shooting a slingshot for extra points. The most challenging part of the competition was a spot landing. Pilots had to land their planes on a marked line on the Uis airfield – the further away from the line the wheels touched down, the more penalty points the team received. Another fun part of the event was a pylon race. Pilots had to fly around pylons set up in the vicinity. The fastest time won. Aircraft were subdivided into classes according to engine horse power.
This year’s exercises and tasks for the pilots were designed and worked out by Dr Henk Koster. Dr Koster is an experienced participating pilot at the Presidents Air Race in South Africa.
The overall winner of the Uis Fly-In was Swakopmund resident Matthias Röttcher with his co-pilot (and wife) Lizette Röttcher. The second place was awarded to Frank Stein and his co-pilot (and wife) Lindsay Stein. The third place was scooped up by Axel Deinat and co-pilot Harald Keil. The Airmanship Award was awarded to Tinus Dreyer, whilst Harald Keil was awarded for Best Radio Procedures.
During the event Jacky Stiemert held a watchful eye over the participants as the Safety Officer from the NCAA, whilst Micha Stiemert was the Air Traffic controller.
After the official part of the competition was over, some pilots entertained the spectators with their flying skills. As usual Mike Böttger with his RV-8 showed some impressive flying skills.