SIMON’s SERMON - MAy 2020

Hi Everyone,

We hope that you are hanging in with our enforced isolation requirements due to COVID-19. We thought it appropriate that we provide an update on where SEMAC is positioned in light of the restrictions that are being lifted around the country. We are governed by the MAAA and the VMAA with what we can do about flying at our field and as part of our membership we are provided with insurance through the MAAA. Currently we are not permitted to fly at the field as part of the COVID-19 restrictions for Victoria which is supported by the MAAA/VMAA and strongly supported by the SEMAC committee. In addition we would not be covered by the insurance provided by the MAAA should any one fly or have an incident at the field.

We are all eagerly waiting for the restrictions in Victoria to be lifted however, it would be expected that there will be initial limitations on when and how we can return to flying at the field. The SEMAC committee will be working with the MAAA/VMAA to determine when and how we will be able to return to flying. We may be required to limit how many members that we can have at the field at one time – hopefully we will know more shortly. In the meantime until you hear from the SEMAC committee the SEMAC field is still closed. We will provide an update as soon as we have further details.

So that we can return to flying, once the restrictions have been lifted, Brendan has been actively keeping the field maintained and ready for action once restriction have been lifted. He has been battling sheep shit, seagulls and the elements. A big thank you goes to Brendan for the many days of work that he has been undertaking on the field in the background. The grass is still being cut and at the same time distributing the sheep shit. The area under the veranda of the Atco has been fenced off and the area cleared of a large amount of sheep shit.

As you will see in the pictures below, the recent rain has taken its toll around the field with areas of the field and pits under water and the drainage pit has been filled.

Brendan has pumped the water from the pit onto the field and used this opportunity to further improve our runways by rolling them.

Ready to rock and roll

Rolled flat runways waiting patiently for your planes

The Relocation sub-committee and the committee have still been meeting and working through the restrictions and work is still progressing on the new field. We are currently waiting on the final Planning Permit approval processes with Council and hope to have news later this month. In addition, other planning preparation steps are being done in anticipation of the permit approval.

We still have a post on the SEMAC website Forum, located here, requesting your feedback on the layout of the field. I would encourage all members to visit the forum to provide their opinion. In addition I would encourage you to visit the forum on a regular basis for the latest updates, see what members are up to and stay in touch with each other through the other pages on the forums. Not only is this your facility it makes it easy for the committee to communicate with you and reduce the need and the time taken to prepare both emails and the website.

Simon Bole-Brown

SEMAC President