FlightCom - Febuary 2020

FlightCm African Aviation

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Ed's note...

FEBRUARY 2020 Edition 136

5 Global 6500 6 Bush Pilot - Hugh Pryor 7 Companies - Fireblade FBO 11 Subscriptions 12 Leagle Eagle - Prof. Salazar 13 Defence - Darren Olivier 17 Attack on Heli Tourists 21 Glass Cockpit Philosophies 23 Pilatus Factory 25 African Air Connectivity

28 Flight Test - Embraer’s KC-390 29 Industry Update 36 Safety In Aircraft Maintenance 37 AEP AMO Listing 39 IATA's 2020 Outlook 41 Back Pages 44 Industry Update

SA POSITION REPORT As the aviation industry evolves, so too must its legislative framework. Otherwise we have the wholly destructive practice of ‘tea-time’ rule making by CAA bureaucrats who invent rules to justify their heavy handedness and the over-reaching of their powers.

As evidenced by the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s apparent vendetta against CemAir and the grounding of large parts of the fleets of SAA, Mango, and BA/ Kulula, the overreaching of their powers has become a disastrous feature of the current CAA. There is, however, hope that the regulator will be reined in, in the form of the new Civil Aviation Amendment Bill which is, at time of writing, open for written submissions.

One of those who has unsheathed his pen is transport economist Dr Joachim Vermooten. In his understated academic way, Dr Vermooten brings the issue of the CAA’s power-crazed over-reaching behaviour into sharp focus.

Some background: Dr Vermooten’s PhD was on airline liberalisation in South Africa and he has spent his career making the South African airline industry as competitive as any airline industry worldwide. This has borne fruit by making it possible to fly between Joburg and Cape Town for the price of a meal in a decent restaurant.

Carefully contextualising his submission to his own field of specialisation, Dr Vermooten points out that “the general objective is to foster competition within the South African airline industry. Within this context, … there is concern that recent decisions of the SACAA (e.g. in relation to CemAir and SAA Technical) demonstrates regulatory overreach and unequal application of technical requirements.”

Joachim Vermooten’s submission continues, “It appears that the separation of inspectorate from adjudication of matters, to prevent conflict of interest and excessive measures (like ‘precautionary’ grounding of an airline for disputes relating to specific aircraft), should be adopted. This requires some organisational restructuring to separate the inspectorate from the adjudication of decisions, where the principles of natural justice would require submissions from the affected party be heard before adjudication is made by an independent body.”

This may be dry academic speak but it goes straight to the point – the CAA needs checks and balances to the unbridled abuse of its powers. And the CAA cannot be allowed to self-regulate. Thus, this publication repeats its oft made call for an aviation ombudsman.

Dr Vermooten goes on to say, “The appeal process in the CemAir case clearly demonstrates the unfairness of actions taken by the SACAA, both with regard to the scope of the SACAA ruling, and especially with regard to the timing of the ruling, which inconvenienced passengers (public) on their legitimate expectations to be carried. An appeal or review process does not cure decisions made, especially due to the time that is involved in such a process.”

In direct conflict with its mandate to develop aviation, the CAA has all but destroyed CemAir and damaged the reputations of otherwise excellent airlines such as BA, SAA and Mango. If the new Aviation Act stops the CAA overreaching its powers and making up tea-time rules to justify its actions, it is to be welcomed.

Guy Leitch

Publisher Flyer and Aviation Publications cc Managing Editor Guy Leitch guy@flightcommag.com Advertising Sales Wayne Wilson wayne@saflyermag.co.za Layout & Design Emily-Jane Kinnear 70

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Industry Update Report: Morné Booij-Liewes

The first Boeing 787-10 to arrive in South Africa - on short final to OR Tambo.

BOEING 787-10 MAKES TYPE’S FIRST VISIT Aviation enthusiasts were treated to the arrival at OR Tambo International Airport of the first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner to visit the country when Etihad Airways substituted their scheduled 787-9 on their daily service from Abu Dhabi on 5 January.

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HE -10 is the biggest and newest member of the successful Dreamliner family. Boeing gave the go-ahead for the development of this new model after several carriers showed interest in a stretched version of the -9 version of the 787 Dreamliner.

The programme was officially launched on 18 June 2013 at the Paris Airshow with orders and commitments for 102 of the type including 30 from launch customer Singapore Airlines.

The -10 made its maiden flight on 31 March 2017 and in January 2018 received its FAA certification following the completion of a 900-hour flight test programme. The first delivery to launch customer Singapore Airlines took place on 25 March 2018 and entry into service followed on 3 April.

The airliner measures 68,28m in length with a 60,12m wingspan.

Engines are a choice between the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 and General Electric GEnx-1B turbofan engines. The 5,47m fuselage stretch was achieved by adding a 3,05m plug ahead of the wing and a 2,42m aft. The fuselage was also reinforced to allow for increased bending loads. It is also equipped with a semi-levered main landing gear bogie similar to that of the Boeing 777-300ER that enable rotation over the aft wheels rather than at the bogie centre and thereby reducing the likelihood of a tail-strike on take-off. The plane has a Max Takeoff Weight of 254t and a range of 6,430nm.

Etihad ordered 30 of the type and took delivery of their first -10 in November 2018, becoming the second operator of the type. The cabin is in a two-class configuration with 32 business class suites and 267 economy class seats.

Other carriers operating the Boeing 787-10 include ANA, British Airways, EVA Airways, KLM, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. Emirates placed an order for 30 787-9 aircraft at the 2019 Dubai Air Show, replacing the 40 plane Boeing 787-10 order previously held with Boeing. The carrier also reduced its order for the delayed Boeing 777X to 126, 30 down from its initial 156 jet order. 

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BOEING 737 MAX UNGROUNDING Mixed signals are coming from Boeing and the FAA about the eventual return to flight of the 737 Max. Boeing’s new CEO Dave Calhoun opted to be ultraconservative and pushed the date back to mid-year.

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OWEVER, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Steve Dickson says they could let the Boeing 737 MAX fly sooner than that.

This is a particularly surprising statement given that the FAA has a lot on the line. If the Max has more problems, the regulator will suffer irreparable harm to its already damaged reputation. It is widely accepted that the FAA failed to thoroughly inspect the aircraft when they certified it in 2017. A second mistake of such magnitude could bury the regulator.

Yet Dickson’s announcement came just three days after Boeing said it didn’t expect the planes to fly until mid-year. While Dickson didn’t give a timeline for the Max’s ungrounding, he may be buckling under pressure from airlines sitting with a fleet of grounded planes - and from Boeing, with parking lots full of undelivered Maxes.

Dickson said. “While the FAA continues to follow a thorough, deliberate process, the agency is pleased with Boeing’s progress in recent weeks toward achieving key milestones. Safety is the top priority, and the FAA continues to work with other safety regulators to ensure that Boeing has addressed all known issues with the aircraft.” 

Boeing Max ungrounding/Undelivered Boeing Maxes fill car parks in Seattle.

The first Global 6500 to arrive in South Africa touches down at Lanseria.

Industry Update Report: Morné Booij-Liewes

GLOBAL 6500

DEMONSTRATOR MAKES LOW KEY VISIT In the first week of January a Bombardier Global 6500 corporate jet operated by the manufacturer touched down at Lanseria International Airport. Believed to be on a customer demonstration flight, it departed again the following day heading to South America. This low-key visit is the first to South Africa by the new jet that entered customer service in December 2019.

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OMBARDIER’S successful Global Express family is now in its fourth generation with the delivery of the first Global 6500. A clean sheet design, the Global Express first flew on 13 October 1996, received its Canadian type certification on 31 July 1998 and entered service in July the following year. Bombardier has, over the past 20 years, delivered almost 900 of these jets to corporate, Government and military clients across the globe. The Global 6500 and its smaller Global 5500 sibling were launched at EBACE in May 2018. Powered by the new, more fuel efficient Rolls Royce Pearl-15 engine, they introduced a number of new changes and improvements to an already proven design.

At the heart of the new-generation Global Corporate jets is the Rolls Royce Pearl 15 turbofan engine, designated the BR700710D5-21. It continues the Rolls Royce tradition of naming their engines after rivers. Based on the BR710 engine, the new design delivers 15,250lbs thrust with a 7% lower fuel burn while producing two decibels less noise and 20% lower nitrogen oxide emissions. It is also equipped with a new-generation engine health monitoring system with advanced vibration detection, remote engine diagnostics, and bi-directional communications that allows for easy remote reconfiguration of engine-monitoring features from the ground. The engine received FAA certification as well as Transport Canada and EASA certification.

The Global 6500 has a 6,600nm range allowing it to connect

Hong Kong, Beijing or Shanghai to major destinations such as London, Milan or San Francisco.

An interesting anecdote from the development of the engine at the Rolls-Royce Centre of Excellence for Business Aviation engines in Dahlewitz, Germany is told by Corporate Jet Investor. In March 2017, the day before a media tour was to happen at the factory, it was realised that the press contingent would walk right past the core of the still-secret Pearl engine. Realising that was impossible to move, it was, in the end, decided to ‘hide it in plain sight’. To everyone’s relief no-one noticed it and the new project remained secret for another 12 months.

The Pearl engine remained a tightly guarded secret completing its numerous test flights before the announcement of the new Global 5500 and 6500 in May 2018. The fact that its cowl is identical to that of the Global 6000 made this very easy to conceal.

The interior of the Global 6500 also features several new features, including the new patented Nuage seat and chaise. Other improvements include a tweaked wing design, particularly the leading edge, an updated cabin management system, 4K-resolution entertainment screens and Ka-band internet. 

New Rolls Royce Pearl engines have unchanged cowls.

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BUSH PILOT HUGH PRYOR

METLI Jack McDevitt was a large gentleman from Alabama, in the southern United States. He was Chief Engineer of a massive project to bring gas from the centre of the Sahara Desert, up across Algeria, under the Straits of Gibraltar, across Spain and France and into Germany. The cost would be in excess of five billion dollars.

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O say that Jack was large would be an understatement of note. Jack was Enormous.

He was so big, in fact, that whenever we carried him in the Twin Otter, we had to reserve two seats by the emergency exit in row seven for him and he filled both of them. We even had to get special seat belt extensions for him from De Havilland.

We had to make sure that the ‘Pogo’ stick was in place under the tail before he climbed aboard. I have actually seen the nose wheel leave the ground when The Man Mountain got onto the air stair door. After that I always tried to make sure that we had passengers down the front, before Giant Jack took his seats.

Then one day, we were approaching a large pumping station at a place called Metli. To give you an idea of the size of the pumps, their electricity was supplied by two Rolls Royce RB 211 jumbo jet engines.

As we descended, the increasing air pressure woke up a large fly which proceeded to pester the occupant of seat row seven. Jack hated flies and they seemed to realise this and enjoyed tormenting him

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all the more. Eventually he decided that he had had enough and so, having cornered the offending insect in the emergency window, he delivered the coup de grace with a great big slab of meat which was his forearm.

The force of the blow would have flattened anybody who had had the misfortune to have been in the way. As it was the only thing in the way was the emergency window, whose Perspex pane duly popped and disappeared.

We felt the slight change in air pressure as the window and presumably the fly departed. The Twin Otter is not pressurised, so there was no problem except for rather a lot of wind noise by Jack’s right ear and anyway, we were only a couple of minutes from touchdown.

When we had parked the aircraft, I had a look at the damage and it didn’t look like anything that a bit of three-ply and some speed tape would not sort out. After all the Twin Otter flies quite happily with all the cabin doors off.

After we got back to our hangar in Hassi Messaoud, the engineers had a look and one of them went into town to see if he could find some Perspex to fill the hole.

At that time all the schools were

busy replacing all their blackboards with whiteboards and they are actually made out of opaque, white Perspex, so that is what they used.

Soon after that, the aircraft changed contracts and we started flying for a big British oil company. They were exploring for oil and gas in a concession down in what used to be the old French nuclear testing area and were great people to work with, and they were sticklers for safety, of course.

Each flight started with a thorough pre-flight inspection, before the passengers boarded. Then we gave them a full briefing, which began by checking the names of the passengers, to make sure that we had the right people on the flight. Then we gave them the usual emergency briefing and finally asked if there were any questions.

One of our regular passengers was the Head of Training, an English lady called Anne, who must have loved her husband dearly. He came from Alsace in France and his family name was spelt S-C-H-I-T-T-EQ-U-A-T-T-E, which is complicated enough for an English man to pronounce, but if a Frenchman says it, it sounds positively rude!

She always sat down the back, in row seven by the white window, and she used to giggle when I struggled to call her name without sounding silly.

On her first flight with us, when I got to the ‘Questions’ part of the briefing, she put her hand up and asked me why she had a white window and everybody else had clear ones and with a slight twinkle in my eye, I explained that on a previous contract, we had had a toilet installed in the seat row seven section... “and you don’t want people looking in when you are having a ‘Comfort Break’ at ten thousand feet, do you?” 

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The business is built around their people. From the general manager to the service staff, Fireblade provides its clients with an unrivalled, hassle free travel experience from the start through to the very end of the journey.

Fireblade’s service levels are rated the highest on the continent. The range of services provided includes a combination of publicly available terminal facilities, including open and private lounges, showers, a gym, spa treatments and fully equipped meeting rooms. They also offer facilities for quiet reflection and prayer. If children are included in a travelling party, Fireblade caters to their entertainment needs and have a purpose-built lounge for their exclusive use.

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lessons from accidents.

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to combine our passion for flying with our careers. I am

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truly grateful for having had the privilege to do this for

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the Big Jets’ articles will inspire many newcomers to the

industry and that they may consequently be able to enjoy the wonderfully full life that it has given me.

Flying the Big Jets

Magical Flights

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• SAA • How To Become An Airline Pilot • Accidents & Incidents • Beautiful Pictures

THIS OUR 10TH SPECIAL EDITION! – and in it we bring you the BEST of our Past Nine Special Editions!

This is the most special of all our Special Editions - a true collector’s item!

The Challenges

This Special Edition really is a collector’s item that has it all – from the double page spread Opening Shot photographs that capture some of the unique sights of airline flying, to thought provoking articles on the thankfully rare drama of incidents and regrettably painful lessons from accidents.

There are very few of us who have been lucky enough to combine our passion for flying with our careers. I am

Africa’s Biggest Selling Aviation Magazine

THE BEST OF SA FLYER’S

FLYING THE

BIG JETS EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT AIRLINE FLYING.

truly grateful for having had the privilege to do this for nearly 45 years as a pilot at SAA and Air Mauritius, and in particular for the 15 years that I was the Chief Pilot at SAA. I remain involved in the industry at FlySafair. I trust

Amazing Opening Shots

Becoming An Airline Pilot

that this Special Edition of the Best of SA Flyer’s ‘Flying

All About Airliners

the Big Jets’ articles will inspire many newcomers to the industry and that they may consequently be able to enjoy the wonderfully full life that it has given me.

Flying the Big Jets

Captain Johnny Woods (Ret) SAA Head of Flight Operations & Chief Pilot: 1998 – 2013 Magical Flights

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PROFESSOR PHILIPPE-JOSEPH SALAZAR

LEGAL EAGLE SA Flyer and FlightCom are thrilled to have Prof. Salazar, the author of the definitive work on South African Air Law (reviewed in our January edition), contribute a regular feature to keep us current on developments in aviation law that affect all of us as users of general aviation.

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HIS series of briefing articles is to help you keep abreast of major changes without having to plough through all the Government Gazettes, Amendments and more. References in the text of these articles are to my book titled Air Law, which may be ordered online or through good bookstores.

These articles will not be run in every issue of FlightCom due to the inherent stopstart nature of the SACAA legal process and parliamentary procedures. Parliament is unlikely to start moving before March on three aviation bills that were at Phase One of the legislative process at the end of 2019. However, if something important happens, we will do our best to report on it immediately.

Although this series is intended for students and general aviation users, I will keep an eye on air service developments as well.

THE AIR LAW BASELINE In 2009 Parliament passed the Civil Aviation Act (which came into effect in 2010). The legislator updated it in 2011 (effective in 2012). Since 2012 there have been numerous changes to the Civil Aviation Regulations (CARS) and Technical Standards (CATS), known as Amendments. As a basic point of departure and a warning: don’t use the commonly

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available PDF for CARS (2011) as it is out of date, as is the PDF document labelled SACATS_2011. One example: regulation 91.03.4 (12) (c) mentions that a pilot has to contact the relevant air traffic service unit (ATSU) if the estimated time at the next reporting point, Flight Information Region (FIR) boundary or aerodrome of intended

access Lexis Nexis via SACAA’s website. In fact, if you want to be absolutely certain, the source is the Government Gazette, which is the official record of legislation. But reading the various gazettes every week is not really a pilot’s job… it’s mine.

Changes to the CATS and CARS are also published in Aeronautical Information

The time limits for the submission of flight plans has changed landing is “in excess of three minutes” i.e. you are running three minutes later than the ETA you had specified. This has been out of date for the past four years: since the 9th Amendment (September 2015), when it was reduced to two minutes late (as per ICAO).

Thankfully the CARS and CATS Amendments documented on SACAA’s website are up to date. Checking the CARS and CATS online version by Lexis Nexis is the way to go, but you should pay attention to the editor’s headings to make sure the latest Amendment is noted and whether it relates to the Part you are accessing. You can

Circulars (AICs). A regular checklist is published on SACAA’s website which allows you to look for a given circular in the long list of AICs. It requires fortitude.

Below I provide a good example of an AIC change regarding filing a flight plan.

The Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) volumes (general, GEN; en route, ENR; aerodromes, AD) are updated four times a year (excluding Supplements). But there can be a lag in capturing changes: always check the update date which can be found on the top right or left corner of the page. Using the example

above: if you download current AIP GEN (at the end of 2019) you will notice that the two minutes regulation is still listed as a difference with ICAO, that is: three minutes; which is incorrect (AIP GEN 1.7-4).

Let me be clear: I don’t know of any document (including by myself) that is 100% error free and since the capturing of aeronautical information is (not yet) done

by Artificial Intelligence (AI), whatever that is, it is better to double check that you are actually using an up-to-date source.

Hopefully my briefings will help.

Updates – what’s new?

Fees update (CARS Part 187). With the latest, 22nd Amendment, pending promulgation by the Minister, and effective 1st April 2020 the revalidation of your PPL will cost you R510 (from R480), (re) issuing your PPL R710 (not R670) (SPL: from R520 to R550). All fees are listed in

must) be filed no less than 30 minutes before departure”. Pilots are encouraged to file well in advance - up to 120 hours (and don’t think it means 5 days).

There are now six types of NOTAM: this may not seriously affect general aviation pilots, but professional pilots and students writing Air Law exams should take note (Air Law, page 23).

A “small print” type of change that can trip you badly: if you are late sending your application for the initial issue of your licence or a rating – ‘late’ means more than 30 days after the skills test – you have now to attach written reasons acceptable to the Director (Air Law, page 76). Please note the qualification: “initial”, meaning the first time you apply for a licence or a rating.

What is a METAR? To this million dollar question we now have an accurate answer, “aerodrome routine meteorological

A METAR is not just a meteorological report this Amendment on SACAAS’s website. So get any application done before April Fools’ Day and from that date make sure you are paying the correct fee, as the new schedule may not be posted timeously.

A RPL holder must now get at least a Class 3 medical certificate (Air Law, pages 30 and 261).

“Fatigue” is at long last defined by CARS as: “a physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability resulting from sleep loss, extended wakefulness, mental or physical activity, circadian phase or workload that may impair a person’s alertness and ability to safely operate an aircraft or perform safety related operational duties”. This definition may be expected to crop up in various examination papers (Air Law, page 105, note 6).

Since a January 2019 AIC (replacing a 2013 AIC) a flight plan “may be filed for any flight” (see Air Law, page 127 for all details). Some VFR pilots and students are confused about whether to file or not to file.

If you are unsure, just file a plan, that’s what the law says (for now).

Since an April 2019 AIC, the time limits for the submission of flight plan have changed: “Unless otherwise authorised, a flight plan for a flight to be conducted in controlled or advisory airspace shall (read:

report in meteorological code”: a METAR is not just a meteorological report, it is a report encoded according to ICAO codes. Check also AIRMET and SIGMET. Remember they are acronyms, not abbreviations, so look up CARS 1.01.1, not 1.01.2.

Prof Philippe-Joseph Salazar with Young Falcons.

and replace the current Part 101 into a new Part 71, Licensing, and a revamped Part 101, Operations (to get a good grasp of valid RPAS and Remote Pilot Licence (RPL) regulations see Air Law, Part Four).

Until then, fly safe, and (preferably) legal. 

WHAT NEXT? To whet your appetite: among many proposals being “pre-flighted”, there is a “revived” 2018 Amendment Bill to the Act which offers a slate of changes such as renaming the Director of SACAA back to the more dignified “Commissioner” (but for now, to the exam question “Who is head of SACAA” the correct answer is still “Director”), as well as new definitions (“aircraft in flight”, “aircraft in service” – don’t rush to answer, you may be in for a surprise once Parliament has had its say).

And to wrap up this briefing, here is heads-up for pilots and operators of “drones” (properly called Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, RPAS): Part 101 stays as is for now, pending approval of a proposal to split

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Defence D arren O livier

THE SAAF C130 CRASH IN GOMA -

What we know, and don’t know about it On 9 January a C-130BZ, serial 403, of 28 Squadron South African Air Force (SAAF) departed from the runway whilst landing at Goma International Airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After travelling a short distance from the edge of the tarmac it slammed into a culvert and then an earthen embankment, shearing off the port wing inboard of the number 1 engine and starting a fire.

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HILE the fire was swiftly contained by the airport crash response team, the damage to the airframe appears to be catastrophic and not economically repairable. Aside from the substantial wing damage, there is evidence that the nose gear sheared off and rolled under the fuselage before coming to a rest near the rear ramp.

It was an ignominious end for a venerable Herc that had served the SAAF for 57 long years, making it one of the oldest aircraft in the inventory, yet which looked from the outside as though it had just rolled off the factory line.

As with any incident involving the SAAF or any other element of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), personal emotions and political views tended to dominate the responses and false information regarding the accident and its supposed causes soon spread on social media. This article is an attempt to separate fact from fiction and summarise what’s known as well as what is not. These claims are being addressed in no particular order of importance.

First, we must address the assertion that 403 is the ‘last’ C-130BZ in service, and that with this accident the SAAF no longer has any airlift capability. This is false. There are at least five other C-130BZs (serials 401, 402, 405, 406, 409, and possibly 408) in an operational condition, awaiting only scheduled maintenance and/or the delivery of parts to return to the air. One of those five aircraft will likely be flying by the time this

SAAF C-130BZ after its runway excursion.

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magazine hits the shelves.

It is certainly not ideal that the SAAF had only a single airworthy C-130BZ at the time of the accident, but it’s important to understand the reasons why. Amongst them is that, like C-130B/E/H operators elsewhere, the SAAF has been hard-hit by the need for inspections, refurbishments, or replacements of its 54H60 propellers as part of the TCTO 3H1-18-515 and TCTO 3H1-

18-516 mandatory technical orders. Only two companies, both based in the United States, are authorised to perform this work and, because the SAAF only has sufficient funding to send a set for one aircraft at a time, there is a long line of operators ahead of it each time in the overloaded waiting list.

On top of this, each and every time a set of 54H60 propellers is sent the Air Force has to go through a formal and red-tape-heavy Public Finance Management Act-compliant process, taking weeks if not months more.

Though even without the impact of those technical orders, the fact is that we as a country don’t spend enough on the Air Force to have a higher availability rate outside of pre-planned ‘surge’ periods.

There are too few hours funded, and too small a budget provided for spare parts, so 28 Squadron has to stagger maintenance across the fleet so as to make best use of those limited Rands while ensuring at least one Hercules is always available. To put things in context, the entire Air Force budget amounts to 0.35% of government spending. Whether that is reasonable will be the focus of other columns.

The second claim we must address has its roots in an older myth: That the C-130BZ was not supposed to have been in Goma and that it was on some sort of illicit or untoward mission. This, too, is false, as the flight was not only routine but one that 28 Squadron’s Hercules’, had flown hundreds of times before. Indeed, ever since South Africa committed troops to the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Congo back in 2001 the SAAF’s C-130BZs have flown regular transport missions to resupply and support those forces, stopping at locations like Kinshasa, Goma, Bunia, Kisangani, Bukavu, and Beni. At the time of the accident 403 was returning from Beni to Goma, after which it was scheduled to have flown a protection detail to Juba for a diplomatic support mission. It was not there to transport illegally obtained minerals, diamonds, oil, or similar contraband, in fact the main piece of cargo was a 16 kVA generator that’s easily visible through the open door in photos from the accident site.

Our third claim is the assertion that the accident was caused by poor maintenance and/or inadequately trained aircrew, usually accompanied by a claim that standards have dropped in the post-1994 Air Force.

Yet claiming this is grossly unfair and premature without any actual evidence.

After all, the post-1994 SAAF had until now flown the C-130BZs for 26 years, nearly half their entire time in service, without a

single major accident. As someone who has flown aboard a 28 Squadron Hercules in the recent past, I can attest to the immense care and attention to detail taken by both the air and ground crew to keep these aircraft in top shape and flying safely. As with any accident, human error may have been a factor here too, but that does not necessarily mean it was caused by insufficient care or basic incompetence. At the same time there are plausible mechanical failures, such as undercarriage malfunctions, that could have been the cause.

At this point we simply do not know enough to make a solid assertion about a root cause. This is why there is an accident investigation team in Goma from the Air Force’s Directorate of Aviation Safety studying the aircraft and analysing in painstaking detail every action taken by the crew. Only once they complete their investigation should we know what actually happened.

The fourth claim that we’ve seen is

aircraft from Goma and either repairing or scrapping it.

The fifth claim is related to the first and is the rather persistent refrain that the pre1994 SAAF was great, the post-1994 SAAF is terrible. We have seen multiple variations of this sentiment, but all are based on a core false assumption: That a peacetime and wartime force can be comparable.

The Border War-era SAAF had, when adjusted for inflation and the cost of labour, parts, and so forth, at least four to five times more operational funding than the SAAF does today. Even after the cuts of the early 1990s, and the resulting rationalisation, it could rely on the ongoing effects of earlier investments and a generous surfeit of flying hours.

The Defence Force today has to operate in a budget-constrained environment as the country is at peace and there are more pressing socio-economic needs that need funding. It is for this reason that the entire South African National Defence Force,

The extent of the damage to the left wing - plus there is serious damage to the undercarriage.

that either insurance or the United Nations will pay for the repair. This, sadly, is also false. Military aircraft are never insured and the SAAF’s C-130BZs are no different.

The risk profiles and unpredictability of military flying are unacceptable for any private insurance underwriter, who would either have to be insane or would charge such a high premium as to make a policy unaffordable.

As for the United Nations, under the terms of the agreements that countries sign with it for peacekeeping missions, each country is responsible for the costs incurred from aviation accidents and incidents, along with regular maintenance and repairs. The UN does reimburse countries, but only for hours flown and not ancillary expenses.

The SANDF will also unfortunately have to shoulder the entire cost of removing the

including all acquisitions, receives just 2.7% of government spending and why there is no public appetite to increase that proportion.

Today’s SAAF receives just R6.4 billion a year (or 0.35% of government spending, as said above), providing only 17,100 funded flying hours in total, on which it must maintain a fleet of over 250 aircraft and nine bases so as to provide coverage across the entire country. Amongst the duties it is required to perform at any location in the country and neighbouring countries are immediate-notice search and rescue, firefighting, disaster response, support to the police, airspace protection, and maritime patrol, over and above its task of providing support to South African troops deployed with United Nations peacekeeping missions.

There is a strong argument to be made that we are now spending too little on the

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COMPANIES

SAAF, especially as the number of funded flying hours have halved in the past decade. But at the same time we need to recognise that it’s unfair and illogical to hold the peacetime SAAF up to its wartime predecessor and find the former wanting, just as it makes no sense to ridicule the United States Air Force and Royal Air Force because each is a fraction of the size and power of its Cold War-era counterpart.

The final claim we’ll address was stated a few different ways, but effectively amounted to saying that the C-130BZs are too old for operational flying and that they should have been replaced some time ago. The first part of that is misleading and arguably inaccurate, the second is however true.

The long-term strategic planning of the SAAF was for the C-130BZs to be replaced in some roles by the Airbus Military A400Ms from 2010 onwards and in other roles by another type like the Alenia C-27J from 2015 onwards. But the A400M acquisition was abruptly cancelled in 2009 by thenMinister of Defence Lindiwe Sisulu as a result of delays in the programme and perceived cost overruns, while National Treasury has refused to provide additional funding to the Air Force for a C-130BZ replacement.

That replacement is defined in Project KANFER, an acquisition requirement on the defence force’s Strategic Capital Acquisition Master Plan (SCAMP). The SAAF had planned to fund it from rolled over funds in the Special Defence Account (SDA) over the next few years, but as of this financial year, National Treasury has cut the SAAF’s allocation of SDA acquisition funds to near-zero, meaning that no new aircraft can be procured for the foreseeable future.

Moreover, as support contracts and certain classes of spare parts came from the same account, this will reduce the ability of the SAAF to keep flying its aircraft. Indeed, it is going to become increasingly costly to support the C-130BZ fleet, as certain spare parts go out of production and are no longer readily available. At some point in the near future this might reach the point at which the aircraft will have to be retired from service if no additional funding is made available.

To sum up, 403’s accident is a blow to the Air Force and in particular the personnel at 28 Squadron and Denel that had maintained it for so many years. It does not help the situation if the general public believes in and continues to spread politically or ideologically motivated misinformation, even if it’s unintentional. We should all be extra cautious in cases like this to stick to the facts and verify any more outlandish claims.

Note: This month’s originally scheduled follow-up to the December look at Denel has been postponed till next month. 

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manufacture of non-type certified aircraft (NTCA), and is also the holder of a Part 148 manufacturing organisation license (M712). Operating since 2005 and run by Pierre van der Walt with his team, they are involved in various initiatives: •

Running a composite workshop where composite repairs and parts are manufactured, including non-structural and structural repairs on type and non-type certified aircraft. They also model and construct new composite plugs and moulds. Sport Plane Builders cc supply the under carriage and composite components for the new Bat Hawk.

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Feature E ugene C oezyn

ATTACK ON HELI TOURISTS

One of the Alouette IIs at the bottom of the idyllic Tsitsa Falls.

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OUTH African based helicopter pilot Eugene Couzyn led a group of two helicopters to the remote TSITSA FALLS in the Eastern Cape. They were attacked by the local villagers and were fortunate to escape unscathed.

Eugene writes: At approximately 12:00 noon on 4th January 2020, I was at the bottom of the Tsitsa Waterfall with a group of 10 tourists including myself,

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admiring the waterfalls. We had flown in in our helicopters and landed at the base of the falls to admire their great beauty.

We had been there for about 30 minutes when a group of six youths collected at the top of the waterfall, approximately 100m above us, and started throwing rocks down at us. One of these rocks narrowly missed one of the women in our party, Ms Yvonne Corrigan, by less than 500mm, landing at her feet.

The rocks being thrown at us were sizeable, the one just missing Ms Corrigan being approximately the size of a tennis

One of the great joys of helicopters is that they provide access to out of the way places, normally beyond the reach of the mainstream tourists.

For this reason, helicopter tourism is in great demand amongst the very top level and thus most influential tourists. But are they safe enough? In an idyllic secluded corner of the Eastern Cape a party of heli-tourists nearly lost their lives when they were attacked by the local villagers.

ball. Had it hit her, it would probably have been lethal. Included in our group were four young children (aged between 6 and 15 years) who were lying on a large rock at the base of the falls and it was just good fortune that none of them were struck by the rocks hurled from the top of the waterfall.

We could clearly see that there were six youths, with two being noticeably bigger than the other four, although in the scramble for us to get away from the area, I would not be able to identify the individuals. We tried to shout at them, but they took no notice and eventually moved back from the edge of the waterfall until we could no longer see them.

We had travelled to the site by helicopter as the base of the waterfall is largely inaccessible in any other way.

When we hurriedly took off after this incident, fearing for our safety, we flew to the top of the waterfall where there is a small village. We saw four of the youths, one of whom appeared to be a young girl, fleeing the site towards the nearby village but we were unable to see the two bigger boys.

We were nervous to land in the area as we did not know what reaction we would get from the local community and so we flew back to Mbotyi where we were staying.

Our group included a family of four, being the parents and two young children who had experienced an incident several weeks prior in which their eight year old daughter was accosted by a vagrant in a public park.

The attack at Tsitsa was the last straw for them and they will be emigrating from South Africa as soon as they are able to do so. Both parents are highly qualified Environmental Scientists and the loss of their skills to our country is something we cannot afford.

In an area of our country where Tourism is one of the most important ways in which the local community can be uplifted, I find it impossible to understand or condone the type of attack to which we were subjected and I will be laying criminal charges of attempted murder as soon as I am able to get to a police station.

Hopefully this will result in action to ensure that attacks of this nature are dealt with in the strongest possible manner that our Law allows and that further such attacks never happen again. ďƒź

An Alouette II is dwarfed by the magnificent waterfalls.

The children enjoying some sun shortly before the rocks rained down.

The falls are some distance away from the nearest village.

The location of the waterfalls where the attack took place.

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Feature F rans G rotepass

WHO IS RIGHT:

Are there lethal differences in glass cockpit design philosophies?

In the art of instrument flying, the skills of visual cognition of the picture presented on the instrument panel is transferred via the muscle memory of the pilot controlling the aircraft, with the result of a safe flight – most times.

I

have been fortunate to have been flying for 55 years. In these years I progressed from PPL to ATP, with an instrument rating for 42 years. The aircraft I have flown have ranged from weight shift to jet aircraft with a lot of turbo-prop time as well. During this time, I have witnessed the tremendous advancement from basic gyro instruments scattered all over the panel to the more organized ‘six pack’. The six pack was then partially updated with electronic HSI and DI instruments replacing the vacuum driven gyro instruments. These instruments proved to be more reliable

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than the gyro instruments and the dreaded vacuum pump was disappearing.

GPS and Glonass arrived and the engineers gave us flight management systems with glass cockpits incorporating massive data bases of maps, approach plates, airport diagrams and everything to complement the function of the aircraft. Pilots became flight management systems (FMS) operators. Naturally Airbus had their philosophy and Boeing had their own.

In general aviation Honeywell was the company responsible for the fully integrated FMS cockpit. Grumman and other aircraft producers also use Honeywell and Pilatus came up with the PC12 NG glass cockpit.

In the early days there were teething problems with plenty of updates and upgrades, but Pilatus was thinking like Airbus and Boeing.

In the smaller market Garmin, Dynon, Aspen, MGL and others were looking after the lighter aircraft, especially the non-

ABOVE: An early AH, the pointer lay out is still used today by all the big boys.

LEFT: EFIS Panel from the PC12.

The six Pack was then partially replaced with electronic HSI and DI instruments replacing the vacuumpressure driven gyro instruments.

The basic rule is move the 'Roll Pointer' towards the 'Sky Pointer'.

type certified home builder market, and their design initially was not restricted by certification limitations.

I bought a Dynon D2 rechargeable battery driven standby HSI. Excited by this magnificent new technology I tested it at night in a PC12. To my amazement I became aware of a big difference in design layout.

Initially it was subtle, but then I realised the big difference in design philosophy. If you are not expecting it, the difference could be a killer, especially for aircraft entering IMC just after takeoff.

The difference lies in what we call the ‘Sky Pointer’ and what I would call the ‘Roll Pointer’.

‘Roll Pointer’. So, the aircraft is presented by: The ‘Roll Pointer’, the base is the same as the slip indicator.

The wing indicators L and R and The Dot which indicates the angle of attack.

In the Garmin display we immediately identify the 'Sky Pointer'.

The Dynon - we are doing a left turn indicated by the “Roll Pointer” 18 degrees as well as the magenta indication showing a left turn.

In the picture above of the Dynon: we are doing a left turn indicated by the ‘Roll Pointer’ of 18 degrees as well as the magenta indication showing a left turn. The ‘Sky Pointer’ points down, perpendicular to the horizon. The ‘Roll Pointer’ reads like the minute hand of a clock. To roll the wings level just bring the ‘Roll Pointer’ to the ‘Sky Pointer’. The slip indicator is selfexplanatory. On the Garmin presentation the slip indicator is part of the base of the

In the Garmin display we immediately identify the ‘Sky Pointer’ as well as all the components of the aircraft and on the base of the ‘Roll Pointer’ we see the slip indicator. For which we step on the slip bar as we would have stepped on the ball and then trim. Both the Dynon and the Garmin read the same and are very intuitive.

However, the PC12 follows the same layout as Airbus, Boeing, Grumman and the other ‘big metal’ aircraft. On this Grumman display the ‘Sky Pointer’ and the ‘Roll Pointer’ are reversed and point in the opposite direction.

This time the ‘Sky Pointer’ points to the sky. It also has the slip brick or bar in its base, and this is an anomaly because the slip bar should be part of the aircraft indicators.

The pointers however still follow the same format, as can be seen on the old AH in the beginning of the article.

The fact is that in EFIS equipped aircraft there are two systems. On first glance they appear the same, but in practice the recognition and the required muscle action are reversed. For pilots flying the same equipment all the time it is no problem. But for pilots flying different aircraft the only advice is to recognise which pointer format your EFIS has and adjust your perception and muscle memory accordingly. If your perception is wrong, moving the controls to decrease your roll will actually increase the roll and entering a low overcast could be a fatal mistake.

The serious instrument rated pilot must adapt because EFIS panels are here to stay.

The basic rule is move the ‘Roll Pointer’ towards the ‘Sky Pointer’.

In 2002 Singer & Dekker* did a study on the performance of pilots using the different pointer systems and found that the pilots made 5 times more turning mistakes (the upper right picture). Having flown both systems, I believe the general aviation indication is better as it follows the same intuitive interpretation as reading an analogue gauge.

---------------------------------------*Singer,G. & Dekker,S.W.A. (2002), The effect of the roll index (sky pointer) on roll reversal errors. Journal of Human Factors and Aerospace 

A display from a Grumman Gulfstream showing the Big iron display.

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Feature G uy L eitch

PILATUS FACTORY – SWISS PRECISON Who would have thought the Swiss, with their very high input costs and natural conservatism, could have built the most successful range of single engine turboprops in the world?

PC-12 No.1 has pride of place on a pole - note its short wings.

T

HIS is the company that just quietly got on with the job of reinventing a whole class of general aviation aircraft – and which went on to dethrone the King Air for the crown of the world’s best-selling corporate turboprop.

It takes excellence to do this – and for years I had been wanting to undertake a pilgrimage to Mount Pilatus – the home of the Pilatus Factory.

Towards the end of each year journos from around the world are invited to IATA’s Global Media Day in Geneva. This year I took the opportunity to expand the journey by detouring via the Pilatus Factory in Stans Switzerland with my colleague Linden Birns.

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Pilatus rolled out the welcome mat.

Sales coordinator Peter Weber collected us from Stans railway station which had been an efficient 1.5 hour train ride from Zurich Airport. The factory had hoisted the South African flag to welcome us and after the obligatory photos in front of the flags and in front of the very first PC-12, now mounted on a pole and looking strange with its prototype’s short wings, we moved on to meet Ignaz Gretener, the VP of General Aviation who made himself available to answer our questions over a cup of excellent espresso.

Then it was on to the factory tour. I don’t think Peter Weber was very impressed by me – I found all the wrong stuff fascinating.

One of the most remarkable things about the factory is that the major assembly halls are

made of wood, including the roofs, which cover 80 metre spans. The inside reminds me more of a beautifully finished log cabin or even sauna than a state of the art aircraft factory. And in homage to the wood - there are little signs everywhere explaining what type of wood was used in that particular section. Surprised at my fascination with the wood, Peter remarked that I was not as bad as another visitor who, in the middle of the tour, had spotted a remote controlled lawn mower and diverted the entire tour group into a detailed study of the lawn mower.

But building aeroplanes is serious business – especially if you are Swiss. So I duly paid attention to the important stuff as well. Most notably, the Pilatus investment in cutting edge aluminium machining capability. The company is able to machine

An idyllic place to work - the view out the factory cafeteria on a winter's day.

aluminium structural components up to four metres long using a highlyautomated flexible manufacturing system. I gazed in wonder at a delicately milled centre spar section which had been hewn out of a single block of aluminium.

It would be tempting to think that Swiss labour costs would make the Pilatus factory uncompetitive against other aero manufacturers around the world, especially in developing countries with cheaper labour. Peter Weber explains the obvious – often the most highly qualified and expensive

It reminds me more of a beautifully finished log cabin than a state of the art aircraft factory skills are best value in the long run.

Outside, in the chilly December air, we watched the latest version of the PC12, the NGX taxiing out for an initial flight test. The remarkable thing is that it was part of a fleet order for a Chinese

Pilatus is justifiably proud of their aluminium machining capability.

The intricacies of the wiring harnesses being assembled.

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One of the most extraordinary aspects of the factory are the vast wooden buildings with massive roof spans.

The final assembly line - is like an operating theatre.

A sleek PC-21 basks in the winter sun.

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commuter airline, Jiangxi Express Aviation, so the success of the PC-12 is a global phenomenon. Also good to see on the ramp was the sleek PC-21 trainer and the PC-24 jet, the first few of which have already been delivered to Southern Africa.

As an aside – one of the things I did not know about the Pilatus factory is that, besides its role as an aircraft factory, it is perhaps best known for its use in the James Bond movie Goldfinger, which, as Goldfinger’s hideout, Bond reconnoitres from the mountain behind and where he crashes his famous Aston Martin DB5 with the ejection seat. 

Global success - a PC-12 NGX for a Chinese feeder airline returns from its test flight.

IATA’S DE JU N IAC ON AFR ICAN AI R CON N EC TIVIT Y At IATA’s recent Global Media Day, Alexandre De Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO discussed the air connectivity challenges holding back African economic growth.

High jet fuel prices in Africa limit economic growth.

D

E JUNIAC believes that the issue of addressing the airlines high input costs is key. He said that high duties, airport taxes and charges and high fuel cost are key reasons the airline industry struggles to make money in Africa. De Juniac said that it is the responsibility of governments to lower fuel costs and airport taxes. He said, “One of the main reasons the African air transport industry struggles is that high input costs deter the creation of new airlines. It is too expensive to operate airlines in Africa. Setting up a new airline in Africa is a risky business.”

The key consequence is that the risks of starting a new airline are too high which is a key reason for the poor state of air transport connectivity in the continent.

De Juniac said, “Piling up of taxes, the monopolistic situation, and lack of supply may be because the airlines are in the hands of a happy few, usually in terms of airport taxes and charges.”

He pointed out that air transport supports 6.7 million jobs in Africa and contributes $67.8 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Despite this, many African governments and airport service providers have tended to burden airlines and airline users with high taxes, fees and charges. This shows complete disregard for the fact that airlines across the continent are going through periods of critical financial crisis and are struggling for survival.

The high cost base of fuel for African airlines may be judged by the fact that globally, fuel accounts for about 36 per cent of an airline’s operational cost, while in Africa this ranges from 45 per cent to 55 per cent. Fuel prices at some stations in Africa are over twice the world average.

De Juniac said that the lack of air connectivity in the continent made travelling around the continent very difficult.

“Air connectivity in Africa is too low. It should be dramatically improving.” He cited the example of Kinshasa, with an estimated population larger than London. But if a traveller wants to go from Kinshasa to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital and Africa’s largest metropolis, it’s impossible to fly non-stop. Roughly 1,100 miles separate the two megacities—about the same distance as New York to Minneapolis. But there are no direct flights. Instead, a traveller will need to change planes at least once and pay a minimum of $1,200. There’s a good chance the journey will take well over 12 hours.

Across Africa, the situation is similar. Commercial flights are infrequent, expensive, and circuitous. To get from one country to another, an African traveller may have to go thousands of miles out of their way and transfer through the Middle East or Europe. 

It takes more than 10 hours to fly from Kinshasha to Lagos - when it should take just two hours non-stop.

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EMBRAER’S

KC-390

South Africa desperately needs a new long range strategic airlift aircraft. In 2010 the South African Air Force (SAAF) was supposed to have begun replacing its aged C130s with Airbus A400Ms – but that was cancelled by government.

REPORT: GUY LEITCH

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FLIGHT REVIEW: Embraer's KC-390 may have found the sweet spot as the C130 replacement.

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The use of turbofans rather than turboprops was the key design decision.

T

HE Americans were keen to sell South Africa their Boeing C-17 heavy lifter, but that is massively sophisticated and expensive and it is unlikely that the level of regional cooperation, or indeed budget, could be assembled to share such a large investment – as was the case the Strategic Airlift Capability based out of Hungary.

The hot contender was the Airbus A400M and indeed South Africa had ordered eight and successfully participated in notably successful industrial offset programmes. But as South Africa became poorer and the A400M more expensive, with delays upon delays, South Africa took the opportunity to withdraw from the A400M programme – supported by grossly inflated acquisition costs having been fed to then Defence.

So it was up to the SAAF to keep soldiering on with 60 year old Hercs, while Lockheed Martin tried to convince them to buy the new and enlarged J version – and the Russians stood on the sidelines with their old IL-76 and An-124, perhaps hoping for a deal on the still in development Antonov An-77.

Meanwhile – while the Hercs flew on – and on, the Brazilians brought their KC-390 to market. And it may just be everything that the SAAF needs.

ENTER THE KC-390 Embraer saw a gap in the middle of the market – for an airlifter smaller and a lot cheaper than the American and Russian heavyweights, as well as the overengineered Swiss army knife that is the multi-role A400M, yet larger than the venerable Hercules and the twin turboprop

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Alenia C-27J Spartan and the even smaller Airbus C-295. The Brazilians’ objective was to create a fast and flexible multi-mission, midsize tanker and transport aircraft using advanced but proven technology, which

of speed and altitude over the turboprops – which is preferable for the long range missions but questionable when it comes to short and austere rough field operations.

Their engine choice was the ubiquitous International Aero Engines V2500-E5 turbofans, rated at 31,330 pounds of thrust each, which propel the KC-390 to cruise at Mach 0.8 at up to FL360. The engines were adapted for military use but are fundamentally the same engines that power airliners such as the Airbus A320ceo.

The faster cruise speed has real operational benefits. Embraer says that for search and rescue missions with a typical 1,250 nautical mile radius, a KC-390 could cover the ground two hours faster than even the fastest turboprop. But the jet engines are not without their downsides. The KC390 consumes more fuel than the C-130J and while the KC-390 is also designed to operate from short, unimproved airstrips, Embraer still hasn’t specified the aircraft’s

From the front the large side sponsons for undercarriage and APU are very evident.

included fly-by wire, which Embraer had invested a lot of school fees getting right for their Legacy 450/500 business jets and then E2 regional jets.

ON THE APRON A team from AW&ST were invited to fly the KC-390 at the factory in Brazil. They report that on the ground, what strikes you first is the large anhedral wing with the two high bypass turbofan engines beneath it.

This was Embraer's first big design decision – whether to go with turboprops as the A400M and C130 have, or modern turbofan jets. Their choice of jets gives the KC-390 significantly better performance in terms

actual runway requirements.

To cope with soft and rough airstrips, the nose gear has two wide low-pressure tyres and the main gear has four similar tyres on bogies on either side. Embraer claims the KC-390 can takeoff and land five times without any required maintenance – and tyre changes can be done anywhere.

The aircraft was designed around the interior dimensions of its cargo bay. To provide an unconstrained space, the wheels and ancillary equipment such as the APU had to be accommodated in large sponsons on either side of the fuselage. From the front, the size of these sponsons is striking.

Embraer first determined the required

size of the interior, then built the aircraft around it. The hold has a width of 3.45 m (11.3 ft.) over its entire length and a minimum height of 2.95 m over a length of 18.5 m, including the ramp that stores two of seven standard 463L pallets. Its floor is 1.24 m above the ground to allow easy rollon/roll-off loading via the ramp. Behind the main gear are two hydraulic struts to stabilise the aircraft on soft ground or high winds.

The KC-390 can carry a maximum 26,000 kg, allowing it to transport two tracked armoured personnel carriers or a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter. One of the design goals was maximum flexibility, and the KC390 can be reconfigured between roles in 30 minutes.

For disaster relief or medical evacuation, 74 stretchers can be installed with room for staff and life-support equipment. The KC-390 can carry up to 80 soldiers or 66 paratroops with full gear. Two jump-doors with wind deflectors are located behind the wings. A novel feature is that the doors can be exchanged in flight, for example when reaching the target area on a SAR mission, to switch to doors with large bubble windows for better downwards visibility.

THE FLIGHT DECK

The first impression of the cockpit is one of light and spaciousness. Large windows with low sills provide a great view out. All six windows are protected against ammunition up to 7.62 mm. For further protection in hostile environments, removable Kevlar mats can be added to the lower cockpit area.

The flight deck has an optional third crewmember station behind the pilot seats, equipped with a display and tailored functions for missions such as aerial refuelling and S&R. In the rear of the cockpit are two bunks.

Four Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion 15.1-in. displays face the pilots. A fifth sits just below, on the centre pedestal. Aft of it are keyboard, scratchpad and cursor control devices. Avionics are commercial but with numerous additional functions for military tasks. The cockpit operates on the dark cockpit principle of commercial airliners: Lights illuminate only if the system condition is ‘in transit’ or ‘non-normal’.

In front of the pilots the large headup display (HUD) is supported by an Enhanced Vision System (EVS) using four cameras installed in the nose. These provide daylight and thermal imagery generated by a synthetic vision system.

Ground handling has to be agile for tight airports. The aircraft can be steered with the tiller from either front seat. This steers the nose wheel up to 67 degrees left or right, so the aircraft can turn through 180 degrees within a radius of only 23 m.

The big feature of the cockpit is the interconnected and active sidesticks. Active means that, unlike Airbus and similar fly-by-wire (FBW) systems, the Embraer stick provides force feedback to the pilots.

The force feedback is claimed to provide significantly improved pilot situational awareness. The sticks operate the digital flight control system for precise hand-flying control. This is not only a first for Embraer, but for this aircraft category.

On each control stick is an autopilot disconnect/priority button and next to it is the usual conical trim hat that enables pilots to keep hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS) while adjusting trim for pitch and roll. It is also used for small adjustments, as many pilots prefer using the hat to moving the stick.

On the left upper side of the control stick, a touch-control button is mainly used for speed stability on approach after the final configuration and attitude have been attained. In addition to the usual push-to-

Cockpit features full fly by wire and conventional but enhanced Collins Pro Line avionics.

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Cavernous hold can take a Blackhawk or three Humvees.

talk button, there is a trigger on the stick that is used for cargo drop missions. It activates the flight-control law for these missions and signals the loadmaster that the pilots are ready to drop the cargo. This is done by releasing the locks of the container-delivery system. Then either gravity, or for larger loads a drogue chute, pulls out loads of up to 42,000 lb.

The FBW has two flight-control laws: Normal and Direct, as a fallback option. In normal law, the sidestick commands pitch rate until the landing gear is selected up, after which gamma-dot and pitch-rate command is applied.

Gamma-dot is the rate of change of the flightpath angle. In backup mode, it is a direct stick-to-surface command.

Embraer has defined a complex flight envelope to meet the various requirements using FBW, changing laws for specific missions and allowing varying G-loads, depending on the task and factors such as aircraft weight. Military certification will allow flight load factors up to 3G. To use the basic changes in capability, there is a master mode switch on the overhead panel with the positions Main, Max Effort, Tactical Nav, Airdrop, SAR (search and rescue) and AFF (aerial firefighting).

FLYING THE KC-390 For the assessment flight the temperature was 23C with a QNH of 1014. Calculated speeds for takeoff were V1 117, VR 121 and V2 124 KIAS, with a final-segment speed for flap retraction of 180 KIAS ( knots indicated airspeed).

Acceleration was brisk. Rotation was to 8 degrees, with the target for initial climb of 11 degrees. An electronic tailstrike avoidance system increases stick force on reaching 13 degrees pitch, before an actual tailstrike of 15 degrees.

Moving the relatively large sidestick a few degrees revealed

Air drop capability requires change to FBW flight control laws.

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the aircraft’s agility and the reviewers used every chance during the flight to use the maximum roll rate of up to 20 degrees/second. This increases to 30 deg./sec above Mach 0.7, as the higher dynamic pressure translates into a higher rate, and the aircraft is not limited by loads during manoeuvres.

Getting down without the braking effect of the large propellers of a turboprop could have been a challenge. So the KC-390 has huge spoilers for a fast and steep tactical descent.

When the Master Mode switch is moved to Max Effort position and the aircraft is slowed to 230 KIAS to extend slats only, it will descend with idle thrust and flight spoilers extended to 40 degrees at 11,000 fpm while accelerating to the maximum operating speed of 300 KIAS. At maximum speed it will still descend at about 9,000 fpm.

To test the upper end of the speed envelope they flew a shallow descent and watched the FBW protection system smoothly pull up the nose to bring the aircraft back to its maximum speed as they accelerated through 304 KIAS. This protection does not use the auto-thrust or speedbrakes, but tries to keep pilots in the loop by handing back the aircraft once it is within the envelope.

To demonstrate maximum-G protection, they slowed to 200 KIAS, extended the Flaps to 2 and started a 45-50-degree banked turn while quickly pulling the stick fully aft. Because G-load is permanently displayed in the left upper corner of the PFD, they could watch how the FBW’s programmed envelope protection constantly kept the aircraft at not more than 2G. The G indication increases situational awareness and lets pilots know when they could overload the aircraft in Direct mode without the protections.

Stable slow speed flying is a key requirement for this type of aircraft. In the before flight briefing to the AWS&T team on the techniques for an airdrop, the variable-flap system required detailed instruction. This enables the use of slats only, flaps only, or every combination of flap extension, from 1-40 degrees. This is done by moving the flap lever to 1, for example, which drives the flaps to 10 deg., then selecting a number between 1-9 on the scale next to the handle and hitting the execute button. Using 3 on the flap-unit scale, the flaps are driven to 13 degrees. By calculating the cargo loads that should be dropped, the desired aircraft speed of 130-140 KIAS and the weight of the aircraft, a flap position is derived to achieve an aircraft pitch angle of 5-7 degrees. Beyond the 40-degree position is a notch designated Full. This drives the flaps to the maximum 40 degrees but also sends the flight control computers a signal that a landing is now the objective.

An unusual feature is that the AirDrop mode enables the horizontal stabiliser to be deliberately mistrimmed, so that when the cargo leaves the ramp and the aircraft experiences a swift trim change as the centre of gravity moves, it is in trim and allows full elevator authority.

For an engine failure after takeoff (EFATO) demonstration, thrust was reduced on the right engine to idle just after lift off, and no rudder input was applied. The Beta (sideslip) target turned blue in the upper part of the primary flight display (PFD), showing an asymmetry had been detected, and the FBW envelope protection system added rudder.

The other unusual and demanding flight control regime is in-flight refuelling, in this case both as a receiver and as a dispenser. The KC-390 can refuel in flight through the

KC-390 can be refuelled in air - or provide air to air tanker services.

Rough field capability thoroughly tested but runway length requirements are still a secret.

probe above the left cockpit window. The control laws can be changed for aerial refuelling. In Normal law it is difficult to get the aircraft into a stable position behind the tanker to approach the drogue, but the Refuelling law changes the damping on the sidestick to make small, precise changes easier.

As an air to air refuelling tanker, the KC-390 can refuel helicopters at speeds as low as 120 KIAS and jets up to 300 KIAS from 2,000-32,000 ft using two wing-mounted Cobham hose-and-drogue pods. These deliver up to 400 gallons per minute. The KC-390 can offload a maximum of 12,000 kg from three tanks that can be loaded on pallets into the cargo hold to feed their fuel via the aircraft’s centre tank. The centre tank can carry 10,000 kg of the aircraft’s 23,000 kg internal fuel capacity. Using more palleted tanks extends that range.

Final approach is flown with the full 40 degrees of flap.

For a mid-weight approach, the speed was calculated as 134 KIAS with a Vref of 127 KIAS. For the round-out and holdoff they reduced thrust to idle and broke the descent rate as the ground effect below the large anhedral wing helped with a smooth touchdown.

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How they compare - the C130J vs the KC-390.

The KC-390 uses a Derotation law on touchdown to quickly lower the nose to the ground for shorter landing distances. It is advisable not to provide any backpressure on the side stick, as that would work against the control law, and the FBW would increase downward pressure in response.

Thrust reversers can be armed for landing, to open automatically as the aircraft enters Ground mode and the engines reach idle RPM. The aircraft has powerful braking for operation on short and unpaved runways, with its spoilers extending to 50 degrees, huge brakes on all eight main wheels and reverse thrust.

CONCLUSION Is it better than a C130J? In one word Yes, (but see Guy’s Column in SA Flyer this month for more on this comparison). As a fly-by-wire digital aircraft which can carry up to 57,000 pounds of cargo at a maximum speed of 470 KTAS (540 mph), the KC-390 beats out the C-130J’s max carrying weight (42,000 pounds) and max speed when at full capacity (340 KTAS). Depending on the configuration, that means the KC-390 can carry: 80 troops, or 66 paratroopers, or three HUMVEEs, or a Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk helicopter almost 2000 nm – or 3300 nm for ferry or long range maritime reconnaissance.

And, like any proper military airlifter, the KC-390 has selfprotection systems including ballistic protection against small arms fire, critical systems redundancy, radar, laser, and missile approach warning receivers and infrared countermeasures.

Given that the average age of the 2,700 airlifters that the KC390 could replace is 30 years, Jackson Schneider, President and CEO of Embraer Defence and Security said, “We are convinced the KC-390 will be successful. It’s faster, carries a heavier load, and has state-of-the-art mission capability and avionics, and lower maintenance and operating costs.”

Perhaps as a fellow BRICS member, the Brazilians can give the SAAF a big discount and easy payment terms. 

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SPECIFICATIONS & PERFORMANCE

Embraer-KC-390

SPECIFICATIONS

Crew: Two flight crew Capacity: 80 troops / 74 stretchers / 66 paratroopers / 7 463L pallets Length: 33.5 m (110.0 ft) Wingspan: 33.9 m (111.3 ft) Height: 11.4 m (37.5 ft) Max takeoff weight: 86,999 kg (191,800 lb) Fuel capacity: 23,000 kg (50,700 lb), 35,000 kg (77,160 lb) with 3 aux. fuel tanks Useful lift: 26,000 kg (57,320 lb) Hold length x height x width: 18.5x3.0x3.4 m (60.6x9.8x11.3 ft) Powerplant: 2 x IAE V2500-E5 turbofan, 139.4 kN (31,330 lbf) thrust each

PERFORMANCE Cruise speed: 870 km/h (540 mph, 470 kn) Mach 0.8 Stall speed: 193 km/h (120 mph, 104 kn) IAS Range: 2,820 km (1,750 mi, 1,520 nmi) 23,000 kg (50,700 lb) payload Ferry range: 6,130 km (3,810 mi, 3,310 nmi) Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,000 ft)

Industry Update

AIRBUS 2019 AIRBUS TESTS PERFORMANCE

Airbus had a great year in 2019, thanks to increased A320 family deliveries and no doubt by Boeing’s sea of troubles.

T

HE European plane manufacturer delivered 863 commercial aircraft to 99 customers in 2019, beating 2018 by eight percent. Of the 863 deliveries just 173 were wide-bodies, showing the importance of the single aisle family. Specific type numbers reported by Airbus are: A220 Family: 48 v 20 in 2018 (since the A220 became part of the Airbus Family: 1 July 2018) A320 Family: 642 v 626 in 2018. Of these, 551 were NEO Family v 386 in 2018 A330 Family: 53 v 49 in 2018. Of these, 41 were NEO Family v 3 in 2018 A350 Family: 112 v 93 in 2018. Of these, 25 were A350-1000 v 14 in 2018 A380: 8 v 12 in 2018

Airbus sales/Airbus-Commercial Strong Sales.

The A320 continues to be the backbone of sales, with net orders of 768, compared to 747 in 2018. This brings Airbus’s total sales through the 20,000 milestone.

The newest baby, the A220 achieved 63 net orders, showing what Airbus marketing can do for a planemaker who had lost its way. The A320 Family continued to chalk up 654 net orders, thanks in particular to the hugely unexpected success of the A321XLR. Widebodies remain out of fashion. By year end, there were just 32 A350 and 89 A330neo orders. The problem is the possibility of a looming downturn scaring airlines into cancellations of 363 orders and the decision to end A380 production.

But Airbus still has the challenge of delivering its backlog of 7,482 airliners. 

AUTOMATIC TAKEOFFS

In a step closer to single – or no pilot – cockpits, Airbus has performed the first fully automatic vision-based takeoffs.

A

IRBUS reports Test Pilot Captain Yann Beaufils saying, “The aircraft performed as expected during these milestone tests. While completing alignment on the runway, waiting for clearance from air traffic control, we engaged the auto-pilot. We moved the throttle levers to the take-off setting and we monitored the aircraft. It started to move and accelerate automatically maintaining the runway centre line, at the exact rotation speed as entered in the system. The nose of the aircraft began to lift up automatically to take the expected takeoff pitch value and a few seconds later we were airborne.”

Airbus is at pains to reassure its users, the pilots, that “for autonomous technologies to improve flight operations and overall aircraft performance, pilots will remain at the heart of operations.

Autonomous technologies are paramount to supporting pilots, enabling them to focus less on aircraft operation and more on strategic decision-making and mission management.”

The plane maker says its objective is not to move ahead with pilotless aircraft as a target in itself, but instead, “to explore autonomous technologies alongside other innovations in areas such as materials, electrification and connectivity. By doing so, Airbus is able to analyse the potential of these technologies in addressing the key industrial challenges of tomorrow, including improving air traffic management, addressing pilot shortages and enhancing future operations.”  Airbus autonomous takeoffs/Will automatic takeoffs phase out pilots?

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Maintenance W ing N ut

SAFETY IN AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE The proper maintenance of an aircraft forms a critical part of its safe operation. It is an old truism that the lessons of safety – and particularly maintenance, are written in blood. However, it would appear to some that maintenance is the poor cousin of flight operations.

The typical safety seminar, symposium or conference ‘talk-shop’ creates much hot air on flight operations but little if any on maintenance.

A

IRLINES are the safest means of travel. A primary reason is that from inception there has been an ingrained unrelenting drive to investigate incidents and accidents to determine the root causes of the event and then to try to eradicate such causes. Over the relatively short 106 years since the first scheduled airline flight, the aviation industry has taken massive strides in the area of safe aircraft operation, in part forced on it by the rapid advance in aircraft technology. However, the lack of attention given to the development and enforcement

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Procedures are put into place to avoid accidental damage to aircraft.

of safety within the aircraft maintenance space is somewhat surprising, given the number of aircraft accident investigations in which it is established that a maintenance error played a role.

The aircraft maintenance industry is inherently risky. Not only from the Health and Safety perspective but also due to the risks associated with conducting maintenance on an aircraft. Until Artificial Intelligence (AI) reaches the point where engineers can be replaced by robots the human factor and all that goes with human frailties will ever be with us.

The establishment of Safety Management Systems (SMS) is the industry’s proactive solution to mitigating the risks in aircraft maintenance. Global indications are that SMS within the maintenance field is only going to become more stringent. Yes, Aircraft Maintenance Organisations (AMO) may have Quality &

Safety manuals, procedures and the like, but how many organisations view these as a necessary evil, and which merely gather dust on the shelf? For some, the prime objective of such documents is to meet the minimum requirement of the Regulator and to be implemented in a half-hearted manner. The question is; will it take yet more regulation to force AMO management to take safety more seriously?

All too often the approach of senior management is that striving for a robust safety system will negatively impact the bottom line. On the one hand, an AMO cannot be so constricted by safety procedures that it ceases to be profitable.

On the other hand, can an AMO afford the costs of not managing the risks of maintenance? For example, there is the cost of lost production due to injury, the cost of accidental aircraft damage resulting from inappropriate equipment, and then

Creating a safety culture takes continuous input.

the cost of reputational damage and all the ramifications which follow an incident or accident.

Within any AMO there should be a healthy tension between productivity and safety. Several organisations bear testimony to the fact that if this balance can be maintained the personnel, the company, the client and the industry at large stand to benefit greatly.

The question is; how does your AMO measure up? In short, it all goes about the safety culture within the AMO. Some of the fundamentals of an AMO Safety Culture are an organisational culture that places a high level of importance on: safety beliefs, values and attitudes, and these are shared by the majority of the people within the company or workplace. It can be characterised as “the way we do things around here”.

A cultural behaviour is a deeply seated practise or habit which often results in instinctive action or reaction. Take for example an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) who was trained and applied their trade in an AMO where the aircraft maintenance manual (AMM) was rarely used or referred to. This AME is now introduced into an AMO where working according to the AMM is not optional and thus common practise. It will take time, effort and training to change the culture of this AME in order to conform with the norms and standards of the new and more professional AMO. Similarly, changing of the Safety Culture within your AMO is not

an event but rather a progressive process which will take long term commitment, time and effort – in all likelihood years rather than months.

• A Safety Culture within an AMO is a journey which does not have a point of arrival but rather one which strives for and attains levels of maturity. This is not necessarily based on the size of the AMO. There are both large and small AMOs who have well matured company Safety Cultures, equally there are large and small AMOs who have an immature Safety Culture.

• Developing a Safety Culture in an

AMO with a bottom up approach has little if any chance of gaining traction.

An organisation’s Safety Culture is by nature a cascading process, that is to say it begins with the buy-in, support and commitment of Senior Management and then flows down through each department and to every individual in the company irrespective of seniority or job function.

The AMO’s Accountable Managers are the individuals who typically drive the Safety Culture within their maintenance organisation, selling it to the upper echelons of the business and then promoting it to all levels of the business.

Subsequent articles will explore in more detail the nuts and bolts (pun intended) of the many facets which contribute towards a maturing Safety Culture within an AMO. In conclusion; the very nature of safety within an AMO and which makes up a large portion of a Safety Culture is learning from the mistakes made and the lessons learnt within your AMO and elsewhere in the industry. This column is intended to contribute toward this objective by being interactive with you, the reader. To this end you can participate by sharing anecdotes of safety related events in your AMO, the root cause or causes identified, lessons learnt, and the corrective actions implemented so that collectively we can learn from each other and make aviation an even safer industry.

Submit your contributions to: guy@ saflyermag.co.za. Names and places will be redacted in the interests of anonymity.

Submissions will be reviewed in terms of their usefulness as learning material. 

Setting the framework for a safety management system.

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FLIGHT SAFETY THROUGH MAINTENANCE

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IATA’S DE JUNIAC ON 2020 OUTLOOK Alexandre de Juniac says that the trade wars are depressing airline growth.

At IATA’s Global Media Day held in Geneva during December, in the light of trade wars, Director General Alexandre De Juniac took the opportunity to remind the assembled journalists of the important role that airlines play in transporting people, goods and services. This is an edited version of his presentation:

I

N 2020 over four-and-a-half billion passengers and 61 million tonnes of freight will travel across a network of more than 22,000 unique city pairs connected by air. That’s more than double the number of routes that were available in 1998.

And flying is becoming more affordable. The average return fare in 2019 before surcharges and tax is forecast to be 62% lower than in 1998, after adjusting for inflation.

Travellers can also fly with confidence, because aviation is the safest form of long-distance travel the world has known.

Simply put, flying is freedom. That freedom grows prosperity and changes people’s lives for the better—even if they don’t fly. And access to that freedom is greater than it has ever been.

There are some forces in the world today that are working against that freedom. IATA has and will continue to take the strong stance that we are better off with borders that are open to people and to trade. Trade wars produce no winners. And while respecting the rights of countries to protect their borders, we believe that greater connectivity makes our world a better place. It is part of the DNA of an industry with a mission to bring people closer as a global community.

On 7 December we marked 75 years since the signing of the Chicago Convention, which set the basic framework for civil aviation. Even as the Second World War raged, the signatories of the Chicago Convention understood the unique role of aviation. And they expressly noted that its development “can greatly help to create and preserve friendship and understanding among the nations and peoples of the world”.

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A few months later—on 19 April 1945—the airlines of the world came together with a similar vision and created the International Air Transport Association. Over the nearly 75 years since IATA was founded, we have sought to represent, lead and serve the airline industry with the goal of safe, efficient and sustainable services. That mission is as relevant today as it was when we began.

In 1945 some nine million people travelled by air. Today we transport that same number, on average, every 18 hours. Together with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) we have made flying integral to modern life.

Flying’s vital role is recognized in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Aviation plays a part in achieving 15 of the 17, indicating the fundamental relevance of this industry to addressing humankind’s toughest challenges.

But as with any human activity there is an environmental impact. Aircraft burn fuel and that releases carbon. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, aviation is responsible for 2% of global manmade carbon emissions. As the world focuses on cutting carbon to avoid a climate calamity, all industries need to step up. Aviation made serious climate action commitments in 2008—long before the word Flygskam [flight shaming] entered our vocabulary. We committed to improve fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5% annually between 2009 and 2020. We are achieving 2.3%.

We committed to carbon-neutral growth from 2020. And the ICAO Assembly confirmed its resolve to make a success of CORSIA—the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. It is the global measure that will enable us

to cap net emissions and it will generate some $40 billion in climate funding over the lifetime of the scheme.

And we committed to cut our emissions to half 2005 levels by 2050. Industry experts are collaborating through the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) to map out how we will achieve this based on realistic technology and policy solutions. Moreover, at our strong instigation, governments, through ICAO, are now looking to set their own long-term goals for emissions reduction.

We can and should be proud of this progress. But there is still more work to do. First, we need to make sure that CORSIA is successful and not compromised by a patchwork of competing taxes and charges.

Second, we must get governments to focus on driving the technology and policy solutions that will make flying sustainable.

In the immediate term, that means focusing on sustainable aviation fuels which have the potential to cut our carbon footprint by up to 80%.

Finally, we need to support these efforts with effective communication, so that people and governments are fully aware of what aviation is doing.

People are adjusting their personal habits to manage their individual carbon footprints. That’s a good thing. It is our duty as an industry to ensure that they have the facts needed to make the right choices on air travel. And let me be clear. Carbon is the enemy, not flying. Our goal is to keep the world flying sustainably and with pride.

IATA’s regular offsetting activity with Climate Care supports three carbon-reducing projects in Africa: Lifestraw, which saves 2.4 million tonnes of carbon annually by bringing safe drinking water to 4.5 million people in Kenya.

Gyapa, which has saved 3 million tonnes of carbon to date by making efficient cooking stoves available in Ghana.

Kasigau, which is helping to preserve 500,000 acres of endangered Kenyan forest.

SAFETY AND SECURITY As we focus on making aviation more sustainable, we are not losing sight of our other key priorities. When it comes to safety, the twin tragedies involving the 737 MAX aircraft are top of mind.

The industry is continuing to learn from the accident investigations, as well as from the multiple and meticulous examinations into the design and certification of the aircraft.

While we do not have full clarity on the timeline for the aircraft’s return to service, I believe that restoring public confidence in the industry’s aircraft certification and validation processes requires a harmonized approach among regulators – and I certainly hope we can get there.

Looking out over the broader safety landscape, we continue to make strong progress on reducing the accident rate. The implementation of globally accepted standards and best practices such as the IATA Operational Safety Audit (or IOSA), the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) and the IATA Standard Safety Assessment (ISSA), are all vital to this effort.

Security goes hand-in-hand with safety. Security is the responsibility of states, but industry is a critical partner. Aviation is secure, but we are always looking at ways to make it even more so. Today, a lot of our focus is going into areas involving risks from cyber-attacks.

Of course, our passengers mostly associate security with what they experience at the airport checkpoint. Long lines and intrusive

searches are frequently cited as one of the biggest headaches of air travel. We and our airport partners are always looking at ways to smooth out this part of the journey. Known traveller programs and the use of biometrics can be effective tools in this effort. Our annual Global Passenger Survey continues to show that a majority of air travellers are willing to provide more information about themselves if it results in shorter wait times and less unpacking and disrobing.

THE PASSENGERS - OUR CUSTOMERS The security checkpoint, however, represents just one segment of the overall passenger journey. At IATA we are looking at how to transform the entire travel experience. This process begins when a prospective traveller starts planning for a trip on their laptop or mobile device and ends when they arrive at their final destination.

The Boeing 737 Max crashes are still top of mind.

IATA is working on no-queue airline check in.

We are re-imagining airline retailing through initiatives like the New Distribution Capability (NDC) and ONE Order. The NDC technical standard is making it possible for travellers to have access to all of the products and services offered by an airline, and to compare their offerings regardless of where they shop for air travel online. Travellers are now also able to receive personalised travel offers, as they do from Amazon or Netflix.

ONE Order, meanwhile, will complete the digital transformation that began with e-tickets. It will replace e-tickets, passenger name records, and electronic miscellaneous documents with a single retail, customer-focused order. And we’re not forgetting about payments either. Today how a customer chooses to pay is a part of their overall shopping experience, whether via credit card, direct debit, or a PayPal or Alipay.

ONE ID: Moving on from the shopping experience to the actual travel, we see a huge opportunity to make airport processes more seamless. Today, the journey through the airport is often frustrating.

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LEFT: The airlines must recruit more women if their human resource needs are to be met.

BELOW: The 2020 outlook.

You need to go through repetitive steps, such as presenting your travel documents at numerous points to verify your identity.

This is time-consuming, inefficient and not sustainable in the long-term as traffic grows.

IATA’s One ID initiative is helping transition us towards a time when passengers can enjoy a paperless airport experience and move smoothly from curb to gate using a single biometric travel token such as a face, fingerprint or iris scan.

NEXTT: While One ID presents a huge opportunity to smooth out the passenger journey, more needs to be done to accommodate expected growth and evolving customer expectations. To address the challenges of future airports, we have partnered with Airports Council International (ACI) to create the NEXTT or New Experience Travel Technologies initiative.

Together we are exploring important changes in technology and processes to improve the efficiency of what our customers experience when traveling. This includes examining options for increased off-site processing, which could reduce or even eliminate queues. We are also looking at employing artificial intelligence and robotics to more efficiently use space and resources. A further crucial element is improving data sharing among stakeholders.

Accessibility: The industry is also focused on making air travel more inclusive for all potential travellers including the one billion people who are in some way disabled. The number is set to increase significantly as populations age.

While the industry has

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had standards for persons travelling with disabilities for decades, we realise there are still gaps and we need to do more, particularly in the area of safely transporting mobility aids.

AIRLINE WORKFORCE Changing subjects from our customers to the future workforce, we must remember that global air connectivity is delivered for people by people. We need a diverse workforce that has the training and skills for an increasingly digital and data-driven world. It is no secret that aviation’s gender balance at senior management and technical levels is not what it should be. We will not have the capacity needed for the future if we don’t fully engage the potential of women in the workforce.

OUTLOOK Despite all the wealth we have created for the world, profitability has always been a challenge. It is only since the end of the Global Financial Crisis that the airline

industry has achieved a stable stream of profits.

It is encouraging to see that we can expect 2020 to be a better year. But it is worth emphasizing the point that the airlines are driving industry profitability.

The contribution of the top 30 is completely disproportionate. There are many airlines struggling to keep revenues ahead of costs.

And that is why we are so adamant to pursue policies focused on efficiency with governments.

A good example are the competitiveness reports that we are progressively publishing on European economies. These help governments plan to maximize aviation’s economic and social contributions by ranking important elements of competitiveness—cargo and passenger facilitation, infrastructure management, supply chain management and regulatory practice.

The air cargo business is going through some tough times with demand falling in the face of the trade war between the US and China, the deterioration in global trade, and a broad-based slowing in economic growth.

Governments have huge agendas, but the goal that brings diverse interests together is promoting social and economic prosperity.

Aviation can help. And we can do that with greatest effect when governments take the right policy decisions on these key areas. 

BACKPAGE DIR DIRECT ECTORY ORY A1A Flight Examiner (Loutzavia) Jannie Loutzis 012 567 6775 / 082 416 4069 jannie@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Alpi Aviation SA Dale De Klerk 082 556 3592 dale@alpiaviation.co.za www.alpiaviation.co.za

Adventure Air Lande Milne 012 543 3196 / Cell: 066 4727 848 l.milne@venture-sa.co.za www.ventureglobal.biz

Apco (Ptyd) Ltd Tony/Henk + 27 12 543 0775 apcosupport@mweb.co.za www.apcosa.co.za

Comporob Composite Repair & Manufacture Felix Robertson 072 940 4447 083 265 3602 comporob@lantic.net www.comporob.co.za Corporate-Aviators/Affordable Jet Sales Mike Helm 082 442 6239 corporate-aviators@iafrica.com www.corporate-aviators.com

Flying Frontiers Craig Lang 082 459 0760 CraigL@fairfield.co.za C. W. Price & Co www.flyingfrontiers.com AES (Cape Town) Aref Avionics Kelvin L. Price Erwin Erasmus Hannes Roodt 011 805 4720 Flying Unlimited Flight School (Pty) Ltd 082 494 3722 082 462 2724 cwp@cwprice.co.za Riaan Struwig erwin@aeroelectrical.co.za arefavionics@border.co.za www.cwprice.co.za 082 653 7504 / 086 770 8376 www.aeroelectrical.co.za

riaan@ppg.co.za Atlas Aviation Lubricants Dart Aeronautical www.ppg.co.za AES (Johannesburg) Steve Cloete Jaco Kelly Danie van Wyk 011 917 4220 011 827 8204 Foster Aero International 011 701 3200 Fax: 011 917 2100 dartaero@mweb.co.za Dudley Foster office@aeroelectrical.co.za Sales.aviation@atlasoil.co.za 011 659 2533 www.aeroelectrical.co.za www.atlasoil.africa Dart Aircraft Electrical info@fosteraero.co.za Mathew Joubert www.fosteraero.co.za Aerocore ATNS 011 827 0371 Jacques Podde Percy Morokane Dartaircraftelectrical@gmail.com Gemair 082 565 2330 011 607 1234 www.dartaero.co.za Andries Venter jacques@aerocore.co.za percymo@atns.co.za 011 701 2653 / 082 905 5760 www.aerocore.co.za www.atns.com DJA Aviation Insurance andries@gemair.co.za

011 464 5550 Aero Engineering & PowerPlant Aviation Direct 0800Flying GIB Aviation Insurance Brokers Andre Labuschagne Andrea Antel mail@dja-aviation.co.za Richard Turner 012 543 0948 011 465 2669 www.dja-aviation.co.za 011 483 1212 aeroeng@iafrica.com info@aviationdirect.co.za aviation@gib.co.za

www.aviationdirect.co.za Dynamic Propellers www.gib.co.za Aero Services (Pty) Ltd Andries Visser Chris Scott Avtech Aircraft Services 011 824 5057 Gryphon Flight Academy 011 395 3587 Riekert Stroh 082 445 4456 Jeffrey Von Holdt chris@aeroservices.co.za 082 555 2808 / 082 749 9256 andries@dynamicpropeller.co.za 011 701 2600 www.aeroservices.co.za avtech1208@gmail.com www.dynamicpropellers.co.za info@gryphonflight.co.za

www.gryphonflight.co.za Aeronav Academy BAC Aviation AMO 115 Eagle Aviation Helicopter Division Donald O’Connor Micky Joss Tamryn van Staden Guardian Air 011 701 3862 035 797 3610 082 657 6414 011 701 3011 info@aeronav.co.za monicad@bacmaintenance.co.za tamryn@eaglehelicopter.co.za 082 521 2394 www.aeronav.co.za

www.eaglehelicopter.co.za ops@guardianair.co.za Blackhawk Africa

www.guardianair.co.za Aeronautical Aviation Cisca de Lange Eagle Flight Academy

Clinton Carroll 083 514 8532 Mr D. J. Lubbe Heli-Afrique cc 011 659 1033 / 083 459 6279 cisca@blackhawk.aero 082 557 6429 Tino Conceicao clinton@aeronautical.co.za www.blackhawk.aero training@eagleflight.co.za 083 458 2172 www.aeronautical.co.za www.eagleflight.co.za tino.conceicao@heli-afrique.co.za Blue Chip Flight School

Aerotric (Pty) Ltd Henk Kraaij Elite Aviation Academy Henley Air Richard Small 012 543 3050 Jacques Podde Andre Coetzee 083 488 4535 bluechip@bluechip-avia.co.za 082 565 2330 011 827 5503 aerotric@aol.com www.bluechipflightschool.co.za info@eliteaa.co.za andre@henleyair.co.za www.eliteaa.co.za www.henleyair.co.za Aircraft Assembly and Upholstery Centre Border Aviation Club & Flight School Tony/Siggi Bailes Liz Gous Emperor Aviation Hover Dynamics 082 552 6467 043 736 6181 Paul Sankey Phillip Cope anthony@rvaircraft.co.za admin@borderaviation.co.za 082 497 1701 / 011 824 5683 074 231 2964 www.rvaircraft.co.za www.borderaviation.co.za paul@emperoraviation.co.za info@hover.co.za

www.emperoraviation.co.za www.hover.co.za Aircraft Finance Corporation Breytech Aviation cc

Jaco Pietersen 012 567 3139 Enstrom/MD Helicopters Indigo Helicopters +27 [0]82 672 2262 Willie Breytenbach Andrew Widdall Gerhard Kleynhans jaco@airfincorp.co.za admin@breytech.co.za 011 397 6260 082 927 4031 / 086 528 4234 www.airfincorp.co.za aerosa@safomar.co.za veroeschka@indigohelicopters.co.za Bundu Aviation www.safomar.co.za www.indigohelicopters.co.za Aircraft Maintenance @ Work Phillip Cronje Opelo / Frik 083 485 2427 Era Flug Flight Training IndigoSat South Africa - Aircraft Tracking 012 567 3443 info@bunduaviation.co.za Pierre Le Riche Gareth Willers frik@aviationatwork.co.za_ www.bunduaviation.co.za 021 934 7431 08600 22 121 opelonke@aviationatwork.co.za info@era-flug.com sales@indigosat.co.za Celeste Sani Pak & Inflight Products www.era-flug.com www.indigosat.co.za Aircraft Maintenance International Steve Harris Pine Pienaar 011 452 2456 Execujet Africa Integrated Avionic Solutions 083 305 0605 admin@chemline.co.za 011 516 2300 Gert van Niekerk gm@aminternational.co.za www.chemline.co.za enquiries@execujet.co.za 082 831 5032 www.execujet.com gert@iasafrica.co.za Aircraft Maintenance International Cape Aircraft Interiors www.iasafrica.co.za Wonderboom Sarel Schutte Federal Air Thomas Nel 021 934 9499 Nick Lloyd-Roberts International Flight Clearances 082 444 7996 michael@wcaeromarine.co.za 011 395 9000 Steve Wright admin@aminternational.co.za www.zscai.co.za shuttle@fedair.com 076 983 1089 (24 Hrs) www.fedair.com flightops@flyifc.co.za Air Line Pilots’ Association Cape Town Flying Club www.flyifc.co.za Sonia Ferreira Beverley Combrink Ferry Flights int.inc.

011 394 5310 021 934 0257 / 082 821 9013 Michael (Mick) Schittenhelm Investment Aircraft alpagm@iafrica.com info@capetownflyingclub.co.za 082 442 6239 Quinton Warne www.alpa.co.za www.@capetownflyingclub.co.za ferryflights@ferry-flights.com 082 806 5193

www.ferry-flights.com aviation@lantic.net Airshift Aircraft Sales Capital Air www.investmentaircraft.com Eugene du Plessis Micaella Vinagre Fireblade Aviation 082 800 3094 011 827 0335 010 595 3920 Jabiru Aircraft eugene@airshift.co.za micaella@capitalairsa.com info@firebladeaviation.com Len Alford www.airshift.co.za www.capitalairsa.com www.firebladeaviation.com 044 876 9991 / 044 876 9993

info@jabiru.co.za Airvan Africa Century Avionics cc Flight Training College www.jabiru.co.za Patrick Hanly Carin van Zyl Cornell Morton 082 565 8864 011 701 3244 044 876 9055 Jim Davis Books airvan@border.co.za sales@centuryavionics.co.za ftc@flighttrainning.co.za Jim Davis www.airvan.co.za www.centuryavionics.co.za www.flighttraining.co.za 072 188 6484

jim@border.co.za Algoa Flying Club Chemetall Flight Training Services www.jimdavis.co.za Sharon Mugridge Wayne Claassens Amanda Pearce

041 581 3274 011 914 2500 011 805 9015/6 Joc Air T/A The Propeller Shop info@algoafc.co.za wayne.claassens@basf.com amanda@fts.co.za Aiden O’Mahony www.algoafc.co.za www.chemetall.com www.fts.co.za 011 701 3114

jocprop@iafrica.com Alpha One Aviation Chem-Line Aviation & Celeste Products Fly Jetstream Aviation Opelo Steve Harris Henk Kraaij Kishugu Aviation 082 301 9977 011 452 2456 083 279 7853 +27 13 741 6400 on@alphaoneaviation.co.za sales@chemline.co.za charter@flyjetstream.co.za comms@kishugu.com www.alphaoneaviation.co.za www.chemline.co.za www.flyjetstream.co.za www.kishugu.com/kishugu-aviation

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BACKPAGE DIR DIRECT ECTORY ORY Kit Planes for Africa Stefan Coetzee 013 793 7013 info@saplanes.co.za www.saplanes.co.za

MS Aviation Gary Templeton 082 563 9639 gary.templeton@msaviation.co.za www.msaviation.co.za

Kzn Aviation (Pty) Ltd Melanie Jordaan 031 564 6215 mel@kznaviation.co.za www.kznaviation.co.za

North East Avionics Keith Robertson +27 13 741 2986 keith@northeastavionics.co.za deborah@northeastavionics.co.za www.northeastavionics.co.za Landing Eyes Gavin Brown Orsmond Aviation 031 202 5703 058 303 5261 info@landingeyes.co.za info@orsmondaviation.co.za www.landingeyes.com www.orsmondaviation.co.za

Lanseria Aircraft Interiors Owenair (Pty) Ltd Francois Denton Clive Skinner 011 659 1962 / 076 810 9751 082 923 9580 francois@aircraftcompletions.co.za clive.skinner@owenair.co.za www.owenwair.co.za Lanseria International Airport Mike Christoph Pacair 011 367 0300 Wayne Bond mikec@lanseria.co.za 033 386 6027 www.lanseria.co.za pacair@telkomsa.net

Skyworx Aviation Kevin Hopper kevin@skyworx.co.za www.skyworxaviation.co.za

Legend Sky 083 860 5225 / 086 600 7285 info@legendssky.co.za www.legendsky.co.za

PFERD-South Africa (Pty) Ltd Hannes Nortman 011 230 4000 hannes.nortman@pferd.co.za www.pferd.com

Southern Energy Company (Pty) Ltd Elke Bertram +264 8114 29958 johnnym@sec.com.na www.sec.com.na

Litson & Associates (Pty) Ltd OGP, BARS, Resources Auditing & Aviation Training karen.litson@litson.co.za Phone: 27 (0) 21 8517187 www.litson.co.za

Pipistrel Kobus Nel 083 231 4296 kobus@pipistrelsa.co.za www.pipistrelsa.co.za

Southern Rotorcraft cc Mr Reg Denysschen Tel no: 0219350980 sasales@rotors-r-us.com www.rotors-r-us.com

Plane Maintenance Facility Johan 083 300 3619 pmf@myconnection.co.za

Sport Plane Builders Pierre Van Der Walt 083 361 3181 pmvdwalt@mweb.co.za

Precision Aviation Services Marnix Hulleman 012 543 0371 marnix@pasaviation.co.za www.pasaviation.co.za

PSG Aviation Reon Wiese 0861 284 284 reon.wiese@psg.co.za www.psg aviation.co.za

Starlite Aero Sales Klara Fouché +27 83 324 8530 / +27 31 571 6600 klaraf@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Rainbow SkyReach (Pty) Ltd Mike Gill 011 817 2298 Mike@fly-skyreach.com www.fly-skyreach.com

Rand Airport Stuart Coetzee 011 827 8884 stuart@randairport.co.za www.randairport.co.za

Robin Coss Aviation Robin Coss 021 934 7498 info@cossaviation.com www.cossaviation.co.za

Starlite Aviation Training Academy Durban: +27 31 571 6600 Mossel Bay: +27 44 692 0006 train@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Litson & Associates Risk Management Services (Pty) Ltd. eSMS-S/eTENDER/ eREPORT/Advisory Services karen.litson@litson.co.za Phone: 27 (0) 8517187 www.litson.co.za Loutzavia Aircraft Sales Henry Miles 082 966 0911 henry@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Loutzavia Flight Training Gerhardt Botha 012 567 6775 ops@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za Loutzavia-Pilots and Planes Maria Loutzis 012 567 6775 maria@loutzavia.co.za www.pilotsnplanes.co.za Loutzavia Rand Frans Pretorius 011 824 3804 rand@loutzavia.co.za www@loutzavia.co.za Lowveld Aero Club Pugs Steyn 013 741 3636 Flynow@lac.co.za Marshall Eagle Les Lebenon 011 958 1567 les@marshalleagle.co.za www.marshalleagle.co.za Maverick Air Charters Chad Clark 083 292 2270 Charters@maverickair.co.za www.maverickair.co.za MCC Aviation Pty Ltd Claude Oberholzer 011 701 2332 info@flymcc.co.za www.flymcc.co.za

MH Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd Marc Pienaar 011 609 0123 / 082 940 5437 customerrelations@mhaviation.co.za www.mhaviation.co.za M and N Acoustic Services cc Martin de Beer 012 689 2007/8 calservice@mweb.co.za

Metropolitan Aviation (Pty) Ltd Gert Mouton 082 458 3736 herenbus@gmail.com Money Aviation Angus Money 083 263 2934 angus@moneyaviation.co.za www.moneyaviation.co.za

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Skyhorse Aviation Ryan Louw 012 809 3571 info@skyhorse.co.za www.skyhorse.co.za

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SAA Technical (SOC) Ltd SAAT Marketing 011 978 9993 satmarketing@flysaa.com www.flysaa.com/technical SABRE Aircraft Richard Stubbs 083 655 0355 richardstubbs@mweb.co.za www.aircraftafrica.co.za SA Mooney Patrick Hanly 082 565 8864 samooney@border.co.za www.samooney.co.za Savannah Helicopters De Jager 082 444 1138 / 044 873 3288 dejager@savannahhelicopters.co.za www.savannahhelicopters.co.za Scenic Air Christa van Wyk +264 612 492 68 windhoek@scenic-air.com www.scenic-air.com Sheltam Aviation Durban Susan Ryan 083 505 4882 susanryan@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com Sheltam Aviation PE Brendan Booker 082 497 6565 brendanb@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com

Sky-Tech Heinz Van Staden 082 720 5210 sky-tech@telkomsa.net www.sky-tech.za.com Sling Aircraft Kim Bell-Cross 011 948 9898 sales@airplanefactory.co.za www.airplanefactory.co.za

Solenta Aviation (Pty Ltd) Paul Hurst 011 707 4000 info@solenta.com www.solenta.com

Starlite Aviation Operations Trisha Andhee +27 82 660 3018/ +27 31 571 6600 trishaa@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Status Aviation (Pty) Ltd Richard Donian 074 587 5978 / 086 673 5266 info@statusaviation.co.za www.statusaviation.co.za Superior Pilot Services Liana Jansen van Rensburg 0118050605/2247 info@superiorair.co.za www.superiorair.co.za

The Copter Shop Bill Olmsted 082 454 8555 execheli@iafrica.com www.execheli.wixsite.com/the-coptershop-sa Titan Helicopter Group 044 878 0453 info@titanhelicopters.com www.titanhelicopters.com TPSC Dennis Byrne 011 701 3210 turboprop@wol.co.za Trio Helicopters & Aviation cc CR Botha or FJ Grobbelaar 011 659 1022

stoffel@trioavi.co.za/frans@trioavi.co.za

www.trioavi.co.za

Tshukudu Trailers Pieter Visser 083 512 2342 deb@tshukudutrailers.co.za www.tshukudutrailers.co.za U Fly Training Academy Nikola Puhaca 011 824 0680 ufly@telkomsa.net www.uflyacademy.co.za

United Charter cc Jonathan Wolpe 083 270 8886 jonathan.wolpe@unitedcharter.co.za www.unitedcharter.co.za

United Flight Support Clinton Moodley/Jonathan Wolpe 076 813 7754 / 011 788 0813 ops@unitedflightsupported.com www.unitedflightsupport.com Unique Air Charter Nico Pienaar 082 444 7994 nico@uniqueair.co.za www.uniqueair.co.za

Unique Flight Academy Nico Pienaar 082 444 7994 nico@uniqueair.co.za www.uniqueair.co.za

Van Zyl Aviation Services Colette van Zyl 012 997 6714 admin@vanzylaviationco.za www.vanzylaviation.co.za

Vector Aerospace Jeff Poirier +902 888 1808 jeff.poirier@vectoraerospace.com www.vectoraerospace.com Velocity Aviation Collin Pearson 011 659 2306 / 011 659 2334 collin@velocityaviation.co.za www.velocityaviation.co.za Villa San Giovanni Luca Maiorana 012 111 8888 info@vsg.co.za www.vsg.co.za Vortx Aviation Bredell Roux 072 480 0359 info@vortx.co.za www.vortxaviation.com Wagtail Aviation Johan van Ludwig 082 452 8194 acrochem@mweb.co.za www.wagtail.co.za Wanafly Adrian Barry 082 493 9101 adrian@wanafly.net www.wanafly.co.za Windhoek Flight Training Centre Thinus Dreyer 0026 40 811284 180 pilots@flywftc.com www.flywftc.com Wings n Things Wendy Thatcher 011 701 3209 wendy@wingsnthings.co.za www.wingsnthings.co.za Witbank Flight School Andre De Villiers 083 604 1718 andredv@lantic.net www.waaflyingclub.co.za Wonderboom Airport Peet van Rensburg 012 567 1188/9 peet@wonderboomairport.co.za www.wonderboomairport.co.za

Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate Martin Den Dunnen 082 449 8895 martin@zandspruit.co.za www.zandspruit.co.za Zebula Golf Estate & SPA Reservations 014 734 7700 reception@zebula.co.za www.zebula.co.za