February 2021

FlightCm African Commercial Aviation Edition 147 | FEBRUARY 2021

Real HELICOPTERS HAVE HOISTS

LIFT FLIES! Can airlines survive Covid?

HUGH PRYOR ON CORRUPTION SACAA BULLYING TACTICS EXPOSED

The next Scout Helicopter United States Dollars $3.50 | South African Rands R39.50 | Kenyan Shillings KES 300.00 | Nigerian Naira NGN600.00 1 PRICE:FlightCom Magazine

AMO 227

FLIGHT SAFETY THROUGH MAINTENANCE

Overhaul / Shockload / Repair of Continental and Lycoming Aircraft engines

Hangar no 4, Wonderboom Airport, Pretoria PO Box 17699, Pretoria North, 0116 Tel: (012) 543 0948/51, Fax: (012) 543 9447, email: aeroeng@iafrica.com

SA Flyer 2019|12

Overhaul Engine Components Overhaul and supply of Hartzell / McCauley and Fix pitch Propellers

A LEADING AIRCRAFT SALES COMPANY IN AFRICA

ASCEND VIDEO

CONTENTS

TABLE OF 08 12 15 24 26 32 36 44 45 46 48 50

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

FEBRUARY 2021 EDITION 147

Airlines - Mike Gough

ADMIN: +27 (0)83 607 2335 TRAFFIC: +27 (0)81 039 0595 ACCOUNTS: +27 (0)15 793 0708

Bush Pilot - Hugh Pryor Covid-19 hitting airlines harder than expected Gulf airspace restrictions relaxed Defence - Darren Olivier Lift-off for Lift Airlines The CAA Dossier – Series 2 Alpi Flight School Listing AME Directory AEP AMO Listing Atlas Oil Charter Directory Back Page Directory

© FlightCom 2021. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronically, mechanically, photocopied, recorded or otherwise without the express permission of the copyright holders.

A NOTE FROM

THE EDITOR: Boeing has agreed to pay US$2.5 billion to settle criminal charges that it hid information from the FAA and airline customers about the MCAS in its 737 Max. About US$500m of this will go to families of the 346 people killed in the tragedies.

T

US$500m is an indication of how much African life is worth.

Notable is this it is half the estimate from Bloomberg that it would cost Boeing at least US$1 billion to settle claims from families of Lion Air Flight JT610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 victims.

Bloomberg’s estimate of US$1 billion comes to US$3m per passenger. This seems to be a realistic upside amount. The first of the 32 Kenyan families HIS

of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 crash victims have indeed now received a US$3m each settlement from Boeing.

This is a long way from Boeing’s opening bid in July 2019, when it announced $100 million in funds for the families and communities of the crash victims. This may have been an interim amount for supporting education, community programmes and living expenses for affected families, pending the finalisation of claims. Boeing said it would partner with local governments and non-profit organizations to address these needs, and that the US$100m would be distributed over multiple years.

It is notable that a large part of this latest US$2.5 billion award by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is punitive because Boeing ‘chose “profit over candour”, impeding oversight of the planes, which were involved in two deadly crashes. The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world’s leading commercial airplane manufacturers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General David Burns. Boeing did not co-operate with investigators for six months, the DOJ said.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Boeing was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the US, which will be dismissed after three years if the planemaker continues to comply with the deal.

Of the US$2.5 billion, the bulk, being $1.77 billion, will go as compensation to the airlines who were affected by the grounding of their Max fleets.

Boeing also agreed to pay a penalty of $243.6m.

According to the DOJ, “Under the terms of the DPA, Boeing will pay a total criminal monetary amount of over $2.5 billion, composed of a criminal monetary penalty of $243.6 million, compensation payments to Boeing’s 737 MAX airline customers of $1.77 billion, and the establishment of a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund to compensate the heirs, relatives, and legal beneficiaries …”

But attorneys for the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash said the deal would not end their

pending civil lawsuit against Boeing.

It will be interesting to see what amounts the victims finally receive – and if a one size fits all approach will be adopted whereby every family receives the same or whether some sort of seniority system will be applied, the quantification of which will keep teams of lawyers busy for years. 

BUMMPPHHH FLYING RULES:

6

FlightCom Magazine

Discover our Flight Operation Solutions 24/7 Support: +27 82 940 5437 Office: +27 11 609 0123 tsopsafrica@wfscorp.com mhaviation.co.za

Better solutions and services for your World.

From state-of-the-art trip support to payment card programmes and reliable into plane fuel delivery, MH Aviation Services, based in Johannesburg, is Africa’s most innovative aviation services partner.

Join the 8,200 flight departments who depend on our bespoke global solutions and local expertise to take their success to new heights.

Fuel | Trip Support | Card and Reward Programmes | Logistics | Planning

FlightCom Magazine

7

AIRLINES MIKE GOUGH

Not-SoGreat

Expectations AS WE FIND OURSELVES COMMENCING ANOTHER GREGORIAN CALENDAR-DEFINED TRIP AROUND THE SUN ON SPACE SHIP EARTH, A REVIEW OF EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS ORBIT MAY BE IN ORDER.

I

n our over-optimistic, typically human assumption of being able to control, regulate and measure everything around us, the Gregorian Calendar evolved from the Julian Calendar with the assistance of Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

This was a minor correction to reduce the average year length from 365.25 days to 365.2425 days, as that annoying 0.0075-day error per year was messing up the Northern Spring Equinox (around March 21), which subsequently confused the calculation of each year’s date for Easter.

That is probably why sometimes you can’t find the Easter eggs you hid for yourself, as a result of this time / space displacement, and not one’s ailing memory.

We seem to have relied upon this extremely

8

FlightCom Magazine

precise re-commencement of our solar orbit to somehow create a New Beginning within our current existence, which has magical eraser qualities and provides each New Year with a clean slate and invokes such associated expectations.

This anticipation of regeneration is also somewhat flawed by the fact that, with each new beginning, comes the opportunity of bringing its own events; be they ups or downs.

From last year, many of us would be mentally running from that main event, the pandemic.

That event, for some of us in the aviation world here in South Africa, had the dubious curtain raiser of one’s employer in business rescue – both the pandemic and the business rescue seeming to have continuing encores as I write this.

This particular solar circuit kicked off with that most bizarre-turned-lethal side show of American politics. To a certain extent, the storming of the US Capitol in Washington actually made me feel a little better about our politics in this country… chaos appears to be a universal commodity when it comes to power, egos and agendas.

A few days later, we saw the almost all-too familiar flight path of a Boeing 737-500 accident in Indonesia. Airborne for only a few minutes and reaching only eleven thousand feet, it achieved momentarily a rate of descent of around thirty thousand feet per minute almost vertically downwards into the sea. Apparently, the Flight Data Recorder has been downloaded, and the Cockpit Voice recorder awaits discovery in the fifteen metredeep (concentrated) debris field.

At the point of writing this, we only have conjecture, with my current thumb-suck being some form of Loss Of Control Inflight (LOC-I), possibly due to the convective weather in the area. This is still the current Enemy Number One for airline crew, and, throw in a bit of lack of recency with the global grounding of airlines in one form or the other, and a familiar scenario looks ready to be investigated again.

To these events, we can add five local South African aviation accidents and several others involving light aircraft around the world.

I suppose starting from a low base should provide for a sense of improvement, if we contain the trend, as we progress through this year…

Pandemics and collapsing airlines aside, the aviation scenarios at both airline and General Aviation level will once again have to look to training to steady the ship, so to speak.

look to training to steady the ship I was fortunate enough to do my last A320 flight at the end of August last year, while many of my colleagues have not flown an airliner since March.

I have also been absolutely flat-out at my flight school at Lanseria, filling three complete pages in my logbook.

Despite this ‘recency’, I felt very much on the back foot as I did my Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) and Flight Instructor revalidation tests in an Airbus simulator at the beginning of December last year. The

familiarity of the environment was quick to come back, but the instinctive reactions of an engine failure during a go-around were less than exemplary, to say the least.

A few days’ later, I was at Brakpan, test flying an additional Piper Seneca that I was in the process of buying. I was fairly ‘Seneca’ current, as I had been busy with Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) initial tests for a few candidates on my currentlyowned Seneca. Still, I am used to a 45-metre wide runway, ILS indications and PAPI lights (Precision Approach Path Indicator)… everything a conditioned airline pilot likes to see.

With a reasonable amount of concentration, I managed to impress the ex-owner with a greaser on the eight-meterwide runway and make the exit halfway down the 1400-metre runway – so the approach speed and touch down technique must have been okay.

The significance, I suppose, of this feeling of accomplishment is twofold… being able to reasonably accurately fly a ‘complex’ aircraft, and the acknowledgement of the fact that airliners and I are (hopefully) temporarily divorced, and this, at present, is as good as it gets.

Considering the current global situation with thousands of

FlightCom Magazine

9

Is being 40ft below the glideslope OK for a fresh CPL?

pilots out of work, and not able to get anywhere near an aircraft of any description, I am considering this lowering of one’s expectations to be a privilege as opposed to a ‘downgrade’.

Similarly, the level that I have been used to in terms of operating as an instructor and examiner have had to take somewhat of a re-calibration, as I predominantly deal with ‘newbies’ entering the commercial aviation environment.

The level that we used to operate at in the airline was a fantastically high-level, complex and demanding environment, enabled by some of the finest minds I have encountered in the advanced training world. It is quite a change of pace to now modify one’s approach to examining and assessing at what is essentially ab-initio level.

To be absolutely fair during these evaluations, I find myself literally putting myself in the position of someone who has just scraped together a grand total of around two hundred flying hours and looking at scenarios through the 10

FlightCom Magazine

eyes of someone who has never flown an actual instrument approach and has not been immersed in the culture of the operational professional pilot.

Interspersed with the initial skills tests are the revalidations of instrument ratings (which maintains the competency of the commercial or airline transport licences) and instructor renewals. This is where one can explore the more technical aspects of the various ratings and the theory that supports the processes that make up that particular operational environment.

However, without the type rating complexities that accompany the normal airline-type environment, I feel there is something missing at this level.

Having a look back at my development as an instructor and examiner, it is almost twentythree years ago that I did my Grade One flight instructor upgrade and became a Designated Flight Examiner (DFE), which is where I get to wear an official Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)

hat for a few hours while dealing with a nervous candidate.

To jump through this particular hoop, one has to have a nominated topic approved by Testing Standards at CAA, and this becomes the basis for one’s dissertation during the actual upgrade assessment. This is presented in front of an existing DFE and a representative from the CAA. The former is to assess the accuracy and level of the presentation, while the latter does the boxticking exercise that the requirements of the CAA are appropriately met.

I have been involved on such ‘panels’ many times, and the most recent one I sat through was based on the high-altitude stall characteristics of

I have a welldocumented process of lessening my expectations.

Fly-By-Wire aircraft, using Air France 447 as a specific case study.

My contribution during my assessment, all those years ago, was much more down to earth, so to speak. At the time, I was fascinated with the absolute lack of any defined testing standards across all licences and ratings in South Africa.

I duly produced around a thousand pages of ‘guidance’ material, using the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Practical Test Standards (PTS) as a basis. This detailed every single manoeuvre that is required to be demonstrated

during all skills tests, from PPL through to ATP level, and what would constitute ‘satisfactory’ performance.

The then-DCA (Department of Civil Aviation – forerunner to our present CAA) gratefully accepted these weighty tomes from me, and promptly filed them in the back of a cupboard, never to see the light of day again.

My efforts were not in vain, as I make daily use of this information at my flight school, duly updated for the current syllabus. Students and instructors alike have access to the relevant PTS, and if one is totally honest with oneself (not a common event), one can reasonably de-brief oneself as to how well a particular training sortie or skills test went.

Thus, as I find myself operating full-time in the basic training environment, I have a welldocumented process of lessening my expectations.

Of course, if one actually reads the pre-amble on any of the Skills Test / Competency Check forms on the CAA website, there are very simplistic ‘tolerances’ for the examiner to use during such evaluations. However, if held to the absolute letter, I would say the highly capable autopilots found in all Airbus models would battle to ‘pass’ such scrutiny. There is a lot more to consider than elementary altitude or heading deviations…

I took the accompanying photo during one of my recent Instrument Rating evaluations. We should be maintaining 6400 feet altitude while intercepting the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Lanseria. It is clear that the candidate has ‘nailed’ the Localiser, while waiting for the Glide Slope intercept. We are however, around forty feet low…

Satisfactory? We wouldn’t know without defined expectations. 

FlightCom Magazine

11

BUSH PILOT HUGH PRYOR

MANAGEMENT & COMMAND Some of you who read this will have been

asked

for

‘Aircrew

Review

Reports’. I received a request for one the other day.

I

T was laid out in the fairly

normal format but did not include the traditional box for the subject’s signature. I was reluctant to submit it without getting that little box filled in.

I was pressured into completing the report, but the subject was not present to put his “X” in the box.

My report concluded that the pilot, being considered for command, for all his great qualities, no I mean it, was not yet ready to assume the responsibilities of getting twenty passengers from A to B, in some of the most demanding meteorological conditions in the world, with the confidence which I would expect of my Captain, if I were to be one of his passengers.

12

FlightCom Magazine

In other words, it was unfair to ask him to take that responsibility.

But regardless, he has now been upgraded to Command.

Another pilot, whom I recognised as being very good potential for pilot-in commandunder-supervision, has been passed over and has since resigned from the company.

What’s my problem?

Why ask me for advice, and then do the opposite? Does management ask for my advice in order that they can gauge what the opposite course should be?

“Oh! Hugh says this, so we obviously have to do the opposite!”

No, that can’t be right, surely?

But it is. I quote an experience

from quite a few years ago when I was flying a Pilatus Porter for a very large Oil Field Service Company for the enormous oil industry in Libya. They had two Pilatus Porters because they were servicing a lot of oil rigs, all over the Libyan desert, at the time.

That year the price of oil plummeted, and so exploration jobs evaporated. Our client had to cut costs and one of them was the second aeroplane.

Jim, the client’s boss, (he was Irish, and had a finger missing which proved that he was ‘Genuine Oil Industry’,) asked me if I would like to continue with them on the one plane, “And we would like Fernando to stay on as well, as your ‘back-toback’, because you two know our business and the guys and the equipment. Do you reckon that would work?” the boss asked.

“Jim.” I looked at him, in some doubt, “I would love to stay, but there may be a problem.”

“What’s the problem?”

ABOVE: Where are the Herb Kellehers of management today?

“The problem is that, if my company feels that the crew you are requesting are more important to you than our employers, then they will send us somewhere else.”

“You’re joking!” said Jim and I slowly shook my head.

“Then how on earth do we sort this out?” he asked.

“I really don’t know, Jim. You could try a letter, I suppose, but I’m pretty sure of the result.”

So Jim wrote a letter – and Fernando got transferred to Ethiopia and I was sent to Yemen… and the company lost the contract.

Management appears to be a talent largely missing

from today’s higher echelons of industry. The Herb Kellehers are of a breed which is rapidly approaching extinction. It seems as though there is some kind of virus sweeping through the corridors of power. The germ infects the brain of anyone promoted to the boredroom, sorry, did I say boardroom. It removes any vestige of common sense and replaces it with a kind of ignorant arrogance, fuelled by an insatiable greed. Frauds become ever more incalculable. Take the case of Parmalat, the Italian dairy products giant. The founder of the company freely admits to stashing away 600 million dollars in his own bank account. His expression said it all. “So what’s 600,000,000? It’s peanuts! Look what the rest of

FlightCom Magazine

13

BUSH PILOT HUGH PRYOR

them have stolen. BILLIONS!” By that he almost implied; “I have done nothing wrong!”

But there are a large number of unpaid French farmers who would argue with him on that point.

What’s this guy going to do with $600,000,000 anyway? Why does he think that he should get away

A kind of ignorant arrogance, fuelled by an insatiable greed with it, when there are people to whom he owes that money? The European media proudly proclaim that this home-grown European debacle easily outdoes any scandal they could produce across the pond in the US of A. Look at the retirement packages handed out to senior directors nowadays. They are truly obscene when placed in the same frame as the number of lives wrecked by the unemployment caused by these so-called Captains of Industry. Loyalty is no longer rewarded by security. It’s ‘Every man for himself, and devil take the hindermost!’ these days.

But that’s not good management, is it? That’s not the way to get the best out of your work force.

Leadership is.

How can you follow a leader if he is trying to steal your money, cheat you into doing your job and somebody else’s for half the money and finally to

14

FlightCom Magazine

destroy your job by getting somebody else to do it as well as their own and the extra one you were given, for two thirds of the payment. “…And if you don’t like it, you know what you can do!”

And that’s what’s happening with our industry as well. The guys at the coal face are simply digging more coal for the same, or possibly less, money.

And...what happened to the coal industry in Britain?

“What coal industry?” I hear you ask.

Precisely!

There isn’t one any more, in the UK. Are you still listening? 

Industry Overview:

HITTING AIRLINES HARDER THAN EXPECTED

Brian Pearce

In a presentation to the CAPA conference in January, IATA’s chief economist Brian Pearce said that for airlines, the transition from cash burn to cash generation might not arrive before the end of this year.

S

peaking online in the CAPA webinar, Pearce said: “We will have a very difficult three to six months ahead of us. Nonetheless

the financial markets trading airline stocks are behaving as if the pandemic is already over: See Figure 1:

Figure 1: Airline Stock Prices have recovered

FlightCom Magazine

15

A lot has to be done before the airlines can become cash generators by the end of this year, while cash burn is going to continue for the next six months.

And indeed, in certain regions such as Europe, it may well increase because of the immediate challenges. See Figure 2:

Figure 2: Airline Cash Burn

The availability of vaccines has transformed vaccinated, and indeed ultimately herd immunity, the outlook. Research from Airfinity (Figure 3), will vary from country to country shows that the timing of vulnerable groups being

Figure 3: Vaccine Roll-out

16

FlightCom Magazine

Industry Overview:

It is looking fairly positive for major developed economies. The availability of vaccines could allow vulnerable groups to be vaccinated in North America and Europe by the second quarter, which points to a much more positive outlook for the second half of next year. However, that’s not going to be the case in all markets. Particularly

some emerging markets in developing economies will take longer, so full recovery is going to take time. And indeed, if we look at what’s been happening over the past six months, what started in the summer as a recovery in global air travel, completely stalled after August.

Figure 4: Recovery stops

We have just seen global passenger kilometres flown flat-lining, and there’s been some deterioration. The consequence for average 2021 growth outcomes is going to be weighed down by the very weak start to the year. The reason is that, outside of Asia, we found that the control of the virus was much more

difficult than had been expected in the summer.

We have seen this very severe second wave in Europe, and a severe third wave in North America, which has caused travel restrictions and economic lockdowns to be re-imposed.

Figure 5: Domestic recovery

FlightCom Magazine

17

It depends also on the outlook of consumers. If we look at the activity on major air travel websites as an indication of passenger and consumer confidence and willingness to travel, we have not seen much of an upturn. Which again I think is a concern for the short term outlook, but I don’t think that it is

much of a concern for the end of this year when vaccination should be playing a major role. Over the next quarter, prospects look pretty weak. But there is strong evidence of pent-up demand for air travel, particularly for the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and the leisure sectors.

Figure 6: Second and Third Covid waves

Figure 7: International travel flat-lines

18

FlightCom Magazine

relaxed, there has been a surge of bookings,

saw a dramatic surge of bookings between the UK

is pent-up demand. However, subsequently we

requirement to quarantine in mid-November, we

and the UAE. And we have seen that in a number

of cases, whenever travel restrictions have been

Industry Overview:

When the UK removed the UAE from a

particularly for VFR and leisure travel. So there have seen the impact of what happened in the UK with a new variant of the virus.

Figure 8: Pent-up demand for travel

FIGURE 9: Forward Bookings

FlightCom Magazine

19

If we look at forward bookings, the immediate prospects are not good. And if we compare the first three months of the quarter in [Figure 9], the red bars show the fourth quarter of year-on-year bookings. This shows some deterioration as we move through the fourth quarter. The blue bars show the three months of the first quarter which show we are expecting some deterioration in travel in the first quarter of this of this year, as a result of the economic lockdowns and travel restrictions,

so the outlook for the end of the year is positive because of the vaccines. However, the immediate prospects look extremely challenging. For this reason, we think we are talking about a multi-year recovery, rather than a recovery in several months.

The weak start to 2021 is going to mean that the average 2021 numbers will be low, even if there is a significant improvement at the end of this year, once vaccination allows travel restrictions to be reduced.

Figure 10: Recovery to Previous Levels

As can be seen from the blue line in Figure 10, our baseline forecast is for recovery this year. In fact there is a 50% gain on low 2020 levels, but it will leave global markets measured by passenger kilometres flown still 50% below 2019 levels, with a much stronger pick up in 2022. It also depends on where the airline is based. If you are based in China,

Cargo

you already have seen a full recovery of domestic air travel. Chinese airlines have already seen a return to profitability. That is obviously not true for airlines in other regions, including the US, which has the biggest domestic market, but in particular those airlines reliant on international air travel are where we have not seen any substantial recovery so far.

The cargo business is doing very well as a result of the passenger fleet, which typically carries half of the cargo volumes. the exceptional yields that have resulted from the shortage of capacity, because of the grounding of

20

FlightCom Magazine

Industry Overview: Figure 11: Air Cargo Yields

So, in contrast to the passenger business, the cargo business is doing well and now we are seeing network decisions based, not on high yield business traffic, but on cargo. I think that strong cargo revenues are likely to be a feature of this

year as well as last year. However, over the longer term this is not likely to last. Once capacity comes back on the passenger side, those years are likely to normalise.

Figure 12: But Cargo is a small part of Revenue

The reality is that cargo is just not a big enough business to offset the loss of a near catastrophic fall in passenger revenues. [Figure 5]. Even with a

very substantial increase in cargo revenues, cargo doesn’t make much difference at an industry level for most airlines.

FlightCom Magazine

21

Bailouts

Although we are expecting to see some improvement in revenues this year, they will still be considerably below where they were expected to be, which requires much more reduction in costs to end cash burn. The first half of the year is going to be very challenging. However, we have not seen very many

airlines fail and that is because governments in most countries have stepped in and have provided almost $200 billion in cash to fill the holes in the balance sheets and in profit and loss accounts. This has kept the industry on life support.

Figure 13: Government support

However, it has left the patient shackled with considerable debt, which is going to affect performance and behaviour as the industry moves

into a recovery phase. Further, it is not just the debt from government aid, as many airlines have been sourcing capital markets to provide cash for survival.

Figure 14: Government and Private Loans to airlines

22

FlightCom Magazine

Industry Overview:

The industry has probably raised its net debt by about 50% over the past year to something like $650 billion. That will shape behaviour over the next few years as, to a large extent, this is

unsustainable. Airlines will want to de-leverage and this will be the focus of those airlines, rather than on shareholder returns, as they come out of this crisis.

Figure 16: Cash Reserves

If we then look at cash balances compared to cash burn, some airlines have substantial resources to stay alive during the next six months before we see vaccines make a difference to passenger revenues. However, that doesn’t apply to all airlines. There are some on the right hand side ofd this diagram with relatively low cash balances. We

know bookings at the moment are deteriorating because of travel restrictions. We are going to need governments to either provide more aid or to put in place testing regimes that will allow a recovery of passenger revenues ahead of the vaccinations we are expecting to transform the environment, at least later this year.

FlightCom Magazine

23

Industry Update:

GULF AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS RELAXED

In a wave of reconciliation sweeping across the Gulf States, the United Arab Emirates has reopened its borders and airspace to Qatar after boycotting the small energy-rich country alongside its Gulf allies since 2017.

F

URTHER, Saudi Arabia has announced

the reopening of its airspace and borders with Qatar. National carrier Qatar Airways said it had started to reroute some flights through Saudi airspace, with the first flight over Saudi skies from Doha to Johannesburg on 8 January.

The move comes after Saudi Arabia declared a breakthrough in settling the years long rift with Qatar during the annual Gulf summit, saying the kingdom would restore diplomatic ties and that its allies would follow suit.

Associated Press reports that the UAE indicated that its restoration of full diplomatic relations with Qatar would take longer. The report said the UAE is continuing talks to “end all other outstanding issues.” Opposition to Qatar’s support for Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood runs deeper in

24

FlightCom Magazine

the UAE than in Saudi Arabia, which is primarily concerned with Qatar’s close ties with regional foe Iran.

Bahrain and Egypt, which had joined the UAE and Saudi Arabia in isolating Doha, have yet to publicly elaborate on their pledges to ease the boycott signed in January in the ancient Saudi desert site of al-Ula. The four Arab states severed commercial and diplomatic ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing the country of financing extremist groups in the region, charges that Doha denies.

It was believed that the boycott pushed Qatar closer to Iran, by for instance forcing Qatar Airways to change routes through Iranian skies. It is estimated that this has given the Islamic Republic hundreds of millions of dollars in overflight fees.

The reopening of Saudi and Emirati airspace

to Qatar is critical as the country prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is expected to draw over 1 million foreign soccer fans.

ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu also welcomed the new developments from the Gulf, recalling that the ICAO Secretariat, through its Regional Office in Cairo, had rapidly established contingency routes to ensure the safety and regularity of international flights in and out of Qatar when the restrictions were first imposed.

“We were grateful to fulfil this important role when called upon,” she noted, “and to help assure that international air transport in the affected areas remained as safe, secure, and efficient as possible while the restrictions were in force.” 

W N E EW B S IT E

Qatar Flights before and after the airspace and overflight blockade.

FlightCom Magazine

25

Defence - Darren Olivier

Bell's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, based on the humble B206, has proven hard to replace.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SCOUT HELICOPTER Africa is characterised by asymmetric warfare which requires the larger, more technologically advanced combatant to be able to exercise dominance over small, convoluted and inaccessible places. These places may be dense urban environments such as cities or shack settlements, or remote jungles. This requires small, agile helicopters that can provide fast point to point intervention.

26

FlightCom Magazine

T

most successful of these small agile helicopters has been the American OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, based on Bell’s ubiquitous 206A JetRanger. However, it is now largely obsolete – and the search for a replacement has thrown up two fascinatingly different approaches – and thus contenders.

It’s a sign of just how remarkable the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior was as an armed reconnaissance scout helicopter that the US Army has spent more than 20 years trying, and failing, to replace it with a slew of failed programmes.

First was the overly ambitious RAH-66 Comanche, a stealthy design meant to be able to fly deep into enemy territory well-defended by antiaircraft systems. While impressive, the programme was killed in 2004 after $7 billion had been spent on it and numerous delays had made the in-service date increasingly uncertain.

HE

Second was the ARA-70A Arapaho, which attempted to keep costs down by using an off-theshelf commercial helicopter — the Bell 407 — and adapting it to carry the necessary sensors and weapons. It was a disaster, with development costs tripling compared to original plans and integration issues causing unacceptable delays. The Army pulled the plug on it at the end of 2008.

In 2013 Army planners tried again to launch a replacement programme, called the Armed Aerial Scout, but couldn’t get approval from the service’s leaders after it became clear that they still faced the same inherent inability to find a sweet spot between schedule, cost, and capability.

Eventually budget decisions forced the retirement of the OH-58D fleet without a direct replacement, with the Army moving AH-64D Apaches from the National Guard and Reserves into new Armed Reconnaissance Squadrons to take up the role previously carried out by the OH-58Ds. But

Bell's 360 Invictus is a relatively conventional design.

FlightCom Magazine

27

experience has shown this to be a sub-optimal solution, with the AH-64s being too large and unwieldy for the scouting task, even when paired with MQ-1 Gray Eagle UAVs to extend their reach.

At the same time, experience gained from

Long-range covert infiltration is now understood to be impossibly risky with modern air defence systems. the years of hard operational use of the Army’s helicopters in Afghanistan and Iraq had begun to bear fruit in terms of new technologies developed as a result of lessons learned. And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 caused a review of the Army’s

A Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche prototype during a test flight.

28

FlightCom Magazine

aviation tactics and a recognition that even with UAVs there remained a need for a fast and agile armed reconnaissance helicopter able to fly at extreme low level both in the countryside and cities.

These coalesced into a broad new programme called Future Vertical Lift (FVL), which combines four interlinked projects: 1. Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) A new optionally-piloted 6-tonne lightweight armed reconnaissance helicopter, able to operate in confined spaces, cruise at 180 knots, dash at over 200 knots, and with a size and rotor diameter small enough to fly between buildings.

2.

Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) A replacement for the UH-60 Black Hawk, with requirements to carry 12 fully-equipped troops out to a distance of 2,440 nautical miles at a cruise speed of 280 knots.

3.

Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) A standardised set of open standards and

requirements for avionics and associated software, intended to avoid vendor lock-in and ensure that any supplier can offer modular components that can be integrated seamlessly onto the aircraft, or even provide line replaceable units (LRUs) that replace multiple discrete functions, without the need to redesign the controlling systems. Both FARA and FLRAA will also have separated digital buses for flight critical and missionoriented systems, so that changes can be rolled out and tested rapidly without affecting the core flight critical controls.

4. Future Unmanned Aerial System (FUAS).

This includes: • A new long-range Advanced UAS (AUAS) to replace the Gray Eagle.

• A shorter-ranged Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) to replace the RQ-7 Shadow.

• And most interestingly, Air Launched Effects (ALE), a set of tiny drones small enough to be launched from the FARA concept and designed to be everything from off-board decoys to electronic warfare jammers. Dozens of them can swarm intelligently and communicate using ad hoc mesh networks.

Along with this has come a fundamental rethink of the US Army’s approach to operating helicopters in attacks against highly defended enemies. Long-range covert infiltration, for which the RAH-66 Comanche was optimised, is now understood to be impossibly risky with modern air defence systems.

Instead, the FARA will dart around the front lines, down city streets and around buildings while dispensing ALE drones to either conduct longer-

ranged surveillance of key areas or to disrupt enemy defences and command and control networks. Heavy use will be made of various artificial intelligence (AI) approaches such as neural networks trained to identify the most high-threat targets, or the optimal order in which to take out enemy vehicles.

Unlike the old approach where OH-58Ds and AH-64Ds would be paired up in ‘hunter-killer’ combinations, the future FARA will be digitally linked to all friendly forces including troops on the ground, long-range artillery, AH-64Es, and so on, and able to pass on information or call in strikes from whichever is best placed to respond. For targets small enough to take out itself, the FARA will be armed with Spike NLOS missiles, the XM915 20mm cannon, and other weapons.

The basic concept is to use the ability of the future US Army to co-ordinate rapidly, move forces around quickly, and launch precise yet powerful attacks on enemy positions all over the map in order to disrupt the enemy’s air defence network badly enough to

The basic concept is to move forces quickly, and launch precise yet powerful attacks on enemy positions all over the map start to open up gaps and channels through which the FARA and FLRAA helicopters can make highspeed runs in order to further disrupt enemy systems, drop troops to take key locations, and expand the breach until it’s large enough for older generation

FlightCom Magazine

29

aircraft like Apaches to come in and use their superior firepower to further turn the tide of battle.

Obviously, pulling this off puts extremely high demands on the FARA type, with it needing to be quiet, survivable enough to be on the front lines, small and nimble enough to dodge in and around buildings and city streets to avoid detection and being fired on, and yet still able to cruise at over 180 knots and have at least 200 knots dash speed.

In 2020 the US Army down-selected the FARA contenders to two options, one conventional and lower-risk and the other far more revolutionary in its approach. These will fly off against each other beginning in 2022, with a final selection to be made before 2028.

One is the Bell 360 Invictus, a conventional design with two crew in a tandem configuration, a single General Electric T901 engine, four-blade articulated rotor system, stub wings providing 50% of the lift at high speed, and a shrouded tail rotor. It’s based on Bell’s 525 Relentless civilian helicopter.

The other, arguably more interesting, competitor is the Sikorsky Raider X, a compound helicopter with two crew in a side-by-side configuration and a single GE T901 driving a coaxial counter-rotating rigid rotor system and a pusher propeller. Sikorsky claims that the Raider X’s max speed will be in excess of 250 knots, as a result of testing conducted on the basic design during the preceding S-97 Raider and X2 demonstrator projects.

Traditionally, helicopters have been prevented from reaching speeds of around 250 knots by retreating blade stall on the one hand and the risk of blade tips going supersonic on the other. The Raider X (and S-97 & X2) solve this problem through an ingenious mechanism that reduces the rotations per minute (rpm) of the main rotors down to around 85% of maximum.

Not only does this reduce the onset of retreating blade stall and supersonic tip travel, but it reduces fuel used during cruise. The same technique can be used at low speeds too, in order to reduce the acoustic signature of the helicopter during scouting missions, when it can also switch off its pusher propeller to be even quieter.

It seems beyond doubt that the Raider X is the more impressive, and probably more capable, of the two contenders, but that is not what’s going to determine the winner of the FARA competition. If Bell can prove that its conventional 360 Invictus can meet the FARA requirements while offering low enough risk and cost, it’ll win the day against the faster and more technically-ambitious Raider X. But whichever design wins, it’s clear that the Future Vertical Lift programme as a whole is bringing about a revolutionary set of changes in the way the US Army uses helicopters in combat. This is the way of the future: Integrated and mutually supporting hightechnology systems with a high degree of manned/ unmanned teaming, AI decision-making, mesh-based sensor networks, and a focus on rapid mobility and precision over brute force firepower.  The Sikorsky Raider X is far more innovative and has the speed required.

30

FlightCom Magazine

SA Flyer 2021|02

HELICOPTER OPERATIONS IN ALL CONDITIONS,

NO COMPROMISE CAPE BASED AGA HELICOPTERS SETS THE SAFETY STANDARD FOR THE MOST DEMANDING OFFSHORE HELICOPTER OPERATIONS AND MEDEVAC RESCUES. • Using our fleet of H145 twin engine IFR approved helicopters we can service moving ships 130nm out to sea in all weather conditions.

• We also provide VIP tours of the ‘Fairest Cape in all the world’, with our vast experience in offshore operations.

AGA Helicopters has its own world-class specialist maintenance operation in FliteTech which can look after your helicopter needs.

Quality • Safety • Integrity

TO FIND OUT MORE: Office: +27 21 934 9127 Operations: +27 60 971 3556 email: Opsmanager@aeriosglobal.co.za

www.aeriosglobal.co.za

Airlines M orne B ooij -L iewes

Lift’s first departure from OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday 10 December.

lif t

LIFT-OFF FOR

32

FlightCom Magazine

The launch of a new low cost carrier (LCC) in South Africa – by someone who has a track record of success in LLC startups is a big story. And notably, the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic would seem to be the worst time to launch a new airline.

T

he pandemic has decimated the airline and hospitality industry worldwide, but this is exactly what business maverick Gidon Novick did with Lift, by commencing scheduled services on 10 December.

The launch takes advantage of the busy festive season travel period in South Africa.

The new lowcost carrier links Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport with Cape Town and George, with more routes to be added in due course. Services are operated with a fleet of three Airbus A320s fitted with a 174-seat single-class interior. These planes are operated by Global Aviation Operations (Pty) Ltd. t/a Global Airways who also supply the flight and cabin crew.

The carrier’s name was decided through a social media campaign, launched in October, that attracted more than 25,000 entries. The winning name ‘Lift’, apart from capturing the marvel of the physics of flying‚ also encapsulates its owners’ view of the world and South Africa. It aims to leverage the anticipated increase in demand for domestic air travel as the COVID-19 pandemic abates and vaccines become available.

But with the socalled ‘second wave’ hitting South Africa in December 2020, it is anticipated that this increased demand will only be realised in 2021.

Winston Churchill famously said; “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” And it is exactly this sentiment that prompted Gidon Novick to embark

“Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Lift CEO Gidon Novick being interviewed by SABC TV news.

FlightCom Magazine

33

Lift has two versions of its livery, one with a yellow tail and the other with a black tail as shown here.

on launching a new airline. Novick has aviation in his blood, with his father being one of the founders of Comair, while he was responsible for launching the airline’s low-cost subsidiary Kulula.com in 2001. He explains that the inspiration for launching Lift came with the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a new airline offering flexibility as the world is changing.

He returns to the South African airline industry after a ten-year absence with business partner Jonathan Ayache, who is the former head of operations for Uber in sub-Saharan Africa. They hope to position Lift as an “Uber-thinking” airline operation.

34

FlightCom Magazine

Ground staff getting ready for lift-off.

“Lift will provide value and flexibility and not just low prices,” says Gidon. “We plan to offer some unique products with flexible booking options including penaltyfree cancellations, if done within 24 hours of your flight’s departure. “If the fare for your newly selected flight is higher‚ you’ll just need to pay the difference. If it’s lower‚ we’ll credit you. Need to change traveller name details? No problem. No charge.”

All onboard drinks and snacks are provided by catering partners Vida e Cafe while ground and cabin crew uniforms are supplied by the online fashion retailer, Superbalist. Lift has also partnered with the top wine-producing farms in the country to create a wine tasting experience onboard late afternoon and evening flights. 

Where romance meets nature

Located in South Africa’s Safari hub of Hoedspruit, Safari Moon is a boutique base from which to discover the wonders of South Africa’s Lowveld region. Explore a range of nearby attractions from the famed Kruger National park to the scenic Panorama Route, or simply chose to relax and unwind in nature, making the most of your private piece of Wildlife Estate wilderness.

CONTACT: bookings@safarimoon.co.za 083 449 5868

FlightCom Magazine

35

THE CAA DOSSIER – SERIES 2

Fallout from the DFE Saga A few years ago I ran a series of articles I called ‘The CAA Dossier’ which articulated the frustrations of the aviation community at the manifold problems within the SACAA. WORDS: GUY LEITCH

The CAA's Senior Manager did not know who the PIC is on a flight test.

36

FlightCom Magazine

I

T is a great pity that I am now

compelled to resurrect the series. It appears that the CAA is unable to learn from its mistakes. And even more worrying is that elements of the CAA are using its legal muscle to wage personal vendettas.

It is deeply concerning that the old practices persist, despite what previous judgements have described as the CAA’s ‘legal frolics’ having been slapped down by the Department of Transport’s Civil Aviation Appeal Committee (CAAC) – and now the CCMA. Back in May 2018, in #4 of my series of the CAA Dossiers, I covered the battle between the CAA’s inspectorate and Designated Flight Examiners (DFEs) who are responsible for the maintenance of flying standards in the real world.

It’s often said that, while the wheels of justice grind slowly, they grind very finely. It has taken almost two years, but the toxic fallout from the CAA’s attack on the DFEs has returned to once again shine a light on the regulator’s failures – which are now laid bare. In 2018 I de-identified the key players in the battle over DFE oversight. Now the battle has been waged in public, in the labour arbitration courts, and the key protagonists’ names are in the public domain.

Mr Christopher Beavitt was the Senior Flight Inspector involved in DFE oversight in the CAAs action against Captain John Campbell. After the award of damages to John Campbell, Chris Beavitt was made the scapegoat in that he was suspended and then terminated. He appealed to the CCMA and a protracted arbitration (that seemed like a war of attrition over a year and 12 court days) was held.

Finally, over 2 to 4 November 2020 it drew to a close.

It is noteworthy that Chris Beavitt was represented by Mr. E Pio of the Solidarity Trade Union. It is also heartening that the pilots stood together, in that Beavitt was supported by Captain John Campbell, a (former?) Senior Captain and DFE at SAA – and an attorney.

Beavitt argued that his dismissal had been both substantially and procedurally unfair. From the judgment it is apparent that the CAA went to the most extraordinary lengths to justify its dismissal of him. At times the legal wrangling degenerated into farce with arguments as basic as whether Pietermaritzburg has a VOR, who the PIC is on a training flight and whether an IF renewal needs an

Chris Beavitt was made the scapegoat aircraft with a constant speed prop. Perhaps not surprising to the cynics, it turned out that the senior CAA investigator into the legal action did not know what a VOR was. No wonder the CAA appeared to be blundering about, like a blind bull in in the proverbial china shop.

In an extraordinarily damming finding, the CCMA commissioner concluded that the CAA’s ‘investigation’ of Chris Beavitt began the week after John Campbell had won his suit against the CAA. The CCMA commissioner noted that both Chris Beavitt’s career and good name were sacrificed as collateral damage in a retributive attack on John Campbell. Para 81 of the judgment lays the vindictive nature of Beavitt’s dismissal clear: “Mr. Campbell was previously accused by

FlightCom Magazine

37

CAA Inspector Chris Beavitt - in pensive mood.

Mr. Devan Venter of breaching the CARs. Mr. Campbell had sued CAA and won, and CAA was ordered to pay him R96,000. ….. the investigation against him [Beavitt] was started 3 or 4 days later.”

Knowing that in this toxic environment, everything he did was likely to be used against him, Beavitt obtained written approval from the acting licensing manager [Ms Amanda Haverkamp], as Beavitt’s direct manager, Mr Pule Ramolefi was in jail (for murder!). So Beavitt had requested and obtained approval. Yet another inspector [Eric Mataba] who conducted a DFE oversight shortly thereafter, had not had to obtain approval. This would indicate unfairness and double standards.

Inevitably – when the chips are down and the veneer of civility is pulled back, race entered the mix. Eric Mataba, in a rambling hour-long rant,

took umbrage that Beavitt used the allegedly pejorative name, ‘Goffel’ on www.avcom.co.za.

Mataba unilaterally decided that the term was derogatory, even though Beavitt had happily chosen to use his long standing nickname.

The situation further degenerates into the classic South African mess, in para 92: “….. [Beavitt’s] wife was attacked in 2016 and was badly beaten; she was affected mentally. In 2017 he was involved in a fatal car accident ……...

He was on medication.

He had said a number of times that he wanted to stop the interview …. Mr. Powrie had subsequently told him that he was “collateral damage” indicating that the real target was Mr. Campbell. He also threatened to charge him and Mr. Campbell under the corruption act.”

Para 108 of the judgment astoundingly notes

the classic South African mess

38

FlightCom Magazine

that the CAA did not know who the pilot in command is when there is a student being tested by a qualified instructor.

Para 116 lays bare the extent of the CAA’s determination to extract vengeance on Captain Campbell, who had received “a scathing judgment” in his favour [see SA Flyer WUCAA#4 May 2018].

The commissioner struck all of these allegations down and noted; “Despite this past failure, the applicant [Beavitt] was charged with the same allegations. In the disciplinary hearing Powrie acknowledged that if he had known earlier what he then knew, he would not have proceeded with many of the charges. They also admitted to lying to him about the source of the complaint (Devan Venter). He said that Venter, Eschmann and Van Niekerk had been charged with conflict of interest, but this was not true.”

The 36 page judgment is filled with unrelenting criticism of the CAA. Procedural error after procedural error are noted in paragraphs 131 and 132. Para 133 starts off, “As a former CCMA commissioner, Mr. Hlongwane [for the CAA] should have known better. The procedural errors as well as some inexplicable decisions made in the absence of any evidence whatsoever give rise to a perception that Mr. Hlongwane is biased in favour of the respondent.” On the basis of these serious procedural errors, the commissioner found that the dismissal of the applicant [Beavitt] was procedurally unfair (and went so far as to describe Hlongwane as an embarrassment).

The CCMA commissioner then examined the fairness of the dismissal, point by point, finding that the CAA had been unfair. Of particular note

is that Chris Beavitt had been charged for; “gross dishonest behaviour and misrepresentation or supplying incorrect or falsified information.” Again, the commissioner had no hesitation in a finding the applicant not guilty on all of the charges.

The commissioner makes the bold statement that; “My findings as set out above are premised on an acceptance that the applicant and Mr. Campbell were generally credible witnesses whose evidence completely corresponded. The same could not be said for some of the respondent’s witnesses, for example Mr Baloye’s evidence that there was no VOR Beacon in Pietermaritzburg, which he only retracted when shown a photograph of the beacon.”

Amazingly Baloye still argued about the existence of the VOR and drove to Pietermaritzburg at CAA expense to see for himself whether or not there was a VOR transmitter. [He could have looked on Google Earth].

Another point was CAA’s Executive Head of Aviation Safety Operations, Mr. Simon Segwabe’s insistence that the applicant was the Pilot in Command, when this was manifestly not the case.

Further, Mr. Mataba’s evidence of having attended workshops “in the boardroom” was highly suspect and despite the respondent being requested on numerous occasions to present proof of such workshops, no such proof … was forthcoming.

The CAA’s claim that Mr. Mataba was a qualified instructor in South Africa was disproven when Mr Mataba conceded that he had no South African instructor’s rating. (In fact not only had the CAA’s Mr Mataba claimed that he had been a South African instructor, but he claimed he had been a Captain at Nationwide and Airlink, yet he had been

the vindictive nature of Beavitt’s dismissal

FlightCom Magazine

39

just a co-pilot. He also made the extraordinary claim that he had a Master’s degree and PhD – on the basis of an ALTP licence.)

In the next paragraph the commissioner concludes that “the unavoidable inference is that the applicant [Beavitt] was singled out over others for disciplinary action.”

Also of note to anyone who engages in online social media is that the commissioner dealt at some length with Beavitt’s participation in the www.avcom.co.za internet forum. In para 166 the commissioner writes; “this brings us to the posts by Goffel in January, February and March 2020. The applicant did not dispute that he wrote these posts. [but] ….., they should be seen in the context of an unfair dismissal dispute in which

The VOR Transmitter at Pietermaritzburg Airport.

40

FlightCom Magazine

arbitration had already commenced in December 2019 as well as the grossly unfair nature of the applicants dismissal. The Applicant did not criticise any particular individuals. I do not regard these comments as constituting grounds for refusal to reinstate the applicant.”

And so the CAA was ordered to reinstate Chris Beavitt with effect from 1 December 2020 and not only that, but it was ordered to pay backpay of R1,258,537 plus bonuses and increases.

This award of more than R1.25 million is huge, particularly given the size of the CAA’s current financial problems due to the lack of passenger levies from the Covid-19 lockdown. In addition, it is reckoned by Campbell that the CAA’s own legal expenses for this protracted legal wrangle could

amount to around R4 million.

This is good money wasted after the award of the original R97,000 to John Campbell. A loss this big will hopefully serve as a lesson to the regulator not to embark upon legal retribution frolics at the behest of middle managers with personal vendettas.

not been paid for 18 months, and like the SAA SAAPA pilots, has now been locked out of his job.

In a bullying tactic, the CAA is using its almost limitless institutional resources to apply crushing financial pressure on Beavitt. 

>>>>>

UPDATE:

Despite the harshly critical judgment of the CCMA against it, the CAA is ‘doubling down’ and continuing to pursue the "lawfare" route against Beavitt. The CAA has therefore submitted notice to appeal the judgement. This then effectively freezes Chris Beavitt’s pay-out of R1.25m and, adding insult to injury, the CAA has also instructed Beavitt to not return to work. Chris Beavitt has

PETER GARRISON’S NEW BOOK! Acclaimed SA Flyer (and Flying magazine) columnist Peter Garrison has just released a book of noteworthy accident analyses, and lessons to be learned, from his ‘Aftermath’ series.

He writes: “I’ve put a bunch of slightly used but still serviceable Aftermaths into a book called “Why? Thinking About Plane Crashes”, which is for sale on Amazon Books as both a Kindle ebook and a paperback.”

Guy Leitch highly recommends it; “I downloaded it for just US$5.75 on kindle and the profound insights to be gained from these accidents will make us all better pilots. From the risks of ‘taking a look’ at dubious VFR conditions, to showing-off in front of our friends, there are 32 invaluable lessons. This book should be part of every pilot’s prescribed reading list.”

FlightCom Magazine

41

THE CAA DOSSIER – SERIES 2

SOME THOUGHTS ON RACE AND MIDDLE MANAGERS

W

HILE this CAA Dossier

is once again critical of the CAA, I feel it opportune to note that despite the judgement’s discussion of the race of ‘Goffel’, what is noteworthy about these ‘lawfare’ battles is that they are almost always driven by a toxic white minority within the CAA. Allow me to go out on a limb and state that the leadership of Ms Poppy Khoza is to be recognised and indeed congratulated in that the three key challenges faced by state organisations in South Africa are largely absent within the CAA. These three challenges are: racism, maladministration and corruption.

The question of why the small minority of white middle managers within the CAA are behaving so badly intrigues me, and I offer again the speculative insights I shared in my May 2018 article. I wrote; “There has been much speculation as to what the real problem with these TSO inspectors is. There is a school of thought that believes the problem is that these inspectors are classic flightless ‘turkeys’.

They stand accused of being failures as pilots, and so ended up as flightless ‘turkeys’ in the CAA. (One of the inspectors reportedly crashed a Beechcraft Duchess at his first attempt at multiengine instruction and will now no longer fly in general aviation aircraft! This accident was written up by our Jim Davis in his February 2016 accident review.)

42

FlightCom Magazine

Their lack of success as pilots is then compounded by the position they find themselves in at the CAA and in the ‘new’ South Africa.

[An] insightful pilot friend, who has the time to contemplate these things, reckons that these dinosaur white males feel that they have gone from being ‘die baas van die plaas’ to marginalised and unwelcome relics that are neither liked nor appreciated by the new younger and blacker talent in their organisations. Feeling disempowered and frustrated, these old guard relics tend to lash out in frustration at anyone perceived to be more successful than themselves. And they have the power vested in them by the CAA to do this.

“Part of the challenge faced by Ms Poppy Khoza as Director of the CAA may be: “Decisions of import are being made on the ground by officials with an axe to grind, and there is no oversight of them. This leads to incorrect decisions placing undue liability stress on the CAA. There is a reason they keep losing the court battles. The solution is simple: require all disciplinary and enforcement matters to be heard by a committee comprising CAA senior officers and two outside non-executive people of sufficient standing in the aviation community. This would save the CAA an awful lot of time and money.”

It’s a great pity that what I wrote 18 months ago still seems more relevant than ever.



Industry Update:

PILATUS DELIVERS

PC-24

T

HE Swiss plane maker delivered its first

PC-24: I’m very encouraged by such high demand.

We’re already sold out for 2021, but the order book is open for deliveries from 2022 onward.

Investment in the PC-24 helps us to secure jobs at our Swiss site on a long-term basis. We are also working on further optimisations.”

The PC-24's flat-floored cabin measures 501 cubic ft and can seat up to 10 passengers. Pilatus now offers an in-flight catering insert as an option on new PC-24s.

The single-pilot-operable jet is powered by two Williams FJ44-4A turbofan engines, and it features a unique double-slotted flap system, helping to provide its short-and-rough-field capability.

Deliveries in 2020 and 2021 carried a base price of $10.7 million. 

PC-24 in February 2018, and the now 100-strong fleet has logged more than 33,500 hours globally.

Four PC-24s have now been delivered in Southern Africa from agents Pilatus PC-12 Centre based at Rand Airport. The fourth PC-24, ZS-NIO, arrived in South Africa in January 2020, and goes to Newcastle based Ni-Da Trucking company – the ideal aircraft to support their 500 vehicle trucking operations across Southern Africa.

Ni-Da has a wide variety of business interests including; property development, retail, hospitality, tourism, entertainment and farming. The company has a long history of successfully operating a PC-12, ZS-NID, and the upgrade to the PC-24 reaffirms their commitment to the Pilatus range.

With the ability to utilise Pilatus 100th PC24. unimproved airstrips, fly steep approach profiles, and deliver a 2,000-nm range and cruise speed of 440 ktas—the PC-24 has earned the approval of operators such as the Royal Flying Doctors Service in Australia.

The 100th PC-24 was delivered to Jetfly, which already operates 40 PC12s—based in Bournemouth, UK. Oscar J. Schwenk, Chairman of Pilatus Aircraft, said in a press release, “We hit the bullseye with the

FlightCom Magazine

43

HELICOPTER AND FIXED WING PILOT TRAINING Durban: +27 31 571 6600

Mossel Bay: +27 44 692 0006

Drones

Club Facilities

Aircraft/Heli Sales

Accommodadtion

Microlights & Ferry Flights

Gyro-Copter Training

Beginners/Advanced

Aerobatic Training

Charters

Hire and Fly

Conferences

Pilot Shop

Tail Draggers

Helicopter Training

CPL Practical

CPL Theory

Conversions

Simulator Training

Instructors Rating

IF Rating

Night Rating

FAX NO

Multi Engine

TEL NO

Single Engined

CODE

Ab-Initio Training

NAME OF School

Turbine - GS Training

train@starliteaviation.com

BETHLEHEM Paramount Aviation

(058)

050 0493

info@flyparamount.co.za

(011)

914-5810

083-292-0978

j

jjjjjjj j j

jj j

j

j

BRAKPAN BENONI FABB Titanium Air

j

j

j

j

jj

j

CAPE TOWN Aviation Pilot Training

(021)

935 0719

Cape Town Flight Training Centre (021)

976 7053

admin@cape-town-flying.co.za j j j j j j j j j j j

jj j

j

Era Flug

(021)

934-7431

934-7435

jj j j

j

Durban Aviation Centre

(031)

573-2995

Starlite Aviation Training Academy

(031)

571-6600

www.starliteaviation.com

(043)

736-6181

086-516-8475

(044)

876-0096

Flight Training Services

(011)

805-9015/6

805-9018

j jjjjjjj j j

Superior Pilot Services

(011)

805-0605

805-0604

j j jjjjjjj j jj

Alpi Flight Academy

(082)

556-3592

086-605-8948

Aviatech Flight Academy

(082)

303 1124

www.aviatech.co.za/

j j jjjjj

j

jj

j jjjjjjj j j

j j

j

DURBAN j j jjjjjjj j j

j

j

j

j j jjjjjjj j jjjjj j jjj

jjjj

EAST LONDON Border Aviation Club

j jjjjjjj j jj

j

j

j

j

GEORGE AIRPORT Savannah Helicopter Training

jjj

j

j

j

jj

jj

j

GRAND CENTRAL j

j

jj

j

jj

j

j

j

KRUGERSDORP j jjjjj j

jjj

jj

j

jj

jjjjj j j

jj

j

j

j

jj j

LANSERIA AIRPORT / RANDBURG Aeronav Academy Gryphon Flight Academy Skyhawk Aviation

(011) (082) (011)

701-3862 562-5060 701-2622

701-3873 701-2623

j j jjjjjjj j j j jj j j jjjjjjj j j

(044)

692-0006

www.starliteaviation.com

j j jjjjjjj j jjjjj j jjj

(064)

756 6356

(041)

581-3274

086-461-7067

j jjjjjjj j j

Johannesburg School of Flying

(011)

827 9827

info@jsf.co.za

U Fly Training Academy

(011)

824-0680

390-1738

j jjjjjjj j j j j jjjjjjj j j

Richards Bay Air Carriers

(035)

786-0146/7

786-0145

Rustenburg Flying Club

(082)

821 1690

082 619 8633

j j

j j jj

j

j

j

MOSSEL BAY Starlite Aviation Training Academy

jjjj

PANORAMA Johannesburg Flying Academy

jj

jjj

jjj

j

j

j

jj j

j

jj j j jj

j j

jj

j

j

j

PORT ELIZABETH Algoa Flying Club

j

RAND AIRPORT

RICHARDS BAY8 RUSTENBURG

j jjjjj jjjj

jjj jj

j

j

jj

VEREENIGING AIRPORT Bird Aviation

(016)

556-1007

info@birdaviation.co.za

Desert Air (PTY) LTD

+264

61 228101

+264 61 254 345

j j jjjj

j

j

Blue Chip Flight School

(012)

543-3050

543-1826

Loutzavia

(012)

567-6775

543-1519

Legend Sky

(083)

860-5225

086-600-7285

Powered Flight Training

(078)

460-1231

086-666-2077

Vortx Aviation Training

(072)

480-0359

086-524-0949

j j jjjjjjj j jj j j j j j jjjjjjj j j jj j j j jjjjjjj jjj j j j j j jjjjj j jj jjj j j j jjj j jj jj

j j j j j

WINDHOEK - EROS AIRPORT

j jjjjjjj j j

jj

j

jj

WONDERBOOM AIRPORT / AEROPARK / RHINO PARK - PRETORIA111

44

Starlite Magazine Aviation Training Academy FlightCom

j

jj

jj

jjj jj j jj j j j j

www.starliteaviation.com

USAF DRONE FORCED LANDING

A

U.S. Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV ‘drone’ successfully force landed in Niger in West Africa.

U.S. Africa Command said the remotely piloted aircraft conducted an emergency landing in the vicinity of Agadez, Niger, on 23 January.

“The aircraft experienced a mechanical malfunction while conducting a routine mission in support of operations in the region,” the command said in a

pictures circulating on social media shows that a U.S. Army drone was armed with at least one AGM-114 Hellfire missile.

The MQ-1C Gray Eagle is manufactured by General Atomics. It is the latest version of the Predator series of drones, retooled and upgraded for Armyspecific needs. The Arme website said the MQ-1C has an endurance

of 25 hours, speeds up to 167 KTAS, can operate up to 29,000 feet, and carries 1,075 lb (488 kg) of internal and external payload.

The aircraft can carry multiple payloads aloft, including Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/ IR) with laser designation, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), communications relay, and four Hellfire missiles. 

The Gray Eagle drone after its forced landing in Niger.

✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

Britz

Rudi

Wonderboom Airport

083 422 9882

rudiavmed@gmail.com

Church

Belinda

Valhalla

079 636 9860

churchbs@live.com

Du Plessis

Alexander

Athlone Park

031 904 7460

dex.duplessis@intercare.co.za

Erasmus

Philip

Benoni

011 849 6512

pdceras-ass@mweb.co.za

Govender

Deena

Umhlanga Rocks

031 566 2066/7 deena@drdg.co.za

✗ ✗

Ingham

Kenneth

Midrand

011 315 5817

kaingham@hotmail.com

✗ ✗

Marais

Eugene

Mossel Bay

044 693 1470

eugene.marais@medicross.co.za

✗ ✗

Opperman

Chris

Pretoria Lynnwood

012 368 8800

chris.opperman@intercare.co.za

Schutz

Ernest

Germiston

011 825 5300

schutzfm@iafrica.com

Tenzer

Stan

Rand Airport & JHB CBD

083 679 0777

stant@global.co.za

✗ ✗ ✗

Toerien

Hendrik

White River, Nelspruit

013 751 3848

hctoerien@viamediswitch.co.za

✗ ✗ ✗

Van Der Merwe

Johann

Stellenbosch

021 887 0305

johann.vdmerwe@medicross.co.za

Van Niekerk

Willem

Benoni

011 421 9771

http://willemvanniekerk.co.za

Other countries

E-MAIL

EASA registered

TEL NO

FAA registered

LOCATION

Off-site Specialist tests

FIRST NAME

On site Specialist tests

SURNAME

Senior Class 1, 2, 3, 4

AME Doctors Listing

Regular Class 2, 3, 4

Twitter post.

According to a tweet from U.S. Africa Command, an investigation into the cause of the malfunction will take place. The aircraft is under observation.

Details are still limited, but

✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

✗ ✗

✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

FlightCom Magazine

45

AMO LISTING

CAPE TOWN

FAX NO

Sheet Metal Rebuilds Overhauls Electrics NDT Testing Refurbishments Structural Repairs Inspections NTCA Aircraft Seat Belts Instruments

CODE TEL NO

Interior

NAME OF AMO

Fixed Wing Helicopter Avionics Piston Engines Turbine Engines Propellers Weight / Balance Paint

AERO ENGINEERING & POWERPLANT

AES

(082)

494 3722

Cape Aircraft Interiors

(021)

934 9499

934 2022

ExecuJet South Africa

(021)

934 5764

934 2087

j

Placo

(079)

674 8351

076 901 6780

j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j jj

BAC Aviation Greystones Aviation Components

(035) (031)

797 3610 569 2614

797 5341 569 2630

Astwood Aircraft Electrical

(011)

315 9605

315 0094

Superior Rotorworx

(076)

595 2120

(082)

346 0150

086 697 9096

AES

(011)

701 3200

701 3232

Aircraft Assessing Company (Pty) Ltd

(083)

310 8588

Paull@aacglobal.co.za

jj

ExecuJet South Africa

(011)

516 2300

011 659 1071

j

Gem Air

(082)

905 5760

011 701 2653

j

Integrated Avionic Solutions

(082)

831 5032

012 567 7320

Lanseria Aircraft Interiors

(011)

659 1962

Plane Maintenance Facility

(011)

659 2204

SkySource International SA

(011)

900 4300

The Propeller Shop

(011)

701 3114

086 543 7988

Tynay Aviation

(082)

088 6663

011 659 1157/8 j

Diepkloof Aircraft Maintenance

(083)

454 6366

Aircraft Maintenance International Leading Edge Helicopters cc

(013) (013)

741 8221 741 5582

Ferreira Aviation Flightdeck Instrument Systems Westline Aircraft Maintenance

(051) (073) (051)

451 1682 513 3205 451 1717

Nevergreen Aircraft Industries Star Air Maintenance

(010) (011)

003 3747 395 2201

43 Air School

(046)

604 3686

(084) (011) (011) (011) (082)

710 0864 827 7535 827 2491 383 2024 445 4496

DURBAN

j

j

j

j j jj j

j jj

jjj j j j

j

jjjjjj

j

jj

j j

jj

jj

j

j

jj

jj j

jj

j

j

j

GRAND CENTRAL AIRPORT j jjjj

j j j jjjjjjjj

jj

KRUGERSDORP Skyworx Aviation

j

j

j j j jj

jjjj

LANSERIA AIRPORT

MALMESBURY NELSPRUIT

NEW TEMPE BLOEMFONTEIN

OR TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT PORT ALFRED

RAND AIRPORT

46

j

j j

j

jjj j j j jj

j

jjjj

j

j

j

j

j j

j

j

jj

jj pmf@myconnection.co.za

jjjjjj

j

j

j

j

jjj

j

jjjj

j j j jj

j

jjj

j

j

j

jj

j j

j

j

jj

jj

j j

jj

jjjj

082 787 0415 741 8188

jj

jj

j j

jjj

jjjj

451 1683

j

j

j

jj

jj

j j

j

jj

j

j

jj

jj

j

j

451 1641

jjjj

manager@nevergreen.co.za

j

973 4761

j

jj j j

jj j

j

jj

jjjjj

j

jj

j j j jjjj

j

j j j j jj

1

AMKA Aviation Pty (Ltd) Aerospace Electroplating Aviation Rebuilders CC Clifton Electronics Dynamic Propellers

FlightCom Magazine

j

827 9896

jj

lyn@aviationrebuilders.com

j

086 689 5645 086 548 2651

j jjj

j

jj

jj j

jj j

j

j j

Composite Manufacturing

Structural Repairs Inspections NTCA Aircraft Seat Belts Instruments

Sheet Metal Rebuilds Overhauls Electrics NDT Testing Refurbishments

FAX NO

Interior

CODE TEL NO

Fixed Wing Helicopter Avionics Piston Engines Turbine Engines Propellers Weight / Balance Paint

NAME OF AMO

RAND AIRPORT CONTINUED Emperor Aviation

(082)

497 1701

FLYONICS (Pty) Ltd

(082)

686 2374

michael@flyonics.co.za

Heli-Afrique cc

(011)

827 8632

086 503 1870

Placo (Pty) Ltd

(011) 827 9301

jjjj

j j j jjjj

j j

j jj

j

j jj

jj j

j

jj

j

j

827 3801

j

jjjjj j j jjjjj j jjjjj

(035)

786 0146/7 786 0145

j

jj

jj j j jjj

(083)

736 3969

086 508 6010

j

jj

jj j j

744 3412 110 4033 567 3443 741 8221 543 3196 802 1347 543 0948 301 9977 442 5884 543 0775 464 7130 749 9256

086 613 9922 082 565 2330

j

jj

j

j

j

j

j

jj

j

jj

jj

jj

RICHARDS BAY Alton Aero Engineering

j

SPRINGS AIRFIELD Legair Maintenance

WONDERBOOM AIRPORT - PRETORIA

208 Aviation Aerocore Aircraft Maintenance @ Work Pty Ltd Aircraft Maintenance International Adventure Air Aerotric Aero Engineering & Powerplant

Alpha One Aviation

AviSys Aviation Systems APCO Pty Ltd AVIA Instruments Avtech Aircraft Services Breytech Aviation cc

(083) (012) (012) (013) (012) (087) (012) (082) (083) (012) (082) (082) (012)

567 3500

Sport Plane Builders cc

(083)

361 3181

TAM Interiors

(083)

455 0215

Propeller Centre cc

(012)

567 1689

082 787 0415 543 2323

j jj

j

jjj

j jjj

j jj

aerotric@aol.com

j

543 9447

j

j

jj j

jj

086 618 6996 567 3630 086 602 6171 082 555 2808

jjjj j jjjjj

j

j

j j

j

j

jj

j j

jj

j

jjj

j

j

j

j

jj

086 643 0122

jj

j

jj j

086 514 5066

j

jj

j

jj

j

jjj

j

jjjj

j jjj

jj

j jjj

j

086 638 6821

j

j

j

j

j

NIGERIA - MURTALA MUHAMMED INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ExecuJet Aviation Nigeria Ltd

+2341 295 5110

j

j

j

j

jj

jj j

jj

j

JOHANNESBURG F Gomes Upholsters

(011)

614 2471

614 9806

jj

j

j

Comporob CC

(012)

940 4447

086 502 3689

jj

j

jj

M&N Acoustics Services Pty (Ltd)

(012)

689 2007

086 211 469

jjjjjjj

j

PRETORIA j

j

jj

j

• Overhaul / Shockload / Repair of Continental and Lycoming Aircraft engines; •Overhaul Engine; Components; •Overhaul and supply of Hartzell / McCauley and Fix pitch Propellers Hangar no 4, Wonderboom Airport , Pretoria PO Box 17699, Pretoria North, 0116 • Tel: (012) 543 0948/51 • Fax: (012) 543 9447 • email: aeroeng@iafrica.com AMO No: 227

FLIGHT SAFETY THROUGH MAINTENANCE

FlightCom Magazine

47

WORLD AIRLINE OUTLOOK FOR 2021 IATA's Alexandre de Juniac says that the airline industry will take years to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“

WHILE we still see airlines turning cash positive within the year, the nearterm picture is bleak. Instead of a boost from the year-end holiday period, we got even more restrictions. Governments tightened borders in a knee-jerk response to a virus mutation.

Canada, UK, Germany, Japan and others added testing to their COVID-19 measures without removing quarantine requirements. In other words, they have chosen policy measures that will shut down travel.”

“This approach tells us that these governments are not interested in managing a balanced approach to the risks of COVID-19. They appear to be aiming for a zero-COVID world. This

48

FlightCom Magazine

In a media briefing in January, IATA’s Alexandre de Juniac said that the world airline industry’s situation is still perilous. is an impossible task that comes with severe consequences—the full extent of which it would be impossible to calculate. But, with this approach, we know for sure that: • The travel and tourism economy will not recover.

• Jobs will continue to disappear.

• And the lockdown’s toll on people’s mental health will continue to grow—particularly on those who are separated from loved ones.

“A more balanced public policy approach is needed—one that is based on testing as a replacement for quarantines so that we can begin addressing the severe side-effects of COVID-19 policies.

“Science tells us that travellers will not be a significant factor in community transmission if testing is used effectively. But most governments have tunnel-vision on quarantine and are not at all focused on finding ways to safely re-open borders—or alleviate the self-imposed economic and mental health hardships of the lockdowns.”

De Juniac concluded by repeating a quote from the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. He emphasized the urgent need to re-start flying by saying that: “Aviation is an important engine of our world and will play a critical role in lifting the world to recovery from COVID-19. Let us ensure it receives the support it needs to keep the world’s nations connected and united.” 

Dangerous Goods

Hangarage

Export Docs & Clearing

Lodge Transfers

(armed)

Line Inspections

Security Based

Aircraft Leasing

Aerial Photography

Maintenance

Surveys

Aircraft Sales

Contracts

Safari Charters

Special Events

Helicopter

Freight

FAX NO

V.I.P

TEL NO

Biz-Jets

CODE

> 20 pax

NAME OF CHARTER

< 20 pax

CHARTER DIRECTORY

Long-Range

+27 (0) 11 917 4220 www.atlasoil.africa

BRAKPAN FABB Titanium Air

(011)

914 5810

083 292 0978

j

jjj

ExecuJet South Africa

(021)

934 5764

934 2087

jjjjj

jjjj

MS Aviation

(021)

531 3162

531 4209

jjjjjj

jjj

Streamline Air Charter

(011)

395 1195/8

jjjjj

jj

(031)

564 6215

564 6222

j

(011)

805-0652/82

805-0649

j

Batair Cargo

(011)

659 2000

701 2253

ExecuJet South Africa

(011)

516 2300

659 2520

Majestic Air Charters

(018)

632 6477

Out of the Blue Air Safaris

(011)

701 2653

j

CAPE TOWN jjj j

j

jjjj jjj j

DURBAN KZN Aviation

jjjjjj

j

j

jj

GRAND CENTRAL Pambele Aviation

j

j

j

LANSERIA AIRPORT j jjjjj j 082 905 5760

j

j jjjjj

jjj

jj

jjj

j

j

jjjj

j

j

jjj

jjj

j

jj

j

j

OR TAMBO INTERNATIONAL Fair Aviation (Pty) Ltd

(011)

395 4552

395 4244

jjjj

Federal Airlines

(011)

395 9000

086 667 1789

jjjjjjjjjj

jjj

Streamline Air Charter

(011)

395 1195/8

jjjjj

j

(012)

566 3019

j

jj

RAND AIRPORT FlyFofa Airways

www.flyfofa.co.za

jj

jj

j

WINDHOEK - SWAKOPMUND Scenic Air (Pty) Ltd

(+264)

6440 3575

info@scenic-air.com.na

j

j

j

WONDERBOOM AIRPORT - PRETORIA Alpha One Aviation

(082)

301 9977

Flyjetstream Aviation

(012)

543 0060

(083) 279 7853

jjjjjjjjjjjj

Maverick Air Charters

(012)

940 0320

086 648 2690

jjjjjjjjjjj

Powered Flight Charters

(078)

460 1231

086 666 2077

j

jjjj

j

j

jjjjjj

j

j

j

jjj

jjjj

jj jj

jjj jj

FlightCom Magazine

j

49

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

011 463 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 4496 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



50

FlightCom Magazine

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

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

United Flight Support Clinton Moodley/Jonathan Wolpe 076 813 7754 / 011 788 0813 ops@unitedflightsupported.com www.unitedflightsupport.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

FlightCom Magazine

51

MAINTENANCE Star Air Maintenance Pty Ltd (SAM) is a subsidiary company of Star Air Cargo Pty Ltd, that provides all the AOCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maintenance requirements up to C check. We are based at O R Tambo International Airport and our team of highly qualified engineers offer line maintenance to third parties.

Boeing 737-200 Boeing 737 Classics Based at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg South Africa.

Contact: lieb@starcargo.co.za or peter@starcargo.co.za Tel: 011 395 3756 and 011 973 5512 52

FlightCom Magazine