HELICOPTER OPS: GEORGE TONKING
A FLYING CAREER
MAINTAINED
BY ENGINEERS
As the youngest of four children (with a sister and two brothers) I grew up with hand-me-downs. Fortunately, the attraction of Dinky Toys and model planes was stronger than tea parties with my sister’s dress-up dollies. Because as hard as I try, I can’t imagine how dollies and tea parties in pink would have translated into half as interesting a career as the one I enjoy now as a helicopter pilot. THE FACT THAT MY ELDEST brother (ten years my senior) flew fighters in the South African Airforce (SAAF) probably played a strong role in my passion for flying machines too. As a teen, I often begged him to drop me off at “Uncle Mike Spence” on Saturday mornings to help fabric dope Tiger Moths at his hangar at Krugersdorp Airfield.
other flying-besotted schoolboys to Fly-Inn to help service and fly in his 1943 Auster Mk V. Through these early experiences, I learned that the men who built and maintained these magical machines all had one thing in common: they were as passionate about flying machines as I.
I’ ve work ed alongside some incredibly gi fte d engineers
The fact that Mike would trust a laaitie to crank the inertia starter on his rare World War II-era Bf-108 Taifun also made a tremendous impact on me. Many a Saturday was spent around Uncle Mike’s skottel braaiing wors and being inspired by fancy flying tales. Later, John Illsley, one of my teachers at Pretoria Boys High, continued to nurture my fascination by taking me and
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October 2021
But back to the present. The enormity of a commercial helicopter operation is made possible only with the support of a large team of stakeholders. One of the most important departments within such an operation is aircraft maintenance. Like any vehicle, helicopters require constant upkeep. Rotary winged aircraft are generally even more mechanically complex than their fixed-wing cousins, requiring super-specialised skills to keep them running.
