SA Flyer Magazine November 2021

FlightCm African Commercial Aviation

Edition 310 November 2021 Cover: Guy Leitch

Grob 109B - Jim Davis’ favourite aircraft!

The future of African aviation

Jim on the

magnificent Staggerwing!

Garrison: What balsa planes teach you

Ysterplaat AFB – to become low cost housing?

1

Guy:

In trouble?

– ask ATC!

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POSITION REPORT I was chatting to a professional pilot and was unsurprised when he said that he was finished with the CAA. HE SAID IS GOING TO MOVE his type certified aircraft onto the American N-register and just not bother screwing around with the increasingly dysfunctional ex-RASA component of the CAA for his non type certified aircraft. My friend said that he will insure his planes for Balance of Third Party and public liability, and fly solo, without an ATF. He is not alone. I know of an increasing number of pilots who would rather fly illegally than try comply with the increasingly doltish dictums of the CAA.

GET AWAY WITH SEMILEGAL FLIPS

Which brings me to the role of flying clubs. As the CAA increasingly fails to regulate reasonably, so it falls to the general aviation (GA) community to self-regulate its members. The role of flying clubs is a long unappreciated pillar of safety. The ability of clubs to share experiences and inculcate a safety culture is often overlooked. I am a proud member of a flying club (call it Club A) that is prepared to take its own enforcement actions against dangerous flying or poor airmanship.

The success of Club A’s safety culture and the dynamic social ethos it has developed has meant that it is almost certainly the fastest growing flying club in the country.

I belong to two flying clubs: Club A is pro-active in creating a safety culture and enforcing it. Club B operates primarily as the

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airfield owner and operator, and the safety and social roles of a club are largely ignored. Thus, at Club B, a flying school run is allowed to get away with semi-legal flips in micro-lights that have an obscene rate of engine failures. It is symptomatic that, despite the CAA’s narrow escape in the Berwick vs CAA case, they are still unable to effectively regulate operators flipping trusting yet litigious tourists.

The contrast with Club A, which pro-actively manages safety, is profound. At Club A, members have been grounded for months for doing dangerous beat ups. Even the safety officer, an ‘uber-pilot’ of note, was obliged to stand up in front of a club meeting and apologise for a rare judgement failure. It was a mistake any pilot could make. The public apology was an excellent learning experience that any pilot with a modicum of honesty will take a lesson from, and so is far more effective than any sanction from the CAA. Up until now I have been sceptical of clubs, disliking the false bonhomie and exclusivity, and clinging to the aphorism that ‘clubs are for seals.’

However, the success of Club A makes that an evident lie and in the light of the CAA’s inability to earn the respect of those it regulates, it is the clubs that will be increasingly required to fulfil the self-correction and indeed self-regulation role that GA needs if it is to improve airmanship and create a safety culture.

j

Guy Leitch

November 2021

5

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COLUMNISTS SA FLYER

16 Guy Leitch - ATTITUDE FOR ALTITUDE 22 George Tonking - HELI OPS 28 Peter Garrison - PRETTY FACE 32 Jim Davis - PLANE TALK 44 Johan Walden - MIDNIGHT PHANTOM 60 Jim Davis - ACCIDENT REPORT 66 Ray Watts - REGISTER REVIEW

FLIGHT TEST: GROB G-109B

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November 2021

FLIGHTCOM

06 10

Bush Pilot - HUGH PRYOR Airlines Ops - MIKE GOUGH

FC 20

Edition 310

CONTENTS

Gifts for Pilots Delta PX

BYE BYE BIPLANES?

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AMO 003

Edition 310

CONTENTS FEATURES SA FLYER

26 46 72 72 78 84 86

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FLIGHT TEST: Grob G-109B FALY Ladysmith INVITATION BOOKS BY GARRISON TAILDRAGGERS FLY-IN BOOK REVIEW: Sky Stories MEET THE CEO – Acknowledgements

FLIGHTCOM

14 Defence - Darren Olivier 19 New Appointments 20 Airshow China 2021 27 Airlines Boeing Report 29 OR Tambo Aviation Companies Guide 47 Bizjet & Commercial Jet Guide

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November 2021

REGULARS 14 Opening Shot 70 AFS Register Review 74 SV Aviation Fuel Table 76 Aviation Direct Events Calender

FLIGHTCOM

26 AME Directory 76 Starlite Flight School Listing 77 Atlas Oils Charter Directory 78 AEP AMO Listing 80 Aviation Directory

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OPENING SHOT

This striking image of a freshly graded airstrip with perspective lines to infinity was taken by Morningstar Flying Club pilot Derick Burger from his Magni M16 Gyro of the recently completed Altona airstrip surrounded by bright yellow Canola fields. Derick used his D800 Nikon which, with its full frame CCD, still gives excellent resolution. Derick used his 28-300mm lens at 28mm at f16.

Shutter speed was a fast 1250th second and ISO was 1000.

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Send your submissions to guy@saflyermag.co.za

November 2021

15

ATTITUDE FOR ALTITUDE: GUY LEITCH

The relationship between pilots and air traffic controllers (ATC) is often fractious. Pilots hate being told what to do – and ATC often has more than enough reason to consider pilots to be idiots.

A RECENT INCIDENT AT GEORGE AIRPORT where pilots and ATC blamed each other for an airliner taking off on 29 while another was on approach on 11 has made me come to the defence of ATC. Newbie pilots are often wary of ATC – fearing that if they do something wrong, they will get into trouble. That’s why too many pilots choose to fly long cross countries without ever speaking to ATC. I even heard of a Springbok – okay Protea – competition pilot who wouldn’t fly from Brits to Heidelberg without flying all the way round the west of Krugersdorp – because he did not want to have to deal with either Lanseria, Grand Central or Rand ATC. And about ten years ago a pilot took off from Wonderboom in his C210 and spoke to nobody before he fatally crashed into the mountains around George. S&R angel Santjie White and many others spent days of frustration searching for the wreckage. And I confess that after a recent run in with George ATC, I usually choose to fly under their radar.

Another common problem pilots have with ATC is that the controllers are sitting safely on the ground when everything is going to hell in a handbasket in the air. That’s why the mantra for when shit happens is ANC – Aviate, Navigate and Communicate – in that order. Don’t crash the plane trying to please ATC. A few years ago I was in front right seat in a Cessna Caravan taking off from Grand Central.

The day was warming up and the Van was loaded to the roof. It had a heavy executive interior with fat leather armchairs for the pax and lots of other hefty items such as full coolboxes.

We staggered into the air off the uphill Runway 17.

Fortunately, the ground slopes down beyond the runway and to keep some speed the pilot flying pushed the nose down. (It reminded me of learning to fly at Grand Central on hot summer days in a Cessna 150 (ZS-IVS) with a 200 lb plus instructor – Freddy Smith). Anyway, as we sagged back towards the ground in the Caravan, the ATC said, “Alpha Bravo Charlie, confirm ops normal.”

A NC – Av i a t e , Na v i g a t e a n d Co m m u n i c a t e

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The radar installation on Mariepskop with cloud building below.

The pilot in the left seat was sweating bullets coaxing the van to climb and the last thing he needed was to answer a controller safe on the ground and completely incapable of helping the plane actually climb.

Sometimes ATC can be your partner - and your conscience. I remember some years ago taking off from our Lowveld farm strip one Sunday afternoon to get back to Lanseria. As usual there were clouds banked up against the Escarpment.

I needed to get over the Berg just north of Mariepskop and the cloud base looked like it might have enough holes to get through. But Mariepskop itself was in the clag and in those days that was where the Lowveld controllers sat – on top of the mountain. As I flew on towards the cloud shrouded escarpment, Lowveld ATC called; ‘Juliet Delta Sierra, maintain Victor Mike Charlie.’ It took a moment to work out what he meant.

The reality is that for any long flight in South Africa, the weather can be a real challenge.

Most weekend warrior VFR pilots will face

three distinct bands of weather: the Highveld, the Escarpment and the Lowveld. That should be enough to persuade you to get the best weather reports you can. Fortunately, weather information has improved a lot since I blundered about on either side of the escarpment, being urged to maintain VMC. An www.avcom.co.za internet forum poster Shaunus notes, “We now have enough decent tools to make the go-no go decision. Do yourself a favour and get intimate with what weather tools are available on the internet. Then practice with them, i.e. plan to fly, then check the websites, and confirm your decisions with the webcams. Between Metars, High Res Satellite images and Webcams, you can get a pretty good idea of what is going on.

And always have an alternate, e.g. options for bus, car hire or commercial airline.”

Thinking about the challenges of getting caught by the weather over the Drakensberg, I was reminded of another post on avcom by ‘jvg075’, who wrote, ‘I was one of the first area controllers when LASS (Lowveld Air Space Sector) was established on Mariepskop in the early 1980's.

November 2021

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Regrettably I saw some aircraft blips disappear off the radar screen without having had any contact with them, only to learn about their tragic fate when having to guide SAAF S&R (Search and Rescue) to the point of last radar contact.

“I also was privileged to have assisted numerous aircraft navigating a safe way across the escarpment under positive control, although in those years it was ‘illegitimate’ to provide any ‘instruction’ to any civilian aircraft, but only ‘advice’. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in trouble what is the use if the controller tells you, “I respectfully advise you to consider a heading of 220?” Our viewpoint was always, ‘If someone asks for help, exercise positive control, as that is exactly what is needed at that moment.”

such interaction. Three very important issues emerged. They are nothing new, but perhaps worthwhile mentioning: First and foremost, stay out of the weather unless you are: A) properly rated, B) experienced and current, and C) have an aircraft capable of dealing with those conditions.

Apart from extraordinary high winds, violent gusts and unbelievable up-and-down draughts, you should also take into account freezing levels. It’s easy to say that someone must stay ‘out of it’ - but believe me - conditions may seem okay, but ‘scattered cloud’ can become solid within 20 seconds or less, after entering it.

s c att e r e d cloud can become solid within 20 seconds

What is even more satisfying was to make time to interview some of the pilots with whom I had

Secondly, remember that there is nothing as useless as the fuel in the browser. We were amazed at how many aircraft ran into trouble, simply because they departed from a game

Some of the military personnel at the Mariepskop radar station.

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November 2021

An early view of Mariepskop.

ranch or other private airfield without sufficient fuel to divert. A diversion to keep you out of trouble along the escarpment may be longer than many may think. I've had cases where the only ‘safe route’ turned out to be all the way north, past Tzaneen and then on to the old Pietersburg area. Or find a suitable open place in the Lowveld. That may in itself be difficult, especially in low light.

The C182 pilot was lost but had the common sense – or was desperate enough – to call for immediate assistance. It was a late on a grey Sunday afternoon. The ex SAAF pilot was flying a King Air A100 outbound from a private strip near Mica. He immediately offered to intercept the C182. We pulled off the intercept and the A100 accompanied the C182 to the only open place – Phalaborwa.

Thirdly, (and I remain open to be corrected on this one) - I do not know of a single event (at least until 1993) where any pilot calling for help in time, and being assisted by one of the LASS controllers, did not make it safely onto the ground.

And then there is the story of the late Val Humphries, who knew the Lowveld very well.

She was flying a C210 and one early evening agreed to form-up with a Seneca pilot to get him safely into the notoriously difficult old Nelspruit Airport.

In those years the systems were not nearly as sophisticated as today. However, the lesson that clearly surfaced was one of pride. It’s no shame to call for help. So please - ‘COMMUNICATE’.

Do not for a moment think that anyone will think of you as ‘stupid or weak’. Believe me - whenever a pilot called for help when faced with those first moments of panic – everyone on the frequency assisted. I've had many cases of other pilots relaying, assisting and providing good advice in the heat of the crisis. I will never forget the help of a pilot who had left the SAAF just a few months before, and who was used to being vectored into interceptions. A C182 was lost above the clouds near Lydenburg, en-route to somewhere near Hoedspruit. It was running low on fuel and had managed to ‘get on top’ just after running into the soup at the Belfast area.

The fact is that both these pilots who asked for assistance had flown themselves into trouble.

But when they realised that they were in trouble, they had the sense to pack away their pride and shout for help. Were they blamed?

Ostracised? Made fun of? No. I personally met every one of them as well as many others that were assisted.

Everyone learned from the experiences. But most important - they communicated - and lived to tell others!”

j

guy@saflyermag.co.za November 2021

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November 2021

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HELICOPTER OPS: GEORGE TONKING

TRAINING THAT

HELPS

SAVE LIVES At times during my career as a helicopter pilot, progression has seemed slow – as if my learning had stagnated. In aviation, this is when we can easily fall into what we term pilot complacency. And it can be a killer.

Thankfully, a month or two back, I received a call from Ryan Horsman, a friend and the man at the helm of Halo Aviation (one of our local air ambulance operators) that hinted at some imminent out-of-the-ordinary flying (and therefore skill development).

“George, are you sling rated?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, I am!” I announced with glee, as I tried to guess where his question was leading. Having been sling rated was something special to me in my evolution as a pilot.

an absolute treat to be flying an iconic piece of history.

After I’d become more au fait with the Alo, my instructor, the late Shaun Barendsen, hooked up a medium-length strop to a 220-litre barrel and away I went. Most of the learning work was done flying circuits around an airfield with said barrel dangling below, and Captain Barendsen prattling in my headphones from his position on the taxiway below. Once I’d mastered that diminutive drum, the next level up was a 500-litre “Bambi Bucket” – one of those orange bladders with high-flow release valves used in firefighting, (and also pretty puny compared to the largest ones made, at a massive 9,800-litres.) This took some mastering, but once I had learned to find the target consistently, I had enough time to mess around and release a few buckets upwind of my “patter crew.” That was probably the closest I came to a real run-in-and-bomb-release on a target with the joystick button.

the i n a d v e r t e nt release of cargo

After finishing up my licence in 2009 I remember waiting in over-excited anticipation for ten months to complete my first hour of commercial flying. After that milestone, every different rating that slowly followed, rounding off my skill set, seemed like a victory. Especially the sling rating, which was very different to anything I’d done before.

Firstly, I got to fly the epitome of French oh-lala style – le vénérable hélicoptère Alouette III. Not only was it a learning curve on its own, but

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With a specific skill rating like vertical lift work or sling operations, how ‘current’ you are is

Careful rigging inspection on the Squirrel.

paramount. This includes not only when last the particular skill was performed, but also whether the pilot was skill-checked. In addition, vertical reference flying often demands that the helicopter pilot place his or her full trust in other crew members, like the loadmaster or the “patterer,” the person who, during precision hovering, acts as the pilot’s eyes on the load and the target. My most recent currency check had been done in an Airbus AS350 Squirrel with Chris Cornwell of Ultimate Heli (who has controlled many a load in Antarctica from a Bell 412 EP) as crew and with legendary pilot Buzz Bezuidenhout performing my currency check.

It turns out that Ryan was asking about my sling rating because he had been approached by one Rob Thomas to find a pilot who could help with mountain rescue and recovery training. For years, working with Proto teams on mines, I had heard of Rob, a bona fide mountain man, who has been helping coordinate mountain search and rescues throughout South Africa for close on three decades. I was, predictably, beyond keen.

Rob, fellow adventurer and medic Johan Raath,

along with lover-of-the-outdoors admin guru Ettienne Koekemoer are partners in a new venture called Contracted Rescue on Wings (CRoW). The trio has managed to pull together an experienced volunteer team of skilled mountaineers, rope access experts and medics (most of whom have regular daytime jobs) to partner with them at CRoW in helping save lives in the wilderness. A few of them, however, have never been part of a rescue from the air.

Rob says he owes much of his experience in heli-rescues to the brave pilots and crew of the SAAF and SAPS in whose helicopters he and his various mountain rescue teams have operated for years. Due to the scarcity of these helicopter resources now, however, CRoW has taken the initiative to seek funding from the private sector to resource the flying side of mountain search and rescue.

But wherever the resources are to be acquired, the training must go on, and I was to be their pilot for the day – the stuff of dreams for me.

We began the day with Ettienne, who heads up CRoWS’ training division, thoroughly briefing our team and theirs, to make sure we all understood November 2021

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the day’s objectives. Being the professionals that the team at CRoW are, Rob had compiled concise SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for the most common scenarios where patients might require back-country helicopter extraction, based on his vast experience. We asked a few questions, calmed a few nerves and headed for the flight line.

Buzz and Rob briefing the crew.

With our Squirrel rigged for the training sortie, we flew to the training area not far from our nest at the Ultimate Heliport. The simulated rescue scenarios would be accomplished with the use of a certified climbing long line rope with a patient (simulated) stretcher and rescue “jockey” attached. One problem with helicopter hooks is that they tend to be fallible to the inadvertent release of cargo.

Naturally, this would be a concern to both rescuers and rescued, who would prefer not to be jettisoned accidentally. To solve this problem, a secondary strop is looped through the cabin

of the helicopter. This system also allows for a third crew member to release the belly strop if needed during a snag – a double redundancy.

The first step in our training was to test the system with 200kg of weight on the primary rope, to then release it onto the secondary system and finally, at foot height, to perform a ground release using the pins in the belly strop.

Thorough preparation before vertical reference flight.

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CRoW at work.

All worked perfectly. Another, equally important, part of the training was to introduce new rescue team members to “pattering” and rigging in a real-life helicopter rescue environment.

Next, each crew member had the opportunity to experience extraction and insertion via helicopter, further preparing them for the day these skills would become lifesaving.

CRoW rescuers in action.

I learned many new skills that day and made some incredible friendships. It was humbling to see such skilled professionals training and waiting in the wings to rescue someone who has lost hope … until they hear the sound of beating rotors approaching!

j

The joint crew after a long day of training.

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LETTERS

KIDSTON MONUMENT I AM THE CHAIRMAN (Old Bill) of the Moth (Memorial Order of the Tin Hat) Organization in Harrismith and more specifically, the Platberg Shellhole. We are a Charity Organization that focus on the wellbeing of old soldiers, including soldiers from World War 2, the Korean War and any other ex-servicemen.

Our organization became involved with the Kidston Monument just outside Harrismith, which was vandalized a few years ago. Our Organization, together with the Heritage Foundation in Harrismith and Ladysmith, decided to restore the Monument to its original glory, a task which was recently completed.

As background, the Kidston Monument was erected after an aircraft crashed just off the N3 near Van Reenen in the vicinity of Tandjiesberg and Nelsonskop Mountains on 5 May 1931. The three-seater De Havilland Puss Moth, DH 80A, was piloted by Commander Glen Kidston and Captain Thomas Gladstone was the navigator.

They were on a pioneering flight, in partnership with the newly formed Union Airways (Pty) Ltd and were on the first leg of a round trip from Johannesburg to Durban via Pietermaritzburg in KZN to plot a possible flight route.

Approaching Nelsonskop, they flew into gale-force winds which buffeted the small plane alarmingly. The fierce winds had created a dust storm below, which impaired their visibility considerably.

It would appear that they dropped altitude to try and find a safe place to land.

According to a number of local eyewitnesses, the plane was about 300m off the ground,

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when a piece appeared to break off it, causing it to nosedive and crash into the ground. On examination of the crash site, it was confirmed that a wing had broken off in flight and was found about 180m behind the wreck.

At the inquest it was found that the two aviators lacked local knowledge and experience of flying in the tortuous maintain conditions around Tandjiesberg and were not familiar with the terrain.

At the request of the families, their bodies were returned to Wales for burial. The local Harrismith Moths, police force and school cadets formed a guard of honour and acted as pall-bearers from the morgue to the station from where the bodies were taken by train to Johannesburg.

A memorial, in the form of a stone cenotaph with a stainless-steel dome, was commissioned by Mr. and Mrs. Kidston (the parents), through a law firm in Johannesburg in memory of their son Commander Glen Kidston.

It needs to be mentioned that after this fatal accident, the Puss Moth design was officially modified in 1933 to correct the inherent wing design flaw. It is interesting to know that in each The Kidston monument after restoration by the Harrismith MOTH shellhole.

LETTERS accident involving wing separation in flight, abnormal wind conditions were recorded.

I attach herewith a photograph of the Kidston Monument before the vandalism, a photo of the damaged memorial and also a photo after we and the Heritage Foundation repaired the memorial.

We hope to unveil the new restored Monument on 23 October 2021 and we invite you, if you are interested in this story to also attend the unveiling of the monument. We also attach herewith a photograph the bronze plate confirming the names of the aviators.

ABOVE: The Kidston monument from the air.

BELOW: The restored plaque recording the details.

One of our members made a thorough research of this specific accident, as well as other accidents in the area of Harrismith and is more than willing to assist if you require any further information.

I wish to congratulate you and your team with a very interesting and well published magazine.

H.C. Marais Old Bill (Chairman) j

MAGAZINE DOWNLOADS GOOD DAY, I have an Apple iPad and cannot download Saflyermag. Please explain to an old man how I can subscribe electronically on my iPad. I hope you can help me.

Louis de Wet

Dear Louis All the digital only versions of SA Flyer are available for free from our website: www.saflyer.com Go to the magazine tab and click on the one you want and it will open in the Issuu flipping page reader at: https://issuu.com/saflyermagazine. j November 2021

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PETER GARRISON

MODEL

STUDENT A Guillow Jetfire, it was called – and at 69 cents, was about the only aeroplane I could afford at the time. I got it from a bin by the cash register at All Aircraft Parts. It was an attempt to cause my son's childhood to resemble my own before he got too big to be influenced.

I MUST HAVE OWNED, flown and wrecked dozens of these things as a boy: there was a comfortable familiarity about the balsa wings that slip into the slot in the fuselage, the spring-steel nose weight, the profile of the helmeted pilot limned in seeping red on the canopy that breaks off every time I handle the aeroplane clumsily. Things haven't changed much. You still slide the wing backward to dive and forward to crash.

new one, I realised how hard and tedious it can be to put into words the basic facts about flight that the model teaches.

the bals a gliders whispered it to me.

Balsa models — I believe they cost 10 cents, or at most a quarter, in the early 1950s — taught me almost everything I know about aeronautics. As I fooled with this

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The directions emphasised certain transient and exciting states. By moving the wing forward you could make the aeroplane loop. It finished its loop gracelessly, entering a too-steep climb with insufficient momentum, stalling and diving into the floor.

A less ambitious approach pleased me more.

The first project was to find the "best" wing position—the one at which the aeroplane would

A Guillow Jetfire balsa glider can teach much about aerodynamics.

perform a flat, slow, gentle glide, terminating in a smooth landing. If the wing was too far forward, the flight was scalloped, a series of slow swoops and stalls; if it was too far aft, the glide was steady but too steep and fast, and the aeroplane hit the ground chin-first. But there was an ideal position, almost all the way forward, that yielded a gentle, steady descent in a level attitude.

When I was a kid flying these things, nobody ever told me that the best glide speed was relatively low; but the balsa gliders whispered it to me.

In these experiments, launch speed was important. If you tossed the aeroplane too vigorously for its trim setting, it entered a series of oscillations that wouldn't damp out before it landed. It needed to be launched at as close to the trimmed speed and attitude as possible.

You noticed right away that the farther aft you put the wing, the more steadily the aeroplane maintained its pitch attitude. You might have inferred from this that the aeroplane got steadier as it got faster, but that would be wrong. What was misleading was the Ptolemaic view that the cockpit was the centre of the aeroplane's universe; really it was the wing about which everything, including the pilot, revolved. (At least this was true in pitch; the wing was comparatively indifferent to yaw.)

When you moved the wing aft what you were really doing was moving the rest of the aeroplane forward. The steadiness you noticed when the wing was aft was that mysterious imp called "static longitudinal stability," which, as pilots are always warned, decreases as the CG moves aft.

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If you put a paper clip on the trailing edge of the horizontal tail, you could easily see the consequence of too far aft a CG location. The transition from stability to instability was quite distinct, corresponding to a rearward adjustment of a mere eighth of an inch in the location of the paper clip.

To see a more dramatic demonstration of the meaning of longitudinal stability, you could remove the horizontal tail altogether. Taking away the vertical tail produced an expected result, but an interesting one to observe.

The flight began normally; we are used to looking for anomalies in pitch behaviour, and there were none. But 10 feet or so along its trajectory the aeroplane began to yaw. The yaw being unopposed, a huge excursion quickly developed, the upwind wing rose, and the aeroplane departed in a spinlike manoeuvre whose ultimate outcome eluded me: the floor intervened.

The reason for that roll-off was the same as the reason why you can make the aeroplane turn by skewing the wing in the fuselage. The vertical tail aligns the fuselage with the direction of flight.

The wing has some dihedral; consequently a section along the line of flight has a higher angle of attack on the leading wing than on the trailing

one, and the aeroplane rolls toward the trailing wing.

To test the explanation, I put the wing in upside down and skewed it. Now, sure enough, the aeroplane rolled toward the leading wing. It also looked wonderfully like a MiG-15 as it flew away from me. Unskew the wing and there remained another consequence of inverting the dihedral. The lateral stability was diminished: the aeroplane was more prone to deviate from a straight track. But the effect was subtle; I had to make several flights to confirm it. And that tells you something else: that dihedral effect was comparatively weak.

Since inverting the wing didn't seem to harm the flying qualities of the aeroplane, I wondered why I shouldn't just leave the wing alone and invert the whole aeroplane. I tried it. The aeroplane plunged vertically into the floor. The missing element was the decalage: the difference in incidence between the wing and the horizontal tail. Upside down, the aeroplane was trimmed for an inverted dive. If you could change the effective incidence of the horizontal tail, say by taping little strips of business card to the trailing edges and bending them downward (with respect to the upright aeroplane), the aeroplane might fly reasonably well upside down.

The AD-1 skew wing airliner study with its wing at a moderate angle.

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One of the astonishing things about the configuration, in fact, was its robustness; it seemed to fly fairly well almost no matter what I did to it. The tail surfaces were swept back; turn them around, and you detect no change at all. If the wing had no dihedral, skewing it would make no difference. In fact, a skewed-wing airliner has been proposed, and a manned miniature of it test-flown. And of course the wing had no aerofoil section, nor even any camber. So much, it would seem, for all those textbook explanations about air going a longer distance over the top.

while flying forward: it deviated gently from a straight path. It also responded similarly to foreand-aft shifts of the fuselage along the wing: too far aft a CG location produced an early stall. But the backwards aeroplane stalled less sharply; rather than pitch down and dive for the floor, it dipped gently and parachuted downward while gathering speed. I suppose the reason for this behaviour was that it was the nose surface, and not the wing, that was actually stalling. Inverting the backwards aeroplane produced the predictable result: a dive into the floor. Again, a higher incidence on the fore wing than on the rear was needed to trim the aeroplane for level flight.

The mis s ing e le me nt was the decalage

The neatest thing about the balsa model was that it could be made to fly backwards. The only changes necessary were to remove the vertical tail entirely, and to remove the nose weight and put it, or some other weight such as a large paper clip, at the tip of the tail. The reversed aeroplane flew quite beautifully, being only slightly deficient in directional stability. This I corrected by cutting a shallow slot in the top of what used to be the nose and slipping the vertical tail into it.

If I inverted the wing of the backward-flying aeroplane, I found that it behaved just as it did

I find it at once surprising and poignant that the remarkably simple, sturdy combination of elements that we know as an aeroplane should have eluded human efforts for so long. It seems as though virtually any combination of the four pieces in the Guillow Jetfire's plastic package produces a flying machine. If I could have appeared in the court of the Emperor of China with this thing a millennium or two ago, I would have been reckoned a great sorcerer. As it was, I had a hard time impressing my six-year-old with it — once I stopped playing with it long enough to give it to him. j

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PLANE TALK - JIM DAVIS

BYE-BYE

BIPLANES – I DON’ T THINK SO. It’s 1940 and scrawny young Sergeant Pilot Nick Carter can be seen in the rear cockpit of an open biplane. He is huddled down against the bitterly cold wind as he flies at 100’ over the freezing surface of the North Sea. He skims the bottom of the wispy clouds and has to turn frequently to avoid flying into tendrils of drizzle that reach down to the black and choppy waters.

NICK IS EXTREMELY BUSY, both inside the cockpit and outside. Inside he tries to keep a running track of his lat and long on a damp chart which wants to blow away. Outside, he must avoid flying into either the sea or the cloud while searching for signs of submarines or periscopes.

of a homing pigeon. The bird is then shoved into a cone of newspaper to protect it from the initial rush of wind and bunged over the side.

It seems that at least one sub was ventilated in this way.

Tige r Mot hs we r e f or pe ople w ho couldn’ t aff or d Tr i-pace r s

Desperate measures for desperate times. In January alone 42 Allied ships have been sent to the bottom by German U-boats. Six Tiger Moths scour the waters of the English Chanel and the North Atlantic. They patrol in pairs. If they spot a sub one will stay in the area to mark its position, and the other heads for the nearest RAF base and alerts the heavies to come out deal with it. In addition, one pilot will scratch the sub’s coordinates on a bit of paper attached to the leg

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On one of these missions Nick spotted a massive grey shape emerging through the gloom.

He initially thought his navigation was at fault, and that the shape was a coastal cliff, but seconds later he realised it was the biggest ship he had ever seen. It turned out to be the Queen Elizabeth on her maiden voyage.

This 85,000 ton ship, which was more than 1,000ft long and had accommodation for 6,000, men was doing over 30 knots. Nick flew slowly alongside and saluted as he passed the bridge.

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The Beech 17 Staggerwing is the first type Beechcraft built and it set the standard.

Why am I telling you this? Well, 30 years later, in 1970, Nick (now Captain Carter, and one of the founders of the Algoa Flying Club) was reminded of that special day. He was watching the majestic QE2 steam past his Port Elizabeth, beachfront flat, while another Tiger Moth flew alongside her and dipped its wings in salute.

That was my special day.

And a couple of days later I had another very special flight. I took my father Tigering. He was 60 at the time and it was something of a highlight of his busy life.

The St agge r w ing was t he f ir s t air craft made by Be e chcraft .

Our family struggled financially – my folks lived through World War I followed by the great depression and then World War II and the shortages of everything including food. Dad had wanted to fly, but the RAF wouldn’t have him because of his terrible eyesight, so he became one of those sailing the North Atlantic.

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After the war Dad worked as a farm labourer in England and then returned to Kenya where he took whatever jobs he could find. So us kids, myself and three younger siblings, got used to moving house – sometimes we lived on farms that he managed, and at other times at schools where he taught, and finally in Mombasa where Dad managed a housing estate.

He had a needle sharp brain and was a gifted teacher. He was fascinated by everything from termites to space travel.

He somehow found time to teach himself to play the piano, with a wonderfully delicate touch, write several books and paint outstanding pictures – my walls are covered in them.

I must have been a disappointment to him. I hated school. I found it boring and senseless when there was so much else that needed doing – smoking, motorcycling and stealing boats were all things

that had me caned. The latter earned me a school record of 18 strokes in one day – six each from Barnes, the head of house, Monkey May my housemaster, and Pansy James the headmaster. In class I was bored and lazy, and on the sports field I was not to be found, I managed to avoid all sports except swimming, horse riding and polo.

When I left school I redeemed myself for a short while in my parents’ eyes by being accepted into the RAF College, Cranwell in Lincolnshire, but I was not cut out for a military life and got hoofed out of there after about a year for again displaying a lack of respect for authority and no interest in being a team player.

My career with the RAF was pretty much sealed when I rode my motorbike up the college steps, through the sacred main entrance hall, and down a passage where I crashed into an mansized globe of the world.

This was somewhat ironic because some 40 years later, I found myself a sort of low grade VIP at the very same place. Briefly this is what happened. The Douglas Bader Benevolent Fund awarded flying training bursaries to about half a dozen disabled people every year. They had been sending them to a school in Canada, but for some reason the RAF became unhappy with that school and started searching the world for a school that was more to their liking.

I am sure the organisers didn’t realise that the school they chose was founded and run by the very man they had bunged out forty years earlier with a note in his Certificate of Service saying, Reason for Discharge ‘Unlikely to make an efficient pilot’.

It turned out to be a wonderfully rewarding arrangement. My CFI, Steve Goodrick, and I would visit Cranwell once a year to help make the final selection of the six applicants from a

My Dad's painting of my Tiger.

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My Dad's self portrait.

short-list of about twenty. These were people who were all seriously disabled – some in wheelchairs. We helped select those we felt were both deserving and able to be trained to at least solo standard – even if, for medical reasons, they would never actually fly solo.

We all enjoyed having them on the base for a few weeks and watching their progress and seeing their delight in being able to achieve something they never thought was within their reach.

Sadly, my Dad didn’t live to see the birth of 43 Air School, he died a year before we opened. I think he would have been proud. But he did live to fly with me in my Tiger Moth and couldn’t stop grinning for a week.

It was an emotional event. A few years ago the whole thing was moved on a generation when my son, Mark, took me flying in his Zlin. I had flown with him before in Airbusses, but I am far more impressed by pilots who can do gentle three-point landings in fore-and-aft two seaters.

And it was wonderful to see him applying airline safety culture and procedures to flying this beautiful little aerobatic machine.

And now for something completely different.

The Gleitch lives about a thousand kilometres away, but I can still hear him grinding his teeth.

He’s fed up with stories about old open cockpit biplanes. He is muttering, ‘Bye-bye biplanes’.

He wants something newer, faster, sleeker and more comfortable, perhaps a 5-seater that bats along at 200 mph.

Okay you’re the boss, so if it’s only one year newer than a Tiger and still has two sets of wings – is that okay?

How about Beech’s magnificent Staggerwing? And it really is only one year younger than the Tiger. The DH82A first flew 90 years ago – in 1931 and the Staggerwing first flew on 4 November 1932. Unbelievable.

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The Beech 17 Staggerwing.

The first Staggerwing I met was called ZS-BBZ. She taxied up to our hangar at Wonderboom, trailing a stream of red dust.

The big round engine clattered to a halt and Victor Smith of ‘Open Cockpit Over Africa’ fame sprang out. After a short chat with my boss, Zingi Harrison,Victor boarded his brand new 400 Comanche, ZS-DZZ, and was soon a speck heading for his home in Wilderness, on the south coast.

I was able to inspect the brute at leisure because it lived in our hangar for a while. I was not impressed – it was old and grumpy and dribbled oil on the hangar floor. Rubbish compared with Victor’s sleek young Comanche.

But I have to admit that at the time I was also

Nick Carter at the PE Aeroclub in 1948.

unimpressed by Tiger Moths – they were tatty aeroplanes for people who couldn’t afford Tripacers. Same with MG TCs – they were for folks who couldn’t afford Cortinas.

and financed his payrolls while the factory made a new aircraft for him. This was delivered in July 1933 at a price of $17,000. Could that be why it was designated the Beech 17?

The next Staggerwing, ZS-PWD, barged into my life by landing at the old George airport, and parking slap in front of my little one-man-oneaeroplane flying school. A family of four oozed out and unpacked a massive pile of luggage. I was slightly more impressed.

But there were no more customers like Loffland, and Beech soon realized he would need to do some drastic cost cutting to stay in business.

With a smaller engine and a bunch of mods he managed to get the base model down to only $8,000. This was a good move because it started a trickle of sales which slowly increased as the economy improved. But it was still a hell of a lot of money – in 1936 you could get a new SS100 Jaguar for £400 (about $800). This means you could buy ten of these magnificent cars for the price of one bottom-of-the-range Staggerwing.

The family consisted of Peter and Laura Dahl and their sub-teen kids Edward and Bobby.

They owned Peter’s Motel at Beit Bridge, a thousand miles away in Zimbabwe, and came to the coast a couple of times a year on holiday. Peter and I quickly developed a friendship, initially based on our common interests in biplanes, motorbikes and old machinery. You don’t get to fly a Staggerwing unless you are buddies with the guy who owns it.

Come back on t he volume and tell Donald Duck you ar e r eady

Peter’s and Victor’s were the only two Staggerwings in Southern Africa then, and I don’t think there are any left now. Peter’s was sold to the States and Victor’s was burned to death in a Cape Town hangar one night by a bunch of idiots who were stealing fuel and using matches to see what they were doing.

The Staggerwing was designed by Ted Wells in 1932 and was the first aircraft made by Beechcraft. Ironically they rented the factory buildings from Cessna, who obviously didn’t consider them serious competition.

The project nearly broke Beech. Building a luxury aircraft with a walnut and leather interior in the heart of the depression was an audacious and foolhardy thing to do.

Fortunately an oil magnate, Tom Loffland, liked the prototype. He gave Beech a hefty deposit

Another difficulty with sales was that the aircraft was, and still is, a brute to land – or rather to handle after touchdown. There are two problems – poor directional stability and a tendency to be nose-heavy on the ground. Many mods were tried including a fancy differential braking system, a lockable tailwheel, and lengthening the fuselage by 18 inches, but none made any real difference. As long as you keep it straight all is well, but if it starts to swing and you need to use the brakes to keep straight you are in danger of sticking the nose in and going on to your back.

I remember one going on its back in Port Elizabeth because the pilot held the stick right back while taxiing with a strong tailwind.

There were a number of model changes, and you could choose from a huge selection of engines, the most modest being a little 225 hp 7-cylinder Jacobs L4 (R-755D) which gave you a top speed of 175 mph and it would touch down at 45 mph. In contrast, the FS model had more than three times as much power. It used a November 2021

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9-cylinder Wright SR-1820-F3, a supercharged monster that put out 710 hp giving you a top speed of 250mph – faster than any military fighter at that time.

Ultimately most of the Staggerwings produced were the model D17S. The suffix ‘S’ indicating they had a 9-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-985AN-1 (or AN-3) pushing out 450hp and giving you a cruise speed of just over 200mph.

Peter Dahl’s was a D17S, let me tell you about it.

ahead of the lower one. But Mr Beech didn’t like that, largely because it seriously restricts your view from the cockpit, so he did it the other way round – the leading edge of the top wing is behind the windscreen. It looks very odd until you get used to it. Perhaps like a horse with its ears back.

The preflight is pretty standard if you are used to radial engines and fabric airframes. As you go round you realize that Mr Beech intended this to be a fast aeroplane. When you go to the length of making the tailwheel retract you are serious about speed. Everything is beautifully faired, and the interplane struts, which are works of art, emphasize the negative stagger.

She was delivered to the USAF in June 1939.

In May 1941 she went to England and was used by the US Air Attaché in London to help win the war. She returned to the USA in July You climb aboard through a door at the back 1945 and was put on and are instantly the civil register as cocooned in luxury.

NC91397. In 1947 There is a smell of they dropped the leather and avgas.

‘C’ (which I suspect The heavy walnut was for Civilian) in panelling and 1948. Two years chrome ashtrays are later, in May 1950, hugely incongruous the Pomms got in a machine that is hold of her and she built for lightness and became G-AMBY. speed.

Then, in January 1951 she emigrated You pull your way Phil Smullian & Nick Carter. to Rhodesia (now up the steep slope Zimbabwe) under the to the front, like in a name of VP-YIV. My mate Peter Dahl bought Dak, and plonk yourself down in the left hand her and did a complete rebuild and registered seat. If it’s a warm day you wind the window her as ZS-PWD in August 1972. down, like a car. The cockpit is a mess. There is stuff scattered all over the place. There are I first flew her in 1976. In 1986 she went back copper pipes and valves that make you think of to the USA and was called N295BS. She was a steam engine. again rebuilt and painted in the distinctive blue and yellow colour scheme of the wartime Air The electrical stuff reminds you of those Attaché. I understand that she is now in Holland yellowing ivory switches from rent-controlled and retains the same colours and logo. Very houses. All the levers, knobs and handles seem pretty. to have been salvaged from a defunct steamship company. There is no sequence or logic in As you walk towards a Staggerwing you are hit the layout. by the sheer size of the engine – it dominates the aeroplane. That and the curious negative The fuel system is a nightmare. You are stagger. Biplanes always have the top wing surrounded by fuel tanks. Six of them. One in

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Jim's flight made the news.

The prudent Staggerwing pilot will always have one of his pax with a hand-held fire extinguisher standing to the left of the nose – where the pilot can see him. He must either give you the thumbs-up if there is no fire, or, avoiding the prop, leap in and extinguish the conflagration.

If the engine keeps running this probably means you are not on fire. Ignore the smoke and concentrate on the gauges – particularly the revs, oil pressure and amps. If all is well, you can find your way through the rest of the cockpit formalities.

each of the upper wings, one in each of the lower wings, one behind the cabin and one in the front.

This gives you an uneasy feeling about what might happen if you bump into anything solid.

Start-up needs your full attention. After a good deal of switching, priming and wobble-pumping, you prod a switch which winds up the inertiastarting flywheel. You can hear it whining as it spins up. When you feel that it is about to fling itself apart, you change hands, drop one toggle and hit the other.

If you have done everything right according to the temperature and disposition of that particular engine, the rewards are immediate. There is a chuffing and clattering as the cabin fills with choking blue smoke. There is the odd bloop, bloop, and the engine rumbles into life. If these noises are not right, there is a danger you are on fire.

On the other hand, if there is a slowing down of the prop and a sort of whoooof noise followed by a reversal of the prop’s rotation, now is the time to peer out of the sidewindow, and study the look on the face of the fire-extinguishing person. It’s important that you have briefed him properly. We don’t want him dashing into the fray just as you attempt at re-start.

The wireless, (they didn’t have radios or avionics in those days) will take time to warm up, and you have to tune the receiving part with a coffee-grinder handle and a whistle stop device for maximum reception. At best the guy in the tower sounds like Donald Duck.

Taxiing is standard taildragger – stick fully back and much zig-zagging to clear the blind spot ahead of the big round nose.

The engine run-up produces a lot of noise and the smell of hot oil. There is no key for the mag check. You do this by operating a lever which would give good service in a mediumsized power station. The engine instruments have precise graduations and ornate curly pointers similar to those found on better quality grandfather clocks. Having established that they are all quivering in the right areas, you come back on the volume control, and November 2021

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A Jaguar SS100 - also a work of art, but costing one tenth of the bottom-of-the-range Staggerwing.

tell Donald Duck that you are ready to go. This is not always strictly true, because after lining up, you sometimes need to get one of your pax to spring out and do battle with the tailwheel in order to lock it.

The take-off itself is straightforward as long as you do everything gently and keep an eye on the manifold pressure – the supercharger must not take it past 36”.

It’s good to get the tail up nice and early to see where you are going. You lift off at 70 miles an hour and suddenly find yourself very busy.

Several things need your immediate attention.

She accelerates so fast that you must put the flaps and undercarriage away pretty smartly, otherwise you will exceed the 90 mph flap limiting speed and the 115 mph gear limit. You must come back on the manifold pressure and revs instantly, before temps and pressures go out of limits. And a quick yank on the mixture control will halve your fuel consumption.

And you had better know beforehand which knobs do what. The throttle is the top one, just below the VOR. Below that is the red

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undercarriage knob, and below that you have the prop and mixture controls next to each other.

But, first things first. A quick grab at the power levers slightly reduces the rate at which things happen. Now you hold the stick firmly back, which causes an alarming nose high attitude, but it keeps the airspeed within limits while you do battle with the undercarriage.

As you select the gear up the ammeter hits the stop and electrical smells dominate. Things happen fast and it’s vital to rescue the electrical system by helping to wind the wheels up before something burns out. There’s a crank handle on the sidewall next to your left knee. You engage the handle into the mechanism that operates a bicycle chain and put some energy into cranking to help the motor pull the wheels up. This would be easy if the arc of the handle did not coincide with the stick position – but it does.

So you have to rock the stick out of the way each time the handle comes round. This gives the initial climb a curious wing waggling motion which must continue until the wheels are tucked away.

The Staggerwing cockpit was designed before they invented ergonomics.

After that the climb is rapid but fairly stately. As with most radials you get the feeling that you are flying the engine, and everything else just tags along. There is no set airspeed for the climb – it is dictated entirely by engine temperatures. You climb at a particular temperature. If it is cool you can raise the nose, and if the temp increases you must lower the nose a tad. Failure to

comply with this rule makes you answerable to Messrs Pratt & Whitney, in cash.

Cruise performance is also dictated by the exchequer, and fuel consumption is calculated in drums-per-hour. However, if you want to convey five people, in antiquated luxury through a speed range from just under 50 mph to more than 200

Peter Dahl's Staggerwing carrying the registration VP-YIV.

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The Staggerwing in its the distinctive blue and yellow colour scheme of the wartime Air Attaché. Image - 'Trevor Thornton, 'ArtHistory.net'

mph, you must pay. If you don’t lean the mixture correctly, you get a terrible pain right in the back pocket.

The Staggerwing handles like it was built for aerobatics. The controls are beautifully smooth, positive and well balanced. It will glide for ever and the only way to reduce speed for the circuit is to make it go uphill.

For such a hot and slippery aeroplane, stalls are almost embarrassingly simple. There is no stall warning, nor is one needed. The controls simply get more and more sloppy and eventually she nods her head like a Piper Cub. That is it: no buffet, no wing drop, no nothing – just a straight bow and you are flying again.

Now to the landing.

You approach comfortably at around 75 mph coming back to 65-ish over the fence. Airspeed and approach slope are easy to handle, but you had better make sure that it’s exactly aligned

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with the runway when the wheels first touch the ground.

I will never condemn an aircraft as being a ground-looper, that adjective must be reserved for pilots. But the Beech 17 seems to attract pilots in that category. Better men than I have been grievously disappointed with directional control after touch down. If you don’t lock the tailwheel you are likely to become a blushing, jabbering, aircraft bender.

Even with the tailwheel locked, 180s are never far away. Don’t let the nose wander one millifrac from the straight and narrow. If she tries to bite, you must be ready with some rapid and decisive footwork.

If you think that Walter Beech's model 17 Staggerwing sounds like a lot of fun, you are seriously understating the matter – it’s a magnificent aeroplane that leaves you with a silly grin on your face for weeks afterwards. j

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JOHAN WALDEN

TIES,

BUTTONS AND BARS

- PART 1

This month’s story is about the dreaded CPL Checkride and what it was like: Is it a real-world scenario-based test? Or a box ticking exercise?

It was my turn to find out.

I FOUND THIS PIECE more difficult to write than most: As much as people encourage us, the bottom line is that tests are a scary but necessary part of aviation.

Though I passed this one, just writing about it has elevated my blood pressure up by a few bar – which is unconducive to writing. But I hope I’ve given you something this month that you’ll find useful and shed some light on the subject if a test lies in your near future.

thoughts turned towards what the test would be like. This being a test for a ‘professional licence’ and all, I wasn’t surprised to see that the forms demanded tighter hand-flying tolerances (for speed and altitude etc.) – and of course questions in the ground evaluation focused more on the commercial flying environment.

But beyond that, I didn’t know much about what was coming.

I T R I ED T O K EEP T HE L I D ON MY STRESS L E V EL S

As with any pilot licence skill test, this one consisted of a ground evaluation (the “let’s have a chat” part) and practical flying test, and I had prepared long and hard for both: After all the exams, hour-building, and jumping through hoops I had no intention of falling at the last hurdle.

While I waited in the flight school for the examiner to arrive, I sipped my coffee and my

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Part of my preparation (last month’s topic) included my test folder: a professional-looking blue folder I had put together to hand to the examiner when he arrived. It contained an overview of my training and flying experience (a sort of aviation-tailored CV), copies of my exam certificates, and all the flight documents – nav log, flight plan, weight & balance, weather, and so on. That, and my attempt at wearing a tie (to which I shamefully admit to watching a video on how to do), I hoped would display at least some level of professionalism.

The designated flight examiner (DFE) was only scheduled to arrive at around 3.00 pm, but I still showed up at 9.00 am sharp (classic Johan mistake). For the next six hours I twiddled my thumbs while I tried to keep the lid on my stress levels. I thought about my instructor’s words the day before: “Tests are passed before you start.”

I still don’t quite understand it, but it felt like there was more to it than the usual slap on the back and “break a leg” tomato sauce encouragement.

The sound of an arriving car overrode that thought and I scurried to the door to meet the examiner.

Gulp.

He was, as I had expected, the no-nonsense type and was eager to get started right away.

I had my textbooks, aeronautical charts, and everything in between, already laid out in the briefing room. For the ground evaluation I handed him my test folder and he browsed through it slowly. Once he reached the flight documents the quizzing began.

He asked me questions here and there about the weight and balance, NOTAMs, ATC flight plan, and so on. Once he got to the end of the folder we pulled out a chart and got into some of the more elaborate questions. What type of Search And Rescue can I file on a flight from Cape Town to Saldanha? What is the minimum cloud base for a VFR flight in a Control Area? I knew most of the answers but if I was unsure, I had my books for reference. My instructor had told me that one of the most important things the DFE wants to see is, not necessarily if you know the answer, but do you know where to find it?

An interesting one was a flight scenario over high terrain: At first, all I knew was the height of the terrain and direction of flight. I had to pick the lowest Flight Level that satisfied the Semicircular Rule (flying east on odd flight levels and west on evens) and minimum terrain clearance. But could there be another factor coming into play?

Oxygen!

How long could I fly between FL100 and FL120 without supplementary oxygen? Would those time constraints allow our flight to be legal?

Flight planning neat and tidy - ready to hand to the DFE.

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The test form demands tighter tolerances.

Oxygen requirements can become a factor when crossing high terrain.

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Because we'd be flying upwind of the mountain wave turbulence it was no factor.

You get the picture.

Finally, we looked at the significant weather chart printout I had gotten for today's flight: What were those two symbols near the Cape?

Aha, mountain wave turbulence. And judging by the wind direction, it was likely that most of it was located east of the mountain ranges (on the leeward side). And since our flight would be on the west, it was not a factor.

at SAA and such. And so when the instructor writes your recommendation letter to test, the examiner expects to be taken seriously and given a student who really is ready to test. But he (or she) doesn’t walk in and say, “You’ve failed. You have two hours to prove me wrong.”

So, is it really true that you “pass the test before you fly”? I’m still not sure, and nor was I then.

YOU “ PA S S T HE T E S T B EF OR E YOU F LY

These practical questions put me a little more at ease: the examiner wasn’t here to nit-pick academic intricacies: Although theory had its place, right now he was testing my ‘practical knowledge’ and decision-making gleaned from the flying experience I’d had up to this point. Could I practically apply the theory I’d learned to make a cross-country charter or similar flight happen?

Certainly the work you put in beforehand has a great effect on the outcome. And if the DFE decides to go ahead with the flight after the ground test, it’s probably a good sign.

And if your instructor had the confidence in you to write your recommendation letter, you can be confident too.

All good and well – but was this actually going to be enough? j

After the flight test itself (a story for next month) my instructor let me know that many of the examiners go way back to the “good old days”,

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FLIGHT TEST: GROB G-109B

JIM DAVIS SHARES THE DELIGHTS OF THE

Text: Jim Davis Images: Guy Leitch

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G-109B

Jim Davis says the Grob109B is the most magical plane he has ever owned.

There was this guy in Uitenhage who did his whole PPL on one drum of fuel. That’s 40 hours on 40 gallons, He was flying a Grob G-109.

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The Grob 109B is a wonderful plane. Let me walk you round it and tell you what makes it so special.

position. Pull it back through about half of its travel into the landing indent and watch the dive brakes sprout out of the top of the wings.

ON THE GROUND

Near the root of each wing there is a little hatch so you can check that the lever which locks the wings in position is doing its job.

The first thing you notice is how beautifully smooth the finish is. There are no rivets or seams or joints. Every surface is like silk. Where surfaces meet, like the wings and the ailerons, the gaps are sealed with a special tape. This means no trickles of air can seep through to disturb the perfect flow.

Unlike its earlier version, the Grob 109A, you don’t need a hangar – the 109B’s wings fold and unfold easily and quickly. This means you can slide it in along the edge of someone else’s hangar. All it needs is a space 10.5m long and 2.1m wide. When you have wheeled it out of the hangar it takes less than 5 minutes to unfold the wings. The ailerons and spoilers connect and disconnect automatically.

Round the front you check the oil, the air filter and the composite prop, and that’s about it.

On one preflight I found a huge black burn mark under both sides of the tailplane. Closer inspection revealed a very slight scrape mark up the leading edge of the fin. It turned out the previous pilot, a timid little man from Germany,

The final touch in keeping the wings clean is the removal of the pitot head to the top of the tail fin. On the pitot is a little venturi that works a variometer – a fancy VSI that compensates for climbs and descents caused by changing airspeed. So it takes out the climb from pulling the stick back, and tells you about gains and losses in total energy from lift – essential for glider flying.

THE PREFLIGHT When you do a preflight you somehow feel cheated – there’s very little to inspect. There aren’t even fuel caps – the fuel lives under the floor behind the seats.

You can’t inspect the control surface hinges because of the tape over the joints. But you can move the controls and sense that solid feeling that comes from control rods, rather than cables.

I like to cycle the spoilers, or air brakes, as Herr Grob calls them. You lean inside and take a good firm backwards tug on a big blue-handled lever to the left of the pilot. This moves it out of its over-centre locked shut

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Ailerons - and all control surfaces - have drag reduction gap seals.

had tried to fly it under some power lines. The lowest line must have missed the prop and canopy by millimetres before slamming into the tail, sliding up and breaking with a mighty flash, which cut off Mossel Bay’s electricity for half a day.

you pull the spoiler lever back into the indent position so the spoilers are partially extended.

Then you get your right hand on the throttle and fly her in normally. In the event of a go-around take full power, level the nose and put the spoilers to bed. Easy.

It’s a strong aeroplane

It’s important to use one method or the other.

One well-known instructor got himself snarled up while trying to combine both and swanned into the ground, breaking the undercarriage.

Fortunately not my aircraft.

That reminds me - amongst my best flights ever were the annual eagle-counting flights that I did with Dr Robbie Robinson, boss of the Parks Board. We would criss-cross the Karoo for a couple of days, sitting perhaps 20 ft above the power lines, trickling along at 110 km/h (60 kts).

I flew from the right hand seat, keeping us just to the right of the lines so Robbie could look down into the eagles’ nests and count the eggs.

Why would you use a nasty, noisy vibrating fling-wing, when you could do the job at a tenth of the cost in a magic Grob?

The other oddity in the cockpit is the pair of handles in the middle for the prop. One is on the end of a cable, like a lawnmower starter.

You yank it once, at 120 km/h and 2300 rpm, and she goes into coarse pitch. A second pull

FLYING THE G109B Anyhow, let’s climb aboard for a flight from George, along the coast, to Wilderness and back. You take the left seat. Up on the wing and then slide down into that super-comfy seat. Everything is just where you expect it.

Rest your left arm on your lap and the stick is exactly where you want it. Let your right arm lie on the rest in the centre, and your hand falls naturally on the throttle, with the trim lever next to it. Zees Chermans sink of everysing.

There are a couple of strange things. The big blue spoiler lever on your left does exactly that – it spoils the lift - which of course steepens your descent. The spoilers also cause drag, like flaps.

If you want to land the Grob like a glider then you throttle fully back and use the spoiler lever much the same as a throttle. Ease it back and you descend more steeply. Move it forward and the aircraft almost seems to accelerate, and descends more gently. So just think of it like a throttle to regulate your approach.

If you want to land it like a powered aircraft

The Hoffman prop is full feathering.

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ABOVE: Substantial castering tailwheel makes ground handling easy.

BELOW: The B version of the Grob 109 can be identifed by its gull wing doors.

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at 110 km/h and 1400 rpm, and it goes fine.

The other handle, which looks like a VW Combi handbrake, pulls the prop into feather.

I quick l y came to r ealis e I could not live w it hout a Gr ob

could equally well land at George, Mossel Bay or Plett.

Eventually he dropped the pose, turned to me with a huge grin and said, “Just put the effing thing down so we can go and have a beer.”

I ought to tell you, while we are on the subject of the military, that I am not alone in considering the Grob a magnificent aeroplane. The RAF bought 53 of them for ab-initio training.

This means I don’t need to walk you through stalls (which are straightforward and preceded by a vigorous buffet), spins (which are not permitted) and steep turns (which are childishly easy). If the RAF thinks it handles well, I can only agree with them.

There is no mixture control because it has automatic altitude compensation in the carb. This means that when she is cold you use a manual choke for starting. You can usually put it off very soon after the engine is running.

Some Grobs have dual ignition and others not. I think it’s an unnecessary complication. It also adds weight and expense. Most of the time you really don’t care if the engine stops.

This reminds me of a SAAF flight test I did in my Grob, in Oudtshoorn. An important looking guy with shiny brass tortoises on his shoulders pitched from Ysterplaat. He made me do all the normal exercises and then closed the throttle at 4000ft above the airfield and declared, “Simulated forced landing!”

At first I thought he was joking, so I didn’t rush to do all the ‘immediate actions’ that he was hoping to see. He did a bit of frowning and scribbling on his clipboard before I realised he was serious.

I feathered the prop and asked him where he would like to land. He said the choice was mine, as he peered meaningfully down at the tar runway beneath us. I pointed out that I really would enjoy his input in the decision making process because, apart from Oudtshoorn, we

The wheels are sturdy enough for rough strips.

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ABOVE: Glider Schempp-Hirth air brakes provide wonderful glideslope control.

BELOW: The pitot tube is on the fin and feeds the variometer as well.

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Sorry, I got sidetracked. We were about to hit the starter for a local flight along the coast.

Actually when you do hit the starter things happen instantly – the prop fairly whizzes round and there is none of this graunching that one expects on Lycomings and Continentals. She fires immediately and idles sweetly at 1400 rpm. Slow idle is 800 rpm, but it is not smooth.

It is a 2.5 litre flat four, VW based, Grob engine.

It performs beautifully, uses no oil and is everything we would want our Lycs and Contis to be.

Taxiing, with a steerable tailwheel and toebrakes, is a pleasure –mostly you don’t realise you are in a taildragger.

the prop into the ground.

We have 200m of grass before we reach the tar taxiway. About half way along this she drifts easily into the air at around 75 or 80 km/h on the ASI (a bit over 40kts).

The first aerodynamic oddity shows up almost immediately. It really doesn’t matter whether you climb at 100 or 120 km/h, the VSI sits solidly on 800ft/min even though we are carrying enough fuel to fly to East London. At gross she climbs at around 600ft/min.

After about half a minute we level off at 1000ft on the altimeter – 350ft agl. The end of our 1200m runway is still ahead of us. If we have an

Viz over the nose is great, but there are two things to watch out for. Those wings are longer than you think, so you need to keep an eye on them. And when you turn they have considerable momentum, so she is inclined to turn further than you expect. Yet, unlike many taildraggers, she has almost no tendency to ground-loop. So taxiing is a doddle.

We have a 15 to 20 knot southerly wind off the sea so we will backtrack down the grass at the beginning of 20 (as it used to be). Takeoff checks are straightforward.

When you come to ‘flaps’, there are none, but just confirm the spoiler lever is fully forward. Under ‘mixture’ make sure the choke is off and when you do ‘hatches’, both gull-wing doors pull in solidly and snugly as you move the levers forward.

For takeoff we line up nicely: a final check on the windsock, which is standing out stiffly towards us, and a glance up and down 29/11 to check for traffic. Now you move the throttle smoothly forward and use enough left rudder to keep straight – the prop turns anti-clock, seen from behind.

The engine revs easily and she accelerates smoothly. In this wind you can get the tail up almost immediately – but be careful not to lift it too high otherwise you will smack

109B wings can be easily folded with this locking lever in the wing root easy to inspect.

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ABOVE: The view over the nose on takeoff is good.

BELOW: The prop control levers - for pitch change and feathering.

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engine failure here we can do a brief circuit and land back where we took off.

But that doesn’t happen, so we level the nose, throttle way back and pull the prop into cruise pitch. Now we settle at 190 km/h (100kts) for a couple of minutes.

For general training we could climb to 4 000ft, reduce power, notch the prop into cruise pitch and potter along at 140 km/h, using less than two gallons an hour. But we are not doing that today – we are going on an economy trip instead.

As the Glentana beach appears it’s time to throttle right back, switch the mags off and feather the prop. Magic, beautiful, whispering silence.

it the easy way. Move the stick gently back and we sail way up above the top of the ridge. Get the speed to 95 km/h for minimum sink, and we potter along admiring the beautiful coastline and the majestic Outeniqua Mountains. Over the nose we see Wilderness and the lakes.

Now we have to watch out for the paragliders that populate the west end of the Wilderness beach. There is a cove in the cliffs which gives them plenty of lift. They circle there like vultures.

We don’t need that much lift so we drift out to sea and bypass them. But now it’s time to think about going home. We can go back along the coast or try our luck getting to the mountains and again finding lift from the rising air. Let’s do that. We have a massive advantage over ordinary gliders – if our plan doesn’t work we hit the button and go back under power.

An ae r oplane t hat w ill glide to t he hor izon f r om cir cuit he ight

Savour it for as long as you like. We are flying in lift caused by the wind off the sea sweeping up the coastal ridge.

As we turn left to follow the coast we realise what magnificent visibility we have in every direction, including down through the surprisingly useful floor level windows.

You keep thinking something must happen. We are soaring like an eagle. The engine is silent; even the Hobbs has stopped. It’s not costing a cent. We seem be breaking not only the laws of physics, but normal economic imperatives.

Not so, keep in the lift and hold the airspeed anywhere between 95 and 200 km/h and not even the tax man gets a look in.

She is gentle and easy to fly. The wind off the sea is smooth and predictable. We can push the nose down and tuck in close to the ridge and she maintains 190 km/h. It’s exhilarating stuff – you just have to be careful to keep the left wingtip out of the bushes.

This is huge fun, but it is hard work, so let’s do

I know it’s cheating – but hell it's fun.

The mountains work and we are cooking with gas. Up we go and sail easily back to George, climbing all the way. I bet the tax man hates us!

We let the tower know where we are and he tells us to join on a left base. What could be easier? We glide quietly in, using the spoiler lever as a sort of throttle, and touch down gently on the grass at the beginning of 20. As the wheels touch, ease the spoiler fully back to kill the lift. It also applies brakes to both mains. We stop in the length of a football field.

What could be better than that? 40 minutes flying for a couple of minutes under power. The engine is stone cold and we have to use the choke to start up for taxiing.

I love it to bits.

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SPECIFICATIONS & PERFORMANCE: Wing span Length Height Max take-off weight Empty weight Max payload Fuel – 100 l (72 kg) Engine Propeller

GROB G-109B 17.4 m (57’) 8.1 m (27’) 1.7 m (6’) 850 kg (1870 lbs) 619 kg (1364 lbs) 230 kg (506 lbs) 22 galls Grob 87 HP @ 3 400 rpm Hoffman VP, full feathering.

Cessna 150 10.2 m (33’4”) 7.3 m (24’9”) 2.6 m (8’6”) 726 kg (1600 lbs) 504 kg (1111 lbs) 222 kg (489 lbs) 22.5 galls 100 HP Metal fixed 5’9” diameter

12 l/h (2.65 galls/h) 240 km/h (150 mph) 190 km/h (118 mph) 73 km/h (45 mph) 3.3 m/s (670 ft/min) 196 m(640 ft) 320 m (1005 ft) 1800 km (1120 st.m) 1:30 @ 115 km/h (72 mph) 1.1 m/s (197’/min)

23 l/h (5.06 galls/h) 259 km/h (160 mph) 170 km/h(105 mph) 78 km/h (48 mph) 3.3 m/sec (670 ft min) 224 m (735 ft) 422 m (1385 ft) 765 km (475 st.m) 1:07 n/a

Performance Fuel cons @ 170 kph (106 mph) Never exceed speed Cruise speed Stall speed Rate of climb Takeoff run T/O over a 15 m obstacle Max powered range Best glide ratio Min sink

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Proud owner Dave Beek's 109B on the ground at November 2021 Hoedspruit where we flew it for these pics.

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JIM DAVIS

AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT • This report is to promote aviation safety and not to establish legal liability.

• The CAA’s report contains padding, repetition, poor English and incompetence.

So, in the interest of clarity and readability, I have had to correct and paraphrase extensively

Type of Aircraft: Piper 34-200T (Aeroplane) Aircraft Registration: ZS-MTY Date and Time of Accident: 23/12/2013 1430Z Type of Operation: Training Pilot-in-command (instructor) Licence: Airline Pilot Age: 60 Licence Valid: Yes Flying Experience: Total Hours: 2550 • Total Past 90 Days: 110 Total on Type: 102 • Total on Type Past 90 Days: 20 Pilot 2 (Pilot undergoing conversion) Gender: Male Age: 52 Licence Type: Private Pilot Licence Licence valid: Yes Flying Experience: Total Hours 345.2 • Total Past 90 Days: 4.0 Total on Type: 29.2 • Total on Type Past 90 Days: 0.8 Last point of departure: Lanseria International Airport (FALA) Next point of intended landing: Lanseria International Airport (FALA) Location of the accident site: Right of runway 07 at FALA Meteorological Information Temperature: 28°C, Wind: 330°/7kts, Visibility: CAVOK, Dew point: 12°C Number of people on board: 2 Number of people injured: 0 Number of people killed: 0

Synopsis A flight instructor and private pilot departed from Lanseria International Airport (FALA) with the intention to complete a conversion onto type flight.

The pilots completed three uneventful circuits for runway 07. During the fourth circuit,

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the private pilot configured the aircraft for the touch and go landing with full flap and undercarriage extended. The private pilot attempted to flare the aircraft at approximately 20ft above ground level for landing. However, the aircraft ballooned due to excessive back pressure applied to the control column.

The private pilot did not relax the back

The Seneca came to rest to the right of 07.

pressure to correct for the balloon landing but instead, he increased power on both the engines. The aircraft’s airspeed decayed, and the aircraft began to yaw to the right.

The flight instructor took control of the aircraft and tried to regain directional control and to recover from the stall. The instructor could not regain directional control, so he reduced power to both engines to idle, and the aircraft crash landed to the right of runway 07. It skidded for approximately 90 meters before coming to rest.

The air traffic controller (ATC) on duty activated the crash alarm and aerodrome rescue and fire-fighting (ARFF) were dispatched to the crash site. The pilots evacuated the aircraft unassisted and without injury. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

Video footage of the accident sequence leading up to impact was obtained from Apron management at Lanseria Airport. The footage was used to verify the sequence of events following impact.

Probable Cause The aircraft’s airspeed was allowed to decay during a balloon landing recovery, which resulted in a stall and subsequent loss of directional control.

Contributory Factor Poor technique Damage to Aircraft The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, undercarriage, wings, engines and propellers.

Weight and Balance Basic Empty Weight 3017 Pilot and Passenger 410 Fuel on board 490 Take-off weight 3917lbs Note: The maximum take-off weight for this aircraft is 4570lbs. The aircraft was within the take-off weight limitation.

Wreckage and Impact Information The aircraft made contact with the ground and came to rest approximately 90 meters from the initial impact point in a southerly direction.

It sustained substantial damage to the propeller, undercarriage, wings and fuselage.

The main undercarriage separated on impact.

The damage to the propellers indicated a low power setting at impact and neither of the propellers was feathered. Following the accident the pilots indicated that the mixtures were fully rich.

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Tests and Research The following information has been extracted from the Pilot’s Operating Handbook: Stall speed with flap extended: 61kts.

Stall recovery • To recover from stall, reduce the angle of attack by moving the control column centrally forward until the buffet or stall warning stops.

• Once the wings are unstalled, buffeting ceases, the airspeed increases and the aeroplane can be eased out of the slight dive back into normal flight.

• The height loss will be of the order of 200 feet.

• Power can be added to regain or maintain height, otherwise flying speed should be maintained in a glide.

• Height loss during stall can be minimised with power.

• Adding power is not required to recover from the stall, however height loss will be minimised if full power is applied as back pressure is released and the nose is lowered.

• Recovery can be achieved with a height loss of less than 50 feet.

• Allow the aeroplane to commence settling (sinking) again.

• When approaching the hold off height, continue the backward movement of the control column; and • complete the landing normally.

Stalling occurs when the critical angle of attack of an aircraft is exceeded. A speed is used as a reference because light aircraft do not have critical angle of attack indicators.

Warnings of an impending stall include: • a reducing airspeed; • operation of a pre-stall warning (warning horn, buzzer or light); • the onset of buffet (a vibration felt on the control stick); and/or • high nose attitude.

Additional Information The information below was extracted from the Air Pilot’s Manual, Volume 1:

The balloon A balloon can be caused by: • Too much back pressure on the control column; and/or • too high an airspeed; and/or • a gust of wind.

To correct for a small balloon: • Relax some of the back pressure on the control column.

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The Air Pilots Manual talks about "pressure" on the stick.

Analysis The aircraft’s right engine and turbo charger were subjected to a teardown inspection following the accident to eliminate the possibility that an engine failure of the right engine had occurred, resulting in an asymmetric scenario. No abnormalities were found and this duly eliminated the possibility of any asymmetric scenario.

JIM’S COMMENTS This is interesting because there weren’t really any warning signs. So we have a nice day with light winds, a reasonably experienced and current instructor, a lightly loaded, apparently serviceable aeroplane, and a good, big, international airport. What can go wrong?

To me it looks like a poor mind-set on the part of both instructor and pupil.

Perhaps caused by it being towards the end of a long hot day. I will say more about that shortly.

But I am also interested in the poor wording used in the report – both CAA’s and the words quoted from the Air Pilot’s Manual (Vol.1). Words that I see being increasingly used by instructors and sanctioned by CAA.

of the words static and friction, perhaps also influenced by the verb stick.

This means you are not going to get more power by putting forward pressure on the throttles – you have to move the damn things to overcome the stiction caused by the throttle friction nut. This is an extreme example, but ALL controls have some degree of natural stiction and some have it designed into them.

A Cherokee’s flap lever won’t move if you put pressure on it – you have to deliberately use some muscle to lower the flap. Even the magneto switch has built in stiction – you can’t have it flopping from one mag to the other in turbulence. Your instructor doesn’t tell you to put pressure on the flap lever or the ignition switch – he wants you to move it. And the same applies to the flying controls.

Stiction is what makes it necessary for you to tap the altimeter (and a barometer) to get a proper reading. Out of interest, in the previous generation of Boeings you could just hear a very light, but continuous, tapping noise in the cockpit.

This was caused by minute hammers that tapped the altimeters all the time, to overcome stiction in the instruments. With piston engine aircraft the vibration is enough to do the job.

a poor minds et on t he par t of bot h ins t r uc tor and pupil

Some non-instructors may feel that words are unlikely to cause accidents. Wrong. Words are extremely important when instructing. Words can be misleading and sometimes plain dangerous.

My current hate is the word ‘pressure’ when applied to control inputs. Putting pressure on a control does nothing – it’s necessary to move the control before anything happens. All controls suffer from what engineers call stiction which is defined as the static friction that needs to be overcome to enable relative motion of stationary objects in contact. The term is a portmanteau

So when the otherwise excellent Air Pilot’s Manual suggests that you enter or recover from stalls by applying, or relaxing, back pressure on the control column, they are tip-toeing round the truth. And they know it – because the next moment they tell you to ‘continue backward movement’ of the control column.

The POH uses the correct wording when it says, to recover from stall reduce the angle of attack by moving the control column centrally forward until the buffet or stall warning stops.

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In summary: pressure means nothing – all the controls need to MOVE before anything happens.

All this is getting me wound up about instructors and training manuals using the correct words, so while I am on a roll let’s take it a bit further. Where possible, don’t tell pupils what to do with the stick – it’s much better to tell them what to do with the aeroplane.

The Air Pilot’s Manual, quoted in this report says When approaching the hold-off height, continue the backward movement of the control column.

In s ummar y : pr es s ur e means not hing That’s extremely bad advice. Do they really want you to continue moving the stick back even if you balloon? Of course not. But maybe that’s exactly what this pilot did.

If you are teaching someone to drive a car you don’t tell them what to do with the steering wheel when they are going round a corner – you tell them what to do with the car. “Keep it on our side of the road,” or whatever.

Okay having dealt with bad instructional techniques let’s move on to the fairly simple matter of what really caused this accident. A few things went wrong, all pretty much at the same time: • The pupil rounded out too high, or possibly ballooned.

• He corrected by adding partial power instead of lowering the nose immediately.

• With turbocharged twins the power is unlikely to increase equally on both engines at the same time – this probably caused the yaw, or roll to the right.

• The instructor was fast asleep – he left it too late to intervene. Possibly he was tired after a long hot day, as I suggested earlier, but takeoffs and landings, particularly in a

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•

•

•

•

•

twin, demand one’s full attention.

The fact that the pupil had nearly 30 hours on type probably gave the instructor a false sense of confidence in him.

Also, a pupil who hasn’t finished the conversion in about ten hours has to be suspect.

I didn’t witness the accident, and the report doesn’t give enough information, but it seems the event was very badly handled by whoever was at the controls.

They failed to maintain flying speed and directional control of a serviceable aeroplane.

I suspect they were not mentally prepared for a go-around. This would never have happened if they had been.

At 650 lbs below gross weight the aeroplane was easily capable of doing a go-around even if one engine had failed – which was not the case.

Take Home Stuff • Everyone needs to be wide awake even during the most straight forward takeoffs and landings.

• When landings go wrong they demand immediate and positive action. This is not a time for half measures or a wait-and-see attitude.

• On final approach one should always be prepared for a go-around – almost expect it.

• Be aware that long hours and hot days are going to rob you of your normal spark.

• Instructors beware – the more hours and experience a pupe has, the less you should trust them. My worst scares have always been with seemingly competent people. With a low hour pupe you are prepared and ready for silliness, but there’s always a “I don’t believe this is happening” moment when an experienced pilot does something goofy. j

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REGISTER REVIEW: RAY WATTS

We are losing aircraft to all over the world. ZS-FBR is a Cessna 182 exported to Russia. Photo by Dave Becker.

S EP T EMB ER 2021

I’D LIKE TO START THIS MONTH with a note that I got from the owner of one of the aircraft that I recorded as exported to the USA in last month’s review: Piper Super Cub ZS-DEH. He writes; “I just read the SA Flyer and saw you mentioned our PA-18, ZS-DEH in your register review. The good news is that it is not actually leaving the shores of SA. It is currently undergoing a ground up rebuild at Rand and since it’s so arduous to deal with the CAA with the +- 12 STC’s we installed on the plane during rebuild, we have cancelled its registration with the CAA and it will undergo a DAR inspection towards

end November to complete the move to the N register. Its new tail number is N1950Y, as a tip of the hat to her birth year.”

It’s great that she’s staying in this country – I hate it when our classic aircraft leave the country. But it’s an increasingly common sign of the times that the CAA is, like so much of government and the state owned enterprises, just becoming too difficult to deal with.

t h e S A Po l i c e are going to be using drones to patrol

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November 2021

The amendments for September 2021 show a nice increase of seven fixed wing TCA aircraft.

There are two more Air Tractors added. As

ABOVE: Airlink continues to update their fleet at a rate - ZS-OEX is a BAe 4100 now exported to the DRC. Photo Michael Combrink.

BELOW MIDDLE: ZS-AFD is one of two Cessna 510 Mustangs now exported. This one to Qatar. Seen here at Lanseria in 2009. Photo Dave Becker.

ELOW BOTTOM: ZS-MUS is the other Cessna 510 Mustang. Exported to the USA as N2069C. Seen B here at Grand Central in 2014. Photo Ray Watts.

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ABOVE: ZT-RGG is a Bell 206 Jet Ranger now exported to Zimbabwe.

BELOW: ZS-PNY is a rare Beech A36 Turbine Bonanza, now exported to the USA. Seen here at Rand on the day on 9 Sept 2021. Photo Dan Bensch.

noted in last month’s article on the Air Tractor conference, these large investments in agriculture technology are being made on the back of some good years for many farmers – especially citrus growers in South Africa. By my reckoning there are about 17 Air Tractors in South Africa.

Solenta Aviation have imported another ERJ145 which I expect will be used on charter somewhere in Africa soon. This is ZS-BBE and it takes up the registration that was first used by a Fairchild F24R which was transferred to the Israeli Air Force as B-33 on 9/5/1948.

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There’s also a Cessna 208B Caravan, which has been in the country on her American registration N195GC for quite a while. She has now become ZS-BRI, which used to be an Ercoupe 415C which is still around as ZS-UDO. And a Beech BE200 Super King Air ZS-CTI takes up the registration of a Piper Super Cub that ended up in Zaire as 9Q-CAO in 1961.

We see the return of an Aero Commander 690B after being operated in Namibia and Angola for many years. She certainly has seen a lot of different registrations in her lifetime including South African reg ZS-PFD.

A newcomer to SA - ZS-TKK is a Cessna 206H imported from Kenya. Seen here at Lanseria 27-8-2021. Photo by Omer Mees.

The NTCA register sees another seven aircraft added including a Lancair Evolution that was imported from the USA. I see Thinus Kemp has registered another Razzo conversion, and I suspect this is a Cherokee 180. Unfortunately, at time of writing I cannot get through to him on the phone.

exports are to the UK and Russia. Two of our TCA helicopters have also flown the coup, one to Zimbabwe and one to the USA.

t h e CA A i s becoming too There is a new Whisper Motor difficult to Glider registered. deal w ith.

There are another 41 drones registered and I see in the news that the SA Police are going to be using drones to patrol certain areas during the upcoming elections. It is going to be interesting to see where they operate.

Sadly, we continue to lose aircraft to the export market with another eight TCA aircraft having been exported. One of these is a BAe 4100 which used to fly with Airlink. She’s been given a thorough overhaul and is now operating in the DRC. One of the very few turbine powered Beech A36 Bonanzas that we have in the country has been sold in the USA. Other

There are three NTCA aircraft cancelled from the register, two being exported to neighbouring countries and one, a Sling 2 being scrapped. I’m not sure why it was scrapped though.

Tail Piece It is wonderful to see that the general aviation community isn’t letting the Covid pandemic get it down. The number of gatherings over the last couple of weeks has been fantastic. With the new relaxation of the number of people allowed at outside gatherings increasing to 2000 people I hope we’ll see even more aviation gatherings and a return to air shows.

The thunderstorm season is upon us. Please be careful out there and stay away from these monsters. j

November 2021

69

African Fuel Services are the sponsors for our Register Review Page

SEPTEMBER 2021 REG

MANUFACTURER

TYPE NAME

SERIAL NUMBER

PREVIOUS IDENTITY / EXPORT COUNTRY

New Registrations ZSZS-BBE

EMBRAER

145

145556

F-WTBW, F-GUBC, PT-SZR

ZS-BRI

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

208B

208B2036

N195GC, N208MT

ZS-CTI

BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

B200

BB-1024

N83RZ, HK-4343, N83RZ, SU-PAA, N300DK, F-GDFF

ZS-OOM

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11422

V5-DOL, D2-MGF, D2-EBX, V5-MFN, ZS-PFD, N310GA, N77UA, N500MM, N81673

ZS-PDZ

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

510

510-0379

N610JL, N379CZ

ZS-TKK

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

U206H

206-08256

5Y-CIV, N24573

ZS-XAY

AIR TRACTOR INC

AT-502B

502B-3311

ZS-XBX

AIR TRACTOR INC

AT-502A

502A-3309

WHISPER MOTOR GLIDER

WA05-030

New Registrations ZTZT-GUF

DAVID ELEXANDER ROBBIE

New Registrations ZUZU-EDJ

SAVANNAH AIRCRAFT AFRICA

SAVANNAH S

20-11-54-0739

ZU-EVT

ARNOLD PISTORIUS (TWIN CITY NORTHWEST LLC)

LANCAIR EVOLUTION)

EVO-021

ZU-IVH

GARY DEVILLE LANDER

SLING 4 TSI

191SK

ZU-IVI

THINUS KEMP

RAZZO R180

R180TW

ZU-IVJ

MAGNI GYRO

M24 ORION

24213176

ZU-IVK

SAVANNAH AIRCRAFT AFRICA

SAVANNAH S

20-11-54-0743

ZU-ROW

MAGNI GYRO

M22

22213146

N122AP

Aircraft Deleted ZSZS-AFD

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

510

510-0134

QATAR

ZS-FBR

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

182K

182-58473

RUSSIA

ZS-GLE

SCHEMPP-HIRTH FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH

JANUS

48

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ZS-JCY

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

177B

177-02726

UNITED KINGDOM

ZS-JXS

BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

V35B

D-9927

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA as N530C

ZS-MUS

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

510

210-0137

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA as N2069C

ZS-OEX

BRITISH AEROSPACE PLC

4100

41103

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

ZS-PNY

BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

A36

E 2210

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Aircraft Deleted ZUZU-ETA

ELA AVIACION

ELA-07

07071800724

NAMIBIA

ZU-ISD

MICRO AVIATION SA

BAT HAWK R

0078

TANZANIA

ZU-ITZ

SLING AIRCRAFT (PTY) LTD

SLING 2

193

SCRAPPED

Aircraft Deleted ZTZT-RGG

BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON

206B

3664

ZIMBABWE

ZT-ROC

MCDONELL DOUGLAS HELICOTER COMPANY

369E

0501E

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA as N127PD

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November 2021

African Fuel Services AFS is based at Groutville Airfield just North of Ballito.

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20 November 2021 Would love to see: ZS FGO, ZS IKY, ZS FOH, ZS FHK, ZS FAP, ZS IIF, ZS IJR, ZS MIY, ZS NSW Program: Morning Arrival – Light lunch – Afternoon rally, Sundowners and Party to band Black Whiskey.

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November 2021

SA Flyer 2021|11

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November 2021

73

FUEL TABLE www.sv1.co.za

SA Flyer 2021|11

Fuel Fuel Prices Prices as atas 02/09/2021 at 02/09/2021 Pri ces Prii ces nclude i nclude VAT VAT but exclude but exclude any servi any servi ce fees ce fees Ai rfi Ai eldrfi eld Avgas Avgas Jet A1 Jet A1 Baragwanath Baragwanath R21,50 R21,50 Beaufort Beaufort WestWest R23,85 R23,85 R15,00 R15,00 Bethlehem Bethlehem R 23,99 R 23,99 R 15,96 R 15,96 Bloemfontei Bloemfontei n n R19,61 R19,61 R11,56 R11,56 Brakpan Brakpan R22,40 R22,40 BritsBrits R20,25 R20,25 CapeCape Town Town R23,67 R23,67 R9,95 R9,95 Eagles Eagles Creek Creek R20,90 R20,90 East East London London R20,04 R20,04 R11,32 R11,32 Ermelo Ermelo R21,33 R21,33 Fi santekraal Fi santekraal R24,50 R24,50 Fly-In Fly-In R20,20 R20,20 Gari Gari ep Dam ep Dam R22,50 R22,50 R15,00 R15,00 George George R20,34 R20,34 R12,24 R12,24 Grand Grand Central Central R21,85 R21,85 R10,61 R10,61 Hei delberg Hei delberg R22,00 R22,00 Hoedspruit Hoedspruit R15,21 R15,21 Ki mberley Ki mberley R19,84 R19,84 R11,78 R11,78 KittyKitty Hawk Hawk R23,40 R23,40 Klerksdorp Klerksdorp R21,77 R21,77 R13,95 R13,95 Kroonstad Kroonstad R20,24 R20,24 R12,65 R12,65 Kruger Kruger Intl Nelspruit Intl Nelspruit R22,20 R22,20 R14,00 R14,00 Krugersdorp Krugersdorp R21,10 R21,10 Lanseri Lanseri a a R22,20 R22,20 R14,61 R14,61 Margate Margate R25,20 R25,20 R14,74 R14,74 Middelburg Middelburg R21,85 R21,85 R14,95 R14,95 Morningstar Morningstar R22,50 R22,50 Mosselbay Mosselbay R23,70 R23,70 R14,40 R14,40 Nelspruit Nelspruit R20,24 R20,24 R11,71 R11,71 Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn R19,96 R19,96 R13,01 R13,01 ParysParys R21,77 R21,77 R13,95 R13,95 Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg R22,70 R22,70 R15,10 R15,10 Pi etersburg Pi etersburg Ci vi lCi vi l R21,60 R21,60 R14,00 R14,00 PortPort Alfred Alfred R21,40 R21,40 PortPort Elizabeth Elizabeth R23,17 R23,17 R14,67 R14,67 Potchefstroom Potchefstroom R21,77 R21,77 R13,45 R13,45 RandRand R20,39 R20,39 R14,85 R14,85 Robertson Robertson R21,90 R21,90 Rustenberg Rustenberg R20,98 R20,98 R14,10 R14,10 Secunda Secunda R19,55 R19,55 R11,22 R11,22 Skeerpoort Skeerpoort *** Customer *** Customer to collect to collect R19,53 R19,53 R11,19 R11,19 Springbok Springbok R21,50 R21,50 R13,80 R13,80 Springs Springs R21,50 R21,50 Not Not avbl avbl Stellenbosch Stellenbosch R23,50 R23,50 Swellendam Swellendam R21,30 R21,30 R12,50 R12,50 Tempe Tempe R21,10 R21,10 R13,13 R13,13 Thabazimbe Thabazimbe R22,27 R22,27 R14,45 R14,45 Upington Upington R20,53 R20,53 R12,48 R12,48 Vereeni Vereeni gi nggi ng R21,34 R21,34 R12,73 R12,73 Vi rgiVi nirgi a ni a R24,47 R24,47 R14,26 R14,26 Vryburg Vryburg R22,79 R22,79 R14,71 R14,71 Welkom Welkom R20,24 R20,24 R12,65 R12,65 Wi ngs WiPark ngs Park EL EL R22,25 R22,25 Witbank Witbank R21,30 R21,30 R20,03 R20,03 R11,71 R11,71 Wonderboom Wonderboom Worcester Worcester No No Contact Contact *** Heli *** copters Heli copters onlyonly

Tel: +27 10 446 9666 Danielle: +27 82 553 9611 Email: aviation@sv1.co.za Marina: +27 82 924 3015 Co-ordinates: S25°50’37 E27°41’28 74 GPS November 2021 Import/Export no. 21343829

Fuel Fuel Prices Prices as atas 01/10/2021 at 01/10/2021 Pri ces Prii ces nclude i nclude VAT VAT but exclude but exclude any servi any servi ce fees ce fees Ai rfi Ai eldrfi eld Avgas Avgas Jet A1 Jet A1 Baragwanath Baragwanath R21,50 R21,50 Beaufort Beaufort WestWest R23,85 R23,85 R15,00 R15,00 Bethlehem Bethlehem R 23,99 R 23,99R 15,96 R 15,96 Bloemfontei Bloemfontei n n R20,17 R20,17 R11,73 R11,73 Brakpan Brakpan R22,40 R22,40 BritsBrits R20,25 R20,25 CapeCape Town Town R23,67 R23,67 R10,65 R10,65 Eagles Eagles Creek Creek R20,90 R20,90 East East London London R19,01 R19,01 R11,05 R11,05 Ermelo Ermelo R21,33 R21,33 Fi santekraal Fi santekraal R24,50 R24,50 Fly-In Fly-In R20,50 R20,50 Gari Gari ep Dam ep Dam R22,50 R22,50 R15,00 R15,00 George George R20,18 R20,18 R11,97 R11,97 Grand Grand Central Central R21,85 R21,85 R14,61 R14,61 Hei delberg Hei delberg R22,00 R22,00 Hoedspruit Hoedspruit R15,01 R15,01 Ki mberley Ki mberley R20,39 R20,39 R11,98 R11,98 KittyKitty Hawk Hawk R23,40 R23,40 Klerksdorp Klerksdorp R21,14 R21,14 R13,75 R13,75 Kroonstad Kroonstad R20,24 R20,24 R12,65 R12,65 Kruger Kruger Intl Nelspruit Intl Nelspruit R22,20 R22,20 R14,00 R14,00 Krugersdorp Krugersdorp R21,30 R21,30 Lanseri Lanseri a a R22,20 R22,20 R14,00 R14,00 Margate Margate R25,20 R25,20 R15,20 R15,20 Middelburg Middelburg R21,85 R21,85 R14,95 R14,95 Morningstar Morningstar R22,50 R22,50 Mosselbay Mosselbay R23,70 R23,70 R14,40 R14,40 Nelspruit Nelspruit R20,24 R20,24 R11,71 R11,71 Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn R19,96 R19,96 R13,01 R13,01 ParysParys R21,14 R21,14 R13,75 R13,75 Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg R22,70 R22,70 R15,10 R15,10 Pi etersburg Pi etersburg Ci vi lCi vi l R21,65 R21,65 R14,10 R14,10 PortPort Alfred Alfred R21,40 R21,40 PortPort Elizabeth Elizabeth R23,17 R23,17 R15,66 R15,66 Potchefstroom Potchefstroom R21,14 R21,14 R13,75 R13,75 RandRand R20,22 R20,22 R14,85 R14,85 Robertson Robertson R21,90 R21,90 Rustenberg Rustenberg R20,98 R20,98 R14,10 R14,10 Secunda Secunda R20,70 R20,70 R12,76 R12,76 Skeerpoort Skeerpoort *** Customer *** Customer to collect to collect R18,90 R18,90 R11,51 R11,51 Springbok Springbok R21,50 R21,50 R14,56 R14,56 Springs Springs R21,50 R21,50Not Not avbl avbl Stellenbosch Stellenbosch R23,50 R23,50 Swellendam Swellendam R21,90 R21,90 R13,00 R13,00 Tempe Tempe R21,65 R21,65 R13,43 R13,43 Thabazimbe Thabazimbe R21,64 R21,64 R14,25 R14,25 Upington Upington R21,08 R21,08 R12,67 R12,67 Vereeni Vereeni gi nggi ng R21,34 R21,34 R12,73 R12,73 Vi rgiVi nirgi a ni a R24,47 R24,47 R14,26 R14,26 Vryburg Vryburg R21,92 R21,92 R14,51 R14,51 Welkom Welkom R20,24 R20,24 R12,65 R12,65 Wi ngs WiPark ngs Park EL EL R22,25 R22,25 Witbank Witbank R21,30 R21,30 R19,40 R19,40 R11,51 R11,51 Wonderboom Wonderboom Worcester Worcester R23,94 R23,94 *** Heli *** copters Heli copters onlyonly

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November 2021

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Events by EAA SUN ‘N FUN FLY-IN

SAPFA SA LANDING CHAMPIONSHIPS

EUROPEAN ROTORS

5th–7th November 2021 – ctc

13 November

16 – 18 November Conference Centre Koelnmesse

Brits Airfield

Brits Airfield

Neil Tel. 084 674 5674

Ron Stirk Tel. 082 445 0373

www.europeanrotors.eu email: presse@messe-fn.de

DUBAI AIRSHOW

SAPFA SPEED RALLY 27 November

4th – 18th November 2021 www.dubaiairshow.aero

Springs Airfield Jonty Esser Tel. 082 855 9435

Flying in Africa – that’s what we love

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November 2021

Flying in Africa it’s what we love!

© Willie or Cheryl 2018 BonaBona

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RECREATIONAL FLYING

EAA WARMBATHS

TAILDRAGGERS FLY-IN

BY GARTH CALITZ

In a sign of the neglect of municipal airports, the for the first time in 10 years, the popular Taildraggers fly-in has moved from Nylstroom Airfield, to Warmbaths / Bela Bela.

THE NYLSTROOM AIRFIELD has fallen victim to the pressures of an ever-expanding informal settlement. In 2020 Taildraggers fly-in organiser Richard Nicholson approached the Warmbaths Flying Club and requested that Taildraggers be moved to Warmbaths Airfield.

Arrival day on the Friday seemed a bit quieter than usual, although this may have been due to the bad weather early in the day. Fortunately, the weather cleared for the rest of the weekend. The visitors who decided to stay the night were more than happy to spend a few hours at the clubhouse catching up with friends over a few cold ones. The fires were lit early and as soon as they were ready the air was filled with the iconic South African smell of a braai.

was camping under the wing of his stunning C170 for the first time in 25 years.

While the dawn patrol was enjoying the sunrise the first of the day’s arrivals made their appearance. The majority of the early arrivals were from the Kitplanes For Africa stable; during the day almost thirty KFA aircraft arrived, ranging from the Bush-baby to the Safari and larger Explorer.

Sling Aircraft was mildly coerced into bringing their new Sling High Wing Taildragger. The prototype had been in pieces on the preceding Monday but when they were told their aircraft was being used on the official logo for this year’s event the very capable team at Sling Aircraft burned midnight oil to fly it in on Saturday morning.

separate ‘ real’ aircraft f rom ‘ n o s e d r a g g e r s ’.

Saturday morning started early with Jason Beamish and Richard Nicholson Jr. starting their aircraft for the customary dawn patrol.

Any campers nursing a hangover were soon awakened when the aircraft started buzzing above the field. One of which was the EAA stalwart Karl Jensen, who, with his wife away,

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November 2021

The sub-tropical sun was unrelenting with temperatures reaching into the high 30’s which kept most of the visitors under the shade tents and trees at the clubhouse. Despite the heat, Richard Nicholson Snr spent most of the day zipping around the airfield marshalling the 130 odd aircraft to their parking spots and trying to

Sling High Wing Taildragger.

Jason Beamish and Richard Nicholson Jnr on a dawn patrol.

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Kit Planes for Africa were there in abundance.

separate the ‘real’ aircraft from their tricycle gear ‘nosedraggers’.

Shortly before 11:00 a familiar rumble was heard in the distance; the Puma Energy Flying Lions were inbound. Scully Levin and his team managed to bring some relief to the airshow EAA Members getting out of the sun to catch up.

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November 2021

starved people with an immaculate four-ship display. The sound of these four Harvards will always elevate the enthusiasm levels up a few notches.

Nigel Musgrave, the safety officer and Piet Fourie from the CAA kept an eye on everything

Neville Ferreira in his Slick 540 and Bob Hoover hat.

Nigel Hopkins and Jason Beamish put on their polished display.

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The man that made it all happen - Richard Nicholson.

It's about the people - Nigel Musgrave(safety Officer) Piet Fourie (CAA inspector) and Marelise Scheepers (ATC).

from the tower, accompanied by two ladies from ATNS. It must be noted that they did a sterling job of handling the hundreds of movements with not one incident.

As the shadows lengthened many of the visiting aircraft began leaving. Ssadly the taildraggers tradition of sleeping over on Saturday night seems to have died with the Nylstroom airfield.

At 3:30pm the sky came alive with the sound of Extras, Nigel Hopkins and Jason Beamish delivered yet another superb display of high impact formation aerobatics. Nigel flying in his Ecko Unltd sponsored Extra 330SC and Jason in his Absolute Aviation Extra 330LX have been flying together for many years and this showed in the precision of their display.

Hopefully, the full ‘Taildragger Gees’ will be rekindled by next year’s event, but for this year it was clear the world isn’t the same place it was before the pandemic. j

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BOOK REVIEW

DAVE UNWI N’ S

SK Y STORI ES As the editor of a number of UK aviation magazines Dave Unwin has flown an astonishing variety of planes. He is one of the world’s best-known aviation writers and an occasional contributor to SA Flyer’s fly tests.

DAVE HAS BEEN FLYING since 1985 and has over 5,000 hours in more than 300 different types, ranging from antique gliders and vintage biplanes to modern turboprops and jet fighters, WW2 bombers and fighters, and gliders and seaplanes.

t he t hr ill and r omance of w hy we love to f l y He has survived some hairy close calls, most recently when the monster 1951 Sea Fury he was reviewing had an engine failure and the subsequent forced landing, while brilliantly executed by Eskil Amdal, was enough to crunch a few vertebrae when they hit a tree at 150 mph.

Sky Stories is Dave’s first book and is a wonderful selection of his flight tests and columns. Like SA Flyer, Dave strives to put the

Dave Unwin has flown some remarkably varied aircraft including this Molt Taylor Aerocar.

reader in the cockpit and share the experience of what it is really like to fly these extraordinary aircraft. Of note is his flight test of the F-35 fighter (which we have published), the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and rarities such as the Molt Taylor Aerocar.

Turn to any chapter of this anthology and you will find yourself in the cockpit with him and be reminded about the thrill and romance of why we love to fly.

Dave has reviewed the iconic B-17 Flying Fortress.

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The book is an essential item for the library of anyone who has ever wondered what it is like to fly the various different planes. It is available as a 177 page paperback for £7.99 from www. pigsmightflypublishing.com. j

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

MEE T T HE CEO –

ACK NOWLEDGEMENT S – A ND A B I G

THANK YOU!

IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER SA Flyer gave the CEOs of aviation companies the opportunity to introduce themselves to their market.

In this modern digital age and with the Covid-19 lockdowns and face masks we find ourselves working and trading in an increasingly anonymous world. Our ‘Meet the CEO’ guide set out to rectify this by giving Chief Executives the opportunity to introduce themselves with a short biography and a photograph. And, as an added incentive, we pledged to give 10% of all the revenue we obtained from the guide to charities or worthy causes of the CEOs choosing.

The impact of Covid has been devastating to many so we took the opportunity to help those struggling under the burden of the pandemic.

Surprisingly just two CEOs nominated specific charities and the rest left it up to us at SA Flyer to chose a worthy cause. We decided to make Mission Aviation fellowship (MAF) the beneficiary of those who did not nominate one.

MAF was chosen as it very successfully raises and manages funds to enable general aviation to reach out to support the poorest and most remote communities.

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Over R11,000 was raised for MAF and this was paid to the organisation at the end of October, as well as the payments to the nominated worthy causes. We would like to give a big thank you to the following companies who participated in the ‘Meet the CEOs’ guide:

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FlightCom Magazine

35

FlightCm African Commercial Aviation

Edition 156 | November 2021

Ysterplaat AFB

– to become low cost housing?

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– Going fishing!

The future of African aviation 1

FlightCom: November 2021

Hugh Pryor

– Home sweet home

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CONTENTS

TABLE OF

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 Patrick Tillman

NOVEMBER 2021 EDITION 156

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

06 10 14 19 20 26 27 29 47 76 77 78 80

Bush Pilot - Hugh Pryor Airline Ops - Mike Gough Defence - Darren Olivier New Appointments Airshow China 2021 AME Doctors Listing Airlines Boeing Report OR Tambo Aviation Companies Guide Bizjet & Commercial Jet Guide Starlite Directory Atlas Oil Charter Directory AEP AMO Listing Backpage 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: AFRICA IS HOME to around 1,3 billion people, the majority of whom are being systematically underdeveloped by the failure of their economies to grow at a rate that keeps up with the population growth rate.

now and 2035. “Africa has healthy opportunities to expand travel and tourism, coinciding with increasing urbanisation and rising incomes,” Randy Heisey, Boeing managing director of Commercial Marketing for Middle East and Africa said.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously impacted the ability of the African air transport industry to meet the economic growth needs of the continent’s emerging middle class population.

Africa has the oldest aircraft fleet with an average of 16 years, compared to the global average of 11 years.

This fleet will need replacing sooner rather than later.

Boeing thus forecasts that Africa’s airlines will require 1,030 new aircraft by 2040, valued at $160 billion plus aftermarket services such as manufacturing and repair worth $235 billion, enabling growth for air travel and economies across the continent.

With its uneven playing field due to state subsidies and the associated protection of flag carriers, Africa has one of the most difficult environments for airlines to succeed, as evidenced by the high failure rate. As a result, the challenges faced by the airlines have impaired airline connectivity in Africa. The consequences of limited air connectivity have been shown to impact trade, both in terms of cargo, and in the supply of skills (passengers).

Africa will require 1,030 new airliners by 2040

In October Boeing presented its Commercial Market outlook which posits that Africa’s gross domestic product, which declined last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will regain its 2019 level in 2021. Boeing points out that African private consumption has proven remarkably resilient.

Even more significantly for airline travel, the continent’s working age population, which numbered 540-million in 2015, is expected to reach 1.6-billion by 2040. For comparison, China’s working age population in 2040 is forecast to be 809-million, and that of India, 980-million.

The key to airline growth projections is that the number of African households in the middle-income band is predicted to grow by about 90% between

The good news is that Africa’s strong, long-term growth prospects for commercial aviation are closely tied to the continent’s projected 3% annual economic growth over the next 20 years.

Initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and Single African Air Transport Market are expected to stimulate trade, air travel and economic cooperation. Additionally, the region’s middle class and working population is projected to double by the end of the forecast period, driving increased demand for air travel, according to Boeing.

Airline transport linkages are key to developing the trade which underpins economic enterprise as, due to the inadequacy of road and rail linkages, airline connectivity is expected to bridge the transport gap.

Thus, the growth prospects of the African airline industry can be considered relevant to the wellbeing of around one billion people.

It is therefore very heartening that the Boeing forecast anticipates such a strong recovery in the African air transport industry. 

BUSH PILOT HUGH PRYOR

Where is ‘home’ for you? Have you got some place to which you look forward to returning, with warm anticipation? Somewhere where you can unpack, lay back and forget about tomorrow? A little warren which smells familiar and greets you and cherishes you like a long lost friend?

EARS AGO, BEFORE I GOT married, I used to think that ‘Home’ was wherever my Mum was. Now that I’m married and independent of the family nest, I tend to think that the roof over the pillow where my little ‘Dragon’ parks her head at night is the place I would like to call home.

Y

Pilots often have a problem identifying a place where their roots have had time to take. A bit like those ‘who go down to the sea in ships.’ That’s not very good for marriages either. I have been very lucky, in that my particular Dragon has stayed by me, through firings and furloughs, for over twenty-five years. I frequently wonder why. It can’t be the security, that’s for sure!

That means that she and I have quite a few ‘homes’ around the world. We’ve got an apartment in England, a house in Kenya, where I am sitting at this moment, in-laws in Durban, South Africa, close friends in Austria, who encourage us to treat their house as our home and more of those sorts of people in Australia. In other words, we are more lucky than we probably deserve... in the home department, anyway.

There are many, too many, people around who don’t even have a pillow, let alone a roof under which to put it.

The ‘better half’ does not have to be in residence for feelings of homeliness to be present. There are several rather unlikely places I can think of which have represented home for me, over the years…a crumbling Royal Chateau in amongst the high plateaux of Tigray Province of Ethiopia, during the great Famine of 1985/87, for example…or a little box on wheels in the middle of the Sahara in Libya…or a shrapnel-pocked old family home in Huambo, in the war-battered central highlands of Angola.

a great wall of white dust came rolling in

6

And talking about wives - what’s the similarity between marriage and the story of the three little piggies & the big bad wolf? You don’t know? Okay…They both start with a lot of huffing and puffing and end up with you losing your home.

I think it’s the people who make it feel like home. You can be in the most sophisticated accommodation in the most beautiful area in the world, and the other people are arrogant twerps. Well, you’re not going to consider that ‘home’ are you?...unless you are an arrogant twerp, yourself, that is.

There are quite a lot of people around, even acquaintances of mine, who understand the relevance of that little joke. And a lot of them are pilots.

On the other hand, you can be at the other end of the same world, in primitive conditions, working till you drop, but with a great bunch of companions and every

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night, when you get back there, feelings of warmth and welcome radiate out and grab you, remarkably like home, without a little Dragon, of course. Funny isn’t it?

Some of my more unusual ‘homes’ were in Yemen, which is arguably the very cradle of western civilization.

Many of the Old Testament stories and the Adithi of Islam took place there. Yemeni culture spread, through trading in spices, gold, ivory and slaves, from the Far East to the coasts of East Africa, from Sheffield in England to the palaces of Saudi Arabia. Sindibad, the sailor who, more than seven hundred years ago, traded all the way to China in a tiny Arab Dhow made of Murihi wood bound together with coconut coir and anti-fowled with Shahamu shark oil mixed with lime, hailed from these barren shores. So peaceful were its people that their cities were not even fortified.

It has had its fair share of problems since then, however. Aden, the old capital of South Yemen was known as the whore of Arabia. She was taken by Queen Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, who built her historic water system in the old crater which encircles the ancient Arab Quarter. The Ottoman Empire had a short brutal affair with her. The British had a very soft spot for her, for over a hundred years and the Russians raped her. I just lived there.

the concession where we were operating.

However, by the time we got there, the Russian military mantle was quietly being withdrawn, as the Soviet empire began to crumble. The Saudis had promised citizenship to any of the Bedoui who would support their claim to the plateau. The citizenship was reportedly backed up by substantial financial benefits to anyone who was interested. By all accounts, quite a lot of the Bedoui, who didn’t see the point of borders anyway, were keen to avail themselves of the financial side of the deal, even if it meant planting a few little ‘markers’ around to discourage the communists from ‘invading Bedoui Territory’. As it turned out, the ‘markers’ were of the explosive variety, as we were later to find out.

We kept the aircraft almost inside the laager formed by the camp trailers at Minwach, because the Saudi border patrols used to race past our camp, every night, forty kilometres inside what we thought was our border, and let off a hail of 50 cal. over our heads as they went. Every eighth round was dipped in phosphorus to make it sparkle as it left the barrel of the jeepmounted machine guns. These tracer rounds made a very impressive pyrotechnic display for us to watch, as we sipped our Becks beers of an evening. They looked quite dodgeable too, until one remembered that there were seven rounds hidden between each of the sparklers.

Every eighth round was dipped in phosphorus

One of my ‘homes’ in Yemen was a little three compartment trailer, about one third the size of a European railway carriage. I was flying my old friend, the Pilatus Porter, for an excellent Swiss Utility Aviation Company, in support of a French seismic survey outfit called La Compagnie Général de Geophysique, or CGG to its friends. We were situated in the north of South Yemen, where the Saudi border slopes up from south west to north east. Our camp was at the bottom of a barren escarpment near an old well known as Bir Minwach. The desert plateau, nearly a thousand feet above us, stretched away to the east, excoriated by dozens of wriggling dry canyons and inhabited by wandering Bedoui nomads.

That border had never been properly defined, particularly in the area where we were prospecting.

The Saudis claimed large tracts of South Yemen, right down as far south as the fabled Wadi Hadramaut. Only the presence of substantial Russian support for the South Yemeni Army discouraged Saudi incursion into 8

FlightCom: November 2021

After some days of this intimidation, it was decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and we withdrew south west, down the edge of the escarpment to another old water well at Bir Zamak. We would stay back at Minwach, with the aircraft, and cover the retreat, just in case there were any mishaps. It was then that the weather joined in the fun.

Just after myself and Werner, our engineer, got airborne in the PC-6 from Minwach, a great wall of white dust came rolling in, out of the north west and engulfed the whole area. It was moving so fast that we were enveloped before I realised what a challenge it represented. The turbulence, exacerbated by the ferocious winds and the proximity of the escarpment was frankly intimidating. I shouted to Werner to keep an eye out for anything solid-looking which appeared to be coming dangerously in our direction from his side, while I strained every optic nerve-ending to decode the visual messages swirling at us through the

dust in my half of the windscreen. Directly below us we could make out the scrubby thorn bushes as they scudded past close beneath us.

Quarter. I wrapped the flaps away as quickly as I could to kill the lift and just kept flying her, although we were, in fact, already on the ground.

Our saving grace was that it was a very short flight, only a matter of ten minutes or so, and some of the trailers would already be in place when we got there.

If we couldn’t find Zamak, we could always climb to altitude, pick up the Riyan VOR and chicken out.

We had lots of fuel. Mind you, the beer in camp was imported and free, which narrowed the options to a certain degree.

“Werner!” I shouted, “Could you hop out and get a couple of vehicles for us to tie Golf Alpha to.

Otherwise we’re going to lose her.”

“There they are!” shouted Werner, “We’re right over the top of them!”

I hurled the plane around to the left and just caught sight of the mess trailer as it dissolved away into the storm. We could still see the ground directly below us and I shouted to Werner to give me a yell if he lost ground contact. He nodded with a grin.

He appeared to be enjoying the show. I have to admit that, with success almost in the bag, I was having fun myself.

The wind tugged urgently at the aircraft, as if to reinforce my message. Werner nodded vehemently and stuck up a thumb. “I’ll keep the engine running, so that I’ve got control of her. If you can come up round the back with the vehicles, then you can secure her before I cut the engine. But MIND THE PROP!” Another thumb was raised, and Werner dived down into the cabin, before hauling the door back and disappearing into the howling dust.

the blood was, in fact, rain and the rain was mud

We straightened up on a north-easterly heading, which I reckoned should take us back towards the mess trailer. I had flaps down, the prop in fully fine pitch and landing checks completed, so that I could seize any opportunity to put our friendly bucking bronco on the ground. We were almost hovering. Both of us were instinctively fighting the controls against the buffeting we were getting off the rocky crags the other side of the camp. Frequently we were forcing the stick to full deflection just to stay the right way up.

Hard work?…yes!…extreme entertainment?...None better!...Adrenalin rush?...Absolutely!

Suddenly an anomaly appeared out of the milky wall up ahead. The mess trailer materialised out of the murk. A little shiver of elation tickled my diaphragm.

We were not going to Riyan. The beer would be free tonight.

We were now travelling so slowly into the wind that it was a question of whether we would ever get as far as the mess for that beer, so I pulled off the power and the old girl just gave up and settled into the soft dust by the wall of the trailer.

We were down. Now to try and prevent the heroine who had delivered us to this new ‘home’, from being rolled up in a ball and blown away into the Empty

The tail was lifting off the ground as I sat there, flying the old girl with the main wheels on the ground. I wondered idly whether I should log this and, if so, how? It was definitely Quality Time, if not actual Flying Time.

I was not left alone for long. The first indication that we were safely attached to Terra Firma was when Werner’s bearded face appeared at my window, like a Wagnerian wraith. He was slicing his throat with a knobbly right index finger. I switched off the generator, feathered the prop and pulled the fuel lever back into Idle Cut-off, to kill the engine.

The silence of spool-down, which normally accompanies that manoeuvre, was broken by the thunder of the wind and the thrashing of the sand as it stampeded past the plane, seemingly spooked by whatever was to follow.

I decided to wait and see what this wild weather had to offer. The others had anyway run for cover, after lassoing the lift struts to a couple of Land Cruisers.

Suddenly there was a loud tapping at the windscreen.

I looked up, expecting the wraith to have reappeared.

For perhaps two nanoseconds, I was convinced that there were large drops of blood, splattering onto the plexiglass. In that tiny space of time I had a chilling nightmare that Werner had not heeded my warning about the propeller. Then I realised that the engine was not running and that the blood was, in fact, rain and the rain was mud. 

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AIRLINE OPS MIKE GOUGH

GON E

FISHING Prior to the world losing its marbles over a particular ‘flu strain, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had some interesting stats, that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) concurred with.

I

T WAS CALCULATED THAT by 2024 around 42% of the entire US Airline Transport Pilot workforce would have retired (pre-madness).

That in itself is a somewhat scary statistic. As airlines around the world have subsequently been caught up in something that they had no real contingency plan to deal with, short term panic replaced long term sensibility, and workforces were slashed while aircraft were grounded.

This effectively kicked that 2024 tin can closer into view, as thousands of over 55 age group pilots and technical staff were told to go fishing.

One additional problem that was not specifically planned for is that a lot of the newly settled-in fishermen have no intention of returning to the highly demanding arena of airline flying.

FlightCom: November 2021

Despite keeping myself busy in the A320 simulator, doing regular licence revalidations for ex-colleagues in the same boat as me, I am without a doubt on the back foot so to speak in terms of competency at airline level. Although still type-recent, there is more than the paperwork that is required for licence validity to be considered an ace on the flight deck.

more than paperwork is required to be an ace on the flight deck

The fragility of our grasp on the complexities of maintaining a competent, current and licenced pilot work force have been laid bare for the entire industry to see. We are delicate creatures in this regard, and the training and assessing that is required to bring us back ‘up to speed’ is much more of a task than has been imagined.

10

From my own perspective, having been outside of the Airbus cockpit for just over a year now, I can attest to some significant adaptations to ‘normal’ life, and it’s not entirely unpleasant in a few ways.

There are, however, a few positives that have made this time in limbo not altogether a bad thing.

My sleeping patterns have returned to normal. I can write my own roster. I actually get weekends off, or for that matter, pretty much whenever I need time do something. It is now not a major tug-of-war with some scheduling department.

After twenty-four years of non-stop flying, simulator, refresher courses, revalidations and oversights, I have become aware of what a pressure cooker environment

commercial aviation is. I’m significantly less stressed and fatigued, more relaxed and somewhat enjoying my newfound ‘normality’.

Fortunately, building up a side-line business over the past 14 years has proven to be the best thing I could have done outside of the airline, despite the fact this aspect added significantly to my then-workload.

The current success of my flight school has without a doubt eased the transition back to ‘civilian’ life – something which a lot of my ex-colleagues don’t have, and this gives me a different view of life on the ‘outside’.

Thus, I can relate immediately to the reluctance of many of the early retirees of this industry to even consider getting back into the maelstrom of demands of the airline world.

I am certainly not alone with this sentiment, within my group of friends, as many are being recalled by their employers, mainly in the Middle East. The dread with which some approach this return is palpable, and the draw of the significant salary seems to be the only carrot on the airline’s stick.

The joy of flying seems a little lost.

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Don’t get me wrong - I will be back in an airline cockpit like a shot as soon as the best opportunity presents itself.

Absence does make the fart get a Honda (spoonerism intended), but the luxury of a soft landing provides perspective. We tend to remember the exhilaratingly epic act of strapping an Airbus to one’s posterior in isolation to all the other stuff that goes with it.

So now that the Cosmos has given us some thinking time, how would this affect the so-called recovery of this industry post-pandemic?

It does not bode well. Many of those that have unexpectedly been put out to pasture are the senior experienced instructors, examiners and check airmen, and by default, a significant chunk of training (and recovery) capacity is permanently lost.

As I can personally attest to, there is no shortage of keen aspiring aviators coming through the ab-initio training system. However, as a result of the pandemic, the traditional early-experience opportunities are – for the time being – much reduced. Charter and commuter airline avenues have taken a hammering and even though they will start to perk up in the next year or two, the inertia through the ‘system’ is gone.

12

FlightCom: November 2021

Overall, we can expect to see a significant decrease in experience levels globally on the flight deck. Not such a big deal, if the training and checking is where it should be, but I get the feeling that is already compromised.

IATA has produced the accompanying graphic that gives a quick snapshot of where we were, and where our current trajectory is headed. I can only guess at the reasons why Africa doesn’t feature as the line that represents Asia is not exactly stratospheric.

Essentially, as of the end of September 2021, global international traffic is at 41% of pre-train-smash levels, with North America pretty much back at 100% - and this is where the next crunch is about to manifest itself, with regard to the brought-forward 2024 dire prediction as mentioned at the beginning of this piece.

Whichever way you would like to look at the process of producing a competent, airline ready pilot, we are all about to see a yawning gap of about three to five years, as we play catch-up with all the many processes required to get an individual from street into right seat.

This is specifically pertinent considering how many cadet and airline funded training institutions have closed down around the world.

It is interesting to note the January and February 2020 trend on this graphic. Imagine where we would be if that bat in Wuhan was properly cooked prior to its consumption….

The slumbering Asian dragon will re-awaken – with a vengeance - when the inter-state political indecision as to how to deal with the current issues are resolved.

I do believe when that happens, demand for all airline technical crew and staff will reach potentially dramatic, and cheese hole aligning levels.

The immediate solution is to take advantage of the current crop of current and available crew. This is happening at present (and will be exacerbated in the near future), in terms of pushing the flight and duty limitations and retirement age to the limit, and beyond.

As per all advances of our airline operating infrastructure, this will probably have to be written in blood.

Locally, my ex-employer offered me a position (less than 24 hours after retrenchment) as a First Officer, as it occurred to them that they required additional Designated Flight Examiners on Airbus and hoped to use my DFE status through the back door.

Needless to say, I told them what they could do with that idea.

In the meantime, I will continue cheerfully where I am.

The global crazy-dust must settle.

I’m not into fishing, so I’ll do what I can do to continue to launch careers at Lanseria while enjoying being my own boss.

For now.



Retrenched senior pilots are now needed to bring rusty pilots back up to competency.

FlightCom: November 2021

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DEFENCE DARREN OLIVIER

YSTERPLAAT:

WHEN SOCIAL AND DEFENCE INTERESTS

COLLIDE

It’s election season in South Africa again as the country prepares to vote in local government polls, which means that most political parties are either making grandiose promises or accusing their opponents of heinous failures. Sometimes some of it might even be true.

I

T’S IN THIS CONTEXT that there have been renewed calls to shut down Air Force Base Ysterplaat and use the land for low-cost housing, along with two other military bases in Cape Town, Wingfield and Youngsfield. While it’s an idea that has been raised a number of times over the years, both by politicians and civil society organisations, this year it has become a main point of contention and differentiation between the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate for Cape Town and the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure.

On the face of it, it’s not the most unreasonable idea.

Ysterplaat, Wingfield, and Youngsfield are ideally located, the latter two are mostly unused, and it might be possible to fit tens of thousands of houses on all three sites depending on how densely they’re built.

Ysterplaat alone may accommodate up to 18,000 houses, and its location in Milnerton means it’s close to most jobs in the city, making it quite attractive for

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those looking to improve both the housing supply and reduce unequal spatial development.

However, none of the plans and proposals put forward by any of the politicians, ministers, or NGOs take into account the military value of Ysterplaat in particular, or care about the impact on military capabilities, or have a viable plan for who will cover the costs of emptying and rehabilitating the sites. All assume that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will simply absorb the cost of relocating its units at the three bases elsewhere, as well as any associated rehabilitation. For reasons I’ll explain, that’s simply not realistic.

AFB Ysterplaat’s existence dates from 1917, when Maitland Aerodrome was tentatively established with a single building and grass runway. By the mid 1920s it was in regular use by both the SA Air Force, which used it as one of the stops in its Diamond Mail Service, and Union Airways before it moved its operations to Wingfield in 1931.

Within a few years the airfield was renamed Brooklyn Aerodrome, though it still relied on a grass field rather than proper runways and was home to only a single enclosed building and one lean-to hangar. In 1938 the Air Force selected it as the site of a new training programme, awarding African Air Transport a contract for 100 student pilots, but it was the advent of the Second World War in 1939 that was to lead to the base becoming the entity we know of today.

shipped by sea to the port of Cape Town, with over 730 aircraft assembled and test flown by the station’s No. 9 Air Depot and No. 3 Air Depot including Harvards, Oxfords, Masters, Ansons, Baltimores, Beauforts, Kittyhawks and Hurricanes. The first jet fighter in South Africa, a Gloster Meteor III, was assembled and first flown at the station in 1946, and it was also the site where the SA Air Force’s first operational jet fighters (Vampire FB Mk.5s) were assembled and test flown in 1950.

By late 1942 what was then termed Air Force Station Brooklyn had gone through a massive expansion with the construction of two graded, levelled, and drained grass runways, a 730 m long paved runway, 25 hangars, workshops, accommodation for up to 1 600 people, radio equipment, and a new control tower. As part of this expansion the government needed to acquire land owned by the Graaffs Trust, which made it available under a restrictive clause that limited its use to aviation or military purposes only. If it’s used for any other purpose or sold, the Trust has pre-emptive rights to take back control of the property.

With the Second World War’s end the station’s role had shifted to a more traditional role, playing host to training units, maintenance depots, maritime patrol, transport, and fighter squadrons. In 1949 the station’s name was changed to Air Force Station Ysterplaat.

the Graaffs Trust restrictive clause

AFS Brooklyn played a key role during the war as an assembly and flight-testing hub for aircraft being

After further expansions, including the lengthening of runway 02/20 to 1 500 m and the acquisition of additional land from SA Railways, Ysterplaat was upgraded to a full Air Force Base.

In 2001, the base survived the Base Reallocation and Closing (BRAC) process. Initially, the Air Force planned to shut it down and move its constituent units

The Impala gateguard at Ysterplaat gives an indication of how central the airport is and how much land is available.

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to AFB Langebaanweg and Cape Town International Airport, but it soon realised that not only was the cost prohibitive, but the Graaffs Trust’s restrictive clause on a big portion of the base made its reuse problematic.

Under the original plan, the small Air Force facility at Cape Town International Airport which had once played host to 35 Squadron’s Shackletons was to be upgraded into Air Force Station Cape Town and 22 and 35 Squadrons would have relocated there permanently along with the security and reserve squadron. 2 Air Servicing Unit (Detached) and 80 Air Navigation School would have relocated to Air Force Base Langebaanweg.

However, after further investigation, it became clear that the power supply at Langebaanweg was insufficient for 2 ASU’s workshops to be relocated from Ysterplaat and would require a costly upgrade, while the cost of establishing AFS Cape Town was also far higher than initially anticipated. Both pushed the budget beyond what the SA Air Force could afford

and eclipsed the projected savings from closing down Ysterplaat, so the process was halted.

A few years later the SAAF attempted to establish a public-private partnership that would turn Ysterplaat into a civil airport as well as being a military base, similar to what was done with AFB Hoedspruit / Eastgate Airport. However, this too failed as the Air Force could not attract private investors.

Today, Ysterplaat remains a fully fledged base and home to 22 and 35 Squadrons, 2 ASU (Detached), 110 Squadron, 505 Squadron, 80 Air Navigation School, and a branch of the SAAF Museum.

But the possibility of relocating from Ysterplaat has only become more impossible in the years since the BRAC process in 2001. Not only does the Air Force have a much smaller budget than it did then, thanks to two decades of sharp cuts in real terms, but with ACSA’s plans to expand Cape Town International Airport, there’s no longer any available space to

The Google Earth image of Ysterplaat showing the pressure of urban development around it.

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The alternative bases for Ysterplaat are more than a 100 km away and prohibitively expnsive to move to.

establish an Air Force Station there either. That means that AFB Langebaanweg and AFB Overberg are now the only options for relocation, with an impact on costs, accommodation needs, and the flying time as both bases are over 100 km away from Cape Town and Simon’s Town.

As last month’s column explained, the Air Force is in dire straits and running on fumes, with its budget now so far behind its needs that aircraft are being cannibalised of parts to keep others flying, and training, exercises, and operations have been drastically curtailed. If it’s forced to absorb the cost of closing down Ysterplaat the impact will be catastrophic: Because relocation is now unaffordable without external funding, all the units at Ysterplaat would have to be closed permanently even as their personnel remain on the payroll because contracts can’t simply be cancelled. That would mean the loss of the Air Force’s entire maritime surveillance capability (however small it is), the retirement of the SuperLynx helicopters for the SA Navy’s frigates, and the end of the Air Force’s

ability to provide any search and rescue or firefighting services in the Western Cape. Shutting 2 ASU’s workshops would be another severe blow.

Worse yet would be if the SAAF is saddled with the cost to rehabilitate the site, as is often required of exiting tenants in cases like these. Over the decades a great deal of fuel and other chemicals have leaked into the soil, requiring extensive work to return the ground to a safe enough condition for regular civilian housing. If that happens the entire force could be crippled for years.

Ysterplaat is well-placed for low-cost housing

Yet none of that has stopped the key players in this saga from demanding that the Air Force cover all the costs. When I asked the DA’s mayoral candidate for Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, what the party’s proposal was on which entity would pay for the relocation from Ysterplaat, his response was: “The costs of relocation must be borne by the tenant.

Also not very difficult given the surfeit of military

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Nearby Wingfield air base is now derelict.

facilities in the city, a state owned commercial airport, with another massive piece of Denel land adjacent to it, and another air force base just up the coast.”

reused. But this can’t be allowed to happen if it’s going to have such a dire impact on defence capabilities in the region.

And in response to being told that there were, in fact, no readily-available alternatives:

The right approach, therefore, to reusing Ysterplaat would be for the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure and the Department of Housing, perhaps along with the relevant provincial and local government, to provide the funding to relocate the Air Force’s units elsewhere. Ideally that would also include requiring ACSA to include provision for an Air Force Station housing 22 and 35 Squadrons in its expansion plans for Cape Town International Airport, again perhaps with funding from other departments.

“We have 5 massive pieces of military or Denel land in one city! And an air force base just up the coast at Langebaanweg (and another at Bredasdorp). …There are easy and plentiful alternatives. A surfeit, in fact!”

It’s disappointing that so many years after this proposal was first mooted, none of those proposing the base’s re-use for low-cost housing have developed their plans any further than a naïve assumption that the Air Force cover all associated relocation costs. Nor has an adequate answer ever been given for how the Graaffs Trust’s pre-emptive rights will be navigated and what the Trust’s intentions are, but that’s another story.

Clearly, there is a real need for low-cost housing in Cape Town, and Ysterplaat is indeed well-placed to be

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Policy is, and always will be, difficult. Unlike the promises of politicians, it requires consideration of real trade-offs, compromises, and second and third order consequences of decisions made. We must therefore hold our politicians to account, forcing them to flesh out their proposals, to ensure that the easy promises of today don’t become the bad policy of tomorrow. 

APPOINTMENTS

NEW APPOINTMENTS Starlite Aviation Group has recently announced senior management appointments:

Gareth Schnehage:

Megan Segers:

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Financial Officer

Fiona McCarthy:

Klara Fouche:

Business Development Director (Operations)

Business Development Director (Aero Sales and Civilian Pilot Training)

Nicolette Papaphotis:

JP Bothma:

Accountable Manager (Operations)

Head of Operations (Starlite Pilot Training)

FlightCom: November 2021

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The 2021 Airshow China at Zhuhai was well attended and much of interest was on show.

AIRSHOW

CHINA 2021 Text and Images: Jayd Wollentine

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The 13th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition took place from 28 September until 3 October in Zhuhai, Peoples Republic of China.

This year’s show, postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was considered a huge success and attracted many internationally recognised corporations, as well as thousands of aviation enthusiasts.

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T

HE AIRSHOW WAS SEPARATED into two segments, with conferences and weapons demonstrations taking place from 28 September until 30 September, while public days were held from 1 October, China’s National Day, until 3 October. There were no foreign participants in the air displays.

Once I had figured out how to purchase tickets online using the Airshow China website, the process of entering and attending was relatively smooth.

As a foreign airshow visitor, all I needed was a passport and screenshots of my ticket purchase.

Many military enthusiasts had been looking forward to the debut of a new generation of H-20 stealth bombers, but there was no official news about the development of the aircraft.

Notable absentees from static displays were the Chengdu J-20 Stealth fighter, which performed aerobatic displays during the first three days in PLAAF colours and was equipped with domestically developed engines, as well as the newly developed Harbin Z-20 helicopter.

Crowds were wowed by displays by the PLAAF 'August 1st,’ and ‘Red Falcon,’ demonstration teams, although the flight schedule over the five days was inconsistent, with many of the military displays taking place during the first three days of the show, leaving many spectators disappointed.

the actual airshow was suprisingly limited

The Static displays consisted of mostly military equipment, such as the newly unveiled Shenyang J-16 and J-7A2 electronic warfare strike aircraft, a Xian H6K strategic bomber as well as the workhorse of the PLAAF, the Chengdu J-10C multirole fighter. COMAC (The Commercial Aviation Company of China), also took the opportunity to unveil its CBJ Chinese Business Jet. An AVIC AG600 seaplane towered over the few civilian light sport aircraft on show.

Inside the exhibition halls, venerable aerospace and defence companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Pratt & Whitney, Thales, Norinco, and many others exhibited a wide variety of weapon systems, engines, airframes, air-defence equipment, small arms, and munitions. A surprisingly large amount of unmanned ground and

Drones and UAVs were a key feature. This is the 2-engine Ch-6.

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ABOVE: The August 1st, or Ba Yi, Aerobatics Team flies Chengdu J-10s. However the actual airshow was suprisingly limited.

BELOW: An AVIC AG600 Kunlong amphibious aircraft.

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ABOVE: The futuristic stealth WZ-8 high-altitude drone.

BELOW: A WL-10 with an impressive display of armaments.

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COMAC unveiled its CBJ Chinese Business Jet..

aerial vehicles were also on show. It was hard to tell how many of these were mock-ups.

Many designs with a striking resemblance to US equipment were also seen. An exhibit that attracted a lot of attention was the space exhibit, which showcased China’s recent space successes, with many models of space vehicles and lunar samples displayed. Models of future Mars Rovers could also be seen and interacted with through virtual reality systems.

Bilingual smart munitions displays showed in great detail how their weapons would be guided to target, or how the equipment had the ability to loiter in the area of operations. Land and ship-based cruise missile launchers towered above the exhibition hall floor, with missiles alongside them.

During the public days, a display of locally designed and manufactured armoured vehicles also took place, with VT4 Main Battle Tanks, MRAPs and fast all-

The CAIC Z-10, also called WZ-10, is a Chinese medium attack helicopter.

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The Y-20, officially code named Kunpeng, is a large military transport aircraft.

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E-MAIL

✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

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

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Philip

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Rand Airport & JHB CBD

083 679 0777

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013 751 3848

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Stellenbosch

021 887 0305

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Van Niekerk

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Benoni

011 421 9771

http://willemvanniekerk.co.za

FlightCom: November 2021

Other countries

TEL NO

EASA registered

LOCATION

FAA registered

FIRST NAME

Off-site Specialist tests

SURNAME

On site Specialist tests

AME Doctors Listing

Senior Class 1, 2, 3, 4

Airshow China 2021 was, by all intents and purposes, a successful event. It showcased many different aspects of the up and coming Chinese Air Force, as well as the development of their aviation industry.

The airshow however, did seem at times to focus more on the defence side of things, instead of the flying aspect. One should not however, discredit the organisers for their hard work. It was a great way to spend a weekend and is definitely something any aviation enthusiast should experience. 

Regular Class 2, 3, 4

terrain-vehicles kicking up clouds of dust in a heavy metal ballet dance, much to the delight of the spectators.

Unfortunately, there were no explosions.

✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

✗ ✗

AFRICA’S AIRLINE GROWTH –

EXPECTED TO

BOUNCE BACK STRONGLY

Guy Leitch

In their much-anticipated commercial outlook for Africa, Boeing said African airlines will need 63 000 new professional staff by 2040, including nearly 20,000 pilots, 20,000 technicians and 24,000 cabin crew members.

T

HE BOEING REPORT COVERS the whole of the continent. While these projections may seem dramatic, the underlying assumptions are conservative. The forecast is made against the background of a predicted annual economic growth rate for Africa of 3% during the next two decades.

Boeing projects that airlines in Africa will grow their fleets by 3.6% per year to accommodate passenger traffic growth of 5.4% annually. This is however the third highest airline traffic growth rate in the world.

Boeing says that co-operation initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and the liberalisation attempts of the Single African Air Transport Market are expected to stimulate trade, air travel and economic cooperation. Intra-African air passenger traffic is expected to grow even more rapidly, at 6.5% a year.

Africa's middleclass will double, driving increased demand for air travel

“Africa has healthy opportunities to expand travel and tourism, coinciding with increasing urbanization and rising incomes,” Randy Heisey, Boeing managing director of Commercial Marketing for Middle East and Africa said. “African carriers are well-positioned to support inter-regional traffic growth and capture market share by offering services that efficiently connect passengers and enable commerce within the continent,” he added.

Boeing expects especially strong increases in air traffic between Southern Africa and East Africa (including the Horn of Africa and north-east Africa, except Egypt).

Africa's middleclass of more than 500 million people is projected to double by 2040, driving increased demand for air travel. Africa’s strong, long-term growth prospects for commercial aviation are closely tied to the continent’s projected 3% annual economic growth over the next 20 years.

"Africa has healthy opportunities to expand travel and tourism, coinciding with increasing urbanisation and rising incomes," said Heisey.

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Strong growth awaits African airlines which survive the low loads caused by Covid.

Fleet expansion Africa has the world’s oldest aircraft fleet with an average of 16 years, compared to the global average of 11 years. Boeing estimates that Africa's airlines will require 1 030 new airliners valued at $160 billion by 2040. About 80% of the new planes required will be due to growth on the continent, it said.

Further, the associated aftermarket business, including maintenance and repair, would be worth another $235-billion, taking the complete African airline market opportunity between now and 2040 to a total value of $395-billion.

“Africa has healthy opportunities to expand travel and tourism, coinciding with increasing urbanisation and rising incomes,” said Heisey. “African carriers are well-positioned to support inter-regional traffic growth and capture market share by offering services that efficiently connect passengers and enable commerce within the continent.”

Africa’s gross domestic product, which declined last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will regain its 2019 level in 2021. African private consumption has proven resilient. The continent’s working age

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population, which numbered 540-million in 2015, is expected to reach 1.6-billion by 2040 (for comparison, China’s working age population in that year is forecast to be 809-million, and that of India, 980-million). The number of African households in the middle income band is predicted to grow by about 90% between now and 2035.

Boeing’s 2021 Africa CMO also includes these projections through 2040: 80% of African jet deliveries are expected to serve fleet growth with more sustainable, fuel-efficient models such as the 737, 777X and 787 Dreamliner, with 20% of deliveries replacing older airliners.

Commercial services opportunities such as supply chain, manufacturing, repair and overhaul are valued at $235 billion.

In terms of categories of aircraft, 70% of Africa’s future new airliner acquisitions, totalling 740 aeroplanes, will be single-aisle airliners. These will mainly serve domestic and intra-African routes.

To service long-haul routes, 250 widebody aircraft will be required, in both passenger and freighter variants. 

OR TAMBO AVIATION COMPANIES GUIDE

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INTRODUCTION

OR TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

- Africa’s Biggest and Busiest

2021 has been a traumatic year for OT Tambo Airport.

On top of the trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic, the airport suspended with immediate effect two of its most senior managers for “supply chain irregularities”.

AT THE END OF MAY 2021 it was reported that the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) had suspended, with immediate effect, two senior managers at the OR Tambo International Airport. They were Pityi-Vokwana the General Manager and the Assistant General Manager: airport operations, Kris Reddy.

ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu said the suspensions were because of company and law enforcement agencies' investigations into allegations of supply chain management irregularities and transgressions of the Public Finance Management Act. Jabulani Khambule, ACSA’s current group executive: commercial, was seconded to the position of General Manager of the airport in the interim.

Group executive: business development, Charles Shilowa, was appointed into "a blended role" to look after both the business development and commercial divisions, and Kamal Shivanand has been seconded to the position of assistant general manager of the airport.

The Airport OR Tambo International Airport is still Africa's biggest and busiest airport. At its peak it handled almost 20 million passengers a year, which is more than half of South Africa's total air travelling passengers. With the resumption of both domestic and limited international flights OR Tambo is on the rebound but it is expected to take three to five years to recover to previous levels.

Although it is only expected to handle around 10 million passengers in 2021, the airport has the capacity to handle up to 28 million passengers each year. It is also one of the few airports in the world to host non-stop flights to all continents (except Antarctica, which Cape Town International does).

Large-scale malfeasance added to the woes

These allegations of large-scale malfeasance added to the woes experienced by the airport on top of the Covid-19 related dramatic drop in passengers.

OR Tambo is the primary airport for domestic and international travel to and from South Africa.

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In 1996, OR Tambo overtook Cairo International Airport as the busiest in Africa, and across the whole of the Middle East and Africa OR Tambo airport is the fourth-busiest after Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi Airports. In the 2015 World Airport Awards, OR Tambo was named the best airport in Africa, with Cape Town coming in second, and King Shaka in Durban finishing third.

Situated almost 1,700 metres (5,500 feet) above sea level and with temperatures often climbing above 30 degrees Celsius, OR Tambo, with its ‘hot and

INTRODUCTION

The impressive new SACAA and ACSA head office as it will appear when complete.

high’ conditions, is an ideal destination for airliners conducting weight and temperature (WAT) certification and proving flights. Notably, it was used as a test airport for the Concorde during the 1970s, to determine how the aircraft would perform while taking off and landing at high altitude. Similarly, on 26 November 2006, the airport became the first in Africa to host the Airbus A380. The aircraft landed in Johannesburg on its way to Sydney via the South Pole on a test flight. In 2014, Airbus returned to OR Tambo to test its next clean sheet design – the A350. As part of its certification flights for the A350, Airbus conducted hot and high performance as well as auto-landing trials on Runway 03R. Although the 4,4 km long Runway 03L/21R is one of the longest commercial international airport runways in the world, aircraft taking off from OR Tambo must often reduce weight by loading less fuel than they would otherwise. In particular, second segment climb performance for twin engine jets can be a limiting factor. On some of the longer routes, such as flights from Johannesburg to North America, some aircraft types have to refuel en-route, while for the return flight, because takeoff from New York is from a lower altitude airport, they can upload enough fuel to reach Johannesburg non-stop.

Airside There are two parallel north/south runways and a disused cross runway. Both runways are equipped with Instrument Landing Systems (ILS). Furthermore, all runways are equipped with Approach Lighting Systems with sequenced flashers, and touchdown zone (TDZ) lighting. The cross runway is now a taxiway.

During busy periods, outbound flights use the western runway, 03L/21R, for takeoff, while inbound flights use the eastern runway, 03R/21L, for landing. Naturally wind direction is a determining factor; however, due to the prevailing conditions, on most days, flights takeoff to the north and land from the south.

Upgrade Developments The airport’s last major development was done for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This included expansion of the international terminal, with the new international pier (opened in 2009) increasing capacity and accommodating the Airbus A380. A new Central Terminal building was completed on April 1, 2009. An additional multi-storey parkade was built in January 2010, at a cost of R470 million, opposite the Central Terminal Building. Terminal A was also upgraded and the associated roadways realigned to accommodate more International Departures space.

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This massive upgrade has proved to be sufficient to meet the growth in passenger numbers since the World Cup. The Central Terminal Building, which cost R2 billion, boosted passenger capacity at the landside of the terminal, additional luggage carousels were added and the terminal now allows direct access for both international and domestic travellers.

operations for low cost carriers, thus reducing the costs of airport handling with air bridges and aircraft tugs for push back.

To accommodate the increase in car traffic, a multistory parkade was built and the airport now has more than 16,300 parking bays, when combining the parking available in the parkade, shade parking, carports and The International Pier, which cost R535 million to open parking. build, increased international arrivals and departures capacity in a two-storey structure and added nine airside contact stands, four of which are Airbus A380 Landside Developments compatible. To develop the key non-airside revenue, A massive new building to house the ACSA head office the large duty-free mall has been extended into this and the Civil Aviation Authority is being completed area, and additional lounges and passenger-holding in the airport precinct. The first phase will see the areas have been constructed on the upper level. construction of three six-storey office buildings with a floor area of 33,000 square metres. Construction began in February 2020 with an anticipated completion date Growth for the first phase at the end of 2020. This has now been There was a proposal for a second ‘midfield’ terminal pushed out. to be built between the two runways, but this has been Although under previous growth projections OR Tambo cancelled. It would have contained its own domestic was scheduled for further expansion, these plans have and international check-in facilities, shops and lounges, been put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. and was projected to cost R8 billion. The terminal would have been designed for ‘power in power out’ Terminals A and B host over 140 retail stores, with ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu had to wield an axe to cut out corruption at the highest level.

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Covid-19 and the SAA debacle reduced OR Tambo operations by aproximately 50%.

Duty Free stores based airside in Terminal A. The stores are open daily from 06h00 to 22h00. These extended hours include the banks, pharmacy, post office and bureau de change. There is a 24-hour travel clinic, and the airport's police station also operates around the clock.

In 2019 OR Tambo unveiled the first phase of a R4.5 billion mixed-use development that will form part of a massive seven-phase plan to revamp the airport.

ACSA said that the airport plans a further 180,000 square metres for a mixed-use development to be located on the northern precinct of the airport. The mixed-use development will consist of a variety of buildings which are framed in such a way as to form a boulevard at the international departures level, where a variety of retail commercial and ancillary buildings each open onto a vibrant energetic ‘street’ environment serviced by lively restaurants, corner cafes and bars.

It will also improve the airport’s connectivity from the Gautrain station and to existing hotels and facilities via pedestrian-friendly connections to the international terminal building.

Further Broad Development In addition to this development, O.R Tambo International’s long-term infrastructure plan features midfield cargo and midfield passenger terminals, each requiring several billion Rands in further investment.

These developments will accommodate growing passenger demand and expand the midfield cargo facilities at the airport to accommodate up to two million tonnes of air cargo annually.

At the same time, airport users will start to see upgrades to the existing terminal buildings. ACSA says the airport already supports about 38,000 jobs in and around the precinct. Air travel is made more attractive by the intermodal connectivity offered by Gautrain and Bus Rapid Transport stations within a precinct, the ultimate development of which, will allow for easy access to hotels, restaurants, fast food facilities, outdoor seating, retail, offices and a worldclass conference centre. 

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COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE:

STAR AIR CARGO Star Air is a key independent airline support operator on the African continent. It incorporates Star Air Cargo and Star Air Maintenance as separate entities. The business focusses on aircraft leasing, including aircraft with crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) charter, and cockpit and crew training for its own operations.

Star Air Cargo supplies Boeing 737 freighters and passenger aircraft to airlines around the world.

STAR AIR CARGO BEGAN as a small charter operator in the early nineties. The business grew using light aircraft for scenic flights and overnight cargo runs.

It originally operated piston aircraft to operate courier freight and carry small high value or time sensitive cargo (hence the Cargo name) for DHL Express and other companies.

Typically, an early client was the Sunday Independent newspaper, which flew newspapers from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth in a Piper Aztec.

Boeing 737-200, ZS-OWM. This aircraft, along with a Dornier 228, was placed on contract in East Africa.

During the decline of the Rand against the US Dollar at the start of the millennium, some of the founding business partners divested, leaving Peter Annear to build the company into its present size by leasing five Boeing 737s.

These include two series-200s and three 'Classics'. The current fleet consists of six Boeing 737-300 freighters and two 737-300s for passenger operations. The passenger aircraft can be tailored to the client’s needs by configuring the seating to all

can cost up to $150 000 per gear leg

The company’s first heavy jet was acquired in 2002: a

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COMPANIES economy or a combination of economy and business class. The Boeing fleet is equipped with integral stairs, minimising ground handling costs and requirements and making the aircraft far more flexible for remote African operators.

For contracts that are six months or longer, Star Air can brand the aircraft for customers to maintain uniformity between their fleet and leased aircraft.

its own A1 charter license and employs 16 full time cockpit crew and 16 full time cabin staff.

CEO Peter Annear is also a type rated 737 captain and remains a keen general aviation pilot with a Mooney Ovation.  Star Air Cargo and Maintenance's Peter Annear and Marcel "Lieb" Liebenberg (left).

In June 2019, Star Air Cargo was acquired by Comair, who agreed to pay U$5.14 million to acquire the group. However it was realised that the acquisition by Comair would adversely affect Star Air’s ability to be a truly independent supplier of service to all airlines.

And then, due to the financial constraints imposed on Comair by the COVID-19 lockdown and the subsequent business rescue process, the Comair deal was cancelled in October 2020.

Star Air Cargo values its independence and has a variety of quality clients. At various times they have supplied: Rwandair, Air Botswana, Air Malawi, Air Tanzania, LAM Mozambique Airlines, Air Namibia, SA Express, Mango and Airlink. The company holds

Star Air supplies aircraft with full Aircraft Maintnenace Crew and Insurance leases.

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SA Flyer 2021|11

CARGO

Boeing 737-300 Cargo Aircraft available for wet (ACMI) lease.

Based at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg South Africa.

Contact: yvonne@starcargo.co.za or peter@starcargo.co.za Tel: +27 11 234 7038 36

FlightCom: November 2021

www.starair.co.za

COMPANIES

YES AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE YES AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE PTY LTD is an Approved South African Civil Aviation Authority (Part 145) Aircraft Maintenance Organization AMO 1345, a leading MRO, located at OR TAMBO International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a hangar area over 35,000 square feet.

Approved Capabilities; • Airframe – Boeing B727, B737CL, B737NG (last quarter of 2021) • Engine – JT8D Series, CFM56-3 and CFM56-7 Series We offer excellent, cost-effective Maintenance and Engineering Services on a 24/7 basis with highly skilled experienced engineers.

Our dedicated Structural repair team, can complete minor to major repairs and modifications at our facility, including on-site jobs.

Base Maintenance includes; • Scheduled A, B, C and D checks • Structural Inspection, repair and/or modifications • Engineering Modifications/Upgradation on the aircraft, engines and related systems including Avionics Interior and Structures.

YeS”…’n in with “ Let’s Beg

• Major component Change • Corrosion Prevention and Control Program Applications • Airworthiness Directives and Service Bulletins Compliance • Trouble Shooting • Borescope Inspections We are committed to complying with the regulatory authority requirements in the industry to meet and exceed customer expectations and aim to maintain the highest standard of aviation safety, compliance of procedures and attaining total customer satisfaction, by continuously monitoring and optimizing the quality system and operational procedures, in the industry.

Our Quality Management System & Safety Management System includes; • SA CAA Approval • DR Congo CAA Approval Hangar 5, Safair Complex, Northern Perimeter Road, Bonaero Park, 1622, South Africa Tel: +2711068000. Email: accmanager@ yesaircraftmaintenance.com Website: www.yesaircraftmaintenance.com 

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LEADING MRO IN THE AFRICAN REGIONS We provide Excellent Cost-Effective Aircraft & Engine Maintenance and Engineering Services/solutions on a 24/7 basis with highly skilled experienced Engineers & Technical experts at a quick TAT. Multiple Civil Aviation Regulating Bodies Approved Organizations.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Capabilities

Airframe » B727-100/200 » B737-200 » B737-CL (200/300/400/500) » B737-NG (600/700/800/900)

Base/Line Maintenance Services Scheduled Checks A, B, C & D Structural Checks, Repair & CPCP Engineering & Modification Program Field Assistance Engine, APU & Landing Gear & Major Component Change STC compliance AD’s & Service Bulletin Compliance Return to Services, End of Lease (EOL) Dismantling/Teardown Program Parking and Storage CAMO /Technical Services Fleet Management Interior Modification & Upgradation

Engine/APU Services • Boroscope Inspection (BSI) & Blend repair • Top-Case Repair • QEC/LRU Major Component Change • Lease & Lease Return Service • Technical Assistance

Workshops/Support Services • • • • • • • •

Structural Sheetmetal Battery Paint Oxygen Wheels & Brakes Avionics Interior

Engine » P & W JT8D - All Series » CFMI CFM56 -3/7 Series

YeS Inhouse Training Facility Type Training Courses » Boeing 727/737 – All Series » Theory/Practical-Categories B1/B2/C » Difference Fleet Courses as appropriate

Other Training Courses » Human Factors » Continuation Training » Aviation Legislation » Fuel Tank Safety Level 1/2

P O Box 8219, Bonaero Park, 1619, Hangar 5, Safair Complex, Northern Perimeter Road, Bonaero Park, 1622, South Africa

Tel : +27 11 068 0000 / +27 82 774 7228 (AOG) Email : info@yesaircraftmaintenance.com / accmanager@yesaircraftmaintenance.com. Website : www.yesaircraftmaintenance.com

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COMPANIES

AVES TECHNICS AVES TECHNICS is an AMO company under the Nhlanhleni group of Companies. The AMO is managed and run by aviation expects who are passionate about aviation.

We offer Aircraft Maintenance, Airworthiness Management, Project Management, Quality and Safety Management. We have full capabilities on B737 Classic/NG, A320 Family and Embraer 135/145/170/190 We have a team of that will tailor make the service to meet you require. Our current Customer include Operators, Owners and VIP Operators in the continent.

We align our approvals to that of the client country regulations or use our approval as approved by local authority We are based at Denel Facilities near O R Tambo Airport, with direct access to the OR Tambo flight line.

We are also able to position our team at Customer’s facility or anywhere as preferred by the Operator/ Customer.

We also integrate with Local engineers rated by Local Civil Aviation Authority after they have undergone our quality system approval.

Aircraft Maintenance is Our Passion. Aves Technics hold the SACAA approval AMO1541.

Aves Technics, D3 Building, Denel Aviation Campus, 3-5 Atlas Road, Bonaero Park, 1619 Gauteng, South Africa.

Tel: +27 11 568 7677 Email: info@avestechnics.com Mobile: +27 82 216 3980 

MISTRAL AVIATION SERVICES MISTRAL AVIATION SERVICES was founded in 2002 at OR Tambo Airport with the aim of addressing the high cost of operating aircraft thousands of miles from the original equipment manufacturers. (OEM).

Mistral has built a strong reputation as an AMO dedicated to the servicing, overhaul and repair of aircraft landing gears, brakes and wheels. Located near OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa Mistral have an extensive capability list and have clients world wide. Mistral continues to add to its capability and has recently added specialised machining and Non destructive testing.

Mistral’s experience base and investment in the future has grown as they embark on staff development to meet the challenge of new equipment.

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Contact Details: Telephone: (27) 81-755-2534 E-Mail: Peter@mistral.co.za.

Visit: www.mistral.co.za Address: Safair Campus, Northern Perimeter Road, OR Tambo International. Bonaero Park, Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa 

We are qualified in Aircraft Maintenance, Airworthiness Management, Project Management, Quality and Safety Management.

Our capabilities are: B737 Classic / B737- New Generation / Embraer 135/145/170/190 Airbus A320 family

Aves Technics AMO 1541

D3 Building Denel Aviation Campus 3-5 Atlas Road Bonaero Park 1619

www.avesholding.com

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2021

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SA Flyer 2021|11

WE OFFER THE INDUSTRY INTEGRITY, RELIABILITY, EXPERIENCE AND A DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

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Safair North Perimeter Road, OR Tambo International Airport, Bonaero Park, 1619 Tel: 081 755 2534 Fax: 011 395 1291 FlightCom: November 2021

COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE:

STAR AIR MAINTENANCE Star Air Maintenance is one of those largely unseen centres of competence based on the east side of OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg.

STAR AIR MAINTENANCE (SAM), is an independent Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO), and has been operating since June 2008. With 59 permanent staff, it is headed by both Peter Annear and Marcel 'Lieb' Liebenberg.

(AMEs), the company carries out third-party heavy maintenance as well as taking care of Star Air Cargo's contract and charter fleet of Boeing 737s. The AMO is further licensed to work on McDonnell Douglas MD-series aircraft and DC-9s.

Lieb is a heavy jet maintenance veteran with valuable experience as both a Tech Rep and an AME running major C-Checks for many African airlines. The company occupies the old east-side fast jet testing centre at Hangar K7 which can accommodate four B737-300s within the Denel compound at OR Tambo International Airport.

Unlike his contemporaries in larger maintenance bases in South Africa, Lieb is usually found in his overalls directing work from the shop floor. His hands-on style is rare in this high technology industry where paperwork skills have become as important as mechanical knowledge.

With 25 fully qualified Aircraft Maintenance Engineers

"A vital part of today's large jet maintenance is to keep overheads down", says Lieb. "Staff thus need to be

For longer leases Star Air will rebrand its aircraft to customer requirements.

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COMPANIES kept busy, and that means supervising workflows and making sure there is always something to do. Due to events such as the current supply chain crisis there could be delays in obtaining spare parts, and some tasks may take longer than others, so it is important to avoid periods where our engineers may be idle whilst waiting for colleagues to finish off."

"There are some costly ADs and SBs related to heavy jets. Boeing 737s for example require landing gear removal and overhaul every ten years. That can cost up to $150 000 per gear leg.

A C-Check can come in at around US$43,000 for labour if the aircraft does not require heavy maintenance. It is unscheduled maintenance that makes the C-Check costly. Boeing's Corrosion Preventative Control Program (CPCP) is a good example. It has several three, four and eight year calendar-based cycles and these can require an extra and substantial 3500 hours of additional work.

Lieb's experienced approach to workflow and tasking has a valuable spin-off. With knowledgeable and experienced management, the customer Tech Reps can benefit from integrated work packs that avoid repetitive work shared by both the major C-check and the CPCP requirements, thus reducing the final bill.

Star Air Maintenance also offers its clients the option of sourcing their own parts for a nominal handling fee. Star Air Maintenance subscribes to Partsbase, a database and tracking organisation that's able to source new and used components from around the world.

Lieb says his relationship with the CAA is excellent and he finds their inspectors helpful when needed to resolve issues. "We occasionally need CAA approval to move aircraft stranded because of a technical issue and have found the Authority’s personnel very helpful in such cases," Lieb adds.

Whilst Star Air Maintenance would like to grow their AMO, Lieb is wary of growing too fast. "Having more people makes it easy to lose day to day control, unless systems are in place. At the moment we happily bring in experienced and skilled contract engineers when needed.”

“Some things we have chosen to outsource as running several departments is costly and requires dramatically more regulatory monitoring and oversight. Thus, we contract out our safety equipment needs and some other tasks like borescope inspections - at least for the time being," Lieb says. In this way Star Air Maintenance is able to operate with maximum efficiency and pass these cost benefits on to clients. 

Star Air Maintenance ensures maximum aircraft availability and reliability.

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MAINTENANCE Star Air Maintenance Pty Ltd (SAM) is a subsidiary company of Star Air Cargo Pty Ltd, that provides all the AOC’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.

SA Flyer 2019|11

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

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COMPANIES

FAIR AVIATION FAIR AVIATION is based in Johannesburg with their Aircraft Parked at Fire Blade Aviation’s FBO. Fair Aviation Operates Local and International Charters for Private Business’, Organizations and Tourists to varies locations including but limited to Mines, Safari Lodges, Private landing strips and to any Province in and around South Africa.

Our Licence allows us to operate internationally with small and large aircraft both passenger and cargo operations.

We pride ourselves on exceptional all-inclusive aviation service and we enjoy building relationships with our clients which keeps them coming back time and time again.

On the other side of our business, we focus on aircraft leasing and have operated in many African countries such as Sudan, Chad, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana, Djibouti, Ethiopia etc as well as brokerage for the sale of aircraft for clients through our company FairJets (Pty) Ltd. If you have any aviation and travel requirements whether it be for a charter for passengers, cargo or you are looking for your own aircraft please contact us. flight@fairaviation.co.za +27 11 395 4552 

We have an inhouse Travel Agent (Journey Corp Travel) which can take care of all your additional needs for your travel including Hotel/Lodge bookings, Car Rentals, Transfers, Visas etc.

Travel in comfort and style on an aircraft catered for your needs. Safety and efficiency is our key concern.

SA Flyer 2021|11

NO CHARTER IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL FOR US

FAIR AVIATION • SAFETY • ACCOUNTABILITY • INTEGRITY • EXCELLENCE CONTACT US: Tel: 011 395 4552 | 082 300 7746 | flight@fairaviation.co.za | www.fairaviation.co.za

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LOCATIONS

CLICK LOCATION TO LINK TO INTERACTIVE MAP

MISTRAL AVIATION SERVICES YES AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE

STAR AIR

AVES

FAIR AVIATION

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R

LL I V

A

FO

E L A

S

INCOME PRODUCING: RATED EXCEPTIONAL 9.7 ON BOOKING .COM

FOR SALE: R7,995,000.00

100 Dorries Drive, Simon’s Town, Cape Town:

FEATURES: • Chef’s Kitchen • Open Plan living area • All on one level • 3 sea view bedrooms • Walk in cold room • Separate Scullery • Double Garage • 4 open parking bays • Back up water tanks • x3 studio flats downstairs

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Simon’s Town, Cape Town

The villa boasts breathtaking views overlooking False Bay and Roman Rock Lighthouse. The main living areas and two of the bedrooms have large sliding glass doors opening onto an expansive sea facing deck.

Contact: Nicola +27 83 449 5868 | nicola@penguinpalace.co.za

BIZJET & COMMERCIAL JET GUIDE

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Contact Pilatus PC-12 Centre Southern Africa, your nearest Authorised Pilatus PC-24 Sales Centre for further information on Tel: +27 11 383 0800, Cell +27 82 511 7312 or Email: aircraftsales@pilatuscentre.co.za FlightCom: November 2021

INTRODUCTION

BIZJET &

COMMERCIAL JETS Much like other sectors of the aviation industry, business aviation is still facing unique and unprecedented challenges arising from Covid-19.

REGIONAL AFRICAN FLIGHT activity, in every region, contracted considerably in late-March 2020 and 18 months later, remains well down, as seen in year-on-year reports. International travel in particular is taking longer than expected to return to preCovid levels.

In Southern Africa the Covid crisis was ameliorated by the crisis at SAA which left the door open for private sector operators such as Global Airways to step in a operate routes for SAA subsidiary Mango Airlines using ACMI leased Airbus A320s.

industry survey they found that 80% of operators say purchase plans have not been affected by Covid-19.

Notably, the 29th annual Global Business Aviation Outlook forecasts 7,300 new business jet deliveries over next decade valued at $235 billion. This indicates that the five-year purchase plans for new business jets are largely unchanged from a year ago.

the frenetic rush has now decreased to lower than preCovid levels

In addition private sector commercial operators such as Star Air Cargo have had to work at 100 percent capacity, and in some cases expanded their operations, to meet the demand for pure cargo flights in the absence of belly cargo space on airline flights.

However this frenetic rush has now decreased to lower than pre-Covid levels reports Peter Annear, the CEO of Star Air cargo.

The key question is – how long with the industry take to recover?

Honeywell forecasts business jet usage will recover to 2019 levels by the second half of 2022. In an

In a surprisingly optimistic outlook, Honeywell's Global Business Aviation Outlook forecasts more than 7,000 new business jet deliveries worth $235 billion from 2021 to 2030. This is down 4% in deliveries from the same 10-year forecast a year ago. Despite the dip, 4 of 5 business jet operators in the survey indicate that purchase plans have not been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Short-term reductions in both deliveries and expenditures due to the pandemic aren't expected to have a lasting impact on the business jet industry.

The longer-range forecast to 2030 projects a 4% to 5% average annual growth rate of deliveries in line with expected worldwide economic recovery. This figure is higher than in 2019 due in part to Covidrelated declines in 2020.

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INTRODUCTION

Purchase plans for used jets show a moderate decline in this year's survey. Operators worldwide indicated that 25% of their fleet is expected to be replaced or expanded by used jets over the next five years, down 6 percentage points compared with survey results from 2019.

Breakdown by Region Middle East and Africa – Higher purchase plans were reported, following a five-year low in 2019.

• 16% of respondents said they will replace or add to their fleet with a new jet purchase, up from 12% last year.

• Respondents plan to schedule more new business jet purchases within the first year of the survey compared with 2019. About 26% of operators in this year's survey plan to purchase new business jets within the next year, up from 20% in last year's survey.

• The share of projected five-year global demand attributed to the Middle East and Africa is 4%, in line with the historical range of 4% to 6%.

• North America – Compared with 2019, new aircraft acquisition plans in North America are flat.

• About 32% of operators responding to the survey plan to schedule their new purchases within the first two years of the five-year horizon. This is 4 percentage points lower than in last year's survey.

• Purchase plans for used jets are lower, down

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• An estimated 64% of worldwide demand for new jets will come from North American operators over the next five years, up 4 percentage points compared with last year's survey.

Europe – Operators have slowly been replacing aging aircraft in the fleet.

• Europe's purchase expectations decreased this year to roughly 24% of the fleet, down 4 percentage points compared with last year's results.

• About 24% of operators plan to schedule their new purchases within the next two years, down 6 percentage points and below the worldwide average of 30%.

the Honeywell research is surprisingly positive.

• New jet purchase plans remain unchanged in North America in this year's survey. Over the next five years, 15% of the fleet is expected to be replaced or supplemented with a new jet purchase.

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8 percentage points when compared with last year's survey but back to historical levels as last year saw a five-year high.

• Europe's share of global demand over the next five years is estimated to be 18%, 1 percentage point lower than last year.

Used Jets

Plans to acquire used jets in the next five years dropped by about 6 percentage points from last year's survey. Twentyfive percent of used business jets will trade hands over the next five years, compared with a five-year projection of 31% in 2019.

Conclusion In conclusion, the Global Business Aviation Outlook reflects current operator concerns and also identifies longer-cycle trends. However, compared to the airline industry the Honeywell research is surprisingly positive. 

COMPANIES

CESSNA’S

ALL-CONQUERING

CITATIONS

Guy Leitch

The first Citation flew in 1969 and with its turbofans, accessible entry price and undemanding handling, it revolutionised the bizjet market. The success of the Citation range has made the name Citation synonymous with business aircraft.

C

ESSNA HAS NOW DELIVERED more than 7,200 Citations. From its entry level Citation Mustangs to the Citation Longitude, the Citations fulfil almost all the small and midsize market requirements.

Whereas Cessna used to be defined by its marketleading single engine pistons, particularly the Cessna C172, which is still the most produced aircraft ever built, the Citation series has come to define Cessna’s market dominance in general aviation.

family characteristics intact by making each successive Citation an incremental upgrade of a smaller or older model. Thus the original CJ has now been replaced by the Citation M2, yet they both retain the same construction number sequence. The current Citation range starts from the Citation M2, up to the Citation Longitude, which is a natural outgrowth of the Latitude, which in turn is a development of the Sovereign+.

the first CitationJet was delivered in 1993

One of the key reasons behind the Citation range’s success is its worldwide service and support.

Cessna has by far the largest network of both OEM and licensed service centres across the world – and is well represented across Africa.

The Secret to the Citation’s Success

One of the secrets to the Citation’s success is that Cessna kept the development costs down and the

The roots of the current smaller Citation family can be traced back to the first CitationJet which was delivered in 1993 and of which an impressive 359 were delivered. An updated version, the CJ1, was introduced in 2000 which included an updated avionics suite and a higher maximum takeoff weight. Also introduced in 2000 was the larger CJ2. This was a five-foot stretch of the CJ1, allowing a maximum of eight passengers rather than the seven passengers that the CJ1 could carry.

Another hugely popular line for Cessna has been the Citation Excel, with the Citation XLS+ still being produced. Including all variants, the family has sold almost 1000 Excels.

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COMPANIES Cessna's Citation range has an aircraft type and size that covers almost the entire bizjet market..

The Evolution of the Species The original Excel came about as a mix of other aircraft. Customers wanted a larger cabin cross section than the Citation V line, so Cessna used a shortened version of the Citation X fuselage. The wing was based on the Citation V Ultra’s wing, and the tail was from the Citation V. The engines were variants of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW500 engines that were also used on the Citation Bravo and Citation Encore.

There have been two upgraded versions since the

original Citation Excel. The Citation XL was introduced in 2004 and had uprated engines and a glass cockpit.

The current in-production Citation XLS+ entered service in 2008 and includes updated avionics, uprated FADEC engines, and a modified nose. The addition of a plus sign (+) to denote an upgrade is termed ‘plussing’ by Textron. Where an incremental upgrade has been introduced for the CJs, these aircraft have been included in the numbers for the original model.

A jump in the families, from CJ3 to CJ4, have all been kept as separate entries. The largest member of the CitationJet family is the CJ4.

Citations hold the record for the highest number of deliveries of an aircraft type in a single year. In 2009, Cessna delivered 125 Mustangs – an all-time record and one that doesn’t look like being beaten.

The early Citations revolutionised the bizjet market.

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Cessna’s largest Citation was expected to be the Hemisphere.

However development has been suspended and the current top of the range is the Longitude.

The Longitude uses the same

COMPANIES fuselage cross section of the Latitude but uses a T-Tail rather than the Latitude’s cruciform tail. Cessna also swapped the engines from the Silvercrests to Honeywell HTF7700Ls, and the range is a very useful trans-continental 3,500nm.

In the cockpit, three inches of legroom has been added to the co-pilot position for enhanced comfort.

Additionally, cabin entry threshold materials have been improved for durability and maintainability.

With the Longitude, and the possible relaunch of the Hemisphere, Textron has an almost complete aviation solution. It builds small single-engine piston aircraft that are used in flying schools around the world. Through its Bell Helicopter subsidiary, it makes helicopters. Through Beechcraft it builds business turboprops and, through Citation, it builds business jets.

Citation XLS Gen2 The Citation XLS Gen2 cabin has also received many subtle but significant improvements such as the new lighted airstair door with a curtain for weather protection on the ground and improved acoustics in flight. Passengers enjoy natural lighting and a new pedestal seat design enhances passenger comfort with individual controls, new styling and optional quilting, while the forward couch features an optional folddown capability, which allows passengers to access baggage in flight.

The first Citation flew in 1969

The Gen2 Cessna is now taking orders for the Citation M2 Gen2 and the Citation XLS Gen2.

The latest updates to the Citation M2 platform strengthen the model’s focus on pilot and passenger comfort as well as productivity. The M2 Gen2 brings an enhanced cabin experience. Its role as a business jet is enhanced in that productivity has been bolstered with the latest cabin technology such as wireless charging and USB-A ports at each seat. In the cabin, ambient accent lighting, re-mastered illuminated cupholders and additional in-flight accessible storage improve the passenger experience.

Communications connectivity is the new buzz-word in bizjets. The XLS Gen2 features a state-of-theart intuitive wireless cabin management system that includes a touchscreen moving map monitor, wireless charging, USB charging ports at each cabin seat and optional Bongiovi Immersive speaker-less sound system.

More than 1,000 560XLs have been delivered over the past 25 years, many to the most demanding fractional ownership operators and charter operators. Cessna’s range of business jets is demonstrably hitting the market’s sweet spot. 

Cessna's Longitude is the top of a very successful range.

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COMPANIES

YES AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE YES AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE PTY LTD is an Approved South African Civil Aviation Authority (Part 145) Aircraft Maintenance Organization AMO 1345, a leading MRO, located at OR TAMBO International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a hangar area over 35,000 square feet.

Approved Capabilities; • Airframe – Boeing B727, B737CL, B737NG (last quarter of 2021) • Engine – JT8D Series, CFM56-3 and CFM56-7 Series We offer excellent, cost-effective Maintenance and Engineering Services on a 24/7 basis with highly skilled experienced engineers.

Our dedicated Structural repair team, can complete minor to major repairs and modifications at our facility, including on-site jobs.

Base Maintenance includes; • Scheduled A, B, C and D checks • Structural Inspection, repair and/or modifications • Engineering Modifications/Upgradation on the aircraft, engines and related systems including Avionics Interior and Structures.

YeS”…’n in with “ Let’s Beg

• Major component Change • Corrosion Prevention and Control Program Applications • Airworthiness Directives and Service Bulletins Compliance • Trouble Shooting • Borescope Inspections We are committed to complying with the regulatory authority requirements in the industry to meet and exceed customer expectations and aim to maintain the highest standard of aviation safety, compliance of procedures and attaining total customer satisfaction, by continuously monitoring and optimizing the quality system and operational procedures, in the industry.

Our Quality Management System & Safety Management System includes; • SA CAA Approval • DR Congo CAA Approval Hangar 5, Safair Complex, Northern Perimeter Road, Bonaero Park, 1622, South Africa Tel: +2711068000. Email: accmanager@ yesaircraftmaintenance.com Website: www.yesaircraftmaintenance.com 

ying… …keep fl

LEADING MRO IN THE AFRICAN REGIONS We provide Excellent Cost-Effective Aircraft & Engine Maintenance and Engineering Services/solutions on a 24/7 basis with highly skilled experienced Engineers & Technical experts at a quick TAT. Multiple Civil Aviation Regulating Bodies Approved Organizations.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Capabilities

Airframe » B727-100/200 » B737-200 » B737-CL (200/300/400/500) » B737-NG (600/700/800/900)

Engine/APU Services

Base/Line Maintenance Services Scheduled Checks A, B, C & D Structural Checks, Repair & CPCP Engineering & Modification Program Field Assistance Engine, APU & Landing Gear & Major Component Change STC compliance AD’s & Service Bulletin Compliance Return to Services, End of Lease (EOL) Dismantling/Teardown Program Parking and Storage CAMO /Technical Services Fleet Management Interior Modification & Upgradation

• Boroscope Inspection (BSI) & Blend repair • Top-Case Repair • QEC/LRU Major Component Change • Lease & Lease Return Service • Technical Assistance

Workshops/Support Services • • • • • • • •

Structural Sheetmetal Battery Paint Oxygen Wheels & Brakes Avionics Interior

Engine » P & W JT8D - All Series » CFMI CFM56 -3/7 Series

YeS Inhouse Training Facility Type Training Courses » Boeing 727/737 – All Series » Theory/Practical-Categories B1/B2/C » Difference Fleet Courses as appropriate

Other Training Courses » Human Factors » Continuation Training » Aviation Legislation » Fuel Tank Safety Level 1/2

P O Box 8219, Bonaero Park, 1619, Hangar 5, Safair Complex, Northern Perimeter Road, Bonaero Park, 1622, South Africa

Tel : +27 11 068 0000 / +27 82 774 7228 (AOG) Email : info@yesaircraftmaintenance.com / accmanager@yesaircraftmaintenance.com. Website : www.yesaircraftmaintenance.com

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COMPANIES

NBAA ROUND-UP After a decade of stagnation, the pandemic may have fundamentally changed the business aviation industry with virus-driven safety concerns spurring a robust recovery.

THE INDUSTRY HAD BEEN in a 10-year state of doldrums after the financial crisis of 2009, followed by the beginning of an upturn in 2019. Then COVID-19 hit, and with it came a sharp reduction in flight hours, sales and new aircraft production. But the downturn was shorter than expected.

A year ago, no one expected the market to be as strong as it is today. Instead, the pandemic has acted as an accelerator to business aviation, says Eric Martel, Bombardier president and CEO. “The market is pretty robust right now,” Martel says. “It slowed down last year, but now it’s accelerating to a place we’ve never seen before.”

Analysts aren’t expecting deliveries to exceed 2019 levels until 2023 or 2024.

Charter companies report 20% and beyond increases in activity, fractional providers are experiencing 30% to 40% and higher increases in memberships, pre-owned inventory is at historic lows, utilization is back to and above 2019 levels, and major manufacturers report a book-to-bill of about 2:1, or two orders for every business jet delivery.

That has led to longer backlogs for new aircraft, firming prices and, for the first time in a decade, an appreciation of values for certain pre-owned models, according to Aircraft Bluebook‘s analysis.

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Private flight provider Wheels Up says it has seen a 146% surge in flight legs and 47% increase in memberships. The boost in business has led NetJets to pause all fractional sales and leases of Embraer Phenom jets, as well as Cessna Citation XLS and Citation Latitude aircraft. “The waitlist for card purchases is well over 1,000 now and we are actively taking deposits for shares of future Phenom and Latitude deliveries well into 2022,” Patrick Gallagher, NetJets president of sales, marketing and service, said.

A strong economy, healthy stock market and low interest rates have buoyed the industry.

But the largest driver has been COVID-related health concerns of first-time users of private aviation, those who previously could afford to use private aviation but did not, Cai von Rumohr, Cowen senior aerospace research analyst, wrote in a note to investors. The new entrants are seeking alternatives to commercial airlines to keep their families or executives safe and better schedules with the pullback of airline service.

The pre-owned market is especially robust, with inventory at record lows and many aircraft selling before they officially hit the market, brokers say. In

COMPANIES some cases, owners of preowned aircraft are getting multiple offers.

The 2021 NBAA -BACE expo.

The decline in inventory is a global issue, led by the U.S., which kept state borders open and was less affected by international border closures. Owners also have been hanging onto their aircraft as they struggle to find a replacement with few preowned choices available, especially of the newer, lower-time aircraft, experts say. In September, 1,154 business jets were for sale, or only 5% of the business jet fleet.

For new business aircraft purchases, first-time buyers historically made up 10% to 20% of sales. Now, the figure has risen to more than 30%. Embraer reports a 34% increase in new buyers, while Bombardier and Textron Aviation report similar increases. “We see a lot of new people coming our way for the first time,” says Martel.

Working with new buyers means a change in the purchase process. “You have to introduce them to tax advisors and broker dealers and bring them along with that process,” says Michael Amalfitano, Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO. Besides an upswing in the business jet market, the turboprop market has been robust as well, Ron Draper, Textron Aviation president and CEO, said in September, although it’s not as strong as the jet market.

That overall upswing suggests an extended upcycle through 2023, and longer should the Delta variant of the virus stick around, Cowen’s von Rumohr says.

At the same time, experts are not predicting a return to the highs of 2007 and 2008, when the industry delivered 1,300 business jets in a year.

In the first half of 2021, deliveries of piston, turboprop and business jet aircraft rose 16.8% over 2020 levels

but declined in every category compared to the first half of 2019, with deliveries overall down 8% for the same period, according to a General Aviation Manufacturers Association report.

So far, the upturn in activity has not led to an increase in production by the manufacturers, who say they are waiting to see whether the demand will last. They also want to build backlogs and firm pricing.

“An increase in price will not only just help all OEMs, it [also] would help the industry to get a little healthier financially and build up backlogs, [and] provide more certainty going forward,” Draper says.

The growth in the number of high-net-worth individuals will also boost the industry, experts say.

The number has risen dramatically with new creation of wealth. The biggest challenges for the business aircraft industry are twofold: the supplier network and a shortage of skilled labour. The two are related.

The fundamental problem comes down to the availability of skilled labour and skilled technicians, Draper says. The supply chain will limit how much manufacturers will be able to increase production.

When manufacturers call suppliers to increase production rates, suppliers often say they need skilled workers. It is a problem that isn’t going away soon, he says. 

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COMPANIES

BLACKHAWK UPDATE Blackhawk Aerospace said it reached a total of 1,000 XP Engine+ upgrades sold since the company’s beginnings in 1999. Blackhawk said its upgrades are designed to “increase the performance, speed, usability and reliability of high-performance turboprop aircraft for a lower cost than buying new.”

Blackhawk is now offering PC-12 engine upgrades.

BLACKHAWK UPGRADES have been applied to Caravan, Cheyenne, Conquest and King Airs, all featuring factory-new Pratt & Whitney Canada-made engines with extended time between overhauls (TBO).

“Reaching the 1,000th Engine+ Upgrade customer is something we never could have dreamed of back at our start in 1999,” Blackhawk CEO Jim Allmon said. “I continue to be blown away by our incredible team, our loyal customers and our dedicated industry partners,

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all of whom Blackhawk could not exist without.

One-thousand upgraded aircraft is a monumental accomplishment, but still only the beginning.”

Blackhawk has changed dramatically over the past two years, moving from one company to four. It now operates divisions focusing on engine and propeller upgrades, technologies for avionics upgrades and aircraft maintenance, composites, and solutions, including military and special-mission use.

COMPANIES The company offers the opportunity to exchange timex Pratt & Whitney PT6A engines on King Airs and replace them with engines with more horsepower to increase aircraft performance.

Blackhawk has performed a deep market assessment to select the next project, the Pilatus PC-12, replacing their original engines with the PT6A engine and adding new propellers—most likely a Hartzell propeller—and Garmin’s digital information systems, Allmon says.

The PC-12 market is starting to age, with many approaching their first or second required overhauls.

More than 600 legacy PC-12s are in service. Via supplemental type certificate (STC), Blackhawk’s PC-12 XP67P Engine+ upgrade replaces the turboprop single's stock Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67B engine with the higher-thermally-rated PT6A-67P model.

Flight testing of a PC-12 with the new engine is expected to start late in the first quarter of next year. The XP67P upgrade includes a new PT6A-67P engine but retains the PC-12's original Hartzell fourblade aluminium propeller. Blackhawk plans to certify additional propeller options in the future.

With 1,700 aircraft in service, the PC-12 is the second best-selling turboprop single, behind the Cessna Caravan. For more than 600 of the PC-12s eligible for the XP67P upgrade, many of which are at or close

to overhaul, it is an optimum opportunity to install an engine upgrade, according to Blackhawk. Operators upgrading before TBO expiration will receive an engine core credit of $95 per hour for any engine time remaining.

Featuring improved metallurgy, the XP67P engine allows for a higher internal turbine temperature (ITT) limitation of 850 degrees C versus the stock -67B’s 800-deg C limitation on takeoff. Maximum continuous ITT for climb and cruise is 760 deg C for the -67B and 820 degrees C for the XP67P. The PT6A-67P is a 1,200-shp engine that produces 142 more thermodynamic horsepower than the stock PT6A-67B, and the higher ITT and thermo produced by the -67P engine enables operators to use full torque to more efficient cruising altitudes. A stock -67B engine starts losing power at 13,000 feet, but the XP67P can maintain full power to 23,000 feet.

“Building upon the success of our existing Caravan engine upgrades, adding the Pilatus PC-12 platform to our growing list of STCs was a natural evolution for the aftermarket engine upgrade business that Blackhawk was built on,” said Blackhawk president and CEO Jim Allmon. “We look forward to welcoming PC-12 owners and operators into the Blackhawk family.” 

Blackhawk celebrates its 1000th engine upgrade.

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COMPANIES

HONDA’S

HONDAJET 2600 Honda surprised attendees at the 2021 NBAA-BACE by revealing the HondaJet 2600 concept–an all-new, long-range light jet with trans-continental capability.

The Hondajet 2600 concept model.

UNVEILING A FULL-SIZE cabin mockup at the show, HondaJet designer and company founder Michimasa Fujino says the inspiration for the potential new family member emerged during work on the Elite–the enhanced HondaJet HA-420 variant.

“We became aware of the need for a new kind of aircraft based upon a different market segment. The conditions in the business aviation industry have

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signalled the need for rapid cross-country travel and the ability to carry more passengers and payload. And the dire necessity of cutting carbon emissions,” Fujino said. “In response, we developed the HondaJet 2600 concept. The aircraft is designed to fly up to 2,625 nm with as many as 10 passengers and one crew–making it the longest-range single-pilot business aircraft in the world.

COMPANIES “This concept will unlock an entire new frontier of possibilities, new destinations and an opportunity to reduce aviation's carbon footprint,” says Fujino, who adds the aircraft is designed to be 20% more fuelefficient than comparable light jets and over 40% more efficient than other midsize competitors.

Derived directly from the baseline HondaJet, the new design incorporates the same overwing engine mounts, composite fuselage structure and natural laminar-flow wing features. However, the aircraft is stretched, with an overall length of 57.8 ft. compared to 42.6 ft., for the HA-420, and has a far bigger span of 56.7 ft.–around 16 ft. greater than the baseline jet. The high-aspectratio wing is designed to give the aircraft a maximum cruise altitude of 47,000 ft., and a takeoff distance of 3,300 ft., with a maximum takeoff weight of 17,500 lb.

The modular design cabin, with a pressure altitude of 6,360 ft., will be reconfigurable to accommodate eight, nine or 10 passengers and one or two pilots. The fuselage cross-section is more ovoid with a height of 62.5 in., providing additional headroom in the cabin.

“We are featuring more electrification and automation to make the flight easier, safer, and more enjoyable,” says Fujino. Citing an advanced steering augmentation system as an example, he adds that the system “helps the pilot to detect changes in aircraft yaw rate and

provides directional assistance to nose wheel steering for increased stability and tracking. This increases handling quality, reduces pilot workload and enhances safety.”

Other features include autobrakes, a runway overrun awareness and altering system, autothrottle and electric spoilers, steering and brakes. The flight deck will be based on the Garmin G3000 avionics suite. “We are target targeting a high degree of commonality with seamless transition from the HondaJet Elite type rating to the HondaJet 2600,” says Fujino.

The all-important choice of engines has yet to be disclosed. It remains unclear if Honda’s long-standing collaboration with GE Aviation, which resulted in development of the HF120 turbofan for the HondaJet, may be extended to provide a more powerful engine for the new project, or whether another all-new engine solution will be sought. The timeline for development has also not yet been disclosed, although industry observers say the recent termination of Bombardier Learjet 75 Liberty program effectively creates a hole in the light jet market.

The guideline price for the new HondaJet is expected to be in the $10-12 million range. 

BOMBARDIER’S

CHALLENGER 3500 Bombardier has announced the Challenger 3500 as an upgrade to the Challenger 350. The Challenger 3500 redesigned interior includes Nuage seating, voicecontrolled cabin, wireless chargers and 24-in., 4K displays. Customers also have an option of selecting sustainable materials for the cabin’s interior.

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COMPANIES

The Challenger 3500 is a 350 with a fresh interior.

BOMBARDIER ANNOUNCED in late September 2021 that it received a firm order for 20 Challenger 3500s valued at $534 million at list prices from an undisclosed customer, its largest order in 2021.

Volumes could be written about the ups and downs of Bombardier’s journey through the aviation business, but there is one straight line that runs through the story: the Challenger large-cabin business jet.

From the Challenger 601 that came on board when Bombardier acquired near-bankrupt Canadair in 1986, to today’s Challenger 650, the aircraft has been a steady seller, with its wide fuselage, solid performance

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and reliability, and reasonable costs. But the market is changing.

For most of its life, the Challenger has had only one real competitor, Dassault’s Falcon 2000, which has followed a similar path of offering an attractive mix of cabin, performance and price through several refreshes since it was introduced in 1994. But the competitive sands are shifting. Unveiling the new G400 ahead of NBAA-BACE, Gulfstream President Mark Burns noted that "the large-cabin, entry-level point has long been kind of abandoned by most of the marketplace.”



COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE:

STAR AIR CARGO Star Air is a key independent airline support operator on the African continent. It incorporates Star Air Cargo and Star Air Maintenance as separate entities. The business focusses on aircraft leasing, including aircraft with crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) charter, and cockpit and crew training for its own operations.

Star Air Cargo supplies Boeing 737 freighters and passenger aircraft to airlines around the world.

STAR AIR CARGO BEGAN as a small charter operator in the early nineties. The business grew using light aircraft for scenic flights and overnight cargo runs.

It originally operated piston aircraft to operate courier freight and carry small high value or time sensitive cargo (hence the Cargo name) for DHL Express and other companies.

Typically, an early client was the Sunday Independent newspaper, which flew newspapers from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth in a Piper Aztec.

Boeing 737-200, ZS-OWM. This aircraft, along with a Dornier 228, was placed on contract in East Africa.

During the decline of the Rand against the US Dollar at the start of the millennium, some of the founding business partners divested, leaving Peter Annear to build the company into its present size by leasing five Boeing 737s.

These include two series-200s and three 'Classics'. The current fleet consists of six Boeing 737-300 freighters and two 737-300s for passenger operations. The passenger aircraft can be tailored to the client’s needs by configuring the seating to all

can cost up to $150 000 per gear leg

The company’s first heavy jet was acquired in 2002: a

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COMPANIES economy or a combination of economy and business class. The Boeing fleet is equipped with integral stairs, minimising ground handling costs and requirements and making the aircraft far more flexible for remote African operators.

For contracts that are six months or longer, Star Air can brand the aircraft for customers to maintain uniformity between their fleet and leased aircraft.

In June 2019, Star Air Cargo was acquired by Comair, who agreed to pay U$5.14 million to acquire the group. However it was realised that the acquisition by Comair would adversely affect Star Air’s ability to be a truly independent supplier of service to all airlines.

And then, due to the financial constraints imposed on Comair by the COVID-19 lockdown and the subsequent business rescue process, the Comair deal was cancelled in October 2020.

Star Air Cargo values its independence and has a variety of quality clients. At various times they have supplied: Rwandair, Air Botswana, Air Malawi, Air Tanzania, LAM Mozambique Airlines, Air Namibia, SA Express, Mango and Airlink. The company holds

Star Air supplies aircraft with full Aircraft Maintnenace Crew and Insurance leases.

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its own A1 charter license and employs 16 full time cockpit crew and 16 full time cabin staff.

CEO Peter Annear is also a type rated 737 captain and remains a keen general aviation pilot with a Mooney Ovation.  Star Air Cargo and Maintenance's Peter Annear and Marcel "Lieb" Liebenberg (left).

SA Flyer 2021|11

CARGO

Boeing 737-300 Cargo Aircraft available for wet (ACMI) lease.

Based at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg South Africa.

Contact: yvonne@starcargo.co.za or peter@starcargo.co.za Tel: +27 11 234 7038 www.starair.co.za

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COMPANIES

PILATUS AIRCRAFT THE PILATUS PC-24 is a light business jet produced

by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Following the PC-12 single turboprop success, work on the jet project started in 2007 for greater range and speed. Powered by two Williams FJ44 turbofans, the PC-24 kept the rugged airfield capability of the PC-12. To date, Pilatus have produced and delivered over 130 PC-24s, with a strong order book and sales outlook for the coming years. Throughout its 40-year lifecycle, Pilatus plans to produce in over 4,000 aircraft.

The global PC-24 fleet have accumulated over 50,000 hours and based on customer feedback Pilatus have incorporated some new features into the latest production serial numbers, some of which can be retrofitted in earlier serial number PC-24s. New executive seats provide more comfort and feature the ability to fully recline to a flat position. Seats are now also attached to the cabin’s flat floor with quick -release mechanisms to facilitate rapid seating configuration changes on the ground. In lieu of the standard forward left-hand coat closet, operators may now choose to install a galley with options for a microwave oven, a coffee or espresso maker, a generous work surface, dedicated ice storage, and capacity for standard catering units.

For PC-24 flight crews, Pilatus and Honeywell have continued to develop and refine the Advanced Cockpit Environment (ACE). A touch-screen avionics controller replaces the multi-function controller as standard equipment. The PC-24’s flight control system now incorporates Tactile Feedback and the standard auto-throttle system also includes a new Automatic Speed Protection function. Other features such as Honeywell’s SmartRunway and SmartLanding, FMS Takeoff and Landing Data (TOLD), Controller to Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC), KMA-29A Bluetooth 3D audio panel and Honeywell RDR-7000 are now also offered as optional equipment.

Locally, the African based PC-24 fleet continues to grow, and Authorized PC-24 Service Centre, Pilatus PC-12 Centre Southern Africa, is underway with a hangar extension at its facility at Rand Airport. The expansion will provide ongoing support for the PC-24 fleet well into the future.

Contact: Tel: 011 383 0800 Raymond Steyn 082 652 3439: Tim Webster 083 251 0318: Gerry Wyss 082 318 5089: Pascal Wyss 082 511 7312 

CIRRUS AIRCRAFT CIRRUS AIRCRAFT unveiled a re-imagined Vision Jet™ – the G2+ Vision Jet – featuring optimized engine performance for expanded mission capabilities, Gogo® InFlight WiFi for a connected cabin experience, and bold, new colorways for added ramp presence.

The G2+ Vision Jet is the latest demonstration of the company’s dedication to relentless innovation, and joins a host of industry-leading technologies offered in the best-selling jet in general aviation, including Autothrottle, Safe Return™ Emergency Autoland and the Perspective Touch+™ by Garmin® flight deck.

With the G2+ Vision Jet, the Williams FJ33-5A engine has been finely tuned with a newly optimized thrust profile that provides up to 20% increased performance during take-off. The optimized performance joins the expanded flight envelope to FL310, launched with the G2 Vision Jet in 2019, offering enhanced performance to increase range, carry more and enjoy

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added reassurance in hot temperatures and high elevations – providing access to additional airports at popular destinations across the globe.

From the striking exterior, pilot and passengers step into a remarkably spacious interior designed around the largest cabin in its class, featuring premium leather, bolstered seats, noise reduction and an immersive experience made possible by the panoramic windows unique to the Vision Jet. The worldwide fleet currently includes more than 265 Vision Jets with over 500 Type Ratings issued for the aircraft. Deliveries for the G2+ Vision Jet are planned to begin in August 2021.

For more information contact Eugene Prenzler email: sales@cirrussa.co.za or Cell: +2767-232-5395 

®

G E N E R A T I O N

2

THE NEXT EVOLUTION IS HERE CHARTER

ENHANCED PERFORMANCE

SMARTLIFT

SAFE RETURN™ EMERGENCY AUTOLAND

™

SPECIAL MISSION

INFLIGHT WIFI

FLEXIBLE CABIN CONFIGURATIONS

To learn more about G2+ Vision Jet, call 067-232-5395 or mail sales@cirrussa.co.za.

CSA Aviation (Pty) Ltd Africa’s only Cirrus Platinum Partner

©2021, CIRRUS DESIGN CORPORATION D/B/A CIRRUS AIRCRAFT

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COMPANIES

EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT

REFURBISHMENT EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT REFURBISHMENT has over the years earned its global reputation for quality and attention to detail. Francois Denton and his expert team will advise clients on all aspects of the aesthetic and technical refurbishment process from beginning to end and nose-to-tail.

Operations Management forms part of their dayto-day processes that ensures that production runs smoothly and effectively. Their policy of keeping in close contact with the customer keeping them up-todate on the progress of their aircraft has proven to be a winner. Each component of the aircraft is scheduled into production thereby ensuring customer satisfaction while maintaining the highest quality standards.

Executive Aircraft Refurbishment will custom design and develop aircraft interior with foam building to the client's exact specifications, whether leather or fabric upholstery the professional team will deliver the finest quality results all manufactured on-site by their large team of highly experienced individuals.

Executive Aircraft Refurbishment refurbishes single components such as seats, interior roof panels, window panels, lower side walls and armrests, air vents, and light fittings. They will remove and refit single components with care and to perfection. Components such as interior plastic panels and trims are not only repaired and reconditioned but also strengthened to produce a product that will stand the test of time.

Interior carpeting is all custom manufactured with only the best quality wool carpets and professional edging. Non-textile flooring, such as coin-dot flooring for galleys, cargo and baggage holds, all fall comfortably within their teams expert scope.

At Executive Aircraft Refurbishment quality and safety is their priority and this is no more evident than in their seatbelt repair, existing seatbelts can be re-used with their webbing replacement service. Webbing is available in a variety of colours to meet an aircraft’s specific needs.

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After re-webbing, the team conduct an in-house restraint test on their Safety Belt Restraint Test Rig, whereby test loads are applied to safety belts, before issuing the clients with the required certification.

Interior cabinetry is a speciality at Executive Aircraft Refurbishment, whether the choice is Formica® lamination or veneer, in a gloss or matt finish the cabinets will always be in line with the latest trends and client specifications. The team can also assist with repairs and alignments of doors and drawers.

Burn tests are conducted on all materials used in accordance with FAR25.853 and FAR23.853 test regulations and all required burn certificates issued.

Executive Aircraft Refurbishment boasts a paint shop large enough to get the job done with state-of-theart equipment, and an experienced team who pride themselves in attention to detail. From paint stripping to a complete respray, custom line paint scheme designs to customer specifications, the experienced paint-shop team will deliver a complete nose-to-tail makeover on any aircraft. No component is too big or too small, they will respray components like wheel rim assemblies and landing gear and in addition offer a mobile touch-up team. All paint colours are matched and mixed in-house ensuring total satisfaction, as well as supplying and applying exterior decals for the personalized touch. Each and every paint job is sealed with PRC® aerospace sealants.

Hangar 10 (Interior Shop) and 31 (Paint Shop) Gate 5 Lanseria International Airport Johannesburg TEL: +27 10 900 4149 CELL: 082 547 8379 francois@earefurbishment.com info@earefurbishment.com  Leather covered yoke.

Seat Belts.

COMFORT & QUALITY AIRCRAFT REFURBISHMENT

Tel: +27 (0)10 900 4149 | Mobile: +27 (0)82 547 8379 Info@earefurbishment.com | Francois@earefurbishment.com Hangar 10 (Interior Shop) and Hangar 31 (Paint Shop).

FlightCom: Lanseria International Airport, South Africa, Gate 5 North Side. November 2021

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COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE:

STAR AIR MAINTENANCE Star Air Maintenance is one of those largely unseen centres of competence based on the east side of OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg.

STAR AIR MAINTENANCE (SAM), is an independent Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO), and has been operating since June 2008. With 59 permanent staff, it is headed by both Peter Annear and Marcel 'Lieb' Liebenberg.

(AMEs), the company carries out third-party heavy maintenance as well as taking care of Star Air Cargo's contract and charter fleet of Boeing 737s. The AMO is further licensed to work on McDonnell Douglas MD-series aircraft and DC-9s.

Lieb is a heavy jet maintenance veteran with valuable experience as both a Tech Rep and an AME running major C-Checks for many African airlines. The company occupies the old east-side fast jet testing centre at Hangar K7 which can accommodate four B737-300s within the Denel compound at OR Tambo International Airport.

Unlike his contemporaries in larger maintenance bases in South Africa, Lieb is usually found in his overalls directing work from the shop floor. His hands-on style is rare in this high technology industry where paperwork skills have become as important as mechanical knowledge.

With 25 fully qualified Aircraft Maintenance Engineers

"A vital part of today's large jet maintenance is to keep overheads down", says Lieb. "Staff thus need to be

For longer leases Star Air will rebrand its aircraft to customer requirements.

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COMPANIES kept busy, and that means supervising workflows and making sure there is always something to do. Due to events such as the current supply chain crisis there could be delays in obtaining spare parts, and some tasks may take longer than others, so it is important to avoid periods where our engineers may be idle whilst waiting for colleagues to finish off."

"There are some costly ADs and SBs related to heavy jets. Boeing 737s for example require landing gear removal and overhaul every ten years. That can cost up to $150 000 per gear leg.

A C-Check can come in at around US$43,000 for labour if the aircraft does not require heavy maintenance. It is unscheduled maintenance that makes the C-Check costly. Boeing's Corrosion Preventative Control Program (CPCP) is a good example. It has several three, four and eight year calendar-based cycles and these can require an extra and substantial 3500 hours of additional work.

Lieb's experienced approach to workflow and tasking has a valuable spin-off. With knowledgeable and experienced management, the customer Tech Reps can benefit from integrated work packs that avoid repetitive work shared by both the major C-check and the CPCP requirements, thus reducing the final bill.

Star Air Maintenance also offers its clients the option of sourcing their own parts for a nominal handling fee. Star Air Maintenance subscribes to Partsbase, a database and tracking organisation that's able to source new and used components from around the world.

Lieb says his relationship with the CAA is excellent and he finds their inspectors helpful when needed to resolve issues. "We occasionally need CAA approval to move aircraft stranded because of a technical issue and have found the Authority’s personnel very helpful in such cases," Lieb adds.

Whilst Star Air Maintenance would like to grow their AMO, Lieb is wary of growing too fast. "Having more people makes it easy to lose day to day control, unless systems are in place. At the moment we happily bring in experienced and skilled contract engineers when needed.”

“Some things we have chosen to outsource as running several departments is costly and requires dramatically more regulatory monitoring and oversight. Thus, we contract out our safety equipment needs and some other tasks like borescope inspections - at least for the time being," Lieb says. In this way Star Air Maintenance is able to operate with maximum efficiency and pass these cost benefits on to clients. 

Star Air Maintenance ensures maximum aircraft availability and reliability.

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MAINTENANCE Star Air Maintenance Pty Ltd (SAM) is a subsidiary company of Star Air Cargo Pty Ltd, that provides all the AOC’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.

SA Flyer 2019|11

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 72

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Tel: 011 395 3756 and 011 973 5512

Guardian Air is a trusted aircraft management, maintenance and VIP air charter company.

Providing a suite of specialised services to meet the discerning needs of aircraft owners, global business travellers, tourists and adventurers.

GUARDIAN AIR, operating from Lanseria International Airport in South Africa, offers Global VIP charter, comprehensive aircraft management and maintenance solutions to aircraft owners and organisations alike, as well as air ambulance services to two major, private emergency medical care companies.

Guardian Air (PTY) Ltd started as an aviation asset management company in 2009. Today through their subsidiary, Guardian Air Asset Management, have international and domestic operating licences issued by the South African Department of Transport as well as a or aeromedical transfers.

As aircraft owners themselves, they can identify with their customers’ needs. Guardian Air aircraft is serviced by their own in-house maintenance division, Guardian Air Maintenance (PTY) Ltd. Aircraft types endorsed on the operating licence: Beechcraft King Air 200 Hawker 700A/800A Dassault Falcon 20 Dassault Falcon 50EX Dassault Falcon 900EX Please contact our 24/7 operations team for VIP charter, air ambulance services or any other enquiries.

Guardian Air lives by this motto: “Throughout the company, there has been a big push in being transparent.”

Guardian Air is a trusted VIP air charter and aircraft management company, providing a suite of specialised services to meet the discerning needs of global business travellers,tourists and adventurers.

loc Lanseria International Airport Tel +27 11 701 3011 24/7 +27 82 521 2394 Web www.guardianair.co.za lic CAA/I/N283, AMO1401 FlightCom: November 2021 73

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

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FLIGHT SAFETY THROUGH MAINTENANCE

FlightCom: November 2021

77

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

Algoa Flying Club Sharon Mugridge 041 581 3274 info@algoafc.co.za www.algoafc.co.za

Adventure Air Lande Milne 012 543 3196 / Cell: 066 4727 848 l.milne@venture-sa.co.za www.ventureglobal.biz AES (Cape Town) Erwin Erasmus 082 494 3722 erwin@aeroelectrical.co.za www.aeroelectrical.co.za

Alpha One Aviation Opelo 082 301 9977 on@alphaoneaviation.co.za www.alphaoneaviation.co.za

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

AES (Johannesburg) Danie van Wyk 011 701 3200 office@aeroelectrical.co.za www.aeroelectrical.co.za

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

Aerocore Jacques Podde 082 565 2330 jacques@aerocore.co.za www.aerocore.co.za

Aero Engineering & PowerPlant Andre Labuschagne 012 543 0948 aeroeng@iafrica.com

Aero Services (Pty) Ltd Chris Scott 011 395 3587 chris@aeroservices.co.za www.aeroservices.co.za

Aeronav Academy Donald O’Connor 011 701 3862 info@aeronav.co.za www.aeronav.co.za

Aref Avionics Hannes Roodt 082 462 2724 arefavionics@border.co.za

Aeronautical Aviation Clinton Carroll 011 659 1033 / 083 459 6279 clinton@aeronautical.co.za www.aeronautical.co.za Aerotric (Pty) Ltd Richard Small 083 488 4535 aerotric@aol.com Aircraft Assembly and Upholstery Centre Tony/Siggi Bailes 082 552 6467 anthony@rvaircraft.co.za www.rvaircraft.co.za

Aircraft Finance Corporation & Leasing Jaco Pietersen +27 [0]82 672 2262 jaco@airfincorp.co.za Jason Seymour +27 [0]82 326 0147 jason@airfincorp.co.za www.airfincorp.co.za Aircraft General Spares Eric or Hayley 084 587 6414 or 067 154 2147 eric@acgs.co.za or hayley@acgs.co.za www.acgs.co.za Aircraft Maintenance @ Work Opelo / Frik 012 567 3443 frik@aviationatwork.co.za_ opelonke@aviationatwork.co.za Aircraft Maintenance International Pine Pienaar 083 305 0605 gm@aminternational.co.za Aircraft Maintenance International Wonderboom Thomas Nel 082 444 7996 admin@aminternational.co.za Air Line Pilots’ Association Sonia Ferreira 011 394 5310 alpagm@iafrica.com www.alpa.co.za

Airshift Aircraft Sales Eugene du Plessis 082 800 3094 eugene@airshift.co.za www.airshift.co.za Airvan Africa Patrick Hanly 082 565 8864 airvan@border.co.za www.airvan.co.za

78

Atlas Aviation Lubricants Steve Cloete 011 917 4220 Fax: 011 917 2100 Sales.aviation@atlasoil.co.za www.atlasoil.africa

Chem-Line Aviation & Celeste Products Steve Harris 011 452 2456 sales@chemline.co.za www.chemline.co.za

Fly Jetstream Aviation Henk Kraaij 083 279 7853 charter@flyjetstream.co.za www.flyjetstream.co.za

Comporob Composite Repair & Manufacture Felix Robertson 072 940 4447 083 265 3602 comporob@lantic.net www.comporob.co.za

Flying Frontiers Craig Lang 082 459 0760 CraigL@fairfield.co.za www.flyingfrontiers.com

Corporate-Aviators/Affordable Jet Sales Mike Helm 082 442 6239 corporate-aviators@iafrica.com www.corporate-aviators.com C. W. Price & Co Kelvin L. Price 011 805 4720 cwp@cwprice.co.za www.cwprice.co.za

Dart Aeronautical Jaco Kelly 011 827 8204 dartaero@mweb.co.za

Dart Aircraft Electrical Mathew Joubert 011 827 0371 Dartaircraftelectrical@gmail.com www.dartaero.co.za ATNS DJA Aviation Insurance Percy Morokane 011 463 5550 011 607 1234 0800Flying percymo@atns.co.za mail@dja-aviation.co.za www.atns.com www.dja-aviation.co.za Aviation Direct Dynamic Propellers Andrea Antel Andries Visser 011 465 2669 011 824 5057 info@aviationdirect.co.za 082 445 4496 www.aviationdirect.co.za andries@dynamicpropeller.co.za www.dynamicpropellers.co.za BAC Aviation AMO 115 Micky Joss Eagle Aviation Helicopter Division 035 797 3610 Tamryn van Staden monicad@bacmaintenance.co.za 082 657 6414

tamryn@eaglehelicopter.co.za Blackhawk Africa www.eaglehelicopter.co.za Cisca de Lange

083 514 8532 Eagle Flight Academy cisca@blackhawk.aero Mr D. J. Lubbe www.blackhawk.aero 082 557 6429 training@eagleflight.co.za Blue Chip Flight School www.eagleflight.co.za Henk Kraaij 012 543 3050 Elite Aviation Academy bluechip@bluechip-avia.co.za Jacques Podde www.bluechipflightschool.co.za 082 565 2330 info@eliteaa.co.za Border Aviation Club & Flight School www.eliteaa.co.za Liz Gous

043 736 6181 Enstrom/MD Helicopters admin@borderaviation.co.za Andrew Widdall www.borderaviation.co.za 011 397 6260

aerosa@safomar.co.za Breytech Aviation cc www.safomar.co.za 012 567 3139 Willie Breytenbach Era Flug Flight Training admin@breytech.co.za Pierre Le Riche Bundu Aviation 021 934 7431 info@era-flug.com Phillip Cronje www.era-flug.com 083 485 2427 info@bunduaviation.co.za Execujet Africa www.bunduaviation.co.za 011 516 2300 enquiries@execujet.co.za Celeste Sani Pak & Inflight Products www.execujet.com Steve Harris 011 452 2456 Federal Air admin@chemline.co.za Rachel Muir www.chemline.co.za 011 395 9000 shuttle@fedair.com Cape Aircraft Interiors www.fedair.com Sarel Schutte 021 934 9499 Ferry Flights int.inc. michael@wcaeromarine.co.za Michael (Mick) Schittenhelm www.zscai.co.za 082 442 6239 ferryflights@ferry-flights.com Cape Town Flying Club www.ferry-flights.com Beverley Combrink 021 934 0257 / 082 821 9013 Fireblade Aviation info@capetownflyingclub.co.za 010 595 3920 www.@capetownflyingclub.co.za info@firebladeaviation.com

www.firebladeaviation.com Century Avionics cc Flight Training College Carin van Zyl Cornell Morton 011 701 3244 044 876 9055 sales@centuryavionics.co.za ftc@flighttrainning.co.za www.centuryavionics.co.za www.flighttraining.co.za

Chemetall Flight Training Services Wayne Claassens Amanda Pearce 011 914 2500 011 805 9015/6 wayne.claassens@basf.com amanda@fts.co.za www.chemetall.com www.fts.co.za

FlightCom: November 2021

Flying Unlimited Flight School (Pty) Ltd Riaan Struwig 082 653 7504 / 086 770 8376 riaan@ppg.co.za www.ppg.co.za Foster Aero International Dudley Foster 011 659 2533 info@fosteraero.co.za www.fosteraero.co.za

Gemair Andries Venter 011 701 2653 / 082 905 5760 andries@gemair.co.za GIB Aviation Insurance Brokers Richard Turner 011 483 1212 aviation@gib.co.za www.gib.co.za

Guardian Air 011 701 3011 082 521 2394 ops@guardianair.co.za www.guardianair.co.za

Heli-Afrique cc Tino Conceicao 083 458 2172 tino.conceicao@heli-afrique.co.za

Henley Air Andre Coetzee 011 827 5503 andre@henleyair.co.za www.henleyair.co.za Hover Dynamics Phillip Cope 074 231 2964 info@hover.co.za www.hover.co.za Indigo Helicopters Gerhard Kleynhans 082 927 4031 / 086 528 4234 veroeschka@indigohelicopters.co.za www.indigohelicopters.co.za IndigoSat South Africa - Aircraft Tracking Gareth Willers 08600 22 121 sales@indigosat.co.za www.indigosat.co.za

Integrated Avionic Solutions Gert van Niekerk 082 831 5032 gert@iasafrica.co.za www.iasafrica.co.za International Flight Clearances Steve Wright 076 983 1089 (24 Hrs) flightops@flyifc.co.za www.flyifc.co.za Investment Aircraft Quinton Warne 082 806 5193 aviation@lantic.net www.investmentaircraft.com Jabiru Aircraft Len Alford 044 876 9991 / 044 876 9993 info@jabiru.co.za www.jabiru.co.za Jim Davis Books Jim Davis 072 188 6484 jim@border.co.za www.jimdavis.co.za

Joc Air T/A The Propeller Shop Aiden O’Mahony 011 701 3114 jocprop@iafrica.com Kishugu Aviation +27 13 741 6400 comms@kishugu.com www.kishugu.com/kishugu-aviation

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

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

Owenair (Pty) Ltd Lanseria Aircraft Interiors Clive Skinner Francois Denton 082 923 9580 011 659 1962 / 076 810 9751 clive.skinner@owenair.co.za francois@aircraftcompletions.co.za www.owenwair.co.za Lanseria International Airport Pacair Mike Christoph Wayne Bond 011 367 0300 033 386 6027 mikec@lanseria.co.za pacair@telkomsa.net www.lanseria.co.za Kzn Aviation (Pty) Ltd Melanie Jordaan 031 564 6215 mel@kznaviation.co.za www.kznaviation.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

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

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

Plane Maintenance Facility Johan 083 300 3619 pmf@myconnection.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 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 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 Southern Energy Company (Pty) Ltd Elke Bertram +264 8114 29958 johnnym@sec.com.na www.sec.com.na Southern Rotorcraft cc Mr Reg Denysschen Tel no: 0219350980 sasales@rotors-r-us.com www.rotors-r-us.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

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

Villa San Giovanni Luca Maiorana 012 111 8888 info@vsg.co.za www.vsg.co.za

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

Vortx Aviation Bredell Roux 072 480 0359 info@vortx.co.za www.vortxaviation.com

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

Wanafly Adrian Barry 082 493 9101 adrian@wanafly.net www.wanafly.co.za

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

Windhoek Flight Training Centre Thinus Dreyer 0026 40 811284 180 pilots@flywftc.com www.flywftc.com

Status Aviation (Pty) Ltd Richard Donian 074 587 5978 / 086 673 5266 info@statusaviation.co.za www.statusaviation.co.za

Wings n Things Wendy Thatcher 011 701 3209 wendy@wingsnthings.co.za www.wingsnthings.co.za

Superior Pilot Services Liana Jansen van Rensburg 0118050605/2247 info@superiorair.co.za www.superiorair.co.za

Witbank Flight School Andre De Villiers 083 604 1718 andredv@lantic.net www.waaflyingclub.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

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

Trio Helicopters & Aviation cc CR Botha or FJ Grobbelaar 011 659 1022

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

www.trioavi.co.za

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

United Charter cc Jonathan Wolpe 083 270 8886 jonathan.wolpe@unitedcharter.co.za www.unitedcharter.co.za United Flight Support Clinton Moodley/Jonathan Wolpe 076 813 7754 / 011 788 0813 ops@unitedflightsupported.com www.unitedflightsupport.com

FlightCom: November 2021

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