1 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
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The new Macan: Combined fuel consumption: 8.1 l/100 km; Power: 185 kW (252 hp); Torque: 370 Nm; 0-100 km/h: 6.5 seconds (Sport Chrono)
Edition 280
CONTENTS COLUMNISTS SA FLYER
16 Guy Leitch - ATTITUDE FOR ALTITUDE 20 Peter Garrison - LEADING EDGE 24 Jim Davis - PILE OF LOGBOOKS 30 George Tonking - HELI OPS 32 SaraLima - HANGAR TALES 36 Johan Walden - A SLIM LOGBOOK 42 Barry Lewis - INSURANCE 44 Ray Watts - REGISTER REVIEW 50 Jim Davis - ACCIDENT REPORT 64 Chris Martinus - AOPA BRIEFING
54 4 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
FLIGHTCOM
7 Mike Gough - Airline Ops 13 Hugh Pryor - Bush Pilot 48 SaraLima - Tail Feathers
Siza Mzimela Flightcom Page 22
with flying flying colours colours with
Title: Pleadeth the Owl “Nevermore.” Oil on Canvas 1.2 x 1m /3.9 x 3.2ft
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Edition 280
CONTENTS FEATURES SA FLYER
22 38 54 67
Flightcom Page 25
Letters To The Editor AERO SA Flight Test - MONSTER BARON 56TC
17 Airbus & Boeing Duopoly? 22 Face to Face: SIZA MZIMELA 25 Boeing 747 50 Year Anniversary 31 Defence - GRIPEN 37 State of the African Airline Industry 45 AFRAA AGA: CARGO
6
REGULARS
Professional Services Supplement
FLIGHTCOM
BOEING 747:
30
10 Opening Shot 40 Quote of the Month 46 Flightsure Register Review 48 SV Aviation Fuel Table 47 Market Place 62 Gryphon Flight School Listing 63 AME Directory FLIGHTCOM
10 GIB Events 16 Subscriptions 36 Federal Airlines Charter Directory 41 AEP AMO Listing 43 Aviation Directory
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SA Flyer 2019|02
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POSITION REPORT
O
NE of the subtler but
Given Generation Y’s postulated general
perhaps more profound
sense of entitlement and lack of commitment to
sea-changes we can
putting in ‘the hard yards’, there was a subdued
expect to experience in
demand by this cohort to become airline pilots.
2019 is the rise of a new
For this reason a special focus for SA Flyer
generation – the post-
and FlightCom over the next year will be the
Millennial
recruitment and training of the next generation of
Generation
airline pilots.
Z. And that should be good news. What was so bad about the Millennials, also
With that in mind, I am thrilled to announce
known as Generation Y? For those of us – like
that we have an exciting new writing talent – who
me – who have never given this warm fuzzy stuff
is also passionate about flying. Johan Walden is
much attention, the term Millennials is usually
just 17 years old, but he already has his PPL, and is pushing hard towards his Comm licence. His
considered to apply to individuals born between 1980 and 2000. Who are the Millennials – and what do they have to
column begins this month. Being born in 2001 makes Johan a member of the post-
do with flying? According to popular culture, Millennials grew up in an electronics-
Millennial Generation Z. This generation is characterised as being
filled and increasingly online and socially-networked world. Notable,
loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible, and
from a magazine publishing perspective, is that the much-hyped
determined – good attributes to become professional pilots.
move to digital publishing has peaked, and readers are moving back to print – despite the still useless post office.
To make SA Flyer more relevant to Generation Z we are bringing the excitement of flying to this new generation. We will not stray
The Millennials were encouraged to follow their dreams and
from our commitment to be, first and foremost, entertaining and
were told that they were special, so they tend to be confident, if
educational, but we will make sure that we are indeed entertaining
not overconfident. This confidence may spill over into the realms
and relevant to Generation Z – and not just to a bunch of old ‘when
of entitlement and narcissism, and has been the subject of much
we-s’. We promise that the next generation can look forward to a whole
mockery in social commentary. From a flying viewpoint, entitlement and overconfidence are contra-indicated for becoming a professional pilot. The thing about
lot more information and sharing of the passion of flying that will appeal directly to their tastes.
Guy Leitch
being a professional pilot is that it’s like brain surgery – you cannot fake it. It takes years of hard slog to get an ATPL and master the required skills and experience. Those without the necessary commitment and hand-eye coordination cannot use their father’s (or cronies) political
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
connections to progress up the ladder and become the proverbial
guy@saflyermag.co.za
‘fence post turtles’ we see in business and government.
SALES MANAGER Wayne Wilson wayne@saflyermag.co.za +27 72 900 2023 TRAFFIC Tami Van Heerden traffic.admin@saflyermag.co.za ACCOUNTS accounts@saflyermag.co.za DEPUTY EDITOR Owen Heckrath owen@saflyermag.co.za
8 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
TRAVEL EDITOR Nicola Leitch nicola@saflyermag.co.za PRODUCTION & LAYOUT Emily-Jane Kinnear emily@saflyermag.co.za SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@saflyermag.co.za +27 21 786 1463
OFFICE: 8 Victory Way, Simon's Town, Cape Town, 7975 PO Box 71052, Bryanston, 2021, South Africa Distribution
istribution by On The Dot (Throughout SA and Africa to approximately 1 000 stores), CNA, PNA, Exclusive D Books, Pick n Pay as well as selected Spars, and convenience stores. Sales into Africa: Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Moçambique and Madagascar. Unsold distributed to selected clinics, airport lounges, doctor’s rooms, garages, selected hotels and lodges and Airport Shops.
Important
pinions expressed in signed articles, News & views or in advertisements appearing in SA Flyer, are those of O the author or advertiser and do not reflect those of this journal nor of its publisher. The mention of specific companies or products in articles or advertisements, does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by this journal or its publisher in preference to others of a similar nature which are not mentioned or advertised. © SA Flyer 2019. 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.
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OPENING SHOT
10 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
Send your submissions to guy@saflyermag.co.za or owen@saflyermag.co.za
T
HERE is always something captivating about aircraft with ‘round’ engines and the Harvard is no exception. This winning shot of Andries van Tonder piloting ‘Radar Love’ - a pristine, fully restored Harvard, was taken last December by Robert Atkinson. Robert used his Canon 70D with a 100-400mm lens with the aperture set at F5.6 and the shutter at 1/160 to blur the propeller.
11 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
The icon that inherited the legacy of the historic S models of the Miura, Islero, Countach, and Urraco returns to outdo itself in its most exciting version: the Aventador S Roadster. Experience pure adrenaline with nothing between you and the sky. Because at the wheel of the Aventador S Roadster, thanks to the extreme agility of its active vehicle dynamics, every curve becomes a quiver of exhilaration on your skin, and the 740 HP unleashed onto the asphalt by the iconic V12 engine is not just music, but an entire symphony. With the Aventador S Roadster, you will discover the most powerful tool for amplifying your senses to the highest level. Sold with a 3 year/100,000 km Driveplan at no additional cost.
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WASSUP? REPORT: OWEN HECKRATH
RAPID RUSSIAN ROTORCRAFT Social media strikes again and this time it’s with details of a super-secret, superfast new Russian helicopter.
H
Design Bureau is developing a two-seat, high-speed
helicopter
for
the
Russian
Federation’s Armed Forces. It will have rearmounted engines, and supplemental lift will be via a short delta fixed wing in the rear and forward canards. Besides improving speed and range, the new technologies should
are
official at a recent technical conference
provide better fuel efficiency, according to
useful aircraft but, with
revealed plans for a twin-engine, two-rotor
the presentation.
a world speed record of
design that could hustle along at more than
only about 220 knots,
375 knots. Images from his presentation
speed over the ground
escaped into Russian social media, and
has never been their
defence-blog.com recently leaked details of
ELICOPTERS
strong suit. That could change if a new Russian design lives up to its promise. An
14 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
the project. According to the blog, the Kamov
j
BELOW: Leaked image of the new fast Russian helicopter.
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ATTITUDE FOR ALTITUDE GUY LEITCH
TIME FOR DRONE PILOTS TO GROW UP? Drones have become public enemy No 1. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Gatwick Airport from 19 to 21 December 2018 following reports of drones close to the runway. A few days later there were reports of similar drone disruptions from Heathrow. The reports caused major travel disruption, affecting about 140,000 passengers and over 1,000 flights.
T
reports
an unauthorised drone, but it was possible
the ground – or a rooftop. By having been
caused the biggest losses
that later sightings may have been of a drone
pre-programmed
to the airlines and grief for
used by the Sussex Police. It descended in
to being jammed, so I asked the collective
stranded passengers since
a multi-million Pound farce. Gatwick Airport
wisdom of internet forum www.avcom.co.za
2010, when the Icelandic
offered a £50,000 reward for information
what exactly the difference is between
volcano shut down much
leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
a drone and just a model helicopter – or
HESE
drone
they
were
impervious
of Europe’s airspace. The airlines and the
The police recovered a damaged drone
plane? My question was; “is something that
travelling public were screaming for the
on the airport’s boundary so there was
flies autonomously by having been pre-
perpetrators to be arrested and have the key
probably a real drone incursion – and the
programmed; a drone?”
thrown away.
police now admit they received 92 sightings
Poster ‘heisan’ who is always good at
In a classic police cockup, no doubt due the extreme pressure to get results, the Bobbies arrested a drone hobbyist and
Gatwick was festooned with drone detection electronics.
his wife who lived near the airport. They faced the possibility of life imprisonment under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 (interestingly, a law made BD Before Drones). After being interrogated for almost 36 hours, the couple were eventually released without charge. The husband’s boss said, “Although there was a complete lack of evidence, the police ripped his house apart. I know this will mentally destroy him.” Was it drone hobbyists or terrorists? Allegations about who was responsible were flying thick and fast. The RAF mounted an array of radar and radio detectors on rooftops around the airport. The army reportedly deployed their top-secret “Drone
of drones from credible eyewitnesses, even
the regulations, points out an interesting
though no videos or photographs were
fact - South African Part 101 ‘drone’
presented.
regulations only apply to remotely piloted
It became a farce of ducking and diving
aircraft. So autonomous aircraft operate
accountability for the lack of results. Which
under the ‘free flight’ restrictions in model
made me give drones a lot more thought.
aircraft regulations. He adds that the word
Apparently one of the problems the British
‘drone’ is often used to refer to both classes
The frustrated police lead investigator
authorities had is that they could not find
of aircraft, but the usage is definitely not
questioned whether there had been a drone
the operators because the drones had
standardised in any way. So if you have an
at all. The Chief Constable later said that
been pre-programmed – and were thus not
RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial System) and
police thought the original sightings were of
needing line of sight control by someone on
fly it with a controller; “it is under the ‘drone’
Dome” – an Israeli-developed counter-UAV system. It’s estimated that Gatwick spent £5 million trying to stop the drones.
16 February2019 January 2019| |www.saflyer.com www.saflyer.com
COLUMNS regulations, but if you programme that same
operations into a broader comment about
outside their field of sight and only using the
craft with waypoints and let it do its thing
the nature of regulators, ‘tansg’ added; “I
screen on the controller. At the same time
while waiting under a tree for it to come
think a large problem is the dumbing down
microlights were passing overhead and the
back, it is a different category of regulations.”
of operational management by installing
drone reached the same heights. I casually
Thus, Part 101, although commonly called
people who are more politically acceptable
chatted to the fishing guys, who at least kept
‘Drone Regulations’, actually only regulates
than qualified and then putting them in an
their drones in sight, as well as the other two
RPAS. If you programme your ‘drone’ to fly
environment where they are either too
idiots. None of them were even aware of
to a number of waypoints, but have it under
scared or unable to make a consequential
licensing requirements or that they are not
visual observation, and have the controller
operational decision. The modern Brits tend
allowed to fly in airport airspace.
at hand (to take over if required), then it is
to have a rather hierarchical structure where
“Their drones ranged from R20,000 to
still an RPAS.
it is expressly forbidden to go outside their
R35,000 and were bought at hobby shops.
But if, as it is surmised the Gatwick ‘drone’ operators did, you turn off the controller and/ or lose line of sight of it – (and remember, most of the airspace intrusion flights were at night) then it must be regulated as a free flight model aircraft. Thus, the Gatwick perps would not be subject to our anti-drone laws, which are significantly more restrictive than British drone laws. This raises all sorts of interesting questions – but the key point is that if the Gatwick drone perps had been intent on breaking the law and disrupting air traffic, it didn’t really matter what the rules said
A 'gun' used to jam drone signals - but what if the drone is pre-programmed?
anyway. What really mattered was what action the authorities – whether police or military – should have taken to reduce the
level authority, even if it is for operational
Either the person who sold them did not
harm done by the massive disruption. Here
reasons. The hard decisions tend to get
know, did not bother informing the buyers,
again the British coppers came in for a lot
kicked up to some politician type who doesn’t
or they just lied and played ignorant. This
of criticism.
have the knowledge, training, competencies
will not be easy to solve, and I would think it
It is argued that their response was
or experience to make those on-the-fly
needs a media campaign to inform potential
totally wrong. Avcom poster, ‘tansg’ a
decisions, as they are too worried as to what
buyers of the regulations to fly drones. This
former South African now living in the Gulf
they will look like in the public eye. The result
should be driven by CAA.”
States, pointed out that there they have an
tends to be ‘paralysis by analysis’ giving rise
So what should be done about drones?
even larger challenge with unauthorised
to what happened at Gatwick and Heathrow.
The usual solutions were proposed: Tax
drone usage, “but we have moved way past
It is time operational managers are again
them so much that only professionals
this idiotic ‘shut everything down’ attitude.
appointed on their competencies and given
can use them. Licence a drone like a gun
Firstly, air traffic control (ATC) uses a tactical
the authority to handle the situation as they
licence: Firstly, show competency, then
risk management framework developed to
see fit for the benefit of the operation, not for
apply for a license and thirdly restrict
evaluate the threat and only take appropriate
the benefit of some snowflake who may be
drone purchases to licensed vendors. A
action. Secondly, the drone threat is pro-
offended when his drone gets fried because
further recommendation is to have drone
actively managed in an airport environment
he was too lazy or arrogant to obey the
registration at purchase, similar to phone
risk management programme (including the
rules.”
Sim card purchases. This not only creates a
use of lasers, wildlife, etc). Thirdly, there are
The point about those too lazy or
identified areas of operation for commercial
arrogant to obey the rules is directly
drones with varying amounts of restrictions
applicable to South African drone flyers.
paper trail for operational tracking, but also for security purposes. In the final analysis, no doubt the
on operations. Fourthly, the enforcement
This is especially the case over the
response by the regulators to disruptions like
agencies have hand-held tools to identify
Christmas holiday season when expensive
those at Gatwick and Heathrow will mean
approved operations, so only unapproved
drones are bought as toys. Another avcom.
that drones will indeed become restricted
ops are targeted. Fifthly, we are working
co.za poster ‘pietmeyer’ said, “I spent
along the lines of gun ownership.
on a system which will prevent any illegal
December at Salt Rock /Ballito area which
In the meanwhile, we can only hope
drone flights in that both the drone and the
is inside Durban’s King Shaka airspace. I
and pray that the wayward drone operators
operation station will be tracked and action
saw guys on the beach using drones to take
grow up and start behaving responsibly and
taken. And lastly, if you get caught you will
fishing lines out. The drones were at about
legally.
be convicted and deported.”
100ft above the surf. At the caravan park
Parlaying his insights into illegal drone
I saw two guys flying their drones to well
j
guy@saflyermag.co.za
17 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
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1979 Beechcraft F90 10150 TTSN, 2450/2450 SMOH, very good condition, Garmin 530, dual Garmin Transponders, dual instruments. POA
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SA Flyer 2019|02
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Crafted for Aviators
LEADING EDGE PETER GARRISON
LIVE &
LEARN Experience is the best teacher. But she’s mean.
I
knew that my battery was slowly dying, but I was trying to put off buying a new one – two, actually, since my homebuilt, which has a 28volt electrical system, uses a pair of Yuasa motorcycle batteries in series.
After all, the aeroplane was still starting, however listlessly the starter turned the prop. It was just as I was leaving to give a talk to an EAA chapter in San Luis Obispo, about an hour north of Los Angeles, that the evermore-languid starter finally failed to make it through a compression stroke. I got the plane going with my Dogpatch start cart, which consists of a mechanic’s creeper stacked
The battery's rotten condition somehow explained the lack of starting moxie.
with some car batteries, transformers and rectifiers, a rheostat, a voltmeter and a
of starting moxie even under practically
trickle charger, supposedly equipped with
tangle of wires. Since I couldn’t leave the
infinite external power. This made no sense
sufficient intelligence to maintain just the
plane, I had a friendly passer-by drag the
whatever, but desperation breeds stupidity.
right potential in the battery and keep it from
cart back into my hangar for me and lock it up. He didn’t steal a thing.
I bought a couple of new batteries.
deteriorating during periods of disuse. It turns
They came dry, and the instructions –
out that people who use their recreational
I stayed overnight at San Luis. The next
which I must have ignored the last couple
vehicles, like boats or snowmobiles only
morning, my host Kurt Colvin, who teaches
of times I bought batteries – were emphatic
seasonally, swear by these things. I got a
engineering
Polytechnic
that once they had been filled with battery
couple and built a socket into the underside
Institute there (Burt Rutan’s alma mater,
acid, any time the fluid got low it should be
of my cowling so that I could hook them up
by the way), drove me to the airport. The
replenished with water, not more acid. Well,
to the batteries without having to open the
aeroplane – surprise! – wouldn’t turn over.
whaddya know! I had always thought I was
cowl.
The Jet Centre sent their start cart – this
doing my batteries a big favour by topping
I charged the batteries for a couple of
time, a real one with a noisy genset and 300
them with genuine battery acid, but it turns
days, until both maintainers were steadily
amps. I expected the engine to spin like mad,
out that that just increases the sulfuric acid
showing their little green ‘All done!’ lights. I
but instead, puzzlingly, it just barely dragged
concentration and hastens their demise. As
rolled the plane outside to try it out.
itself around. It did start, however, and I flew
often happens, once I learned this, I found
back to LA resigned to finally dropping a few
out that everybody else already knew it.
at
California
The engine would still barely turn over. But it made a whirring sound.
In response to an account of these
The late Paul Lipps, who made strange-
When I shined a flashlight into my
events on the website, www.melmoth2.com,
looking propellers for race planes (based
batteries, I could see that their cells were
where I go into excessive detail about my
on a propeller theory all his own) and was
distorted by an accumulation of black
aeroplane, a couple of people suggested
a fertile source for ideas about practically
lead sulphate. I reasoned that their rotten
that I might do well to get something called
anything, suggested that there might be
condition somehow explained the lack
a battery ‘tender’. This is a sort of glorified
a corroded connection somewhere in my
bucks for new batteries.
20 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
COLUMNS had just learned. There was plenty of discussion of it online, and one of my airport neighbours, Claude Morgan, a retired 767 captain who has a beautiful Swift with the same type of engine as I have, said that he’d had the same problem and had re-installed his original 16-pound starter after a lightweight substitute had ruined his starter clutch. I took the starter adapter off the engine and had it rebuilt by a nearby engine over-hauler. The guys there said they see this problem all the time. One of them suggested that a trash can would be a good place to store my lightweight starter. Consulting the website of the starter manufacturer, I learned that they had added an electromagnetic clutch to new models so that they freewheel when not energised. Gee, thanks. Why not add it before their starters wreck a bunch of starter adapters? At five pounds or so, the lightweight starters are an attractive alternative to the original item, which one online authority claims, The battery tenders weren’t smart enough to avoid cooking away the water in my batteries.
perhaps facetiously but I’m not sure, is from a 1938 Buick. I called the company to ask what kind of deal they would make me on a later model. It wasn’t bad: US$250, plus my present lightweight starter, for which I would receive a US$100 core credit. The retail price of the unit is somewhere north of US$600, so this was just a bit over half
starter wiring. The circuit is, well, circuitous, going through a master relay and a starter relay on the way to the starter. Any connection, including ones inside the relays, could be at fault. He told me how to locate the fault: You measure the voltage between a battery terminal and each connection in the circuit while cranking the starter; the indicated voltage is the difference in electrical potential between the two probes, and it should not be more than a small fraction of a volt in a clean system. You’re looking for a place where the indicated voltage suddenly goes up or down a volt or two. I jury-rigged a switch so that I could crank the starter while standing beside the battery, and, proceeding gingerly in fear that if I touched an alligator clip to the wrong place I would vaporise it and part of a finger or two in the bargain, I tested everything. I found no drop greater than a quarter of a volt. Finally, I described my problem to a kindly nearby A&P. You may wonder why I didn’t do this first rather than last. It has something to do with the spirit of homebuilding: You should never take the easy way out. “You have a lightweight starter?” he asked. Indeed. It was a common problem, he explained. Lightweight starters use fast-spinning permanent-magnet motors and steep gearing to achieve high torque. Some models, when they are not energised,
price. Sort of a qualified act of contrition. Time for Fun With Arithmetic. Let’s see – the lightweight starter originally cost US$500 or so. The bill for the clutch rebuild was US$815. (In a well-intentioned effort to soften the blow, they told me that it would have been only US$715 if the clutch shaft had not been so badly worn.) To this add US$250 to get a Mark-2 lightweight starter that is actually correctly designed. That brings us up to US$1,565. I’m omitting a few dollars for extra fuel consumed by the task of grinding away the shaft and the spring, and the cost of the start cart at San Luis Obispo. On the plus side, the weight saving of 11 pounds works out to a reduction in cruising fuel flow of 0.01 gallon – about one ounce – per hour and an increase of 15 fpm, or 3 inches per second, in climb rate. Over the 400 hours that it took the starter to destroy the clutch, I saved at least 4 gallons of fuel, conservatively valued at US$18. The net cost of the lightweight starter, therefore, would be only US$1,547, or US$140.64 a pound. Cheaper than truffles. Oh, and a footnote. I don’t know what the snowmobile owners do differently, but I found that the battery tenders may have been smart, but they weren’t smart enough to avoid cooking away the water in my batteries. So I quit using them. This could all have been prevented if I had stuck with the old
j
boat-anchor starter, and gone on a diet to take 11 pounds off myself.
cannot be turned by hand. The starter engagement mechanism in many Continental engines, including my TSIO-360, consists of a coil spring that tightens around a shaft. When the starter stops turning, it’s expected to freewheel and the spring is supposed to relax and release its grip. It’s an ingenious system, but if the starter doesn’t freewheel it keeps the spring rubbing on the spinning shaft, eventually wearing both until the spring can no longer grip the shaft tightly enough to turn the motor over at all. Hence the whirring sound and the stationary propeller. It crossed my mind that the starter manufacturer might have been expected to anticipate and avoid this incompatibility. Once again, it turned out that a lot of people already knew what I
One of them suggested that a trash can would be a good place to store my lightweight starter.
21 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
retired as Surgeon General of the SANDF
CARs which is why they should attend the
There is a lot of ignorance among pilots
ad has a passion for Aerospace medicine.
relevant congresses. If your DAME sends
concerning aviation medicine and doctors
+To my knowledge only 70 doctors to date
you to an Audiologist for the hearing test
concerning aviation. What should we do
have done the degree course. The course
instead of doing it himself, take a copy of the
about it?
is run by Dr Chris Blunden who is an
regulation with you so that the Audiologist
Anaesthetist who also did the degree in
knows what is required:
IGNORANCE ABOUT MEDICALS
IAM is now virtually out of the picture and CAA’s medical department under the
Aerospace Medicine:
“Applicants must not have a hearing
leadership of Dr Lesego Bogatsu controls
loss in excess of 35 dB at each frequency
all medicals. They have bought a German
Dr Chris Blunden
between 500 and 2000 Hz, or 50 dB at 3000
system EMPIC so that everything is now
President: Southern African Aerospace
Hz in either ear. Applicants failing to comply
online when a pilot does his medical and a
Medical Association, and
with this standard in either ear may be
certificate of fitness is printed out, but the
Head: Aerospace Medicine Division
assessed fit if the hearing loss for both ears,
doctor still has to give the pilot the white and
School of Health Systems and Public
when averaged at each frequency does not
yellow written certificate. The white one for
Health
exceed the stated limit, and the applicant
his Licence and the yellow one he sends to
Faculty of Health Sciences
achieves 90 percent or better discrimination
CAA licencing.
University of Pretoria
when speech audiometry is tested.”
There are two types of DAMEs (note
e-mail: chris.blunden@up.ac.za
Thanks for a really great magazine.
DAME not AME as in the mag.) One has Eugene Marais
done two week course at IAM and the other has done a 2 year course at Pretoria University. Of the doctors on your AME
HEARING TESTS
listing the only two that I know for sure who
It was with shock that I read a letter in
have done the degree course are myself
the January SA Flyer by Helmuth Fischer
and Dr Ken Ingham. As far as I am aware,
and replied by Guy, concerning the hearing
the only Assessor at the medical dept of the
test for a flying medical.
SPELL IT OUT As an ex airport manager of Lanseria I
CAA who has done the degree course is
I am an Aerospace Medical Specialist
still take keen interest in aviation matters.
Dr Bernice Mashupa, the others have only
and flew crop-sprayers for 20 years before
For that reason I buy your magazine, as
done the two week course. They may be
studying medicine and have been doing
well as those of your competitors, from time
good doctors, but I do not think that they
Aviation Medicals for more than 30 years.
to time.
know much about General Aviation or the
I have copied the relevant regulation
Whilst the mix of articles in these
difference between a rudder and an aileron.
from SACATs and SACTs & CARs. If a pilot
magazines is good I find them to be very
To my surprise
(read disgust) a DAME
cannot pass this, his wife will be nagging him
technically written, with lots of jargon and
who has been doing medicals for many
to get a hearing aid anyway. I disagree that
abbreviations that goes way over my
years told me with pride, “I know nothing
he /she should be sent to an Audiologist. I
layman’s head and I am sure over those of
about aviation, I am a doctor.” There are
would send the pilot to an ENT specialist.
my peers who are not active in the aviation
however many DAMES who are pilots, one
If you fail this test, there must be
who has the degree in Aerospace Medicine
something
Some
I try to read the two articles about the
is actually now flying for MANGO. Dr Ken
Designated Aviation Medical Examiners)
Gripen in your latest edition but lost interest
Ingham joined the SAAF in the 1960’s and
DAMES are not up to date with the CATs &
halfway through. Lt Col “Midnite” disappears
22 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
radically
wrong.
field such as pilots etc.
in the article and I would have liked to learn
For example I really don’t know for sure how
sophisticated capability could be a juicy
more about him, where he comes from,
credible Flight Operations Officer and Flight
target for criminals hackers and terrorists.
his training and what he is doing since
dispatch courses are in Southern Africa
Readily available drone technology could
retirement – on the photograph he looks
Successful end of year,
like a formidable man. The section with the interesting Gripen facts was more like it and
pose a global security threat if it falls into the wrong hands.
Daniel Tawiah
understandable.
These cutting-edge vehicles are guided by GPS systems that can be overwhelmed
The photographs in your magazine
by brilliant software specialists. Drones can
are of a high standard and they are very informative.
be hacked and their controls taken over SAMORA MACHEL AGAIN
Pieter Coetzer GL REPLIES: Thank you Pieter - It’s hard to know exactly where to pitch the magazine in terms of the reader's level of knowledge. Guy
electronically hijacked, they could also be
regarding Minister Pik Botha, President
used in chemical attacks in crowded urban
Samora Machel and SAA bailouts, for
areas.
which I have received two commendations
Drones are susceptible to GPS jamming,
from Aviation colleges who had my phone
spoofing and a skilled hacker can mess with
number.
its navigation system. Drones are in reality
You were quite correct that the Samora Machel aircraft was a Tupolev 134, which I
FUTURE OF PILOTS I really appreciate you and your team for
flying computers and have the potential to exhibit security flaws that are disturbing.
misquoted as an Ilyushin 76. This has been
GPS jammers are freely available on
confirmed by Aviation friends in Maputo,
line for as little as US$10 without any
so thank-you for the correction, and look
restrictions. Drones are ideally suited for
forward to your articles in 2019 etc.
modern asymmetric warfare. Like 911, the
the outstanding work. More success stories to you! You caught me off guard with the “ SA
and redirected. Drone cargo carriers can be
Thanks Guy for inserting my articles
world is in for a nasty surprise. Any airport Peter Farquhar
Flyer Special Edition on Flying the Big Jets.”
without ant-drone technology is courting disaster.
It’s a masterpiece! Thank you so much! I’m reading through your expert analysis
DRONES IN THE WRONG HANDS
of “The Future of Airline Pilots Part 2” and
The chaos caused by unauthorised
I’m thinking, if the future of pilots is so dim
drones near Gatwick Airport is a reminder
with the replacement of technology in the
that these high tech aerial platforms can
cockpit would other sectors be affected
bring aviation to a standstill and if left
too? Other sectors like the Flight operations
unchecked may lead to air crashes with
department,
tragic consequences.
Flight
dispatchers
among
others.
Farouk Araie
According to the European Union,
Could you please highlight on how this
400,000 unmanned commercial air vehicles
pilotless cockpit would affect these sectors
will be airborne by 2025. Drone technology
and possibly include schools and institutions
has proliferated at an alarming pace, it
that run sectors that won’t easily fade out?
is indeed a pandora’s box, whose ultra-
Tell us what's on your mind:
guy@saflyermag.co.za
SA Flyer 2019|02
Bosbok ZU-ADA FOR SALE
Airframe Hours: 3996.0 hrs; Engine Hours 129-65. Price: R750 000 + VAT CONTAC T M ELON Y VA N RO OY E N O N 01 1 92 2 1 3 61 OR OT TO@ P IX IE.CO.Z A FOR FURTHER IN FORM ATION.
23 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
PILE OF LOGBOOKS JIM DAVIS
THINGS THAT
GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
Flying light aircraft, like motorcycling and yachting, can easily have the fun kicked out of it when the sun goes down. As dark settles around us, we have to switch to a whole different bunch of rules.
M
can
Bikers can, at the drop of a hat, pull off to
change can bring in sea fog. Or a slight drop
have their lives torn
the side of the road. Yachtists can speedily
in temp can take the place to the wrong side
apart
unseen
furl their sails and bung out a sea or land
of dew point. But that’s fine, your flight can
things on the road –
anchor. But if we want to stop aviating we just
always divert to East London – or can it?
animals,
potholes,
need to damn well wait, like folks queuing
slippery patches and
outside the bog. We need exactly the right
daft pedestrians in dark clothes. Yachtists
spot to do our business. We can only stop
start to worry about invisible bits of land,
flying when we get to a lighted airfield where
both above and below the water, as well as
the weather is goodish. And of course, we
floating things like ships and containers.
must have enough fuel to get there. This
OTORBIKERS by
And, as aviators, we must also brood
means we need accurate wind and weather
East London is subject to much the same coastal weather patterns as PE. So when PE clamps unexpectedly, East London may not be far behind. This is, of course, where the fuel story becomes important. If you have plenty of fuel, you can divert again to Durban or Bloemies – or Dubai. But airline pilots lose points for carrying too much fuel. It’s expensive to act as a tanker, and they
We were finally allowed to fly the SAAF’s nice C185s.
have to cut down on pax or cargo if they want to carry extra safety in their tanks. So fuel is life, particularly at night where landing options are limited. All this is little more than an attempt to justify my fear of night flying in single-engine aeroplanes. As founder of the Live Cowards Club (LCC), I tend to break out in a sweat – day or night – if the back door slams shut. And most of the time at night, there is no back door. If you think that an engine failure after takeoff during the day is scary, then try one at night. It has happened to me only once, but it is a terrifying experience. I think a good plan is to have a .38 revolver on the seat
upon invisible bits of land that might
forecasts so we can plan for a safe landing.
protrude into our flight path. Possible engine
Most of us are not airline pilots so we
stoppages take on a far more sinister aspect,
possibly don’t give much thought to the
as do clouds that we could have avoided in
decision-making that happens in the front
daylight. And, unlike the other two activities,
during, say, a night flight from Johannesburg
we can’t just stop doing what we’re doing,
to PE. I was based in PE for quite a while,
we need special facilities.
so I have seen how quickly a slight wind
24 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
next to you. Then you can shoot yourself in the head and avoid the trouble that’s coming your way. And even if the engine keeps going, only the foolhardy can be totally at peace with the world. If you listen carefully to the engine at night, you will notice a sort of grinding or clattering noise that was not there during the
PILE OF LOGBOOKS
day. It’s the same noise that you hear when
for Kimberley in a brand new Cherokee
no possibility of mist, nimbies, sandstorms or
flying over cities, mountain ranges and large
140. I knew the weather was a bit grotty for
advection fog, you still need decent visibility
bodies of water.
the first bit, but Met assured me that after
to see the horizon. There was no cloud the
passing Parys on the Vaal River there was
night the Kennedys died – but there was
not a cloud to be seen.
also no horizon. Perhaps he also saw stars
But then modern aviators are largely shielded from such noises by their Bose or David Clark fear-cancelling headsets.
And they were right. But there was
reflecting in the sea.
Engine noises at night,
also no horizon or moon to be seen. The
The moon makes a massive difference.
Should not give pilots a fright.
conditions were exactly right for me to
For me, it must but at its smiling best – half
It’s the holes in their ears
become a victim of an eerie, and little-
full or more. And the route must be over
That lets in the fears,
known, illusion. It has a name, but I have
smoothish and flattish terrain. Mountains
That, and the absence of light.
forgotten what it is.
and night flying are a bad mix.
(With apologies to Spike Milligan)
If you are at the right height (about 4000
Under the above circumstances, I would
At night, you also stand a chance of
ft AGL) over sparsely populated terrain, the
allow a distant, unloved family member to
sailing slap into a cloud, and there is no
odd lights on the ground appear to be the
accompany you on a night flight – provided
requirement to be competent at instrument
same size as stars. The effect is that you
his will was in order.
flying. Your first warning of potential death
suddenly notice there are stars all around
Yes, of course, I used to do it – generally
is when the horizon ahead seems to have sort of smudged
into
…
well,
Charlie Kingwell's old straight-tail-no-back-window Cessna 182 with the sloppy ailerons.
nothing. You quickly look over your wing tips to find a misty red glow on your left, and a green one on the other side. You are now officially in IMC, and unless you are instrument-rated and current, you can hit your stopwatch and see the second
hand
counting
down your life expectancy in seconds from 178. You
are
no
more
immune to a graveyard spiral than JF Kennedy Jr who corkscrewed his Saratoga into the sea
you – above, below, to the sides and even
in reasonable comfort. But two things were
near Martha’s Vineyard in 1999. He had his
behind you. You instantly realise you have
in my favour. I was young and fearless –
wife and sister-in-law onboard. Kennedy had
been sucked out into space by an unknown
which just means that I lacked imagination.
a total of 310 hours, of which 55 hours were
force. It is terrifying. You don’t believe it. But
And the aeroplanes we flew were also young
at night. He also had 38 hours of instrument
you have to. You are surrounded by stars.
– actually many are the same aircraft you are
training when he fell into this trap.
The only thing to do is to go straight onto
flying now, but they were 50 years younger.
Does this mean that it is unwise to fly
instruments and believe them no matter
Then I went through a period when
piston singles at night? Put it this way, when
what. In my case, the illusion was made
I got bullied into night flying against my
I was in Oz, I could not find one single CASA
even worse when my passenger, who had
will. I had volunteered my services to the
(CAA) flying inspector who was prepared to
been dozing, woke up, looked around, then
South African Air Force in a fit of unthinking
do a night rating test. The Oz one involves
grabbed my arm in panic, demanding to
patriotism. Castro and his commie comrades
a cross-country. They all admitted to being
know what the hell was going on.
had teamed up with villainous Angolans to
scared of singles at night.
Apparently, you can get the same thing
chase us all into the sea. Of course, I wasn’t
However, all is not lost, the dangers
flying over the sea, or large lakes, at night.
going to stand for that, so I signed up in 109
can be ameliorated – I think that’s the word
The stars reflect in the water and cause an
Commando squadron.
I want – if you make sure your aeroplane
identical deception.
is not just serviceable, but in exceptionally good condition. Even then, a good aircraft is only part of the deal. I left Wonderboom one night bound
26 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
First, I had to swear allegiance to the
All of which confirms my belief that when
flag, or the president or something. Then
the sun goes down, the night abounds with
the SAAF put me in a nice uniform and sent
dragons.
me on various courses – one of which was
So even if Met tells you there has to be
meant to teach me how to salute people
COLUMNS
whose station in life was superior to my
Second, we were flying through the
At other times – when he really concentrated
own. Such persons could be recognised by
barrage of mortars that our guys were hurling
– he would go all stiff and make his arms
the number of starfish or tortoises in their
at the other guys. Apparently the planners
work the same way as his legs – right arm
shoulders. It was considered important to
of the operation either hadn’t thought it
and right leg together, left arm and left leg
get this right. Failure to salute a superior
through, or else they trained sufficient FACs
together. I had to teach him to coordinate
being was very wrong. Unless you were not
to replace us when we didn’t come home for
his hands and feet in an aeroplane, at night,
wearing headgear. And saluting a lesser
dinner.
under difficult circumstances. Life was not
being, before they saluted you, was just silly.
Fortunately, when I went to the border,
You were also taught how to stamp
sometime later, we were never called upon
all roses, I tell you. Most of the squadron pilots were
your feet, and be inspected on the parade
to do this in anger. The reason was that in
adequate daytime, VFR, weekend warriors.
ground. And how not to slouch or giggle.
the whole vast operational area, there was
Some were night-rated, but the majority
The RAF in Lincolnshire, as represented
not a single ridge for anyone to hide behind.
agreed that sunset heralded the start of
by Flight Sergeant ‘Bogbrush’ Holt, had
But I have wandered off the topic – I was
previously tried to teach me these things –
meant to be telling you about night flying.
One flight that sticks in my mind was
with limited success.
So after the SAAF had taught me how to
at Oudtshoorn on a dark and moonless
drinking time – not flying time.
His parade-ground training was now
do this in a military way, it was my job to
night. Runway 22 was in use. I mention this
reinforced in Afrikaans, a language I have
encourage our whole squadron to follow
because it faces south – away from the town
never really mastered. This meant that I was
suit. Unfortunately, my pupes were a pretty
and towards the Outeniqua mountain range.
always half a beat behind, because I had to
disparate and unmilitary mob. They were
This means there is not a single light to be
wait and see what others were doing before
hugely enthusiastic, but in a rustic, flying
seen after takeoff. We went straight into a
making a move. I quickly learned not to
club sort of way.
black hole.
anticipate orders, there are few things more humiliating than turning left when everyone
were
I was flying with Charlie Kingwell, a
professional people and others were just
Many
were
farmers,
some
Karoo farmer, in his old straight-tail-no-back-
else turns right. My
military
education
was
further
enhanced by attending classes on how to differentiate between a Ratel and a Buffel, and learning how to catch a Flossie while avoiding a SNAFU, and which way to pass the port on dinner nights. And then we were allowed to fly the SAAF’s nice aeroplanes – C185s – and even taught how to instruct instructors to instruct on them. We also learned to fly near other aeroplanes without bumping into them. And how to navigate at 50 ft, and how not to be shot down by SAM7s, and how not to attract small arms fire. Then we had to learn how to be a Forward Air Controller (FAC), a potentially dangerous thing to be. Imagine a ridge of high ground separating the Nasty Enemy (NE) from our Jolly Decent Army Chaps (JDACs, also known as Pongos). The idea was that, because our JDACs couldn’t see the NE behind the ridge, we would fly back and forth along the ridge and tell our guys which way to point their mortars in order to
The 'upside-down' AH in the older 182s can be confusing.
piss off the enemy to maximum effect. The more perceptive reader may have spotted a couple of downsides to this
ordinary okes. One, who never managed to
window Cessna 182. Remember the ones
activity. First, the enemy didn’t like it. And,
coordinate his limbs while marching, was the
that had the stupid upside-down control
as we were flying little, slow aeroplanes, we
mayor of a local dorpie. Sometimes his arms
wheel and unbelievably sloppy ailerons?
did indeed attract considerable small arms
would just flap randomly – like a bird in its
Charlie was a bit of an agricultural sort of
fire.
dying spasms after being clouted by a car.
guy for whom checks and procedures were
27 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
PILE OF LOGBOOKS
something of an annoyance. He figured that
I had to teach them all how to do an exercise
cigarette lighter socket. The results were
if they had to be done, then the faster the
called ‘clandestine landings’. ‘Candlelight
instantaneous and spectacular. There was a
better. I tried to encourage him to slow down
landings’ was more like it. I had to instruct
sort of sizzling pwooof sound, and the whole
and do things properly.
them on how to land in a short field, or a
lot came to a halt while smoke billowed from
Charlie was a hell of a nice guy, but he
patch of dirt road, while guided by only three
under the dash and out of the sides of the
paid little attention to my bleating. And so we
pairs of feeble lights. There were two faint
bonnet. The alternator had disintegrated.
came close to dying during his first attempt
red glimmers at the far end. These were
The smell of burnt Lucas electrics still
at night flying.
supplied by a Land Rover’s tail lights. They
permeates the vehicle to this day. What I am
were the aiming point, to keep us straight,
trying to say is that a Land Rover is not a
both on takeoff and after touchdown.
sensible, or reliable, source of power for a
The takeoff went well until just after we got airborne and transitioned to instruments. Suddenly everything went black – not only
Two
other
Landies
stood
at
the
flarepath.
outside the cockpit, but inside as well. I
threshold, one either side of the runway.
guess this should be a lesson to keep a
They faced inwards and along the runway
landings’. You can imagine the naughty
Coming
back
to
our
‘clandestine
night flying torch in your top pocket – not
at 45 degrees such that their headlamps
enemy with RPGs, SAM7s and ammunition
amongst tubes of peppermints and bog-rolls
intersected in a pool of dingy light. Those
belts slung over their shoulders. They would
in the bottom of your nav bag. We could see
of my congregation who have driven a Land
be creeping silently through the bush with
nothing and were in deep trouble. Either the electricity was broken, or Charlie has done something stupid.
The C182 also had upside down yokes.
I put my money on the latter. “Charlie, what the fuck have you done?” “Oops! Sorry, I thought that was the landing light switch.” The dim red glow of the instrument lighting returned, and Charlie didn’t have a clue about what he saw. Worse still – neither did I. I looked at the A/H in horror. Instead of getting a nice clear picture of our situation, I was dumbfounded. For a moment it told me nothing. Then it said we’re upside down. (Have a look at the photo. The little aeroplane is mounted from above, instead of below, and the sky-pointer points at the ground.) Charlie had frozen. “I’ve got her!” I shouted as I grabbed the control column and smartly banked the wrong way – making the problem worse. It felt terrible. Then I noticed the life-saving finger
of
that
wonderful
old-fashioned
needle-and-ball. We were banked hard left. I
Rover at night will appreciate that their
evil intent. The tranquillity of the night might
yanked the sloppy aileron control to the right
combined illumination efforts, even when
occasionally be disturbed by the amorous
and order slowly filtered back into our little
you kept the engines running, produced little
chirp of a cricket singing to his Juliet who is
bubble of panic.
more than a vague puddle of light on which
peering over a nearby leaf.
That was not what I had signed up for. I
one was meant to touch down.
Our military masters were of the opinion
vowed that I will not let the SAAF, or anyone
If I may wander off topic for a moment,
that Land Rovers revving their engines,
else, bully me into stupid situations ever
I would like to illustrate the problem of
and aeroplanes blasting through the night,
again. But it’s like a New Year’s resolution –
combining the words Land Rover and
would not be noticed by the bush creepers.
forgotten after a couple of minutes.
electricity in the same sentence. A couple
In reality, the term clandestine could only
My betters, in the form of Commandant
of years ago, my then girlfriend, Pru Freda,
really be applied if the enemy were sleeping
Bob Kershaw, Commandant Natie Myerson,
and I were driving through the Free State in
off a drunken party some 50 miles away.
and Major Gordon Rivas, all took this night
my modern Landy – just 20 years old – the
However, ours was not to reason why, ours
flying thing pretty seriously. In fact, they took
Landy, not Pru.
was but to try and fly. And not to die.
everything bloody seriously. I was the buffer
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her
I do have more to tell you about night
zone between the grimly determined senior
fiddling with something, and before I could
flying, but it will have to keep till next month.
officers above, and the NAAFI mob below.
stop her she had plugged her 20-megawatt
Things became really treacherous when
28 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
German electric coffee pot into the Landy’s
j
AIRVAN AFRICA
1996 Mooney M20M TLS Bravo
1246 Hrs. Airframe TT, Engine 195.9 Hrs. SMOH. Original fabric, interior and paint. Imported in 2002. Many extras.
One owner and 668 Hrs. Airframe TT Since New. Monroy 126 Gallon Long Range Tanks.
Price R850 000
Price: CALL
A true baby airliner.
2011 GA8 Airvan
6770 Hrs. Airframe TT, Engine 270 Hrs. Since Factory Reman. Maun’s Modern Workhorse.
www.airvan.co.za
Patrick: +27-82-565-8864 Brendan: +27-72-244-4958 Phil: +27-83-284-3898 airvan@border.co.za
Price: US$ 450 000
SA MOONEY 2019 MPI Slots available Treat your Mooney by maintaining at Africa’s only Mooney International Accredited Maintenance Centre. 1975 Grumman AA-5B Tiger
1974 Cessna A150K Aerobat
1981 Mooney M20J 201
3514 Hrs. Airframe TT, Engine 529 Hrs. SMOH. A well looked after inland aircraft.
6630 Hrs. Airframe TT, Engine 367 Hrs. SMOH. Fantastic condition. Up to date and ready to roll!
3400 Hrs. Airframe TT, Engine 1330 Hrs. Quick and comfortable.
Price: R480 000
Price: R320 000
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BRAND NEW Airvan 8
1971 Beechcraft Baron E55
1975 Cessna 180J
4173 Hrs. Airframe TT, Engine 1095 Hrs. SMOH. New Interior upholstery and plastics, recent paint, fair avionics and many extras. A legendary STOL bush plane.
Price: US$85 000
Standard panel including Garmin GTN 650 Nav/Com/GPS and JPI EDM 800 Engine Monitor.
Price: US$ 862 000 Including Delivery in Africa.
Stripping for parts.
Call for price and availability
OTHER AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: 2007 Mooney M20R Ovation 2 1981 Mooney M20J 201 1981 Mooney M20K 231 1967 Mooney M20F Executive 1988 Aviat A-1 Husky 1972 Pitts S2A 1948 Ercoupe 415e 1969 Cessna 182M 1977 Socata Rallye 235E 1976 Alouette 3 1966 Piper Cherokee 180 1957 Cessna 172
SA Flyer 2019|01
Unless otherwise stated all prices are exclusive of VAT
1993 Maule MX-7-180
+27 46 624 4899
29 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
HELI OPS GEORGE TONKING
FRIENDSHIP UNDER FIRE The helicopter pilot fraternity is a small one, even more so in the Southern tip of Africa. The circle includes weekend flyers and owners, corporate pilots, charter pilots and the colourful game-capture types, and irrespective of what we fly, we all share a common love of flight.
O
UR industry is largely
A true friend would comprehensively
ready for the adventure of flying helicopters.
peer reviewed, meaning
test your ability and apply just the right
The only problem was, no adventure was
that in order to maintain
amount of pressure to see what comes out
to be found. A mere few months before,
the privilege of using a
of the ‘toothpaste tube’, so to speak. And
the American housing market balloon had
flying license, we need to
when those ugly habits appear in the heat
popped, which had a knock-on effect on
successfully demonstrate to an instructor
of the test, a real friend would concentrate
the worldwide economy, including South
or a peer pilot that we still have the skill
on ironing out the ‘killer’ habits. Friends
Africa’s. The first things to go were anything
and savvy required to fly these machines
sharpen us, challenge us and develop us.
classed as a luxury – private aviation being one of them. Compounding the problem was that most light helicopters are manufactured
The Alouette is a tough but stately French lady that requires finesse and care.
in the USA and this had a negative effect on the pricing of both the machines and their maintenance spares. So many experienced pilots found themselves made redundant in a shrinking industry and there simply weren’t jobs for newbies. Luckily, around this time I started working for a friend, Alan Robertson, who I’d met at Alpine Aviation the previous year. Alan was kind enough to create a position for me to help him and a partner rent out their three helicopters on a hire-and-fly basis, all of which were close to new and well cared for. This was a key difference to some other operators and flight schools and attracted some executive types as they could afford to
through sometimes unforeseen challenges.
A few friends made a massive impact on
fly. Here I met Shaun Barendsen, the CEO
This requires friendship. Not because your
my development as a pilot, and one of them
of a large IT Firm in Gauteng. He was not
‘user-friendly’ instructor would award your
springs to mind immediately.
your typical top gun, he was a true erudite
license subjectively, thus allowing you to
But first, some context.
and humble gentleman. In time, we would
continue flying in a less-than-competent
It was 2009 and at the ripe old age
become more than flying colleagues, we
manner. No, that would be the opposite of
of 29, I had just finished my commercial
friendship – friends don’t do that to friends.
license. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I was
30 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
would become friends. He, like me, was a latecomer into
COLUMNS
aviation, having gained his flying license
of the water at different heights and speeds,
well into his 30’s. I remember how he would
with particular attention to the release of the
often come to fetch one of our jet-black R44s
corset style dump valve.
to fly out on a long nav-flight to some far-
Shaun drummed into me the importance
flung place, returning a few days later. On
of these details becoming second nature
one such trip, Shaun was forced to take a
if I was to become a fire bomber. Practice,
short ‘relief’ stop in a field. Unbeknown to
practice and more practice was the order
him, the grassland was a bog caused by
of the day until eventually I would be able
heavy rain the previous night. The sludge-
to release the load with enough accuracy
like mud literally sucked the shoes off his
to drench Shaun on the upwind sector of
feet. Fortunately he was able to extricate the
the practice area run-in, each success
helicopter from the field’s clutches, leaving
confirmed by the good-natured curse words
him to fly home bare-footed in a muddied
flying in over the radio.
chopper. He never lived that incident down.
Shaun was a thinker and loved to study.
But he laughed at our jibes, and although
What made him such a good instructor,
we had people to clean the mess, he did so
in this case in aerial firefighting, was the
himself – he was that kind of guy.
fact that he would devour all the training
Over the years we kept in touch, often bumping into each other on the landing pad
Allo with 500L yo-yo bucket.
for a quick catch up. We both gained in flying
materials and theory that he could lay his hands on. But more than that, Shaun knew that possibly the most fun you could have
experience, while Shaun not only completed
of yo-yo competitions in the schoolyard. It is
flying a helicopter was sharing it with a
his commercial license but also went on to
all about predicting where the pendulum is
friend.
finish his instructor’s rating.
going to end up and flying the chopper a few
I was fortunate to spend many days
time
steps ahead of the under-slung 220L drum-
together on operations. Shaun was a firm
dictated that I learn to fly a new helicopter.
in-a-net, 10 metres below the helicopter. It
favourite of our clients, and always asked after
One of our large corporate clients had asked
was initially easier than I thought it would
by name. His cheerful rapport and cheeky
us to develop the capability to fight fires
be, flying solo with the aforementioned
laugh would light many a conversation and
from a helicopter in order to protect their
sling load, while listening to the eager, if
face. But work wasn’t everything to Shaun.
premises. Naturally, I didn’t wait for the client
somewhat nervous, patter from Shaun on
He was also an amazing husband and dad,
to ask again. Immediately, I located a suitable
the hand-held-radio below the hovering
who would fly long distances home to attend
helicopter with all the necessary bells and
helicopter. And I must say, it was comforting
his children’s school sporting days.
whistles to satisfy the requirements. It was
having a friend on the ground, guiding me.
Eventually,
circumstances
and
an old Sud Est Alouette III, an authentic relic from the 1980’s ‘bush war’ on our northern
Once the yo-yo was mastered, it was time to learn about firefighting.
Sadly, Shaun was killed in a helicopter accident the year after he trained me, while assisting rangers under fire from poachers
borders. The only problem was that I needed
The first lesson was to attach the Bambi
in the Congo. Shaun paid the ultimate price
an instructor to train me to fly it and to teach
Bucket to the helicopter and to ground test
showing greater regard for other men than
me how to use it to fight fires.
the electrical and mechanical release. Next
for himself.
It was my pleasure to find that my friend
was taking off with the bucket, which starts
I wouldn’t be the pilot that I am today
Shaun was the designated instructor for this
off next to you on the ground. You takeoff
without my good friends like Shaun who I
aircraft. The Alouette III is the grandmother
very carefully, manoeuvring the chopper
sorely miss.
of the modern helicopter. It’s a tough but
over the bucket, before gently lifting it off the
stately French lady that requires finesse
ground. That was easy enough. What took
and care. When it was originally produced,
time and practice was the next portion of
Teflon-lined bearings were non-existent,
my training – learning to fill the bucket with
necessitating
races
water. To do this you need to hover over a
which needed to be lubricated with copious
dam, watching in the rear-view mirror as the
amounts of oil and grease, some per flight,
bucket floats at first, then submerges.
steel-on-steel
ball
some per day and some in 25 to 50 hour
Next I had to learn to pick up the 500L
intervals. I quickly learned why a flight suit
of water, the entire underslung rig weighing
was mandatory! After a week of conversion-
in at about 630kg when full. Shaun would
to-type training, consisting of 10 flight hours
be firm, calmly correcting my slightest error
and many extremely thorough technical
over the radio. His professional, unflappable
lessons, we were ready to begin with sling-
guidance from the ground improved my
load training.
feelings of security and confidence. Then
Sling-load flying brought back memories
j
BELOW: Pilot Instructor and good friend Capt Shaun Murray Barendsen.
we concentrated on the dispersal patterns
31 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
HANGAR TALES SARALIMA
A VALENTINE SURPRISE Some aircraft are made to fly. There is so much pure, organic fun in being at their controls that they’re able to engage the pilot’s full consciousness and application to the task at hand. The Cessna 172 is not one of them.
So, you’ve got the picture of a cranky pilot flying a boring 172. That said, allow me to share a story of a flight which was an eye opener. So there I was, scowling overhead Mike Tango as I set up The Hack’s climb and course for Bloem. With only about 1000 feet to gain, it was merely a case of firewalling the black knob and twirling the trim-wheel until the VSI settled on 300 feet per minute. A bit of extra right rudder pressure brought
I
the spinner round the few degrees to point was carrying a personal thundercloud,
fighter jock that lurks inside most pilots.
which is a polite way of saying that I
The Hack’s panel was also about as
was pissed off at the world, my ops
well-equipped as a monk’s underwear and
manager and myself. This particular thundercloud had formed when I’d
bent the nosegear of our C206 at a private game lodge airstrip. How it happened is a tale for another time, suffice to say that I was unimpressed that a supposed rough-strip capable aircraft had fallen prey to a pile of animal droppings. What was more irritating
‘autopilot’ was a grandiose title for its dodgy wing leveller. The only upside to flying The Hack was because it was so incapable of rapidly acquainting you with the horizon,
at Bloem; which ended my involvement until FL080, where some more jiggling of trimwheel and knobs would initiate the hourand-a-bit long cruise. Behind my disgruntled back, The Hack’s rear seats had been replaced by cargo nets covering an assortment of packages which were, like me, bound for Port Elizabeth.
even short-distance flights meant that you
But the 172’s range didn’t allow for direct to
built hours quickly and got to polish your
FAPE, so tanking at Bloem was on the flight
hand flying skills.
plan.
was that I’d been the butt of constant dungrelated jokes from colleagues and once again found myself, literally, on the ops director’s shit list. To be on uncle Des’s shit list meant being relegated to flying ‘The Hack’, an aging Cessna 172, on missions that were far from glamorous or exciting. I liked The Hack and we had a relationship that went back a few years, but compared to the 210s, 310s and 421s I’d been flying, it was lame and completely unable to unleash the dormant
32 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
The Hacks colour scheme would be invisible if it came down in the Free State.
COLUMNS
The Hack was hovering at 8000 feet
a plastic kitchen funnel knotted at its end to
its vicious purple-white forks and clearly
while some unseen hand slowly unrolled the
act as a drogue. This had merely dished up
defined edges – I could smell the ozone and
Free State non-scenery below me. It struck
crystal-clear distortion and indecipherable
the static charge had turned my hairstyle
me that the faded greens and browns of the
voices, so I risked giving myself tennis elbow
into a fuzzball. There was no rain, no ice, but
endless mealie fields were a camouflage
and wound the HF antenna back in.
shortly the flashes were coming so thick and
match for The Hack’s colour scheme, so in
The met had said there wouldn’t be any
fast that the 172 was like a bucking bronco
the event of a ‘forced lob’, the search and
cloud en-route, so it wasn’t a big surprise to
as it smashed through the tortured air they
rescue team would probably never find
see that the grey had defined into a horizon-
left behind.
me, even if they knew precisely where I’d
to-horizon cloud bank – I estimated its top at
I was at the outside of my envelope and
gone down. I had a sardonic picture of lying
about 12,000 feet and its base as too close
knew that a single direct strike would fry the
trapped in a twisted wreck that perfectly
to the ground for comfort. The Hack didn’t
bits that were keeping me flying and shuffle
matched its surroundings as the searchers
have enough oomph in its brookies to go
me that one extra step into the never-never
flew in little circles directly overhead asking
over and with mountainous terrain ahead of
land where you are ripped from the pilot’s
“Where is he?”
me, going under wasn’t an option.
seat and replaced by the laws of physics.
My long-faced mood worsened when
Decision matrix time. Firstly, the cloud
I was no stranger to pucker-moments, and
I remembered that it was Valentine’s day
looked innocent, clearly not a thunderstorm
had experienced in-cloud lightning before,
and I would be overnighting in PE. So my
and no visible embedded charlie bravo.
but this was virgin territory and my brain had
newly-cultivated human beloved and I would
Secondly, the 172 had enough working
concocted an entirely new chemical for this
have our first Valentine dinner together on
instruments to maintain altitude, attitude
one – I was terrified.
February 15, when all the pink balloons,
and heading and finally, the only thing worse
The only action left was to clutch
love-bird specials and spotty teenagers
than a night in PE would be a night in Bloem.
desperately at The Hack’s yoke and add my
selling ‘charity’ roses were gone from our
So I decided that The Hack was going to act
own will to live to that of the brave little plane
favourite restaurant. This thought sashayed
like a real plane and fly in clouds. I clicked
as it faced nature’s savagery head on. For
neatly into a wish to be flying my aviation
pitot heat and pulled in some carb heat.
the next half an hour our shared will to live
beloved, the C310 – sure, the 310 had
The 172 head-butted the cloud layer.
and the 172’s inherent toughness were all
quirks, but it was fast and seductive at a
My view dwindled to about ten metres
that kept us from being just another accident
visceral level. I wasn’t flying a 310, so it was going to be
which focused attention inside on The
statistic.
Hack’s sparse panel. It wasn’t unduly bumpy
The jitters were still there long after we
inside the clag, so there were no immediate
had broken free of the lightning storm and
Descent, approach, landing and tanking
concerns that the wing leveller would have
dashed for the haven of PE and I was wryly
at Bloem went without incident and after
any problems handling it and, since the
amused to realise that I’d found the early-
some tyre-kicking and a weather update of
needles stayed stable, I sat back and let the
evening lights of PE a welcome sight.
CAVOK both en-route and at destination, I
plane do its thing. All was hunky-dory for
was soon back at FL080 with The Hack’s
about 15 minutes.
a long, miserable, boring day.
Combatting the mutual danger had finally forged a Valentine’s day bond of love
spinner pointing towards where the chart
The first flash was more ‘felt’ than seen
between us and as its mains chirped safely
said the ‘thriving metropolis’ of PE was
and after going through the ’WTF?’ mental
onto Runway 08, I realised something about
skulking.
cycle, I clicked that it was lightning. This re-
the Cessna 172 – It may be the plain Jane of
This leg was mainly chart-based with only
focused my attention on flying the plane, but
aircraft design, but when your ass is on the
Burgersdorp VOR (BDV) and Cookhouse
I was still unprepared for the next flash with
line, looks don’t count at all.
NDB as reliable nav points – Hofmeyr VOR
j
was out of action. But the river and the dam, now called the Gariep, but back then named after an unpopular statesman, made it near-
The flashes were coming thick and fast.
impossible to get lost. The non-scenery and my mood hadn’t changed much, so it took a while to register that the view ahead was graduating towards grey rather than the washed-out blue of a February Karoo sky. My more immediate concern was that the radios had gone haywire. The ATC call abeam the dam had been scratchy and needed a few “say again” to exchange information and I couldn’t get a lock on BDV. I’d even tried the HF radio and sweated to wind out its long wire antenna with
33 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
P P L T O AT P L T R A I N I N G A N D E V E RY T H I N G I N B E T W E E N SA Flyer 2018|07
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CONTACT US OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tel: 011 701 3862 E-mail: info@aeronav.co.za Website: www.aeronav.co.za SACAA ATO No: CAA0002
JABIRU J170 FOR SALE
SAVANNAH S THE PRODUCTION BUILT SURVEILLANCE SOLUTION The all-aluminium, 100mph, STOL aircraft for Africa. Quick to build and easy to fly. Touring. Training. Photography. Surveillance. Game Management. 2500 sold worldwide, 126 in Southern Africa Traildragger now available!
2009 Model two seat Jabi in good condition.
34 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
SA Flyer 2019|02
R 295 000 + Vat Call Eric: 082 897 4817
SA Flyer 2018|12
No accident history, well maintained 2200 Hours Since New 250 SMOH
Tel: +27 (0) 72 208 1670 Email: dave@savannahaircraft.co.za www.savannah-aircraft.co.za SACAA NO: M689
1992/3 Maule MX7-180
1973 Cherokee 140/150
1966 Cherokee 180
1978 Turbo Arrow III
1250 Hrs TT, 196 SMOH
4800 Hrs TT, 400 SMOH
4300 Hrs TT, 280 SMOH
2765 Hrs TT, 1400 SMOH
King VFR equipped, VG Kit, big tyres;
King, ILS, A/pilot, 406 ELT; Clean;
King & Narco. Very clean:
King ILS, GPS, S/scope;
R840,000.00 excl VAT
Plse enquire.
R465,000 excl VAT
R520,000 excl VAT
1980 Turbo Arrow IV
2004 Piper 6X
1981 Piper Seneca III
1976 Navajo CR
2990 Hrs TT, 1265 SMOH
785 Hrs TT since new
1820 Hrs TT, Midlife engines
6870 Hrs TT, 1750 SMOH
King VFR, neat & clean:
Avidyne equipped; as new condition:
King IFR, Radar, Sound condition:
King & Garmin
Offers
R2,900,000 excl VAT
Offers
Sound aircraft -Project - Offers
2001 Piper Meridian
1977 Bonanza V35B
1981 Bonanza A36TC
1981 Baron E55
800 Hrs TT s/New
3500 Hrs TT, 300 SMOH, Fresh MPI
2890 Hrs TT, 1290 SMOH
4635 hrs TT, 350 SMOH
Meggit & Garmin equipped
King equipped, Very neat.
Garmin IFR, WX, Very Clean;
King & Garmin, IF, Neat & Clean:
New paint: Offers
POA
R2,100,000 excl VAT
Outstanding value - Offers
1991 Beech 1900 C
2005 Cessna 172R
1978 Cessna 177 B
28,900 Hrs TT, 3800 &100 SMOH
6500 Hrs TT, 510 SMOH
2535 Hrs TT, 535 SMOH
EFIS, FMS IFR, Raisbeck;
Collins IF, well maintained:
King equipped, Recent P & I.
Cessna VFR equipped, Neat:
POA
Offers
Priced to sell
R670,000 excl VAT
1978 Cessna 185F
1998 Cessna 182
1981 Cessna 182 RG
2010 PAC-750XL
5700 hrs TT, 1500 SFRM
182 Hrs TT, since new
3350 Hrs TT, 1000 Hrs SMOH
130 Hrs since new,
King VFR, clean;
King equipped, very clean;
King & Garmin equipped
Garmin / King IF; Pacs conďŹ guration.
Please enquire
R1,300,000 excl VAT
Very clean; Price: Plse enquire
Plse enquire
ASSISTANCE WITH IMPORTS, EXPORTS & VALUATIONS. Gerhard Mouton | Tel: +27 (0) 82 458 3736 | E-mail: herenbus@gmail.com Nico van Staden | Tel 27 (0) 083 321 0916 | E-mail: nico@aerostratus.co.za www.saflyer.com | February 2019
SA Flyer 2019|02
File Photo
1996 King Air B200 5400 Hrs TT, 2235 SMOH
35
A SLIM LOGBOOK JOHAN WALDEN
HOOKED Flying commercially with my parents was a rare treat. But my exposure to aeroplanes mostly involved staring at them with my face pressed up against the terminal’s window, fogging up the glass.
I
was around five or six when I flew for
cockpit – awesome. On another flight in a
browsing came up with the Cape Gliding
the first few times on commercial flights
triple-seven, they put me in the right hand
Club at Worcester. Only after I’d committed
– usually BA, but at least once on
seat which moved forward electrically and
to a lifetime of dish-washing and room-
EasyJet and I still have fond memories
adjusted its height so I could reach the yoke
cleaning slavery, did they agree.
of their tray of colourful sweeties for
– cool.
helping my ears pop. The drive to Heathrow meant flying, and this thrilled me. I would spend hours before the flight tugging on my Dad’s sleeve from the front door, so we
We were the first at the Club on my big
In 2013, my twelfth birthday was coming
day and met the tug pilot, a tall Austrian. He
up and I asked my parents If I could go for
was preparing to fly the tug plane to the other
a glider flight for my birthday. Some internet
side of the airfield, a quick two minute flight,
always arrived well before the flight, which meant hours of agonising anticipation at the gate, but at least I had time to look at the planes. When we were finally aboard, I would listen attentively to the safety briefing. But some things in the cabin attendant’s speech always confused this six year old: “In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, put on your own oxygen mask before helping your child.” I stared at my parents – would they really? And, also; “Life jacket under your seat” – I would have preferred a parachute, after all, this was an aeroplane, not a boat. If I was ‘good’ my parents would ask the cabin crew if I could go to the cockpit after the flight. One night, the pilots showed me the ‘Christmas tree’, they pushed a button which lit up every switch and dial in the
36 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
The tall Austrian pilot takes the compact enthusiast for his first flight.
COLUMNS
and offered to take me along. I was ready
me... or rather I was strapped to it. Then,
to pop with excitement and immediately
jingling with buckles and straps, I was placed
now and then to remind it of its existence. Aside from my leg which felt like a
agreed, after which my parents gave their
on the rear seat. I’m a bit compact – what I
cactus, the experience was very relaxing. At
consent – as if they even had a say in it.
like to think of as my ‘fighter jock physique’
1000 ft AGL, the tow cable that joined us to
I was a complete novice, so to me, the
– so my feet were far from the rudder pedals
the tug was released, and we turned away
tug was a two seat, blue and white plane
and the control stick was beyond my reach.
from our trusty engine. It was much quieter
with its wings on top. I later discovered it
They needed to pile more parachutes
in the glider than in the tug, but there was
was the well-known and much loved Piper
onto the seat, so eventually I sat on one
still a rush of air over the canopy which got
SuperCub. The pilot strapped me in the
parachute and had three more behind me,
louder the faster we went.
back, jumped in front and took off. He left
including the one to which I was attached.
After a while, I was given control (just
the side window open which made the whole
I still couldn’t reach the pedals, but could at
the stick though) and found it surprisingly
experience so much more fun because I had
least reach the stick, so I was happy.
difficult to keep the glider straight and level
the wind in my face and could smell the oil and petrol.
We were pulled to the runway and the
in the bumpy air. I had to jiggle the stick
pilot briefed me on emergency procedures.
which needed some concentration. The pilot
I was hooked.
He
jump’
machine-gunned instructions at me: “Down
We flew a circuit, turning right which
command to bail out and recapped how to
a bit, down a bit, there, there, a bit too much,
filled my window with a view of the rushing
deploy the parachute. I wondered how much
up, up, that’s it, there” and it was thrilling to
ground, I felt G’s for the first time and it
damage four heavy parachutes would do if
be in control of an aircraft for the first time,
gave me a squirt of adrenaline. All too soon
they all came out with me. I looked dumbly
especially against the spectacular mountain
we were back on the ground. More people
at the D-ring on the chute and all the wires
backdrop.
arrived and gliders magically appeared.
and buckles and latches I was supposed to
Lucky for my left leg, the landing
One of the pilots put me into a glider, picked
pull and lift and push and concluded that we
eventually came. Spoilers popped up on
up one wing so it was level, and told me to
had better not have to jump.
each wing, which made us drop quickly. We
explained
the
‘jump,
jump,
keep it that way. I found the light breeze to be more than enough to make the controls effective and was able to balance the glider on its wheel and keep the wingtips off the
The Landing eventually came and spoilers popped up on each wing.
ground by jiggling the stick around. After a minute or so I lost it, the tip touched and the pilot picked it up again and let me have another go. Once the gliders were prepared, the tug pilot offered to take me in the tug again while he towed the gliders aloft. I quickly noticed that the extra power needed to tow a glider made the Cub seriously noisy. I wasn’t wearing a headset so was forced to block my ears against the deafening racket. It was ear-splitting, but the views of the dam and mountains were breath-taking, as were the sensations of height and speed. After the first landing, while the next glider was being
The tug plane started its take-off roll and
touched down on the single wheel and rolled
hooked up, the pilot asked if I wanted to go
I decided to “sit back, relax, and enjoy the
until one wingtip gently stroked the ground
again – as if I would say no – so up we went
flight”.
and we stopped.
again. Each time the glider was released,
The glider became airborne surprisingly
I was lifted out of my bundle of
the tug turned steeply in a spiral descent
soon and we flew just above the ground
parachutes along with my dead leg and
which squashed me into my seat and made
until the tug heaved itself into the air. I
deposited onto the ground. I thanked my
me dizzy. The feeling was exhilarating but
was beginning to enjoy myself when my
pilot and limped away in search of someone
after a few times I was exhausted and ready
tranquillity was rudely interrupted as a spike
to hold on to. I loved every minute of the
to spill my lunch. After a handful of runs I’d
of pain pierced its way down my left leg and
experience and can highly recommend it to
had my fill and collapsed out of the plane
stuck needles into my foot. During take-off I
anyone who knows zilch about flying... but
with my ears ringing and heart pounding.
must have pinched a nerve because my left
who wants to fly anyway!
Several hours later I’d recovered most of
leg was rapidly numbing out. I tried to shift
Secretly though, my favourite part of
my dignity and it was my turn in a glider. I was
but the parachutes had me wedged in so I
the whole day was my first flight in the tug –
briefed and had a parachute rig strapped to
had to just suck it up and shake my leg every
that’s when I got hooked.
j
EVENTS MARK MANSFIELD
AERO SA The African Show for General Aviation gains momentum
aviation show, we are confident that this will become the go-to industry platform. In addition, Wonderboom National Airport is the perfect location choice as it allows for fly-ins and demo flights during the show.” AERO workshops
South and
Africa will
will
have
hosting dedicated
experimental zones where visitors can keep up-to-date with the latest developments and advancements whilst experiencing the latest innovations. In order to promote the South African aviation industry and in an effort to assist in Aero Friedrichshafen has become one of the world's premier general aviation events.
M
driving
international
developments,
MFSA will have its own Pavilion at AERO Friedrichshafen. Aviation in South Africa will be represented by 10 companies that will
Friedrichshafen,
“We are extremely excited about the
the organisers of Europe’s
positive support AERO South Africa is
largest general aviation
receiving from the industry,” continued
trade
AERO
Swart. “South Africa is an under-sourced and
ESSE
show,
has
untapped aviation market when compared
joined forces with Messe Frankfurt South
with Europe. It makes sense to host this
Africa (MFSA) to present AERO South
aviation trade show in Southern Africa and
Africa. Preparations are in full swing, and
with the support of Europe’s biggest general
Friedrichshafen,
exhibit at that event in April, as part of the partnership between Messe Frankfurt South Africa and Messe Friedrichshafen. With more than 600 exhibitors from 35 countries, 33,000 visitors and 600 journalists from all over the world, the AERO Friedrichshafen exhibition is the international
international brands such as Bose and Garmin are already committed. MFSA have also confirmed the participation of Absolute Aviation Group and ExecuJet South Africa. Aero SA is planned to be Africa’s largest general aviation trade show and will take place at Wonderboom National Airport from 4-6 July 2019 to showcase the latest in leading-edge products and services to the industry. Shaun
Swart,
Head
of
Business
Development at Messe Frankfurt South Africa said that visitors must; “Expect 3 days of excitement, demonstrations and faceto-face business meetings with ultralights, gliders, business jets, helicopters, remotely piloted aircraft and electric aircraft as well as avionics technologies on display.
38 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
j
aviation community’s annual meeting place.
A feature of Aero is the vast range of amazing new engine technology on display.
KEEP IT LITE
Quote of the month: The CAA has been largely free of any serious taint of corruption. When asked if CAA employees had been
‘captured by other interests’, a CAA manager replied; “A career is not worth sacrificing for any one person
or for a short term gain. Those who have tried this are
sitting at home and selling fake perfumes from the boot of their cars.”
40 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
THE PERFECT GIFT!!!
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AN INSURANCE TAKE ON ACCIDENTS BARRY LEWIS
DITCH IN THE LAKE The events aloft that are most feared by pilots are; structural failure, fire, and being rebuffed by a suitably alluring co-pilot. Your insurance may, or may not cover all of these.
T
HE aircraft was a Cessna
and managed to do so without sustaining
400 series twin, and shortly
any physical injury. He unstrapped and then
They therefore mounted an expensive
after takeoff from an airstrip
hurried rearwards to the air-stair door at the
salvage exercise to retrieve the machine
adjacent to a large lake, the
aft end of the cabin where he exited safely
from the bottom of the lake. Fortunately the
pilot noted with grave concern
before the aircraft sank. The fishermen
aircraft was in a fairly shallow part at a depth
that there were flames issuing from the
rescued him, and later the owners of the
of approximately 20 metres. It should be
louvres on the top surface of the right hand
aircraft submitted a claim to their insurers.
noted that care is required when retrieving an aircraft that has sunk, as when it breaks
engine nacelle. Fortunately, there were no passengers on board, and the aircraft had
The pilot, who was also a qualified
the surface it is still full of water. Unless this
just turned out over the lake, still in the climb.
engineer and maintained the aircraft, to his
is allowed to drain slowly the weight of the
After giving the matter the required
misfortune, had an extremely chequered
aircraft plus water is generally sufficient
speedy consideration, the pilot decided
career.
no
to cause structural failure in the event of
that, due to the size of the flames, there was
doubt revealed its details, and they were
careless, premature lifting clear of the water.
insufficient time to turn and land on the strip
therefore unsurprisingly suspicious that the
from which he had just taken off, before the fire
aircraft may have been ditched simply in
The remains of the machine were
resulted in structural failure. He accordingly
order to have it written off and the owners
retrieved and despatched to Johannesburg
decided to ditch near some fishing boats,
put in the position to lodge the claim.
where
Salvaging an aircraft from water requires special care.
42 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
The
insurer’s
investigation
they
were
stored
for
further
COLUMNS
SACAA/0105
BELOW: Video footage of the cowl showed distinct signs of fire damage.
Central Flying Academy Where your dreams take flight
investigation. One metal louvre was cut
the two engine bays. But when the two
from the top of the left and right-hand upper
upper
cowlings, presumably for the purpose of
side, when viewed from the inside the
a hardness test comparing heat damage
right upper cowling revealed significantly
between the two. Apparently there was little
more blistering, some discolouration and
or no significant difference, and on this basis
a ‘crazy paving’ effect near the louvres.
the insurers decided to repudiate the claim.
The origin of the fire was not established.
Many insurance policies give claimants
This was reported to the claimant’s
and/or insurers the option of using the court
legal team, and comparative photographs
procedure or alternatively arbitration to
were supplied. During the arbitration this
adjudicate disputed cases. At that time it was
evidence was presented, and subsequently
considered that arbitration was less costly
the two upper cowlings were brought to
than going to court, although this is not always
the arbitration room for inspection by the
the case. Accordingly after some negotiation
arbitrator
and
and discussion an arbitrator was agreed
evidence
supported
cowlings
were
placed
interested the
side-by-
parties.
This
pilot’s
story.
upon and a second insurance assessor was approached to assist the claimant.
Ultimately insurer
The second assessor appointed an
a
this
reconsidering
compromise
resulted the
solution
in
the
matter,
and
was
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FACILITIES OFFERED:
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- Air-conditioned well equipped briefing rooms
- Ground school for PPL and Com License
- Up to date com notes produced in house - Free secure parking
- Accommodation in our own crew house. Courses Offered:
- Private Pilots License
reached.
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engineer with considerable knowledge and WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
first instance it should be noted that a huge
When investigating for claimants if
amount of air is circulated around aircraft
a pilot’s story appears questionable it is
piston engine installations for the purposes of
always advisable, whilst remaining objective,
cooling. Not only are the cylinders and oil air
to adopt the view that he or she is telling the
cooled, but in this case also a turbocharger
truth, and to proceed on this basis. This is
behind the engine which runs red hot. Pipes
with the proviso that good research is done
and wiring are also often required to be
and sufficient facts are available to ensure
heat shielded. Thus, despite the fact that
that the pilot’s evidence can be accepted.
there may have been flames occurring in
So if you are unfortunately in the
the engine bay, due to the high volume of air
position where you are lodging a claim,
circulating, it is not impossible nor unheard of,
support your claim with as much empirical
to have relatively minor damage. Particularly
evidence as possible. Photos, eyewitness
if the flames only burn for a short time.
accounts, aircraft
A careful inspection was done on the remaining aircraft parts, with specific reference to the engine installations. It was noted that there was relatively little difference between the components in
engineers
airworthiness
reports, and
and
full
maintenance
documentation, if available, are a good start for a successful outcome.
j
- Commercial Pilots License - Multi-Engine Rating
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General and Restricted Radio Licenses
CPL Ground School Courses: Course
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05 - 07 March 2019
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11- 13 March 2019
P.O.F
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“Look at the rest, then come fly with the BEST!” Hangar 28 Hurricane Rd Rand Airport Germiston www.cfasa.co.za Tel: 011 824 4421 Fax: 086 670 7103 email: info@cfasa.co.za
SA Flyer 2019|02
experience of metallurgy to assist. In the
- Instrument Rating
www.superiorair.co.za 43 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
REGISTER REVIEW: RAY WATTS
DECEMBER 2018 As expected, there is very little movement on the SA register this month, with only five TCA aircraft having been registered. Only one is a fixed wing registration and thus four are helicopters.
T
HE Embraer 190 is a tenyear-old aircraft which spent most of its life in Australia. It is unusual these days to see a ZS-H** registration being
issued, but ZS-HNJ was available and the SACAA is reusing old registrations, even if they were ZS-H** as originally used for helicopters. Gliders used to get ZS-G** but
Groppo Trail.
Drones registrations bottomed out this month – only nine of them were registered. There are seven TCA aircraft deleted
28 Squadron and coded OD-W. It flew with 28 Sqd until 1954 when it was allocated to 15 Air Depot and put into storage.
this month including one of our venerable
It was purchased by the then Department
DC3s; ZS-CAI which has gone to the USA.
of Civil Aviation and registered ZS-CAI on
ZS-CAI started out life at the Douglas
21 August 1958, and flew Navaid Calibration
Aircraft Factory in Oklahoma City, USA as
flights and other general transport duties.
a Douglas C47A-25-DK and was delivered
I got to fly in it in 1972 with the late Arthur
to the USAAF as 42-93610 on 9 June 1944.
Thomas, who was the DCA chief pilot at
this has also fallen away. Using specific prefixes for helicopters and gliders must have been helpful for ATC so their being used generally is a pity. ZS-HNJ was initially allocated to a Puma imported from the USA in 1990, which became SAAF 190 and now resides in the SAAF Museum at AFB Swartkop. Six
NTCA
aircraft
were
registered
including a Groppo Trail aircraft. This is the first of its type in SA and is of Italian origin. It’s a neat two seat taildragger with a
ZS-CAI exported to the USA.
Rotax 912UL motor. It will cruise at 106mph and stalls at 34mph. There are also three NTCA helicopters registered this month. Another Gazelle and what I presume to be modified versions of an R22 and an R44. I have tried, without success, to contact the owner of these two. I will keep you guys & gals advised.
44 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
It was allocated via the Lend Lease act to
that time, while they were doing an ILS
the RAF as KG674 and delivered to RAF
calibration flight at Jan Smuts airport.
Nassau in the Bahamas on 22 June 1944.
ZS-CAI was sold by DCA in the late
Ferried across the Atlantic to North
1990s and was used by Skyclass Aviation
Africa (Cairo) and handed over to the SAAF
on a weekly freight run from Johannesburg
as 6838 on 22 July 1944, it was assigned to
to Gaborone. This lasted until 2011 when
COLUMNS
it was put up for auction and bought by Mr Darrel Lush. It was again used for occasional freight runs until it had an engine failure and ended up parked at Port Elizabeth for several years. It was rescued by Flippie Vermeulen of Springbok Flying Safaris in 2015. He and his team restored it to flying condition and ferried it back to Rand Airport, where was not put into passenger use but did numerous freight flights. It has now been exported and registered in the USA as N353MM and is based at Bangor, Maine, with its new owners
ZS-JRG exported to Australia.
Martin Balk and Bob Hewing. Ray Watts
Looking back over the past three years we see that the number of TCA aircraft being imported has dwindled while the number being exported has grown. This isn’t a good sign but could reflect the weak value of the Rand against the US Dollar – the figures are in the table below: I have included the
ZS-RHT exported to the USA.
NTCA RPAS and NTCA figures as well for interest’s sake. Even the number of NTCA aircraft registered has dropped.
ED'S NOTE We ran a photo in the January issue of ZS-ALY. The holiday season gremlins crept in and we unfortunately did not credit
TAIL PIECE It appears that incident-wise, we had a
Anthony Boden for the photograph. Our apologies to Anthony for this error.
quiet December period – lets keep up this
j
level of safety for 2019.
VAN’S RV 12 FOR SALE R950 000 (NO VAT) • Final proving flights 2017 • Airframe and engine: 50 Hrs • Engine: Rotax 912 ULS – 100hp - Runs on unleaded auto fuel • Avionics: Dynon Skyview 10” Display, SA Flyer 2018|10
- Full Engine Monitoring System - ADHRS installed Dynon auto pilot - Navigation display with Dynon GPS • Removable wings for easy hangar storage • Hangared near Cape Town
Contact: Peter 083 444 5030 or at peterb1088@gmail.com
45 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
DECEMBER 2018 REGISTER REVIEW
Reg Manufacturer ZS- New Registrations
Type Name
Serial No
Previous Identity
Owner
ZS-HNJ
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON
412EP
36101
C-GUNW, XA-SYL, N87746, C-FEXW
ULTIMATE HELI (PTY) LTD
ZS-YAP
EMBRAER S.A
ERJ 190-100 IGW
19000162
N216NC, VH-ZPB, PT-SAR
SA AIRLINK (PTY) LTD
ZT-R New Registrations ZT-REE
AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
AS 350 B3
8610
ZT-REF
ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY
R22 BETA
3681
N848AK, OY-HRL, G-CDBF
AIRBUS SOUTHERN AFRICA (PTY) LTD INTERNATIONAL TRADE & COMMODITIES 2275 CC
ZT-RWJ
SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT CORPORATION
269C
S1507
(ZT-REC) PT-HVV
WATERBERG AVIATION AIR (PTY) LTD
ZU- New Registrations ZU-IOA
MICRO CRAFT AFRICA
AQUILLA 912 ULS
WA 1236
RUBRO BUILDING (PTY) LTD
ZU-IOE
CHARLES JONES
HR2
005
JONES C C
ZU-IOF
ANDREA AGOSTINO CAMPODONICO
GROPPO TRAIL
00129/88
COLOMBO AVIATION (PTY) LTD
ZU-IOG
CHARLES JONES
EV 4
002
JONES C C
ZU-RNU
MAGNI GYRO SRL
M22
22-18-1564
ZU-RNV
AEROSPATIALE INDUSTRIES
SA 341 F2
1608
French Air Force
BOESENBERG I HF AEROSPATIALE SA34X (PTY) LTD
ZT- RPAS New Registrations ZT-UUT
DJI
MAVIC PRO
08Q2F590011
GAUTENG DEPARTMENT OF INFRUSTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
ZT-UUU
DJI
MAVIC PRO
08Q2F5700S0059
GAUTENG DEPARTMENT OF INFRUSTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
ZT-UUV
DJI
PHANTOM 3 PROFESSIONAL
P76DCG25017491
SBR MEDIA (PTY) LTD
ZT-UUW
DJI
INSPIRE 2
09YDEST0040734
SBR MEDIA (PTY) LTD
ZT-UUX
DJI
PHANTOM 4 PRO
0AXDEBJ001201
DC GEOMATICS (PTY) LTD
ZT-UVA
DJI
PHANTOM 4 PRO
0AXDDBW0A30741
DC GEOMATICS (PTY) LTD
ZT-UVB
DJI
MAVIC 2 PRO
163DF9N001GUXZ
DC GEOMATICS (PTY) LTD
ZT-UVC
DJI
MAVIC AIR
0K1UF5W00E0158
HP2 CONSULTANTS CC
ZT-UVG
DJI
INSPIRE 2
0A0LEAW10600HB
HIGHER RESULTS PEOPLE (PTY) LTD
ZS- Aircraft deleted ZS-CAI
DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT COMPANY
C47A / DC3
13541
EXPORTED TO THE UNITED STATES AS N353MM
ZS-JIV
LOCKHEED
L-382G
4673
EXPORTED TO THE UNITED STATES
ZS-JRG
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL
500-S
3257
EXPORTED TO AUSTRALIA AS VH-XWD
ZS-NRN
DORNIER GMBH
DO228-200
8021
EXPORTED TO PORTUGAL
ZS-PCS
PILATUS AIRCRAFT LTD
PC-6/B2-H4
964
EXPORTED TO SAN MARINO
ZS-RHT
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON
407
53723
EXPORTED TO THE UNITED STATES AS
ZS-XCI
ATR-FIE AVIONS DE TRANSPORT
ATR 42-500
528
EXPORTED TO SWITZERLAND AS HB-ALN
ZT- RPAS Aircraft deleted ZU-GAL
MIL BUREAU
MI-25
70129
SCRAPPED
ZU-ILT
JOHAN HENDRIK ANDERSON
BUSHBABY EXPLORER
165-02-14 EXP 2
NAMIBIA
SOLO
S111A5000493
WITHDRAWN FROM USE
ZU- Aircraft deleted ZT-UEY
3DR
ZT-RYE AW119 taken at Virginia by Brian Spur.
SA Flyer 2019|02
Specialist Aviation Insurance Brokers & Consultants For 26 Years
AN AUTHORISED FINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDER FSP NO. 7039. Tel: (011) 805 1884/5 Fax: (011)805 1905 www.flightsure.co.za
46
February 2019 | www.saflyer.com mandy@flightsure.co.za dorrien@flightsure.co.za
gaile@flightsure.co.za
glenn@flightsure.co.za
Market PLACE ENQUIRIES: dan@saflyermag.co.za
2004 Jabiru J450
ROBINSON R44 II ENGINE FOR SALE • Outright sale, no core exchange. Zero time engine, ready to install. R850 000 exc VAT • Other airframe parts for sale. Doors, seats, complete instrument panel etc. Email: afrosun@netactive.co.za | Cell: 082 257 3739 | Private sale
AIRFRAME: 1089 hours. ENGINE: 1089 hours (89 hours since overhaul); Full maintenance records. Only serviced through AMO's; endurance approx 7.5 hours (with full bladder). PROP: Carbon fibre Jabiru prop; 14 hours on prop. AVIONICS: Dynon D180 with Autopilot; Garmin GPS (connected with Autopilot); Garmin GTX320 transponder; Garmin GTR225 radio; Flightcom 403MC intercom EXTRA EQUIPMENT: 70L Fuel bladder with cockpit switch; wheel spats also included PRICE: R 445 000 CONTACT: MARDUS STRYDOM (OWNER) - 082 557 5825
HANGAR SPACE RAND AIRPORT • Single engine aircraft. Attendant and movements. Aircraft cleaning from R2000 per month size dependent. Call Ernie (083) 326-8819
FOR SALE JABIRU 430 (2014)
AVIATION ATTORNEY
• For problems and issues relating to the CAA; the FAA and other aviation authorities; for disputes, agreements, maintenance issues, sales and A/C partnership agreements - then contact Chris Bean of Christopher Bean Attorneys (B.A. LL.B (Wits) LL.M. London) admitted as an attorney in the RSA and California. beanpole@global.co.za, Tel: +27 82 651 6262
FOR SALE - JABIRU 430 • Jabiru 430, 2007, 685 happy hours tt. Std instruments, TruTrack autopilot, fuel flow monitor, Garmin GPS, transponder and radio. Hangared at Baragwanath airport. Condition 10/10. Full glass doors, leather seats, 4 place intercom. Priced to sell at R510,000 onco. Contact Brian at 0824537057 / poultonb@iafrica.com. SMS ONLY!
ROBINSON R44 II FOR SALE 2008 model. Airframe time: 1778 hours Engine time: 500 hours Email: afrosun@netactive.co.za Cell: 082 257 3739
STUDENT/PILOT ACCOMMODATION • Accommodation for pilots in Midrand. Self-catering. Transport to CAA . Close to Grand Central Airport. For enquiries: info@ thecottage.co.za or 072 588 7190
PRIVATE SALE PRICE R2 500 000 EXCL VAT
W N E EW B S IT E
• Only 260 hours TT. Owner relocated. Hangared Springs Airfield. Full maintenance history by leading Jabiru AMO’s. Garmin GPS, Radio & Transponder. Dynon D180 EFIS & AP 74 Auto Pilot. Leather seats. 4 place intercom . Condition 10/10 . R 685 000. Contact Guy for photos & all detail 082 554 7973 | havers@ iafrica.com
47 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
FUEL TABLE www.sv1.co.za
SA Flyer 2019|02
Fuel Fuel Prices Prices as as at at 28-11-2018 28-11-2018 Prices Prices include include VAT VAT but but exclude exclude any any service service fees fees Airfield Airfield Avgas Avgas JetJet A1A1 Baragwanath Baragwanath R 22,00 R 22,00 Beaufort Beaufort West West R 24,85 R 24,85 R 18,25 R 18,25 Bethlehem Bethlehem R 23,13 R 23,13 R 15,63 R 15,63 Bloemfontein Bloemfontein R 16,29 R 16,29 R 12,13 R 12,13 Brakpan Brakpan R 22,80 R 22,80 Brits Brits R 20,40 R 20,40 Cape Cape Town Town R 25,37 R 25,37 R 10,90 R 10,90 Eagles Eagles Creek Creek R 22,80 R 22,80 East East London London R 20,60 R 20,60 R 13,44 R 13,44 Ermelo Ermelo R 21,45 R 21,45 Fisantekraal Fisantekraal R 22,85 R 22,85 Fly-In Fly-In R 20,80 R 20,80 Gariep Gariep Dam Dam R 22,50 R 22,50 R 16,80 R 16,80 George George R21,76 R21,76 R14,61 R14,61 Graaf Graaf Reinet Reinet R 24,50 R 24,50 Grand Grand Central Central R 22,38 R 22,38 R 16,62 R 16,62 Kimberley Kimberley R 16,29 R 16,29 R 12,13 R 12,13 Kitty Kitty Hawk Hawk R 23,90 R 23,90 Klerksdorp Klerksdorp R 22,20 R 22,20 R 14,35 R 14,35 Kroonstad Kroonstad R 20,37 R 20,37 Kruger Kruger Intl Intl Nelspruit Nelspruit R 21,00 R 21,00 R 14,70 R 14,70 Krugersdorp Krugersdorp R 20,60 R 20,60 Lanseria Lanseria R 23,00 R 23,00 R 16,50 R 16,50 Margate Margate R 21,90 R 21,90 R 14,90 R 14,90 Morningstar Morningstar R 21,25 R 21,25 Mosselbay Mosselbay R 22,95 R 22,95 R 18,30 R 18,30 Nelspruit Nelspruit R 22,60 R 22,60 R 13,86 R 13,86 Parys Parys R 19,55 R 19,55 R 13,90 R 13,90 Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg R 22,50 R 22,50 R 15,50 R 15,50 Pietersburg Pietersburg Civil Civil R 21,65 R 21,65 R 15,70 R 15,70 Polokwane Polokwane (Gateway (Gateway Intl) Intl) R 22,05 R 22,05 R 16,19 R 16,19 Port Port Alfred Alfred R 23,17 R 23,17 Port Port Elizabeth Elizabeth R 22,30 R 22,30 R 16,42 R 16,42 Potchefstroom Potchefstroom R 19,55 R 19,55 R 13,90 R 13,90 Rand Rand R 21,88 R 21,88 R 16,84 R 16,84 Robertson Robertson R20,65 R20,65 Rustenberg Rustenberg R 21,92 R 21,92 R 15,49 R 15,49 Secunda Secunda R 21,28 R 21,28 Skeerpoort Skeerpoort *** *** R 18,70 R 18,70 R13,10 R13,10 Springs Springs R 21,50 R 21,50 Stellenbosch Stellenbosch R 23,60 R 23,60 Swellendam Swellendam R 20,50 R 20,50 R 15,40 R 15,40 Tempe Tempe R 21,28 R 21,28 R 15,07 R 15,07 Upington Upington R 18,34 R 18,34 R 13,43 R 13,43 Vereeniging Vereeniging R 20,03 R 20,03 Virginia Virginia R 21,70 R 21,70 R 15,20 R 15,20 Welkom Welkom R 20,37 R 20,37 R 14,61 R 14,61 Wings Wings Park Park ELEL R 20,20 R 20,20 Witbank Witbank R 20,90 R 20,90 Wonderboom Wonderboom R 21,28 R 21,28 R 12,08 R 12,08 Worcester Worcester R24,15 R24,15 *** *** Helicopters Helicopters only only
Tel: +27 14 576 2522 Ina: +27 82 553 9611 Email: aviation@sv1.co.za Marina: +27 82 924 3015 Co-ordinates: S25°50’37 E27°41’28 48 GPS Import/Export no. 21343829
February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
Fuel Fuel Prices Prices as as at at 09/01/2019 09/01/2019 Prices Prices include include VAT VAT but but exclude exclude any any service service fees fees Airfield Airfield Avgas Avgas JetJet A1A1 Baragwanath Baragwanath R 20,50 R 20,50 Beaufort Beaufort West West R 24,90 R 24,90 R 18,25 R 18,25 Bethlehem Bethlehem R 21,97 R 21,97 R 15,62 R 15,62 Bloemfontein Bloemfontein R 14,63 R 14,63 R 10,42 R 10,42 Brakpan Brakpan R 21,00 R 21,00 Brits Brits R 19,40 R 19,40 Cape Cape Town Town R 21,97 R 21,97 R 9,03 R 9,03 Eagles Eagles Creek Creek R 22,80 R 22,80 East East London London R 18,65 R 18,65 R 12,29 R 12,29 Ermelo Ermelo R 21,45 R 21,45 Fisantekraal Fisantekraal R 20,00 R 20,00 Fly-In Fly-In R 19,00 R 19,00 Gariep Gariep Dam Dam R 22,50 R 22,50 R 16,80 R 16,80 George George R19,23 R19,23 R12,90 R12,90 Graaf Graaf Reinet Reinet R 24,30 R 24,30 Grand Grand Central Central R 22,38 R 22,38 R 16,62 R 16,62 Kimberley Kimberley R 14,63 R 14,63 R 10,42 R 10,42 Kitty Kitty Hawk Hawk R 23,90 R 23,90 Klerksdorp Klerksdorp R 21,28 R 21,28 R 14,32 R 14,32 Kroonstad Kroonstad R 20,37 R 20,37 Kruger Kruger Intl Intl Nelspruit Nelspruit R 21,00 R 21,00 R 14,70 R 14,70 Krugersdorp Krugersdorp R 18,95 R 18,95 Lanseria Lanseria R 22,43 R 22,43 R 15,76 R 15,76 Margate Margate R 21,90 R 21,90 R 15,35 R 15,35 Morningstar Morningstar R 18,50 R 18,50 Mosselbay Mosselbay R 22,95 R 22,95 R 17,12 R 17,12 Nelspruit Nelspruit R 21,94 R 21,94 R 15,01 R 15,01 NEW New New Parys Parys R 16,60 R 16,60 R 11,20 R 11,20 Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg R 21,20 R 21,20 R 14,00 R 14,00 Pietersburg Pietersburg Civil Civil R 19,90 R 19,90 R 13,45 R 13,45 Polokwane Polokwane (Gateway (Gateway Intl) Intl) R 21,48 R 21,48 R 13,40 R 13,40 Port Port Alfred Alfred R 23,17 R 23,17 Port Port Elizabeth Elizabeth R 22,30 R 22,30 R 16,38 R 16,38 NEW New New Potchefstroom Potchefstroom R 16,60 R 16,60 R 11,20 R 11,20 Rand Rand R 19,40 R 19,40 R 15,32 R 15,32 Robertson Robertson R18,70 R18,70 Rustenberg Rustenberg R 17,95 R 17,95 R 13,45 R 13,45 Secunda Secunda R 21,28 R 21,28 NEW New New Skeerpoort Skeerpoort *** *** R 15,80 R 15,80 R10,40 R10,40 Springs Springs R 19,50 R 19,50 Stellenbosch Stellenbosch R 18,55 R 18,55 Swellendam Swellendam R 19,30 R 19,30 R 14,30 R 14,30 Tempe Tempe R 21,28 R 21,28 R 15,07 R 15,07 Upington Upington R 15,09 R 15,09 R 10,88 R 10,88 Vereeniging Vereeniging R 20,03 R 20,03 Virginia Virginia R 20,70 R 20,70 R 14,62 R 14,62 Welkom Welkom R 20,37 R 20,37 R 14,61 R 14,61 Wings Wings Park Park ELEL R 18,90 R 18,90 Witbank Witbank R 19,70 R 19,70 Wonderboom Wonderboom NoNo Contact Contact Worcester Worcester R24,15 R24,15 *** *** Helicopters Helicopters only only
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NEW New New
NEW New New
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SA Flyer 2016|11
• • • • •
ACCIDENT REPORT JIM DAVIS
L
ST
This discussion contains extracts from the SACAA’s accident report. It is compiled in the interest of promoting aviation safety and not to establish legal liability.
The AMO who recovered the aircraft C152 ZS-PLU.
confirmed that both fuel tanks were found empty. PROBABLE CAUSE The pilot became unsure of his position and after flying for 3.8hrs the engine failed due to fuel exhaustion JIM’S COMMENTS It looks a bit boring, doesn’t it? A young
Bruce Perkins
low-time pilot gets lost, runs out of fuel and does a successful forced landing in a field. So, what’s to be learned? Navigate properly, don’t run out of fuel, and well done with the SYNOPSIS According to the pilot, he took off from Virginia Aerodrome with tanks filled to capacity of 26 US gallons (usable 24.5) on
124.8 MHz and executed a forced landing on a grass area near the beach.
Hmmmm. Actually, a lot more than that.
There were no injuries sustained and the aircraft sustained no damage.
coast? How can you run out of fuel 30 miles
consumption is 6US gallons/hr and 0.8US
before your destination when the aeroplane
his Commercial Pilot Licence. According to
gallons for engine start, taxi and take-off,
uses exactly what the handbook says it
the pilot after flying for approximately 1,5 hrs
plus additional of 1.2US gallons for the climb.
does? How can you blame the wind when
he was unable to locate Port St Johns, he
The pilot had flown for 3.8 hours, according
Met tells us it was only 8 knots? How can you
elected to turn back to Margate.
to calculations made the fuel consumption
not find Port St Johns when you fly down the
was as follows: (3.8hrs x 6USG) + 0.8 USG
coast on a clear day?
strong head wind conditions, 35nm South of
the
POH
right. How can you get lost flying along the
with the intention of building hours towards
At approximately 3,8 hours of flight with
to
Something about this story didn’t sound
fuel
a private flight to Margate via Port St Johns
According
forced landing.
the
+ 1.2USG = 24.8US gallons.
In order to figure out what was going on,
Margate the engine started running rough.
The last Mandatory Periodic Inspection
I put some numbers into the pilot’s story.
He checked the instruments and noticed
was carried out on 09 September 2005 at
And to make it easy to follow, I have rounded
that the right-hand fuel gauge indicated
9029.1 and the aircraft [had] flown a further
these numbers. They are not dead accurate
empty and the left-hand fuel gauge indicated
81.2 hours at the time of the incident. The
but are close enough to let us know that
between quarter and empty. He applied
Airworthiness Department had conducted
the pilot was deceptive in the story he gave
carburettor heat, but the engine still ran
an audit at the AMO (no.161) on 08 February
to the CAA accident inspectors. And they
rough and eventually it failed. He made a
2006 and on 16 February 2005. There were
simply couldn’t be bothered to work it out for
mayday call to another aircraft on frequency
no major findings.
themselves.
50 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
COLUMNS BELOW: Some conflicting information around this crash.
Follow my reasoning – it leads to a surprising conclusion. It is 150 nm from Virginia to Port St Johns, and the aircraft cruises at 100 knots. So, in still air, the flight would have taken 1.5 hours. Let’s say the pilot turned around at Port St Johns and headed back towards Margate. He ran out of fuel after only 40 miles – that’s 0.4 hours. Something is very wrong. If there was no wind, he would have only flown 1,9 hours. But in fact, he ran out of fuel after 3.8 hours. So, there are nearly two hours that are not accounted for. Okay, let’s chuck in 25 knots of headwind on the outbound leg and see what the figures look like. Ground speed 75 knots for 150 nm means it would have taken him exactly 2 hours to get to Port St Johns. Now, when he turns around, he has a ground speed of 125 knots – meaning he has stacks of remaining fuel to get all the way back to Virginia. So that’s not right. How could he run out of fuel after only 40 nm on the homeward leg? My imaginary 25knot headwind wouldn’t account for his story. Right, let’s be stupid and say he had a 50-knot headwind
SACAA ACCIDENT REPORT – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Date of Accident: 14 February 2006 Time of Accident: 0830Z Aircraft Registration: ZS-PLU Type of Aircraft: CESSNA 152 Pilot licence: Private Licence Valid: Yes Age: 19 Total Flying Hours: 74.2 Hours on Type: 22.8 Last point of departure: FAVG (Virginia Aerodrome)
going outbound. That would give him a ground speed of only
Next point of intended landing: Margate via
50 knots, so it would take him 3.0 hours to do the 150 nm to
Port St Johns
Port St Johns. When he turned back, he would have had a ground speed of 150 knots, and 0.8 hours of fuel in the tanks.
Location of the accident site: On grass 35nm
So, he could still fly for another 120 nm – well past Margate.
South of Margate (Mkambati area)
But he only did 40 nm. So there is still some serious BS going on. Now, remember that I have used figures that assume he actually reached Port St Johns and turned back there. But his story is that he never saw Port St Johns. This leads me to think that he was either fast asleep, or he was lying to CAA, or he was smoking a product for which the little village
Meteorological Information: Wind: 250 /̊ 6kts, Temperature: 24 C ̊ , Visibility: CAVOK. Number of people on board: 1 No. of people injured: 0 No. of people killed: 0
51 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
ACCIDENT REPORT
is famous. The figures tell us that regardless of wind, he would have passed Port St Johns twice – once on the outbound leg, and again on the way back.
otherwise, you do get lost. But if you don’t care, then you don’t need to navigate. You will find Port St Johns easily enough – it comes after a lot of nothingness.
Let’s take a step back for a moment and look at the big picture.
You will see the distinctive ‘J’ in the coastline, the huge river, the
The pilot says he was ‘hour building’. It’s a common term and I
town, and the airfield. It’s very easy if you are remotely interested in
think it’s a terrible thing to do. Hour building means getting in a little,
your surroundings.
cheap aeroplane and tediously gouging a hole in the sky in order to
But this guy wasn’t. He was hour building instead of experience
put more time in your logbook. This brings you a little closer to the
building. He trusted his fuel gauges to get him back to Margate. And
nominal 200 hours you need for a commercial license.
they would have done so if they were accurate, but we all know they
What would be the easiest way to do this on a peaceful sunny day if you live at the coast? Hell, you just jump in an aeroplane and blast off for a carefree jol along the beach. No nav needed. When the fuel gauges say you have used nearly half your fuel, you turn around, head for home, and apply ink to logbook. What a desperate waste of time and money – no effort needed, and nothing learned. If he keeps on doing this, he will soon have 200 hours, and will have learned nothing. So you know why I detest the term ‘hour-
never are. When he ran out of fuel, the gauges said he could easily make it. If he had been paying attention, his watch would have told him he was not going to make it. But he was fast asleep – hour building. He should have been preparing himself to become a competent commercial pilot. He should have been doing a couple of international cross-countries, converting to different types, learning to fly a taildragger and doing some aerobatics, and possibly gliding. Hour building is just another term for hour wasting.
building’. But I have to conclude that this is exactly what this guy was doing. He certainly wasn’t navigating.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
It actually requires of lot of careful map-reading to know where
1.
Navigate all the time.
you are between Durban and Margate – it is built up pretty much
2.
Use your watch for fuel management – not fuel gauges.
all the way. Then it starts thinning out around South Broom, and
3.
Hour building is idiotic – go for experience building.
after Port Edward, there is nothing until you get to Port St Johns. For the first part, the road runs parallel to the coast, and there are a number of rivers flowing into the sea. You have to read your map very carefully and watch time and distance every inch of the way –
52 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
j
Join the annual South African camping tour to the World’s Greatest Aviation Event TOUR A EMIRATES Tour departs Friday 19th July and arrives in Oshkosh on Saturday 20th July. Pax have Sunday to recover from flight and watch the mass aircraft arrivals before the show starts on Monday 22nd July. We depart Oshkosh Sunday 28th July and arrive back in Johannesburg at 0500 on Tuesday 30th July. Tour price includes airfares ex Johannesburg, airport taxes, transfers between Chicago and Oshkosh, EAA camping fees, accommodation in tent with camping stretcher and sleeping bag, breakfasts, commemorative tour cap and T Shirt and use of our campsite facilities. Tour Price Single R29 850* Sharing R28 450* TOUR B KLM Tour departs Friday 19th July and arrives in Oshkosh on Saturday 20th July. Pax have Sunday to recover from flight and watch the mass aircraft arrivals before the show starts on Monday 22nd July. We depart Oshkosh Sunday 28th July and arrive back in Johannesburg at 21h00 on Monday 29th July. Tour price includes airfares ex Johannesburg, airport taxes, transfers between Chicago and Oshkosh, EAA camping fees, accom-
modation in tent with camping stretcher and sleeping bag, breakfasts, commemorative tour cap and T Shirt and use of our campsite facilities. Tour Price Single R32 550* Sharing R31 150* Breakaways Breakaways can be arranged for those wanting to stay longer in the USA, either before Oshkosh (KLM only) or after Oshkosh. TOUR C “JOIN IN THE USA” This tour option is for those who want to join the tour in Chicago. Our private coach will depart Terminal 5, O’Hare International, Chicago on Saturday 20th July at about 15h00 (depending on arrival time of Tour A and B flights). The coach will return to O’Hare on Sunday 28th July at about 13h00. Tour price includes transfers between Chicago and Oshkosh, EAA camping fees, accommodation in tent with camping stretcher and sleeping bag, breakfasts, commemorative tour cap and T Shirt and use of our campsite facilities. Tour Price Single R9 850* Sharing R8 450*
Contact Neil: Cell 084 674 5674 | neil1@telkomsa.net | www.airadventure.co.za
SA Flyer 2018|12
Oshkosh
FLIGHT TEST NICO VAN STADEN
THE
MONSTER BARON 54
56TC
February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
The rare Baron 56TC is the piston twin that can keep up with King Airs.
55 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
FLIGHT TEST
56TC? If you think it’s a typo you would be forgiven – nine out of ten pilots asked have never heard of a Baron 56TC. Also known as the Turbo Baron, the Baron 56TC is the ‘muscle car’ of general aviation twins.
Huge nacelles cover Lycoming's 380hp Duke engines.
T
HE
60’s
time aviation,
was
for with
boom
541-E1B4 engines slung on each wing.
Lycoming TIO-541-E1B4 engine (380 Hp
general
With a total of 760 horses - that’s more than
at 2900 RPM and 41.5 inches of manifold
sales
a ten seat Piper Chieftain – you would be
pressure) earmarked for the Duke. Beech
growing yearly. In 1950
mistaken if you thought this monster was an
needed experience flying and working with
Beechcraft’s
sales
aftermarket creation done by some speed
these new engines. The FAA certification on
totalled $16.6 million,
junky. It’s not. These aircraft rolled off the
the Baron and experience gained assisted
and by 1966 it had
Beechcraft production line between 1967
with the certification process of these
exploded to 10 times that at $164.6 million.
and 1971, although a total of only 93 were
engines on the Duke.
Competition was fierce, and Beechcraft
produced, including the test aircraft, and
Interestingly, the development of the
needed to respond to new models from
only 92 were sold before Beechcraft ceased
Beech Duke 60 began in early 1965, as
Cessna and Piper such as Cessna’s new
production to make way for the Duke and
it was specifically designed to replace
1966 320D Skynight with 285 Hp engines
Baron 58.
Beechcraft’s Queen Air. The prototype
and Piper’s release of its Navajo in 1967. Beechcraft responded by offering buyers
Duke flew on 29 December 1966 and WHY A BARON HOT ROD?
received its FAA Type certificate on 1
an aeroplane possessing performance far
Barons have always had a reputation for
February 1968. The pressurised Duke was
better than anything the competition was
being sterling performers – so why build a
Beech’s response to the newly released
offering, giving Baron buyers the opportunity
monster Baron? The reasoning behind the
pressurised Cessna 421 Golden Eagle,
to fly the fastest general aviation light twin
56TC Baron was twofold: while offering an
and Piper followed suit two years later by
planes in the world.
unequalled performance twin, it served as
introducing the first pressurized Navajo in
The Baron 56TC is primarily a Baron
the testbed for Lycoming’s most powerful
1970. What a boomtime this was for general
C55 with two huge 380 Hp Lycoming TIO-
piston powerplant the turbocharged 380-hp
aviation. Incredibly, there were no less than
56 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
twelve new piston twin models released by the major manufacturers in the five years between 1967 and 1972. New models included, Beech Baron 56TC - 1967, Beech Duke 60 - 1968, Beech Baron 58 - 1970, Beech Baron 55B - 1972, Cessna 402 - 1967, Cessna 421 - 1968, Cessna 414 - 1970, Cessna 340 - 1972, Aero Commander 500 Shrike - 1968, Piper Seneca - 1972, Piper Navajo - 1967, Pressurized Navajo - 1970. Unbelievable times for general aviation, and I doubt we will ever see them again.
controls in N56GF. With only two previously
are the engine pre-oilers, essentially two
registered 56TCs in South Africa there are
small oil pumps that prime the engines.
not many instructors available to give a
It takes approximately two minutes to get
check ride on this type. Ever since our test
the oil pressure gauge in the green before
flight Scully has referred to N56GF as “The
starting. This hugely contributes to engine
JET”! Our first flight was a one-hour-twenty
longevity, found on many big military piston
blast around the highveld farms, no higher
engines such as on the Trojan, the pre-oilers
than necessary, if you know Scully, to bed in
prevent those dry starts after long periods
the newly overhauled cylinders.
of standing.
On my check ride I embarrassingly
Learning
from
experienced
Duke
killed the battery trying to get those big
operators, I was advised to refrain from high
engines turning and burning, but it’s pretty
rpm settings just after start, until those huge
Back in 1967, without noise cancelling headsets, the new 56TC Baron was a noticeably
louder
aeroplane,
especially
for existing Baron owners. The 56TC
Nacelles extend back above the flaps.
also had increased structural strength to compensate for the big engines and airframe
strengthening
that
increased
its empty weight over the standard B55. The increased weight however was no problem for the big Lycomings. Thanks to its abundance of turbocharged power, the 56TC is unmatched for hot and high piston twin operations. Where most twins battle to maintain 7000 ft on one engine, the 56TC can climb on one engine to a ceiling of 18 600 ft! When introduced in 1967, it was faster than the early King Airs. Production ceased in 1971 to make way for the new pressurized Duke and Baron 58 model. FLYING THE BEAST I saw the aircraft for the first time about ten years ago, standing in Placo’s hangar at Rand. My mind could not get it; what made this aircraft look so different? It took about a minute to realise that the engines were huge! Little did I know I would own the aircraft years later. Apart from the looks, the external walk around is standard, other than the two wing tanks and two nacelle tanks totalling 164 GAL. Seating is the same as in the C55 Baron with six forward facing seats, a sizable baggage area behind the rear seats and a reasonably sized nose compartment to assist with balanced CG loading.
Large inlets below the cowlings are for the intercoolers.
Sitting in the pilot’s seat the only real difference from any other Baron is the huge nacelles either side. In lesser Barons you feel as though you are sitting above the engines, in this Baron you are between them. Flying the Monster Baron is a treat. My first experience was with Scully Levin at the
straightforward to start, once you use the
engines are well lubricated and oil temps
correct technique.
are in the green. Once started, N56GF will
N56GF has many modifications: the
impress most when the avionics master
first to be noticed are the winglets, a less
switch is flicked on; it features an impressive
noticeable but magnificent modification
stack of modern Garmin avionics, together
57 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
FLIGHT TEST with a Garmin MX-20n multi-function display overlaying the Bendix/King ART2000 colour radar and Stormscope.
at gross weight on one engine.
yet had the opportunity to explore them all
Using a 75% power takeoff at 32 inches
for myself, I took the following figures from
of MP and 2900 rpm most people on the
the manual. In my experience Beechcraft
When oil temps are in the green, engine
ground at Rand will turn their heads to see
provide realistic book figures, however I
run-ups can be completed, followed by
what’s making that magic sound. It has a
would expect that due to the intercoolers,
standard piston twin pre-takeoff vital actions,
totally different sound from a normal Baron
winglets and vortex generators, N56GF
and you are ready to go. If the engines are
and strangely different from that of a Duke
would be slightly slower. The benefits of
hot following a quick turnaround, the fuel
as well.
the modifications however far outweigh the
pumps are left on until after takeoff to avoid vapour cuts.
N56GF is equipped with aftermarket
speed penalty.
intercoolers. The 56TC is essentially a Duke
Using oxygen up high at 75% power
Full throttle gives 41.5 inches of manifold
firewall forward, and due to the high-power
you can embarrass the Kingairs at speeds
pressure – which is huge! Although I have
settings required by the Duke in the climb,
in excess of 250KTS. At a more economical
not flown it with six on board, I generally use
the engines tend to get hot. This led to an
65% setting at FL250 the book advertises
32 inches of manifold pressure for takeoff
aftermarket intercooler mod that was also
265 mph (230 Kts) burning 18.3 USG per
and am airborne in less than half the runway
available for the 56TC’s. I have not seen
engine. With the same power setting at
at Rand. Unlike with the Duke, these engines
high temperatures in the climb, presumably
FL120, speeds of 237 mph (207 Kts) and at
on the small Baron fuselage have way more
thanks to the intercoolers. I do, however,
FL170 – 243 mph (216 Kts) with a range of
power than needed under normal operations
believe they must have a speed penalty as
about 850nm. Lower power settings of 55%
and a full power takeoff is hardly ever
the two air scoops below the engines to feed
are lighter on the pocket and still provide
necessary. I guess it’s a habit coming from
the large intercoolers must create some
impressive numbers, at FL150 – 225 mph
an airline environment where reduced thrust
drag.
(196 Kts) burning 15.5 Gal per engine for
takeoffs are standard practice to increase engine life. It is however nice to know the
940 nm range. IN THE CRUISE Cruising the B-56TC you have many
circuit at Rand Airport on any day of the year
power and height options, but as I have not
Justin de Reuck
power is available to carry you around the
GETTING DOWN Descents should be done as with all
Former owner Count Gianfranco Cicogna invested heavily in the avionics fit.
58 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
LEFT: Wings sport winglets and vortex generators. BELOW: Monster Barons 55 fuselage still gives sufficient space for 6 seats. MIDDLE: The baggage space behind the rearmost seats is easily enlarged by folding them forward. BOTTOM: Access to back seats is through the baggage bay door as the smaller fuselage doesn't have the 58 Baron's double doors.
big turbocharged engines to avoid shock cooling. Learning from my Seneca and C-421 charter days, I reduce power at one inch per minute until I have around 18 Inches of MP during the descent, this is perfect for the circuit once your speed has bled off. Proper planning of the descent and deceleration is essential and proficiency comes with experience. If you arrive too fast over your destination you must avoid just ripping off the power, rather extend the downwind or fly an orbit to reduce speed. Engine care is essential and neglect could be costly. I read an article on the 56TC that spoke of a slow speed buffet experienced on the elevator during turns, apparently caused by air breaking off the huge engine nacelles and disturbing the airflow over the horizontal stabilizer. This is true; Scully and I explored this during the test flight and found in the clean configuration at 120 mph in a 30 degree turn when loading the stick slightly, a buffet was evident, however by selecting Flap 15° during the turn the buffet disappeared. So, when entering the circuit, I select Flaps 15° to avoid the buffet when manoeuvring, it also improves speed control. The aircraft is a super stable platform with the Baron’s light aileron control. Although, as with all Barons, the 56TC is heavy in pitch, I guess due to those huge engines up front. Landing is straightforward although I found crosswinds required more attention than I expected. I’m not sure if those large engine nacelles are a contributing factor, or if it is just my inexperience on the type. Taxiing back in is immensely satisfying. When shutting down for a $100 burger after a 220 knot flypast, you will be expected to answer all the same questions about the
j
aircraft over and over again.
59 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
All aircraft prices are subject to change or withdrawal from the market without notice. All prices exclude VAT All aircraft prices are subject to change or withdrawal from the market without notice. All prices exclude VAT
1967 1967 Beechcraft Beechcraft Baron Baron B-56TC B-56TC
MONSTER MONSTER BARON BARON – 380 – 380 HPHP a side!!! a side!!! TTSN TTSN – 2790 – 2790 SMOH SMOH L&R L&R – 790 – 790 New New paint paint andand loaded loaded with with equipment!! equipment!!
1981 1981 Cessna Cessna 402C 402C
Best Best 402C 402C in SA in SA Glass Glass Avidyne Avidyne equipped equipped Complete Complete refurbish refurbish 2010 2010 - TTSN - TTSN && PROPS PROPS 800 800 Hours. Hours. R 4R000 4 000 000 000
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
SA Flyer 2019|02 SA Flyer 2019|02
Nico Nico van van Staden Staden083 083 321 321 0916 0916 nico@aerostratus.co.za nico@aerostratus.co.za Gert Gert Mouton Mouton 082 082 458 458 3736 3736
BEECHCRAFT
BARON 56TC DIMENSIONS WINGSPAN: 37 ft 10 in LENGTH: 29 ft 0 in HEIGHT: 9 ft 4 in MAXIMUM T/O WEIGHT: 5,990 lbs USEFUL LOAD: 2,340 lbs (Typical) OCCUPANCY CREW: 1 PASSENGERS: 4-5
1968 1968 Beech Beech Bonanza Bonanza E-33 E-33
OPERATING WEIGHTS MAX T/O WEIGHT: 5990 Lb TYPICAL EMPTY WEIGHT: 3650 Lb FUEL CAPACITY: 142 gal usable (Model variations up to 207 gal usable)
TTSN TTSN 4005 4005 SMOH SMOH 1110 1110
DISTANCES TAKEOFF DISTANCE: 1005 ft (Ground roll) / 1420 ft (Over 50 ft obstacle) LANDING DISTANCE: 1285 ft (Ground roll) / 2080 ft (Over 50 ft obstacle)
R 850 R 850 000 000
1990 1990 Mooney Mooney Bravo Bravo
Fantastic Fantastic Low Low Time Time well well priced priced aircraft aircraft TTSN TTSN 1900 1900 SMOH SMOH 200 200 R 1R700 1 700 000 000
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PERFORMANCE RATE OF CLIMB: 2020 fpm / 410 fpm (Single engine) SERVICE CEILING: 32200 ft (100fpm ROC) / 18600 ft (single engine 50fpm ROC) MAX SPEED: 252 kts at 24,000 ft (*See note below) NORMAL CRUISE: 247 kts STALL SPEED (LANDING CONFIG): 73 kts MAX RANGE: 737 nm (Typical - fuel capacity varies)
*Note: “At an altitude of 20,000 feet, the new Baron was restricted to 262 mph but was easily capable of achieving 300 mph (TAS) at 24,000 feet (full throttle)” – King Air magazine . POWER PLANT ENGINES: 2 Lycoming TIO-541-E1B4
60
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NICO VAN STADEN
THE STORY OF
S
N56GF number
ERIAL
TG-29 rolled off the production line on 23
October
1967,
originally registered as
N5468U.
In
1995, when it was purchased by the late
Count Gianfranco Cicogna, the registration was changed to N56GF (I believe after his name GianFranco) before embarking on a 47.7 hour ferry flight to South Africa. The aircraft is blessed with 2795 accident free hours, and has its original engines and propellers since the day it left the factory, happily with a full set of logbooks
WORLDWIDE ONLY 48 BARON 56TC's ARE STILL FLYING.
dating back to its first day. According to an internet source, at the end of 2014, only 48
is known as the upside down Lycoming as
hitch and it was time to strip all the flight
Baron 56TCs are still flying worldwide.
the camshaft is on the lower side of the
controls for the respray. It was completed
limits
engine. Fortunately, with these engines
and back in the air by the second quarter
and N56GF was fortunate to receive
you can get to see the camshafts without
of 2018. Unfortunately, a few flights later
many modifications before and during his
splitting the engine. By removing the tappet
the windscreen showed a small crack and
ownership. The mods include winglets,
assembly on the lower side of the cylinders
needed replacing, and this caused another
vortex generators, a high speed sloped
you can visually inspect the camshaft lobes,
two months on the ground.
windscreen, intercoolers, pre-oilers, and
a huge job, but necessary to determine the
Spare parts are still plentiful with many
a vast array of Garmin avionics. It is also
condition of the camshaft. After a further
good used engines available from Dukes that
equipped with S-Tec’s flagship 65 autopilot
borescope inspection by AEP’s engine
have been converted to turbines and from
with
shop, I received a thumbs-up for two healthy
others that have been financially grounded.
corrosion free engines.
Airframe parts are mainly standard Baron
Gianfranco’s
flight
budget
director,
had
RMI,
no
Flight
mode
annunciator and altitude preselect, together with a yaw-damper. To top it off there is a
This news set the ball rolling and
parts and are readily available, new and
over the next six months we completed a
used. Although flying it at high power
Following Gianfranco’s fatal crash in
comprehensive MPI. I even removed the
settings could become costly in fuel bills, the
his L39 jet on 30 June 2012, N56GF was
floorboards that hadn’t been lifted for who
56TC Baron should not cost more to operate
left unattended halfway through some
knows how many years. We cleaned and
than any other Baron.
maintenance
Following
lubed all the pulleys, followed by replacing
N56GF is for sale. It has always
negotiations with the estate’s executor, I
with newly remanufactured floors and all
remained on the US register and might see
purchased the aircraft in the hope of rescuing
new hardware.
itself back in the US if no local buyer is found.
Shaden fuel flow and engine monitor.
for
four
years.
it before it became financially unviable to get
The list of work done is extensive and
It’s a special aircraft, a classic; reminding us
it back in the air, as I have seen with so many
comprehensive as I wanted to test fly
of a time when general aviation was at its
piston twins over the years.
the aircraft and sort out all snags before
best. It is probably one of the best kept and
My first step was to ensure the engines
stripping it down for the respray. So, in
equipped 56TCs in the world and deserves
were free of corrosion before spending any
August 2017 we did our first test flight with
to be purchased by an aircraft owner that will
money on the aircraft. Lycoming’s TIO-541
Scully at the controls. All went without a
preserve it in its original condition.
j
61 www.saflyer.com | January 2019
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Where pilots speak for themselves
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www.gryphonflight.co.za
“I did my ATPL Preparation, my B190 Proficiency Check as well as my MCC course with Gryphon Flight Academy and I was very pleased with the service! Anton really listened and tailored a fitting package to my needs, unlike many other major Flight Schools, thus saving me a lot of money but still offered a great Training Experience. Only can recommend this school.” Patrick Heintschel.
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SA Flyer 2019|01
FLIGHT TESTING CPL • ATPL •PROFICIENCY CHECKS • IF RENEWALS
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AOPA BRIEFING REPORT: CHRIS MARTINUS
PILOT CULTURE Pilot culture is an essential part of who we are and how we stay alive. Fortunately, pilot culture transcends race, nationality, language, religion and the many other things that divide societies.
C
is
real life we do see some such correlations.
term
which
Culture is not a static thing: it grows and
There are deep psychological roots in
describes
the
changes. Cultures, or portions thereof, are
one’s own culture, which has been learned
characteristics
adopted and assimilated into other cultures,
from a young age. There are also strong
and knowledge of
particularly
psychological
a particular group
world. Indeed, the roots of the word are in
against
of people. It is a
“cultivation”, which means to tend the fields,
embedded in one’s psyche.
broad term which
to grow and to nurture.
ULTURE the
in
our
modern
connected
friction and intolerance are certain to result.
that
responses culture
to
challenges
which
become
encompasses language, religion, cuisine,
The purpose of culture is that it creates
social habits, music and art. Furthermore,
a unity of purpose and ease of cooperation
The development of a consistent culture
culture is shared patterns of behaviour
between members of a cultural group,
among pilots and other personnel involved
and
no matter that some aspects of it may be
interaction,
cognitive
constructs
and understanding that are learned by
irrational or superfluous.
socialization. Culture can therefore be seen
Most discord in the world is based
as the development of a group identity based
on clashes of culture. Where cultures are
on patterns which are unique to that group.
incompatible with each other yet come
Culture is not necessarily defined by
together for common purposes or are
race, politics or nationality, despite that in
integrated through other circumstances,
COCKPIT CULTURE
in the operation of aircraft is essential to smooth functioning and safety. Consistency and cooperation automatically flow between members of a group who have adopted and live out certain ways of interacting. Cockpit culture is a generalised concept that for the most part attempts to counter the hazardous attitudes which the United States FAA identified among pilots. These attitudes are anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability,
The FAA hazardous attitudes and the antidotal thinking to avoid them.
macho and resignation. ANTI-AUTHORITY Rules, regulations and checklists have been developed for your own safety. They are written in the blood of past pilots and their passengers. Humans are by nature ground-pounders and unlike birds, have never evolved the innate ability to fly. They therefore have to learn all the skills, instincts and ‘muscle memory’ that help them to fly an aircraft. The rules codify these necessary qualities – and a safety culture ensures that the pilot will naturally follow those rules. As soon a pilot begins to think the rules don’t apply to him (or her), he loses his link to the lifelines that have been created to keep him alive.
64 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
COLUMNS
Social media is potentially hazardous to a safety culture.
A culture that makes it taboo and quite
Every pilot should develop his or her
more deadly. A culture which places limits
unthinkable to deviate from the rules is an
personal culture where a little too much
on pilot machismo goes a long way towards
essential to survival.
comfort or complacency will ring warning
helping pilots to fly within the limits of their
bells.
capabilities.
IMPULSIVITY Although the rules are the core of a pilot’s reaction to a particular situation, they do not cover every eventuality. When unusual or unanticipated circumstances arise, the pilot must exercise discretion and common sense in decision-making. Where time is available, he must think it through, rather than simply taking the first action that comes to mind. Rules are reflexes, exceptions require contemplation. INVULNERABILITY We are inclined to think that accidents
A culture that makes it taboo and quite unthinkable to deviate from the rules is an essential to survival.
only happen to other people. This natural tendency is coupled to the inability to readily contemplate one’s own death.
MACHO
RESIGNATION
We don’t really want to think about bad
A great deal of confidence is required
This is to a great extent the opposite of
things, but when flying, there are just too
to fly an aircraft safely. Uncertainty and
excessive machismo and overconfidence.
many things that can kill you – and your brain
indecision is just as deadly as any of these
Yet it is one of the more pervasive killers.
never evolved to deal with them without
other cardinal sins. However, too much
Where the pilot is overwhelmed by
having to put in some effort on your part.
confidence and the urge to show-off is even
circumstances and fearfulness, does not
65 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
AOPA BRIEFING
believe in his or her own abilities, perhaps
news, but it falls dismally short of creating
compliance rules are being enforced in such
feels unwell or depressed, that is when he
and developing that culture that makes safe
a manner that, instead of supporting and
just gives up.
practices habitual. Regrettably, social media
developing both general and commercial
This is very likely why so many pilots fly
today is highly manipulative, suffused with
aviation, is swiftly killing it off, together with
VFR into IMC and never turn back to safety.
greed and the need to control its denizens.
its underpinning safety culture.
It is an undoubted cause of those accidents
It is filled with trolls whose acrimonious
It is broadly true to say that current
where the pilot had many options to avoid it,
comments cater to their own narcissistic
SACAA executives and their private-sector
but did nothing.
and often psychotic needs, as well as those
associates are mostly political deployees
A flying culture which supports, mentors
who unscrupulously abuse it to spread
and opportunists who exhibit a far more
and encourages confidence goes a long
misinformation for either nefarious purposes
feudal culture than the cooperative safety
way towards preventing these tragedies. It
or financial benefit.
culture and nurturing which our industry so
is therefore unsurprising that most airlines
A review of the ten most senior staff on
badly needs, particularly in these times of
expend considerable effort on developing a
the CAA’s website reveals that an even more
economic hardship. Most of their current
corporate culture that gives effect to these
pervasive problem is that our regulator has
actions appear intent on bludgeoning civil
tenets.
no remaining pilot culture among their senior
aviation into submission.
CHALLENGES TO OUR CULTURE One of the surest ways to destroy a society is to attack its culture. No bullets need be fired, no prisoners need be taken.
executives. None of them have a background
In a press release justifying SACAA’s
which has inoculated them against those
overreach in the grounding of CemAir,
hazardous attitudes which the FAA deems
Director Ms Poppy Khoza states: “It is the
so important to safe aviation.
Regulator’s view that anyone that does not
The recent draconian use of regulations
subscribe to the basic aviation principle,
In our online, connected society, we
to ground entire airlines on the basis of
which is safety first, does not deserve an
have lost some of the flying club culture
paperwork issues is extremely worrying.
opportunity to take to the skies.” The press
which formed a strong feeling of unity and
The groundings and consequent massive
release continues with dubious platitudes
conformity among those who fly. The days
damage to airlines like CemAir and the
justifying this attitude. As ‘mother’ of South
are fading where the elders of the flying
penalisation of others for matters outside
Africa’s civil aviation, it appears to us that
community would pass on their wisdom and
their control, and for which they carry
she would rather bludgeon her baby into
values to the newcomers.
no responsibility, is creating widespread
submission, instead of nurturing it.
New and aspirant pilots who have a thirst
disrespect for their authority.
Our view is that she should nourish,
for imbibing the knowledge and experience
The lack of empathy for the plight
sustain and encourage the children which
of those who have been there before are not
of passengers, aircrews and operators
have been placed in her care to conform to
exposed to that culture, nor do they develop
as well as the self-congratulatory press
a culture of safety – instead of beating them
the sense of belonging to that cultural group.
releases sent out by the SACAA drastically
to death.
The
internet’s
social
media
is
a
medical,
maintenance
and
j
general
SA Flyer 2018|10
marvellous resource for information and
undermines their own authority. In addition,
Cruise 149kt TAS at FL100 Powered range 950NM Glide angle 1:53
ST E MME -A F R IC A .CO M 07 1 6 57 4 424
66 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
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67 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
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deliver aircraft refurbishments with an excellent lead time and quality maintenance including, but not limited to phase 1-6 inspections, annual inspections, airframe, avionics and sheet metal repairs. With highly skilled and experienced and professional technicians, Skysource International SA strive to only deliver the best quality service beyond its client’s expectations. “As we have the knowledge of the time constraints involved in aviation, we work hard to ensure we keep to a reasonable timeframe to have your aircraft ready and serviceable when you need it,” said Manny Skysource International SA not only provides top of the line maintenance, but also offers reputable aircraft sales, and is partnered with Skysource International LLC, a USA based Sales Company that opens up the international market. In Addition we have a USA based Aircraft Maintenance Company Skysource Aviation LLC USA. Who delivers the equivalent service and professionalism According to Manny, “if we do not have an aircraft you require at the time in our fleet, we will source one for you.” Skysource International Group is a family owned and operated business that takes great pride and puts great emphasis on instilling family values into how it conducts business. Skysource also
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CONTACT:
COMPANIES
SA SPACE AGENCY SELECTED AS REGIONAL SPACE WEATHER CENTRE The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) has been selected by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as one of two regional centres to provide Space Weather services, including solar storm forecasts and warnings, to the global aviation sector.
T
HE term ‘Space Weather’ describes
the communication, navigation, energy and aviation sectors, among
events that happen in space, which can
others, with potentially disastrous effects.
disrupt GPS, power grids, navigation and communication systems.
“With aviation, we consider four key risk areas – communication, navigation, avionics and radiation exposure,” said SANSA MD, Dr
Owing to increased interconnectivity
Lee-Anne McKinnell. “High frequency radio communication, as well as
and inter-dependence of today’s technology
ground and air-based navigation systems, can be affected or knocked
systems, space weather events can have a
out entirely by space weather storms. Delicate electronics can also
negative impact on multiple systems. This
be damaged, and radiation exposure poses a hazard for crew and
could lead to serious operational failures in
passengers, particularly on long haul flights.” Further, Space Weather
NASA image showing how the Earth's magnetic field is impacted by the solar wind.
74 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
Space weather can influence the performance and reliability of numerous technological systems which society depends on daily such as GPS, power grids and satellite communication.
the defence force and other clients. SANSA will partner with the PanEuropean Consortium for Aviation Space Weather User Services (PECASUS), one of ICAO’s three global space weather centres, to provide ICAO with space weather information for the African region. PECASUS is a consortium of nine European countries, and partnering with it will provide South Africa with better access to international models and expertise. Over the next few years SANSA will be working closely with ATNS, SAWS, and the SACAA and other partners to investigate the implications of the ICAO recommendation to the African aviation sector. “We need to can have a major knock-on effect on airlines
designated regional space weather centres.
ensure the aviation industry understands
and airports.
The regional centres (South Africa and a
the risks related to space weather, what to
ICAO has recognised the need for the
joint centre by Russia and China) will have
look out for and what to expect. SANSA will
adoption of procedures related to mitigating
until 2022 to build the necessary capability to
provide the necessary information to enable
space weather impacts on flight safety. ICAO
provide the required services.
key decision makers to make informed
recommended that all aviation providers
The Space Agency has been developing
and users become familiar with the impacts
Space Weather services over the past nine
decisions,” says Dr McKinnell. While South Africa is the only African
of space weather on the aviation sector
years, and currently operates at a facility
country with operational space weather
and requested that pertinent space weather
in Hermanus. Utilising data from NASA
capabilities, SANSA with the support of the
information be filed with all flight plans in the
and ESA space weather satellites and
DST, will engage with other African countries
near future.
SANSA’s ground based instruments located
on data sharing, infrastructure hosting,
SANSA, an entity of the Department
across Southern Africa, the Space Weather
training, product development, and research
of Science and Technology, underwent
Centre conducts real-time monitoring and
collaboration.
an extensive assessment to earn the
forecasting of space weather and provides a
accreditation to become one of two ICAO-
range of services to national power facilities,
For more space weather information see https://spaceweather.sansa.org.za/
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SAF 2019|02 Image: Frans Dely
Contact Details:
COMPANY PROFILES
ADVENTURE AIR
provides a broad range of technical and
AIRCRAFT ASSESSING COMPANY
Adventure Air was formed in November
Aircraft Assessing Company (AAC)
associated services to the industry which
2010 and is a South African Civil Aviation
was registered in 2002 in response to a
include pre, mid and post lease aircraft
Authority approved Aircraft Maintenance
growing need from the regional (Continent
assessment,
Organisation for interior refurbishment,
of Africa) aviation industry for unbiased and
maintenance record and log book audits,
exterior refurbishment and sheet metal work,
professional evaluations of fixed wing and
post repair assessment, cost review, legal
based at Wonderboom National airport.
rotor wing aircraft.
expert witness services and aircraft sales. Aircraft
maintenance
Assessing
oversight,
Company
(Pty)
Adventure Air specialises in full leather
In satisfying the industries needs, AAC’s
interior refurbishment from roof linings,
client base has grown to include local,
Ltd remains the only company in Africa
window panels, side panels, glare shields,
regional and international aircraft fleet
specialising in its chosen field.
carpets and seats, and our range includes airlines, government agencies, AVAV I AT I AT I OI N Oowners, N
Contact Paul Leaker on:
full executive finishes.
corporations, Insurers, legal practioners,
Cell: 083 310 8588
financial
Tel: 011 659 1127
Adventure Air has been approved by SACAA to do a Full Release to Service on all
individual
aircraft
Email: paull@aacglobal.co.za
owners and other interested parties.
Listed VANS’ RV makes and models.
All
We have an established track record
institutions, appraisals
international
are
Uniform
carried
out
Standards
Website: www.aacglobal.co.za
to for
on sheet metal work and have assisted
Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)
many kit builders in completing their aircraft,
standards by AAC’s owner and Senior
including RVs and Slings. Come and visit
Certified Aircraft Appraiser, Paul Leaker
Airshift Parts based at Wonderboom
us to discuss all your needs in making your
NSCA who is well experienced as an
National Airport, Hangar 45 and managed by
flying dream a reality.
Appraiser of narrow body airliners, heavy
Navin Chetty; has over 22 years of aviation
Contact Adventure Air on:
lift helicopters and everything in between.
experience and specializes in general
Tel: 012 543 3196
Paul has carried out in excess of 3000
aviation fixed-wing and rotor-wing aircraft
Cell: 066 4727 848
aircraft appraisals and is required by AAC’s
parts, accessories and pilot supplies.
Email: l.milne@venture-sa.co.za
governing body to undergo re-certification
Website: www.ventureglobal.biz
training and examination in the USA every
AIRSHIFT PARTS
Airshift Parts supply parts for Hawker, Beechcraft, Cessna, Piper, Embraer, and
3-years. In addition to certified appraisals, AAC
other aircraft, as well as consumables
NEW NEW
Now there’s a Bose Now there’s a Bose aviation headset that’s just your type. aviation headset
AVAV I AT I AT I OI N ON
that’s just your type.
AVAV I AT I AT I OI N ON
d
try’s ng s of cation ble. hly rtips. fied.
Tel: (011) 701-3209
Fax: (011) 701-3208
email: info@wingsnthings.co.za
Grand Central Airport - Ground Floor, Main Terminal Building
(011) 805-0684
Fax: (011) 805-0684
Visit our 24 hour online shop at wingsnthings.co.za 21.12.18 15:53
78 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com Introducing the new Bose ProFlight Aviation
SA Flyer 2019|02
Lanseria International Airport - 1st Floor, Main Terminal Building (opposite Kauai)
Gemair AMO 1003
YOUR PEACE OF MIND IN AVIATION MAINTENANCE Gemair is an SACAA Approved Maintenance Organisation, AMO 1003 with 5 other African AMO Approvals and has a team of 9 full time engineers who together have a combined total of over 50 years aviation experience. Gemair are able to perform all aviation maintenance requirements on a variety of Non-Type certiďŹ ed aircraft, light singles and twins up to turbo propellers and light jets.
SA Flyer 2018|11
Gemair also holds electrical and instrumentation approvals
TEL: 011 701 2653 or 082 905 5760 Hangar 110, Gate 13, Turn right (old Pical hangar), located behind Spectrum Air Surveyors, Lanseria South Side, 1748
hardware.
component maintenance tasks.
Well, AviationDirect has been around for
They have a wide range of oil
A common problem amongst operators of
over 20 years, and we are in the forefront of
filters, air filters, PT6 engine inspection kits,
all levels of aircraft is anticipating approaching
providing airfield and aeronautical information
lamps and lighting. In addition to the above,
airframe calendar, hourly and cycle limits. The
for Southern Africa within our various
Airshift Parts carries a wide range of parts
AMP process will track and forewarn owners
products.
to support Lycoming and Continental aircraft
as well as their maintenance service providers
engines, and stock various avionic and
of approaching maintenance requirements.
We have the most comprehensive database of airfields for this part of the world,
instruments as well spark plugs & igniters,
Using a web-based server, accessed by
PMA filters, Tempest and Champion products,
the AOC, Owner or Maintenance Company,
Rapco & Cleveland Wheels & Brakes & filters,
AMP is customised to individual aircraft by
Our exciting range of products for pilots
PRC Sealants, PMA Filters, and much more!
a thorough inspection and appraisal of the
flying in Southern Africa are designed to
Contact Details:
aircraft or helicopter’s logbooks, type-relevant
make the pilot’s task easier, safer and more
Navin Chetty
bulletins and AD’s.
comfortable. Added to that, we provide
Office: +27 60 985 1285
The AMP process will track and forewarn
Mobile: +27 87 701 0759
owners as well as their maintenance service
E-Mail: navin@airshift.co.za
providers
of
approaching
maintenance
requirements.
receiving first-hand information from active pilots and operators in the field.
excellent customer support. Products that we are particularly well known and respected for are: •
AVDEX Maintenance Planning can be
Africa and Africa, available in printed
contacted on 011 954 1536, cell: 073 454 7809 and via email at tania@avdex.co.za
AVDEX
The Airfields Directory for Southern and electronic format
•
EasyPlan,
the
flight
planning
A first for South Africa:
software for desktop/laptop PC with
Well-known aviation database specialists,
Win OS, an easier way to do flight
Avdex, are marketing their ground-breaking Avdex Maintenance Planning (AMP) program.
planning, print out flight logs and maps
AVIATION DIRECT (PTY) LTD
Aimed at aircraft owners and operators,
The internet has opened the world, but
•
the AMP concept is the first South African-
for many of us it is still preferable to talk
EasyCockpit,
most used in-flight navigation app
developed solution to the timeless problem
to someone who has the experience and
for Apple or Android Mobile Devices,
of tracking scheduled airframe, engine and
knowledge of local conditions, right?
there
to
Southern
enhance
Africa’s
situational
MONTHLY HANGARAGE
SA Flyer 2018|11
COMPANY PROFILES
such as o ring, seals, gaskets, and general
SAF 08 | 2011
INCLUDING CLEANING & FLIGHT LINE SERVICES
Hangar size 950 square metres (45m x 20.5m) Office space (20m x 5 m) available which can be divided to suit client requirements. Hangar 56, 10 Viking Way, Rand Airport. Tel: 011 827 8632 | Fax: 086 503 1870 | Tino: 083 458 2172 Office: 083 446 0066 | Email: technical@heli-afrique.co.za and info@heli-afrique.co.za
80 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
COMPANY PROFILES
•
awareness, and, together with Easy-
engineer with Comair in 1972. He worked
CENTURY AVIONICS - EXCELLENCE
Weather overlays of radar, satellite
there for 10 years before moving to Transvaal
IN AVIONICS
and winds, to provide additional
Aircraft Maintenance, where he worked for
Century Avionics is celebrating 41
safety and peace of mind
another eight years. But he is not the only one
years in business this year and is located at
Logbooks (electronic and printed)
at the company with vast aircraft maintenance
Lanseria International Airport. We specialise
which have been devised according
experience. He was joined by his son Riekert,
in general aviation avionics for fixed- and
to SACAA requirements
Jr, in 1999.
rotary-wing aircraft together with handheld
Contact:
The Avtech team have collectively over
units and headsets.
Andrea Antel on:
170 years of experience, between just four
Century Avionics will be exhibiting at
Tel: +27 11 465 2669
people. Avtech is therefore a wise first stop
several events this year including Nampo,
Mobile: (0)72 340 9943
for all your general aircraft maintenance
Aero SA, Presidents Trophy Air Race and the
Email: info@aviationdirect.co.za
requirements.
regular airshows. We are excited to announce
Website: www.aviationdirect.co.za
AVTECH AIRCRAFT SERVICES
Avtech have also opened a component
that Nampo for the first time will have a Pilot
shop which specialises in the overhaul
Refreshment Area on the Nampo Airfield for
and repairs of continental fuel systems,
all pilots and their clients flying with them
carburettors and constant speed units, which
sponsored by Century Avionics, Bose and
include Woodward, McCauley, Hartzell &
Garmin.
Avtech Aircraft Services is a general
PCU5000. This division is run by Andre
We offer a wide range of general aviation
aircraft maintenance service provider, based
Botha, AKA Proppie, who also has many
avionic solutions, including cockpit upgrades.
at Wonderboom Airport.
years’ experience in his field.
We excel in Avionics Sales/Marketing,
Avtech maintains Beechcraft, Piper,
We are currently in the process of getting
Installations, Repairs/Maintenance, Support
Cessna, Bellanca and Aerostar aircraft. The
approval for the overhaul and repairs on
and Certification, making us a one-stop
company was started by Riekert Stroh, Sr, in
Bendix fuel systems as well.
avionic shop. We are also an in- and out of
1990 and is a family-owned and run business.
For more information contact PJR Stroh,
They have been maintaining aircraft to
Sr, on 082 555 2808 or PJR Stroh, Jr,
exceptional standards since, still under the
on 082 749 9256. Visit them at Hangar 6
guidance of Riekert, Sr.
Wonderboom Airport.
Riekert began working as an aircraft
Email: avtech1208@gmail.com
warranty service centre for Bose, David Clark and Lightspeed headsets. We are approved dealers for a host of
avionics
manufacturers
(Garmin,
Honeywell, Avidyne, McMurdo ELT, Genesys
MOST RELIABLE PROPELLER FOR CESSNA AIRCRAFT Operating in Africa requires aircraft and products that are reliable and durable. Whether it’s an Air Safari to the remotest game preserve, or delivering critical medical supplies to an isolated village, you want a propeller that you can count on, one that’s Built on Honor. Our Top Prop program offers proven 2-, 3-, and 4-blade propeller conversions featuring the latest in blended airfoil scimitar technology for all single engine Cessnas. Check out our entire selection of Top Prop conversions including Cessna 206, 208, and 210.
Built on Honor for over 100 years, Hartzell propellers are backed by our industry-leading, 6-year/2,400 hr. warranty.
Better take-off and climb
|
Smooth operation and less noise
HartzellProp.com/Cessna TopPropAfrica@HartzellProp.com Contact us at +1 937-778-5726, Option 2
|
Guaranteed Reliability
83 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
COMPANY PROFILES
Aerosystems and many others) and constantly aim to offer our valued customers the widest range of products and capabilities. Longstanding customers attest to our professional commitment, and fast and friendly service. Our AMO and Design Organisation is approved in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Century NAVCOM, our Design Organisation, along with our qualified and experienced Certification Department, will assist with Avionics STC Application/Development and/or Modification Approvals. Please contact us for all your avionic requirements. Tel: +27 11 701 3244 | E-mail: sales@centuryavionics.co.za | Website: www. centuryavionics.co.za
Classic Canvas Seat Covers FOR CLASSIC PLANES
CHRISTODOULOU & MAVRIKIS INC Attorneys Christodoulou & Mavrikis Inc Attorneys has provided legal services to the aviation industry for more than 27 years. Our experience extends from representing owners and lessor in the finance, sale, lease and mortgage of aircraft and engines, and the attachment and repossession of aircraft under local laws and under the Cape Town Convention. We have advised clients on their ACMI contracts across the globe, and our experience extends to general commercial structuring, tax, customs and other operational requirements including pilot, employment and regulatory matters. We have
Manufactured from 100% cotton canvas, completely washable, breathable & cool to sit on. Flame-retardedcertified to S.A.C.AA specifications Available in Sand & Charcoal
acted for recreational aviation associations and advised clients on the Unmanned Aircraft (drone) Regulations. Our services and advice have been sought by local and international law firms, banks, regulatory authorities and academic publishers e.g the ICLG Guide to Aviation Law 2019 ( https://iclg.com/practice-areas/aviation-laws-and-regulations/south-africa), and we have participated in the Law Society of South Africa’s mentorship initiative for law firms - Synergy Link, whose objective is the transfer of skills and the empowerment of ‘growing’ firms- especially black owned law firms, to specialize in the field of aviation law. Contact details: Chris Christodoulou T: +27 (0) 11 325 4201 M: +27823776631 E: chris@cm-attorneys.com www.cm-attorneys.co.za
Models:
Cessna: 206H , 206G, 206U, 207, 208, 208B, 208EX 150, 172M, 172N, 172R, 182, 210 Pilatus: PC12 | King Air: 90, 200 Robinsons: R22, R44, R66 Kodiak: Tundra Augusta Helicopter
COMET AVIATION SUPPLIES Conveniently located near Rand Airport at Knightsgate Industrial Park in Germiston, Comet Aviation Supplies is the authorised distributors of Rotax Aircraft Engines in Southern Africa. The company also carries a wide range of aircraft parts and pilot accessories for the light aircraft market. Comet stocks a wide range of headsets, including popular brands ranging from Pilot Communications USA to David Clark as well as world-class leading ANR models from Lightspeed Aviation. The shop stocks a selection of pilot supplies from maps, logbooks, first aid kits, fire extinguishers and portable oxygen systems. Other supplies include aircraft tyres from Specialty Tyres of America, Ceconite and Poly-Fiber covering materials, AN hardware, antennas, wheel chocks, radios, instruments and much more.
Tel: +27 11 262 5030 Cell: +27 82 218 2844 jacky@melvillandmoon.com www.melvillandmoon.com
The online shop www.cometaviationsupplies.co.za features a full service from clickclick to your door delivery anywhere in South Africa and abroad, with secure credit card payment options. Comet’s knowledgeable and friendly staff are available to assist with any enquiries. Contact: Tel: 011 825 0048 E-mail: sales@cometaviationsupplies.co.za
84 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
The Electronic Aviation Safety Management System for small to medium sized Operators
eSMS-S™- an Aviation Industry specific Electronic Safety Management System, offering: · Affordability · File accident / incident / hazard / bird strike & OHSE Reports · Covers the four Elements of Safety · Red and Yellow Tag messages for important and critical information · Store all Master Documentation to "Documentation Management” layout mimics to V3 eSMS-S™ · Raise an Agenda for a Safety Meeting and write the Minutes in real time · Track training and asset Currencies · Basic Audit tool to assist you in compiling internal Audit Reports · Manage major changes in your company (Management of Change) · Digital Noticeboard · Downloadable Safety statistics · Operational (FRAT) Flight Risk Analysis Tool · Company wide Newsflashes · Permission Management to restrict user access · On-going technical support and Help Desk · Access all data and documentation online from anywhere in the world · Applications for Android + iOS - for easy reporting when out of the office / in remote situations
-
CONTACT US TO GET CONNECTED NOW! LITSON DESIGN UI LOGO
SAF 2019|02
LOGO
RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES
COLOURS CONTACT US: web: www.esms-s.co.za email:COLOURS esms@litson.co.za phone: +27 (0) 21 851 7187
COMPANY PROFILES
C W Price & Co Aircraft Headsets For over 50 years, Peltor has led development in protection and communication for anyone who spends time in noisy environments. All headsets in the Aviation 8000 series have ambient noise compensated differential microphones. The earphones have a broad frequency range for good sound reduction in Fixed Wing Aircraft and Helicopters.
DJA AVIATION
Ground Power Unit You can depend on Hobart for full support of your aircraft’s power requirements AC or DC. Hobart has earned the reputation of being the “standard” in the industry, trusted for the superior power quality and excellent durability.
coverage, service and security. In addition, DJA Aviation’s long-
The Red Box RB Series These man-portable GPU’s use the latest in dry lead acid military / aviation technology which offers many valuable features. Very rugged, they can be operated, stored or transported in any orientation, even inverted. Safely transported in aircraft, land or sea, they produce massive power for comparatively low weight and small size. They hold their charge for long periods when on standby or in storage.
conducted aviation insurance business at Lloyd’s for more than
DJA Aviation was formed over 40 years ago by Dennis Jankelow and to this day remains South Africa’s foremost specialist aviation insurance brokerage, offering the greatest concentration of aviation insurance experience and expertise on the African continent and continuing to lead the market in the areas of product innovation and technical development. DJA Aviation creates aviation insurance programmes for its clients that are perfectly balanced in the critical areas of cost, standing and close relationships with the insurers who underwrite its products – locally, regionally and internationally – ensure that a DJA Aviation client is in the best possible hands when losses occur. DJA Aviation is an authorised Lloyd’s correspondent and has 35 years, a relationship that is strengthened by regular visits to the Lloyd’s market by DJA Aviation’s key personnel. DJA Aviation is an Authorised Financial Service Provider (FSP No 15808) and a proud member of the i capital Group. DJA Aviation’s social responsibility programme includes on-going support for the South African Guide Dogs Association for the Blind. Contact DJA Aviation on:
Eagle Tow Tug Nothing moves you like an Eagle tug. Designed and built to meet the varying demands of regional airlines, corporate flight departments and military flight ops. The Eagle TT series All-Wheel Drive aircraft tractors pack a lot of power in a small package. The advantage of All Wheel Drive provides safe controlled traction on all surface conditions.
Tel: 0800FLYING (0800 359-464) Email: mail@dja-aviation.co.za Website: www.dja-aviation.co.za
EAST COAST AIRWAYS East Coast Airways has been in the aviation industry since 1978, and currently operates two fuel depots, one in Kwazulu Natal and the other depot in Port Elizabeth. East Coast Airways supplies its clients with Avgas, Jet A1 and aviation oil, and operates seven days a week with bulk fuel deliveries upon request. Willie Erasmus is the managing director and can be contacted via the following: Contact Details: E-Mail: Willie@eastcoastsa.net Telephone: Virginia Airport 031 564 9344
SA Flyer 2018|01
Telephone: Port Elizabeth 041 581 4194 Operating hours: Virginia Airport Mon – Fri. – 7:00 – 18:00 Sat – 7:00 – 17:00 Sun – 8:00 – 15:00
Tel: (011) 8054720 Fax: (011) 3156275 Email: cwp@cwprice.co.za
Port Elizabeth: Mon – Fri – 8:00 – 17:00 Sat – 8:00 – 14:00 Sun – 8:00 – 11:00
86 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
COMPANY PROFILES
F. GOMES UPHOLSTERS
FEDERAL AIRLINES
FIREBLADE AVIATION
F. Gomes Upholsters is a family based
With over 20 years of safari transfer
Fireblade Aviation (Pty) Ltd is a luxury
upholstery company. Established in 1979,
experience, Federal Airlines is known for its
FBO facility and an aviation department
the company specialises in aircraft, as well as
premium point to point shuttles that fly guests
(AOC/AMO). The company started in July
motor vehicle, boat and furniture upholstery.
to the country’s most luxurious and sought
2014, and is located in the Denel Precinct
after game lodges.
at OR Tambo International Airport. We can
F. Gomes Upholsters will refurbish your aircraft interior to look like new, giving it the
Operating since the ‘90s, they were the
class it deserves. They use only the best
pioneers. Their core service provides daily
quality materials, and their craftsmanship
shuttle
provide on-call service to customers and clients 24 hours a day. We facilitate international arrivals and
is outstanding. Mr Gomes, the founder
departures from OR Tambo International
departures from the Fireblade FBO, with a
of F. Gomes Upholsters, has been in the
Airport and Kruger-Mpumalanga International
fully compliant Customs and Immigration
upholstery business for close on 40 years
Airport to various luxury safari lodges
service. Fireblade Aviation’s fleet consists
and as such brings many years of experience
throughout the country. They have since
of a Bombardier Global 6000, a Bombardier
and professionalism to the company.
partnered with world leaders in luxury safari
Challenger 350, 2 x PC12s, a AW139 VVIP
F. Gomes Upholsters provides an expert
experiences as part of their commitment to
helicopter and a AW119 helicopter.
re-upholstery and upholstery service that
raise the bar in bespoke aviation. In addition
Our operations are ideally located for
caters to any upholstery need. No job is ever
to their shuttle flights, Federal Airlines can
corporate flights and general charters due to
too small or too large.
provide bespoke, private charter flights to
the close proximity to the Johannesburg CBD
any destination within southern Africa.
and our location at the Eastern Precinct of
F. in
Gomes
Upholsters
Johannesburg.
is
For
based
exceptional
craftsmanship at the best prices, contact F. Gomes Upholsters on:
For more information contact Federal Airlines on:
OR Tambo International Airport. We provide various on-site services,
Tel: +27 (0) 11 395 9000
namely, hangarage, Jet A-1, aircraft handling,
Tel: (011) 614 2471
Email: shuttle@fedair.com
cleaning and catering.
Email: delimacarla92@gmail.com
Website: www.fedair.com
Contact Fireblade Aviation on: Tel: (010) 595 3920 Email: fltops@firebladeaviation.com
SA Flyer 2019|02
Website: www.firebladeaviation.com
ABOUT US
Christodoulou & Mavrikis Inc Attorneys was established in 1991 with a team of international qualified and experienced lawyers, well versed in all matters relating to the aviation industry. We work together with a worldwide network of lawyers and industry players to ensure a seamless solution to all your aviation, corporate and commercial and litigation requirements.
• • • • • • • • • • •
Aircraft ownership and operating structures Aviation insurance law Aircraft maintenance issues and representing maintenance organizations Business aviation Domestic licensing and operating issues Financing, chartering and leasing of aircraft International Aviation Conventions such as the Montreal and Cape Town Conventions Negotiation and documentation for aircraft purchases and sales Passenger, cargo and baggage claims and liability Regulatory and Civil Aviation Authority issues Pilot representation
88 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
89 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
COMPANY PROFILES
FM Filters are looking for international
manufacturing technologies. The company
M25
and neighbouring country dealers. Please
designs for safety, performance and reliability.
F M Filters manufacture induction air
contact us if you are interested.
With more than a century of experience, they
F M FILTERS CC
filters to the highest standards in accordance
Contact Details:
have unmatched engineering expertise and
with South African Civil Aviation Regulations.
Tel: 039 3174705 / 039 3174745
offer a wide range of products that utilize
E-Mail: info@fmfilters.co.za
both aerospace grade alloys and advanced
Web: www.fmfilters.co.za
structural composites.
F M Filters based at Margate Airport have been in business since 1984 and hold 36
Contact:
different South African Civil Aviation Authority
Hartzell Propeller Inc.
approved manufacturing drawings for use on general aviation air filters, and offer filters
HARTZELL PROPELLER INC.
One Propeller Place
for most general aviation aircraft including
Hartzell Propeller Inc. is the global
Piqua, Ohio 45356
Aeronca, Aero Commander, Beechcraft,
leader in advanced aircraft propeller design
Toll-free for North America:
Cessna, Maule, Mooney, and Piper.
and manufacturing technology. Due to their
1-800-942-7767
Strict quality standards are enforced
concentration and commitment to propeller
International:
at all stages of manufacture. The filters
driven aviation, they are the supplier of choice
+1 (937) 778-4200
feature aluminium frames and cured pleated
for nearly every major aircraft manufacturer. The company traces its history to 1914
elements. Rubber gaskets are water, oil, Mesh
when a relationship between Orville Wright
HELI-TRACTOR
overlays are galvanised steel or aluminium
and Robert Hartzell led to the manufacture
Heli-Tractor was started by Eugene
for
of the first Hartzell airplane propeller in 1917.
Kalafatis in 2000. He is a farmer and a
The company’s founding principle of ‘Built
commercial pilot and the need to spray his
on Honor’ has been central to its corporate
own farm started the concept of “heli ag
values from the very beginning.
spraying commercially”.
solvent
and
enhanced
chemical strength,
resistant. durability
and
appearance. Discounted prices are offered to Aircraft Maintenance Organisations and Aviation
Today, Hartzell aircraft propellers are
Parts Stockists. No minimum quantity required when
produced
ordering – cost effective door to door courier
of
available.
certification
90 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
using
sophisticated skills
an
innovative
engineering and
Heli-Tractor is based in KZN but covers
blend
the whole of South Africa. It provides services
analytics,
to the biggest export farmers and the smallest
world
class
ones too. Heli-Tractor was the first to use the
AMO 227
FLIGHT SAFETY THROUGH MAINTENANCE
Overhaul / Shockload / Repair of Continental and Lycoming Aircraft engines
Hangar no 4, Wonderboom Airport , Pretoria PO Box 17699, Pretoria North, 0116 Tel: (012) 543 0948/51, Fax: (012) 543 9447, email: aeroeng@iafrica.com
SA Flyer 2017|10
Overhaul Engine Components Overhaul and supply of Hartzell / McCauley and Fix pitch Propellers
COMPANY PROFILES
Heli-Tractor spray system on the R44 range.
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT
Heli-Tractor was also the first in the world to
CLEARANCES (IFC)
LEADING EDGE AVIATION Leading Edge Aviation is an SACAA
make use of the Trac-Map KML GPS system
International Flight Clearances (IFC) is a
approved Aircraft Maintenance Organisation
and the AgLaser in a helicopter. Heli-Tractor
Lanseria Airport based aviation logistics and
(AMO 261) based at Nelspruit airfield in
pioneered the underslung 1400kg fertilizer/
consulting company. The operation runs 24
Mpumalanga.
seeder bucket for the UH1-H Huey in Africa,
hours/365 days a year. No flight is too big
Leading Edge Aviation (LEA) specializes
and are now the first to design and build a
or too small, we handle all types of flights
in aerial firefighting and heavy lift operations
Huey UH1H spray and firefighting tank.
and aircraft (business charter, ferry, cargo,
across Southern Africa utilizing the Bell UH-1H
survey, VVIP and recreational). Our clients
and the Sikorsky UH-60A helicopters. With
are spread across the globe.
lifting capacities up to 3000kg, our helicopters
Heli-Tractor is the first in the world outside of South America to make use of Electrostatic spraying. Heli-Tractor offers ES
Our services include overflight/landing
are able to assist across a wide range of
kits for all ground tractor and aerial needs.
clearances, ground handling, flight planning,
operations including wildlife conservation,
They also offer the famous Cloudburst fire
airport estimated fees, VIP arrangements,
animal relocation and utility operations.
buckets from New Zealand.
crew transport and hotels, credit facilities in
Heli-Tractor has just been given the
multiple locations across the globe.
In addition, LEA cater to numerous fields including painting, refurbishing and restoring
Africa agency for the BELL 206 composite
We pride ourselves in the fact that we
of aircraft, as well as helicopter interiors
AMT Helicopter tail rotor blades from Australia
are aviation problem solvers. We view our
and exteriors, including fitment of SACAA
with a 5000TBO.
involvement with any flight as if it were
approved windows. LEA has the only SACAA
Contact:
our own and aim to satisfy the end user
approved painting booth in the Lowveld
Eugene Kalafatis: 082 652 6705
whom ultimately utilises aircraft to satisfy their
and carries out all painting using Boeing
Email: helitractor@vodamail.co.za
transportation needs.
and Airbus approved products. Our interior
www.helitractor.co.za
Contact International Flight Clearances on:
refurbishment division carries out the finest leather and upholstery work. All painting
Tel: +27 11 701 2330 or +27 76 983 1089 (24 hours)
and leather work includes CRMAs for the applicable aircraft. Peter, Zeph, Sipho, Alfred
Email: flightops@flyifc.co.za
and Lucas, along with the team, will ensure
Website: www.flyifc.co.za
all your refurbishment expectations are met and exceeded.
92 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
SA Flyer 2019|02
AVIATION FUEL East Coast Airways currently operate two fuel depots - in KZN as well as Port Elizabeth, supplying our clien ts with Avgas, Jet A1 and aviation oil. We operate 7 days a week with bulk and mobile fuel deliveries upon request.
For any queries contact our Managing Director Willie Erasmus at Willie@eastcoastsa.net or our offices: Virginia Airport on 031 564 9344 | Port Elizabeth on 041 581 4194
OPERATING HOURS: Virginia Airport Mon – Fri. – 7:00 – 18:00 Sat – 7:00 – 17:00 Sun – 8:00 – 15:00 East Coast Airways
Port Elizabeth Mon – Fri – 8:00 – 17:00 Sat – 8:00 – 14:00 Sun – 8:00 – 11:00
www.eastcoastairways.co.za
93 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
COMPANY PROFILES
LEA has also assisted for many years with the sourcing, purchasing and importation
LITSON & ASSOCIATES RISK
MELVILL AND MOON AIRCRAFT SEAT
MANAGEMENT SERVICES (PTY) LTD
COVER & LUGGAGE COMPANY
of many civilian and firefighting helicopters,
L&A RMS operates globally through
Melvill and Moon is well known for
including Bell UH-1Hs for operators and
its offices situated in Somerset West, Cape
their removable 100% cotton custom made
private owners across Southern Africa.
Town, South Africa, specialising in software
canvas seat covers. The company has been
tools for primarily the Aviation Industry.
in existence for over 20 years supplying
Contact Tel: +27 13 7413654
Our software includes:
the local market as well as exporting Safari
Email: office@leaviation.co.za
eSMS-S ™ - Simplified : an ICAO
Luggage and 4x4 Seat covers worldwide.
Website: www.leadingedgeaviation.co.za
LITSON & ASSOCIATES (PTY) LTD L&A operates globally through its offices
compliant electronic SMS system designed
Added to their range are custom made,
for small to medium Operators - used globally
certified, aircraft seat covers. The patterns
- affordable, easy to use, available in English
they already have in their range covers most
and Spanish. Full time Help Desk for set-up
of the models for Cessna, Beechcraft, Pilatus,
of the system and for ongoing assistance and
Airvan, Mooney, Kodiak, Airbus, Augusta,
training. Applications for Android & iOS.
Bell and Robinson, and these are available
situated in Somerset West, Cape Town, South Africa, specialising in Oil & Gas Aviation
eREP ™ - Where all Audit reports are tracked to closure with Client access
to order with optional extra’s such as leather piping, especially embroidered logos or
Auditing, BARS Audits, Desk Top Studies,
eTEND ™ - L&A Tender and Bid
initials as well as a choice of two different
Aviation Safety Reviews, Tender Evaluations,
evaluation tool, offering pre-contract start
colours Savannah Sand or Charcoal Grey,
Heli-deck Inspections, SACAA approved
up oversight / inspections of airfields and
both are fully washable.
Aviation Training (including SMS (including
offshore heli-decks / onshore heli-pads.
Contact
RPAS), Aviation and Lead Aviation Auditing,
For further information:
Johannesburg:
DG, COHS, QMS Occurrence Investigation)
Tel: 27(0) 8517187
Jacky Guthrie +27 (0)82 218 2844
both within South Africa and worldwide.
Email: esms@litson.co.za
jacky@melvillandmoon.com
Corporate in-house training our speciality.
Web: www.esms-s.co.za
Cape Town:
For further information:
James Melvill +27 (0) 82 803 4993
Tel: +27(0) 8517187
james@melvillandmoon.com
Email: info@litson.co.za
Port Elizabeth H/O :
Web: www.litson.co.za
Dael (041) 484 6631 orders@melvillandmoon.com
AIRFRAME CONSUMABLES FILTRATION BRAKES AVIONICS & INSTRUMENTS
Airshift Aircraft Sales, Acquisition and Consulting has emerged as a trusted resource in aircraft sales, putting its clients’ interests ahead of its own and by being able to deliver results when others cannot.
ENGINES HOSES & DUCTS
Our capabilities in both marketing and advertising power span the globe and reach a worldwide community of candidate buyers across expanding economies.
LIGHTING
ENGINE ACCESSORIES IGNITION & ELECTRICAL
Navin Chetty Sales Consultant +27 (0) 60 985 1285 | +27 (0) 87 701 0759 navin@airshift.co.za | www.airshift.co.za
TO THOSE WHO LOVE AVIATION, THE SKY IS HOME 94 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
SA Flyer 2019|02
BAFFLES & ENGINE MOUNTS
Following a management buyout in August 2001, Placo Engine Division became known as APCO Engine Division. Spear headed by Tony Rodrigues and Henk Joubert this engine shop has spread its wings. APCO has full in-house capacity to do all the required work on Lycoming and Continental engines. APCO has an NDT facility, machine shop, component division, hose shop, Aluminium welding and Cadmium plating capability, engine division and engine bench testing facilities.
On request, various mods or STCs can be carried out. NTC engine balancing and porting and corrosion protective applications are available, ranging from polyurethane base paints to the more durable external ceramic coatings. APCO is also an Engine and Component Certified Centre as well as an approved MT Governor Service Station.
All personnel are qualified and have had the appropriate training either locally, or at the factory. APCO prides itself in giving the best customer service, workmanship and value as far as reciprocating engines are concerned. This with their turn key service and written warranties makes them an obvious first choice when engine overhauls, repairs, mods etc are to be carried out.
Contact APCO on Tel: +27 12 543 0775 / 543 0181, or Email: tonyrodrigues@mweb.co.za / henkjoubert@mweb.co.za
COMPANY PROFILES
NORTH EAST AVIONICS In our 20 years of business, North East
Contact North East Avionics:
Williams International and Turbomeca.
Tel: +27 13 741 2986
We provide on the job training and
Avionics has established itself as one of
Email: keith@northeastavionics.
consulting on the equipment and on all
the leading avionics service and installation
co.za, jenny@northeastavionics.co.za,
balancing.
facilities in South Africa.
deborah@northeastavionics.co.za
Customers throughout Southern and East
Website: www.northeastavionics.co.za
engineers, giving fast solutions, saving time
Africa have come to rely on the more than
and flying costs.
30 years technical expertise offered by North East Avionics’ engineers, and the company
The equipment is designed to be rugged and user friendly for aircraft maintenance
For more information, contact Sky-Tech
SKY-TECH
continues to meet the needs of these
Sky-Tech ground equipment has more
customers in a very fast moving, technology
than 30 years’ experience in design, and
Tel: 082 720 5210
driven industry.
manufactures
Email: sky-tech@telkomsa.net
All technicians are fully trained to undertake complex installations, and receive regular recurrent training from leading avionics manufacturers in the USA, giving us
ground
handling
wheels,
on:
helicopter dollies, tow bars and towing tugs for all types of helicopters. We specially design the wheels to be rugged for Africa.
SPORT PLANE BUILDERS CC Sport Plane Builders cc (AMO 1189)
the edge when it comes to warranty and non-
We convert hydraulically operated wheels
is based at Wonderboom in Hangar 58C,
warranty repairs, overhauls and installations.
to mechanically operated wheels on the
on the south side. Sport Plane Builders cc
Eurocopter and Bell helicopter range.
has the rating A, B, C, W and X (welding).
North East Avionics is approved by the SACAA as a full service avionics repair, overhaul and installation facility. We are factory
We also represent Aces Balancing Equipment from Knoxville Tennessee USA.
It is mainly involved in the repair service and manufacture of non-type certified aircraft
approved distributors for Garmin, Genesys
With the equipment Shy-Tech does
(NTCA), and is also the holder of a Part 148
Aerosystems, L-3 Communications, Avidyne,
propeller balance, helicopter track and
manufacturing organisation license (M712).
Shadin, JPI, Electronics International, Insight,
balance, and engine vibration. It is the
Operating since 2005 and run by Pierre van
Sandel, Bose and David Clark.
approved equipment for: CFE Company,
der Walt with his team, they are involved in
General
various initiatives:
North East Avionics is an active member
Electric,
Honeywell,
McCauley
of the Aircraft Electronics Association in the
Propellers, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Robinson
USA.
Helicopter Company, Rolls-Royce, Allison,
•
Running a composite workshop where composite repairs and parts
OSHKOSH In comfort 23RD ANNUAL TOUR
Our 2018 Tour was totally sold out - the only cost increase for 2019 is the R/$ from R13.45 to R14.45
OSHKOSH: 22-29 JULY R19,400 TWIN SHARING
OPTIONAL: WASHINGTON 18-22 JULY R16,900 TWIN SHARING Includes the Flying Circus; Udvar Hazy; Air and Space; Flight to Chicago
021-788-8440 Calvin@Designer.co.za www.designertours.co.za
96 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
SA Flyer 2018|12
Plus R15,400 Airfare if required = R34,800 taxes included Spacious, Air-conditioned, en Suite 4 Star Accommodation & Breakfasts Daily 20 Minute Shuttle Service Hotel to Main Gate Luxury Coach from and back to Chicago
Heli-Afrique
in We specialise
gene
hment.
terior refurbis
rior and ex s, repairs, inte
, modification
ce, upgrades
maintenan ral helicopter
S IN E S S.
• SA341 series • AS350/ 355 5 series 13 0/ • EC120/13 ries se 5 10 • BO ouglas D d al • McDon 22/R44 • Robinson R e rvice availabl • Hagarage se g engines. n and Lycomin so lli A , ca ec Turbom d Lesotho Zimbabwe an aintenance on a, m bi e lin am Z nd of co 0, Republic First and se s : SACAA # 83 CAA approval
SA Flyer 2018|11
HEL
0 YEARS E
H AV E 4 E W – E U IQ I AFR
IN T H E B U X P E R IE N C E
Hangar 56, 10 Viking Way, Rand Airport Tel: 011 827 8632 n Tino: 083 458 2172 n Office: 083 446 0066 Email: technical@heli-afrique.co.za and info@heli-afrique.co.za
97 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
COMPANY PROFILES
are manufactured, including non-
•
TSHUKUDU TRAILERS Tshukudu Trailers, founded in 2008,
Turtle-PAC from Australia has developed
type and non-type certified aircraft.
specialises in building high quality tanker
mini long-range collapsible tanks for light
They also model and construct new
trailers to transport all types of aviation fuels,
aircraft.
composite plugs and moulds. Sport
water, diesel, paraffin, oil and petrol. Standard specifications governing the
range boasts collapsible ferry tanks and
carriage and composite components
transport of these liquids are strictly adhered
air cargo tanks for fuel that can be used in
for the new Bat Hawk.
to so that Tshukudu’s trailers meet the
the fuselage and underslung helicopters,
They
specifications of SABS, NRCS and National
and provide doubling revenue runs for
Road Regulations.
aircraft operators and are available for both
also
have
manufacturing
manufacturing
•
All trailers come complete with all
•
registration documentation and roadworthy
Available sizes range from 66 Gallons to
well as servicing and restoring them.
certificate, and are ready to be registered for
529 Gallons, and all models are collapsible
Partners in the new PCAD 700 6
use on the national roads.
which means they are easily stowed for return
Tshukudu Trailers go out of their way
Building to order the Ravin 500 – full
to exceed the expectations of every client,
Composite Comanche look alike.
offering
Building the turbine Compair – a six
increased flexibility and greater value.
to eight seat Walter 601D turbine •
commercial and military aircraft.
Assist owners in building RVs, as
seat single turbine aircraft project. •
The commercial and military products
Plane Builders cc supply the under
licenced for steel and aluminium •
TURTLE-PAC
structural and structural repairs on
outstanding
customer
service,
Tshukudu Trailers cover all the popular
powered tail draggers.
tanker sizes, but will manufacture any unit to
Maintain and rebuild various Rotax
meet its clients’ requirements.
engine powered aircraft.
Turtle-PAC also offers flexible marine fuel tanks for small offshore vessels as well as super bush collapsible diesel tanks for trucks and off-road vehicle use. Turtle-Pac also manufactures a large range of underwater airlift bags for the oil and
The factory is located at Ruimsig,
Contact Sport Plane Builders cc on:
flights.
Roodepoort, Gauteng.
gas offshore industry and naval use. Including mine recovery and helicopter flotation bags.
Contact Tshukudu Trailers on:
Cell: 083 361 3181
Tel: 011 021 0833
extremely ease use with lightweight yet tough
Email: pmvdwalt@gmail.com
Cell: 083 512 2342
construction.
www.sportplanebuilders.co.za
Email: trailers.tshukudu@gmail.com
SA Flyer 2019|02
Tel: 0872308468/69
The products are unique and combine
http://www.turtlepac.com
Composite Tail Rotor Blades
Cloudburst a modern and reliable approach to aerial fire suppression. The 21st century features of the Cloudburst Fire bucket provide rapid dip filling, fast valve operation, foam
NEW TO MARKET for BELL 206 JetRanger • LongRanger STC imminent
bladders attachable to the wall of the bucket to keep chemical clear of your aircraft and global 24/7 spares and after sales support making the Cloudburst Fire bucket a wise investment.
• • • • •
5,000 hour time life, twice the life of standard OEM blades 30% lower hourly operating costs Corrosion resistant and impervious to saltwater Replaceable bushings and abrasion strips FAA and CASA STC approved
Significant noise reduction, 68% reduction over OEM blades. Heli-Tractor are the Africa awarded agents. Price – $14500 (per set)
TECHNICAL SPECIFIC ATI ON S: • Single or multi drop availability • 24V or inline air compressor options available • 200lt – 10 000lt capacities available Go to our website to see our full line of products and fire bucket comparison tests.
F OR MORE I NF ORMAT I ON CONT ACT US: Heli-Tractor South Africa P: +27 826 526 705 E: helitractor@vodamail.co.za | W: helitractor.co.za
98 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
COMPANY PROFILES
TYNAY AVIATION Tynay Aviation is a turbine aircraft maintenance organisation based at Lanseria
Today, Tynay’s services provided include: • South Africa Civil Aviation approvals for Category A, B, C, E and W
on Beechcraft 90, 200, 300 and 1900 series. • M anaging
complete
aircraft
International Airport. The company started in
•
Beechcraft 90 Series
November 2009, after a gap in the market
•
Beechcraft 200 Series
was noticed: providing a personalised service
•
Beechcraft 300 Series
to owners or operators at a market related
•
Beechcraft 1900 Series
• PT6A hot section inspections
cost.
•
Cessna 208 Series
• Pre-purchase inspections anywhere in
Tynay started in a hangar which could only accommodate two King Air 1900Ds
refurbishment from start to finish. • Complete corrosion and structural inspections.
Pratt and Whiney Engines for the relevant Aircraft Types
the world • Fuel nozzle flow check and clean for the
at a time, but it wasn’t long before they
•
Bombardier Dash 8-100 Series
had to start looking for something bigger.
•
Bell 205 Series
The business has continued to grow, and
•
Bell 206 Series
Thanks to Tynay’s extensive service
Tynay has now relocated to a new location
•
Bell 407 Series
offering, we cater to a wide and diverse
at Lanseria which offers an even more
Avionics, Electrical and Instruments
list of cliental, who in turn support various
professional and spacious workplace. With
• Spares sourcing and procurement from
aid organisations, mining companies, oil
a compliment of 14 hands-on staff, we pride
local and foreign approved suppliers.
companies, local charter companies and
ourselves on the fact that we provide a high-
• Interior and exterior refurbishment
international medevac institutions. We pride
quality cost effective and efficient service to
carried out via a highly recommended
ourselves on being able to support our Hart
facility
Aviation, Litson and Associates and BARS
the turbine aircraft market, evidenced by our
Pratt and Whitney PT6 series
continued growth. We have recently added
• Maintenance planning/tracking carried
the Avionics, Electrical and Instruments to
out on mentioned aircraft types using
our capability enabling us to provide and even
an Internationally recognised tracking
better streamlined, cost saving, in house
and planning system.
service to our customers.
approved clients to the highest standard required. Our licensed engineers have a total of 60 years’ experience on turbine aircraft, ranging
• Landing gear overhauls or inspections
from the ATR42 down to the Cessna Caravan
THE BEST OR NOTHING Professional Hand Built Bowsers Diesel, Avgas, Jet-A1 Bowsers Bakkie Units & Site Service Units
www.tshukudutrailers.co.za Base Line & Executive Line Models Available
Sizes 500L,1000L ,1500L,2000L, 2500L
Executive Line
Contact : Heinz Tel : +27 (0) 11 973 4443 Cell: 082 720 5210 Email: sky-tech@telkomsa.net www.sky-tech,za.com
100 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
SA Flyer 2015|05
Ground Handling Wheels 083 512 2342 trailers.tshukudu@gmail.com
DART AERONAUTICAL Pieter Viljoen +27 83 652 4421 pieterviljoen@mweb.co.za Jaco Kelly +27 84 498 4916 jacokelly@mweb.co.za
GFC 600 GFC 500
New Garmin Autopilot Options
SA Flyer 2018|11
D2 Delta Series
COMPANY PROFILES
208B. Most of our experience, however, has been built up over the
WINGS ‘N THINGS
years on the Beechcraft turbine products, enabling us to support
Wings ‘n Things is a specialist pilot supplies shop based at
the product in a professional and efficient manner. Supporting the
Lanseria and Grand Central airports, catering for all levels of aviation
engineering staff is a group of assistants who have a vast knowledge
enthusiasts and is the preferred supplier to many aspiring and
of the products we support.
professional pilots.
Additionally, if you want to buy an aircraft, we will do the Pre-
We are authorised dealers of some of the world’s premium
purchase Inspection, logbook and history research and draw up a
aviation brands, including Jeppesen, David Clark, Bose, and ASA. We
detailed report, allowing you to make an informed decision as to
are also resellers of Pooley’s, Garmin, Icom, RAM Mounts and many
whether the aircraft is going to make, or cost, you money.
more local and international aviation brands.
Contact Tynay Aviation on:
So, whether you are a professional or recreational pilot, student
Tel: +27 (11) 659 1157
pilot, aviation enthusiast, looking for a gift for that someone special
Workshop Manager:
or just looking to spoil yourself, visit one of our shops at Lanseria or
Gert Olivier
Grand Central, or shop online, for the widest range of aviation related
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 676 1052
products and gifts. Visit our website to see the full range of products
E-mail: gert@tynay-aviation.co.za
that we carry. Contact Wings ‘n Things on:
Avionics Manager:
Tel: +27 (11) 701 3209
Brent Webber
Email: lanseria@wingsnthings.co.za or info@wingsnthings.co.za
Mobile: +27 (0) 82570 8852
Website: www.wingsnthings.co.za
E-mail: avionics@tynay-aviation.co.za Accountable Manager: Robin Bowen Mobile: +27 (0) 82 088 6664 Email: robin@tynay-aviation.co.za Website: www.tynay.com
Building on the success of Dart Aeronautical and M&D Aircraft Electrical, Dart Aircraft Electrical opened its doors in January 2015. Dart Aircraft Electrical (DAE) took over from M&D and has acquired all M&Ds test and bench equipment, thereby maintaining M&Ds capabilities. DAE has also retained the services of M&Ds Matthew Joubert, and is therefore well-equipped to cater to all aircraft electrical requirements. Matthew has over 17 years’ experience and brings a high degree of professionalism to the aircraft electrics trade. He specialises in fuel pumps, magnetos, alternators and starters. Sharing the premises with Dart Aeronautical, DAE is located on the ground floor of Aeronautical House at Rand Airport. DAE is able to sell, overhaul, service and repair the following: •
Starters
•
Alternators
•
Fuel Pumps
•
Magnetos
•
Strobe Boxes
•
Aircraft electrical wiring installation and repairs
•
Electronic components
COMPANY PROFILES
beautiful environment that we live in. A variety of plains game roams
ZANDSPRUIT BUSH & AERO ESTATE Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate is a vast 1 000ha Estate near Hoedspruit. Of the 1 000ha, 350ha has been demarcated for
freely on the Estate, affording you the opportunity to watch the miracle of nature from the comfort of your own home.
residential development of African bush homes. A top class equestrian
Contact Details:
centre has been developed where owners can stable their own horses, Martin den Dunnen
take riding lessons or go on an outride on the estate. The balance of the Estate, comprising of 650ha of land, is left as an untouched Wilderness area where residents may enjoy game
Mobile: +27 82 449 8895 E-Mail: martin@zandspruit.co.za
drives, horse rides, cycling, walking, jogging or a sunset picnic. There are 200 stands that make up the Bush & Aero Estate, of which 38 stands are specific Aero stands located along the 1 000m hard surfaced runway. These stands give you the option of building your own hangar next to your home, enabling you to arrive at your property in your own plane and hanger it right next your bush home. Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate offers a variety of pre-designed homes for you to choose from. Each design has been diligently
FM FILTERS M25
SA Flyer 2019|02
thought through to ensure that one enjoys the maximum benefit of the
Developing and manufacturing of aircraft induction air filters. Our team has over 100 years’ experience between us!
YOUR SAFETY, OUR CONCERN SINCE 1984
®
ER UR 712 CT M A F E NU NC MA LICE A CA OVED PR AP
®
NAL ATIO G ERN URIN INT O B H EIG RY T &N N U CO S LER DEA D! IRE U Q RE
Manufacturers of SACAA approved air filters since 1984. We have filters available for most general aviation aircraft including: AERONCA, AERO COMMANDER, BEECHCRAFT, CESSNA, MAULE, MOONEY AND PIPER. CONTACT US: Hangar 16, Margate Airport, Margate, 4270 Tel: 039 317 4705 | 039 3174745 info@fmfilters.co.za | www.fmfilters.co.za
SPORT PLANE BUILDERS CC AMO 1189, M712 Hangar 58, Unit C, Wonderboom Airport Landline: +27 87 230 8468 Cell : 083 361 3181 Email: pmvdwalt@mweb.co.za Website: www.SportPlanebuilders.co.za
SPORT PLANE BUILDERS SERVICE MAINTAIN AND DEVELOP VARIOUS NTC AIRCRAFTS AND COMPONENTS.
SA Flyer 2019|02
SPECIALIZING IN RAVIN 500, RV RANGE AND TECNAM’S
104 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
Maintenance and service various NTC aircraft types. We also have a composite repair facilities for type and non-type certified aircraft. OFFICIAL TECNAM SPARES & TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SA Flyer 2019|02
Leading Edge Aviation started in 1996 as an aircraft refurbishment business under the stewardship of Mark and Charmaine Jackson, ably supported by Peter Fetting as senior manager. Building on their early success and hard work including humanitarian disaster relief, Leading Edge Aviation branched out into helicopter firefighting with the acquisition of their first Bell UH-1H helicopter in 2006. A second UH-1H joined the team in 2012. Both helicopters assisted on numerous disaster fires and emergency incidents across South Africa. A world-first event with the purchase of our Sikorsky UH-60A helicopter which arrived at the Leading Edge Aviation facility in late 2017 continues the drive to providing safer, stronger and ever more capable aircraft to the fire fighting, conservation and industrial community across South Africa.
SHARING THE PASSION Leading Edge Aviation CC Hangar A1, Nelspruit Airfield, Kaapsehoop Road, Nelspruit, 1200 Tel: +27 13 741 3654 / 013 741 4835 | Cell: 082 450 2097 | www.leadingedgeaviation.co.za
106 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
SA Flyer 2018|10
AIRCRAFT INTERIORS & EXTERIORS
CAA No AMO 620
Tel: (011) 659-1962 Cell: 076 810 9751 Fax: (011) 659-1964 Email: francois@aircraftcompletions.co.za Hangar 107 C and D, Gate 13, Lanseria Airport
GENERAL MAINTENANCE & REFURBISHMENT ON LIGHT AIRCRAFT COMPONENT WORKSHOP
We specialize in CSU’s, carburettors and TCM Fuel System overhauls and repairs.
SA Flyer 2018|10
Re-assembly and import of CofA inspections. Aircraft Sales.
Hangar 6, Wonderboom Airport. AMO1208 Tel: Riekert (SR) 082 555 2808 | Riekert (JR) 082 749 9256 | Andre (Proppie) 082 974 9713 avtech1208@gmail.com | proppie@avtechcomp.co.za
108 February 2019 | www.saflyer.com
“We Keep you Flying” Q
Source & Supply Aircraft parts & consumables for Fixed Wing / Beechcraft / King Air / Dornier 328 / Citation / Embraers / Learjet & Home Build Aircraft. All parts come with Approved Release Certificates.
Q
Locate “Hard to Find” Aircraft Parts & consumables
Q
Handle Component Repairs & Exchanges.
Q
Agent for Aircraft Spruce
Q
Based inside Cirrus Hangar no 24, Lanseria International Airport
Contact: Daniella Mawson Mobile no: 082 576 8853 E-mail: daniellamawson@telkomsa.net / dmaviationspares@gmail.com
HANGAR 24, GATE 5, LANSERIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, LANSERIA, 1748. SA Flyer 2019|01
0,
r3
ga an oH t t or ved mo d Airp e v n a Ra eh
W
Flyonics work in conjunction with Aircraft Manufacturers, Design Organisations and our Customer Base using the Correct Equipment, Reputable Suppliers and Tooling of the Highest Specifications.
WE OFFER • • • • • •
Avionics design Avionics consulting Avionics servicing Avionics installation Avionic repairs include line maintenance & bench repairs Repairs & Maintenance on a wide range of aircraft
CALL MICHAEL FOR ANY OF YOUR AVIONICS AND ELECTRICAL REQUIREMENTS TODAY!
082 686 2374 michael@flyonics.co.za Hangar 30, Viking Way, Rand Airport
109 www.saflyer.com | February 2019
Edition 124 FEBRUARY 2019
THE 747 50 TH ANNIVERSARY
AIRLINE PILOTS ARE THEY BUSY?
AIRBUS VS BOEING Is there a new contender? DOES AFRICAN AIR CARGO HAVE A FUTURE? PRICE: United States Dollars $3.50 | South African Rands R39.50 | Kenyan Shillings KES 300.00 | Nigerian Naira NGN600.00
QUALITY ASSURED PRE-OWNED AIRCRAFT FOR SALE 1976 Dassault Falcon 10
> 17,185.4 Hours Since New > 10,527 Cycles Since New > Engines enrolled on 100% JSSI PLUS program > Collins Pro Line Avionics Suite > Paint and Interior Refurbished 2016 > 1C and 2C Inspections Due 04/12/2018 $250,000 Excluding VAT
Various Beechcraft 1900C/D Airliners Some equipped with:
> Autopilot > Aft Lavatory > 18 or 19 Passenger Seats
2013 Piper Mirage > > > > > > >
275 Hours Since New Garmin G1000 Avionics Suite Garmin GFC-700 Autopilot with Yaw Damper King KTA-870 Traffic Advisory System Terrain Awareness and Warning System FIKI Air Conditioning
2008 Bell 407
> Garmin GNS-530W/420 Nav/Com/GPS > Garmin GTX-328 Transponder with Mode S > Sandel SN-3500 Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator > Flight Instrument Group > Air Conditioning > Wire Strike Protection System > Light Weight Pop-Up Floats $1,895,000 Excluding VAT
1980 Beechcraft King Air F90 XP135A > > > >
6,677 Hours Since New Blackhawk Engines: 206/206 Hours Since New Propellers: 532/532 Hours Since New Dual Garmin G600 Electronic Flight Information Systems > Garmin GTN-750/650 Nav/Com/GPS Systems > Dual Garmin GTX-33 W/EX Transponders (ADS-B Out Enabled)
2014 Cirrus SR22T G5 GTS > > > >
690 Hours Since New Cirrus Garmin Perspective+ Avionics Suite BF Goodrich WX-500 Stormscope Garmin GFC-700 Autopilot/Flight Director System > Yaw Damper and Electronic Stability Protection > Air Conditioning
NEW 2018 Bell 505 Jet Ranger X > > > > > > >
Garmin 1000H Avionics Suite Transponder with Mode S Engine Indication System Fuel Flow Monitoring Inlet Barrier Filter Air Conditioning Cargo Hook Provisions
$1,415,000 Excluding VAT
2013 Quest Kodiak > > > > >
2,600 Hours Since New Garmin 1000 Avionics Suite Air Conditioning 10 Place Interior Cargo Pod
$1,275,000 Excluding VAT
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GIB Events Calender
7 10 Bush Pilot - Hugh Pryor 13 Subcriptions 16 A & B Duopoly? 17 Face to Face - Siza Mzimela 22 Boeing 747 50 Year Anniversary 25 Defence - Gripen 31 Federal Airlines Charter Directory 36 State of the African Airline Industry 37 AEP AMO Listing 41 Back Pages 43 AFRAA AGA: Cargo 45 Tail Feathers - SaraLima 48 Airline Ops - Mike Gough
I
N December I was pleased to be granted an exclusive interview by Ms Siza Mzimela, the Interim CEO of SA Express. In her judicious words (published in this issue) she notes that the South African Civil Aviation authority is ‘surprisingly tough’. This has become increasingly evident in the draconian manner the SACAA has been shutting down what it deems to be substandard operators. At time of writing, two airports have fallen short of the SACAA’s requirements: Blantyre in Malawi and Mthatha in South Africa. The reported problems with the airports relate to broken fences and inadequate firefighting services. This forced a number of airlines to halt flights to these airports. But the elephant in the room remains the grounding of CemAir. This IOSA certificated airline has been the subject of intense scrutiny by the regulator, and after its second major grounding, in early December 2018, it was just a matter of time before the SACAA’s inspectors uncovered yet more claimed defects. The expensive part of the airline’s fleet was grounded the day after Christmas and the whole operation was grounded on 11 January. CemAir once again had to resort to the courts to attempt to get its grounding overturned, or at least temporarily uplifted. This time the airline failed to convince the judge that the CAA was wrong, and at time of writing it appears that the airline will give up its battle with the South African regulator and ply its trade elsewhere in Africa. The damage done by this grounding is huge. Apart from the unemployment of more than 300 CemAir employees, the loss of essential connectivity will be felt for
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years to come – some routes that CemAir alone serviced may now not be served at all, and other routes where CemAir competed, will now become much more expensive. All of this is bad for the South African economy and will cost it billions of Rands over time. In an Op-Ed piece for the general media on the CemAir grounding I wrote: “There has been an unprecedented increase in the frequency of airlines grounded by the CAA. In the twenty years to 2018 it was almost unheard of for an airline to be grounded. In marked contrast to the two cases in the past twenty years, this year the CAA has grounded airlines three times: CemAir on 2 February, then SA Express on 24 May and then CemAir again on 12 December. Either the airline industry has suddenly turned bad – or the CAA has run amok. With the further partial grounding of CemAir on 26 December and then the complete grounding on 11 January there was real concern that the CAA may indeed have ‘run amok’. I received numerous other reports of heavy handedness – most notably from AMOs that had their licences pulled on apparently minor grounds. The CAA may be continuously raising its standards and the weak or small players simply can no longer meet these standards, but it may also be a regulator in desperate need of what some have called ‘responsible adult supervision’. The question that must be asked is; “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes – who guards the guardians?”
Guy Leitch
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SA Flyer 2019| 01
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Airline Ops
Mike Gough
WHAT WE DO Recently, after a long day consisting of a return flight from Johannesburg to Entebbe – around eight and a half hours flying, within a duty period of around eleven hours, I had a passenger pop into the flight deck after shut-down for a chat.
A
FTER introducing himself, the well-dressed gent proceeded to give me his summary of the flight from Entebbe. “Reasonable effort”, he said. “The take-off was good, the landing could have been better, but the ‘long middle part’ was not good. Too much turbulence, and next time could I please find a smoother route?” Being somewhat bemused by this critique, I smiled and thanked him for his input. He picked up his hand luggage and disappeared down the stairs, happy that he had bettered the operation. It’s fascinating to see how little of the process of flying a modern airliner is grasped by even the most well-heeled, seemingly educated passenger. A short insert produced by CNN a few weeks ago, extolling the virtues of the Airbus 220 (the Bombardier / Airbus tie up that saw the C-Series program being ‘donated’ to Airbus), elicited a similar complete lack of understanding of what the pilot’s role is in the flightdeck, if the comments on social media are anything to go by. One chap offered his sagely insight by mentioning that he is old enough to remember when pilots used to fly the aircraft. Winston Churchill commented after the Second World War: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with your average voter.” Likewise, trying to take such comments
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seriously, is the best argument against logging onto any of those platforms. As for a five-minute conversation with your average passenger, I have to bring my A-Game in terms of patience to the table. So, what exactly does a pilot ‘still’ do in the cockpit of an airliner? Apart from staring at the all-knowing autopilot and drinking coffee? Let us consider a straight forward operation from Johannesburg to
I start the paperwork – although some has thankfully migrated onto our company iPads, which reduces the impact on our forests somewhat. NOTAMs (Notices To Airmen) are our first consideration. Despite the fact that telex machines are long gone, the format is still abbreviated to be sent by this method. Thus, we ‘read’ a disjointed, abbreviated document, which for the primary and diversion airports, as well
Despite the fact that telexes were phased out decades ago, NOTAMS are still published in telex-gibberish.
Maputo, for no other reason than it’s the shortest flight I do in the Airbus. I arrive at work, an hour before departure time. A click of the mouse starts the Flight and Duty hour glass, and the clock is ticking in terms of how long I will be legal on the job. At dispatch, the First Officer (FO) and
as the enroute airspace, consists of several pages. If we miss something due to the ridiculous presentation method, I carry the can. This tells us what is broken, new, being excavated, downgrades of Fire-fighting equipment, VIP movements (Aaaaargh!) and just about anything else about the
operation that the powers that be feel like lumping on the pilots’ shoulders. Next is aircraft serviceability. This can make a significant impact on how cheerful our day will be. Being an Airbus, the effect of one system outage can have an effect on several others. We can legally go if something is unserviceable or even missing, provided we have the paperwork for it, and make allowance for it from a performance and fuel point of view. Weather check: departure, enroute, destination, destination alternate, takeoff alternate (if required) and back in Johannesburg and Lanseria as this is an RSD (Return Same Day) flight. Flight plan check. The CFP (Computerised Flight Plan) is our navigation log as well as fuel and weight planning document. We need to take enough gas to get there, land, turn around, return to Johannesburg and divert to Lanseria and be able to shut down with at least 30 minutes in tanks. This due to the cost of fuel in Maputo being upward of stupid. Needless to say, all the weight limitations have to be complied with so we need to listen properly when we do our sums. No sign of the autopilot yet… Arriving at the aircraft, we find it shut down, with the cabin crew, catering staff and cleaners in the semi darkness of the interior. I check chocks in position, note position of gear doors and flaps, and that the auxiliary power unit (APU) area is clear. Inside, a quick hello to the Senior Cabin Crew Member (SCCM), and then I plonk myself and my flight bag in the relevant places. The FO will be Pilot Flying (PF), so as Pilot Monitoring (PM), I have specific tasks to accomplish. First, do no harm. Switches and levers must be in the correct position, so that when power is online, bad stuff does not happen. Both batteries are switched on (like a Master switch in a C172), and then I test the APU fire detection system. The APU is started, and as the AC power comes online the Airbus awakens with much clicking, binging and dinging as myriad self-tests are completed and computers boot up. As this happens I am examining the technical logs to confirm it coincides with what I saw at dispatch. All is satisfactory, and I sign that I accept the technical status of the aircraft. iPads are opened, and preliminary
takeoff data calculations are performed. The FO leads the ‘sing-song’ of data cross check to ensure we haven’t made any initial colossal cock-ups, and I’m off to brief the cabin crew and do the external walk-around. Everything is accounted for outside as per a very comprehensive list from Airbus, and I’m back in the left seat. Switching on the APU bleed allows the air conditioning packs to howl to life to cool the cabin, and more importantly, allows pressurised air into the water system so that I can get a cup of tea from the forward galley. The FO is almost done with the set-up. This includes the overhead panel, the centre instrument panel and the pedestal between
excess cabin baggage and a couple of lost passengers. I’m keeping a beady eye on the weather and updating our information from the ATIS (automatic terminal information service) each half hour. There are some light thunder showers around, and although the rain hasn’t started yet, I elect to change our takeoff data for wet conditions. It makes a significant difference to the safe stopping margins in the event of a decision to reject the takeoff run. Doors close around ten minutes late, and we get our push back clearance as well as revised departure clearance. Due to the oncoming storm, the runway has changed from 03L to 21R for departure. I
The autopilot spends less time active than most people imagine.
the two of us, as well as the programming of the FMS (Flight Management System). A very specific sequence is scripted by Airbus, and I cross check to ensure nothing is amiss. The first time we venture near the Flight Control Unit (FCU), which forms part of the famous autopilot system, is after checking the lateral consoles and our oxygen system. We set local QNH and initial targets for the anticipated departure in terms of altitudes and modes. Now it’s time to get our ATC clearance, and check it is set up correctly in the FMS, which I check again from beginning to end. Garbage In, Garbage Out – GIGO. Passengers are boarding, and true to this particular route, some have way more hand luggage than allowed. It is always interesting observing human nature attempting to justify breaking known rules for all manner of silly excuses. The bags are removed from the offenders, often with heated discussion, and placed in the hold. Inevitably on this particular route, we are delayed. Today is no exception, due to
monitor the start and pushback while the FO recalculates the data, amends the departure in the FMS, inserts the data and changes the settings on the FCU. Once in the lane with engines running, and ground engineer dispensed with, I do the same recalculations as a cross check, and am happy we haven’t stroked the cat. Yet. We taxi out for November intersection of runway 21R. The notion of ‘runway behind being the most useless thing’ is archaic – our Airbus certified data computation makes this a safe decision. After being cleared to line up on the runway, we take a look into the future with the weather radar. The multi-scan radar is a thing of beauty, and paints a vivid flash of multi-coloured trouble across our navigation displays. Around four miles from the departure end of the runway is a medium, but busy, storm cell that will require some avoidance. I duly inform tower we need an early left turn and cannot comply with the Standard
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Airline Ops Instrument Departure (SID). A re-clearance is obtained, and off we go. The FO advances the thrust levers to the FLEX Thrust detent (long story), and I immediately knock his hand away to take control of the thrust in the event of a decision to stop. I’m not being mean, it’s required by Airbus Standard Operating Procedure. Thrust set, 100 knot cross check call, V1 and we rotate into a clatter of rain against the windshields. The FO is doing a fine job
data entry into the FMS. Passing 25,000 feet, I change VHF 2 to Maputo approach to announce our arrival estimate and get the weather for our destination. As this is coming through, the FO is busy updating the FMS with the correct arrival and approach as well as the surface conditions for the multiple systems to work out our approach speeds and thrust settings in the event of a go-around. We both know we will be ‘hot and high’
Pilots get paid not for what they do, but for what they CAN do.
of hand flying our non-standard departure. Passing four hundred feet (the minimum legal height to do ANYTHING except raise the landing gear), I select the heading on the FCU to avoid that angry bit of sky, change frequencies and get re-cleared by radar, while we accelerate, clean up the flaps and slats, and bump our way up to our planned cruise altitude. Around 15,000 feet, the FO calls for AP2. Ha! Thanks for joining us, Mr Big Shot Autopilot! Where have you been up till now? Right where it was designed to be – out of use. I select engine nacelle anti-ice on as we climb through a bit of rain and cloud as the outside air temperature falls rapidly. We get re-cleared directly to the boundary point between South Africa and Mozambique, and the FO directs the autopilot through
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at the boundary and elect to enter speed and altitude constraints at this point. It’s called experience, intuition and anticipation – traits that no autopilot system has or will have in the next who-knows-how-many years. We are in the cruise at 33,000 feet for three minutes, and then start the descent. Jet aircraft are most efficient when operated like this. Get as high as you can as quickly as you can, even on a super-short 37-minute flight. This results in half the flight being simply a glide descent at idle thrust. Runway 05 is in use in Maputo, which means an RNAV approach. This type of on-board computer-generated guidance is perfect for Africa, where ground-based navigation aids are broken, stolen or simply non-existent. The latter applies to this runway. I cross-check what the FO has loaded,
and that the approach extracted from the aircraft data base matches what is on the approach chart…anti GIGO check. I am happy with the descent and deceleration schedule and all looks good. However… I have been building a mental picture of the inbound traffic into Maputo and am concerned with the Qatar B777 joining the right hand segment of the same approach we are on. There is no approach radar here, and traffic separation is procedurally based. True as nuts, we will be conflicting on final approach. I venture to the approach controller that this may be a problem and the silence of contemplation fills the airwaves. I further suggest that we hold at the Initial Approach Fix (IAF), and this is agreed to by the controller. Although no holding pattern is published here, we are in above MSA (Minimum Safe Altitude) and can pretty much do what is required without hitting terra firma. We watch Qatar complete the approach on our TCAS and are then cleared to recommence. Once we have the field in sight through the haze, we are handed over to tower, and due to the non-precision nature of the approach, the final segment is best hand flown to adjust to the 3 degree descent path that the PAPI lights indicate, as opposed to the 3.2 degree FMS glide path. It’s quite a difference. No autoland is possible on this runway as it simply does not have, and never will have, the equipment to enable this. A respectable touch-down and rollout ensued and we taxied in with sort-of standard marshalling signals and stopped sort-of in the right place. Mission accomplished. This is a very abbreviated description of what may go into any particular flight on a given day. The majority of the general travelling public has such little grasp of what conducting such an operation entails, which leads to the perception, specifically when the word ‘automation’ is thrown about, that the pilots sit and watch. I haven’t touched on the ‘abnormals’ or emergencies that can and do occur. We don’t get paid for what we do. We get paid for what we can do.
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2007 PILATUS PC-12/47 TOTAL TIME: 4975 Hrs TTSN ENGINE: 1430 Hrs SMOH PROPELLER: 1430 SMOH AVIONICS: Combination of King/Bendix EFIS and Garmin Avionics EQUIPMENT: Aircon, Cargo Kit Based in SA POA
1982 BEECHCRAFT KING AIR B200
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TOTAL TIME: 875 HRS ENGINES: 875 HRS TTSN AVIONICS: CollIns Proline 21 ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT: Winglets, Satphone. Based in SA POA
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2006 CESSNA T206H STATIONAIR
TOTAL TIME: 4700 Hrs ENGINE: 1000 Hrs SMOH AVIONICS: GARMIN/KING ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT: Cargo Pod, Aircon , APE Kit Based in SA
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FlightCom Magazine
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Bush Pilot
Hugh Pryor
Marial Bai Recently an old friend of mine, who was incidentally one of the last Area Commanders of the Royal Observer Corps for South East England, gave me a brand new pair of socks. I didn’t quite know whether I should take this as a nice ‘present’, or a delicate hint that my socks were attracting attention because they needed changing.
M
Y friend laughed and said, “You’ll never believe what they’re made of!” I shook my head, “Go on then.” I said, “try me.” And my friend caused me a certain amount of disbelief when he told me that my new socks were made out of Bamboo! “How can Bamboo socks possibly have anything to do with aviation?” I hear you mutter, implying that maybe the author should add a few drops more water to whatever he’s drinking. Well, you see, Twin Otters also wear socks, but they are made out of fibreglass. I have to say that I much prefer the bamboo variety, having recently had to wear an acrylic ‘sock’ for more than a month; when an enormous lady in a ‘mobility scooter’, barged into a restaurant where I was lunching and ran over my foot, breaking two of my toes and some other bits and pieces. Anyway, I was flying a Twin Otter for the UN World Food Programme in South Sudan in the early 2000s and my co-pilot was a brilliant girl from Zimbabwe, named Chrystal. A day’s flying with Chrystal was
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a pleasure to be looked forward to and to be treasured afterwards. She was right up to speed on the technical side and she picked up the navigation quickly in the days when the GPS only had a few satellites to play with and sometimes didn’t want to play at all. The other aircraft employed in the ‘rescue’ of Southern Sudan were a collection of Cessna Caravans, some Let 410s, a couple of Buffalos, a few Avro 748s and ‘Andovers’. Then, of course, there were the ubiquitous Antonov 12s and the mighty C-130 Hercules. The South Africans were particularly
returned back underneath, in place for the next load. There were two of these ‘merrygo-rounds’ installed, one each side of the cabin, so they could hoof out sixteen tons in less time than it took us to chuck out two tons by hand from the Twin Otter. A particularly nice detail of their system was a carefully positioned knife which cut the bags free of the pallets as they passed over the ramp at the aft end of the cabin. So the bags fell free individually, thus thumping onto the ground with virtually 100% ‘no-breakages’. By definition, flying for the International Committee of the Red Cross meant that we
We were operating in a declared War Zone, so passing low-flying aircraft were fair game. proud of the ‘Carousel’ pallet-delivery system fitted to their C-130s. This was a cleverly designed conveyor belt of trolleys which could launch eight tons of triplewrapped bags of maize meal on pallets, out the back of the aircraft. The trolleys
were operating in a declared War Zone, so passing low-flying aircraft were fair game for anybody on the ground in need of a bit of target practice. Another challenge was that, out of the five hundred and twelve ‘Destinations’ into which we flew,
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only thirty-two had marked airstrips with windsocks. With all the rest, we simply looked for somewhere reasonably flat with not too many trees and not too much water and then we would just plonk the old girl down. The Twin Otter just loved it! And by the end of our tour, we were the only ‘Twin’ left flying in Southern Sudan, because all the Buffalos, 748s and Let 410s had either crashed or been shot down. Then one day we had to go to Boma, which is on the slopes leading up from the great flood plains of South Sudan, to the high plateau country of South Western Ethiopia. The foothills are covered in ‘scree’, loose rocks and stones, which are not the best surface for aircraft tyres, but the only puncture which I experienced in Sudan was when we hit an anti-personnel
the C-130s had only about five. One of the strictly ‘Twin Otter’ destinations was a little village called Marial Bai, in the middle of a swamp. The landing ground had the consistency of graphite grease and landings there often involved the judicious use of differential reverse thrust to skid the aircraft round to face in the opposite direction, then adding lots of forward power to stop, before it slid off into the swamp. If the pilot gave it a bit of ‘YEEHAAAAA!’ during this manoeuvre, the passengers normally thought that the two up front were just having some ‘fun’, although, in fact, that technique saved us from disaster on quite a few occasions. We were picking up some war wounded for transfer back to the Red Cross Hospital
All the Buffalos, 748s and Let 410s had either crashed or been shot down. mine in Yei. No, stones did not normally present much of a problem. Until one day when our left main wheel picked up a rock and hurled it at the left ‘sock’ with enough force to break it. Once we had stopped, I got out to inspect the damage, which proved to be only cosmetic, rather than structural and nothing which my Leatherman Multi-tool could not sort out simply by the removal of the broken sock, revealing a rather spindly-looking leg. This incurred copious ribaldry from the C-130 crews on our return to Loki. “Does that little midge fly without its sock?... Doesn’t it fly sideways with all that drag?... Are you sure that that leg won’t fall off if you take the plastic away? Is that puny little leg strong enough even for YOUR landings, Hugh?” Luckily our shoulders were broad enough and we knew that they were just jealous because we had 512 destinations and
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in Kenya. We got them all aboard and Barbara, the Flight Nurse, was checking that they were all secure and comfortable,
Safair had a novel carousel system for delivering bags of food from their C130s for the UN WFP.
when a few people ran out to the aircraft from the village, carrying what looked like an aluminium trolley, with one flanged wheel at each corner. “What’s that?” I enquired. “We don’t know. It fell out of the big ‘plane the other day, when they were dropping food. It went through the roof of a house in the village, which was empty at the time. We thought it was a bomb!” Suddenly I realised that we had the perfect ammunition to put a stop to the endless jokes about our lovely steed – at least we were not dropping bits through people’s roofs! So Chrystal and I marched triumphantly into the camp bar that evening, bearing our ‘Trophy Trolley’ aloft and I can’t exactly remember how many beers we charged for its return to its then considerably less ‘ribald’ owners!
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Industry Comment T ext : G uy L eitch
Comac's C919 will be a real competitor to Boeing and Airbus market dominance.
THE END OF THE
A & B DUOPOLY? One of the most remarkable features of aviation over the past 30 years has been the emergence of the seemingly unassailable Airbus and Boeing duopoly.
I
N the 1990s the European upstart Airbus began to nibble at the market-owning American manufacturers’ lunch. The only way for the Americans to remain dominant was to consolidate. So Boeing pulled off a reverse takeover of McDonnell Douglas in 1997 and became the largest aircraft builder in the world. But still Airbus gained relentlessly on the Americans, and in 1999 for the first of many years thereafter, Airbus outsold Boeing in a close fought race. The rivalry between A and B is fierce and for the past twenty years Airbus vs Boeing (A vs B) has been one of the most remarkable and successful duopolies on Earth. Between them they have the market for large airliners completely sewn up. But there was still space at the bottom for other manufacturers to build planes smaller than the 737 and A320 family. Bombardier developed its C-Series – thanks to massive Canadian government backing – and Embraer its E-Series.
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With Bombardier and Embraer bringing new products to market, the unassailable dominance of Boeing and Airbus began to look shaky. The Big 2 decided to take the upstarts out. Airbus struck first – helped no doubt by some French sangfroid – and bought Bombardier’s C-Series. Boeing belatedly bought into Embraer – although the new populist Brazilian government was not keen on yet another concentration of airline builder power – as ‘Yanqui’ imperialism. It looked like the duopoly had been restored – and now Boeing and Airbus controlled the market from 100 to 500 seat planes. But nothing lasts forever. The big guns are stumbling – victims of their own success. The demand for new planes – particularly narrow-bodies – has exceeded their most optimistic expectations. Between them, Airbus and Boeing are now churning out more than four new planes every day. They delivered 1,608 planes in 2018, compared with 1,481 a year earlier. That’s up from 1,000 deliveries in 2011, reflecting
the surging demand for planes, particularly from the fast-growing Asian carriers. Significantly though, for the first time in years, A & B have both missed production targets, and the airlines that have been kept waiting for their new planes are unhappy. Demand has grown too fast for the component suppliers to keep up. Achieving unprecedented production figures requires on time deliveries from suppliers. As A and B struggle with their supply-chains – whether for whole fuselages, engines or seats - the demand for new airliners especially narrow bodies – may just have grown too big for their combined efforts. Boeing deliveries in 2018 were hurt by late shipments of engines which left dozens of unfinished ‘gliders’ parked around Boeing’s Seattle factories. For Airbus, supply problems were also mostly late engine deliveries, though internal delays compounded production problems. Both plane makers are working hard to increase output, but their component suppliers are scared of a bubble – and thus of making
a huge investment to ramp-up production – just as the world may be headed into recession. Yet the production pressure on Boeing and Airbus is showing little sign of easing. In 2018 Boeing logged 893 net new orders
contenders by arguing that they will never match A & Bs economies of scale. But they may be underestimating the huge built-in demand the Chinese plane builders have, thanks to the long waiting lists for A & B’s planes and the enormous growth of the
The Chinese and Russian governments have scented blood and are stepping into the ring. and Airbus logged 747 net orders, adding to already long waiting lists filling the next several years’ production. Their cosy duopoly is straining at the seams – and looking vulnerable to a disruptor. And this time the disruptor is far bigger than the Canadian and Brazilian builders. The Chinese and Russian governments have scented blood and are stepping into the ring. Up to now Chinese plane-making efforts have been a bit of a joke, but that’s about
Chinese domestic market. The C919 already has about 1,000 orders from Chinese airlines—and could easily expand across Asia, Russia and Africa. Comac’s 1000 orders may be from Chinese airlines, but they are more recession-proof than western airlines with some decidedly shaky orders. They may be lagging in technology, but China’s pockets are deep. The C919 was designed to go head-to-head with A & B’s latest generation planes: the A320neo and the 737 MAX. A conservative estimate for
remains FAA certification, particularly the flight-deck design to satisfy Part 25.1302 of the FARs. Comac’s challenges in meeting the certification requirements reflect a larger problem plaguing the Chinese manufacturer, namely a lack of technical know-how. While foreign experts in China transfer manufacturing knowledge and R&D capabilities, the communication problems, misinterpretation of FAA requirements, and limited local skills have significantly delayed progress. The challenges have become evident as the C919 continues to undergo further envelope expansion flight testing and the Shanghai team encounters repeated setbacks due to design changes and a shortage of local expertise. “But they’re learning fast,’’ said a Chinese analyst. “It’s not like you are working with Airbus or Boeing who can go through this process within an 18-month time span. You need to account for the learning curve.’’ While Comac improves its FAA Certification capabilities, reliance on foreign technology transfer will continue, raising doubts that the Chinese can meet
Russia's MC21-300 may be the plane to finally break the A-B duopoly.
to change. The C919, designed by China’s Comac to compete with the A320 and 737, has flown. For A & B the threat may seem deceptively distant because they still have better products. But memories are short – until 1987 Boeing also saw Airbus as an inferior and overly-subsidised competitor. Then the A320 hit the market and state support pushed it ahead of Boeing’s aging 737. The Big-2 may also scoff at aspiring
public money spent on the C919 is above $7 billion. That’s far more than the C-Series cost to develop, and, adjusted for inflation, it’s on par with the A320.. Western suppliers have been falling over themselves to supply the latest technology to the Chinese contender. It is powered by a CFM’s LEAP1C engines and has the most up-to-date avionics. For now, A & B still have some breathing space. The C919’s big challenge
their objective to develop an indigenous alternative to the C919’s CFM Leap1C engines within a decade. While joint ventures with foreign firms can serve as effective vehicles for knowledge transfer, foreign aerospace manufacturers increasingly recognise the need to carefully safeguard their intellectual property. And, as if the Chinese threat was not bad enough, the Russians are also climbing into the ring. Their Irkut MC-21 will be
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available in two versions which go head to head with the larger A & B narrow bodies. This is the new sweet spot in the airliner market— the 165-seat MC-21-200 and the 211-seat MC-21-300. And significantly for the Western engine builders, the Russians do know how to build engines, so the MC-21 is available with two engine options — the Russian Aviadvigatel PD14 and the Pratt & Whitney PW1440G geared turbofan. Although Irkut does not have a track record with commercial airliners, the company and its Yakovlev subsidiary have a long history of building some of the world’s best military aircraft. In addition, Irkut also manufactures components for the Airbus A320. So it knows how to make and supply parts to a western standard. For now, A & B want to believe that both the Chinese and Russian single aisle offerings have one crucial weakness: they are both designed, built, sold, and supported by state-owned companies and historically, state-owned companies do a really bad job of competing in the free market. They argue that in real sales, the C919 had 180 firm orders as at end of 2018, with the MC-
21 holding about 200 (excluding the more obviously fictitious ones). But coercing Chinese and Russian domestic carriers into placing orders for state-built aircraft is completely different from actually getting them to take delivery of these planes. The best illustration of this is China’s ill-fated Comac ARJ21 regional jet. In
Significantly for the Western engine builders, the Russians do know how to build engines. theory, the ‘firm’ order book consists of 290 aircraft. But none will probably ever be delivered. It took so long to develop that the rest of the industry got far ahead in technology and fuel efficiency. Nonetheless, the doomed ARJ21 will already have been a useful lesson for the Chinese to learn certification requirements for the C919. In the final analysis, the long-running battle between Airbus and Boeing masks
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the fact that it is one of the world’s most successful duopolies. It is a fierce competition, and that rivalry has sharpened both companies’ competitive skills, particularly when it comes to new product development. That competitive edge may to be powerful enough to keep out newcomers. But for how long?
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Face to Face R eport : G uy L eitch
Siza Mzimela – CEO SA Express Ms Siza Mzimela has been enticed back to turn around SA Express (SAX) – which was run into the ground by a succession of disastrous management and crooked procurement activities. After three years as CEO of SAX, Ms Mzimela was promoted to CEO of SAA – where under difficult circumstances she turned a profit. Guy Leitch interviewed her in December in her temporary office in a tatty annexe to SAA headquarters at Airways Park at OR Tambo Airport. Tellingly the walk to the office entrance is through the car park and Ms Mzimela does not drive the biggest and most expensive car – hers is a BMW 520d. The SAX offices themselves are in worse repair than a rural jail in desperate need of a revamp, but no doubt any expenditure will have to wait until the airline actually has money.
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GL: You left SA Express (SAX) in 2010. What made you come back? Do you honestly believe you can fix it? SM: I am not so arrogant that I think I can fix it single-handedly. The Minister put together an Intervention Team immediately after the CAA’s grounding of the airline and had asked me to be on it. The Team started work mid-May 2018. I joined the Team in June when they realised they needed someone who understood the airline industry. Then the board asked me to take a six-month contract to try to stabilise the airline. This is an interim appointment, not an acting one, and finishes at the end of January.
Operational efficiency, Customer value and Human capital.
Are you going to continue after January? At the moment there is a proposal tabled for me to extend until they can appoint a permanent CEO and there has been a proper handover. Is there a turnaround plan in place? Yes, we call it the G-POCH plan as it has five pillars: Governance, Profitability,
Yet SAX has not been genuinely profitable since you left nine years ago – so what’s different? And meanwhile your competitors have taken over much of your market while you were grounded. How many aircraft [as at 14 December 2018] do you have flying? We now have ten aircraft out of a total
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The second leg is profitability. How long will it take you to become profitable? In April 2019 we will break even. Do you mean break even on the Net Profit bottom line – and not just at an operating level? Yes, we will have broken even because by then we will be flying enough to generate adequate revenue and we have been cutting costs within our systems. A major component of our cost cutting will be realised in April next year [2019].
of 17 that we will be returning to flight. By the end of the financial year on 31 March we will have up to 12 aircraft flying. Two were CRJs on short term leases, which were immediately terminated when we were grounded. The rest of our aircraft will be for back-up. Your fleet is aging and must be high maintenance. The fleet may be old in comparison to world standards, but it is about the same as the Airlink fleet. You have suffered a grounding by the CAA that would almost certainly have killed off a privately owned airline. Do you think the CAA has been reasonable and fair – with you and with CemAir? And why do they always ground an airline at the beginning of a long weekend? I was surprised at how tough the CAA were. Look, I appreciate the role they have to play as the regulator, and SA Express could have definitely handled things a lot better. But I thought they were a little
extreme and that they should have just sat down and found a way to resolve problems, rather than ground us for so long. This current groundings may be the end of CemAir, which would take one of your competitors out of the market - yet SA Express can just keep going back to the taxpayer for endless bailouts. I disagree. I think CemAir has a greater chance than we did of getting back into the air because my understanding is that they are not as short of money as we were. They have a very profitable charter operation. But we have been financially challenged in every respect and the grounding came at a huge cost for us. If SA Express had been sufficiently liquid at the time of the grounding, we could have been back in the air far sooner.
we would be rightsizing. We would be the first to acknowledge that we were bloated in some areas and we have a shortage of key staff in other areas. Are you actually retrenching, or are you just running voluntary severance programmes? We are still finalising the numbers, but there were some obvious cuts that we were able to make. For instance we used to have a Durban and George base but we have closed them. In all instances however, due process will be followed according to the Labour Relations Act.
Do you have a clear vision as to what the airline will look like in a years’ time in terms of size and routes? We are engaged in a process of which the first part is the need to stabilise the operation. So we are focusing on the Johannesburg Base first and making sure that everything is running properly before we move back to Cape Town. Cape Town is on track to be reopened around the 9th of January. Are you happy with the current gauge of your aircraft? Yes. We have the CRJ-200 50-seater,
Ms Siza Mzimela enticed back to turn around SA Express.
The media claims you are losing R3 million a day, or almost R100 million each month. You have the pilots, staff and overheads to run a 22 aircraft airline – yet you have half of that flying. That R3 million is very exaggerated – I suspect they got the figures from calculating the gross costs of the aircraft we were wet-leasing before the grounding. These costs obviously dropped away when we stopped flying those aircraft. One of the other problems that we had was that we were not chartering aircraft that were the right gauge for our market and routes. We were chartering big aircraft for routes that would only justify a 50-seater. The charter operations were costing us R22 million per month. OK – so how much is it really going to cost to turn the airline around? I can’t tell you how much it will cost at this stage, but what I can tell you is how much we will report in losses at the end of the financial year, and that is roughly R600 million. As part of the Intervention, did you address staff headcount? It was one of the first things we looked at, especially being a 12 aircraft operation instead of a 22 aircraft operation. To some extent the grounding has been a big help with a headcount reduction as some employees left the organisation. Nonetheless we had to make sure that we didn’t lose key members of staff, so we had to assure them that we were viable and that
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the CRJ-700 70-seater and the Dash 8-Q400 74-seater. By our next board meeting we will have completed a medium to long term route plan to match aircraft size to routes. A lot of that must depend on South African Airways’ own route and network strategies – which are still being developed. Do you have a good working relationship with SAA for the sake of feeding and de-feeding their routes? Yes, I think that they are pretty pleased with what we have been able to deliver, especially our good On Time Performance. It was very bad prior to the grounding at around 64% but we are back above 90%. How did you fix it? I think it was a matter of focussing the operations into one place. What happened in the past is that we spread ourselves too thin and too quickly, with no sense of the need for backup aircraft. We do our own maintenance and we needed to make sure that aircraft availability was appropriate for our feet. You are still a board member of Blue Crane - does that not provide a conflict with your role at SA Express? No, I have had to divorce myself completely from Fly Blue Crane. Can you candidly tell us how SAX got into its current state? It was just complete mismanagement. There was a chronic lack of accountability – no one was ensuring that the people were doing what they were supposed to be doing. For me that is simply a failure of leadership. That doesn’t necessarily refer to the immediate past management – and we need to bear in mind that there have been constant changes in the management. If the business is broken, you have to bring in somebody who understands aviation and what it takes to fix it. But at the end of the day is it not just a business and if you do the business stuff right you can get on with fixing the airline later? That is Vuyani Jarana’s approach to SAA. People must understand that aviation is a highly regulated environment. If the CAA sends an e-mail that says they have a number of concerns, you have to know how to fix it. The problem was that there had
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been a massive brain and skills drain. Let me put it to you bluntly: given the abuse and mismanagement, the case for SAA’s continued existence is weak and the case for SA Express’s existence is almost non-existent. Why do you think the case for SA Express is so bad? Two reasons: Firstly, there are other airlines that are already successfully operating in your space. Secondly, you are a huge drain on taxpayer money that should be used to uplift the poor. I disagree. Even though we were grounded for three months, Airlink was not able to come in and close the gap in terms of seat availability. I believe Airlink was quite happy to
that is not fundamentally profitable. So how can anyone say that there is no room for SA Express, yet there is room for Airlink? 75% of passengers are business people, so our yields are not low. What about the other development roles that SA Express fulfils, for instance your Cadet scheme? Is that something that you will need to continue with, even though it will affect your bottom line? We haven’t run the Cadet scheme for the past couple of years, but we do want to reinstate it and as far as I am concerned it should not be a problem because we have other sources of funding, for example the TETAs. What is your cash flow like? Are you
I was surprised at how tough the CAA were. have a shortage of seats and thus be able to improve their loads and raise their prices. So how does that serve the growth of the South African economy and especially the small towns? And we will soon be back to profitability. Furthermore, there are studies such as those by Oxford Economics that show how important airline services are to the economy.
fully funded at the moment? It’s good. We were given R1.2 billion to continue operations.
Are you saying that SA Express must fulfil a Development Mandate? In my experience, that’s just an excuse to lose money. Why should anyone assume that we would fly routes unprofitably just because we are a state-owned entity? When it is Airlink why don’t you make the same assumption?
Was that all you could raise from the banks? That’s all we chose to raise.
Because a private sector airline will just stop operating unprofitable routes - and leave the town to die. Yet we have also stopped flying to routes which don’t make money. Tough decisions have had to be made and we will only be flying profitable routes. I challenge you to show me one route that we are flying
But how much of that had already been spent? None, as we were given a guarantee of R1.7 billion when we were grounded, and we raised R400 million against that to turn the organisation around. That is all we have used to date.
Are the banks reluctant lenders? They have become far more difficult. And it does not just apply to airlines. I think it is affecting all SOEs. The banks want to know that you are not bankrupt and are on the route to profitability. Are you able to provide that assurance? Yes, in our case I believe that we have delivered everything that the banks have requested of us.
Do you have people in place now who have sorted out the aircraft maintenance issues that the CAA grounded you for? Yes, we are actually quite proud of some of the appointments we’ve made and we have filled all of the CAA post holder requirements with permanent appointments. So you have been able to successfully recruit quality people into a struggling airline whose future is in doubt by many? Yes, what we are looking for in new people is a combination of two things: technical skill and passion. We were looking for people who are passionate about being associated with a turnaround story, and that’s what we have been able to do. It’s not as though we have had to use large increases in salary to attract them. And we have succeeded in identifying one or two people internally who had just not been a given the opportunity to rise to their full potential. SAA has acknowledged that it has a major problem with ‘a culture of malfeasance’. Do you have that as well? Yes. We have already dealt with a lot of it, but we can never be sure that it is completely out of the system. We have however been fortunate in that, as a smaller airline, we have been able to move quickly and get rid of some of the bad practices. The grounding helped us in this regard as it gave us the opportunity to terminate some of the bad contracts. Would business rescue have been a help dealing with bad procurement contracts? The way the board approached it at the time of the grounding was very similar to a business rescue strategy. The Intervention Team and the Crisis Management Committee were able to make some key changes. By the end of August we were beginning to see things getting back to normal.
Are you not scared of making profits? Is it not considered to be a rude word for a state owned entity? We have the ability to make good profits and I expect we will. I cannot see why we should not make profits. Airlink makes good profits. Okay, but if you were making good profits people would resent your high air fares. Passengers hate paying the high costs of feeder airfares to say Bloemfontein when they can fly three times the distance to Cape Town for half the price. Your critics will say that you are getting cheap government money and that you are being favoured for the better routes. Why does no one ask why Airlink benefits unduly from its SAA codeshare arrangement? If Tito Mboweni wants to sell you-off, would that be a good idea? That is the prerogative of the shareholder. We are all here to do our best job, but what happens with the ownership is up to the shareholder. So the bottom line is that the airline is on track to be profitable, or at least break-even by April. And that you are probably only going to be with the airline for another couple of months until a permanent replacement has been found. Good luck.
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Feature T ext : O wen H eckrath
FROM COMPROMISE
TO QUEEN
On its maiden flight, in February 1969, very few people were likely to have predicted that the Boeing 747 would spark a revolution in commercial aviation, but now, fifty years later, no-one can dispute that it did. Yet the early story of how the Jumbo rose to become the most recognised aircraft in the world is far from smooth or trouble free.
Y
OU’RE probably familiar with the concept of ‘The Butterfly Effect’. A classic example of which is how, when two men went to Alaska on a fishing trip in the summer of 1965, it produced a worldwide change in the face of commercial aviation. The two men were both giants of the aviation world: Juan Trippe, the suave owner of Pan Am, shared his vision of a ‘superplane’ with Bill Allen, the no-frills boss of Boeing. Trippe’s vision was of a plane that was at least twice as large as any commercial plane then in existence; an aircraft with 400 seats to carry more people and make more revenue than anything before. Allen brashly promised him that he could have it within 28 months. The resulting order
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from Pan Am for 25 of the new superplanes was the biggest in aviation history to date, but it posed some major technological and engineering challenges for Boeing and brought the company to the brink of financial disaster. The first of the problems was that, despite the size of the challenge, it was not Boeing’s number one project. The company’s focus was on the B2707, the supersonic transport (SST) which Boeing was expecting to be the future of airline transport. As a result, the prime talent in the engineering division and most of the company’s resources were allocated to the SST, leaving what were, in effect, the ‘B-team’ to design, build and deliver on Bill Allen’s commitment – within 28 months. Heading the 747 team was a young engineer named Joe Sutter, a capable, but not particularly popular project leader who
faced consistent pushback from more senior staff. Looking back on the early days of the project, Joe commented, “I had to do a little education that I was the boss, and if they didn’t want to go with my instructions, I had a great assignment in Bangladesh where they might be more suitable.” Joe Sutter had the 747-design team working around the clock, despite their being relegated to unsuitable premises and starved of resources. This was 1965, when computers were the size of a smallish housing estate and needed a week to tally up your daily grocery shopping bill. There were no computer aided design tools, no automated computer modelling systems to run complex simulations and even electric calculators were few and far between – and couldn’t do long division. So the Boeing 747 was designed by engineers working at drawing boards using pencils and slide rules. Every
one of the roughly five million parts (other than fasteners) had to be hand designed, then built and finally hand-tested to destruction. A seemingly impossible task in only a little more than two years. Developing a clear concept of what the final product should look like was the first hurdle to be overcome by the team before they could get down to the design work. Juan Trippe was a man with a nautical bent and so he had specified an ‘ocean liner’ type aircraft with two decks, one above the other. This led to the initial concept of taking two Boeing 707 type single-aisle fuselages and moulding them together to create a single twin deck aircraft. Joe Sutter’s team disagreed and according to Joe, thought the double-decker idea was a “turkey”. He said, “We had a look at the requirements for that design and decided that there were so many gate and evacuation problems with that concept that there just had to be a better solution.” The team then had a ‘eureka moment’ and decided that going with a side-by side, twin-aisle, wide single deck fuselage would be the better solution. But even this solution faced its own hurdles, the major of which was the attitude to the 747’s future. As mentioned, Boeing was staking its future on supersonic travel as the way forward and believed that when the SST came into service, the 747 would be relegated to hauling freight. It was seen only as a stopgap measure and the company estimated that they would only sell about fifty of them as freighters. The design problem for the cargo version was that opening the nose was the best solution for freight loading. But then where to put the flight deck? In a stroke of genius, the team decided to put it on top, and so the distinctive 747 ‘hump’ was born. Logical if you look back from today, but at the time, the hump was decidedly a ‘thinking out of the box’ solution. Boeing management agonised that Trippe would go ballistic if he didn’t get his double decker solution. They decided to tell him the bad news, but banned Joe Sutter, not known for his tact, from attending the meeting. In his stead, the interior design specialist Mel Heinemann attended – with a secret weapon in his briefcase. During the presentation, Trippe remained unconvinced, so Heinemann played his trump card. He took a 20-foot long piece of clothesline from his briefcase and showed the Pan
Am executives just how wide the proposed solution would be. It was a moment of discovery for them and even Trippe was finally convinced when he saw a full-size cross-sectional mock-up of what his plane’s fuselage would look like. Sutter got the go ahead and the task of turning a wooden mock-up into a real aircraft in record time was underway. Working ten hours per day six days a week, the team converted their 75,000 drawings bit by bit into the breathtaking-sized prototype. But even this came with its own challenges. Quite simply, where to build the biggest aircraft in history? A new site at Everett City was chosen, and work on the new factory commenced. The factory was to become the largest building on earth, so
a day (in current prices) and Boeing had gambled the company on being able to deliver, considering that they wouldn’t make any real money until the plane flew. To add to the looming cash crisis, the SST project was way behind schedule and far over budget. The banks were threatening to pull the plug. Once again Joe Sutter had to confront corporate executives, this time from his own company. He was tasked with cutting 1000 engineers from the workforce, but stood his ground claiming that with the press launch less than 12 months away, they couldn’t afford to slow the project. He won the stand-off and Boeing bet the bank on the 747. Two days before the press roll-out, the prototype was ready to be shown. With still-
It took the full size fuselage mock-up to finally convince Trippe to OK the wide body design.
big that its interior has its own atmosphere and clouds form near the ceiling. While the 747 team built the largest plane in history, the largest factory in the world was going up around them – a weighty project. The plane was also becoming a ‘weighty project’ as the luxury interior-finish demands of the Pan Am executives were pushing the weight up, beyond the point where the aircraft would ever fly. It was finally time for Joe Sutter to face down Juan Trippe. His presentation was simple, either cut your demands, or cut the number of fare-paying passengers that the plane could carry. In Joe’s own words: “He took it very well. He didn’t like it, but he understood and pulled back on the luxury.” Another crisis was looming. The 747 project was costing Boeing US$ 33 million
wet paint and parts missing, the 747 was revealed to the press, and more importantly, to the nervous bankers. Roll-out day was also an opportunity to reassure the other 25 airlines who had placed orders for the new ‘Jumbo-Jet’ that they were buying into the aircraft sensation of the decade. However, the one thing that Boeing did not shout about at the dramatic roll-out was that the aircraft couldn’t fly – the engines on the prototype were purely decorative. 54 days before the first flight, the team had a crisis on their hands. A crisis with the major component of any aircraft – its engines. Up until then, no engine manufacturer had built an engine with even half the power needed to lift the weight of a Jumbo, but Pratt and Whitney had promised that they had a new, untested engine that
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could. Their JT-9D was a high-bypass turbofan engine and this new concept promised better fuel efficiency and quieter operation, yet most important, phenomenal thrust. It appeared that they had promised too much. Under test, the engines would shake, surge and break apart, with disastrous results. During the development of the 747, sixty multi-million dollar engines were written off in tests and no-one could figure out what was wrong.
Lifting the nose was the best solution for loading cargo.
When test pilot Jack Wadell and his co-pilot Brien Wygle walked out to the 747 for its first flight, they were under enormous pressure as the attention of the aviation industry globally was focused on the success of their maiden flight. According to Brien Wygle; “This thing had drawn the attention of the world and there was a huge mob from around the globe watching it.” The maths and the wind
tunnel tests had said that the Jumbo would fly, but the pilots still had concerns about the durability of the engines. Without any simulators to prepare for flying the plane, there was much scepticism about the 747, a lot of people had said that the Jumbo was too big to fly, so to give the appearance of an everyday event, both pilots chose to wear normal suit and tie and not ‘test-pilot’ flight suits. Fifty years ago, a little after 11h00 Seattle local time on 9 February 1969, the Jumbo Jet flew into the history books. During certification testing the 747 passed all the tests with flying colours, including evacuation, stall, tail strike, takeoff abort, cruise and multiple systems failure. But the engine problem was still unsolved and on the return flight from the Paris Air Show launch, the number four flamed out. Production 747s were racking up outside the factory with concrete blocks hanging from their engine pylons. Boeing didn’t feel that Pratt and Whitney were taking the engine problems seriously enough and Jack Wadell decided to give the engine manufacturers a wake-up call. He took the President of Pratt and Whitney for a flight during which he throttled up one engine to the point of surge with the attendant dramatic flame-out. To prove it wasn’t merely a single rogue engine, he did the same to a second engine. He was about to do the third when Pratt’s boss stopped him – their engine problems were solved soon after. In many ways, to its owners, pilots and passengers, this is an aircraft that is more poetry than machine.
BELOW: At the roll-out the paint was still wet, the engines didn't work but the bankers were convinced.
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ABOVE: On the difficult approach to Kai Tek most pilots would rather be in a 747 than any other aircraft.
“The Jumbo Jet is a pilot’s aircraft.” I’m sure you’ve heard someone, somewhere say that. I’ve seen even multi-hour 747 pilots disembark the aircraft that they’ve just spent many hours flying to Cape Town, London or Hong Kong and then pause, turn around and photograph it. Indeed, the 747 may be most loved by those who have been lucky enough to fly it. The very first to do so, described it as “a pilot’s dream” and a “two-finger airplane” — one that can be flown with just the forefinger and thumb; it’s hard to imagine higher praise for such an enormous aircraft. As one of its many lovers, I’ve found the aircraft to be smooth and manoeuvrable, a stately joy to fly and land. Many pilots will agree that when flying the difficult approach to the old Kai Tek airport at Hong Kong, mere feet above the buildings and facing the mountain with its infamous chess board; when you were about to make the tight, slow 47 degree turn onto final, you would rather be in a 747 than any other aircraft. But do not be lulled into thinking that stately equals slow and dull. The 747 is also a hot rod; and this queen can gather up her skirts and run if the occasion demands. That distinctive hump, added as a solution to a freight loading problem by its designers, also improves the ‘area rule’ (supersonic drag) capability of its fuselage, so its cruise speed extends further into the transonic range than most, if not all of the contenders to its throne. The pilots’ love for the 747 is only matched by that of the millions of
passengers who’ve boarded any one of the 1,540 made. For those who have grown up under 747-crossed skies, it can be hard to appreciate how revolutionary the Jumbo Jet was when it first (and improbably, to some observers) flew in 1969. Nor is it easy, in the age of the internet, to feel the same awe at the 747’s ability to shrink and connect the world. Looking back, it’s perhaps enough to marvel at the billions of reunions, migrations, exchanges and all manner of collaborations that were made possible, or at least more affordable, by this aircraft. Yet on a planet that previously only the well-heeled could cross at will, the 747’s lasting impact may well be on our everyday notions of distance and travel. In its first
year, a fully-loaded 747 cut the cost of flying a passenger by half and opened the skies to billions of travellers. The Boeing 747 justifiably deserves its title as queen of the skies, because the equivalent of more than three quarters of the world’s population have had their lives ruled, even for the briefest of time, by this queen. And even though it is now, after reigning for 50 years, abdicating its throne to make way for its newer siblings, the original design ‘compromise’ of making it also suitable as a freighter will ensure that, in its cargo role, many of our children’s children will still have the opportunity to see the queen aloft.
B747 Project Leader Joe Sutter.
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FOR SALE
MAKE: Hobbyliner HB-23 2400 | YEAR MODEL: 2008 | AIR FRAME HOURS: 245.12 ENGINE: 72KW VW-HB-2400 G2 | WING SPAN: 13 meters | LENGTH: 7.35: meters EMPTY WEIGHT: 579 kilogram | CRUISE SPEED: 89 Kts | ALL MAINTENANCE IS UP TO DATE SA Flyer 2019|02
SELLING PRICE: R280 000.00
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Contact: COENIE VAN DER WALT - M:+27 (0)82 414 6989
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w w w. i n v e s m e n t a i r c r a f t . c o . z a
SA Flyer 2019|02
Hangar 11, Rand Airport, Germiston, 1401.
1972 PA32-300
2011 Cessna 182T
2006 Robinson R44 Raven II
AFTT: 6,605 Hours SMOH: 275 Hours SPOH: 33 Hours Engine only 275 Hours SMOH! GAMI Injectors, JPI EDM 450 Engine Monitor.
AFTT: 610 Hours Engine TT: 610 Hours Prop TT: 610 Hours Nav III Garmin G1000, TAWS-B, Synthetic Vision, Kelly Aerospace Air-Conditioning System.
AFTT: 1,485 Hours Engine TT: 1,485 Hours New Dash 7 Blades, Fresh 12 Year Inspection Done (Oct 2017), Fresh MPI
R850 000 + VAT
R4,650,000 + VAT
R3 650 000 + VAT
1973 Gazelle SA341G
2004 Bell 407
2016 Robinson R44 Raven II
AFTT: 4,070 Hours Cycles: 7,375 RINS Engine TT: 2,159 Hours Cycles: 3,949 FRESH TURBINE OH, Immaculate Condition, Garmin Stack, Air-Conditioning, Barrier Filter, Litter Kit Provisions.
AFTT: 140 Hours! Engine TT: 140 Hours! 140 Hours Total Time! Aspen Panel, Air- Conditioning, Bubble Windows, Leather Seats.
R5 500 000 + VAT
$1 695 000 + VAT (If Applicable)
R6 200 000 +VAT
Quinton Warne 0 8 2 8 0 6 5 1 9 3
Rolf Brauteseth 0 8 2 5 6 5 6 0 0 6
David Lewis 0 7 6 8 2 4 2 1 6 9
AFTT: 5,435 Hours Engine TT: 1,306 Hours Leather Interior, Dual Controls, Garmin Panel
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Defence T ext : D arren O livier
THE GRIPEN DATA LINK SA Flyer January edition featured an in-depth look at the Saab Gripen. While lauded for its agility, diverse ordnance load, and ability to use short runways, one aspect of the Gripen that makes as big an impact on its combat performance is its world-leading integration and use of digital tactical data links. It’s worth taking a dive into the history behind how Sweden developed the Gripen’s data link.
S
WEDEN has long been a pioneer in the adoption of tactical digital data links, defining its first tactical data links protocols in the 1960s and flying the first operational aircraft-to-aircraft data links a decade later. The requirement arose from its early understanding that it was in a weak strategic situation and could not hope to fight the Soviet Union directly from traditional bases, using easily overheard radio calls, and with traditional tactics. This led to Bas 60 (Flygbassystem 60, Air Base System 60), a strategic plan which involved the construction of dozens of reserve, temporary, and road bases around Sweden to which its Saab 35 Draken and Saab 32 Jansen would rapidly disperse in the event of an attack, and a country-wide distributed digital command and control (C2) system called STRIL 60 (Stridsledning och Luftbevakning) that could send digital data link commands to the Draken from 40 strategically-placed 10 kW VHF transmitters.
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Data links have revolutionised air command and control.
The STRIL 60 data link in the Draken was a mechanical and electrical genius, given it entered operational service in the early 1960s, when even the USAF
was still only experimenting with similar systems. Each 103-bit STRIL control data message contained a header containing synchronisation info and its source ID,
Sweden's pioneering data links meant that its Viggens could intercept the SR-71 at 70,000 feet for a head-on attack.
the stage of the attack process, and the ID of the aircraft to which it was addressed. After this came the height, course, bearing, and distance of the target relative to the intercepting aircraft, along with a command message of one of 20 pre-defined phrases such as “STIG” (track). When these messages, broadcast at 3000 bits/second (or 26 messages / second), reached the intended aircraft it routed them through specialist circuitry that converted the bits into electrical signals to drive mechanical instruments in the cockpit. The Distance-Altitude-Command (AHK) instrument, for instance, had a rotating drum on which Saab had printed all 20 STRIL commands, with the incoming signal determining which one was visible through the viewing window. It had an altitude indicator with a ribbon showing own height and an arrow being set to target height by the incoming messages. In an era before digital displays and powerful computers it was a remarkable system that gave the Swedish Air Force the ability to disperse country-wide and yet accurately meet any attack with the help of ground radar stations, all without a single spoken word over the radio. Today, more than 50 years on, most air forces still can’t do that. Introducing the JA-37 Viggen (the earlier attack-oriented AJ-37 Viggen lacked a data
link) took the STRIL 60 system to a new level of capability. It was the first aircraft to fly operationally with a modern-style integrated circuit onboard computer, the CK 37, which handled onboard navigation, radar control, and a host of other functions. This meant that while it still received the same basic 103-bit message format as the Draken,
The cockpit was fitted with both a Head-Up Display and a CRT-based multi-function display, meaning it could show more complex data and more message types. This combination was extraordinarily effective. So much so that the Swedish Air Force could use it to perform the only successful intercepts ever conducted against
the Swedish Air Force could use it to perform the only successful intercepts ever conducted against the US Air Force’s SR-71 Blackbirds. it could also receive the absolute position of the target as opposed to its relative position, freeing up the ground control systems to perform other calculations and allowing for the transmission of multiple target tracks. The Viggen’s PS-46/A radar was linked to the CK 37 computer, so it became possible to slave it to the STRIL data link which meant that the ground control systems could position the radar’s antenna to the most advantageous position for a lock.
the US Air Force’s SR-71 Blackbirds. The latter would skim the edge of Swedish air space about once a week while flying their “Baltic Express” surveillance missions along the Soviet coast, passing through a narrow 3 km-wide sliver of international air space between the Swedish mainland and Gotland at 70,000 ft and Mach 3. The ground control stations would scramble Viggens once they detected an incoming SR-71 and position them for a
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head-on intercept, first climbing to 26 000 ft at Mach 1.35, then a three to five degree upward climb on afterburner to 60,000 ft directly in the path of the oncoming SR71 and into the best firing position for a simulated launch of their Skyflash air-toair missiles. Throughout the intercept the Viggen pilots had the entire tactical picture on their multi-function display, merging the information from ground radars and their own radar to provide the accuracy necessary for an intercept with closing speeds of Mach 4-5 and only the tiniest margins of error. The Swedish Air Force recorded over 50 successful intercepts - defined as those where the simulated Skyflash firing was statistically likely to have scored a direct hit. It’s difficult to imagine their having the same success without the pin-point accuracy, jamming resistance, and radarslaving provided by the Stril system and it proved to the Swedish Air Force that similar tactics would work against Soviet MiG-25s and other high-altitude, high-performance aircraft. As powerful as the Stril groundcontrolled intercept data link was, it had a glaring shortcoming in its reliance on ground-based control systems. In an era where Soviet offensive systems seemed to advance ever further and faster, Sweden could no longer depend on the integrity of the Stril system being maintained in the event of an attack. It therefore developed the next evolution of tactical data link: A world-first two-way encrypted aircraft-to-aircraft, groundto-aircraft, and aircraft-to-ground digital radio “fighter link” that entered operational service on the JA-37 Viggen in 1985. This was a generational leap ahead of the existing system because for the first time it meant that it could share aircraft data with other Viggens and ground systems in real time. Not only did this mean that status information like position, fuel levels, armament remaining and so on could be shared securely with no spoken radio calls, which enhanced situational awareness and reduced pilot workload, but the link shared real time radar information with such a high level of accuracy that the receiving Viggen could use the data to fire its own Skyflash air-to-air missiles without ever turning on its own radar. Thus a Viggen flight could launch an attack with only one or two aircraft using
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their radars and being seen by the on-board self-defence systems of enemy aircraft, while the ‘nose cold’ Viggens raced ahead into the most advantageous firing position. The level of tactical situational awareness available to Viggen pilots was like nothing seen before, and it let themthey could experiment with ever more interesting attack profiles that treated the entire flight as a coherent system which had combined capabilities that were greater than the sum of its constituent parts. It was an early glimpse of the power that networked warfare could bring. By 1980, concept work had already begun on the next generation Swedish fighter, the Saab JAS 39 Gripen, to replace the Viggen and the few remaining Drakens in service. The new aircraft took advantage of advances in computing and the
whether in the air or on the ground; active engagements; threats; and even the position of the cursor on multi-function displays to allow for pilots to highlight targets or items of interest for other aircraft. TIDLS has a range of up to 500 km and is both semi-directional and highly resistant to jamming. So Gripen operators have been able to redefine the concept of a flight, from requiring the aircraft to stay near each other, to one where the four aircraft can spread across hundreds of kilometres while still actively sharing radar, status, and other sensor data at high-speed and in real-time. This creates both tactical surprise and ambiguity, because an enemy flight can no longer easily predict from which direction an attack might come, and opens new opportunities for sensor fusion across multiple aircraft.
A world-first two-way encrypted aircraft-to-aircraft, ground-to-aircraft, and aircraft-to-ground digital radio “fighter link”. miniaturisation of electronics to become a swing-role aircraft, defining its operating roles and functions in software, rather than hardware. So they could change roles inflight as a result of processing the output of all of its onboard sensors into an integrated set of fused views. This took both internal data processing and external data sharing to the next level. On the Gripen the ‘fighter link’ expanded into the Tactical Information Data Link System (TIDLS) or ‘TAU-link’ (Tactical Air Unit), a TDMA-based highbandwidth bi-directional UHF data link connecting up to four Gripens in a flight (hence ‘tactical air unit’) and to a Saab Erieye-carrying airborne early warning aircraft. Gripens can share almost every onboard function across TIDLS, including position, altitude, airspeed, and heading; fuel, weapons, and countermeasures status; target position and movement data,
By being so far apart, yet sharing radar and EW data in real time, a flight of four Gripens can each combine the measurements and perform onboard calculations for faster lock-on, better tracking, and jamming avoidance. Where pilots could treat a Viggen flight as a coherent unit in the tactical sense, Gripen pilots can go a step further and treat their flights as a coherent and combined sensor suite made up of four connected nodes. As onboard sensors and computers become more powerful, so the capability of Gripen flights will continue to increase. While an intra-flight data link is convenient, there’s always a need to speak to ground control and other platforms. The first Gripen variants also used the Swedish national data link, TARAS (Tactical Radio System), linked to the updated Stril 90 system for broader communication. The Gripen C/D variant ditched TARAS for the
NATO Link-16 standard, as Sweden had by then become increasingly involved in NATO operations and needed to communicate with other NATO platforms during missions. This caused a controversial capability gap as it has taken time for other Swedish military
is a mostly TDMA (time division multiple access) based data link that can run on HF, VHF, or UHF bands at a rate of up to 16,000 bits/sec, accommodating 16 platforms per net and with at least three concurrent nets in operation. Messages are defined according
from Gripens to its Hawk Mk120 lead-in fighter trainers, thus making the Hawks cheap interceptors, despite their own lack of onboard radars. Looking at the near future, tactical data links are undergoing another generational change. Where current approaches like Link-16 and Link-ZA depend on reliable Even though the Hawk does not have radar, it can act as but dated technologies like an interceptor using data links from the Gripen's radar. TDMA to prevent contention, which severely limits network sizes and flexibility, manufacturers are building the next generation of data links on top of internet technologies with IP (internet protocol) addressing, software-defined radio waveforms, ad hoc mesh networks, and flexible adaptation and self-repair. When these are used with AESA radars and other newgeneration sensors we will see a whole new range of capabilities and combinations arise.
systems to transition to Link-16 and there’s no easy mechanism to translate between it and TARAS. In South Africa’s case, the locally developed Link-ZA is the chosen data link in place of TARAS and Link-16. Link-ZA
to the Variable Message Format standard, split into the broad categories of Image, Awareness and Text Messages. Through Link-ZA the South African Air Force has adapted the TIDLS concept to share radar situational awareness data
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News
First Single Engine Lands at St Helena
HAI 2019 Preview
On 17 January a Pilatus PC-12 landed at St Helena, making it the first single engine propeller aircraft to have landed on the island. The World’s premier helicopter expo is the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Heli expo, which is once again being held in the Georgia World Congress Center Atlanta – from 4 to 7 March 2019.
The crew and pax of the PC-12 are met by St Helena Governor Lisa Honan.
P
ILOT Jack Long, with his wife Carolyn and friends Josh and Becky, arrived in their Pilatus PC-12 at St Helena Airport on their third trip around the world. The group has flown the Pilatus PC-12 around the world twice; once in an eastbound direction (2015) and once over the very challenging polar route
(2016-2017). This third trip is another variation of a ‘Round the World’ flight – Circumnavigation Westwards – recognised by the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale). The Governor of the island, HE Lisa Honan commented, “I was delighted to come out and meet with Captain Jack Long who has today made history because he brought in the first single propeller plane, and he’s also remarkable because it’s his third circumnavigation of the world.” Jack Long said: “I have a particular fascination with remote, out of the way, unusual places, and St Helena has fascinated me for a while. Our stop here was for two reasons – logistical, as we crossed the Atlantic so it was either Cape Verde or St Helena and we’ve already done Cape Verde. Also because St Helena and the story of the construction of the Airport and the unique challenges with wind conditions was especially interesting.”
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H
AI 2019 is expected to feature 730 industry suppliers and more than 18,000 visitors from more than 90 countries. Relationship building is a key feature of the expo and to this end it provides 14 committee meeting rooms where delegates can discover the issues that will shape the future by attending workshops, forums, and events. A key attraction of the expo is the show’s ability to provide demonstration flights for the more than 60 helicopters on the show floor. Like air shows the world over, manufacturers often use HAI to announce orders. South Africa’s helicopter distributor Safomar expects to announce a number of orders for Enstrom and Kopter helicopter sales into Africa to add to the OEM global tally. HAI also provides numerous professional education courses, where delegates can earn continuing education credits, including FAA-accepted courses and FAA AMT and WINGS programmes. Engineers can renew their inspection authorisation certificates at the manufacturers’ technical briefings. Furthermore, the HFI Rotor Safety Challenge features more than 30 expert-led safety sessions A key component of HAI is its ability to connect desirable employers with top-notch candidates at its career fair. Other featured Expo events include the HFI Online Silent Auction, the HFI Golf Tournament, HAI Connect, HAI HELI-EXPO Welcome Reception, HAI HELI-EXPO Annual Membership Meeting & Breakfast, and the HFI Helicopter Industry Career and Mentoring Fair.
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African Airlines R eport : G uy L eitch
A ASA:
The State of the African Airline Industry At the 2018 Airlines Association of Southern Africa (IAASA) conference in Livingstone Zambia, AASA CEO Chris Zweigenthal provided an overview of the challenges facing the African airline industry.
A
DDRESSING the problem and perceptions of safety, Zweigenthal pointed out that it is an area where phenomenal improvements have been made over the past decade. “Ten years ago Africa had the poorest safety record by some margin. Interventions by industry and government, notably the IATA Operational Safety Audits, have provided the impetus and supported this turnaround. So much so, that in 2017, there were no accidents involving jet airliners operated by IATA’s African member airlines. While we have become a top performer, we must strive for continued safety excellence so that we retain and build travellers’ confidence in African aviation.” Zweigenthal pointed out that the African airline industry’s financial performance is “painted in red ink, indicating we are not fully capitalising on our assets, or making the most of what is a great value-for-money destination for tourism, investment and trade.” IATA expects the world’s airlines will
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AASA CEO Chris Zweigenthal addresses the Annual Meeting In Zambia.
return a combined US$ 33.8 billion profit this year, but says Africa will again remain in the red, with a US$100 million loss, and this is ameliorated by the profit from
Ethiopian and the privately owned South African carriers. Thus Southern Africa anticipates a US$ 300 million loss for the year.
African airlines have become remarkably safe.
Zweigenthal noted that SADC airline priorities are to achieve and maintain profitability. Typical issues that all airline executives and shareholders need to face include financing, investment, fleet and network management, intense domestic and international competition, regulatory and governance requirements, and rising costs - in particular those costs vulnerable to exchange rate volatility, such as fuel, distribution, finance, leasing and maintenance costs. IATA and the World Bank are expecting around 5% passenger growth per year in Africa over the next 20 years, which is higher than the 4.5% global rate. However, Southern Africa is again struggling with expected growth between 0% to 4%. Projections indicate that “demand across Sub-Saharan Africa will remain dampened by prevailing economic conditions, including a lower than expected GDP growth of 2.3%.” Zweigenthal says that “for the aviation industry to develop, passenger growth must return to levels greater than 5% as soon as possible. This increased demand will have to be met with increased capacity, either with more flights, or bigger planes. It will also need an appropriate investment in airport and airspace capacity. Some of our airport and air navigation services partners have already begun planning and building for this.” Addressing the vexed issue of user fees, Zweigenthal said that “a robust economic regulation process will need to be expanded throughout the region. This is to ensure only cost effective and feasible projects are implemented. This is especially relevant given that the appetite for investment in airports is greater than in airlines. But we live in an unpredictable, volatile and often turbulent world, where markets are prone to manic mood swings and where fuel prices – which affect operational and living costs – are once again raging. Closer to home, high unemployment, poor service delivery, crime, labour issues and mixed policy messaging are also taking their toll.” On behalf of the airline industry - one of the most capital-intensive and a vital economically-beneficial sectors - we urge
governments across southern Africa to clarify their local economic reform policies. Poorly conceived and inconsistent policy pronouncements spoil the appetite for trade and investment at a time when they are desperately needed to create jobs, top up depleting fisci, stimulate development and
airlines lack the financial or equipment resources to compete with the stronger international carriers operating in the region. African carriers can create their own differentiators by exploiting our heritage of ingenuity, enterprise and compassion to deliver excellent, innovative, relevant, good
African airlines can compete and succeed improve the quality of lives.” Addressing the threat posed by nonAfrican airlines, Zweigenthal said that some African airlines see the megacarriers as a threat to their business. He reminded delegates that “Competition will not disappear. It is a fact of life for all businesses. Airlines are not immune from it. Governments are increasingly agnostic about who carries the visitors and the exports, as long as they keep coming, bringing hard forex with them. In response, we are beginning to see collaboration between some of the region’s airlines and the established and these rising mega-carriers. Currently, many African
value, efficient, friendly and hospitable services.” Raising yet again the old bugbear of the lack of liberalisation, Zweigenthal pointed out that 30 years ago the Yamoussoukro Declaration was signed, which was the original initiative to liberalise Africa’s skies. It was superseded by the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision, which also failed to fulfil its objectives. Then earlier this year the African Union launched the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), which aims to open Africa’s skies to Africa’s airlines while closing the gaps of the earlier agreements. He pointed out that there have been some bilateral and regional
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reform initiatives, but continent-wide implementation has not yet occurred. In preparation, competition authorities are being established and provisions are being put in place, to accelerate SAATM’s implementation during 2019. Regarding visa restrictions Zweigenthal said that “other impediments on air travel, tourism and their ability to drive economic growth also need to be released. While Nigeria, Angola and Rwanda have relaxed some of their visa requirements, other countries, including South Africa (despite the recently announced concessions), need to reform their immigration regulations to create an inviting, accessible, efficient and welcoming experience for tourists. Discussions need to be re-opened with authorities to resolve the problematic provisions regarding minors.” On the subject of climate change, AASA is promoting IATA’s mission to prepare
reputational consequences if they do not. In May this year, the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became the EU’s primary law to protect EU citizens and residents’ personal data. It applies to any company marketing goods and services to EU residents, such as airlines, travel and tourism organizations, including those in Africa. “According to The Internet Society, only 17 of 55 African states (six within SADC) have enacted data protection legislation, but it is fragmented and inconsistent. The AU Commission together with the Internet Society, recently published a continental guideline on data protection intended to address the challenges in this area for all stakeholders. As airlines will need to incorporate the necessary provisions, we will appeal to governments to adopt a consultative approach in formulating these policies and laws.
We need to put the customer first, understand and get to know them, listen to their needs, and communicate with them. its member airlines for the submission of environmental management plans and the reporting of emissions on international flights from 1 January 2019. From SADC so far just Zambia, Botswana and Namibia have volunteered for the CORSIA programme. Despite the improvement in the oil price blocked funds are still a problem – although they have been reduced in Nigeria and Angola. Angola is still withholding US$ 416 million, Zimbabwe US78 million and Mozambique is holding US$5 million of airlines revenues. Noting the current spate of attacks and breaches of IT systems and databases, Zweigenthal said that this has resulted in passengers demanding greater diligence by airlines and other organisations in protecting their data. Personal data protection is a legally enshrined human right. Airlines face fresh regulatory and legal obligations to secure and protect customer data or face stiff penalties and
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“IATA’s recently-released 2018 Global Passenger Survey found that although passengers look to new technology to give them more control, better information and greater efficiency when travelling, they still want a human touch when things go wrong. Zweigenthal said that he was not only referring to passengers who change their minds, who try to change their flight reservations on a restricted low-fare ticket, or who report at check-in counters after a flight has closed, etc. He posited an example; “A passenger makes an on-line reservation. For her middle name she accidentally types “Barol” instead of “Carol”. She discovers the problem when she prints her ticket and calls the call centre and admits it is her mistake. The operator’s solution; cancel the flight, forfeit the full fare which is nonrefundable and buy a new ticket. The trip cost will probably be more than double the initial outlay. We know name changes are a problem. Why? Is it the rules, the
system? Maybe we would like to assist the passenger but it is extremely difficult and time consuming. Do we blame the system or our processes? Have we lost the soft touch? Surely we can deal with genuine problems or mistakes more effectively?” Addressing the consequences of poor service, Zweigenthal pointed out that in today’s connected world, minor operational incidents soon become viral online fodder and global headline stories. Airlines stand a high chance of losing customers, investors, suppliers and even going out of business if they do not respond in the way customers and other stakeholders expect of them. Mishandled issues and crises could also cost airline executives their jobs. “We need to put the customer first, understand and get to know them, listen to their needs, and communicate with them in ways that they appreciate and want.” Addressing the airline’s own human capital, Zweigenthal said that at the AASA 2017 Assembly building human capital and establishing a pipeline of talent for Africa’s airlines was discussed. “We set out to find ways to identify, attract, develop and retain talent for the aviation industry in the region. Progress is being made, thanks to outreach initiatives, such as the ‘Wonders of Aviation’, which, with the support of many airlines and stakeholders, exposes bright and eager youngsters to our industry. AASA also runs training programs for its member airlines providing additional skills development and learning opportunities. Work is still required to better coordinate training initiatives across the industry including pilots, technicians and other specialist skills. We will continue to encourage public and industry collaboration in this area with transformation as our core objective.” Zweigenthal concluded by pointing out that to become sustainable drivers of economic growth, Africa’s airlines don’t need artificial barriers or protectionist policies. “African airlines can compete and succeed with the cultivation of a strong service culture and the development of unique, hospitable services. We recommend that all airlines and industry partners critically review their customer service ethic, processes and procedures, and take what they can from the presentations and panel discussions back to their businesses and then implement initiatives to take their customer service product offering to the next level.”
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PRETORIA
• Overhaul / Shockload / Repair of Continental and Lycoming Aircraft engines; •Overhaul Engine; Components; •Overhaul and supply of Hartzell / McCauley and Fix pitch Propellers Hangar no 4, Wonderboom Airport , Pretoria PO Box 17699, Pretoria North, 0116 • Tel: (012) 543 0948/51 • Fax: (012) 543 9447 • email: aeroeng@iafrica.com AMO No: 227
FLIGHT SAFETY THROUGH MAINTENANCE
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BACKPAGE DIRECTORY A1A Flight Examiner (Loutzavia) Jannie Loutzis 012 567 6775 / 082 416 4069 jannie@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.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 AES (Johannesburg) Danie van Wyk 011 701 3200 office@aeroelectrical.co.za www.aeroelectrical.co.za
Dart Aircraft Electrical ATNS Mathew Joubert Percy Morokane 011 827 0371 011 607 1234 Dartaircraftelectrical@gmail.com percymo@atns.co.za www.dartaero.co.za www.atns.com Aviation Direct DJA Aviation Insurance 011 464 5550 Andrea Antel 0800Flying 011 465 2669 mail@dja-aviation.co.za info@aviationdirect.co.za www.dja-aviation.co.za www.aviationdirect.co.za Avtech Aircraft Services Riekert Stroh 082 555 2808 / 082 749 9256 avtech1208@gmail.com BAC Aviation AMO 115 Micky Joss 035 797 3610 monicad@bacmaintenance.co.za Blackhawk Africa Cisca de Lange 083 514 8532 cisca@blackhawk.aero www.blackhawk.aero
Dynamic Propellers Andries Visser 011 824 5057 082 445 4456 andries@dynamicpropeller.co.za www.dynamicpropellers.co.za Eagle Aviation Helicopter Division Tamryn van Staden 082 657 6414 tamryn@eaglehelicopter.co.za www.eaglehelicopter.co.za Eagle Flight Academy Mr D. J. Lubbe 082 557 6429 training@eagleflight.co.za www.eagleflight.co.za
GIB Aviation Insurance Brokers Richard Turner 011 483 1212 aviation@gib.co.za www.gib.co.za Gryphon Flight Academy Jeffrey Von Holdt 011 701 2600 info@gryphonflight.co.za www.gryphonflight.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
Aerocore Jacques Podde 082 565 2330 jacques@aerocore.co.za Blue Chip Flight School www.aerocore.co.za Henk Kraaij 012 543 3050 Elite Aviation Academy Aero Engineering & PowerPlant bluechip@bluechip-avia.co.za Jacques Podde Hover Dynamics Andre Labuschagne www.bluechipflightschool.co.za 082 565 2330 Phillip Cope 012 543 0948 info@eliteaa.co.za 074 231 2964 aeroeng@iafrica.com Border Aviation Club & Flight School www.eliteaa.co.za info@hover.co.za Liz Gous www.hover.co.za Aero Services (Pty) Ltd 043 736 6181 Emperor Aviation Chris Scott admin@borderaviation.co.za Paul Sankey Indigo Helicopters 011 395 3587 www.borderaviation.co.za 082 497 1701 / 011 824 5683 Gerhard Kleynhans chris@aeroservices.co.za paul@emperoraviation.co.za 082 927 4031 / 086 528 4234 www.aeroservices.co.za Breytech Aviation cc www.emperoraviation.co.za veroeschka@indigohelicopters.co.za 012 567 3139 www.indigohelicopters.co.za Aeronav Academy Willie Breytenbach Enstrom/MD Helicopters Donald O’Connor admin@breytech.co.za Andrew Widdall IndigoSat South Africa - Aircraft Tracking 011 701 3862 Gareth Willers sam@aeronav.co.za Bundu Aviation 011 397 6260 aerosa@safomar.co.za 08600 22 121 www.aeronav.co.za Phillip Cronje www.safomar.co.za sales@indigosat.co.za 083 485 2427 www.indigosat.co.za Aerotric (Pty) Ltd info@bunduaviation.co.za Era Flug Flight Training Richard Small www.bunduaviation.co.za Pierre Le Riche Integrated Avionic Solutions 083 488 4535 021 934 7431 Gert van Niekerk aerotric@aol.com Celeste Sani Pak & Inflight Products info@era-flug.com 082 831 5032 Steve Harris www.era-flug.com gert@iasafrica.co.za Aircraft Assembly and Upholstery Centre 011 452 2456 www.iasafrica.co.za Tony/Siggi Bailes admin@chemline.co.za Execujet Africa 082 552 6467 www.chemline.co.za 011 516 2300 International Flight Clearances anthony@rvaircraft.co.za enquiries@execujet.co.za Steve Wright www.rvaircraft.co.za Cape Aircraft Interiors www.execujet.com 076 983 1089 (24 Hrs) Sarel Schutte flightops@flyifc.co.za Aircraft Finance Corporation 021 934 9499 Federal Air www.flyifc.co.za Ryan Forrester michael@wcaeromarine.co.za Nick Lloyd-Roberts 011 467 2990 / 082 890 6962 www.zscai.co.za 011 395 9000 Investment Aircraft ryan@airfincorp.co.za shuttle@fedair.com Quinton Warne www.airfincorp.co.za Cape Town Flying Club www.fedair.com 082 806 5193 Beverley Combrink aviation@lantic.net Aircraft Maintenance International 021 934 0257 / 082 821 9013 Ferry Flights int.inc. www.investmentaircraft.com Pine Pienaar info@capetownflyingclub.co.za Michael (Mick) Schittenhelm 083 305 0605 www.@capetownflyingclub.co.za 082 442 6239 Jabiru Aircraft gm@aminternational.co.za ferryflights@ferry-flights.com Len Alford Cape Town Flight Training Centre www.ferry-flights.com 044 876 9991 / 044 876 9993 Aircraft Maintenance International Steven van Zyl info@jabiru.co.za Wonderboom 021 976 7053 Fireblade Aviation www.jabiru.co.za Thomas Nel admin@cape-town-flying.co.za 010 595 3920 082 444 7996 www.cape-town-flying.co.za info@firebladeaviation.com Jim Davis Books admin@aminternational.co.za www.firebladeaviation.com Jim Davis Capital Air 072 188 6484 Air Line Pilots’ Association Micaella Vinagre Flight Training College jim@border.co.za Sonia Ferreira 011 827 0335 Cornell Morton www.jimdavis.co.za 011 394 5310 micaella@capitalairsa.com 044 876 9055 alpagm@iafrica.com www.capitalairsa.com ftc@flighttrainning.co.za Joc Air T/A The Propeller Shop www.alpa.co.za www.flighttraining.co.za Aiden O’Mahony Century Avionics cc 011 701 3114 Airshift Aircraft Sales Carin van Zyl Flight Training Services jocprop@iafrica.com Eugene du Plessis 011 701 3244 Amanda Pearce 082 800 3094 sales@centuryavionics.co.za 011 805 9015/6 Kishugu Aviation eugene@airshift.co.za www.centuryavionics.co.za amanda@fts.co.za +27 13 741 6400 www.airshift.co.za www.fts.co.za comms@kishugu.com Chemetall www.kishugu.com/kishugu-aviation Airvan Africa Wayne Claassens Flightsure Aviation Brokers Patrick Hanly 011 914 2500 Mandy Coetzer Kit Planes for Africa 082 565 8864 wayne.claassens@basf.com 011 805 1884 Stefan Coetzee airvan@border.co.za www.chemetall.com mandy@flightsure.co.za 013 793 7013 www.airvan.co.za www.flightsure.co.za info@saplanes.co.za Chem-Line Aviation & Celeste Products www.saplanes.co.za Algoa Flying Club Steve Harris Fly Jetstream Aviation Sharon Mugridge 011 452 2456 Henk Kraaij Kzn Aviation (Pty) Ltd 041 581 3274 sales@chemline.co.za 083 279 7853 Melanie Jordaan info@algoafc.co.za www.chemline.co.za charter@flyjetstream.co.za 031 564 6215 www.algoafc.co.za www.flyjetstream.co.za mel@kznaviation.co.za Comporob Composite Repair & www.kznaviation.co.za Alpi Aviation SA Manufacture Flying Frontiers Dale De Klerk Felix Robertson Craig Lang Landing Eyes 082 556 3592 072 940 4447 082 459 0760 Gavin Brown dale@alpiaviation.co.za 083 265 3602 CraigL@fairfield.co.za 031 202 5703 www.alpiaviation.co.za comporob@lantic.net www.flyingfrontiers.com info@landingeyes.co.za www.comporob.co.za www.landingeyes.com Apco (Ptyd) Ltd Flying Unlimited Flight School (Pty) Ltd Tony/Henk Corporate-Aviators/Affordable Jet Sales Riaan Struwig Lanseria Aircraft Interiors 012 5213 0775 Mike Helm 082 653 7504 / 086 770 8376 Francois Denton support@apcosa.co.za 082 442 6239 riaan@ppg.co.za 011 659 1962 / 076 810 9751 www.apcosa.co.za corporate-aviators@iafrica.com www.ppg.co.za francois@aircraftcompletions.co.za www.corporate-aviators.com Aref Avionics Lanseria International Airport Hannes Roodt C. W. Price & Co Foster Aero International Dudley Foster Mike Christoph 082 462 2724 Kelvin L. Price 011 659 2533 011 367 0300 arefavionics@border.co.za 011 805 4720 info@fosteraero.co.za mikec@lanseria.co.za cwp@cwprice.co.za www.fosteraero.co.za www.lanseria.co.za Atlas Aviation Lubricants www.cwprice.co.za Steve Cloete Gemair Legend Sky 011 917 4220 Dart Aeronautical Andries Venter 083 860 5225 / 086 600 7285 Fax: 011 917 2100 Jaco Kelly 011 701 2653 / 082 905 5760 info@legendssky.co.za Sales.aviation@atlasoil.co.za 011 827 8204 andries@gemair.co.za www.legendsky.co.za www.atlasoil.africa dartaero@mweb.co.za
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Litson & Associates (Pty) Ltd OGP, BARS, Resources Auditing & Aviation Training karen.litson@litson.co.za Phone: 27 (0) 21 8517187 www.litson.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 Charters Henry Miles 012 567 3873 charters@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 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
Pipistrel Kobus Nel 083 231 4296 kobus@pipistrelsa.co.za www.pipistrelsa.co.za Plane Maintenance Facility Johan 083 300 3619 pmf@myconnection.co.za Precision Aviation Services Pieter Hulleman 012 543 0371 riks@pasaviation.co.za www.pasaviation.co.za Precision Aviation Training Academy Johan Odendaal 012 543 0372 / 082 553 4413 johan@pasaviation.co.za www.patahelicopters.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
Starlite Aero Sales Klara Fouché +27 83 324 8530 / +27 31 571 6600 klaraf@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com Starlite Aviation Operations Trisha Andhee +27 82 660 3018/ +27 31 571 6600 trishaa@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com Starlite Aviation Training Academy Enquiries Durban: +27 31 571 6600 Mossel Bay: +27 44 692 0006 train@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com Status Aviation (Pty) Ltd Richard Donian 074 587 5978 / 086 673 5266 info@statusaviation.co.za www.statusaviation.co.za Superior Pilot Services Liana Jansen van Rensburg 0118050605/2247 info@superiorair.co.za www.superiorair.co.za The Airplane Factory Kim Bell-Cross 011 948 9898 sales@airplanefactory.co.za www.airplanefactory.co.za
SABRE Aircraft Richard Stubbs 083 655 0355 richardstubbs@mweb.co.za www.aircraftafrica.co.za
The Copter Shop Bill Olmsted 082 454 8555 execheli@iafrica.com www.execheli.wixsite.com/the-copter-shopsa
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
MS Aviation Gary Templeton 082 563 9639 gary.templeton@msaviation.co.za www.msaviation.co.za
SIM Aerotraining (Pty) Ltd 011 395 1326 Keith Roseveare keithr@simaero.co.za www.sim.aero
North East Avionics Keith Robertson +27 13 741 2986 keith@northeastavionics.co.za deborah@northeastavionics.co.za www.northeastavionics.co.za
Skyhorse Aviation Tamarin Bond 012 809 3571 info@skyhorse.co.za www.skyhorse.co.za
PFERD-South Africa (Pty) Ltd Hannes Nortman 011 230 4000 hannes.nortman@pferd.co.za www.pferd.com
Sport Plane Builders Pierre Van Der Walt 083 361 3181 pmvdwalt@mweb.co.za
SAA Technical (SOC) Ltd SAAT Marketing 011 978 9993 satmarketing@flysaa.com www.flysaa.com/technical
Money Aviation Angus Money 083 263 2934 angus@moneyaviation.co.za www.moneyaviation.co.za
Orsmond Aviation 058 303 5261 info@orsmondaviation.co.za www.orsmondaviation.co.za Owenair (Pty) Ltd Clive Skinner 082 923 9580 clive.skinner@owenair.co.za www.owenwair.co.za Pacair Wayne Bond 033 386 6027 pacair@telkomsa.net
Southern Rotorcraft 021 935 0980 082 777 0805 sasales@rotors-r-us.com www.rotors-r-us.com
Skyworx Aviation Kevin Hopper kevin@skyworx.co.za www.skyworxaviation.co.za Sky-Tech Heinz Van Staden 082 720 5210 sky-tech@telkomsa.net www.sky-tech.za.com Solenta Aviation (Pty Ltd) Johann Minnaar 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
Titan Helicopter Group 044 878 0453 info@titanhelicopters.com www.titanhelicopters.com TPSC Dennis Byrne 011 701 3210 turboprop@wol.co.za Trio Helicopters & Aviation cc CR Botha or FJ Grobbelaar 011 659 1022
stoffel@trioavi.co.za/frans@trioavi.co.za
www.trioavi.co.za Tshukudu Trailers Pieter Visser 083 512 2342 deb@tshukudutrailers.co.za www.tshukudutrailers.co.za
Velocity Aviation Collin Pearson 011 659 2306 / 011 659 2334 collin@velocityaviation.co.za www.velocityaviation.co.za Villa San Giovanni Luca Maiorana 012 111 8888 info@vsg.co.za www.vsg.co.za Vortx Aviation Bredell Roux 072 480 0359 info@vortx.co.za www.vortxaviation.com Wagtail Aviation Johan van Ludwig 082 452 8194 acrochem@mweb.co.za www.wagtail.co.za
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
Wanafly Adrian Barry 082 493 9101 adrian@wanafly.net www.wanafly.co.za
United Flight Support Clinton Moodley/Jonathan Wolpe 076 813 7754 / 011 788 0813 ops@unitedflightsupported.com www.unitedflightsupport.com
Wings n Things Wendy Thatcher 011 701 3209 wendy@wingsnthings.co.za www.wingsnthings.co.za
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
Witbank Flight School Andre De Villiers 083 604 1718 andredv@lantic.net www.waaflyingclub.co.za
Windhoek Flight Training Centre Thinus Dreyer 0026 40 811284 180 pilots@flywftc.com www.flywftc.com
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
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Airlines R eport : R oy E zze
AFRAA: Cargo Not To Be Left Behind At the AFRAA 50th General Assembly in Rabat, Secretary General Abderahmane Berthe emphasised that in the new thrust of the AFRAA leadership to revamp airlines and the industry in Africa within its unfolding open market environment, air cargo would “not be left behind”.
T
HIS declaration is significant for the air cargo industry given that stronger attention tends to be focused on passenger operations over cargo. Africa has hardly moved upwards from its air traffic figures for several years and its cargo traffic is still less than 2% of global cargo figures,
while Africa carries less than 3% of global passenger traffic annually. This creates enormous room for growth among all industry partners and operators as Africa’s current population of 1,3 billion is 16.6% of the world population. Further, 77 % of Africans are younger than 35 years, an age category that is more active in tourism, business and cargo-based activities that
need to be exploited by African airlines. According to Mr Berthe, “In 2017, the real output growth has increased to 3.6%, up from 2.2% in 2016 and will accelerate. In 2017, Africa’s traffic share was 2.2% of the global market. Growth rates were 7.3% for the RPK (Revenue Passenger Kilometre) and 22.9% the FMTK (Freight and Mail Tons Kilometre).”
AFRAA Secretary General - Cargo will not be left behind.
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ABOVE: Ethiopian launched the first-ever cargo flight from Africa to Miami USA using a B777 Freighter.
Inordinate Taxes, Charges and Fees Cargo and passenger airlines are challenged by the high cost of airline operation in Africa, mainly from fuel costs and taxes, charges and fees. Mr Berthe said, “Charges and taxes in various African airports are among the highest.” Besides this, passenger and cargo operators “need adequate, safe, efficient and cost-effective infrastructure that meets the growing needs and expectations of passengers and shippers,” he added, emphasising that “only 27% of the 195 international airports in Africa are certified according to the ICAO Annex 14 requirement.” At the Lagos Airport, for instance, the ramp for cargo is so small that it can barely accommodate a few large aircraft simultaneously, said Mr Kingsley Nwokoma, the President of Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives of Nigeria (AFARN). Across the continent, several greenfield and brownfield airport projects are ongoing, and some are on a Build-OperateAnd-Transfer (BOT) basis. According to IATA’s Mr Alexandre de Juniac, some of the airport projects are completed without consultation with airlines that use the facilities. IATA and airlines are compelled to challenge high taxes, charges and fees when these become evident. To keep a smooth relationship between airlines and airports, AFRAA also tries to ensure a better understanding between airlines and airports. “We engage airport developers to take the views of operators in account in their projects prior to
implementation and construction. We also engage governments to make sure that the investment model they choose will not seriously increase the cost for operators and users,” Mr Berthe said. Safety and Security The safety and security of air cargo operators and services in Africa have also become paramount in the future of African air cargo operation. Mr Sanjeev Ghadia, CEO of Astral Aviation, said that safety and security are vital for sustainability of African air cargo operators. According to the CEO of Ethiopian, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, the safety of African airlines is the responsibility of airline CEOs who must provide leadership to uphold high levels of safety and security. The AFRAA Secretary General, who shared this conviction on the responsibility of airlines’ leadership, stressed that: “In many cases, having a strong long-term development strategy including fleet, network and human capital, is a challenge to be addressed by African Airlines leadership.” Ethiopian is providing leadership in passenger and cargo airline business and is increasing its dedicated cargo fleet. In August, Ethiopian launched the first-ever cargo flight from Africa to Miami, USA, using a B777 Freighter. To improve the fortunes of Africa’s cargo airlines and air cargo services on the continent, Mr Vladimir Zubkov, Secretary General of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), said cooperation among TIACA, ICAO, AFRAA, among
others is creating value in the industry. He said the Second ICAO Meeting on Air Cargo Development in Africa held in Addis Ababa in June 2017, reviewed the progress in the implementation of the Lomé Declaration and updated the Action Plan on the Development of Air Cargo in Africa. He emphasised that, while both TIACA and AFRAA contributed to this Action Plan, “AFRAA consisting of 32 airlines spread across the entire continent and representing more than 80% of total international traffic carried by all African airlines, quite naturally becomes the major partner in the Plan’s implementation.” Human Capacity Build-Up Beyond the forgoing, human capacity building is as essential for air cargo development as it is for aviation generally in Africa. Industry forecasts show that Africa needs 22,000 pilots, 24,000 engineers and 27,000 cabin crew in the next twenty years to serve the needs of passenger and cargo operators alike. AFRAA CEOs were agreed in Rabat that training is essential to bridge the gap in skilled personnel in Africa. Mr Alexandre de Juniac challenged women to become more courageous and rise up to technical and leadership positions in the industry. This cuts across passenger and cargo airlines where men’s dominance is overwhelming. Disruptive Technology Mr Val Tongo, CEO of Allied Air, a cargo airline based in Lagos, Nigeria, said he has used technology to improve his airline’s
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revenue and close revenue leakages, and he stresses that disruptive technology is the future of cargo airlines in Africa. Mr Tongo emphasised the essence of finding a niche and performing sustainably in it, as his airline feeds and de-feeds bigger airlines, including DHL. Technology providers and aircraft manufacturers have pledged support to the African airlines industry with continually
Procurement, Training, Cargo,”. The prospect of air cargo in Africa remains strong as African airlines look to explore the opportunities to be thrown open by the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). The launch of the SAATM in Addis Ababa in January 2018 by the African Union (AU) opens new citypairs for cargo originating from African sources and those arriving from foreign
The prospect of air cargo in Africa remains strong. improved cargo and passenger management technology as well as aircraft with improved technology to improve safety, efficiency and profitability. SAATM and African Air Cargo AFRAA has taken steps to improve support to African airlines. Mr Berthe, AFRAA Secretary General, noted that “The Joint projects being run by AFRAA cover: Fuel Purchase, Route and Network Cooperation, Ground Handling
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sources. The competition rules to support the SAATM have been fine-tuned and published by the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) to give confidence to operators. It will encourage more States to sign up to the Solemn Commitment of the SAATM, with 27 States out of Africa’s 55 states having signed so far.. Two of Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with AFCAC to speed up implementation of the SAATM in their respective regions and
more States and RECs are expected to join SAATM in 2019. According to the Group Managing Director of Royal Air Maroc, Mr Abdelhamid Addou, his airline is strengthening its cargo arm while air cargo is being strengthened in Morocco. While Mr Berthe demanded that African airlines should have unfettered access to African markets in line with the SAATM, Mr Tefera Mekonen, the Focal Person of the SAATM and the newly elected Secretary General of AFCAC, called on African airlines to initiate flights to African destinations to operationalise the SAATM, instructing them to report any inhibitions to AFCAC. With the election of the new AFCAC Secretary General, Mr Tefera Mekonen, in Zambia early in December 2018, cooperation and coordination among key SAATM partners as well as the implementation of the SAATM are expected to shift into high gear. And air cargo services are expected to be among the beneficiaries of the liberalization and improvement of the air transport industry in Africa.
TAIL FEATHERS A
personal take on things by
SACAA Scores a 'D'.
SA-CAA SCORES A ‘D’
I will do my best to be sparing with the verbal vitriol, so you may feel a tad let down if you rushed straight to these pages hoping that I would be dumping literary napalm on our esteemed CAA for their recent handling of the Cemair issue. That said, we should remember that Poppy’s apostles are tasked with ensuring
SaraLima
safety in our aviation circles but, this time, their actions on the Cemair front may well have urinated on the batteries. So instead of bile, I will make use of the most powerful weapon that my father had in his arsenal of son-corrective weaponry. If my Dad called me lazy, a layabout or even unfit to be a family member, I would be unaffected – it would slide off me like grannie’s slippers off freshly-waxed stairs. But if he ever said he was ‘disappointed’ in me, I would be humiliated and devastated. It meant that he had expected so much more of me and I hadn’t made the cut. The ‘D’ word is a powerful opprobrium, so I have used it cautiously and sparingly over the years. But when I see the CAA produce multiple mass e-mailings and pressers using injudicious emotive language like “bizarre” and transparently embedded innuendo like “lest we lose lives while turning a blind eye on non-compliances by those driven by profit and other factors” I take it to be a gauche public relations whitewash exercise. So, while I may have no issue with a grounding for genuine safety reasons, I must state that I expected far better of SA-CAA than a graceless attempt to
further camouflage a covert vendetta via klutzy and ill-prepared PR emails and Press. For this reason, I am left with little option other than to use the ‘D’ word and make it publicly known that I am disappointed in the so-called guardians of our skies. They score a BIG ‘D’.
NOT SO FAST
I have bad news for the hordes of overzealous technologists and scientists who are spending substantial wads of other people’s cash to develop a new generation of supersonic passenger aircraft. The term ‘new-generation’ is used unadvisedly as, when it comes to supersonic peoplemovers, we have been there and done that. And those with the characteristic tunnel-vision approach that technology is the only cure-all, are repeating the same mistake that they always make, with a consistency that is increasingly alarming. The latest crop of SST proponents only ask whether something CAN be done, and never pause to ponder about whether it SHOULD be done.
Already relegated to the scrap heap.
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To help milk the mega-millions from the bounteous udders of their unwary investors, their new approach to reinventing the supersonic wheel is to create a Mach one plus aircraft sans sonic boom. The bad news is that their ‘sonic whisper’ creations will go the way of Concorde and the Boeing SST – relegated either to the scrap heap or to an aviation history museum. Concorde, albeit a technological marvel, was only useful to those who deal with Corporations and Countries like they are a game of Monopoly. You could buy a country over breakfast, cross the Atlantic and sell a corporate conglomerate over lunch, then be home in time for dinner to plan tomorrow’s buy and sell over cognac and cigars. But to these people, supersonic transport was merely a tool, little other than a timesaving device.
For Joe Public, who travel for more prosaic purposes, such as pleasure; when given the choice to go on holiday at twice the speed or at half the price, always choose the latter option. Simply removing their technology blinkers for a moment will allow the techno cash-milkers to bathe in the revelation that it wasn’t the sonic boom that killed supersonic transport, it was television. When we concatenated the Internet with television to create video conferencing, big business globally could instantly connect with each other to buy and sell countries and corporations without ever having to leave the comfort and safety of their boardroom to cross an ocean. So the need for superfast transport, with or without the sonic boom, whimpered and died.
FEBRUARY LOL
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So, even if they pass through Mach One with fewer decibels than a champagne cork popping out of a bottle of Moët, the new Aerion and Boom jets will join their supersonic forbears on the failure scrap heap. Not because they’re too noisy, but because, in the Internet age, they’re too slow.
FEBRUARY’S THOUGHT
Any pilot can describe the mechanics of flying; but what flying can do for a person’s spirit is beyond description.