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I asked a pilot who owns a Cessna 210 how much he flies a year. “About 25 hours” he replied. He freely admitted his major constraint is cost.
He is not unusual. With Avgas approaching R20 per litre, flying traditional Cessnas and Pipers for fun bec...
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Never in the field of human conflict has so much controversy been stirred up by so many about so few. Churchill’s immortal words (slightly adjusted) would be perfect for the nonsense stirred up by petty jealousy when comparing a real Spitfire with an ...
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Aviation is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world. This is clearly necessary if the flying public is to have confidence that flying is safer than driving.
The problem is that the aviation industry also contains recreational aviation...
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Discovered on Bapsfontein plotArguably one of the world’s weirdest aeroplanes, the PL-12 was, for a short period, a great success. Designed to replace the venerable Tiger Moth topdressers that were once hugely popular amongst New Zealand aerial applic...
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Personal Computer Flight Simmers have justifiably earned themselves a place as an independent section of the Aero Club of SA. They take their virtual flying very seriously, so it was a big disappointment when Microsoft cancelled further development of i...
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There’s nothing really spectacular, such as warbirds, that is new on our register this month but I see that there is another Robinson R66 and two more Mil MI-8s as well as two more DHC-8-402s for SA Express. Two of their older DHC-8-300s have gone t...
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It has been fifteen years since Enstrom developed its light turbine helicopter. In that time it has proven to have an excellent safety and maintenance record and is thus a powerful competitor in the now keenly-contested market for a light turbine
Thi...
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I have fallen into the uncomfortable position and unasked for role of spokesman for the aviation industry.
At times I am happy to try and improve the reporting on matters aviation that the general media seem to get startlingly wrong, often with delib...
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Storms & Fear over the Pacific
James Pitman and Jean de’Assonville are flying their Sling 4 around the world. In Part 1 we covered the flights from Johannesburg to Reunion and then Sri Lanka. We take up their epic voyage at Sri Lanka
13 August...
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A Pretoria entrepreneur has built what may be the perfect solution to the huge need for an affordable Jet A1 burning utility aircraft with a decent turn of speed
The anticipated demise of Avgas has been with us for some years, but gained real momentum ...
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Thirteen people aboard two Piaggio P166 Albatross aircraft, including three children, died tragically when the aircraft crashed near Tzaneen on the Mamatswiri peak on Sunday 14 Aug 2011, shortly after departing for Rand Airport after the Airshow and R...
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SANTACO Airlines starts off with a huge problem – it has to get past the lawless reputation of its taxi drivers, which is the exact opposite to the high level of trust required by the airline business.
For this reason, when it was first announced it ...
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The South African Air Force (SAAF) Museum holds perhaps the world’s largest collection of flying exhibits outside the USA. Despite a limited budget, it works hard at keeping aircraft in the air and carrying out restoration projects
A period of we...
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I write this under the oppressive pall of the two Albatrosses that crashed in formation into the Wolkberg, with the loss of all thirteen lives aboard. This is the worst South African aviation crash since the Helderberg and the cost of this accident in s...
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Aviation has the unfortunate ability to lead the economy into a recession and then lag the recovery. This is bad news as this recession is dragging on. Even if there are “green-shoot” signs that the South African economy may have bottomed, the aviatio...
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Before he was jailed for twenty seven years, Nelson Mandela travelled around Africa. He boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight and was astounded to see that they had a Black pilot.
Nearly fifty years later there is still a strongly held perception that p...
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I have for long dreamed about a single engine piston that has an automotive derived V6 or V8 engine. This engine will have dual electronic engine management and ignition systems, so it will be able to burn car mogas and run as smoothly and silently as a...
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The vexing question of return on investment for airport owners has once again emerged, especially when it affects the delicate balance of power between publicly owned airports and their private sector users.
Local authorities appear to target any aviat...
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This the season of goodwill and celebration, and I have a lot to be grateful for.
I will refrain from my usual practice of making a position report on the status of the industry as I have reviewed the highlights and low points of the past year in my At...
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A year ago I wrote one of my opinion columns (Attitude for Altitude, October 2009) on the end of Avgas being sooner than we think. At that time the date of its demise was still unknown. Now there are scaremongers who claim the date has been set.
What h...
