Airshow:

EEA Margate

Perhaps the best loved venue for the annual EAA Convention was the South Coast town of Margate, where it was held from 1981 to 1998. Many members campaigned for a return to Margate, and this year, EAA finally returned.

A very creditable 168 aircraft (as always, including residents) compared well with the 1981 event which achieved 160 aircraft. This year it was decided to not have an air show, with its attendant costs and restrictions.

Sadly, the poor weather limited flying, but Young Eagles flights were carried out, and there was a fair amount of informal flying. A braai and prize giving were held on two of the evenings, with De Villiers Visser’s Titan Tornado, ZU-VIS, all the way from Franschoek gaining the Grand Champion Trophy, while the PA-12 Super Cruiser, ZS-BIG, was the Best Restored Vintage aircraft.

The convention was organized by Neville Bohm, Karl Jensen and Bill Keil. Local arrangements were carried out by Dave Grosvenor of Pietermaritzburg. It is understood that next year’s event will be held

at East London, but Margate will again be the venue fairly shortly

Airshow:

SAAF 90 Years: Swartkop

This year is the SAAF’s 90th Anniversary, and powered flight in South Africa’s 100th. To celebrate this, a major SAAF air show was held at AFB Swartkop on 14 August, entitled 90 Years on Golden Wings.

As an air show, this was one of the best to be held in South Africa for many years, with high quality displays by a variety of aircraft and the cream of our display pilots. Most of the current operational types were on show, with the first public displays by the SAAB JAS39C Gripen single seater being one of the most popular events. Sadly, the DH.115 Vampire Trainer, ZU-DFH/277 developed a snag during the start up sequence and was unable to fly.

All the usual air show favourites were there with the radial formation of Harvards, led by the SAAF Museum Dakota, 6859, being particularly appropriate to the occasion. This air show also served as a dress rehearsal for the SAAF display at AAD in September. If this one was any yardstick to go by, the Capies will have something good to watch.

Fly-Aways;

Baron & Bonnie Fly-Away

The NAC annual Baron and Bonanza Fly in is attracting a loyal following of Beech owners

This year’s fly-away took crews to Molopo Kalahari Lodge outside Upington and then onto Philippolis, which is the home of the Tiger Canyons and the John Varty Tiger Experience.

NAC’s Tracy Porter once again excelled herself in organizing something unique and unforgettable. The crews experienced Tiger viewing, an organ recital in the Dutch Reformed church of Phillipolis and of course, had the pleasure of giving back through fund-raising.

During the evening in Phillipolis, the godparent rights to two local movie star donkeys were auctioned – Thamba and Koos (somewhat famous for the role they played in the District 9 movie). The crews dug deep and raised an impressive

R 48 000.00 which will be used for solar paneling at the local crèche and tourism development in the area. A further

R 5810.00 was raised during the organ recital, which will be used towards church funds for the homeless.

Everyone agreed they had fun, re-united with old friends, made some new ones and left the community better than they found it.

Eksteen Jacobsz summed up the guest’s feelings by saying, “I just want to congratulate NAC and everyone who was involved for a fantastic weekend. I had been looking forward to this past weekend for a long time and it didn’t disappoint. I especially want to say thanks for your warm and generous hospitality. It was fantastic to meet so many new people and see such a beautiful part of our country. All the best for the next one!”