IF THEY COULD TALK - the many Cessna C150s and C172s, and the Cherokee 140s, must have countless stories to tell of enthusiastic but struggling novice pilots hammering out circuits and bumps and then, with wide eyes and clammy hands, fumbling through their first solos.
One such plane must be a humble Cessna C152, ZS-PKP. It was believed to have to have plenty of hours left on its airframe when it was put out to grass in 2013. Yet it turns out to be something of a premature retirement. A quick scan of the interweb reveals stories of C172s that have around 30,000 hours – many having done hard labour flying pipe and powerline patrols.
Unfortunately, when she was retired, ZS-PKP was relieved of her identity - her data plate – and we cannot find her log books. So I don’t know exactly how much time she has or where she was flown. But the last sighting of her as an airworthy plane was at Sheltam Aviation in Port Elizabeth (or whatever it’s called now), where she was apparently operated by Aptrac flying school.
The fate of ZS-PKP spurred me to think about planes that get ‘put out to pasture’.
One of the intriguing questions is how old a plane must be before it is due for retirement. One of the most controversial answers to this question comes from Richard Collins, the esteemed former editor of the American Flying magazine. He purchased a Cessna P210 new and when it reached 9,000 hours of well-cared-for flying, he retired it and had it scrapped.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من SA Flyer Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من SA Flyer Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Iris - her early years: IRIS FLIES ACROSS SUDAN
Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum's early years in East Africa and the Sudan. In part 1 of this story she recounts how she had to fly a bunch of Belgian Missionaries to Aweil, a city in northwestern South Sudan, from Wilson in Nairobi in her old mate 'ARN', the Piper Aztec 5Y-ARN.
UGLY IS PRETTY: LEAR 25 VS PILATUS PC-6
When you go to a party where you don't know anybody, you should always go for the 'Ugly' girl, because she will be happy that you chose to spend time with her.
CIRRUS G7 LAUNCHED IN AFRICA
What makes one aircraft better than another? Range, Speed, or carrying capacity, short field performance, operating costs, high wing, low wing, side stick, traditional control yoke?
PRESIDENT'S TROPHY AIR RACE 2024
The annual Presidents Trophy Air Race (PTAR) is the highlight of the year for many competitive general aviation pilots.
THE ABSA LOWVELD AIRSHOW 2024
This year marked the thirtieth edition of the Lowveld airshow – and it was widely acclaimed as the best ever.
PREVIEW: AFRICAN AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE EXPO(AAD)
Guy Leitch finds out from AAD Exhibition Director, Ms Nakedi Phasha, how the buildup to this year's biennial expo is going, and what visitors and exhibitors can expect.
APRIL 2023
April has been a very quiet month on the local aviation marketplace with only nine new registration allocations and three deletions, according to the officially-supplied register review.
PIPISTREL PANTHERA FINALLY HERE
One of the world's most eagerly awaited piston single engine aircraft designs has finally arrived in South Africa. ZU-KTR is a long awaited Panthera, proudly owned by Bertus Kritzinger, a Free State trucker, and based at New Tempe in Bloemfontein, where the well-known Ferriera Aviation has assembled it.
STAGGERWING - ALREADY OLD WHEN NEW
The Staggerwing was the climax, and the end, of an era.
The Aim of Bombing
In modern warfare it's not the soldiers who die - it's the civilians. One of the best examples of this is carpet bombing.
