CATEGORIES

THE KNYSNA TRIANGLE

Knysna is a very odd place - there's no airfield near the town. But when I was there, there were three active ones in walking distance of the CBD. And all within a few hundred yards of each other.

SOLAR-POWERED DRONE CRASHES

The Airbus Zephyr's 'unexpected termination' comes after 64 days in the air. The Zeyphr surpassed all known uncrewed aircraft endurance records.

Prepare to Meet thy Boom by 2030?

Aviation has a fascinating ability to suck people, who should know better, into investing in fundamentally absurd ideas.

THE GLIDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

South Africa produced an outstanding all-round performance at the 37th FAI World Gliding Championships, held in Szeged, Hungary in August.

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

The Bugatti 100P was a beautiful blend of art and engineering.

BOMBARDIER GLOBAL 6000 - SMOOTH OPERATOR

The market for large business jets in Africa is fiercely contested. Bombardier has done particularly well in this tough environment with its Global 6000. We look at its features - and what its operators like, and dislike, about it.

HEART TRANSPLANT!

Upgrading a C182 to a 300hp Conti 10-550.

STARLITE AVIATION TRAINING ACADEMY - Now Training Mission Networked Pilots

Advanced network flight training simulators have become a core part of pilot development. They provide an environment that fully immerses the student in the entire mission, and not just the actual aircraft flying.

HI HO SILVER, AWAY!

Some helicopters are more memorable than others. For instance, the Hughes 500 has an acute feeling of claustrophobia in its cosy cockpit, while a Squirrel almost always has a way of humbling even an experienced pilot with a wiggle of its skids on landing.

ZS-NJX AND ZU-MMI MOUNTAIN CRASH

AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT

AAD 2022 PREVIEW

The Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition is taking place between 21 to 25 September 2022, and will once again bring together aviation suppliers from across the world to South Africa to exhibit the latest technological innovations in the aviation and defence sectors.

LIQUID EIGHT

I am now 60 years old, so I am out of Part 135 operations. However, there is still some fire left in the hearth and so there may still be some sparks which I could offer to the Part 121 side of the aviation industry, if required.

JULY 2022

For the first time in many years a brand-new Cessna 172 has been registered in South Africa. How things have changed.

STARLITE TRAINING'S VALUE CHAIN

IN ADDITION TO THIS LATEST MISSION training system, Starlite Academy's full value chain is now able to provide training on the full range of Airbus helicopters in the Starlite holding company SAF Group's fleet.

AIRVENTURE 2022 - A RECORD YEAR

The 2022 edition of EAA AirVenture, the first full-scale gathering of the General Aviation world's biggest party post-pandemic, kicked off with strong storms, rocking the wings of many of the planes gathered in Oshkosh. However, the damage was minimal as many of the tens  f thousands of aircraft on the campgrounds and around the airport were tied down to weather the severe weather. Fortunately, this was the only severe weather for the entire week, which was blessed with blue skies painted with fluffy white clouds, ideal for airshow photography. I have tried to recapture the immense size and spectacle of AirVenture in words, pictures and videos, but as I have said before, one needs to visit the Mecca of Aviation at least once in a lifetime in order to appreciate the vastness and excitement of this the 'World's Greatest Aviation Celebration'.

BREAKING INTO BACKCOUNTRY FLYING: KITPLANE STYLE

Building your own airplane is an adventure in itself, but for backcountry-bound kitplane owners, the journey has just begun.

INTERVIEW WITH RODGER FOSTER CEO AIRLINK

This year represents Airlink’s 30 years of being a southern African regional airline and I used the opportunity to interview Rodger Foster who has been at the helm of the company for all of those years.

THE INVISIBLE SNARE

Synopsis SACAA On 18 March 2022, a pilot and a passenger on-board a Bell 206B helicopter with registration mark ZS-HJJ were engaged in an aerial search flight along the Crocodile River in Koedoeskop Farm, North West province. The flight was conducted in visual meteorological conditions (VMC) by day and under the provisions of Part 91 of the Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) 2011 as amended.

PROFLIGHT ZAMBIA

I was extremely fortunate to have the flights for my recent excursion to Zambia sponsored by ProFlight Zambia. Arriving at the check-in counter I had a friendly greeting from the staff on duty and my check-in processed efficiently. After a quick milk shake (hey, I was early and wanted to prevent any potential issues during check-in / immigration) I passed through customs and immigration to the departure hall.

B-52H TO BE UPGRADED AGAIN

Boeing’s B-52 Stratofortress is the world’s oldest, in-service, military aircraft. Affectionately referred to as BUFF by the crews who fly it, the B-52 has existed in five iterations, designated A through H. Boeing built a total of 744 B-52s between 1952 and 1962, of which 76 remain in active service with the United States Air Force. With the possible exception of the 707-derivative KC-135, no aircraft in the USAF fleet has been so continuously and extensively modified, upgraded and modernised as the B-52.

US NAVY UNMANNED HELICOPTER IMPRESSES

Northrop Grumman's MQ-8C Fire Scout is an unmanned helicopter based on Bell's 407, itself a derivative of the hugely successful 206L-4 Long Ranger. The autonomous vehicle provides reconnaissance, situational awareness, aerial fire support and precision targeting support for the ground, air and sea forces of its primary user, the US Navy.

L3HARRIS SKY WARDEN  ATTACK PLANE WINS SOCOM’s ARMED OVERWATCH PROGRAMME

L3 Harris could produce up to 75 AT-802U Sky Warden aircraft to replace US Special Operations Command’s U-28 Draco.

F/A-18E/F SERVICE LIFE MODIFICATION PROGRAMME UNDERWAY

The F-18 Hornet is a great many wondrous and worthwhile things. The twin-engine, all-weather, fourth-generation fighter is fast, manoeuvrable, tough, battle-proven, eminently upgradable and a symbol of American Naval airpower. However, the Hornet is not young.

UAVIONIX AV-30-C, STC NOW INCLUDES LIGHT TWINS AND HIGH-SPEED PISTONS

Last month uAvionix announced it has received FAA approval to expand the Approved Model List (AML) for its AV-30-C Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS), by more than 190 light twin and higher performance single-engine models. This expansion significantly extends the availability of AV-30-C in the general aviation market to include a large portion of popular aircraft from Beechcraft, Piper, Tecnam, Air Tractor, Cirrus, Extra, Howard, Taylorcraft, Cessna and many others.

MCC AVIATION'S FIREFIGHTING AIRBUS H125 HELICOPTERS IN ACTION

The assignment was to capture one of three MCC Aviation owned Airbus H125 helicopters fighting a deliberately set grass fire in the southern Highveld area of Mpumalanga on a brisk winter's day.

WHY EMIRATES THINKS AIRBUS SHOULD BUILD BIGGER PLANES

Following its unique relationship with the Airbus A380, Emirates has stated its wish for Airbus to continue to build larger aircraft. Speaking at a media roundtable in Doha, the airline's CEO, Tim Clark, made clear his thoughts on the need for larger aircraft in the future as demand for travel bounces back following the pandemic.

ALSIM WINS BIG

ALSIM, the innovative Nantes (France) based Flight Training Device manufacture, has recently had two big successes in North America.

THE SECOND AERO SOUTH AFRICA EXPO

The second edition of AERO South Africa took Wonderboom Airport in from 7 - 9 July 2022 at Tshwane (Pretoria).

ULTIMAX AVIATION - EVERYTHING ABOUT HELICOPTERS

ULTIMAX AVIATION is a Cape Town based Approved Maintenance Organisation (AMO), renowned for its top-level experience in helicopter maintenance.

CAPE TOWN SUPPLEMENT

Aviation in and around Cape Town is bouncing back strongly after the Covid lockdown and associated restrictions of travel.