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.

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.

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.

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.

JULY 2022

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

HEART TRANSPLANT!

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

ZS-NJX AND ZU-MMI MOUNTAIN CRASH

AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT

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.

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.

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.

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

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

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.

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.

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.

SLING HIGH WINGS - Epic Adventure to Oshkosh

The intrepid entrepreneurs of the Sling Aircraft Factory have done it again.

JET-A DIESELS - NOW A MATURE TECHNOLOGY

As Avgas prices head for R40/ litre the need for an alternative to Avgas powered planes becomes ever more pressing. The good news is that, for the past 16 years, Jet-A diesel piston engine technology has been quietly maturing. It has now become a well-developed aero engine that is a serious contender to compete in the piston market.

THE TRUTH ABOUT EXPERIENCE

"Money lost - nothing lost; health lost - little lost; spirit lost - everything lost." - Igor Sikorsky The key to a long career in any chosen profession is to never fall out of love with the work you do. Because, as the quote attributed to the father of the helicopter, Igor Sikorsky, intimates, if you lose your spirit, you lose everything. Evangelist Billy Graham took the quote a step further, saying he believed the loss of character was the greatest loss a person could experience.

BRAVE PILOTS, YELLOW ARCS

A dozen or so years ago, after the trend toward very powerful and fast turbocharged singles had begun, competition between the Lancair Columbia and the Mooney Bravo shed a fleeting light upon some odd quirks in the rules under which such aeroplanes were certificated.

Van's RV-15 too little, too late?

There is a lifecycle in owner-run businesses. The dynamic founder gets old and steps back, and the business becomes professionally managed - which means cumbersome, with slow decision making. Such a fate may have befallen the iconic Vans Aircraft.

VNAV LEATHER FLIGHT BAGS

Finding the right flight bag has always been a tricky undertaking and has deterred my wife from trying to buy me one.

REMEMBER THE GERMAN AEROPLANE?

My son Nick, who was screening a series of classic films for his friends, put on the 1981 Spielberg pulse-pounder, Raiders of the Lost Ark, which came out in the year he was born and therefore stood to him, in terms of the history of film and the decline of taste, as Casablanca does to me.

UITENHAGE WINGS AND WHEELS 2022

The Klinicare Uitenhage Wings and Wheels Festival had the distinction of being one of two airshows held in South Africa on 2 April.

PRESIDENTS' TROPHY AIR RACE 2022 – NEW TEMPE BLOEMFONTEIN

The Presidents’ Trophy Air Race has been contested annually since 1937, baring the war years and 2020, which had to be scrapped due to Covid.

THE GREAT ‘GATE GUARD' MOVE

For many years two aircraft have guarded the entrance to the Gqebetha International Airport (formerly Port Elizabeth). Then one fell off its plinth.

THE PARYS AIRSHOW – A WONDERFUL NEW MODEL.

The Parys Airshow held in the last weekend of May was an extraordinary event which looks set to define a new genre for country airshows.

THE RAINBOW SKYREACH BUSHCAT

“AN AFFORDABLE BUSH AIRCRAFT” Africa is a naturally strong market for a locally developed and built, yet thoroughly proven, light sport bush plane. The Bush Cat is one such aircraft that has evolved into what many consider the almost perfect, tough yet affordable, bush plane.

QUEENSTOWN FLY-IN FESTIVAL

The remote but dynamic Queenstown Flying Club celebrated the 90th anniversary of the De Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth.

GRAND CENTRAL AIRPORT

The Covid-19 pandemic hit general aviation hard - and Grand Central airport was no exception.