THE SOUTH AFRICAN AVIATION INDUSTRY is blessed with a number of successful light sport aircraft manufacturers, either building foreign designs under licence, or entirely new aircraft. Rainbow SkyReach is one of the more successful of these manufacturers.
Rainbow SkyReach has been producing the Cheetah, and its updated version, the BushCat, for over 19 years with over 200 now flying and many kits under construction. SkyReach is a SACAA approved aircraft manufacturing organisation and reassuringly, it meets international ATSM and CS-LSA standards.
THE GENESIS OF THE BUSHCAT
The BushCat can trace its origins back to a French design called the SkyRanger which achieved almost 1000 sales worldwide, with a number flying in South Africa.
The simplicity and strength of the basic SkyRanger design was recognised by well-known weight shift microlight supremo Mike Blyth, who founded Rainbow Aircraft at Springs airfield to develop the SkyRanger. (Mike went on to develop the fantastically successful Sling Aircraft). Under Mike Blyth, Rainbow Aircraft had developed the Safari, Echo, Safari and Cobra series of weight shift trikes, however a need for a cost effective and rugged 3-axis bush aircraft was identified in the late nineties. From the SkyRanger concept an entirely new design was created - the Cheetah. The Cheetah is no longer manufactured, but the factory still supports the model and keeps a full range of spare components on hand. SkyReach now has 35 full time employees who do all composite work, sewing and machining in-house.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2022 من SA Flyer Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2022 من SA Flyer Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
SACRIFICE
John continues his anecdotes about the sacrifices he has had to make in the course of his helicopter bush flying career.
KENYA - SAA PARTNERSHIP DELAY
KENYA AIRWAYS AND South African Airways announced the establishment of a highly anticipated Pan-African Airline Group three years ago.
TO PARIS FOR LUNCH
One morning I arrived back at Lanseria from a two day charter to a dreary Northern Cape iron mine. Entering the terminal, I removed my wings and epaulets, thrust them into my flight bag, and headed for the restaurant.
ASCA'S MPUMI MPOFU: READY FOR TAKE-OFF
Ms Mpumi Mpofu has occupied the hot seat as Chief Executive of ACSA, the Airports Company of South Africa for a tumultuous past four years.
HYDROGEN POWERED PLANE TESTED
WORLD’S LARGEST liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft, using a 1 MW fuel cell engine, has been tested.
CAMEROON - BLAMES BOEING
BOEING JUST CANNOT STAY out of trouble. It has become the whipping boy for endless absurd claims.
IRIS GOES TO SOMALIA
Having spent the last couple of years flying to a rota, I was thoroughly enjoying the freedom and randomness of flying charters at Sunbird Aviation.
TELEPORTATION
One of the best clients for whom I ever flew was BP, the British oil giant. I was with them in Algeria for about seven years, from the very start of their large gas projects, right in the heart of the Sahara Desert, near the small towns of In Amenas and In Salah.
FEBRUARY 2023
February has shown steady growth in the number of aircraft registered. Four fixed wing and one helicopter were added while the non-type certified (NTCA) register grew by seven.
RIGHT SEAT RULES NO. 16 FUEL SYSTEMS WHY SO COMPLICATED?
You know those aggranoying people who say, “Oh I wouldn't fly in one of those little things - you can't just pull over and fix it if something goes wrong\"? What makes this particularly irritating is that the bastards are right.
