Flying-Aviation
SA Flyer Magazine
CAPE TOWN SUPPLEMENT
Aviation in and around Cape Town is bouncing back strongly after the Covid lockdown and associated restrictions of travel.
4 min |
August 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
SLING HIGH WINGS - Epic Adventure to Oshkosh
The intrepid entrepreneurs of the Sling Aircraft Factory have done it again.
10+ min |
August 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
9 min |
August 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
3 min |
August 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
6 min |
August 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
7 min |
August 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
3 min |
August 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
6 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
2 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
4 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
2 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
3 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
9 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
QUEENSTOWN FLY-IN FESTIVAL
The remote but dynamic Queenstown Flying Club celebrated the 90th anniversary of the De Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth.
3 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
GRAND CENTRAL AIRPORT
The Covid-19 pandemic hit general aviation hard - and Grand Central airport was no exception.
3 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
NOSE LEFT, LOW RPM HORN SCREAMING
Since the beginning of powered flight, pilots have had one unifying dread – a dead stick landing.
4 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT
FLUTTER - BE VERY AFRAID
7 min |
June 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
FACE TO FACE DIRECTOR OF THE CAA: MS POPPY KHOZA
Ms Poppy Khoza has been the Director of the CAA for more almost 10 years something of a record. She must be doing something right to have lasted so long in such a difficult job. Guy Leitch caught up with her.
6 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
When Airline Pilots Have Fun
Recreational pilots may be forgiven for sometimes thinking that airline pilots have a boring job, flying the same routes, day in and day out, to strict procedures, while maximising fuel efficiency to keep the bean-counters happy.
6 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
Learning to Fly Single Seat Fire-bombers
Ag Aviation Africa (AAA), the Sub-Saharan and the Middle East agent for Air Tractor, hosted an open day and launch party before the Stellenbosch airshow to introduce their newly approved Aircraft Training Organisation (ATO), Ag Aviation Flight Academy (AAFA).
5 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
Drop Test
Safety in aviation means coming down softly. I once wrote that it would be impossible for a skydiver in a wingsuit to flare and land without a parachute.
6 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
Hot Air Ballooning - The Purist Form of Flight
Hot air ballooning has always been a bucket list item for me and finally I was given the chance to experience the oldest form of flight known to man. Dale de Klerk, the CEO of Bill Harrop's "Original" Balloon Safaris, invited SA Flyer for a flight, and I jumped at the offer.
4 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
CemAir - Bouncing Back Strongly
As the airline industry slowly returns to a 'new normal', Johannesburg based carrier CemAir is thriving. The airline is pushing ahead, into the gaps in the market left by the departure of competitors such as SA Express and Mango, and the slow restart of SAA.
4 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
Blackhawk 350: The Ultimate King Air
Blackhawk Modifications have built an enviable reputation taking excellent turboprops and making them even better. This is particularly evident in the spectacular gains they have achieved with the Beechcraft King Air range.
10 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
Aerial Search and Rescue
The recent devastating flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, in which over 400 people have died, has once again highlighted South Africa's deficiency in terms of aerial search and rescue aircraft.
5 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
RAND AIRPORT - AVIATION COMPANIES GUIDE
Rand Airport in capitalising on its excellent location and facilities to lead the post-Covid recovery in general aviation.
4 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
OBITUARY TIRO VORSTER - 7 DECEMBER 1943 - 24 APRIL 2022
Tiro Vorster was a world-renowned aviation artist. He was a Fellow of the American Society of Aviation Artists (ASAA) and this information comes from ASAA and from a profile in World Airnews by Pieter Cronjé.
2 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
LOOKING BACK AT LOCKDOWN - THE MOMENT OUR LIVES FOREVER CHANGED.
It always fascinates people when they see how much I can pack into the helicopter to go away on trips. Some call it my flying bakkie.
6 min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
PUPES - PLEASURES OR PAINS
What makes some people memorable and others not? Why can I picture Monkey May, my maths master, and Miss McDonald who taught us art, but not the catering lady? Apparently, it's to do with emotions. Monkey May frightened the hell out of me, and I was deeply in love with the gorgeous Sally McDonald who glided amongst us budding artists, offering gentle words of encouragement. The catering lady? Nah – no idea who she was.
10+ min |
May 2022
SA Flyer Magazine
Miracle of the Hudson
WARNING: this is not a regular column about helicopters and includes graphic scenes which may disturb some readers. Especially men.
5 min |