![GLIDE, SAIL, SOAR](https://cdn.magzter.com/1519989679/1685535899/articles/iT5jvNvrM1686045217972/GLIDE-SAIL-SOAR.jpg)
A HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS AGO, people were arguing about how they did it. They watched buzzards glide from horizon to horizon without moving their wings, and guessed they must be harvesting some mysterious essence of upness from the air. Few seemed to realise that air moves up and down as well as horizontally. One who did was Hiram Maxim, an expatriate American living in England who invented, among other things, a most efficient piece of harvesting equipment, the machine gun.
Maxim was, among many other things, a serious aeronautical experimenter who built a huge aeroplane that might have flown – albeit uncontrollably – had it not been prudently secured to the ground by tracks both above and below its wheels. With a thorough understanding of physical laws and a keen eye for the sea and the sky and the birds in between, Maxim correctly analysed the dynamics of bird flight. One of his papers, entitled “Natural and Artificial Flight”, can be found in an edition of the Aeronautical Annual for 1896. These Annuals – three of them -- were compilations of writing and thinking on human flight, mostly contemporary, but some dating back as far as Leonardo, which appeared from 1895 to 1897. They are available in modern reprints from aeronauticalpublishers.com and give fascinating insights into the now muddled, now lucid state of aeronautical thinking in the years just before powered flight was finally achieved.
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Esta historia es de la edición June 2023 de SA Flyer Magazine.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
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![SACRIFICE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/r8hCycBY-1711707841374/SACRIFICE.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/lMWOVRbxR1711707808158/KENYA-SAA-PARTNERSHIP-DELAY.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/IWnyHGBY71711707635778/TO-PARIS-FOR-LUNCH.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/mikvr9nBC1711707512893/ASCAS-MPUMI-MPOFU-READY-FOR-TAKEOFF.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/LtGRPbQGL1711707479613/HYDROGEN-POWERED-PLANE-TESTED.jpg)
HYDROGEN POWERED PLANE TESTED
WORLD’S LARGEST liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft, using a 1 MW fuel cell engine, has been tested.
![CAMEROON - BLAMES BOEING](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/6icUYYrT11711707423598/CAMEROON-BLAMES-BOEING.jpg)
CAMEROON - BLAMES BOEING
BOEING JUST CANNOT STAY out of trouble. It has become the whipping boy for endless absurd claims.
![IRIS GOES TO SOMALIA](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/sME1Y0mKS1711706519439/IRIS-GOES-TO-SOMALIA.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/GqJpdkSX21711706321262/TELEPORTATION.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/phv_-B5sY1711706144995/FEBRUARY-2023.jpg)
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?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/16673/1648033/KEP60pfWg1711705895866/RIGHT-SEAT-RULES-NO-16-FUEL-SYSTEMS-WHY-SO-COMPLICATED.jpg)
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.