THE FIRST ONE WAS PAT McClure's golf course, right outside his hotel on Leisure Isle. Pat had a Comanche, which lived on the grass in front of the hotel. The Leisure Isle Hotel was a wonderful party venue for visiting pilots as well as those who lived in the area. The place was crawling with retired SAA and SAAF pilots, and why not? It has to be one of the most beautiful spots in the world.
Pat was an ex-SAAF pilot who played by the wartime rules about drinking and flying - it was desirable, but not compulsory.
This naturally resulted in incidents which the DCA never got to hear about. Like a wheels-up he did in his Comanche - it was flying again the next day. It says much for the strength of the aeroplane and Pat's determination to put the matter behind him as quickly as possible. The prop was the only noticeably damaged component. Pat took it off and had it straightened by the local blacksmith.
Then Pat bought a small three seat helicopter, a Bell 47, which he crashed one night while taking his wife, also Pat, and my mate Bob Emmet for a joy ride in between drinks at a party at Bob's place on the hill.
Pat eventually died under interesting circumstances. He had always been worried about having a heart attack while flying, particularly with pax. As Mrs Pat often flew with him, he asked me to teach her the basics of flying, and at least how to land the aircraft should his tubing get blocked at a bad time.
Well exactly that happened. They were on their way back from Johannesburg when Pat announced he was feeling valetudinarian. They landed on a farm strip in the Free State where the farmer put them up for the night - well, not exactly, because Pat died at the dinner table.
So that introduces Pat McClure's golf course airfield. I will come back to it later.
Esta historia es de la edición September 2022 de SA Flyer Magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición September 2022 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
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.