SA Flyer Magazine
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.
3 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
SAFETY FEATURE
General aviation hides behind the safety record of its big brother - the airline industry.
3 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
5 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
HYDROGEN POWERED PLANE TESTED
WORLD’S LARGEST liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft, using a 1 MW fuel cell engine, has been tested.
1 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
CAMEROON - BLAMES BOEING
BOEING JUST CANNOT STAY out of trouble. It has become the whipping boy for endless absurd claims.
1 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
SAA TAKATSO SALE CALLED OFF
SOUTH AFRICA’S Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has announced that the sale of a 51% stake in South African Airways (SAA) to the Takatso Consortium has been cancelled.
1 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
EAA AIRWEEK 2024
Having attended Oshkosh in 2023, I was looking forward to our own, miniature version in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.
5 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
10 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
WHY CAN AEROPLANES FLY UPSIDE-DOWN¿
In 1945, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, precursor of NASA and source of much of our knowledge about practical aerodynamics, published a hefty compendium of aerofoil data, NACA Technical Report 824, which later appeared in book form under the title Theory of Wing Sections.
5 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
TRAVOLTA'S CROOKED PILOTS?
TWO PILOTS ARE CHARGED with embezzling close to $800,000 from John Travolta.
1 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
STELLENBOSCH AIR SHOW
The Western Cape does not get as many airshows as the Joburg area - which is a shame as it has great airshow performers and one of the best venues in the world for a flying club airshow.
3 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
PIPER'S COMANCHE 180 - IT TICKS ALL THE BOXES
The Comanche is a fabulous plane - that was frankly just too good to be a Piper.
8 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
6 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
KENYA - SAA PARTNERSHIP DELAY
KENYA AIRWAYS AND South African Airways announced the establishment of a highly anticipated Pan-African Airline Group three years ago.
1 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
7 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
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.
7 min |
April 2024
SA Flyer Magazine
SACRIFICE
John continues his anecdotes about the sacrifices he has had to make in the course of his helicopter bush flying career.
6 min |
April 2024
Future Flight
LYTE launches a private version of hydrogen-electric VTOL AIRCRAFT
According to Lyte Aviation, its LA-44 X Prime aircraft will have the same 620-mile range as the other variants. Founder and CEO Freshta Farzam said she is in talks with aircraft completion specialists and aims to unveil cabin interior designs in the next few weeks.
2 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
AIRBUS CEO EXPECTS TO LAUNCH ZERO AIRCRAFT PROGRAMME BY 2028
Airbus has revealed more details on its ZEROe programme, which the manufacturer announced in September 2020. According to its chief executive, the plane maker is currently exploring two hydrogen technologies: directly burning liquid hydrogen or using it in a fuel cell to turn hydrogen into electricity.
2 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
India plans to spend US $3 billion on its space programme
According to the head of India's military, the country plans to spend about $3 billion on space-related contract awards over the next few years to reduce its dependence on foreign satellites and bolster its counter-space capabilities. Gen. Anil Chauhan's call to close the gap between India's own capabilities and other nations that are developing countermeasures in space comes amid tensions with China.
7 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
LILIUM PREPARES TO RAMP UP
production of electric jet propulsion units
4 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
VOLOCOPTER OBTAINS CLEARANCE TO START EARLY SERIIAL PRODUCTION OF VOLOCITY EVTOL AIRCRAFT
Last month Germany’s LBA civil aviation authority extended Volocopter’s production organisation approval (POA), clearing the way for the company to start serial manufacturing of its two-seat VoloCity eVTOL aircraft. The approval covers two new Volocopter production eVTOLs and hangar facilities at Bruchsal in Germany that the company built in 2023.
3 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
GKN AEROSPACE and P&W to collaborate on HYBRID-ELECTRIC flight project
GKN Aerospace has signed an agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) to collaborate on the development of the high-voltage high-power EWIS for the RTX hybrid-electric flight demonstrator project.
1 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
DUFOUR AEROSPACE COPENHAGEN HELICOPTER A LETTER OF INTENT
The Danish company Copenhagen Helicopter and their partner Copenhagen AirTaxi, based at Roskilde Airport have signed a letter of intent with Dufour Aerospace for a conditional order to purchase the Aero2 UAV for cargo and aerial work and the Aero3 for passenger transportation.
2 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
AIRBUS HELICOPTER TO EXPAND UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM PORTFOLIO WITH ACQUISITION OF AEROVEL
Airbus Helicopters and Aerovel have signed an agreement regarding the acquisition of Aerovel and its unmanned aerial system (UAS), Flexrotor, as part of a strategy to strengthen its portfolio of tactical unmanned solutions. Flexrotor is a small tactical unmanned aerial system designed for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions at sea and over land.
2 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
CUSTOMER DEMAND AND WINGS AIRCRAFT LIBRARY DESIGN APPROACH SHAPING NEW AIRCRAFT
At Wing, we are always thinking big about how to optimise drone delivery. Today, we are thinking bigger: We are introducing an additional aircraft into our fleet that will simplify and streamline larger orders.
2 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
MAJOR INVESTORS EXPECT FIRST COMMERCIAL EVTOL PASSENGER ROUTES TO BE OPERATIONAL BY 2026
According to new global research from New Horizon Aircraft Ltd, global investors are anticipating the first commercial passenger routes of electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft to be operational in the next few years as the Future Air Mobility market continues to advance rapidly.
3 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
ONE SHOT ONE HIT fire control system being used to target drones in Israel
Handheld operated or remotely controlled, the SMASH family of fire control systems excels in combat as well as in HLS due to its unique ability to counter drones and enhance operational effectiveness against ground, aerial and maritime targets.
2 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
BOEING SELF-FLYING AIR TAXI VENTURE WISK AERO SETS PLAN FOR TEXAS SERVICE
Wisk Aero, the self-flying, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxi venture of Boeing is eyeing Texas as one of its launch markets.
3 min |
March 2024
Future Flight
ELBIT UNVEILS NEW HERMES 650 SPARK, claiming 24-hour plus endurance
Last month well known for its drones, Israeli firm Elbit unveiled a new propeller-driven aircraft, powered by what executives called an 'over-powered' engine to give it speed, payload and the ability to loiter for a day or more.
2 min |