Story and Pics Trevor Cohen
Each year the indefatigable Felix Gosher just gets bigger and better at spreading the love of flying. His 2024 edition of The Elders flight was held on Saturday 5 July at Swartkop Air Force Base.
The Elders’ Flights are an offshoot of the Childrens’ Flight. Felix Gosher’s vision for the Childrens’ Flight is to share the passion for flying and for the Elders flight it is to recognise those who served our country as pilots and support staff.
The scale for the 2024 Elder’s Flight was ambitious, yet carefully planned. The objective was to fly 500 Elders and Military Veterans, using 100 aircraft.
This year approximately 450 elders were flown and 50 veterans were hosted. Each person was given a shirt and hat as well as a goodie bag and blanket.
The Chief of the SAAF, Lt Gen Wiseman Mbambo and Brigadier Donavan Chetty, along with the ex-chief of the Zambian Air Force, Lieutenant General Colin Barry, watched the parachute drop from an An-2 with the South African Flag attached.
The South African National anthem was played and the Lt Gen Mbambo gave the opening address.
Proceedings opened with a brief aerobatic display by the Flying Lions Harvards, followed by the Team Extreme Extras, Juba Joubert, Andre Van Zyl, the Nashua sponsored Extra. One of the stars of the event was the large Cemair Dash-8 Q-400, plus Ron Wheeldon’s Hawker Hunter.
The flying of the Elders was accomplished by a large mixed fleet of fixed and rotary aircraft from single to multi-engine aircraft.
After the Elders had been flown, the Chief of the SAAF handed each Elder a set of wings. Each pilot was also given a set of wings in appreciation for their time and the donation of their aircraft expenses to the good cause.
The now 94 year old Captain (ret) Ivan Holshausen was assisted up and into the Mustang by Menno Parsons who then flew Ivan for a few passes down the runway. Ivan flew Mustangs for the SAAF in Korea. He was also introduced to the South Korean Air Attaché to South Africa before his flight.
A significant challenge was the ATNS insistence of enforcing limits on the time an air traffic controllers can work. This threatened the ability to hold the Elders flight which was in Jeopardy of not being held again. Fortunately the SAAF stepped in with Controllers which enabled the function to go ahead. The busy traffic was expertly controlled by the SAAF ATC team, under Air Boss Col. Pat Cele. The only complaints “kom plane” was from pilots having to wait for up to 15 minutes at the holding point while the controllers tried to fit everyone in.
A highlight was the mass warbird flypast. This huge formation was managed by Nigel Hopkins and comprised: four Allouette IIIs, five Cessna C185s, four Harvards and three Bosboks.
Thanks to the enthusiasm and passion of Felix and Belinda Gosher, the Elders flight has gone from strength to strength. This year key sponsors were: the SAAF, the many ground events sponsors, and of course all the pilots and volunteers.
