(Text and Pics: Guy Leitch & Garth Calitz ) Phalaborwa – Aerobatic contests are the most demanding and extreme form of FAI competition flying. It is therefore heartening to see the high standard engendered by the national Aerobatic Championships. THANKS TO SPONSORSHIP from Ingmar Bezuidenhout, the 2021 National Aerobatics ChampionshipsRead More →
WHY THE BEECHCRAFT DENALI WILL NEVER BEAT THE PILATUS PC-12. The Beechcraft Denali is said to be a 103% photocopy of the PC-12—a comment Pilatus finds flattering. And it is, after all, an old truism that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. IT IS REMARKABLE that it has takenRead More →
The worst possible scenario for a single engine aircraft is an engine failure at night or over solid cloud. The Eastern corner of Canada is a wild and rugged country, often covered with the infamous Newfoundland fog banks. It is not a friendly place to fly, particularly with a singleRead More →
I have just read Cynthia Stimpel’s book, Hijackers on Board – about her having blown the whistle about Dudu Myeni and her cronies. It makes depressing reading, but what is clear is that 2015 was the year it really all went down the drain. As the SAA Group Treasurer StimpelRead More →
September 2021 – A FEW MONTHS AGO I wrote about how there is an enduring perception in Africa that general aviation (GA) is the plaything of rich whites, and in terms of places, Plettenberg Bay is the epitome of the playground for rich whites. Despite being a sleepy coastal holidayRead More →
A RECENT SPATE OF SPECTACULAR JET engine failures reminds us that the development of aircraft has not been so much about aerodynamic advances, but rather, it has been driven by engine development. And the biggest and most fascinating battle amongst the airline manufacturers is not between Airbus and Boeing, butRead More →
Aug’21 – SOUTH AFRICA IS THE MOST AMAZING LAND OF CONTRASTS. There are the obvious terrible contrasts: specifically that we have the highest Gini coefficient of inequality in the world. The ANC government has failed dismally to uplift the poor, so the old African truism; “The rich get richer, whileRead More →
The most anticipated version of the phenomenally successful Sling series is the Sling High Wing. The High Wing – or just Sling HW – was first proposed as a high wing version of the Sling 2 at the same time as founder Mike Blyth started work on the original SlingRead More →
https://www.capetalk.co.za/podcasts/144/afternoon-drive-with-john-maytham/533882/saa-pilots-reach-deal https://omny.fm/shows/the-john-maytham-show/saa-pilots-reach-dealRead More →
As a general aviation magazine SAA arguably gets more than its fair share of attention in our reports. But the hard truth is that this airline has cost the South African taxpayer around R50 billion in the past 20 years. Hundreds of billions may be wasted by corrupt local authoritiesRead More →
