This month’s column closes off 2024. The year has flown by quickly and by the time you are reading this column you will already be well through the first month of the New Year! Befitting December’s status as a holiday month where South Africans traditionally take time off and companiesRead More →

Glenn Poley Sometimes pilots get the special privilege of seeing something that is beyond the reach of mere earth-bound mortals. The brief appearance of a comet in late January was one such remarkable event. Captain Glenn Poley was at FL380 on 22 January, at top of descent for Cape Town,Read More →

Megan Stevenson Wilbur Wright said,  ‘It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.’ Pilot knowledge and skill are human factor concepts that have been researched and refined over the decades. When it comes to a proficient pilot, there is little dispute that a calm demeanour,Read More →

SPINNING Jim Davis I have been doing some long-range mentoring of a new instructor. I called her the other night to find out how she was getting on with her patter and preparation for the flight test. She had been due to patter spinning in a little C152 and IRead More →

Guy Leitch with Murray Kester Due to the huge value and the irreplaceable nature of a real Spitfire, very few select pilots will ever get the opportunity to pilot the real thing. For lesser mortals there is the option to build and fly your own replica. This is what AustralianRead More →

Iris McCallum continues her stories about her early years with Air Kenya. This month she tells us about the immediate aftermath of her dramatic engine fire and crash, and her subsequent ‘getting back onto the saddle’. My passengers and I got safely out and away from the burning aircraft, andRead More →

Guy Leitch In  strong contrast to the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s obstructionism, aviation history was made when veteran South African airshow performer Milne “CC” Pocock received FAA-approval for the first-ever laser show from an aircraft. CC Pocock was driven out of South Africa by overzealous and overreaching CAA inspectorsRead More →