Jim Davis Don’t you hate disclaimers? Those notes, in seven languages, that say, “WARNING. Servicing this device in the bath may lead to injury or death.” The word device covers anything from an electric lawn-mower to a vibrator. However, I regret that I must now issue one. Low flying canRead More →
At the recent Airlines Association of Southern Africa annual conference, Guy Leitch took the opportunity to canvass the various regional airline C-suite executives about what the burning issues are that their particular airlines face. The current CEO of Air Zimbabwe, Edmund Makona, likes to quote a previous IATA Director General,Read More →
Laura McDermid Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum’s early years in East Africa. Originally founded in 1970 from the merger of Wilkenair and other smaller operators, Air Kenya underwent several significant changes in the 1980s. Through his extensive entrepreneurial knowledge and vast experience in various business ventures, ownerRead More →
There is a widely held belief that retired pilots die younger than the general population. A question that has been argued for years in the cockpits, briefing rooms, remuneration negotiating tables and the watering holes of commercial aviation is; what is the life expectancy of an airline pilot after heRead More →
Jean-Claude was in the left seat. He was senior to me, but I was flying. We were near the Equator, where Mermoz and Guillaumet – salut, old comrades! – had once flown. But they, poor fellows, had not been at 35,000 feet! We entered the clouds at what looked likeRead More →
Jim Davis TRIM – look, Ma, no hands It’s traditional to bitch about the Regulator, but we have been lucky to have some really brilliant CAA /DCA bosses in South Africa. I think of Barry Radley, an ex-RAF Farnborough test-pilot who taught me a very valuable lesson – basically thatRead More →
Guy Leitch Pooleys Air Pilot Manual. Volume 4H The Helicopter – Technical British based Pooleys have become the industry standard for ab-initio flight training books in the UK and Europe. This month I look at Air Pilot Manual #4H: The Helicopter – Technical Despite the high costs of helicopter trainingRead More →
The sometimes surprising effects of the controls So it’s the mid 1990s, I think – I’m not good with dates and times. I am flying from Jan Smuts to Port Elizabeth in one of SAA’s new Airbus A320s. Tupperware aeroplanes I’m told. Those were the days when SAA was stillRead More →
The Effects of Controls Ask a dozen people why the sky is blue and you will get a dozen woolly answers about refraction and reflection but not one honest, I don’t know. So nobody learns anything. And now ask a dozen pilots why Madame Beech or Mr Piper put aRead More →
Guy Leitch asks the question in his Attitude for Altitude column. For years I have moaned about how crappy piston aircraft engines are. They are prohibitively expensive, yet have antiquated technology and are far less efficient and reliable than modern car engines. The modern car now has mature technology engineRead More →
