MAF SA’s missionary pilot, Mark Liprini, shares a day from his logbook. It was the usual quiet morning in the office. I was in the process of demolishing a delightful hot chapati, to accompany the fresh coffee. My logbooks had just been written up from the flying earlier in theRead More →
Peter Garrison I graduated from college in 1965. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and any able-bodied male who was not being educated was being drafted. I could have gone to graduate school, but instead decided to take my chances. I moved in with a couple of old friendsRead More →
Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McDermott in Rwanda. It was November 1978 and I had just flown John McCloy of JF McCloy Engineering, from Malindi to Nairobi. On my flight back to Malindi on the canary yellow Piper Cherokee, 5Y-AKS, a weariness crept over me, paired with anRead More →
By Guy Leitch Ray Lawrence Watts 29/5/1951 – 11/11/23 Ray Watts was a much loved and respected contributor to SA Flyer magazine. He passed away on 11 November 2023. For the past ten years Ray has faithfully compiled the monthly Register Review, a resource much valued by aircraft sales organisations,Read More →
Tribute Guy Leitch Too often we only present tributes to remarkable people when they have died. This article is a tribute to a man who is very much alive, yet who has already made a greater impact and touched more lives in general aviation in South Africa than anyone elseRead 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 →
Is it as bad as they claim?Darren Olivier – Defence Editor Reflections on Inkwazi Inkwazi, the South African Air Force’s Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) used for VIP transport, has been reliably racking up the flying hours this year. In just the past two weeks before writing this column it flewRead More →
In 2016 musician, Michael Ferguson and commercial Pilot Felix Gosher joined forces to offer underprivileged children the opportunity to experience the joys of flight, a privilege that many of us take for granted. The initiative was inspired by a song by Michael, ‘Paper Plane’ about a young boy with aRead More →
The piston twin is making a comeback. In the 1980s, under the pressures of high maintenance and high Avgas prices, the demand for piston twins collapsed in the face of Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12 turbines. But now, the value proposition of a 40-year old piston twin is once againRead More →
Airlink, has unveiled a distinctive special-liveried new addition to its fleet . The newly acquired Embraer E195 jetliner, which now sports a classy jet-black paint scheme, debuted on a test flight at O.R. Tambo International Airport this morning and will soon operate on Airlink’s main domestic and regional trunk services.Read More →
