Star Air is a key independent airline support operator on the African continent. It incorporates Star Air Cargo and Star Air Maintenance as separate entities. The business focusses on aircraft leasing, including aircraft with crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) charter, and cockpit and crew training for its own operations. STARRead More →
Part 1 –This month’s story is about the dreaded CPL Checkride and what it was like: Is it a real-world scenario-based test? Or a box ticking exercise? It was my turn to find out. I FOUND THIS PIECE more difficult to write than most: As much as people encourage us,Read More →
Beechcraft’s new single-engine turboprop; the Denali, completed its first flight on 23 November. The 2-hr. 50-m flight by the Denali prototype took it to a test site over Cheney Lake west of Wichita, accompanied by a Cessna Citation chase aircraft. The flight departed Textron Aviation’s west campus at Eisenhower InternationalRead More →
At times during my career as a helicopter pilot, progression has seemed slow – as if my learning had stagnated. In aviation, this is when we can easily fall into what we term pilot complacency. And it can be a killer. Thankfully, a month or two back, I received aRead More →
The first Citation flew in 1969 and with its turbofans, accessible entry price and undemanding handling, it revolutionised the bizjet market. The success of the Citation range has made the name Citation synonymous with business aircraft. CESSNA HAS NOW DELIVERED more than 7,200 Citations. From its entry level Citation MustangsRead More →
In a sign of the neglect of municipal airports, the for the first time in 10 years, the popular Taildraggers fly-in has moved from Nylstroom Airfield, to Warmbaths / Bela Bela. THE NYLSTROOM AIRFIELD has fallen victim to the pressures of an ever-expanding informal settlement. In 2020 Taildraggers fly-in organiserRead More →
BOOK REVIEW – DAVE UNWIN As the editor of a number of UK aviation magazines Dave Unwin has flown an astonishing variety of planes. He is one of the world’s best-known aviation writers and an occasional contributor to SA Flyer’s fly tests. DAVE HAS BEEN FLYING since 1985 and hasRead More →
The relationship between pilots and air traffic controllers (ATC) is often fractious. Pilots hate being told what to do – and ATC often has more than enough reason to consider pilots to be idiots. A RECENT INCIDENT AT GEORGE AIRPORT where pilots and ATC blamed each other for an airlinerRead More →
In their much-anticipated commercial outlook for Africa, Boeing said African airlines will need 63 000 new professional staff by 2040, including nearly 20,000 pilots, 20,000 technicians and 24,000 cabin crew members. THE BOEING REPORT COVERS the whole of the continent. While these projections may seem dramatic, the underlying assumptions areRead More →
JIM DAVIS SHARES THE DELIGHTS OF THE MAGIC GROB (Text: Jim Davis Images: Guy Leitch) – There was this guy in Uitenhage who did his whole PPL on one drum of fuel. That’s 40 hours on 40 gallons, He was flying a Grob G-109. The Grob 109B is a wonderfulRead More →
