You don’t need to be doing expensive and complex air to air photography to get a good Opening Shot. And, as we have increasingly shown, you don’t even need an expensive camera – all you need is a good eye – even if you are sitting in the back ofRead More →

Iris McCallum continues her stories about her early years with Air Kenya, and this month she shares her recovery in the aftermath of her dramatic engine fire and crash and her subsequent ‘getting back onto the saddle’. After all the documentation relating to the crash had been dealt with, myRead More →

Part 1 Hugh Pryor In 1986, I was, surprisingly, quite pleasurably employed in Colonel Gaddafi’s Libya. I was flying for the leading Utility Aviation Company in the world at that time, on contract to an oil field service company, called Schlumberger. The pre-GPS flying was challenging and the people IRead More →

Peter Garrison Why do we turn left in the pattern, when we could turn right? Thirsting for knowledge, I Googled why we drive on one side of the road rather than the other. I found a lot of obvious rubbish about quarrelsome knights and Roman charioteers. I suspect that whatRead More →

Living the Dream Part 3 Heading Offshore       It’s still dark outside and I’ve already worked up a sweat. We’ve been busy for almost two hours and have not yet made it to the helicopter for our scheduled flight. My fellow pilot and I have completed an extensive systems check, andRead More →

               Time of Accident ±1800Z Type of Aircraft PIPER PA 34-200T Type of Operation Private Pilot-in-command License Type: Commercial  Age 24 License Valid Yes PIC Experience Total Flying Hours 1064.0  Hours on Type: 354.3 Departure Kruger Mpumalanga Airport (FAKN) Intended landing Piet Retief Aerodrome (FAPF) Accident site Runway 15 –Read More →

Defenceweb reports that South African Air Force (SAAF) representatives were among a high-level government delegation given a tour of Embraer’s facilities in Brazil, including C-390 Millenium and A-29 Super Tucano production lies. The delegation comprised key representatives from Denel and the South African Air Force (SAAF). The SAAF delegation wasRead More →

In 2024 Boeing delivered 180 fewer commercial aircraft than 2023 after a year which began with the door plug failure on an Alaska Airline 737-9 Max.  Boeing has reported that for the year 348 passenger jets were delivered to customers and there were just 57 in the last quarter.  ThisRead More →

Guy Leitch There are some things about flying which fill me with awe and wonder. Flight is the most beautiful synthesis of physics and dreams. I get all choked when I hear the music from the twelve organ pipes of a Rolls Royce Merlin. SpaceX has the ability to regularlyRead More →

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 →