It ought not to be true, but it is: In every life there comes a moment when you wish you had a little more fuel. Perhaps the headwind was stronger than forecast; the gauges dropped below a quarter sooner than you hoped they would; the descent and climb for anRead More →
For anyone who loves aeroplanes it is always sad when a once high-flying airliner is reduced to a dirty old wreck being slowly raided for parts in the ‘rust in peace’ wastelands of an airport. With the revolutionary leaps in jet engine efficiency it is not unusual for a jetRead More →
Boeing has created a new safety committee to oversee both design and manufacturing in a move the company said reaffirms its “longstanding commitment to aerospace safety and the safety of its products and services.” Called the Aerospace Safety Committee (ASC), this permanent office will be headed by retired Admiral EdmundRead More →
The pleasure – albeit transient – of owning a brand spanking new aircraft has become exponentially more expensive and thus out of the reach of many. The benefit of this for South Africa’s thankfully still deep repository of skills in aviation maintenance is a thriving industry refurbishing old aircraft. ITRead More →
70 Years in Africa. The Aeronca Sedan is one of those rare classics, appreciated by those in the know. A direct competitor to the Cessna C170, it does almost everything better, with a wonderfully spacious four-place cabin and a fabulous wing that likes to fly slow so well it doesn’tRead More →
At last, after a full year of flying, studying, and exams, I was ready for my PPL Check-ride. But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows – I was feeling the butterflies, big time. No use denying I was excited. But my excitement was mixed with a full measure of apprehensionRead More →
Have you ever heard people say, “I wouldn’t fly in one of those small planes – it is not like a car where you can stop and fix it if something goes wrong?” Jim Davis walks you through some life-threatening failures that you can easily handle, or fix, from theRead More →
Back in 1989, when the small Swiss plane maker Pilatus announced the PC-12 as its single engine King Air competitor, there was much disparaging the idea that senior business execs – with company money to burn on fuel – would trust their lives to a single engine turboprop. Turns outRead More →
