John Bassi Saving the Giant Sable in Angola Part one. John Bassi The giant sable bull arrived dangling beneath legendary wildlife pilot, Barney O’Hara’s MD500 helicopter, the antelope’s four-foot-long horns curving back toward its flanks like the scythe of a backhoe. As the aircraft came into view, hundreds of peopleRead More →
IRIS – HER EARLY YEARS. PART 7 Air Kenya Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum in East Africa. From my veranda window in Watamu the serene Indian ocean stretched out to meet the horizon in an endless embrace. Without the puffy white clouds that dotted the azure sky,Read More →
“Hello. I am your Examiner…I am here to help you!” Oh yeah…Really? I am one of those people who loses two nights of sleep before an Instrument Rating Check Ride (IRT). I spent ten years of my life at boarding school and four years at university. When that was overRead More →
Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCullum in Rwanda. There are certain years in a person’s life that remain emblazoned on one’s memory forever. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that they are imprinted on one’s soul. Those years define us and shape who we are.Read More →
Story and pics – Jean Tresfon In part 1 of this photo essay well known Cape gyro pilot and environmentalist Jean Tresfon described the flight from cape Twon’s Morningstar airfield to the remote Koppieskraal Pan in the Northern Cape. The 2023 Kalahari Bundu Bash Flying Adventure is a fly-in ofRead More →
Jim Davis with Guy Leitch. Images Guy Leitch There is a popular saying that you can’t have a plane with too much power. Piper put that to the test when they increased the engine in their beautiful Comanche from 180 hp to a stonking 400 hp. So – does itRead More →
Peter Garrison Sometimes, late at night, I pass the time by searching for the names of friends and acquaintances on the Internet. The other day I entered the name of Betty Faux, and up popped this capsule reference (among various irrelevancies, including a different Betty’s “faux-artless smile”) in a longRead More →
Block that Coefficient! I have to admit that when I encounter equations in a book, I usually just skip over them. Often some phrase like, “It may be readily seen that…” precedes them, and so I figure that since plenty of other people must be readily seeing whatever there isRead 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 →
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 →
