Aircraft Registration ZS-UZZ Date of Accident 22 August 2015 Time of Accident 0758Z Type of Aircraft Pitts Special S-1S Type of Operation Private PIC Licence Type Private Pilot Age 46 Licence Valid Read More →
SA Flyer columnist John Bassi is one of the last of the one-man businesses to successfully operate a Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter. He uses his helicopter ZS-HFD, in an incredible variety of roles and has published a book called ‘Pilot in the Wild’ describing his helicopter experiences. Apart from theRead More →
Jim Davis TRIM – look, Ma, no hands It’s traditional to bitch about the Regulator, but we have been lucky to have some really brilliant CAA /DCA bosses in South Africa. I think of Barry Radley, an ex-RAF Farnborough test-pilot who taught me a very valuable lesson – basically thatRead More →
Text and Pictures – Grant Duncan Smith Helicopters have been very successfully used in a massive environmental preservation operation in the Western Cape. The ‘Helihack’ alien vegetation clearing operation was conducted in October on Table Mountain. The challenges facing those who seek to rid the Cape of alien vegetation wereRead More →
Guy Leitch Pooleys Air Pilot Manual. Volume 4H The Helicopter – Technical British based Pooleys have become the industry standard for ab-initio flight training books in the UK and Europe. This month I look at Air Pilot Manual #4H: The Helicopter – Technical Despite the high costs of helicopter trainingRead More →
Special Rules Area Charts – Johannesburg and Cape Town Imagine an aviation chart that has all the essential ground detail like roads and mountains and towns, yet doesn’t need an iPad or a whole EFIS system to display. Imagine a chart that doesn’t rely on batteries that will unexpectedly letRead More →
Pooley’s Air Pilot’s Manual #1: Flying Training Guy Leitch Pooley’s Air Manuals have set a new standard in essential texts for the Private Pilot Exams – and they are now publishing the series for Southern Africa. The first book in the series is simply called ‘Flight Training’ and if thereRead 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 →
