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Airshow flying is tough; its even tougher if you do something stupid. Dont do nythin dumb? Ralph Royce.
South African Museum of Military History
The arrest and subsequent release of the director and two staff members at the Military History Museum in Saxonwold could be best described as a huge political blunder by Military Unintelligence and police stupidity. There is no doubt that the Buccaneer, Mirage III and other aircraft preserved at the museum are a serious threat to society. Please be most careful of the potential danger of the Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito, ME 262, Focke Wulf 190, ME 109 and various other types that could be restored to full working condition in a matter of hours. Imagine a G5, G6 and Ratel that were the original prototypes and which have been at the museum for a decade or more being used to erase half of Soweto? According to Intelligence sources, the Museum was stock piling weapons that could be used against the people of South Africa. The fact of the matter is that, if this were the case and some of the historical weapons were potentially dangerous, the whole matter could have been resolved over a cup of tea. In the old South Africa the term Swart gevaar was when white people were supposed to be afraid of black people. It seems that our new democracy has introduced the new term Wit gevaar - as black people in positions of political power fear white people. What a load of hogwash. When will certain persons in power in this wonderful country of ours get down to the real business of confronting the serious issues of crime such as rape and murder? It is time to stop wasting the tax-payers money by chasing after imaginary, perceived threats.
Urgent appeal to airshow organisers
This is an appeal to ALL airshow organisers to please register your planned event with the Aero Club of South Africa, as this body is ultimately responsible for the management and safety of airshows on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority. I am sure that all pilots and aviation enthusiasts will agree that it is infinitely preferable for the Aero Club to manage our business rather than the Civil Aviation Authority. African Pilot has publicised the fact that from this year all pilots participating in airshows will require display logbooks issued by Aero Club with appropriate display ratings. All safety officers are required to be rated through the Aero Club. The new section of the Aero Club, Air Show South Africa will manage airshows together with the Aero Club in the near future. From 2005 the rule is: No rating, no fly, no matter what the experience of the particular pilot. At this stage the Aero Club only has four airshows registered and certain dates reserved by organisers are already clashing with other planned events. Please help the Aero Club to assist you before this becomes an issue. Kindly direct your questions to the General Manager of the Aero Club Neil de Lange. Thank you. Tel: (011) 805 0366 e-mail: info@aeroclub.org.za
Reserving dates for airshows and aviation events
Air Show South Africa has delegated this task to Brian Emmenis, who is the chief calendar keeper for the new section of the Aero Club of South Africa. Brian will ensure that all media receive the information in order to publicise aviation events. E-mail: capital@icon.co.za Tel: (057) 388 2351
African Pilots position on the aviation calendar
When we first started publishing African Pilot, we naturally pursued areas of aviation information that established local aviation magazines had chosen to ignore. One such area was the airshow business, which has grown significantly during the past three years, co-incidentally the same time period that African Pilot has been on the magazine racks. There is no doubt that airshows are set to become amongst the largest crowd pullers during this year and for this reason sponsors are increasingly interested in the airshow spectacle. I remember a certain publishers statement at a Nelspruit airshow five years ago (long before African Pilot began publishing): You dont make money out of airshows. I wonder whether this person will remember his misguided observation as airshows have certainly become an integral part of aviation magazine publishing. How would it look if motoring magazines ignored the racing, rallying and competitive circuits in the motoring business? It has become clear that certain aviation magazines are attempting to play catch up or wake up and consequently have become rather critical of African Pilots excellent relationships in the very field they ignored for so many years.
Aviation Calendar 2005
In an effort to provide a complete service to the aviation business we are publishing the calendar as early as possible. Airshows in 2005 are now destined to become the largest public participation events in South Africa ahead of established sports. African Pilot is the only southern African aviation publication that regularly publishes an accurate Airshows and Events calendar. All events are published on the African Pilot Website: www.africanpilot.co.za, which is regularly updated as dates for aviation events are reserved by organisers.
South African and International airshows, fly-ins and events featuring aviation displays
5 - 6 February Round the Island Yacht Race & Air Displays / Deneysville, Vaal Dam.
Contact: Brian Emmenis 082 776 4604 e-mail: capital@icon.co.za
5 - 6 March NPA Port Elizabeth Port Festival
Contact: Jan Johnson (011) 706 1893
19 21 March Maputo Airshow
Contact: Brian Zeederberg 072 1457645 e-mail: brian@swimrite.co.za
15 - 20 March Australian International Airshow
Contact: Penny Haines e-mail: phaines@airshow.net.au
Website: www.airshow.net.au
26 - 27 March NPA East London Port Festival
Contact: Jan Johnson (011) 706 1893
7 -10 April International Gyroplane Conference and Fly-in Thaba Nchu Sun
Contact Butch Brown e-mail: gyrosa@mweb.co.za hosted by Magni Gyro
16 - 17 April Sun City Powerboat Grand Prix
Contact: Jan Johnson (011) 706 1893
10 20 April EAA Sun n Fun / Florida, USA
Contact: Neil Bowden 084 674 5674 Air Adventure Tours
Website: www.airadventure.co.za
22 - 24 April SA Military Tattoo, Kroonstad
28 April - 2 May International Civil Aviation Trade Airshow and EAA Airweek.
Wonderboom Airport. Contact: Terry Hertz (Vice-President) 083 296 6460
7 May Bethlehem Airshow
Contact: Stephan Fourie (058) 303 6862
14 May Bultfontein Fly-In
Contact: Piet Vermaak 082 571 3422
15 May Rand Airport Airshow
Contact: Anton Kruger (011) 827 8884
16 20 May Dept. of Transport International Transport Convention, Polokwane
Contact: Johan Wilken (015) 291 4700 / 082 445 8096
21 - 22 May Polokwane Airshow
Contact: Johan Wilken 082 445 8096 e-mail: johan@moolmangroup.co.za
26 - 28 May Presidents Trophy Air Race / Tempe, Bloemfontein
Contact: Kassie Kasselman 082 404 1642/ Chris Booysen (041) 391 4400
E-mail: mail@sapfa.org.za Website: www.sapfa.org.za
4 June Daimler Chrysler Extreme Airshow / East London
Contact: Dave Hartmann (043) 743 6644
E-mail: davehart@iafrica.com
10 - 12 June African Bush Pilots Fly-In / Barberton Fly-In
Contact CC Pocock 082 490 5721 e-mail: cc@bushair.co.za
Website: www.bushair.co.za/fly-in.htm
10 - 12 June Sasol Rally / Nelspruit
Contact: Peter Wise 082 560 2375
12 - 19 June Paris Airshow / Le Bourget Airport, France
Contact: Neil Bowden 084 674 5674 Air Adventure Tours
Website: www.airadventure.co.za
16 - 19 June Xtreme Air and Track Expo / Wonderboom Airport
Contact: Ruben Knoetze (011) 781 5351/2 or 083 280 4808
E-mail: Africa-x@iafrica.com
24 - 25 June Tzaneen Airshow
Contact: Eddie Vorster 083 294 2225 E-mail: mmahela@mweb.co.za
2 July War Birds Extravaganza / New Tempe - Bloemfontein
Contact: Charlie Marias 083 3058776
9 - 10 July Westbank Durban Wings Club Airshow
Contact: Mike Hartley 082 292 2108
E-mail: airshows@wingsclub.co.za
9 10 July Flying Legends - United Kingdom
15 -16 July National Aerobatics Championships Brits airfield
Contact Kathy Billing 083 4447794 or Stan Oliver 082 5686827
15 - 17 July Royal International Air Tattoo / Fairford, UK
29 July - 1 Aug EAA AirVenture / Oshkosh, USA
Contact: Neil Bowden 084 674 5674 Air Adventure Tours
Website: www.airadventure.co.za
Contact: Calvin (021) 788 8440 Designer Tours
13 August Klerksdorp Airshow
Contact: Cliff Lotter 082 855 5550
27 August Swaziland Airshow
Contact: Benedict (09268) 518 4001
3 September New Newcastle Airshow
Contact: Johan Pieters 082 923 0078
2 - 4 September EAA Chapter 322 Sun n Fun / Rustenburg
Contact: Richard Nicholson 082 490 6227
9 - 10 September Vereeniging Air Carnival
Contact: Sarie van der Berg 083 449 3378
17 September SAAF Museum Airshow
Contact: SAAF Museum, AFB Zwartkop, Pretoria
22 - 25 September Mafikeng International Airshow
Contact: Ricky Rennie (011) 467 5885 or 082 933 9131
8 October Fighter meet AFB Mikhado / Louis Trichardt
Contact: Gen. Des Barker (015) 577 2011
14 16 October Volksrust Fly-in
Contact: Engela Kemp (017) 7354206
29 October Port Elizabeth Airshow
19 20 November Welkom Air Carnival
Contact: Brian Emmenis 082 7764604 e-mail: capital@icon.co.za
25 - 27 November AFB Overberg (Ex TFDC) Fly-In (not an airshow)
Contact: Lt. Col Meiring (028) 425 4049
E-mail: tfdc@dorea.co.za
2 4 December AFB Ysterplaat Super Airshow
Contact: Lt. Col. Pete Smith (021) 508 6911
16 December Oribi Airport airshow (Pietermaritzburg)
Contact: Hennie Erasmus (033) 386 9577
Airshow organizers: please supply the details of your planned event to African Pilot
Pre & post publicity: e-mail: info@africanpilot.co.za Website: www.africanpilot.co.za
Details are published in the magazine, the African Pilot weekly Newsletter and the African Pilot website.
They serve to remind aviation enthusiasts of forthcoming events during the week running up to the event.
Capital Sounds for Sound and Broadcast: Brian Emmenis: (057) 388-2351 E-mail: capital@icon.co.za
Air Show South Africa Secretariat: Anne Pickard: (011) 827 5503 E-mail: annep@henleyair.co.za
Management & Airshow Authorization: Neil de Lange - Aero Club of South Africa: (011) 805-0366
Website: www.aeroclub.org.za E-mail: info@aeroclub.org.za
Feedback on African Pilot airshow awards
Johan Wilken Polokwane
What a brilliant idea!! I do however suspect that you will receive some negative feedback as there might be people feeling this is a way of rating the air show and might therefore not be comfortable with the idea.
A possibility might be to look at different categories of air shows. For example, Military organised and civilian organised. It might also go down as a bit unfair when the Parys airshow is up against Margate airshow as their might be a huge budget constrain on Parys while Margate runs on an open wallet.
To safeguard you or your magazine against all kinds of possible negativity, why not request the relevant organiser to officially enter the competition, thereby signing an indemnity against attacking the magazine or yourself in the event of not making the grade. People very quickly pick a lot of sour grapes if things don't turn their anticipated way.
In all, carry on with the good work you are doing. Looking forward meeting with you again at our show during May and I will make sure you are booked into the Ranch Hotel.
Regards, Johan Wilken 082 4458096.
Ed replies
Dear Johan,
Thank you for your support. As we develop the concept of these awards together with the Aero Club I am sure that many interesting debates will arise. However, the issue of an open wallet will not come into the judging criteria as often airshows and events organised by small aviation communities are the best because these people care about the continuity of their events in years to come. As a regular airshow reporter I can honestly say that many of the smaller airshows have been quite outstanding from every perspective and African Pilot has developed an excellent method of judging such events.
Received from Dr. John Ledger
Dear Athol and Jane,
I hope 2005 will be a wonderful year for you. Your proposal to rate air shows and fly-aways for environmental responsibility and litter management is a great idea. I would love to be involved in this initiative.
Why not add a third trophy for best environmental management at air shows/ fly-aways, and seek sponsorship from the Bateleurs, Endangered Wildlife Trust, or aviation corporate like Naturelink or Sefofane Air Charter?
I would suggest that the best way to go about this is to develop an audit procedure, which is objective and replicable at different venues. This would be very similar to an industrial environmental audit which is based on a detailed check-list with ratings for a wide variety of parameters. The basic principle of the audit is to achieve continuous improvement, so those receiving poor results are empowered to improve next time around. You could build up a panel of air show auditors, because no single individual would be able to attend all the shows. The African Pilot Awards would be based on these formal audits over the year.
If I can help to develop this idea with you, give me a shout!
Best wishes, John
Dr John Ledger
Phone +27+11+680-1553, Fax 0253, Home 9609
Cell 083-650-1768, John.Ledger@wol.co.za Editor Endangered Wildlife magazine
Content Editor African Wildlife magazine
SADC ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS
Audit - Advice - Assessment - Aviation
Mediation - Writing - Speaking - Solar Energy
South African Air Force Museum
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
This year sees the 60h anniversary of the end of the War in Europe on 8th May, the 60th anniversary of the founding of 35 Squadron, the 60th of the SA Air Force Association and of course the 85th anniversary of the founding of the South African Air Force.
In all of these instances, it is the intention of the SAAF Museum AFB YPLT to mount meaningful displays relating to these events. Should you be able to assist us source material, photographs or oral testimony, I would be most grateful to hear from you.
I can be contacted at SAAF Museum Monday to Friday 07h00 - 15h30. Telephone (021) 508 6576.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, Chris Teale
Fossetts global flight postponed to February
Virgin Atlantic pushed back Steve Fossett's record attempt for a solo, non-stop around-the-world flight aboard GlobalFlyer until 2 February at the earliest. No specified reason was given, although the GlobalFlyer, the single-engine jet aircraft designed by Burt Rutan and built by Rutans Scaled Composites, performed its final test flight on Wednesday, 5 January at Mojave, California. The aircraft was reportedly preparing for its repositioning flight to Salina (Kansas) Municipal Airport, take off and landing site for the attempt. Mission control will be at Kansas State University/Salina, which is located on the airport. The 2 February date represents a current tentative window and is subject to change. For more information on the flight, visit: www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com.
Burt Rutan named Inc. Entrepreneur of the Year
The accolades keep coming for EAAer Burt Rutan, SpaceShipOne creator whose invention, launched to suborbital space last year, won the $10 million Ansari X Prize. This time, business Magazine Inc. has named the visionary homebuilder Entrepreneur of the Year for 2004. In his January 2005 cover story, David H. Freedman writes, Rutan has hit a big milestone - one that could ignite a revolution and even change the way we view the universe."
First P&WC-powered Eclipse 500 begins flight testing
Eclipse Aviation resumed flight-testing its 500 Jet in an FAA-conforming test bed on 31 December, meeting its year-end deadline. Test pilots Bill Bubb and Brian Mathy took the companys first Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PW610F-powered airplane on two flights from Albuquerque International. N503EA flew for one hour, 29 minutes in the morning and for just under an hour in the afternoon, successfully completing all manoeuvres in the test area south of Albuquerque. The aircraft reached 16,800 feet and 200 knots. For more information, visit the Eclipse Aviation website.
Hartzell propellers pass critical test on Adam A500
Hartzell Propellers blended airfoil propeller system recently passed the final hurdle for FAA certification on the Adam Aircraft A500. A new regulation requires pusher props, such as the three-bladed, 78-inch diameter aft propeller on the A500, to ingest airframe ice shed during inadvertent icing without causing a hazardous condition. Using a compressed-gas gun at the University of Dayton Research Institutes Impact Physics, softball-sized ice balls were shot at the propeller at speeds of up to 520 miles per hour to simulate a long section of wing leading-edge ice striking the propeller blade. The propeller maintained structural integrity and critical feathering functions as required. The A500 is the first production aircraft to pass such a stringent test, and the first application of this technology in a pusher configuration. For more information visit: www.hartzellprop.com and www.adamaircraft.com.
Completed Vans RVs surpass 4,000 aircraft
As 2004 drew to a close, Van's Aircraft received confirmation of one thousand RV-3, RV-4, RV-6/6A, RV-7/7A and RV-8/8A kit projects completed during the calendar year, bringing the overall total to 4,000. Two more confirmed first-flight reports received December 28 brought the cumulative total to 4,002. This year, with 300 four-seat, RV-10, kits shipped and two company-built demonstrators flying, the first customer-built RV-10s are expected to fly soon. We are in constant communication with customers building our airplanes and learn something from them every day, said Richard VanGrunsven, Vans founder. "New knowledge and new technology in our factory has allowed us to improve our kits substantially. Vans has shipped more than two thousand aircraft starts in the last two years. Visit Website: www.vansaircraft.com for more information.
Aviation humour
Lost student pilot: "Big airport with a little Tomahawk overhead, please identify yourself!" | 