January 2021 edition of African Pilot

Best of the Best

Concorde airframe aeronautical engineer Pierre Gautier

Although his name is not widely known outside of French aviation circles, aeronautical engineer Pierre Gautier, who died on 7 January 2020 (94), left his DNA all over the French aerospace industry. In 1954 with his involvement in establishing production of France’s Fouga Magister, the V-tail jet trainer launched many pilots’ careers in the French military. From there, Gautier moved to air transport on the Caravelle jet airliner project.

Read more on page 180 of the January Edition of African Pilot Magazine.

Fact File

Divers find missing wreck of SE.203 Aquilon fighter jet

The French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, discovered the wreckage of an SE.203 Aquilon fighter jet in the Mediterranean Sea. The aircraft had disappeared, along with its pilot, in June 1960. The Aquilon was the first operational jet aircraft of the French Navy. The single-jet fighter-bomber was in fact a French version of the De Havilland DH112 Sea Venom produced under license. Construction began in 1952 and 96 units would eventually be built in four different versions.

Read more on page 176 of the January Edition of African Pilot Magazine.

Names to Remember

Brunelli lifting fuselage and 100-year-old conspiracy theory

Here and there on the Internet one can find claims that there is a better way to design an aircraft: by using Brunelli lifting fuselage. There is a video on YouTube, most likely made in the late 80’s, which may be rather shocking for anybody who has ever taken a flight onboard an airliner.

If you manage to suffer through horrible video quality and eye-puncturing audio editing, you will find out that all modern aircraft are designed specifically to kill people.

Read more on page 190 of the January Edition of African Pilot Magazine.

Picture of the month

by Timothy Brandt

Formation of three Eagle Air aircraft

This picture was taken on one of Eagle Air’s fly-aways in March this year, between Port Elizabeth and East London, at 1500 feet. Timothy was on board a Cherokee ZS-LSC, being flown by Diana.

The pilots flying the aircraft were as follows:
Julia (student) and Keagan (instructor) in ZS-CBB
Anindya (student) and Philippe (instructor) in ZS-NTO
Ahmed (student) and Damian (instructor) in ZS-SWY.

Timothy used a Canon EOS 80D, with a Canon 18-135IS USM lens, at 85mm, F14, shutter speed 1/320.

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