AirVenture 2019 – Celebrating 50 years in Oshkosh – USA
Once again this year we arrived at Camp Plakkerfontein a few days before the main group arrived on Saturday 20 July to assist with the setting up of the now famous South African camp. It was exciting to see that once again the campsite had been transformed into a new design where the logistics of the pub, around which everything is planned, was now attached to the wooden hut.
As is typical in this part of America in the summer months, storm warning sirens as well as weather warnings were abundant, but when the terrific storm hit us on the airfield on the Friday night, we were all taken aback by the sheer force of the lightning, winds and torrential rain that continued for several hours. However, other than a few tent pegs that came out and some flooding, fortunately there was very little damage to the South African campsite.
Flying Legends 2019
Held under grey clouds, the theme of this year’s Flying Legends was the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Operation Overlord saw 11,000 airmen involved and 14,000 sorties flown by the Allies on 6 June 1944 and only 127 aircraft were lost. That is an amazing figure in the larger scheme of things and just shows how the Allies had air superiority at that stage of the war. Flying Legends paid tribute to those many men and woman involved in the largest land invasion ever attempted. As usual, the airshow lived up to its name – and Legends were aplenty.
Avionics and instrumentation 2019 update
As the deadline for ALL aircraft and helicopters flying within controlled airspace in the USA to carry a digital transponder has been set as 1 January 2020; there was still some noticeable discussion on which system to use and what the cost would be. Whilst misconceptions about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) mandate to install digital transponders have slowed helicopter operators’ adoption of Automatic Dependence Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out technologies, equipment suppliers, helicopter manufacturers and helicopter operators appear to be stepping up their game to meet the deadline.
