Monthly Archives: September 2018

Falcon 1 gets his Gold Wings

Falcon 1 gets his Gold Wings

Omphile Mutloane who is currently the leader of the Silver Falcons Aerobatic Team.The team is the official aerobatic team of the South African Airforce, the team is 51 years old in 2018. The team celebrated their 50th Anniversary last year with an airshow at their home base at AFB Langebaanweg .Originally formed in 1946 as the Bumbling Bees and flying the T-6 Harvard and then the de Havilland Vampire.

 

Major Omphile Matloane receives his golden wings from Major Sivu Tangana

The Bumbling Bees flew a 4 ship formation and made a name for themselves by regularly taking part in South African airshows. The team disbanded in the late 1950s leaving a gap in South African aviation. The introduction of the Pilatus PC7MKII in 1995 put the team back to a 4ship and then in 2008 the team went back to a 5 ship and painted in the Silver Falcons livery.

OG short for Omphile was born in a small village just outside the town of Zeerust in the North West Province. His interest of flying started back in his Primary School days, when a SAAF Alouette three landed on the Soccer field. “It was so cool to see it so close up. All of the kids that’s day ran towards the chopper to get a better look, I still remember the pilot saw us and hovered at a medium height level just above our heads. The noise and dust from the down wash from the spinning rotors were awesome”. Says OG

He has flown the PC7MKII,Oryx and Agusta A109LUH during his time in the South African Airforce and is currently a instructor at the Central Flying School down at AFB Langebaanweg. He is also team lead for the famous Silver Falcons Aerobatic Team.

The 15th September 2018,OG earned his gold wings for reaching 2500 flying hours. With the arrival from AFB Langebaanweg, on the Capes West coast to AFB Waterkloof with a total of 10 Pilatus PC7MKIIs from the Central Flying School. The Africa Aerospace and Defence Airshow is surely ganna have the crowd on their feet!

Below 10 PC7MKIIs arriving for AAD2018

 

Central Flying School Pilots and Instructors after arrival at Airforce Base Waterkloof 2018-09-15

 

 

Kitty Hawk RV Fly-In 2018

The now annual Kitty Hawk RV Fly-in was again a huge turnout from both RV aircraft owners and other general aviation aircraft who made the outing to the east of Pretoria for a great breakfast and lunch at the Kitty hawk restraint which is well advertised through the aviation community and surely attracts all pilots from around the country.

Kitty Hawk aerodrome is located 30km and an easy 20 minute drive south east of Pretoria in the Boschkop area. The airfield is the central hub for an active aviation community and offers aircraft owners superb facilities. As the theme being a RV Fly-in many types of RVs flew into the field and owner to owner had the great opportunity to interact with one another and share the passion for the Vans Rv aircraft.

Some of the resident Rv pilots gave the visitor’s a display of formation flying with different types of the Rv, after the break the Raptors Rv team broke away and then continued to give their usual display at their home base where all of their airshow training takes place before the air show season starts. Once again a great turnout from everyone that attended and one of the friendliest fly-in Aviation Central has attended. We look forward to sharing this day again next year!

 

History of the Vans RV

After improving another homebuilt design, the Stits Playboy, as much as he could, Richard (Van) VanGrunsven decided to start with a clean sheet of paper. His RV-3 impressed a lot of people (“RV” of course, stands for Richard VanGrunsven…). Many of them were willing to take on the task of building an airplane from scratch so that they, too, could have an airplane that flew like Van’s. Already an experienced pilot, Van quit his job with a forklift company and seized the opportunity to work with his real love, aviation. He founded Van’s Aircraft, Inc. in 1972 and began selling plans and a few parts for the RV-3. These he manufactured himself, working in a small shop behind his house in the small town of Reedville, Oregon. As business grew and Van’s Aircraft began producing full aircraft kits and new designs, the company moved to larger quarters in North Plains, Oregon, a small town about 25 miles west of Portland. Van and his wife Diane built a home on a residential airpark just across the road from the factory. For many years, the RV prototypes and demonstration aircraft flew from the grass runway at the airpark.

Children’s Flight 2018

Children’s Flight 2018

The Children’s Flight’s origins lie in a music video called ‘Paper Plane’, which is essentially about a child with a Dream to fly, but on a deeper level it’s about anyone with a dream.
Aviation is traditionally about defying great odds and overcoming the laws of nature, the politics of man, the limitations of economy, and technological development…..for so long aviation was an exclusive privilege to supreme military, selected individuals or the super wealthy…
We wanted to bring home aviation to the children, to promote the idea that anyone can be what ever they dream of being… That you can literally ‘take that paper plane to your destiny’…. one day if even one of these kids goes for their dream, then this day may have played a role in that.”

Felix Gosher


The 2018 Children’s flight once again took part at the Grand Central Airport in Midrand.This year the event took place over a period of two days,to fly as many as 1000 children.The man at the head of the initiative was Felix Gosher who  together with Flint and Tinder and together with other sponsors came together organising the event.The idea was born when Felix was involved in the making of a music video for the song by Michael Ferguson “Paper Plane” which is essentially about a child with a Dream to fly, but on a deeper level it’s about anyone with a dream.

Aircraft types that flew on the Friday, consisted of a Antonov 2 ‘Little Annie,Cessna C182s,C172s,Beechcraft Bonanzas,DC3,Cessna Caravan, TMGs,Seneca’s,Helicopters including a Alouette II and III,Bell 206 Jet rangers, a Gazelle, Robinson R44s and the list went on. The kids had a real treat flying in one of the different types of aircraft.They also got to witness a paradrop from ‘Little Annie’ from 7500 feet.A Airshow was also put on stage for them from our familiar airshow circuit pilots.Nigel Hopkins flew his Extra 330,together with Barrie Eeles .

Gazelle

Bell 407

Charles Fuller Alouette II

Alouette Pilots Charles Fuller & Rob Osner

Alouette II

The RV team was also on display with their tight formation aerobatics on both Friday and Saturday. The Aero L29 ZU-AUX was displayed by Lt Col Glen ‘Gringo’ Warden. Patrick Davidson flew his RedBull Sponsored Sbach and Juba Jourbert flew a remarkable Alouette II Display and many more!

Aero L29

Patrick Davidson

Skydiver

Activities for the children included a flight in a aircraft, a filling lunch, cupcakes,face painting and other forms of entertainment. They then received Flight Certificate signed by their pilots and a gift from some of the many sponsors of the event. To see the faces on the kids before and after their flight was truly a sight to behold, a lump in the throat was really on the move  who witnessed the event all for the kids. We look forward to next year and hope some of the kids reach for their dream.

ATO hosts exclusive school Open Days

ATO hosts exclusive school Open Days

Nelspruit, 11 September, 2018

Almost 30 Hoërskool Nelspruit (NHS) aviation enthusiasts visited the Kishugu® Aviation Training Organisation (ATO) on Friday, 07 September for an opportunity to fly sky high.
NHS was the first of several high schools identified in the Mpumalanga region as part of an aviation career awareness campaign to approach schools directly and address the global pilot shortage.
The aviation industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world due to rapid growth, but it might not have the pilots available to keep up with this growth.

“To become a proficient pilot, ready to offer a valuable contribution to this dynamic field, takes time,” says Head of Kishugu® ATO, Carel van der Merwe. “Amidst an ongoing wave of retirements and a steady supply of experienced crews is unlikely to be depleted. To fill this gap, the industry showed a great need for quality training academies to help train pilots for the future. And this is where Kishugu® ATO, based in Mbombela, plays a vital role,” says Carel.

After the huge success of sponsoring two pupils for the Mr. and Ms. NHS campaign, word quickly spread among the scholars on the possibilities of starting a career in aviation.

During the NHS open day, students and their parents were welcomed by Carel, and his team of flight instructors, and given a quick pre-flight check before taking to the skies in one of our four aircraft available.
After touching down on the ground, Carel presented a quick informative talk on the options of obtaining your Private Pilots Licence (PPL) and the various ways the flight school could assist parents in making their child’s dream a reality.
With adrenaline still spiking through their veins, the scholars were taken to Kishugu® Aviation FFA AMO 1116, where they got the opportunity to view another possible aviation career option as a aviation engineer. Scholars got to see how these aircraft engineers went to work on the various aircraft types while explaining to the learners what school subjects they chose when they started their careers.
Hannes van Zyl, HOD of FFA AMO 1116, elaborated on the various engineer maintenance careers they could specialise in, from avionics to flight test pilots , all possible when choosing a career as a Aeronautical Engineering. Many of the scholars were even interested in doing shadow work at the AMO during the upcoming school holidays. “Shadowing is the perfect opportunity for learners to get a real sense of what it would be to work on aircraft as a possible career,” says Hannes.

Jayden Joubert, a Grade 12 learner could not contain his excitement after his flight during the open day. “It was such an amazing experience. I never thought this was something I wanted to do with my life, but the flying bug has definitely bitten me,” he says. “The AMO was also very nice to see, especially how organised they were, it was very interesting to see them working on the Huey’s,” he concluded.

“Open days like these offer the best opportunity to young learners to experience exactly what flying entails and if it is a career path they would like to follow,” says Carel. “Many scholars are not always sure what they want to do after school, and experiencing this first hand helps them realise if their heart belongs in the sky.”

Kishugu SAPS Students graduate from ATO

Kishugu SAPS Students graduate from ATO

Nelspruit, 11 September, 2018

The Kishugu Aviation Training Organisation (ATO) bids farewell to the South African Police Service (SAPS) female students. A delegation from the SAPS training division visiting Kishugu Aviation on Friday, 30 August, for the final debrief on the training of this dynamic group of female pilots.

The nine young ladies were selected by the South African Police Service to become pilots for the SAPS air wing. The cost of their training was met by the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA).

Kishugu SAPS Students graduate from ATO

Kishugu SAPS Students graduate from ATO

 Tshomarelo Moima (24) from Pretoria, Tebogo Boshielo (22) from Pretoria, Linah Mphanga (25) from Hazyview, Mpumalanga, Happiness Sibiya (22) from Mpumalanga, Lindelwa Mdaki (22) from Durban, Usisipho Fanie (26) from Western Cape, Gloria Banda (21) from Danville Pretoria and Tobeka Shozi (20) from Pietermaritzburg, KZN.

“We are extremely proud of these young ladies and very happy with Kishugu on the sterling job of training these ladies. We will definitely be using Kishugu again to train more pilots, perhaps as early as January 2019,” says Major General Gossmann.

Their success is all the more remarkable since many of them did not have a driver’s license, nor had any of them ever been in light aircraft before their training began.
They were selected as part of a SAPS initiative aimed at skills development and creating jobs. Kishugu ATO won the contract to train the pilots after an extremely tough tender vetting process.

Since arriving at Kishugu ATO in April 2016 these women have been taking to the skies on almost a daily basis building hours and experience. To date the women accumulated over 2,200 hours of flying. Kishugu will now engage further with TETA and the SAPS on possibly recruiting more pilots in the future to be trained.

2018 Eswatini Airshow 

2018 Eswatini Air show

Aviation Central’s Jarryd was not Media for the Weekend, that was done By Flippie. Jarryd was part of the Little Annie crew. (Jarryd holds a PPL and is busy with his Com)
They flew Annie in on Friday morning and took the local youth for a scenic flight around the Airport.

The Show was organized in a very short time and bad weather prohibited airshow aircraft to reach the Airport.  The only aircraft that flew was Little Annie, an Atlas Angel, Huey chopper and an R44. The R44 also did the flipping of spectators. Group of 8 Skydivers also entertained the large crowd from Young to old.

Stage with a Band and DJ was also part of the entertainment. The King of Swaziland’s two Aircraft was also visible to the left. Show day turned out nice, but windy. The airport has a spectacular tower and terminal building.  A New hi-way is being constructed linking the King Mswati III International Airport to the nearest town (Matsapha).

Johan Heine was the FDD for the show and made the best of what he had to work with. Listening to Johan Heine and Brian Emmenis from Capital Sounds talk about the 2019 Swaziland Airshow indicates that they are going to pull out all they can to insure for a spectacular 2019 show.

Hopefully, the 2019 show will attract more South African Media as Aviation Central was the only South African Media at the show. The Swazi people took good care of us and provided excellent accommodation close too Matsapha Airport. Aviation Central will be back for Swaziland international Airshow 2019.

About King Mswati III International Airport

Construction for the Airport began in 2003 on this $150m project. The Taiwanese government contributed USD 22m to the project.It is part of King Mswati III’s $1bn millennium project investment initiative to enhance Swaziland’s position as a tourist destination, serving as a tourism gateway to Swaziland’s game parks. However, it has been on the drawing board since 1980. There are also environmental concerns since Sikhupe is near Hlane game park, and may put rare species of eagles and vultures at risk. King Mswati III International Airport was planned to replace Matsapha airport by 2010, with the latter being taken over by the army. King Mswati III International Airport was inaugurated on 7 March 2014.

Facilities at King Mswati III International Airport

Airport has a 3,600m CAT 1 runway and capacity for 300,000 passengers per year. It would be able to handle Boeing 747 aircraft, and service flights to any destination in the world. Coordinates to King Mswati III International Airport 26°21′24″S 031°43′01″ECoordinates: 26°21′24″S 031°43′01″E

Click to Enlarge photos

 

AAD 2018 Aircraft List

AAD 2018 Aircraft List

For all those airshow Fan’s out there, we are compiling an unofficial list of aircraft to attend AAD2018.  Please not that this list is unofficial at this stage and can change at any time. 
We will soon be indicating if they will be flying or static.

Note:

#AAD2018 preliminary Aircraft list. We will update the list as we get closer to AAD.
Please note this is not the final list. The list currently excludes normal SA airshow aircraft that will be added later. More international aircraft also to be added once confirmed.
To view list on the official AAD2018 site click here

Aircraft Company / Air force/CountryFlyingStaticNumber of Aircraft
Harbin Y-12Zambia Airforce1
Hongdu L-15Zambia Airforce2
MA-60Zambia Airforce1
ParagliderVarious TBC
Seeker SB7L-360AUSA1
Boeing C17 GlobemasterUS Airforce1
Boeing KC135 TankerUS AirforceCanceled
Boeing P8-PoseidonUS Airforce1
C130J-30US Airforce1
LC-130 SnowbirdUS Airforce1
RQ-7 ReaperUS Airforce1
Extreme Air XA41Team Extreme/Century Avionics1
MX2Team Extreme/Century Avionics1
Cows Pitts Specials S2sTaillifts Cows RSA4
H125 'Squirrel'SV Aviation1
SAFAT AK-3SAFAT02Sudan1
SAFAT03Sudan1
Bell 212Starlite Aviation1
MD500EStarlite Aviation1
Douglas DC4Skyclass1
Enstrom 280FXSAFAMOR1
Enstrom 480BSAFAMOR2
MD500SAFAMOR1
PA28-180SAFAMOR1
PA31-310SAFAMOR1
Alouette IISAAF Museum2
Alouette IIISAAF Museum2
Atlas C4.M KuduSAAF Museum1
BosbokSAAF Museum1
Cessna C185SAAF Museum1
SA330 PumaSAAF Museum1
PC7MKIISAAF CFS5
Silver FalconsSAAF CFS5
Hawk MK120SAAF 85 Combat Flying School5
CASA 212SAAF 44 Squadron2
Beechcraft King Air 250SAAF 41 Squadron1
Cessna C208A CaravanSAAF 41 Squadron2
C47TPSAAF 35 SquadronTBC
C130BZSAAF 28 Squadron3
LynxSAAF 22 SquadronTBC
Gripen JAS39C/DSAAF 2 Squadron9
RooivalkSAAF 16 Squadron3
BK117SAAF 15 Squadron 'c' Flt2
Agusta A109LUHSAAF3
OryxSAAF3
Agusta A119SA Red Cross1
Antonov ?Russia1
Russian HelicopterRussia1
Motor GliderRSA2
Robinson R44RSA1
Robinson R66RSA1
Sling 2RSA1
Aerospatiale GazellePrivateTBC
BathawkPrivate7
Boeing StearmanPrivate1
Glider JS1Private2
Hot Air Balloons Private3
Impala MK1Private1
Jet GliderPrivateTBC
L39Private1
Raven 500Private1
Slick 540Private1
Wagtail GyroPrivate1
AhrlacParamount Group RSA2
FennecParamount Group RSATBC
T6 HarvardsMuseum,Puma,Harvard Club RSA12
Antonov 2 Just Love Mission1
Mahindra Aerospace GA AirvanIndiaTBC
Gulfstream G600Gulfstream USA1
Dassualt Falcon 8XFrance1
Bell 230Execujet1
Gulfstream IIIExecujet1
King Air 200 GTExecujet1
Diamond 62MPPDiamond Aircraft Austria1
Diamond DA40NGDiamond Aircraft Austria1
Denel Cheetah DDenel RSA1
EmbraerBrazilTBC
Bombardier Global 6000Bombardier Canada1
CASA 212Airforce of Zimbabwe1
K8Airforce of Zimbabwe2
Airbus A320neoAirbus 1
Airbus H125Airbus 2
Airbus H135Airbus 1
Airbus H215MAirbus 1

 

 

AERO SA set to change aviation exhibitions in South Africa

AERO SA set to change aviation exhibitions in South Africa

Wonderboom National Airport, Pretoria, Tshwane, South Africa
4-6 July 2019.

As a subsidiary of one of the world’s leading events and fairs companies, Messe Frankfurt South Africa in partnership with Messe Friedrichshafen – the organizer of AERO Friedrichshafen, recently announced the launch of AERO South Africa. AERO SA will be taking place at Wonderboom National Airport, Tshwane, South Africa from 4-6 July 2019.

Speaking at the launch event, Konstantin von Vieregge, CEO of Messe Frankfurt SA, said that “although there is a lot of negative sentiment around the South African economy, we are in for the long-haul, and believe that this is the perfect time to launch a business-to-business show specifically related to general aviation in Africa”. “According to the GAMA report 2017, there has been a steady increase in aircraft registrations in South Africa, and that there is a gap in the market for such an event”, said von Vieregge.

A show like AERO SA will be the perfect place to bring clients and businesses together, “Same as AERO Friedrichshafen, the South African edition will focus on Light/Medium sized aircrafts and it will emphasize the importance of aviation as a key to growing the economy. AERO SA will highlight South Africa on the aviation map as well as ensure that South Africa remains the premiere aviation hub on the African continent”, commented von Vieregge.

AERO SA plans to unite a broad spectrum of the general aviation industry under one show and at one location and will be a platform to engage with all sectors of the aviation community, by bringing business-to-business leads to the fore.

“Wonderboom National airport is the perfect venue to host AERO SA, as it allows for the opportunity to conduct test flights, clients can fly their own aircraft to the show, and there is ample space for exhibitors that allows easy access to trade visitors,” said von Vieregge.

AERO SA will focus on ensuring that the costs to exhibit are affordable and that aircraft on display will be charged per aircraft and not by space. AERO SA will base a lot of its strategy on the world-famous AERO Friedrichshafen show that has become one of the world’s biggest general aviation shows.

AERO SA

SAAF Museum Flying Day 2018-09

 

The South African Air Force Museum houses exhibits and restores material related to the history of the South African Air Force.

The museum is divided into three locations, AFB Swartkop outside Pretoria, AFB Ysterplaat in Cape Town and at the Port Elizabeth airport.
AFB Swartkop is home to the headquarters and largest of the three museum locations, occupying at least five hangars.

It contains a number of Dassault Mirage IIIs, Dassault Mirage F1s, Atlas Cheetahs and various other historical aircraft as well as aviation-related items on display such as ejection seats, uniforms, aircraft engines, aircraft weaponry and a Cheetah C flight simulator.

Aircraft on display

Aerospatiale Alouette III
Aerospatiale Puma
Aerospatiale Super Frelon
Atlas Cheetah E
Atlas Cheetah C
Atlas Impala Mk.I
Atlas Impala Mk.II
Atlas XH-1 Alpha
Avro Shackleton
Blackburn Buccaneer
Boeing 707
Canadair CL-13
Douglas DC-4
Dassault Mirage III BZ
Dassault Mirage III CZ
Dassault Mirage III RZ
English Electric Canberra T Mk.4
Fieseler Storch
Lockheed Ventura
Mirage F1 AZ
North American Harvard
North American Mustang
Patchen Explorer
Paterson Biplane
Pilatus PC-7 Mk.II
Westland Wasp

Above Sourced from Wikipedia


The Museum Flying day was also attend by two very imported Gentleman on the South African Airshow circuit, one being the Head of Airshow South Africa and the other, Airboss for Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD2018).  We used the Opportunities to catch-up on AAD2018 and the 2019 Airshow Season. We can’t spill the beans yet, but one of SA cities complaining about not getting an Airshow, it’s coming in 2019!
According to the Head, Airshow South Africa, The Big Aviation Event for 2019 will be AERO SOUTH AFRICA that is to be hosted at Wonderboom Airport in July 2019 and  in 2019 we will see more airshows across south Africa.  Full 2019 Airshow calendar will be released in November.

Aircraft normally based at AFB Waterkloof temporary moved at AFB Swartkop due to Waterkloof being cleared out to make space for AAD2018

The SAAF museum Open Flying day, started off with the “Spirit of Flight”10km Run/Walk Race and a Fun Run at 6:30. 100’s attended and completed “Spirit of Flight”. Good so see the Museum hosting other activities on the Base
The flying day it self was well attended, however we hoped for more. The flying comments at about 09:20 after inspection was done on the runways and taxiways to check for any of the Fun Runners left something behind that could be hazardous to the Aircraft. The Flying start of activities started of with the normal parachute jump.

The dry Hi-veld winter left the base grounds extremely dry and dusty, creating some spectacular affects, but also a bit of a problem if you were nearby.

The All’o with the unique sound also graced the skies over Swartkop Air Force base

Although the Crowd was less than hoped for, they enjoyed the day with the Friend SAAF pilots always willing to chat and answer questions.  Many photos and videos was taken by the crowd and shared all over social media

The old SAAF chopper workhorse doing its thing, the trustworthy Puma

The fixed wing aircraft provided grace over the sky. However the Vampire was missed by old and young

The next SAAF museum Swartkop open Flying day will be 06 October, for more information click here.

Click to enlarge photos below

SAAF Museum Flying Day 2018-09

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