Category Archives: General News and Airshow Reviews
SAAF Museum Airshow 2023- “Taking off to new frontiers”
The first airshow of the seeing started with a bang at the Mobile Deployment Wing Swartkop (MDW) previously Air force base Swartkop.
The show build at Swartkop is always exciting at military airshows in South Africa. The Wednesday morning with the Gautrain Alouette II race where Aviation Central was kindly invited to be in the Alouette III follow chopper to get air to air shots of the race where we joined News Room Africa. The show also included a youth development program for a number of learners who spent the day considering a career in aviation the Friday before the show.
Also catching all the arrivals of aircraft and seeing them validate surely get the people of Pretoria excited for the show! This years theme for the show was “Taking off to new frontiers” The South African Airforce Museum ,South African air force and a number of civilian teams had a number of aircraft on flying and static displays.
The reason for this airshow is to generate funds to keep the South African Airforce museum flying and static exhibits in order and to look after military aviation history in the country.
The show was big this year with a large program as follows below with Colonel Keith Fryer as air boss and putting together a awesome show with a different variety of aircraft in the mix. Colonel Keith Andrew’s (Retired) was ramp boss with Major Heinrich “Skippie” Scheepers. Taskings of aircraft and over flight clearance were under taken by Captain Ryan Mitton ,Captain Andre Roets and Lieutenant Richard Dixon.
Capital Sounds Brian Emmenis and his team provided excellent commentary on aircraft and aircrew.
The morning show started with the arrival of Paramotors from the near Grasslands airfield with a brief display by helicopter formation fly-pasts by Rob Osner in his Alouette III “Rudi”, Charles Fuller in his Alouette II and Juba Jourbert in the Aerospatiale Gazelle.
The emergency vehicles made up of the ECC with a cavalcade and three helicopter types showing their presence in case of an emergency on the day which was luckily not needed. A 15 Squadron Agusta A109,17 Squadron Oryx and a Netcare Bell 430 helicopter. The flying display started with a lonesome Museum Harvard “7111” flown by Martin Louw. Followed by civilian aerobatic competitor Andrew Blackwood Murray in his Extra 300L.
Grant Timms in Richard Lovetts L29 flew a graceful display with a beautiful paint scheme added to this particular Middelburg based former jet trainer. The Museum Helicopter display of two Alouette IIs, Alouette IIIs and Puma as well as a solo Cessna C185 flown by Colonel Gerrie “Smokey” Pretorius.
Andre van Zyl flew his Magni Gyrocopter Display, one of the best Gyrocopter displays you can see in the world. Ivan and Jeandre van der Schaar flew the father and son team, Boeing Stearman and RC Extra 330 demo. The only of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
15 Squadron “Charlie” Flight brought one of their BK-117 Helicopters to the show flown by display pilot Major Corrie Oberholzer and Flight Sargent Coert Steynberg.85 Combat Flying School Hawk MK120 flown by Major Rehan “Kaine” Venter was the first of the fast jet displays of the day. Captain JP “Nitro” Poisat provided commentary during his display.
Steve Brown flew a rare display in the Classic Flying Collection Auster, a display tribute to his late father Gavin Brown. Central Flying School provided a solo Pilatus PC7MKII display flown by Rooivalk pilot Major Ronald Moroole. The Raptor RVs were next flown by Nigel Hopkins, Dion Raath, Ryan Beaton, Trevor Warner and Johan von Solms.
Juba Jourbert flew a Aerospatiale Gazelle display showing off the lines of the aircraft. The hired gun pitts specials were next led by Scullly Levin. Scullly also led the Puma flying lions Harvard’s in their display and during their sunset display before returning to Rand Airport.
The ever favorite 2 Squadron Gripen flown by Musa “Midnite” Mbhokota had the crowds on their feet to see South Africa’s front line fighter. Rodney Chinn, Grant Timms and Steve Brown were up next in the Classic Flying Collection De Haviland Chipmunks.
The SAAF Museum put most of their assets in the air with Combat Search and rescue as well as many formations displays including their Aerospatiale Puma in formation with two Harvard’s. The Cessna C185 with two Alouette IIIs. Team Extra 330 flown by Jason Beamish and Nigel Hopkins flew a high energy aerobatic display. Nigel also led the Goodyear Eagles Pitts Specials.
Menno Parsons flew both his beautifully bright Tiger Huey and the only flying P51D Mustang in Africa. The Tiger Moth Duo flown again by Grant Timms and Steve Brown making up the contingent of aircraft from the Classic Flying Collection based at Springs Airfield.
The Boeing 737-300 flown by Captain Dennis Spence and First Officer Melissa with the compliments of Africa Air Charter. A great sight to see a airliner display at Swartkop once again.
16 Squadron provided a mighty Rooivalk display flown by Major Paul “Raccoon” Kempthorn. With a spectacular flare drop at the end of his show.Midnite flew the last display of the day with the Gripen also ending his spectacular loud show with a flare drop.
A huge well done to Lieutenant Colonel Stefan van Zyl, acting officer commanding of Mobile Deployment Wing Swartkop and his team for making this show happen. Lieutenant Colonel Gaelejwe. Also a word of thanks to many of the sponsors and stakeholders in their effort to the Museum Airshow. The show was also dedicated to the former acting OC of The SAAF Museum Major Ntshangase who unfortunately lost his life a few weeks ago. We look forward to seeing more Museum aircraft coming back online and more static exhibits getting their finishing touches. A word of thanks to Captain Mpama for looking after the media and getting them to the designate photography spots on the day.
Till then, “Keep the up where they belong”!
Please browse through our gallery!
Pilatus PC-12 Fleet Surpasses Ten Million Flight Hours
The global fleet of more than 1,900 Pilatus PC-12s cruises past the ten million flight hours milestone since delivery of the first model. Pilatus leadership sees even greater future sales opportunities for the “World’s Greatest Single”.
Pilatus is proud to announce that with almost 2,000 PC-12s delivered, the global fleet of the popular single-engine turboprop has officially accumulated more than ten million flight hours. The fleet leader, based in Canada, has flown more than 35,000 hours, while 71 PC-12s have logged over 20,000 hours of flight time. As a whole, the PC-12 fleet has recorded more than 9.3 million landings, with four aircraft reporting over 50,000 landings.
The market leader
“When the PC-12 was launched, this milestone seemed light-years away in the future,” said Ignaz Gretener, Vice President of Pilatus’ Business Aviation division. “You must give credit to the engineers who designed this incredibly robust airframe, the production team that builds outstanding quality into each unit, the sales team that found so many markets eager to adopt this versatile aircraft, and the support team so dedicated to keeping them in the air. We are especially grateful to our ownership base for trusting in Pilatus and helping us continuously improve the PC-12 so that it leads the market in sales year after year.”
Latest version PC-12 NGX
Pilatus delivered 80 new PC-12s in 2022, and plans to increase production to meet demand in 2023. The current model, the PC-12 NGX, is the third major variant of the type and differs significantly from the original PC-12. Over the history of PC-12 deliveries, engine power and speed have been increased, new executive cabin interiors have been introduced, gross weight and payload capacity were increased, and in 2019 it became the first business turboprop to incorporate Pratt & Whitney’s innovative Electronic Propeller and Engine Control System (EPECS) for its steadfastly reliable PT6 powerplant.
Pilatus Chief Executive Officer Markus Bucher stated: “The PC-12s past, present, and future success boils down to its appeal to a wide range of operations, its solid reliability, and its proven outstanding safety record. As an additional benefit, these attributes have resulted in PC-12 owners enjoying one of the highest levels of value retention among all business aircraft.”
The PC-12 is currently being utilized by corporate flight departments, individual owner-operators, fractional and charter companies, air ambulance service providers, and in special mission roles at the local, state, and national levels. The aircraft’s large cabin, standard cargo door, docile handling characteristics, and low operating costs offer significant appeal to nearly any type of operation.
Flexible and efficient
With sustainability near the top of nearly every business aircraft operator’s priority list, the fuel efficiency of the PC-12 offers immediate and major reductions in carbon emissions as compared to midsize and larger business jets not optimized for all missions. Pilatus officials note that the global network of Pilatus sales teams are receiving increased interest in the PC-12 from flight departments looking for ways to continue to support their operational requirements with much greater efficiency.
Gretener concluded: “The secret to the PC-12’s success is really no secret at all. We continuously listen to our customers and strive to provide them with features, capabilities, and technologies to support the missions which are critical to them. With each aircraft and every individual owner and operator of a Pilatus aircraft, our goal is to become incrementally better.”
The Elders Flight – Brakpan Airfield 2023
Many people across the world have never had the opportunity to fly in an aircraft let alone even set foot inside one.
The 22nd April, a cool autumn breeze swept along the Brakpan airfield for the 2023 edition of the elders flight. A day many South African elderly from communities around Gauteng,this including a handful of ex South African Air force pilots once again sitting up in their former office.
Excitement was definitely on ones mind for some of the 300+ elderly members joining for their day of flying for the first time and a day dedicated to them.
Felix Gosher, the event organiser, put together a huge program of sponsors to pull off the event. With a large safety team, beverages, fuel and aircraft just to name a few.
Felix Gosher a Air Line Transport Pilot license holder and a newly qualified Beechcraft 1900 rated pilot. Felix who also organisers the annual Children’s Flight at Orient airfield. Felix is supported by his wife Belinda at these events which sleepless nights make these events a success with a large amount of hard work from behind the scenes.
The day without a doubt was planned to the last full stop landing of each aircraft and every last passenger receiving their wings from South African Air Force Major General Lance “Lancelot” Mathebula who is director of force preparation at SAAF Headquarters. He arrived in a 17 Squadron Agusta A109LUH.
A bit of a different ride for a fighterjock, Lance has flown the Pilatus PC7MKII,Impala Mk1 and Impala MKII, Hawk Mk120 and Gripen. The Major General who is also a qualified weapons attack instructor, former 2v1 display pilot and foreign exchange pilot to name some of his achievements!
Brian Emmenis from Capital Sounds, provided commentary throughout the day, also during the Puma Energy Flying Lions Harvard’s display. A flat show was provided by Scully Levin and the team, with some height restrictions, with Brakpan airfield being so close to OR Tambo International Airport airspace.
The final flights that took place were for many ex South African Airforce Pilots flying in some extraordinary aircraft. This included aircraft types members flew or had the opportunity to fly for the first time, one being retired Lieutenant Piet Visser in his P-51 Mustang almost 70 years after he flew the P51 in the Korean War. Former Chief, retired Lieutenant General Fabian ‘Zakes’ Msimang, flew in a alouette II with owner Charles Fuller.
Some of the aircraft that were present at this years elders flight most probably the biggest fleet committed ever.
We a number of fixed wing aircraft including a Antonov An2 ZU-FOO, Cessna C208 Grand Caravans, Cessna C182,C210s,C150s.A large continent of taildraggers, chipmunks, austers, bosboks, Kudu, tiger moths and even a P51D Mustang owned and flown by veteran elders flight partner Menno Parsons.
Helicopters that were present had a bell 407s,Brakpan based Alouette II and Alouette III flown by Charles Fuller and Rob Osner. Bell B206 Jet Rangers, Hughes 369 and a Bell 205
Please browse through our gallery!
Platoon Aviation Receives Their Sixth PC-24
Once again Pilatus and Platoon Aviation can celebrate this year the handover of two more PC-24 aircraft. With the handover of Super Versatile Jet, serial number 306, the German charter operator has grown its fleet to six PC-24s within just three years.
At the AERO Friedrichshafen aviation show, Deniz Weissenborn, Managing Director of the Hamburg-based company, emphasised the unbroken demand for fast, direct connections to all European destinations: “Besides business travel, holiday destinations in the south such as Nice, Olbia or Paris are particularly popular in the summer. Our strategy of providing first-class service and the most spacious, most comfortable jet in its class, is a complete success.
“Our customers appreciate the cabin size, otherwise only available in mid-size jets, and the comfortable, individually adjustable seats in the eight-person Executive configuration. The PC-24’s generous cargo hold and large cargo door are a huge plus, especially for holiday travel. They allow cases and sports equipment to be easily and safely stowed in the cabin”.
At the same Aero Friedrichshafen event Ignaz Gretener, VP General Aviation at Pilatus, was looking forward to expanding the business relationship further in the near future: “With its Europe-wide charter operation, Platoon offers a service which only the PC-24 can provide to perfection. The ability to land at small, remote airfields with very short runways means faster, more direct travel and massive time savings for customers. Transfer times to the final destination can be significantly shortened.”
Successful Business Jet Operator
The charter company’s excellently trained and above all young team achieved another important milestone in the company’s as yet brief history when certification as an independent air operator (AOC) was obtained in December 2022. Since its founding in March 2021, the German business jet operator has grown to 50 employees and has 35 pilots under contract.
Cathay Pacific strives for leadership and embraces collaboration as it takes major steps towards its sustainability goals
As the Cathay Pacific Group continues to make important strides towards becoming a sustainability leader, it is pleased to announce the release of its 2022 Sustainable Development Report, which underscores the Group’s ongoing commitments and progress in achieving its sustainability goals. Titled “Greener Together,” the report reflects Cathay Pacific’s belief that driving progress towards a sustainable future requires strong partnerships and collective action.
Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam stated: “As we enter an exciting new phase of rebuilding Cathay Pacific for Hong Kong, one of our key development areas is becoming a leader in sustainability. This means working together with many different stakeholders, partners and corporate customers to reconnect Hong Kong to the world in sustainable ways. The title of this year’s report, ‘Greener Together’, reflects our determination to foster stronger partnerships to help drive the sustainable development agenda and build a more sustainable future for our customers, our people and our communities.
“Despite the very difficult start we had to the year, 2022 saw a number of important milestones achieved in our sustainability journey. These involved yet more important steps towards developing the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) supply chain, reducing single-use plastics in our operations and continuing to advance the agenda of wellness and diversity for our people. Moving people forward is our business and as we look ahead to the future, we are excited to continue contributing to important projects and being a positive driving force towards making aviation more sustainable.”
Key highlights from the 2022 report include:
Driving progress towards decarbonisation: As part of efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and using SAF for 10% of our total fuel consumption by 2030, we launched Asia’s first major Corporate SAF Programme. Garnering support from eight launch customers, the programme sends a strong signal to the SAF supply chain that there is firm interest in the region.
Extending our carbon-offset programme: First launched in 2007, Cathay Pacific’s long-standing voluntary carbon-offset programme, Fly Greener, has now been extended to our cargo operations – an extremely important part of our business. This provides our customers with a more sustainable cargo solution.
Surpassing our target to cut single-use plastics: We have reached a 56% reduction of single-use plastics use on a per passenger level compared to our 2018 baseline and are now in the process of launching a new target.
Driving Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) across our operations: We set a new and more ambitious goal to not have more than 65% of the same gender at senior positions by 2025, and as of April 2023 we will have a 50/50 gender split in our Executive Committee. We also became the first commercial airline to be listed on the 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index.
Promoting and enabling wellness: COVID-19 has been especially impactful to people’s wellbeing. We introduced a week-long Mental Health and Wellbeing Festival filled with various activities and workshops to promote wellness and support our people.
RwandAir and Turkish Airlines sign landmark codeshare agreement
RwandAir has signed a major new codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines as it continues to expand its global reach.
The new codeshare partnership will offer the African airline’s customers greater travel choices and seamless connection opportunities in both Kigali and Istanbul.
RwandAir customers travelling from Africa can now enjoy easy access to Turkish Airlines’ extensive network of over 300 worldwide destinations, giving Africa even greater global connectivity.
Those travelling with Turkish Airlines can also benefit from this codeshare agreement, with customers arriving in Kigali now being able to enjoy smooth onward connection across RwandAir’s African network.
Yvonne Makolo, RwandAir CEO, said: “We are incredibly excited to have signed this new codeshare agreement with one the world’s largest and leading carriers, Turkish Airlines.
“This landmark move will not only allow our customers to access the 124 countries served by Turkish Airlines, but will improve connections for inbound travellers to Africa via our extensive continental network.
“RwandAir is always exploring new commercial opportunities to expand its reach into markets which can deliver financial return and benefit our growing customer base.”
Currently, Turkish Airlines offers daily flights between RwandAir’s Kigali base and the carrier’s home hub in Istanbul.
This agreement follows the African airline’s recently launched codeshares with leading airlines such as Qatar Airways and British Airways.
From its hub at the heart of Africa at Kigali International Airport, RwandAir is renowned for its excellent on-time performance, customer service, and safety.
RwandAir currently operates to 24 destinations across East, Central, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
New airline contributes to East London’s’ leisure and business travel
The arrival of CemAir in East London has been great news for the Buffalo City Metropolitan as it will provide the flying public with additional travel options as well boost the regions leisure and business travel.
The airport welcomed the new stakeholder on Thursday 6 April, with flights initially scheduled to service the Cape Town route.
“The launch of CemAir Airlines air services to East London is a welcome addition to King Phalo Airport, improving the much-needed capacity on one of South Africa’s most popular routes – East London Cape Town,” said Local Airport Manager, Nicola Smith.
It is crucial to have a vibrant and competitive aviation industry as it not only facilitates international trade and drives rapid growth in tourism, but brings with it great business and employment opportunities.
“We have no doubt that this event will contribute immensely to our efforts of attracting more visitors to the city as we aim to surpass 2019 passenger numbers.”
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, King Phalo airport handled 916 192 passengers with between twenty and thirty flights a day, serviced by five airlines. With CemAir servicing the Cape Town route, the airport will be servicing 20 flights a day, possibly taking us back to 2019 where the airport was extremely busy.
King Phalo Airport has been fully operational since 2022 and has continuously been working on improving the infrastructure and undertaking projects to accommodate and improve passenger experience to meet international standards.
Lizelle Maurice, Border Kei Chamber of Business CEO, “We extend our warmest welcome to FlyCemAir. The launch of the new route is significant to the region, as it stimulates our tourism and business sectors. East London has many untapped opportunities, and through this additional airline, we trust that these will be further unlocked. As the business sector, we pledge our full support and look forward to the growth of the airline in our region.”
Czech aircrew completes Marine-Led training ahead of aircraft delivery
Members of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron (HMLAT) 303 and the H-1 Light/Attack helicopters program office (PMA-276), recognized a group of airmen from the Czech Republic Air Force during a ceremony on Feb. 9 for completing maintenance and flight training on the H-1 family of the aircraft.
The students have been embedded with the HMLAT-303 since July 2022, taking the same courses and hands-on training utilized by the U.S. Marine Corps’ military occupational specialties (MOS) for the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom. The syllabus is designed to provide the initial knowledge, skills, and experience required to maintain, operate, and fly the H-1 platform.
“The training we did with the Czechs provided the foundational knowledge to fly and maintain these machines [AH-1Z and UH-1Y],” said Lt. Col. Mark Koval, Commanding Officer, HMLAT-303. “They now have the basic skills to transition to tactical training with their own fleet of helicopters.”
In 2019, the Czech Republic selected the H-1, specifically four AH-1Z and eight UH-1Y aircraft, to modernize the country’s armed forces and strengthen its homeland defense. As part of the foreign military sales contract, the customer had the opportunity to send its first wave of H-1 aircrew and maintainers through the HMLAT-303 training pipeline, preparing them for aircraft deliveries throughout 2023.
The training syllabus included familiarization, navigation, ordnance, formation, night vision goggle, terrain and instrument training. In addition, maintenance students completed training with the Center for Naval Aviation Technician Training Detachment Camp Pendleton, Ca.
“This training is part of our larger efforts to ensure the Czech Republic Air Force has all of the tools and resources required to fly its new aircraft for decades to come,” said Col. Vasilios Pappas, PMA-276 program manager.
Once back in country, the H-1 crew will continue training, working with representatives from the H-1 original equipment manufacturer, Bell, and their supplier, Pinnacle Solutions. Based on a “train-the-trainer” model, pilots, crew chiefs and maintainers will learn the final skills required to operate and sustain its fleet of AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters, and train other members of its force.
The Czech Air Force squadron is expected to be independently operating in late-2024.
“We are committed to the success of our customer in their deployment of the H-1 platform and grateful to HMLAT-303 for their role in that success story,” said Pappas.
PMA-276 manages the end-to-end procurement, development, support, fielding and disposal of the Marine Corps rotary wing close air support, anti-armor, armed escort, armed/visual reconnaissance and fire support program systems.
SAAF Museum Flying Day April 2023
There was no time for jokes on the April edition of the SAAF Museum Flying day at Mobile Deployment Wing Swartkop.The now Mobile Deployment Wing known as MDW, was the old Snake Valley, then Swartkop Airfield which then fell under AFB Waterkloof after the base was disbanded.
This was the final flying day to be held before the SAAF Museum Airshow on 6th May 2023,where the public will be able to see both current and museum aircraft of the South African Air force, as well as civilian display teams!
The friends of the South African Air force museum had refreshments on sale as well as as giving guided tours to visitors. The SAAF Museum Spitfire restoration also had memorabilia on sale and were able to show you the restoration progress on the museum spitfire and newly built hangar. The team at the Buccaneer 421 restoration also allowed visitors to sit in the cockpit of the buccaneer.
From the flying exhibits we saw the Museums Cessna C185,Bosbok and brighly coloured Siyandiza Harvard from the fixed wings.
Rotary Museum flying exhibits had the Aerospatiale Puma Helicopter, Alouette II and Alouette III. One of the other Museum Alouette III departed for Nasrec near Johannesburg, where it will be on static display during the duration of the Rand Easter show from Thursday, April 6th, 2023 – Monday, April 10, 2023.We also had a surprise fly-past by a Aerospatiale SA 315B Lama a French single-engine helicopter developed to meet hot and high operational requirements.
We look forward to seeing you all at the SAAF Museum Airshow 6th May 2023.
For now keep them up where they belong
TAAG ANGOLA Airlines join WTM AFRICA 2023 addressing intra-regional cooperation as major topic for the Aviation Eco-System ahead
TAAG ANGOLA AIRLINES is invited to discuss critical issues affecting the aviation and tourism
industries in Africa during two not-to-be-missed content sessions at WTM Africa, which is taking
place at the CTICC in Cape Town from 02 to 05 April.
In conversation with Aaron Munetsi, CEO Airlines Association of Southern Africa, Abdérahmane
Berthé, Secretary-General African Airlines Association and Olivier Ponti, Vice President ForwardKeys,
the discuss will focus on critical initiatives to liberalise civil aviation and boost intra-regional travel.
This content session, which aims to highlight the importance of regional cooperation in tourism
across Africa, will take place on Monday, April 3 from 16h00 – 16h45 on the Global Stage at the
CTICC.
On Tuesday, April 4, from13h30 to 14h15, TAAG ANGOLA AIRLINES will also have a seat and
participate in a panel on WTM Africa’s Global Stage to debate the opportunities for aviation into
Africa and what to expect in the future. Joining the panel will be David King, Project Manager at
WESGRO: Cape Town Air Access and Rodger Foster, CEO & Managing Director, SA Airlink.
“The importance of boosting intra-regional cooperation in Africa and improving intra-African
connectivity cannot be overemphasised. As such, TAAG is committed to playing a significant role in
achieving these objectives. With direct connections to nine cities in Africa, two in the Americas, and
two in Europe, TAAG is the interlink enabler for North-South and South-South connectivity. We
strongly believe that Luanda can be a central hub in Austral/Africa, offering strong opportunities for
East-West (e.g., Asia-Africa-Americas) and North-South (Europe-Africa) connectivity,” says Eduardo
Fairen, CEO TAAG.
Angola’s long transatlantic coastline and TAAG´s relevant connections highlight the country´s hyper-
competitive geographic advantage. With the continent’s attractive potential for business
development, TAAG is well-positioned to be the airline of choice for bridging connections to and
from Africa.
WTM Africa is expected to be a crucial platform for leaders in the travel and tourism industry to
share insights, best practices, and form partnerships to boost Africa’s tourism sector. TAAG
representative at the event will be Rui Carreira, as a Board Member while this a significant
opportunity for attendees to hear from a leading aviation expert on the importance of intra-regional
cooperation in Africa.
