“Fly, Feed, Love, Inspire,”

Orient Airfield, on September 1, 2023, hosted another very successful 8th edition Children’s Flight. Magaliesburg Gliding Club is located at Orient’s airport. Steve and Andreas were hosts, and the organizers, Felix and Belinda Gosher, once again did a fantastic job of giving 500 underprivileged children a day they will never forget. Gosher started The Children’s Flight in South Africa back in 2016, and this has since been extended to Zambia. Since the first Children’s Flight in 2016, an estimated 4000+ kids have been flown.

Once the flying, or flipping, started, it all went non-stop. Just under twenty fixed-wing aircraft were doing circuits around the airspace and queuing to welcome the next kids onboard. A number of helicopters also flipped a large number of kids, including Menno Parsons and his Tiger Huey. In total, 109 aircraft flew into Orient Airfield. Two American-registered aircraft based in Sa also did flipping.

The ever-growing list of sponsors contributed to the event, with just over 100 sponsors this year. The sponsors included but were not limited to, food, drink, toys, and other goodie bags. Entertainment consisted of face painting, clowns, jumping castles, and playgrounds.

With the busy skies and many takeoffs and landings, air traffic control and the team up in the temporary contracted tower had their hands full and did an excellent job. At one stage, more than 15 aircraft were waiting in line for their chance to get airborne. I don’t think the kids minded the wait or getting a few more minutes on an airplane.

A mini-airshow was part of the day, with some top displays. The kids were treated to flying displays by the RV Raptors, Menno Parsons and his Tiger, Mennos’ L39 Jet flown to perfection by Mike Weingartz, the Good Year Eagles, Andrê van Zyl in his Gyrocopter, Nashua Extra 300, flown by Champion Andrew Blackwood-Murray, Juba in his favorite toy, Gazelle, the Raptors aerobatic team, and lastly, Two Ship Extras piloted by Nigel and Jason.

The South African Air Force sent a Hawk fighter jet from Makhado AFB. The Hawk, painted in the South African Flag paint scheme, was a huge hit with all attending. SAAF CASA 212 was on static display for the day. The CASA was also used to fly in some top SAAF generals. Let’s hope they take a word of good faith home and send a bigger list of Aircarft in the 2024 edition of the Children’s Flight. Maybe even do some flipping.

Sound Was provided by Brian Emmenis and his Capital Sounds Team, simply world-class commentating done in a perfect way to entertain and inform the kids. The local radio station in South Africa, HOT 102.7 FM, provided live commentary on the day, with Steve Bishop managing the broadcasting station and Tara Penny on the ground.

We certainly look forward to the 2024 edition of the Children’s Flight and are hoping and praying for more sponsorship to make the day bigger and better for our kids.

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