

Gary Glasson
- Dec 23, 2019
- 4 min
SAC Chairman's Chirp - A Very Productive 2019
Thrown into the deep end is an understatement! The Monday after a very successful 2019 Nationals, Nigel Hopkins, John Gaillard and I attended a CAA Audit of our ARO (Aviation Recreation Organisation – Aerobatics). With the dissolution of RAASA, the CAA picked up the responsibility for the ARO’s. They have for obvious reasons taken this responsibility seriously and we ended the audit with a total of 15 findings that needed attention before we could renew our certificate. Witho
2,752 views

Rob Jonkers
- Dec 23, 2019
- 4 min
SAPFA Chairman's Year End Message
This past year SAPFA has been pretty busy having organised or hosted 17 events (PTAR , 2 Adventure Rallies – co-hosted with the EAA at Vryheid and Brits Sun n Fun, 1 Rally Nationals held at Stellenbosch in April with a further November training event where 10 International teams arrived to do training Navigation practice, 2 Fun rallies, 3 ANR’s with 1 of them ANR Nationals, 6 Speed rallies, 1 Navigation Training Event), which turns out to be more than two events per month.
2,547 views

Garth Calitz
- Dec 23, 2019
- 3 min
Boeing’s Starliner Capsule Lands Safely after Failed Mission
Boeing safely landed its crew capsule in the New Mexico desert Sunday after an aborted flight to the international space station that threatened to derail the company’s effort to launch astronauts on behalf of Nasa next year. The Starliner un-manned spacecraft descended into the US army’s White Sands Missile Range in the predawn darkness, ending a two-day demonstration that should have lasted more than a week. All three main parachutes popped open and airbags also inflated ar
2,327 views

Garth Calitz
- Dec 17, 2019
- 8 min
The Second SA Civil Aviation Authority Industry Awards
The Civil Aviation authority of South Africa hosted the second instalment of the Civil Aviation Industry Awards at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) International Convention Centre in Pretoria on Friday the 13th December. The glitzy event was slightly delayed due to massive volumes of traffic on the all the motorways around Gauteng, unfortunately the date coincided with the beginning of the festive season holidays together with normal long weekend traf
4,039 views

Garth Calitz
- Dec 17, 2019
- 4 min
American “Top Gun” has a Distinct South African Influence
The United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as Top Gun, has become a success story and was revered as the programme that turned the air battle in the Vietnam War. In the early 1960’s the American were losing an unsustainable large number of their “dogfights” to the Soviet built MiG 21’s despite their use of the multi-million dollar Phantom F4, which on paper was the more technically advanced of the two aircraft. MiG 21
3,981 views

Compiled by Garth Calitz
- Dec 17, 2019
- 7 min
Holiday Aviation Reading List
Many of us are heading away for some well-deserved downtime this December, reading is often an option for many but the question is what to read? I spent some time looking around at what is available and I hope it helps to make your holiday even more relaxing. Early Jet Bombers, 1944–1954 (Images of War) Leo Marriott In a companion volume to his Early Jet Fighters: British and American 1944-1954, Leo Marriott describes, using over 200 archive photographs, the first decade in t
1,349 views

Garth Caliz
- Dec 17, 2019
- 3 min
Laser Hazards to Aviation
I am well aware that I am preaching to the converted here but this article is meant to be informative so pilots can know of the dangers posed by irresponsible laser use. It is widely agreed that there are two potential hazards to pilots from laser light visual interference and eye effects or injuries. The primary hazard is visible-light lasers aimed at aircraft that results in “visual interference” with pilot performance, during critical phases of flight such as take-off, la
1,143 views

Garth Calitz
- Dec 12, 2019
- 6 min
News Letter 12 December 2019
Good day all So, yet another year is gone by in a blink of an eye to all those that are traveling to holiday destinations, whether by air or by land, please be safe out there. In 2019 we had more than our fair share of tragedies in our small community, let’s not add to that please. Flying wise this is going to be a very quiet weekend with no events planned that we are aware of other than the annual SACAA awards dinner of Friday night. Chilean Air Force finds debris believed t
1,700 views

Garth Calitz
- Dec 10, 2019
- 4 min
The Birth and Development of Slick Aerobatic Aircraft
The Slick Aircraft Company was set-up in 2005 to promote and market the Slick 360 aircraft as well as to continue with research and development on the later released Slick 540. Historically the Slick 360 evolved out of need for a highly competitive composite Advanced Aerobatic aircraft utilising a cost effective 4-cylinder Lycoming IO-360 engine. The initial driving force behind the project was the late Glen Dell, who for many years competed at the highest national and intern
1,805 views
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