Good day all

Now that we have entered autumn the aviation events have started happening thick and fast, this coming weekend seem like it’s going to be a very busy one.

The weather is looking good for finally getting the Children’s Nav off the ground, Felix Gosher and his team have been waiting patiently for almost two months for the weather to be perfect for this amazing experience. In our Monday edition there will be a full illustrated report on the whole weekend from take-off in Witbank to Margate and our return to Witbank and everything in between.

Please support all the very generous sponsors of this event

Maranda van Dam, Fancy Incorporated, Event Kit Design and Manufacture

Inkspot - Printing Sponsorship

Ackerman’s Pharmacy - Kiddies Items

Flightline Weekly - Media Sponsorship

Cemair - B190 Flight, Facilitation Sponsorship

Margate Sports Academy - Initial Accomodation Sponsorship

Shaun Haycock - C206 Pilot, Event Kit Sponsor

Warwick Diesel - Transport in Margate Sponsor

Henri Westermann - Lancair Pilot, Standby Accomodation

Oom Nico Smith - C210 Pilot

Adrian Barry of WannaFly - 1000 liters of Avgas

Marcel Myburgh - Socata Rally Pilot

Tristan Brouard - Sling 4 Pilot, Standby Pilot

Oom Bennie du Plessis - Bonanza Pilot, Seat Sponsor

Cemair Crew - Schedule to Margate

Ana Luis - Germiston Children, Mega Sponsorship Organizer, Caps and Model Planes

Melissa Botha, Raising Aiden - Cupcakes

Acorn Foundation - Children and Affiliate Sponsorships

Jose Luis - Event Kits

Nella Luis - Drinking Water

Jorge Luis - Event Kits

Claudio Gaspari - Event Kits

Sue Smit - Acorn Foundation, Mega Sponsor Organizer

Paul McKibbin - West Rand Children

Nigel Musgrave - Safety Officer

Garth Calitz - Editor Of Flightline Weekly

Tziporah Henstock - Children from Jhb

Caylee Oosthuizen - Collection Of Caps, logistical support, lanyards and badges

Antya Roos - Initial Manager Of The Deck

The Deck - Lunch at the Airport

Clint from Kart Freaks - Go Karting

Roy and Debbie from Dolphins pub and grill- burgers at the go karting

Wafflehouse - Waffles for the Children

Earthworm Backpackers - Accomodation

Kart Freaks Trailer Hire - Fund Sponsorship

Blue Chip Flight School - Fund Sponsorship

Eagle Air - Mellisa Nel and Oom Percy Rudman’s Piper Cherokee

Raw Aviation - Mark Miller C206 discount and sponsorship of fund raising.

Trevor Williams - Rockwell Commander Pilot

Beatrix and David Gade - C206 Owners

Ralph Miskey - C206 Pilot

Handre Scheepers - C210 Pilot

Michael Ferguson - Paper Plane, Inspiration

Yehuda Gosher - Shirt Collection

Shirene Watson - Cemair Representative B190

Bianca from Urban Spoon - Catering

Delphine Lewis - Shaun Haycock C206 Sponsor

Brandon - Collection and Courier of Beach Bags, and Cooler Boxes

Christa - C&S Accounting-Margate Treats

Ravi Vansia - Cherokee Pilot

Domonique Dantú - Cherokee Pilot

Kerry Hoffmeyer - Tembisa Children

Justin - Standby Pilot

Mark - Standby Pilot

Daniel Hoffman - Ops

Bertus Wheeler - Flight Follower

Dino Padayachee - Langamed Emergency Response Vehicle at Witbank

Wesley Sampson - Flight Ops Cemair Margate

Vicky Karropoulos - Kiddies Towels

Mannie from Westpack Lifestyle - Kids Buckets and Spades

C&S Accounting- fishing nets and sweet packs

Margate Airport

Erika’s Embroidery - Children’s Nav Beach Towels

Riverbend Crocodile Farm - Excursion

Margate Butterfly Farm - Excursion

Lawyer Duncan Roe - Legal Team

Zirk van Zelm - Navajo Pilot

Red Bull Air Race

For the first time in the history of the Red Bull Air Race, the pilots will be going head-to-head in France, in the beautiful city of Cannes from 20 to 22 April

With five French pilots in the series (three Masters, two Challengers) it will be their first opportunity to experience a home race, and it will be one to remember!

Famous for the film festival, the city on the French Riviera knows how to host an event and thousands of fans are expected to swarm the coastline to get a glimpse of their Air Race Heroes.

Our own Patrick Davidson will be competing in the Challenger Series, Fly well Patrick and make us proud.

The Coves Breakfast Fly-in

When: Saturday 21 April 2018 Rain Date: Sunday 22 April 2018 Where: The Coves OUR BASIC RULES ARE AS BELOW The Coves (FACove) Frequency: 125.80 S25 46 38.00 / E027 47 35.00 Elevation: 3885 FT RADIO: JHB SR West 125.80 FUEL: NO RUNWAY: 18/36, 900 m, Tar All Circuits to the WEST away from Estate. Unmanned Procedures Apply. NOTES: Private Air Field in residential estate. Only for use by residents and their visitors. Prior Permission Required. No Flying over the estate. Noise abatement rules in force. Runway 18 preferred for landing and 36 for take-off. CAUTION: Trees at THR rwy36. Power lines next to rwy. Game and guinea fowl on rwy. Vulture Breeding Colony 3nm NW, keep clear and sharp visuals for soaring vultures at aircraft altitude. This year we want you to sign our indemnity form before flying in to the event. We also need to now the numbers in advance and in order to contact you if we move to the Sunday. Please send an email to jan"AT"tilt-tech.co.za for the form ASAP As before - there will be someone to show you where to park and once parked, you will be transported to the clubhouse for breakfast. Obviously if you have a host (resident) you will be looked after by your host.

Flap Jacks at Aviators Paradise

The good people at Aviators Paradise will be treating everyone to all you can eat flap jacks with a wonderful selection of toppings, please check weights and balances before take-off :)

KZN Regional Aerobatics Competition

All the top aerobatics pilots in South Africa will be taking part in the KZN Regionals on Sunday 22 April. The Comp will be happening at the Ladysmith Airfield.

Loutzavia Open Day

Where your career as a Professional Pilot starts. A dream is all it is until you put it into action and make it a goal. Join Loutzavia at their Open Day on 21 April 2018 at 10:00 Wonderboom Airport. Come meet our team of experienced instructors that will help you get your wings. Loutzavia, Your Aviation Destination.

Boeing 737 engine explosion

A serious in-flight accident aboard a Southwest Airlines 737 killed a passenger Tuesday, a rare and traumatic event in the nation’s typically safe aviation system that raised concerns focused on the aircraft’s engine and the cowl surrounding the engine fan.

It was the first passenger fatality due to an accident on a U.S. airline in more than nine years, and the first in Southwest’s history.

It happened not on an old airplane but on a Boeing 737, the reliable mainstay of daily domestic flights around the country and the world.

In addition to the death, several other passengers were injured when Southwest Flight 1380, en route from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Dallas Love Field, suffered a serious engine blowout 20 minutes into the flight at 32,500 feet, forcing an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

The left engine exploded with such force that shrapnel penetrated the aircraft’s fuselage and broke a window in the passenger cabin, causing depressurization and the deployment of oxygen masks.

The pilots Capt. Tammie Jo Shults and an unidentified co-pilot guided the plane

144 passengers and five crew to a smooth landing. According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, the jet landed 20 minutes after the explosion.

Emergency vehicles drenched the damaged left engine in foam to prevent a fire as passengers exited the plane via stairs on the right side.

The woman who died was identified by Albuquerque TV news station KOAT as Jennifer Riordan, 43, a mother of two children and vice president of community relations at Wells Fargo in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In preliminary briefings, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt said that inspection of the damaged engine revealed that one of the titanium blades on the big fan had broken off at the root, and that there was evidence of metal fatigue at the site where it broke.

He said metal fatigue is a major problem.

Global 7000 Wins Red Dot Product Design Award

Bombardier’s soon to be certified Global 7000 business jet was last week named a winner of the 2018 Red Dot Product Design award in Essen Germany. The Global 7000 was selected by the 39-person jury from more than 6,300 submissions nominated from nearly 60 countries competing in several categories. The Red Dot award honours innovation, concepts and visions. The strict judging criteria focused on the level of innovation, functionality, formal quality, ergonomics and durability, among others.

Brad Nolen, vice-president, marketing and Product Strategy, Bombardier Business Aircraft said, “We like to refer to our clean-sheet Global 7000 aircraft as ‘the aircraft designed without compromise.’ The aircraft succeeds not only in elevating the overall in-flight experience, it also ups the ante for performance, speed and range, and it is clearly changing the game in the private jet industry.” When I speak about good design, I am referring to more than just an attractive product. All of the products are characterized by outstanding functionality.

Established in 1955, the Red Dot Design award is an international design competition and one of the most sought-after recognitions for design and innovation excellence worldwide. All laureates will be celebrated at the award ceremony in Essen’s opera house, the Aalto-Theater, on 9 July.

Honda Aircraft Takes Steps to Expand Bizjet Market

As Honda Aircraft passes its 100-aircraft milestone, the business jet maker is taking a methodical approach to building its customer base by introducing the aircraft to new markets and customers. This philosophy has sprung new arrangements such as the plan for the HondaJet China dealership to launch FlightJoy next year with three of the HondaJet light twins. It also spurred development of the arrangement with ANA for HondaJets to serve as feeder aircraft on certain of the Japanese carrier’s routes.

“Our goal is to expand business aviation,” said Honda Aircraft president and CEO Michimasa Fujino, rather that go after every existing market slice.

In China, FlightJoy will serve as a venue to not only develop the HondaJet brand but introduce the market to light jet operations. Plans initially call for charter, but Fujino said over time this could lead to a range of offerings, such as time-sharing.

But in China, charter works best initially because the pilot population is not as developed. The owner-pilot sales that are much more prevalent in the U.S. are far more difficult in China for now. The HondaJet China arrangement, he said, will open the door to other possibilities as the market develops.

Fujino also sees the ANA arrangement as an opportunity to build the HondaJet brand and open possibilities to customers who may not be able to afford to own business jets.

Plans call to launch ANA feeder operations in Chicago and Los Angeles in the August-September timeframe. Under this partnership, ANA would fly passengers on routes to Chicago and Los Angeles, and then the HondaJets would be available for feeder services to end destinations from both those cities.

He sees this arrangement expanding into tourism opportunities. ANA is launching A380 service to Honolulu in spring 2019, and Fujino said the HondaJet could provide feeder operations to enable passengers to get to the other islands from Honolulu.

Long-term, Fujino would like to see this expand into the Japanese market. Honda Aircraft has long been cultivating its brand there, but has not yet established a dealer for direct sales. The company instead has been waiting for the business aviation market to further develop.

Fujino said he sees a slow change in the perception and recognition on the part of the Japanese government to make further accommodations for business aviation. A big motivator is the upcoming Olympics in 2020 in Tokyo, he said, which is spurring an understanding that slots will need to be increased.

Demand in China, meanwhile, has been strong–the first eight orders have already come in and interest during this week’s ABACE has been solid, Fujino said.

In Asia, Honda Aircraft also has established a dealer in Thailand, and Fujino said they are seeing solid activity in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Fujino did not detail plans for further expansion of the dealer network, which is now also in North, South and Latin America, India, as well as Europe, saying only that this is under study.

As for HondaJet orders, Honda Aircraft did not reveal the size of its backlog, but Fujino maintains that orders have been steady throughout the dealers' regions. In fact, the company, which last month rolled out its 100th model, is planning to boost production from four a month to five by the end of the year.