By Dian Townsend
After a blisteringly hot and undoubtedly long week in Gauteng, aviators set course for Kitty Hawk Aerodrome to enjoy some downtime at the EAA Chapter 322 breakfast fly-in. The airfield was a hive of activity with aircraft coming in from all over. Buffet breakfast was served from 07h00 onwards, with outside tables providing a beautiful view of the aircraft coming and going.
EAA Chapter 322 stalwart, Karl Jensen proposed these impromptu fly-ins in December last year and the first one drew twelve aircraft, the second was advertised within the EAA community and almost fifty aircraft made their way to Brits airfield on the last day of the year. This was the third and all records were shattered with many more than sixty aircraft attending from all the general aviation fraternities.
Some of the highlights were the Aermacchi Bosbok, Aérospatiale Lama and even a GB-1 Gamebird practising some aerobatics in Kitty Hawk's own SAC aerobatics box. Some of the other machines seen were a couple of Robinson R44s, a whole host of Van's RV's and Sling aircraft, a De Havilland Chipmunk, various gyrocopters and many more.
Although the big airshows are the attention grabbers on a year's calendar, these smaller fly-ins should definitely not be overlooked. The social atmosphere is always great and for the avid photographers, certain photo opportunities you won't necessarily get at airshows present themselves.
Again evident at this fly-in, general aviation in South Africa is showing a welcome recovery from pandemic days. Since 2022 we've seen a steady resurrection of general aviation and if this event is any indication as to what the year has in store for us, we are in for a real treat!
The Aero Club Air Week coming up from 8-10 March promises to be an outstanding event for any aviator or Aviation enthusiast. It will be hosted by Middelburg Airfield once again as they have done a superb job in the last few years.
A big thank you to everyone who played a part in organizing this wonderful event, this definitely won't be the last we see of Kitty Hawk and the EAA this year!
