Warmbaths Taildraggers 2025

By Garth Calitz

For about 16 years now, a group of entripid aviators has been heading up north every year to the taildragger haven, and honestly, it's like the Woodstock of South African fly-ins. Everyone thinks it's always one of the most fun events around. Although this year, most visitors were a bit preoccupied with the CAA's ludicrous 12-year engine ruling.

Once upon a time, Taildraggers called Nylstroom their cosy nest, but alas, the airfield got swallowed up faster than a doughnut at a police station by the ever-expanding squatter camp next door. Now, instead of planes, you’ll find a patchwork of shacks with a side of mielies sprouting up like they’re auditioning for a EFF reality show.

The first Taildraggers fly-in took off in 2009 and has been making its annual landing ever since. In 2020, it hit a bit of turbulence and got bumped to November thanks to the pandemic party crasher. But don’t worry, it taxied back to its usual July runway in 2021 and proudly claimed the title of the first aviation event to soar after lockdown restrictions were eased. Taildraggers stuck around in July, the chilliest month of the year, and let me tell you, this year was cold.

I was spared the almost two-hour drive up north by EAA Stalwart, and the life of any party, Derek Hopkins, offered me a lift in his beautiful RV-8. On the way to Eagles Creek Airfield, the temperature dropped to -3° C. Fortunately, it generally gets warmer as one travels north and shortly after takeoff for our 17-minute flight, the temperature reached a comfortable 12° due to the inversion layer. As always, "Mo" performed like a demon, reaching a ground speed of 192 knots.

When we got there, the airfield was filling up quickly with aircraft coming in from all corners of Gauteng and the nearby provinces. Meanwhile, some truly gutsy pilots were crawling out of their tents, which were more ice sculpture than shelter. You know the saying about the thin line between bravery and insanity? Well, these folks were definitely giving that line a good stretch!

As soon as an aircraft touched down, it was like a stampede of caffeine-deprived zombies making a beeline for the coffee stand, with breakfast in one of Warmbath's hangars as the next pit stop. The breakfast? Oh, it was as epic as ever, setting us up for a day filled with aviation camaraderie.

All day long, arrived and left for local joyrides, with nearly 100 of them making their way to "Warmbad Vliegveld," which is usually as lively as a librarian's convention. The marshals parked flying machines in every nook and cranny imaginable. It's fantastic to see general aviation thriving like a stubborn weed, despite all the curveballs thrown its way.

Goitse Diale, the chairman of the Aero Club, stood before a flock of furious pilots who were all ruffled up by the latest harebrained scheme cooked up by our beloved regulator. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) decided to yank back Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) 18.19, which had been the golden ticket for sidestepping some engine overhaul recommendations, especially for Lycoming and Continental engines. Now, this has got the aviation world buzzing like crazy, mainly because everyone's feeling the pinch from having to quickly follow the 12-year engine overhaul rule, which is threatening to seriously impact the future of many aviation-related businesses. Goitse updated everyone on the legal action taken by CAASA and the Aero Club on behalf of their members.

Some very interesting questions were raised by concerned aviators, like why the legal action was held back at the request of Minister Barbara Creecy, which effectively eliminated the possibility of submitting an urgent interdict against the CAA. One very pertinent question was why private aviation was dragged into this, as it should only affect certified commercial aircraft. Sadly, there seems to be no short-term resolution to this on the horizon, and in the meantime, almost 1500 aircraft have become very expensive hangar ornaments. The SACAA are to be served with legal papers this week, so all we can do now is watch where this fiasco leads.

After the, at times heated debate, the day's focus turned back to happier things, like flying and for those not flying home a few frosty beverages to wash down the rather large boerie rolls fresh off the braai. The Saturday evening festivities at Taildraggers have always been the stuff of great memories and aviation camaraderie, but sadly, this year I had to give it a miss and head back south to the Pretoria cold.

Richard Nicholson and his family, with the invaluable help of Warmbaths Flying Club members, managed to pull off another very successful Taildraggers weekend. After 27 years of service to the EAA, Richard has decided to hand over the reins to someone else and call 2025 his last Taildraggers. Thanks for all the hard work, Richard, it's people like you that keep the fire of aviation alive in South Africa. Special thanks, as always, must go to Nigel Musgrave and his team of volunteers for manning the tower and keeping things safe in the air and on the ground. See you all next year for another Taildraggers Weekend.

Please Browse our Gallery of this Event