African Pilot Aviation News 11 2014 • Monday 17 March 2014 “The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings” Eric Hoffer PhotographyAfrican Pilot’s May 2014 edition This exciting edition will feature ALL the aviation businesses at Wonderboom National Airport, the FIDAE Chie Latin America report and our annual ‘Piston Engine’ aircraft survey for types weighing in at more than 650 Kg. I will be travelling to South America to attend the FIDAE show, which is remarkably similar to our own Africa Aerospace and Defence event to be staged held at AFB Waterkloof in September this year. Royal Air Force (RAF) Wing Commander Navigator enthrals the audience at the EAA Flying Legends’ Talk Show by Gordon Dyne Last Thursday 13 March, a full house at the EAA Auditorium at Rand Airport welcomed Wing Commander Nigel ‘Cookie’ Cookson RAF who is the Deputy Defence Advisor at the British High Commission in Pretoria. I had heard ‘Cookie’ talk at a Royal Air Force Officers’ Club (RAFOC) lunch last year so I knew the audience was in for a great evening. The Flying Doctor Mike Brown was once again the Master of Ceremonies and as we have come to expect, Mike had done his homework and was able to smoothly lead the 51 year old ‘Cookie’ into revealing some great stories from his varied and exciting flying career. A fast jet navigator with 2400 hours in the training and operational Tornado GR1/4 ground attack role ‘Cookie’ started in the nuclear deterrent role in 1985. ‘Cookie’ was an active participant in NATO air operations over Kosovo and Serbia during that dreadful war (aren’t all wars?) in 1999 and completed a BAe Hawk T Mk 1 tour as a pilot (navigator) instructor from 1991-1993. Later ‘Cookie’ commanded the RAF low flying operations at RAFU Goose Bay, North East Canada from 1995-1997. Before ‘Cookie’ arrived in Pretoria in 2013, he was sufficiently unimpressed with having to complete a tour of duty with NATO that he took the thrill of a high threat posting in Tripoli, Libya as a senior RAF advisor to the Chief of the Libyan Air Force. Tripoli, the capital of Libya, is a still a very dangerous place after the uprising during the Arab Spring three years ago when the incumbent dictator Muammar Gaddafi met his grisly end in October 2011 Cookie’s lovely wife Sarah, otherwise known as ‘SMac’ was the guest speaker at the RAFOC lunch the previous Friday as she had spent many years in the RAF including time as an Air Traffic Controller on the Falklands Islands and was the first female to serve on a Royal Navy battleship – HMS Leeds Castle. She spoke superbly. ‘Cookie’ and ‘SMac’ make a formidable team. So ended yet another tremendous talk show. Thank you very much ‘Cookie’ for giving of your time and enthralling the aviation knowledgeable audience with some great stories of navigating at Mach 1 plus! Cookie still favours good old fashioned maps over GPSs! Amazing. I could not fly without a GPS I am ashamed to say! Well done Mike Brown for another very professional performance and bringing the ‘best’ out of your guest. Thank you so much Auditorium organiser Jeremy Woods for finding another great interviewee. It is a hugely time-consuming job organising such an evening. Thank you Clive King and Trixie Heron for ‘manning’ the gate and thanks to master braaiers Coen Swart and Ronnie Potgeiter. The steaks were as succulent as usual. Our sound engineers Jonty Caplan and Kevin Marsden displayed their talents and the sound was perfect. Thank you Steve Theron for ‘running’ the bar and to Alson Khumalo for as usual doing everything else including cutting the grass outside the auditorium which was almost a metre high after the recent heavy rain. The next talk show will be Thursday 10 April when the guest will be Major General Hugh Payne SAAF retired. The General spent 42 years flying helicopters with the SAAF. Should be a tremendous evening. Do not miss it. For more information on The Flying Legends’ Talk Show please contact [email protected]. Thank you. American Bill ‘Lefty’ Leftwich also graces the EAA Auditorium by Gordon Dyne Last Saturday afternoon 15 March another full house at the EAA Auditorium at Rand Airport welcomed Bill ‘Lefty’ Leftwich. This was not a talk show and it was left to ‘Lefty’ (I like that!) to entertain his audience with a talk on his interesting career and that of his father who is still flying solo at 98 years of age. ‘Lefty’ Senior can barely walk, but can drive and fly with ease. 98! Wonderful! Can you believe that! I am 30 years younger and am rapidly falling apart! What is scheduled for the next few weeks? 22 March PASASA TMG fly-in Kitty Hawk Contact Marietjie van Niekerk Cell: 082 765 6670 21 to 23 March Durban gets ready for 2014 international aerobatic event Gripen Fighter Jet will light up the beachfront’s skies at the Durban Land, Sea and Air Festival Those attending next week’s inaugural Durban land, Sea and Air Festival, taking place on 21 and 22 March, should brace themselves for some thrilling action. The South African Air Force has confirmed that one of their frontline fighter jets, the Gripen, will appear in the afternoons of each day. The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is South Africa’s only operational frontline fighter powered by the Volvo RM12 with a top speed of Mach 2. Using the latest technology it is capable of performing an extensive range of air-to-air and air-to-surface manoeuvres. Coming from Limpopo’s Makhado Air Force Base, it will be flown by 2 Squadron Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel MT Mbhokota. Festival Organiser from Capital Sounds, Brian Emmenis, says, “The Gripen stands out from the rest because of its loud noise and high and low speeds. At a speed of +9 G (9 x body weight), it will perform turns, a fast roll rate and showcase its slow speed capability.” The much anticipated Sky Grand Prix of Aerobatics forms the cornerstone of the festival and will see five international and ten local pilots battle it out for the winning spot. Day one involves all the pilots and is the final shootout for the 10 South African pilots who will fly off for the coveted five places to take on the internationals on day two. Day two will kick off with the five top local pilots and the international pilots competing in a known and unknown sequence contest. The competition will conclude with the freestyle competition after which the winner will be announced. Pilots will be judged primarily on precision and accuracy of figures. There is a maximum time limit for the course after which penalties are incurred. Further penalties are given for low or inaccurate flying. Each figure has a difficulty factor and pilots are awarded a score for each figure out of 10, which is multiplied by the difficulty factor. The pilot with the highest score after penalties is the winner. The score will be presented instantaneously on the big screens! Sky Grand Prix of Aerobatics owner, Nigel Hopkins, says, “The Six Nations Freestyle aerobatic contest to be held on both days will be the competition’s must-see moment. One pilot from each country will compete in this display of unlimited freestyle aerobatics and aerial ballet.” For more information, please visit landseaairfestival.co.za. 22 March TMG Fly-in at Kitty Hawk Aerodrome Contact: Marietjie van Niekerk PASASA events Cell: 082 765 6670 25 to 30 March FIDAE International Air and Space Fair at Arturo Merino Benitez Airport, Santiago – Chile e-mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 06:10:07 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015