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KERMIT WEEKS

Kermit Weeks acquires unique Boeing Stratoliner houseboat

VEKTOR AVIATION'S insight into the SOUTH AFRICAN AVIATION industry

During the first week of March it was all engines firing for Vektor Aviation as the company hosted a team of Lockton and London-based underwriters. This was the first time that some of these brokers and London-based underwriters have been hosted by Vektor to geta better insight into the South African aviation industry. Their exposure to the South African aviation industry included visits to various clients in Gauteng and North West as well as to Lanseria and Wonderboom airports.

GLOBAL HELICOPTER SALES IN 2023

Deliveries in the rotorcraft segment rose by nearly 10 percent last year compared to 2022. The turbinepowered category showed even better performance with its 753 deliveries equating to a 10.4 percent boost.

LOCKHEED MARTIN 35A officially certified to carry nuclear bomb

The designation marks the first time that a stealth fighter can carry a nuclear weapon, in this case the B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bomb.

ENSTROM Helicopter Corporation

With crisp handling, well-appointed features, incredibly smooth ride, beautiful style and roomy interior, Enstrom’s line of helicopters offers the attributes of the ultimate luxury sports car and for an unexpectedly affordable price.

CABRI G2

Helicopteres Guimbal was founded late-2000, with the purpose of developing and certifying the two-seat helicopter Cabri G2.

SAA TAKATSO SALE CALLED OFF

SOUTH AFRICA’S Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has announced that the sale of a 51% stake in South African Airways (SAA) to the Takatso Consortium has been cancelled.

EAA AIRWEEK 2024

Having attended Oshkosh in 2023, I was looking forward to our own, miniature version in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.

Flying Cars A fool and his money...

There is a hoary old adage - that you can fool most of the people most of the time. And that's enough to raise lots of money for screwball ideas. The Pegasus, a VTOL business jet that is nothing more than a computer graphic comes to mind.

FEBRUARY 2023

February has shown steady growth in the number of aircraft registered. Four fixed wing and one helicopter were added while the non-type certified (NTCA) register grew by seven.

SAFETY FEATURE

General aviation hides behind the safety record of its big brother - the airline industry.

ASCA'S MPUMI MPOFU: READY FOR TAKE-OFF

Ms Mpumi Mpofu has occupied the hot seat as Chief Executive of ACSA, the Airports Company of South Africa for a tumultuous past four years.

HYDROGEN POWERED PLANE TESTED

WORLD’S LARGEST liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft, using a 1 MW fuel cell engine, has been tested.

CAMEROON - BLAMES BOEING

BOEING JUST CANNOT STAY out of trouble. It has become the whipping boy for endless absurd claims.

PIPER'S COMANCHE 180 - IT TICKS ALL THE BOXES

The Comanche is a fabulous plane - that was frankly just too good to be a Piper.

RIGHT SEAT RULES NO. 16 FUEL SYSTEMS WHY SO COMPLICATED?

You know those aggranoying people who say, “Oh I wouldn't fly in one of those little things - you can't just pull over and fix it if something goes wrong\"? What makes this particularly irritating is that the bastards are right.

WHY CAN AEROPLANES FLY UPSIDE-DOWN¿

In 1945, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, precursor of NASA and source of much of our knowledge about practical aerodynamics, published a hefty compendium of aerofoil data, NACA Technical Report 824, which later appeared in book form under the title Theory of Wing Sections.

TRAVOLTA'S CROOKED PILOTS?

TWO PILOTS ARE CHARGED with embezzling close to $800,000 from John Travolta.

STELLENBOSCH AIR SHOW

The Western Cape does not get as many airshows as the Joburg area - which is a shame as it has great airshow performers and one of the best venues in the world for a flying club airshow.

TELEPORTATION

One of the best clients for whom I ever flew was BP, the British oil giant. I was with them in Algeria for about seven years, from the very start of their large gas projects, right in the heart of the Sahara Desert, near the small towns of In Amenas and In Salah.

KENYA - SAA PARTNERSHIP DELAY

KENYA AIRWAYS AND South African Airways announced the establishment of a highly anticipated Pan-African Airline Group three years ago.

TO PARIS FOR LUNCH

One morning I arrived back at Lanseria from a two day charter to a dreary Northern Cape iron mine. Entering the terminal, I removed my wings and epaulets, thrust them into my flight bag, and headed for the restaurant.

IRIS GOES TO SOMALIA

Having spent the last couple of years flying to a rota, I was thoroughly enjoying the freedom and randomness of flying charters at Sunbird Aviation.

SACRIFICE

John continues his anecdotes about the sacrifices he has had to make in the course of his helicopter bush flying career.

LYTE launches a private version of hydrogen-electric VTOL AIRCRAFT

According to Lyte Aviation, its LA-44 X Prime aircraft will have the same 620-mile range as the other variants. Founder and CEO Freshta Farzam said she is in talks with aircraft completion specialists and aims to unveil cabin interior designs in the next few weeks.

AIRBUS CEO EXPECTS TO LAUNCH ZERO AIRCRAFT PROGRAMME BY 2028

Airbus has revealed more details on its ZEROe programme, which the manufacturer announced in September 2020. According to its chief executive, the plane maker is currently exploring two hydrogen technologies: directly burning liquid hydrogen or using it in a fuel cell to turn hydrogen into electricity.

India plans to spend US $3 billion on its space programme

According to the head of India's military, the country plans to spend about $3 billion on space-related contract awards over the next few years to reduce its dependence on foreign satellites and bolster its counter-space capabilities. Gen. Anil Chauhan's call to close the gap between India's own capabilities and other nations that are developing countermeasures in space comes amid tensions with China.

LILIUM PREPARES TO RAMP UP

production of electric jet propulsion units

AIRBUS HELICOPTER TO EXPAND UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM PORTFOLIO WITH ACQUISITION OF AEROVEL

Airbus Helicopters and Aerovel have signed an agreement regarding the acquisition of Aerovel and its unmanned aerial system (UAS), Flexrotor, as part of a strategy to strengthen its portfolio of tactical unmanned solutions. Flexrotor is a small tactical unmanned aerial system designed for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions at sea and over land.

VOLOCOPTER OBTAINS CLEARANCE TO START EARLY SERIIAL PRODUCTION OF VOLOCITY EVTOL AIRCRAFT

Last month Germany’s LBA civil aviation authority extended Volocopter’s production organisation approval (POA), clearing the way for the company to start serial manufacturing of its two-seat VoloCity eVTOL aircraft. The approval covers two new Volocopter production eVTOLs and hangar facilities at Bruchsal in Germany that the company built in 2023.