68 African Pilot December 2010

Dale de Klerk showed his new high wing Ibis for the fi rst time at a public event and two copies of the Sling were displayed by Mike Blythe of The Airplane Factory. Cheetah Aircraft had a display stand and several fl ight schools were represented. The event was very well attended by visiting pilots including the SAAF in an Agusta 109, the SAPS with a Pilatus Porter, a Harvard Club Harvard fl own by veteran pilot Captain Laurie Kay, many Allouette II and III helicopters and several other interesting types. The Atlas Angel fl ew high overhead as it dropped Graham Field and Mike Rumble who swooped onto the front lawn in spectacular style. Once Graham Cooper arrived he commandeered the microphone to keep the spectators informed about what was taking place. ATC was expertly managed by DJ de Nysschen from the Polokwane tower and KG Moliefi from Lanseria tower. Safety was the responsibility of Nigel Musgrave and ground control by Gerrit Roux. The overall organiser for the day was Chris Burger and Horace Blok judged the aircraft on display. My Cheryl fl ew in a Magni gyrocopter and she has not stopped smiling. I fl ew with Andrew Lane in his brand new Sling to photograph Mike Blythe fl ying the red Sling. What a pleasure to fl y and what a terrifi c all South African Light Sport Aircraft. As usual the friends at Kitty Hawk were the epitome of good hosts. There was a wonderful breakfast and with the company of many friends in aviation ‘a day at the airport’ turned out to be ‘a perfect day at the airport.’ Well done and grateful thanks to all involved in making this a great day out for so many people who love aviation.

The exhibitors on the day were: Pretoria Flying School, Zandspruit Aero Estate, SFT, Accolade Flying School, LSA, CN Lighting, Rainbow Aircraft, The Airplane factory, Aircraft Finance Corporation, Lanseria Flight Centre, Superb Flight Services, Alpi Aviation, AME, E-Nuvi space and African Pilot.

Kitty Hawk‘A DAY AT THE

AIRPORT’By Athol Franz

The team at Kitty Hawk staged a wonderful ‘open day’ called ‘a day at the airport’ on Saturday 6 November. This was a great initiative that African Pilot supported with a show stand at which many back editions of the magazine were distributed. This is the kind of aviation event that is so terribly important for all of us to support in these diffi cult times.

Alouette III - Willie Bodenstein

December 2010 African Pilot 69

Alouette II - Athol Franz

Agusta 109 - Athol Franz

T-6 Harvard - Cheryl Smit

Photograph by Cheryl Smit