Kitty Hawk Aerodrome hosted a very successful RV fly-In on Saturday 2nd September. Kitty Hawk is located just southeast of the Pretoria CBD and is home to roughly one hundred and twenty aircraft including many of the best aerobatic pilots in the country. The Raptors call Kitty Hawk home and they are in very good company with Neville Ferreira, Bertus Du Preez and Eugene Du Preez to mention but a few.
The Vans RV fly-in coupled with the Pretoria Old Motor Club brought in a selection of RV’s amongst other aircraft types and many classic and vintage cars. The windy conditions early in the morning threatened cancel the event but fortunately the wind died down enough for the flying fraternity to safely make their way to Kitty, landing was a bit tricky with a nasty crosswind most of the morning which caused a slight downdraft at the threshold of runway 19.
Robin Cross the esteemed RV builder came all the way from the Cape to join in this year’s fly-in and he brought along two of the newest additions to the RV stable, the RV14 in both the nose and tail wheel variants. The dimensions of the RV-14 are larger than other Van’s two seaters, with a wide cabin and big bubble canopy that should provide great visibility in all directions and provide plenty of room for taller pilots. The RV-14 also has the longer wing of the RV-10, which allows it to land slower than an RV-7 yet cruise at the same speed.
The turnout was very good, considering the adverse weather early in the morning approximately forty eight aircraft landed throughout the day, the majority of which were RV’s of various models. The rotor wing fraternity were also well represented with many Robinson 44 and 22, two Alouette II’s and a few Gyros.
A delicious breakfast buffet was available at the Kitty Hawk Club House as well as their standard menu which is always good. Kitty Hawk’s restaurant is open seven days a week and is very reasonably priced and what makes it even better is you can sit and enjoy your meal while watching the comings and goings right at the runway.
During the morning Neville Ferreira took to the air in his Slick 540 for his last practice at Kitty Hawk before leaving for Malelane, where he will be competing in the World Aerobatics Championships which gets underway in less than a week.
Pierre Gouws, Ryan Beaton, Leon Bornman and Trevor Warner also went out for a quick practice run in their RV7’s and RV8’s , having a registered aerobatic box right at the field is a big drawcard for aerobatic pilots that have limited time to practice.
Van's RV series of aircraft, from the single-seat RV-3 to the latest RV-14, are all-aluminum, low-wing monoplanes of monocoque construction. The RV series of airplanes has been extremely successful, and by the middle of July 2017, about 9700 RV kits had been completed and flown, and thousands more are under construction. Completion rates currently average about 1.5 per day, making the series one of the most numerous of all homebuilt aircraft. They feature responsive controls plus both good speed and fuel economy.
Well done to Nigel, Dawie and team for once again hosting a friendly and safe fly-in.
