Good day all

As we enter stormy summer months with travel plans, although frustrations are inevitable, understand that your safety is paramount. That’s the bottom line and always will be. Please plan accordingly and keep apprised of the Weather situation by visiting the various weather sites available on-line.

Thunderstorms are an airplanes worst enemy. Meteorologically speaking, thunderstorms are a result of the lifting of warm, moist air. As the air rises, it cools condenses into a cloud. As the droplets of water collide with each other, they grow and eventually fall in the form of rain. This rainfall causes downdrafts of air that hit the ground and spread out laterally. Downdrafts pose a large threat to aircraft in the form of wind shear. The rising of air that results in a storm is the result of a lifting force. This force can be the result of a weather front or warm air rising on its own. A cool air mass often results in the most severe thunderstorms, named squall lines. As cool air overtakes a warm air mass, it forces the warm air to rise rapidly into the atmosphere, causing severe storms. Such storms typically grow on a massive scale and move laterally across a region with great speed. Air-mass thunderstorms on the other hand, are a result of rising warm air, typically on a hot summer afternoon. They don’t move laterally like squall lines, but instead form all over the place like popcorn. These storms build and dissipate quickly compared to squall lines. Both types of storms have the ability to grow vertically on a massive scale, often reaching more than 60,000 feet. The rapidly rising air that builds the storms causes severe turbulence, and often spews out hail near the storm.

Please be safe and remember “If there is doubt there is no doubt”

What to do this weekend?

If you find yourself in the Lowveld there is only one place to be The Tops Lowveld Oktoberfest 2017, hosted by the Kishugu Lowveld Airshow planning committee.

If you in the Western Cape Oudsthoorn Areo Club will be hosting a weekend Fly-in, definitely going to be a great one

Kitty Hawk Airfield Club House just outside Pretoria will be hosting a Potjiekos competition on Saturday. Open to the public. Free entrance to general public not entering the competition. Come support a good cause and buy a plate of Potjiekos from the teams that entered!

Cash bar available. All proceeds go to the Turke fund, enabling disabled sports.

We handpicked a few teams already! Contact Theresa to enter

as a team and come and promote your business. R500-00 Per Team

Includes Bag of Charcoal,Vegetables

PRIZES TO BE WON!!!!!

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL!!

Call - Kitty Hawk Aerodrome Restaurant - Theresa - 060 818 7005

People from the Eastern Cape don’t despair , The SACAA and the department of Transport will be holding and Airshow and Career Expo at Mthatha Airport

Wonderboom Airport will be a hive of activity on Sunday when they host their first annual Fly-in as they are literally giving fuel away at ridiculously low prices a very large turnout is expected.

U.S. Exploration Company in Talks to Resume Search for MH370

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was called off in January this year, after the governments of China, Australia and Malaysia had spent as much as $200 million on efforts to solve the incredible mystery, coming up with very few answers as to what happened to the Boeing 777-200ER that vanished on March 8, 2014. Since then, some new evidence has been identified through satellite imagery analysis, but the families of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members are still left with questions.

Last week, Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation announced that it has received and considered proposals from “interested parties” that would like to continue the search for MH370, and Ocean Infinity’s “No Cure No Fee” offer — meaning the company will only collect payment upon discovery of the missing aircraft — has been approved by officials for negotiation. That does not mean, as media outlets previously reported, that the deal is done, which officials were quick to point out.

“The Malaysian Government has yet to ink an agreement with Ocean Infinity for the search of MH370 as widely reported in the media recently,” the DCA clarified in a statement. “Once the negotiation is completed and the terms and conditions have been agreed on with Ocean Infinity, the Malaysian Government will seek agreement from the Governments of Australia and China to proceed with the search of MH370 in the spirit of tripartite cooperation.”

According to a report, Aziz Kaprawi, Malaysia’s deputy transport minister, said Australia already “informally agreed” to the selection of Ocean Infinity’s deal, while “It is still under discussion with China.”

In August, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization provided optimism for resolution with satellite imagery revealing “at least 70 identifiable objects,” 12 of which are “probably man made,” in an area reportedly defined as having a “high probability” as being the location of MH370. That area (as large as 25,000 sq. km) is presumably where Ocean Infinity will pick up.

The company boasts “The world’s most advanced fleet of autonomous vehicles,” or specifically six HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) that “are capable of operating in 6,000 m water depth collecting high resolution data at record breaking speeds.” The AUV have the capability to explore deeper areas of the ocean, which could provide a long-awaited breakthrough.

Exciting Finish in Red Bull Air Race World Championship

Japan’s Yoshi Muroya takes home the trophy for the season after intense final round.

Yoshihide “Yoshi” Muroya won the last two Red Bull Air Race competitions of the season to become Masters Class World Champion.

After the last Red Bull Air Race competition for the year ended in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the last one of the Air Gates was deflated, Yoshihide “Yoshi” Muroya stood at the top of the podium as the Masters Class World Champion. Muroya had dropped back in the ranks in the middle of the season with several tough races. But after winning the last two competitions of the season, the Japanese air racer totaled up 74 points, only four points more than second place contestant Martin Sonka from the Czech Republic.

“The race in Indy was very tough,” said Muroya. “With the wind conditions it was so close, anybody could’ve won the World Championship, but we came out on top.” Muroya had a perfect last run, finishing in 1:03:026, beating the Indianapolis track record by more than a second.

American racer Kirby Chambliss had a chance to take home the trophy with two wins in the middle of the race season — Budapest and Kazan. But weak results in the last two competitions put Chambliss barely off the podium, finishing in fourth place with 53 points, three points behind Canadian pilot Pete McLeod. Chambliss had the misfortune of being matched with Muroya in the Round of 8 in Indianapolis, a loss that gave him only one point. Had he been able to get through to the next round, he would have taken home the bronze medal.

Low ceilings and rain ended up cancelling the final race in the Challenger Class, which was won by German pilot Florian Bergér, closely followed by Daniel Ryfa from Sweden and Luke Czepiela from Poland. The first female pilot to race in the Red Bull Air Race, Mélanie Astles from France, stood at the top of the podium in the final race, the results of which were based on the times in the qualifying races. Astles finished fifth overall.

Have a wonderful safe weekend, Happy Landings.

Garth