The Airspace above Wonderboom had some unusual visitors on Saturday morning with the first Canard Afrik gathering. Canards from all over South Africa made their way to Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria.
A canard is a fuselage mounted, horizontal surface that is located forward of the main wing to provide longitudinal stability and control. Depending upon the installation, it may be a fixed, move-able or variable geometry surface and may or may not incorporate control surfaces.
Aircraft making use of Canards have become known as Canards themselves and normally use a pusher configuration as a means of propulsion, either a propeller or jet engine.
All the pilots got together at Sport Plane Builders and enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast at “The Dak Shack” before spending the rest of the morning sharing design ideas and generally having a good time with people that share the same interests.
A total of six Canards made the journey to Wonderboom unfortunately the high winds around the country kept many of the pilots on the ground. One pilot and strong Canard advocate was sorely missed, Rego Burger sadly had a fatal accident earlier in the week in his home town of Port Elizabeth. Rego flew a Cozy Fish Eagle that he had painstakingly built himself , rest in eternal peace Rego and we wish to convey our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
The majority of the visitors on Saturday were based at Springs airfield, Riaan Van Niekerk and Markus vd Westhuizen flew all the way from Namibia to join the festivities in a beautiful Velocity XL FG
Riaan Van Niekerk and Markus vd Westhuizen
Marco Schmidt and Darrel May , based at Baragwaneth joined the party in their stunning Velocity 173 RG Elite
Marco Schmidt and Darrel May
Dave O'Neill and John Mc Kerchar made the trip form Springs in ZS-VMX a Long EZ joined by Walter and Irma de Graaf in ZS-VUF also a Long EZ.
ZU- FMX a Veri EZ was flown in by Jason Boshoff the aircraft belongs to Johan Lombard also residents at Springs
Dave O'Neill's Long EZ
Walter and Irma de Graaf
Jason Boshoff
Eddie Schultz had to make the journey to Wonderboom by car as his Bethlehem based Velocity Elite was at Sport Plane Builders for maintenance.
Eddie Schultz
A big thank you must go to Pierre for the wonderful hospitality and we hope to see these Canard gatherings becoming a regular feature on the South African aviation calendar.
