Good day all
The Aero Club of South Africa will be hosting their annual Awards Dinner at the Wanderers Club on Saturday 17 November, We will have a full report on Tuesday for those of you who can’t make it.
Robin Coss Aviation will be welcoming all to Stellenbosch Airfield for a Lycoming Day Fly-In.
The second instalment of the Speed Rally Circuit will be happening on 24 November at Springs Airfield, this new format of Rally flying has proved to be very popular and places are filling up quick.
- Free breakfast to be served on Saturday (East Rand Flying Club is sponsoring this. Thank you)
- Map provided has the route printed with magnetic headings.
- Map given to crew 20min before flight to prepare.
- Aircraft GPS allowed (should not be used for the competition however can be on during flight). No handheld devices allowed like iPads etc.
- No scrutinizing, however Marshals will be observing crews start up and taxing for handheld devices (penalties will be given to crews that are seen using handled devices)
To enter just follow the link Only a few places left http://www.sapfa.co.za/index.php/component/competition/?view=pilot
ZS-RSA returns to the sky
After a hiatus of about two years “Inkwazi”, the South African Presidential Jet, returned to the skies yesterday.
In what appears to be a test flight the 737- 700 BBJ departed from Air Force Base Waterkloof yesterday 12:00UTC ZS-RSA flew to Durban then on to Cape Town, from Cape Town it flew to Upington and finally landed back at AFB Waterkloof some four hours and twenty-four minutes later. This morning at just before 09:00UTC the BBJ once again got airborne and spent just over an hour doing circuits at Waterkloof. Hopefully this signals the return of “Inkwazi” to active service.
The Royal Air Force Special Colour Scheme Tornado GR4
The Royal Air Force has just unveiled another special-coloured “Tonka” ahead of the retirement of the aircraft from active service in March 2019.
Few days after the IX(B) Sqn unveiled theirs, the 31 Sqn, also based at RAF Marham, and one of the remaining Tornado units in RAF service, rolled out the aircraft ZD716/DH with a special livery that celebrates the 34 years of operations with the multirole aircraft.
The “Goldstars” have operated the Tornado since 1984, initially from RAF Bruggen, Germany, and then from RAF Marham since August 2001. Following the retirement of the Tornado, in March next year, 31 Squadron will stand down after 35 years of Tonka operations but will in due course reform to operate the Protector RG.1, the RAF designation for the MQ-9B SkyGuardian.
During this more than three decades of operations with the Tornado, 31 Squadron has taken part in the 1991 Gulf War and the Squadron has continued to fly on regular operations over Iraq. It also specialised in the SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) role with the Air Launched Anti Radiation Missile ALARM Anti Radiation Missile.
Then, in 1999, during Allied Force operation over Serbia and Kosovo, the Sqn operated from Solenzara Airbase, in Corsica. After moving to RAF Marham in 2001, the squadron took part in Operation Resinate South and Operation Telic over Iraq. In 2005, the Squadron became the lead RAF Tornado GR4 unit to accept the Brimstone missiles into service, a weapon that was widely used by the RAF Tornado in combat beginning in 2011, during the Libya Air War, and later in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Bombardier CEO defends layoffs, insists they are necessary
Bombardier chief executive Alain Bellemare did not specify where or when the positions would be cut.
The head of Bombardier Inc. is defending his move to lay off 5,000 workers — 3,000 of them in Canada — citing efficiency while leaving the door open to more job cuts down the line.
"Yes, it is tough. And yes, many people do not like this. But the fact is we want to go and be a world-class organization, and we want to be at benchmark everywhere when it comes to revenue per employees," chief executive Alain Bellemare told an investor conference in Toronto on Tuesday.
The comments were the first he's spoken of the layoffs — or potential cuts ahead — since the multinational announced major restructuring in its aerospace division last Thursday.
Bellemare did not specify where or when the positions would be cut, though Bombardier has said 2,500 workers in Quebec and 500 in Ontario will lose their jobs as part of his five-year plan to rein in costs, focus on rail and business jets and reduce the net long-term debt of $9 billion US.
The restructuring, announced alongside Bombardier's third-quarter earnings, is slated for completion within 18 months and for savings of $250 million annually. The announcement comes after mass layoffs over the past three years, with about 14,500 positions cut around the world in the aerospace and railway divisions.
Union and opposition leaders decried the layoffs announced last week, with some demanding that executives renounce their salary bonuses.
Quebec Economy and Innovation Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon called a special meeting of industry and union representatives in Montreal Monday to discuss the layoffs and find a path back to employment for affected workers.
Despite agreeing to sell the Q-400 turboprops to Longview Aviation Capital for about $300 million US, Bellemare said he wants to keep making the airline's CRJ regional jets to build up backlog, but will reassess later on. "The answer today is we want to keep this line going," he said. "We might look at partnering, if it makes sense."
David Chartrand, Quebec co-ordinator for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said CRJ production relies on numerous Bombardier workers as well as subcontractors. "This would have a significant impact on other employers," he said, when asked about the effect of a shutdown or sell off. "I think there is a lot of time to look at what can be done for this program before we face the facts and an announcement is made."
First A330-800 completes maiden flight
The first A330-800 development aircraft to fly, MSN1888, successfully landed at Toulouse-Blagnac, France at 2:35pm local time, on Tuesday, 6 November 2018, after successfully completing its first flight which lasted four hours and four minutes. The aircraft, the second member of the A330neo Family, is powered by the latest technology Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 turbofans.
The crew in the cockpit comprised experimental test pilots, Malcolm Ridley and François Barre and test-flight engineer, Ludovic Girard. Meanwhile, monitoring the aircraft systems and performance in real-time at the flight-test engineers (FTE) station were Catherine Schneider and Jose Corugedo Bermejo.
“Today’s first flight of the A330-800 is the latest addition to our efficient Widebody family,” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “The A330-800 is an exceptionally versatile ‘route-opener’, offering unbeatable economics for airlines – encompassing everything from short to very-long haul widebody missions.” He added: “We look forward to the successful flight-test campaign, leading to certification next year.”
ACSA receives international certification for environmental management
All nine of Airports Company South Africa's airports have been certified as compliant with the most-recognised international standard for environmental management systems.
The certification is a further milestone in the implementation of the sustainability strategy of Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) that has seen it also receive Level 1 carbon accreditation for four airports and build solar energy plants at three of its airports.
The latest certification was performed in terms of the International Standards Organisation’s ISO14001: 2015 standard which sets out the criteria for an environmental management system. The standard maps out a framework that an organisation can follow to set up an effective environmental management system.
ACSA's sustainability strategy focuses on the environmental impact of its airports including water and energy conservation, waste management, alien vegetation removal, wildlife conservation, reduction in carbon emissions, management of airport noise levels and minimising the broader impact of airline operations on the environment.
Fundi Sithebe, chief operating officer at Airports Company South Africa, says, “The ISO certification is used worldwide for companies to map out a framework that they can follow in setting up an effective environmental management system.”
“Our certification involved significant aspects for the environmental performance improvement of our nine airports such as fuel handling, waste disposal from both terminals, aeroplanes and engineering. We are very proud of this ISO certification as it affirms Airports Company South Africa’s commitment to operating our airports in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner.”
The ISO certification was performed by DNV GL, an international accredited registrar and classification society with operations in more than 100 countries.
Nicola Privato, regional manager of DNV GL – Business Assurance for the Southern Europe and Africa Region, says, “We are pleased to award this certification to Airports Company of South Africa. This is an important example of excellence in environmental performance for all the airports around the world. It is very encouraging to see that such high impact facilities as the airports are taking the lead in environmental sustainability and setting an example for other companies.”
She continues and says it is an excellent way to promote sustainability and leadership to all passengers arriving on the continent and to showcase the African position.
To date, four of ACSA’s airports have been awarded Level 1 Airport Carbon Accreditation as per the Airports Council International (ACI) Carbon Accreditation. O.R. Tambo International Airport, King Shaka International Airport, Cape Town International Airport and Port Elizabeth International Airport have met the international requirements to achieve carbon accreditation.
The Airport Carbon Accreditation is the only institutionally endorsed, global carbon management certification programme for airports which independently assesses and recognises the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions through four levels of certification and provides airports with a common framework for active carbon management through measurable goals.
In addition to reducing the negative impact of carbon emissions of its operations, Airports Company South Africa has taken major steps towards increasing environmental sustainability with the construction of solar plants at three of its regional airports.
“In February 2016, we launched a 1.2-hectare solar power plant at George Airport in the Western Cape, which supplies 750Kw of power to the airport. We then followed with Kimberley Airport in May 2016, with 500Kw. Then in July 2016, we unveiled a third solar power plant at Upington Airport in the Northern Cape, which provides is a 500Kw plant meant to meet the operational needs of the airport,” added Sithebe.
