By Garth Calitz Photos by Trevor Cohen and Garth Calitz
Felix Gosher, the driving force behind the very successful Children’s Flight Initiative, announced following the 2023 event that he would be taking the 2024 version to Bloemfontein. Initially, there was some negativity but Felix has never been one to let negativity get in the way of sharing the wonders of flight with the underprivileged and he set about making it a reality. As the date approached and the event's magnitude became clear all the initial trepidation vanished and support intensified.
The Children’s Flight team once again drew the best out of all the sponsors and volunteers, as they have for the last nine years. The first event was held at Grand Central Airport in 2016 where one hundred and fifty kids were treated to day flight and a fun day out. Since then the Initiative grew exponentially every year until the world was dumped into the Covid pandemic. Felix, with his infectious enthusiasm, wasn’t about to let a virus ruin his plans to share his love of aviation. Somehow between lockdowns, he managed to pull off a slightly smaller but no less impressive event at Orient Airfield with a motto of “Less Cheese more G’s” which became the new field of dreams through 2023.
The lead-up to the event was frantic for the team coordinating all the sponsors and the team took some intensive planning but as always on the day everything was set and ready to once again live up to the creed of “Fly, Feed, Love and Inspire”. Federal Air, South Africa’s Leading Private Charter and Shuttle Airline based at OR Tambo International, kindly made a Cessna Grand Caravan available for the first flights of some children and members of the media were invited to fly along from OR Tambo to Bloemfontein.
Our morning started very early with a 5:00 take-off and 90mins later we landed at a rather windy and cold New Tempe Airfield, the cold however didn’t last long as soon as the sun climbed into the cloudless sky the temperature started to rise and the wind somewhat settled. On arrival we were issued with our personalised Hi-vis jackets and an event cap, the Hi-vis jackets were produced in different colours each identifying the particular person's function on the day.
At 7:30 the pilot's briefing got underway at the parachute club, Rikus Erasmus, the Safety Officer for the event and his team explained the operational requirements and limitations to all the participating pilots and ground crew. The planning on the operational side of an event like this can not be understated especially now that we find ourselves caught in a dispute (read personal vendetta) between individuals from SACAA and ATNS, this has sadly left general aviation events in a rather dangerous situation as no ATNS personnel are permitted to assist at such events, but that is an ongoing story for another day.
After the briefing, the focus shifted to the flight line where the event was officially opened in prayer followed by the playing of the National Anthem. As the sounds Nkosi Nikelel Iafrika reverberated around New Tempe Grahm Field slowly drifted to the ground flying a massive South African flag, he was joined by many other skydivers that flew the banners of some of the major event sponsors including the Capital Sounds banner that mysteriously disappeared for over two years.
Once all the skydivers were safely on the ground Brian Emmenis and Elvis Manene from Capital Sounds took up their duties as joint Masters of Ceremony. A three-ship formation of AT6 Harvards from Puma Energy Flying Lions then took to the sky to set the mood for what was a very exciting day for the 500-odd children that were bussed in from children’s homes and schools all over the Free State.
The flying then began in all seriousness, the helicopter squadron was first to start with many wide-eyed young ones being treated to a short flight over the area in one of many helicopters made available by the owners. A special mention must go to all the Jet A-1 operators who repositioned and flew the kids at their own cost due to a mix-up with the Jet A-1 transportation, Felix did however promise to sort out everything in the weeks following the event.
While the helicopters were operating to the South-West of the airfield, larger aircraft like the Cessna Caravans and Pilatus PC12s started loading up on the taxiway and departing to the north off runway 10 and returning on 01 to load their next bunch of sometimes anxious children. This level of activity continued until 13:00 when the flipping was paused for the children to be wowed by some of the best airshow pilots in the business.
First up was Johan “Juba” Joubert who put an Aérospatiale Gazelle through its paces, what this man does with a helicopter defies physics. Juba was followed by a magnificent display by Master Power Technologies sponsored by Nigel Hopkins and Jason Beamish in their Extra 330s. Tristan Eeles then took to the air in his Extra 330SC for a solo display sporting his new sponsorship by Reclam Recycling Group for the first time publicly.
After all the displays the flying of the kids was taken to the next level with the arrival of the Beechcraft 1900 kindly made available by Cemair and the Beech 18 by Springbok Flying Safaris. While the larger aircraft were active many individuals with their private single and twin-engine aircraft made sure no child left without having a flight.
Throughout the day the children were treated to an overload of food and drinks as well as a free eye screening by Optometry students from the University of the Free State.
Wonderful events like this will not be possible without the support of the countless sponsors who selflessly offer their time and resources all in the name of Ubuntu. A special mention must be to the wonderful people at ER24 and Hazquip Fire and Spill Response who jointly took care of any emergency response that may have been necessary but fortunately wasn’t.
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