By Garth Calitz Photos by Rayno Snyman
The Annual Springs Breakfast Fly-In has happened almost every year since I have been involved in general aviation and that has been a long time. The week leading up to the fly-in saw a buzz on social media and all the general aviation Whatsapp groups relating to Springs and the enthusiasm promised a great turnout. But sadly the weather gods didn’t get the memo and Saturday morning arrived and brought rather crappy weather with it, severely impacting the enthusiasm.
Many of the hardened EAA pilots didn't seem to be bothered by the cloudy conditions and made the flight to Springs, some may speculate that it is the great quality FREE breakfast that lured them across to the East Rand. When I arrived there were already a few aircraft parked in the visitor's parking but my attention was immediately attracted to the collection of vintage aircraft parked outside one of the Classic Flying Collection Hangars.
The aircraft on display ranged from three beautifully restored Tiger Months to a Helio H295 Courier, with a few Chipmunks, a Stampe SV.4, Two Fairchild 24 Rangers and an Auster 6A Tugmaster among others.
The good people at Ekurhuleni East Flying Club always put out a great spread at their great relatively newly restored clubhouse, tables and chairs were packed out under tents that had been erected for breakfast. The coffee table proved very popular in the inclement weather.
When the aircraft started leaving I made my way down to the runway to photograph the departures and while I was walking my eyes were suddenly drawn upward as the three Tiger Moths flew past in formation being chased by none other than the EAA stalwart Karl Jensen in his immaculately polished C170. Karl shared that he had spent almost the whole week polishing his pride and joy with a new product and the results were amazing.
It was great to see Henri Westermann in his Glasair III he sold the aircraft and later made an offer and bought it back. Derek Hopkins and his RV8 have become a fixture at almost every fly-in held in Gauteng and bordering provinces. Derek built the RV a few years ago and has managed to amass over 450 hours since, that is a lot of fly-ins.
Two Scheibe SF-25 Motor Falke Motor Gliders took to the air joined by a Fournier RF-4D for a quick flight around the area, along with a stunning Aeronca Champ. To top off a great morning the beautiful Fairchild 24 Ranger ZS-BAK went for a short flight.
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