AOPA Briefing

November 2023

In October’s column I explored the benets of

learning to y. How it is a discipline that improves

your cognive abilies, and how learning such

skills and literally broadening your horizons has

benets that go far beyond just being able to safely

pilot a light aircra.

AOPA

AOPA BRIEFING

IS IT ABOUT

THE MONEY?

Chris Martinus: President - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association – South Africa

The Hummelbird falls under FAA Part 103.

November 2023

I CATALOGUED NOT JUST HOW this is

something that is confirmed by scientific

research, but has been adopted by corporations

such as EPI-USE, a large software multinational,

as a means to make their budding CEOs into

better CEOs.

There are even

unexpected benefits:

after reading last month’s

article, EPI-USE partner

in Boston USA quipped

in an email to me that he

took great pleasure in

informing his wife that his

brain is now bigger than

the average!

This is great news for the aviation training

industry if this trend expands to other corporates.

So I polled a few aviation training organisations

to get some general ideas about the challenges

and prospects facing ATOs in South Africa.

There are many challenges, yet training is

nevertheless faring reasonably well, taking into

consideration the economic conditions and the

high costs of fuel and maintenance.

One issue which is a

matter of great concern

in the Cape area is

the inability of ATNS to

provide services due

to staffing shortages.

This has resulted in

NOTAMs being issued

to periodically ban VFR

and training flights in

controlled airspaces in the Cape Town region.

Not only is this devastating to training schools

operating within those airspaces, but is in

fact unlawful in terms of the ATNS Act, which

admonishes that ATNS may; “not unduly

The ultra affordable, sawn-in-half VW which powers the Hummelbird.

not required

to meet

airworthiness

standards

November 2023

The helibike is a true Part 103 microlight.

discriminate against or among various users

or categories of users of any air navigation

infrastructure or air traffic services.”

As licensor with a duty of oversight to ensure

service providers are suitably staffed, SACAA is

also asleep at the wheel.

While chatting with Hayley

Cumming, the delightful

CEO of the reputable

Helivate Helicopter

Services, which offers

helicopter pilot and drone

training, I explored the

current demographic of

people who embark on

their training courses.

Hayley explains that not much has changed

over the decades: the majority of PPL students

are in the 35 to 50 year old age group and

are made up mainly of professional people

such as engineers, doctors, lawyers as well

as entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized

businesses. This is the classic “mid-life crisis”

group of people who have attained their life

goals of having reached the stage of life where

they have a good income, have bought a nice

home, raised families and finally have the

freedom and resources to pursue their dreams

of flight. I am a member of this mid-life crisis

group, having obtained

my PPL and bought an

aircraft at age 40.

There is the smaller group

of young people seeking

careers in aviation, but

with the eye-watering cost

of attaining a helicopter

CPL being well north of

R1-million, this ambition

is largely limited to those youngsters who have

very well-heeled parents who may be prepared

to fund their kids’ possible future careers. A CPL

is, of course, just the first step toward finding

employment as a pilot. Prospective commercial

pilots then face the daunting prospect of

Electric

aircraft

abound under

Part 103

November 2023

Hayley Cumming, the CEO of Helivate, discusses chopper training costs.

obtaining the experience and ratings that will

inevitably be a prerequisite by any employer.

For those helicopter PPLs and CPLs seeking a

turbine rating on Helivate’s magnificent Alouette

III, the piggy-bank needs to be fat indeed.

My informal research confirmed the problem

that has long persisted in private aviation, which

was highlighted by the Secretary-General of

IAOPA at our last world assembly when he read

out excerpts of the minutes of the 1973 world

assembly: private aviation is too expensive and

it needs more young people involved. Yes, at

some time in the future there will undoubtedly

still be a few old greybeards flying around in

their 100-year-old Piper Cubs. However, entry

into aviation for the younger, less wealthy

individual is an impossible dream for most.

Even the excitement over experimental/NTCA

and light sport aircraft has failed to deliver on

the dreams of affordable aviation. A typical non

type-certified aircraft is no less expensive than

a good used type-certified aircraft and is just as

heavily regulated, if not more so. I’ll delve into

the reasons for this a little further on.

On the very very light end of aviation, aircraft

such as powered parachutes and the like, while

they may be affordable, fall into the category

of extreme sports, and are of limited utility or

educational value. As such, they only appeal to

a tiny segment of those pursuing the dream of

flight.

The FAA and Part 103

AOPA South Africa has long championed

the concept of the USA Federal Aviation

Administration’s Part 103 of the Federal Aviation

Regulations into our own CARs. This is what it

looks like:

November 2023

• 103.1 Applicability.

This part prescribes rules governing the

operation of ultralight vehicles in the United

States. For the purposes of this part, an ultralight

vehicle is a vehicle that:

(a) Is used or intended to be used for manned

operation in the air by a single occupant;

(b) Is used or intended to be used for recreation

or sport purposes only;

airworthiness certificate; and

(d) If unpowered, weighs less than 155 pounds;

(e) If powered:

(1) Weighs less than 254 pounds empty weight,

excluding floats and safety devices which

are intended for deployment in a potentially

catastrophic situation;

(2) Has a fuel capacity not exceeding 5 U.S.

gallons;

(3) Is not capable of more than 55 knots

calibrated airspeed at full power in level flight;

and

(4) Has a power-off stall speed which does not

exceed 24 knots calibrated airspeed.

• 103.3 Inspection requirements.

(a) Any person operating an ultralight vehicle

under this part shall, upon request, allow the

Administrator, or his designee, to inspect the

vehicle to determine the applicability of this part.

(b) The pilot or operator of an ultralight vehicle

must, upon request of the Administrator, furnish

satisfactory evidence that the vehicle is subject

only to the provisions of this part.

• 103.5 Waivers.

No person may conduct operations that require

a deviation from this part except under a written

waiver issued by the Administrator.

Electric ultralights can be operated under part 103.

November 2023

• 103.7 Certification and registration.

(a) Notwithstanding any other section

pertaining to certification of aircraft or their

parts or equipment, ultralight vehicles and

their component parts and equipment are not

required to meet the airworthiness certification

standards specified for aircraft or to have

certificates of airworthiness.

(b) Notwithstanding any other section

pertaining to airman certification, operators of

ultralight vehicles are not required to meet any

aeronautical knowledge, age, or experience

requirements to operate those vehicles or to

have airman or medical certificates.

other section pertaining to

registration and marking

of aircraft, ultralight

vehicles are not required

to be registered or to bear

markings of any type.

Yes, you read it right. No certification,

registration, markings or licences required. No

exams, age limitations, medical certificates,

standards, forced membership of dubious

associations, payments or other bureaucratic

paperwork needed, provided the aircraft

complies with the weight, speed, fuel and seat

limitations.

Subpart B of 103 deals with operating

limitations, which other than daytime VFR

outside controlled airspace, contain nothing

more than normal, common-sense rules.

Hey, if you want to go faster, further, carry

passengers and greater loads, you pays your

money, write the exams, undergo testing,

submit documents and so on. But Part 103 lets

thousands of people get their foot into the door

of the joys of flight, which door would otherwise

remain closed to them, probably forever.

Part 103 has been in place, unchanged, for

over 40 years. Although it covers traditional

open tube and fabric ultralights (what we call

microlights), since its beginning there have been

designs like the AirBike, to the slick all-metal

Hummel Bird with a fully enclosed cockpit.

Today, there are literally hundreds of options to

choose from, whether one decides to build your

own from plans or a kit, buy a new factory-built

aircraft or something used.

Costs are generally low. Even fairly

sophisticated designs like the aforementioned

Hummel uses the ½ VW engine. Saw a Beetle

engine in half yourself or buy a factory-made

one from Hummel where all the work to make it

safe and reliable has already been done.

Part 103’s lack of

restrictions opens

up opportunities for

innovation. With modern

materials, lightweight

instruments and avionics,

as well as powerplants,

it is the place we see the

most new ideas. Electric aircraft abound under

Part 103. Perhaps the most exciting thing we

are seeing here is the amazing technologies

emerging from drones being merged with

traditional manned aircraft.

Individuals vs Groups

I can already hear the screams about how

dangerous this could be, but it is not. A scheme

like Part 103 places all responsibility on the

person who chooses that route, which is as it

should be in a democratic society. It also has

the psychological effect that a person who

operates a Part 103 aircraft becomes well aware

that he or she must make all decisions and

take all necessary actions to ensure his or her

own safety. This is a good thing, since pilots

ultimately are the final decision-makers in any

crisis anyway.

opens up

opportunities

for innovation.

November 2023

But here is both the solution to the high cost

of entry into aviation, as well as relieving the

aviation authority of its duty of care over a

segment of aviation which is impossible to

regulate into safety anyway. The FAA even uses

the term “vehicle”, rather than “aircraft” in Part

103 in order to divest itself from having to take

any responsibility or suffer liability.

And this is where South Africans have a mental

difficulty. South Africans, despite 30 years under

a democratic constitution, still labour under the

inner cogitative cloud of oppression under British

colonial and tribal monarchy. We seem to be

unable to break free from a deep-seated need

to be told what to do – and to tell others what

they must do. We fear freedom. We also fear

taking responsibility for

exercising our freedoms.

Follow the Money

This is why general

aviation is in the

expensive mess it

continues to struggle with,

with our urgent need to be controlled and to

control others. In every instance, this herd-like

urge results in egregious regulation and money

extraction from the very people who do not need

control – and don’t have the money to pay to be

controlled.

So, we sit in a pickle. AOPA has griped for

years that our Civil Aviation Authority relies on

commercial “passenger safety charges” for 75%

of its income. It is very bad fiscal management

indeed. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in

2020, SACAA lost around 97% of its income

overnight. The SACAA’s eyes, together with

groups who purportedly foster our interests,

immediately turned toward general aviation,

which was not directly affected by restrictions on

public transport

Fortunately, due to AOPA’s efforts, this scheme

did not come to fruition. The clubs, AROs and

corrupt bureaucrats who were rubbing their

hands together in glee that Covid would provide

an excuse for greater control and an opportunity

to extract money from those who yearn to fly,

were disappointed. Instead, SACAA is now

increasingly dependent on state handouts,

instead of being self-funding. As of their 2022

financial report, funds from state coffers came to

R314 million, approaching double the previous

year.

AOPA had already exposed the front company

RAASA (Recreation Aviation Administration of

SA) that was controlled by SACAA executives,

illegally, to regulate and extract funds from the

low end of the general aviation community, as

well as take funds from the SACAA itself. Poppy

Khoza wisely shut down

this operation after AOPA

published the rot.

The deceptions behind

SACAA’s scheme to

“register” any and all

places where flyers may

choose to takeoff and land

continues to be opposed

by AOPA. When pressed

on how this money extraction scheme through

airfield registration would be implemented,

SACAA’s Gawie Bestbier conceded at a

CARCom meeting some time ago that this

would be done through a “front company”.

We wonder who the members of that “front

company” will be.

AOPA South Africa is now vigorously pursuing

the establishment of a Part 103 in our own Civil

Aviation Regulations – as well as getting rid of

the registered airfield empire-building scheme.

However, we will be ensuring that these

initiatives are not captured by entities seeking

money and control over its beneficiaries.

South

Africans have

a mental

difficulty