72
November 2023
In October’s column I explored the benets of
learning to y. How it is a discipline that improves
your cognive abilies, and how learning such
skills and literally broadening your horizons has
benets 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.
73
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
74
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