Airport
12 October 2006
The North West Government really pulled out all the stops for a most
successful airshow dubbed "bringing aviation to the people," held at Mafikeng
Airport this past Saturday.
Much of the praise for this success lies with a rather charismatic person in
the form of Rickie Rennie, who has spent some valuable time touring other
airshows in South Africa, as well as visiting Oshkosh in the United States of
America (USA) with Air Adventure Tours in July this year.
The airfield was well prepared for the crowds who were a little slow in
arriving, probably due to the cooler overcast weather and threat of rain.
However, once the South African Air Force (SAAF) Cheetahs started making lots
of noise the message got through and the field started filling up. Normally one
goes to airshows where a scattering of black faces are present in a mostly
white audience. But the opposite was true at Mafikeng where white faces were
scarce and the local black people of the region enjoyed themselves to the
fullest. This was one of the most appreciative crowds that I have ever
witnessed as they regularly cheered the displays with spontaneous applause.
Security was outstanding and subsequently the vast audience was well behaved
and reasonably tidy. Litter was a problem in spite of the many dustbins that
were strategically placed, but the organisers managed the problem by having
people constantly cleaning up the spectator areas.
In a smart move, the organisers placed the VIP area on the south side of the
vast apron where they arranged for marquees to be erected. The complete
spectator areas were fenced off with proper crowd barrier fencing that had
strategic openings for pilots and guests to visit aircraft parked on the apron.
Brian Emmenis and his Capital Sounds team positioned speakers all along the
crowd fencing, leaving almost no areas where sound could not be heard. He was a
little frustrated though when the electric power kept tripping due to
overloading in some unrelated area of the vast complex of terminal
buildings.
Although overcast and slightly windy through most of the day, the clouds
were very high and had no negative influence on the airshow itself, but the
grey conditions were not good at all for airshow photography. The organisers
planned a fenced off area for photographers at the most forward position of the
crowd line, a most welcome gesture. Those photographers that utilised this area
were very grateful for the privilege of not having to jostle with spectators
for space to work. In addition very expensive camera equipment is relatively
safe within this environment.
A minute's silence was observed at the pilot's briefing in order to respect
the passing of one of our fallen pilots, Martin van Straten who tragically lost
his life two weeks ago in Cape Town. After the airshow briefing and media
briefing the show was opened with a big bang - being the sonic boom from a
Cheetah at high altitude. This was followed by a mass parachuting display where
the second largest flag in the world was deployed and jumpers circled the
massive South African flag before landing right in front of the crowd. The
event was well supported by the SAAF with five Cheetahs, Oryx with bambi
bucket, Casa Para dropping, Silver Falcons, lone PC-7 and Augusta 109 LUH.
Civilian displays included the control instruments Pitts specials and Zlin
formation teams, 4 X Castrol Harvards, Yak 52, Yak 55, Boeing Stearman,
Albatross, MISASA Trike display, Impala ZU IMP, and Patrick Davidson all the
way from Port Elizabeth in his extra 300. Two new teams made their debut at
this airshow. The first was the Skyraiders formation team of three L-39s and
the other was the North-West Eagles extra 300 formation duo aerobatic team. A
South African Airways Airbus (SAAA) A319 flown by chief pilot of the airline,
Captain Johnny Woods and assisted by Brad Bennetts in the right seat.
However, the most significant displays were those of Zolton Veres from
Hungary flying one of the new extra 300s and Yurgis Kairys from Lithuania
flying Robbie Beaumont's Sukoi SU 29. Both pilots are world class and this
showed as they repeatedly brought the aircraft low down to the level of the
crowds. This 'in your face' flying is clearly done for crowd entertainment and
the camera. Two large white balloons were set up on the far side of the runway
that contained hundreds of white and blue Standard Bank balloons filled with
helium. The idea was for Zolton to cut the tape that released the balloons but
ground handlers battled with the stiff breeze that threatened and one of the
balloons was prematurely released. The other was released as Zolton flew one of
his low passes. In a brave attempt to re-create the famous Oshkosh explosions,
the pyrotechnic team bungled with frequent mistiming as a lone Cheetah 'strafed
the ground' with machine gun fire. An Oshkosh like 'wall of fire' was also
mistimed for Yurgis but the effect was good.
One of the problems of Mafikeng airfield is that it is so large having the
fourth longest runway in the world at 4 500 metres and therefore the flight
line is far away from the spectators. In some cases it was difficult to
identify an aircraft even with the use of binoculars or long telephoto lenses.
The terminal buildings are probably half a kilometre from the runway, therefore
with the exception of the two foreign aerobatic pilots almost all displays were
very far from the spectators. If the same rules were applied to other airshows
such as Virginia, East London, Margate and Tzaneen for example then the crowd
line would have to be positioned in the street behind the airfield. For one I
would like to see this rule relaxed somewhat so that spectators can obtain a
better appreciation for aviation at a most important event such as this one.
Having made this remark, I believe that a flexible display line could easily be
implemented depending on the size of the aircraft and experience of the pilot.
When three Cheetahs hurtle down the runway in a formation take off, the
distance is correct; but when a micro-light is displaying, this distance could
be much closer to the spectators.
Air Traffic Controller (ATC) managed by Wendy Sacks, Jenny May Wienand,
Indren Nair and Lindi-Lee Kirkman was excellent, as these experienced airshow
ATCs assisted with keeping the show ahead of time through most of the day.
Kevin Woolacott was the starter, and this time someone loaned him an
effectively painted mini to run around the vast dispersal apron. The evening
function was hosted by master entertainer Dix Vorster who shared many of his
Oshkosh experiences with the guests. Neil Bowden had arranged for an Oshkosh
reunion at Mafikeng this year so that certain of the North West delegation, who
camped with us in the USA could be part of the action. What a fantastic gesture
as more than 60 people attended the reunion at the Tusk Hotel and Casino in the
city.
Mafikeng was an outstanding success and must have achieved the organiser's
goals of 'bringing aviation to the people.' I would like to encourage other
provincial governments to look at the lead that the North West province
politicians and leaders have achieved. This example is undoubtedly the way to
make meaningful changes in our society, where young children are exposed to
aviation in its broadest sense. Well done MEC Jerry Thibedi, Ricky Rennie and
your extended team of enthusiastic organisers. I wish to say a special thank
you to Mark Mansfield and Tumi Montsheng for travelling to Mafikeng with me to
be part of the African pilot team.
Issued by: Department of Transport, Roads and Community Safety, North West
Provincial Government
Source: North West Provincial Government (http://www.nwpg.gov.za)
