Once a month, Chapter 322 of the Experimental Aircraft Association holds its regular gathering at its venue, the converted old squash court at the historic Rand Airport.
Transformed with much blood, sweat, and tears, the venue is now a state-of-the-art auditorium that, through the years, has hosted the crème de la crème of aviation personalities.
On Saturday, 3 August, a bitterly cold Gauteng day, it was the turn of Chris Potgieter, who retired in February 2015 as Senior Avionics Instructor from South African Airways. With him, Chris brought part of the instrument panel of a Boeing 747-SP, dating back to the early seventies.
Compared to today's digital glass cockpits that weigh almost nothing, this old panel weighed approximately 25kg and was a maze of gyros, dials, and several kilometres of wire.
Chris joined SAA in 1970 as an apprentice on aircraft instruments. Always having admired big aircraft, he relished the opportunity to work on them. In 1973, he qualified, and by 1989 he was appointed as a senior instructor.
But by then, he wanted more, something a bit different. When he heard that the mechanical instructors had started to rebuild Harvard TD6 ZS-WLP, he offered to overhaul the instruments. That aircraft still flies today.
Next, he discovered that the CASA 352 (Junkers Ju 52), Tante Ju, parked in the 707 hangar, was being stripped for a rebuild. Again, he volunteered to restore the instruments, working closely with the Historic Flight crew. It was a proud and memorable day when the grand old lady once again took to the skies.
The restoration bug had firmly bitten. Next up was a second Harvard, ZS-WLP, and then a Piper 200R, ZS-IRF. SAA management gave the go-ahead for both projects, and both were successfully completed.
The Historic Flight then obtained a DC-4 Skymaster from the SAAF. It was completely overhauled, painted in SAA livery and registered as ZS-BMH. She currently rests in pride of place next to the auditorium.
Then came the DC-3 Dakota ZS-BXF, followed by a second DC-4, ZS-AUB.
Except for the second Harvard and the Piper, all of the rebuild work was done voluntarily after working hours and on weekends.
Eventually, the Historic Flight moved its base to AFB Zwartkop, and the commute simply became too much. Chris started looking for something else to occupy his weekends and found it in something completely different - golf.
In 2009, he was elected Chairperson of the SAA Golf Society, which played at least once a month, more often in most months.
After Saturday's meeting, during which he demonstrated the panel and answered numerous questions, I asked Chris if, given the chance, he would do it all again.
“I can honestly say that I would,” he replied. “I worked for the best company in South Africa. I enjoyed every moment! Our fellow workers cared for each other and would not hesitate to lend a helping hand where and when it was needed. For example, when a worker's child needed blood for an operation and the doctor needed two to three pints from donors, the word spread. When you got to the hospital to donate, you had to wait in a queue behind at least 20 others.”
Chris retired from SAA at the end of February 2015 and shortly afterward joined MATA as an avionics instructor. He finally retired again in March of this year. Now, he faces a tough decision, go farming, or move to the coast and play more golf.
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