Midweek Update 24 April 2013
By Willie Bodenstein
In Midweek Update we will be looking ahead to what's happening on the weekend and report on international and local news. Feel free to let us know if you or your club has got anything planned and we will gladly publish the details here. News snippets are also most welcome. E-mail all material to: willieb@pilotspost.com. The only condition is that it must be aviation related. (Obviously we reserve the right to decide what to publish).
What's happening this weekend?
27 April. Skydive. NON Nationals Rustenburg. E-mail skydiversity@gmail.com
Events to diarise.
4 May. Warbirds, New Tempe, Bloemfontein. Lucas Wiese 082 566 0656
11 May. SAPFA Fun Rally & Precision Qualifier, Krugersdorp. E-mail: maryd@expandingbranding.co.za
11 May. SAAF Museum Airshow, AFB Waterkloof. E-mail: oconnormike@webmail.co.za
17-18 May. Botswana International Airshow. E-mail gknipe@work.co.bw
Beleaguered SAA gets another CEO
Mark Mansfield reports
South African Airways (SAA), the state owned airline recently announced the appointment of Mr. Monwabisi Kalawe as its acting chief executive officer (CEO), who never made the media briefing announcing his appointment as CEO, as he was engaged in other matters.
This comes after the challenge laid down to the SAA board of directors to by the minister of Public Enterprises, Mr. Malusi Gigaba, to continue to focus on improving SAA's governance.
“ The Board worked tirelessly to find a suitable leader who will lead by example and stabilise the internal environment whilst working towards ensuring good corporate governance within the airline,” said Ms. Dudu Myeni, acting Chairperson of the SAA Board of Directors. “Mr. Kalawe will also lead SAA, as a strategic national asset, towards contributing to the socio-economic development of the country and the continent.”
Mr. Kalawe began his career at the state owned company, Eskom, before joining Nestle South Africa for a few years and then returning to Eskom for three years. No stranger to the aviation industry,Kalawe also worked at Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) for six years before leading Total Facilities Management Company (TFMC) as Chief Operating Officer and Denel as Chief Executive Officer.
After concluding his role as Country Managing Director of Compass Group for five years and more recently as Executive Chairperson, Mr. Kalawe will join SAA in the next few weeks.
NAC - first aircraft operator in the world to receive GOLD BARS status from the FlightSafety Foundation
NAC is delighted to announce that after having undergone three successful annual audits, they are the first operator in the world have been awarded GOLD BARS status from the FlightSafety foundation.
The Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) is the single aviation safety standard for the resource sector. Aircraft operators working for BARS member organizations worldwide will be required to adhere to the new standard, which supplements and frequently exceeds existing national and international regulations. The BAR Standard is based on best practice aviation safety principles and tailored to the needs of the resource sector. The BAR Standard uses a new risk-based model framed around the actual threats to aviation operations and directly linking these to associated controls and recovery/mitigation measures. The standard was developed by the Flight Safety Foundation in collaboration with the resource sector and has drawn from the collective experience of numerous companies, including some of the major global resources companies.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have been the first operator to achieve this exciting GOLD standard. Our excellent team of people at NAC has worked extremely hard to meet and exceed the most exacting safety standards demanded by our customers across our operations. Customers can use our services with full confidence that they are in the safest hands in the industry.” said NAC CEO Martin Banner.
Cessna Light Jet Production Stalls
Doolittle Raiders Share 'Last' Public Meeting
Of eighty men, three of the four surviving members of Doolittle's Raiders, all now living their ninth decade, met publicly -- and, they say, for the final time -- during the week of April 15, at Eglin Air Force Base, to commemorate the 71st anniversary of their April 18, 1942, one-way mission to bomb Japan. The three members present were 97-year-old Col. Richard Cole; 91-year-old Staff Sergeant David Thatcher; and 93-year-old Lt. Col. Edward Saylor. The fourth surviving member, 93-year-old Lt. Col. Robert Hite, was unable to attend the reunion. All of the men had trained for the mission at Eglin in the winter of 1942. And this year Cole was afforded a flight (and reportedly flew a good portion of it, including the landing) in a B-25 owned by Larry Kelley. The men say they toast each year to the comrades who shared their mission and have since passed. But they have decided a special toast will now come sooner than originally planned.
Over the years, the men have made and kept a case of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet is inscribed twice with the name of a raider. One inscription is upright, the other upside-down. Each year, the surviving men toast to the comrades they've lost and turn upside-down the goblet of any man lost that year. But they have also kept a bottle of Hennessy cognac from 1896, the year their leader James Doolittle was born. The bottle was meant to remain untouched and saved for the last two surviving members. But they have decided to change that. According to a story filed from the gathering by The Associated Press, the men have decided that later this year they will meet together privately and, all four, share a drink from that bottle.
Pilot's Post now average more than 1,000 hits per day and with advertising packages of R500, R1,000, R1,500 and R2,000 per month and classified adverts at R350 makes it the most cost effective way to reach your target market. For more information phone Willie on 082 442 8815 or E-mail willieb@pilotspost.com
11 May. SAPFA Fun Rally & Precision Qualifier, Krugersdorp. E-mail: maryd@expandingbranding.co.za
11 May. SAAF Museum Airshow, AFB Waterkloof. E-mail: oconnormike@webmail.co.za
17-18 May. Botswana International Airshow. E-mail gknipe@work.co.bw
Mark Mansfield reports
South African Airways (SAA), the state owned airline recently announced the appointment of Mr. Monwabisi Kalawe as its acting chief executive officer (CEO), who never made the media briefing announcing his appointment as CEO, as he was engaged in other matters.
This comes after the challenge laid down to the SAA board of directors to by the minister of Public Enterprises, Mr. Malusi Gigaba, to continue to focus on improving SAA's governance.
“ The Board worked tirelessly to find a suitable leader who will lead by example and stabilise the internal environment whilst working towards ensuring good corporate governance within the airline,” said Ms. Dudu Myeni, acting Chairperson of the SAA Board of Directors. “Mr. Kalawe will also lead SAA, as a strategic national asset, towards contributing to the socio-economic development of the country and the continent.”
Mr. Kalawe began his career at the state owned company, Eskom, before joining Nestle South Africa for a few years and then returning to Eskom for three years. No stranger to the aviation industry,Kalawe also worked at Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) for six years before leading Total Facilities Management Company (TFMC) as Chief Operating Officer and Denel as Chief Executive Officer.
After concluding his role as Country Managing Director of Compass Group for five years and more recently as Executive Chairperson, Mr. Kalawe will join SAA in the next few weeks.
The Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) is the single aviation safety standard for the resource sector. Aircraft operators working for BARS member organizations worldwide will be required to adhere to the new standard, which supplements and frequently exceeds existing national and international regulations. The BAR Standard is based on best practice aviation safety principles and tailored to the needs of the resource sector. The BAR Standard uses a new risk-based model framed around the actual threats to aviation operations and directly linking these to associated controls and recovery/mitigation measures. The standard was developed by the Flight Safety Foundation in collaboration with the resource sector and has drawn from the collective experience of numerous companies, including some of the major global resources companies.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have been the first operator to achieve this exciting GOLD standard. Our excellent team of people at NAC has worked extremely hard to meet and exceed the most exacting safety standards demanded by our customers across our operations. Customers can use our services with full confidence that they are in the safest hands in the industry.” said NAC CEO Martin Banner.
Cessna Light Jet Production Stalls
Of eighty men, three of the four surviving members of Doolittle's Raiders, all now living their ninth decade, met publicly -- and, they say, for the final time -- during the week of April 15, at Eglin Air Force Base, to commemorate the 71st anniversary of their April 18, 1942, one-way mission to bomb Japan. The three members present were 97-year-old Col. Richard Cole; 91-year-old Staff Sergeant David Thatcher; and 93-year-old Lt. Col. Edward Saylor. The fourth surviving member, 93-year-old Lt. Col. Robert Hite, was unable to attend the reunion. All of the men had trained for the mission at Eglin in the winter of 1942. And this year Cole was afforded a flight (and reportedly flew a good portion of it, including the landing) in a B-25 owned by Larry Kelley. The men say they toast each year to the comrades who shared their mission and have since passed. But they have decided a special toast will now come sooner than originally planned.
Over the years, the men have made and kept a case of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet is inscribed twice with the name of a raider. One inscription is upright, the other upside-down. Each year, the surviving men toast to the comrades they've lost and turn upside-down the goblet of any man lost that year. But they have also kept a bottle of Hennessy cognac from 1896, the year their leader James Doolittle was born. The bottle was meant to remain untouched and saved for the last two surviving members. But they have decided to change that. According to a story filed from the gathering by The Associated Press, the men have decided that later this year they will meet together privately and, all four, share a drink from that bottle.
 |
 |
Copyright © 2024 Pilot's Post PTY Ltd
The information, views and opinions by the authors contributing to Pilot’s Post are not necessarily those of the editor or other writers at Pilot’s Post.