Jack Taylor Airfield FAKR Fly-In and movie show 27.03.2021

By Willie Bodenstein



Jack Taylor Airfield was founded in the early nineteen sixties by Mr. Jack Taylor, who landed his Piper Tripacer ZS-CEX at Krugersdorp. He was a Krugersdorp resident and businessman and needed to commute from Krugersdorp where there was no airfield at the time. The Flying Club was formed in the late nineteen sixties as a result of more pilots and aircraft wanting a base at Krugersdorp.


The Club's AGM in progress on Saturday morning. The good news is that the restaurant is again open for meals.

The Club has grown significantly over the years and it now has around 240 members including student members from the 3 Flying Schools. The club prides itself with the promotion of an environment of friendliness and encourages all members to participate in the numerous social activities it hosts.

Neil Bowden, of the annual Airventure Tours to Oshkosh fame, Chapter 322 of the Experimental Aircraft Association SA chairman as well as a member of the Krugersdorp Flying Club came up with the idea to organize a Fly-In/ Drive in Movie nigh to Jack Taylor airfield on Saturday 27 March.


The idea was that people will afterwards be able to camp at the field and depart the next morning. However, because of certain logistical and other problems, camping was not allowed. The movie, featuring aviation legend Bob Hoover, did take place.


I really wanted to attend but because of publication deadlines, unfortunately could not.

However, when my good friend Dale de Klerk, owner of Alpi Aviation Flight School phoned to tell me that he would be flying Roy De Staedler's recently completed Flying Flea from Orient to FAKR and had also arranged for six other classic single seaters to be there come hell or wild water could not keep me away.


Dale landing after his short flight from Orient.


Dale and Roy.

Roy's Henri Mignet designed Flying Flea or "Louse of the sky" took to the sky with Dale at the controls after an almost 18-year build. The original had its first flight in 1933. The odd name comes from the French nickname for the Ford Model T automobile: Pou de la Route, or "Louse of the Road", because Henry Ford's economy car was so common. Henri Mignet dreamed of creating a Model T of the air, an airplane for the common man.

Between 1920 and 1928, Mignet built various prototypes from the HM.1 to the HM.8, a monoplane that was the first of his designs that really flew. Instructions for building the HM.8 Avionnette were published by Mignet in a self-published book. But more about the Flea in a future report to be published in Pilot's Post.


Peter Lastrucci's Nieuport 11 replica.

Although Peter Lastrucci's Nieuport 11 replica has now been issued with its Authority to Fly. However, problems with him being signed out on the type she only did a taxi run before joining the rest of the single seaters.


The Nieuport, far right in the line up of classic single seaters. Dale's Cvjetkovic Mini Ace CA-61, the oldest airworthy home build in SA extreme left, Patrick Watson's VP and Roy's Flying Flea, the only one in SA and one of only four airworthy examples in the world.

The Nieuport 11 features a "V"-strut sesquiplane layout, a single-seat open cockpit, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its flying surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. The kit is made up of twelve sub-kits. More also on the Nieuport in a future report to follow.


Andre Potgieter flew his diminutive VP from Brits. The VP had its first flight on 8 January 1978 and currently has approximately 1000 hours on the hobbs. The VP is powered by a 1700cc VW Beetle engine. Andre's VP is the only one in the country that has an enclosed canopy.


Patrick Watson's absolutely stunning VP is based at FAKR.

The Evans VP-1, designed in 1966, is an all-wood, strut-braced open-cockpit single-seat low-wing designed to be simple to build and safe to fly. The VP-1 was designed specifically to utilize a modified VW Type 1 automotive engine from the VW Beetle. Performance and appearance are of secondary importance.


Gavin Edward's Springs based Teeny Two in its SAAF Pilatus PC7 colour scheme actually looks the part and attracted a lot of attention.
The Parker Teenie Two that had its first flight in 1969 was conceived as an airplane that could be built using only hand tools, possessed by the average person in the early 1970s. The philosophy was Keep It Simple. It's "Keep It Simple" design was intended to be within reach of someone with no previous experience in building an airplane, or in metal work.

Power is derived from the ubiquitous air-cooled Volkswagen automobile engine with modifications laid out by the designer in the plans.

A surprisingly large number of other aircraft visited. Perhaps the word has spread that the restaurant has re-opened and was serving a well-priced, delicious breakfast.

Among the visitors were………………..








Four Vans RVs from Springs.


Dickie Jacobs in his Jodel……………


and…………..Edzard Verseput in the Sling 4

Despite its reputation as a challenging field to land on, FAKR has always been and still remains one of the friendliest fields to visit. The movie night I'm glad to say was a huge success with more than seventy members, friends and families attending. Thanks to Neil Bowden for a brilliant initiative!

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