South Coast pilots pleased to stretch their wings again

Johan Putter of Shelly Beach is among a number of pilots who are incredibly pleased to be back in the air again.
Pilots around the country have endured a long battle to be allowed to fly again and even now they can only do so under strict limitations.

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“It’s good news for pilots and for Margate, especially in a time where there has been so much bad news. We truly appreciate the efforts put in by the South African Civil Aviation Authority to get us flying again,” said Johan, who retired to the coast from Pretoria about 10 years ago.

He explained that at the moment pilots are only allowed to fly solo, no passengers whatsoever.

“We have to spray, sanitise and get special permits which only last seven days before we have to reapply. But still, we’re blessed,” he said. Further to this, they can only ‘touch and go’, meaning they are not permitted to land at any airfields, not even for a coffee break or pit stop, other than their own.

He was joined by his flying friends Rod Norton, Dirk Booysen and Gerret Tromp, on a flight to Port St Johns recently. They took off from Margate Airport in their respective Jabiru J170s 3.3-l engine four-seater light aircraft. (Rod flies a slighter smaller version).

Johan described the flight as fantastic. “We flew there in convoy but split up at Port St Johns. Rod, Dirk and Gerret continued to Hole in the Wall and I turned my plane around and flew back to Margate,” he said. “We need to keep them airborne, and need to fly at least once a month for at least an hour. It’s no good the planes sitting in the hangar with the batteries going flat and pistons getting rusty,” he said.

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