Teens to take to the sky

THE Airplane Factory in Tedderfield Airpark will host 22 learners who will assemble and fly an aircraft during the June-July school holidays.

Carte Blanche’s Derek Watts is very excited about this project and they plan to do a two-part series about the project. There are also loads of radio stations that are joining the trip. The entire trip will be filmed and made into a TV series once they are back.

A venture such as this is not possible without sponsorship and up to now they have been able to source the following:

• Most of the aircraft parts except seats, a paint job and some avionics.

• Familiarisation training for the 100 students (DTM)

• Build training for the 20 learners (DTM)

• A tracking device and Sat Phone with airtime. (Satcom International)

• Flight suits for the crew

• ATC tour (ACSA)

• Flight support services (CFS)

• Landing and overflight permissions (CFS)

• Additional tracking (CFS)

• Tour of the operations Centre (CFS)

• Fundraising contribution (CFS)

Planning the venture is well advanced but since it is really dynamic, things change rapidly.

The current planned route for December 2018 and January 2019, is as follows:

December 1 – Takeoff with Johannesburg flight to Cape Town. 5.5 hours

December 2 – Leave Cape Town for Namibia (Lüderitz) via Upington

December 4 – Leave Lüderitz for Walvis Bay and Windhoek

December 7 – Leave Windhoek for Vic Falls

December 8 – Leave Vic Falls For Kariba

December 10 – Leave Kariba for Blantyre

December 12 – Leave Blantyre for Zanzibar

December 17 – Leave Zanzibar for Nairobi

December 20 – Leave Zanzibar for Entebbe

December 22 – Leave Entebbe for Addis

December 23 – Leave Addis for Khartoum

December 24 – Leave Khartoum for Cairo (Xmas in Cairo)

December 28 – Leave Cairo for Asmara Port of Sudan

December 29 – Leave Asmara to Arusha (Kilimanjaro)

December 30 – Leave Arusha to Pemba (New Year in Pemba)

January 2, 2019 – Leave to Ponta Barra

January 3 – Leave to Durban via Maputo

January 4 – Leave to Cape Town

January 5 – Leave to Johannesburg

Sponsorship for the following will be most welcome:

• Fuel for the trip

• Balance of the PPL hours for the two pilots

• A MPI service during the trip if we go over the 100 hours

• Accommodation for the crew and support team of about 8 people

• Commercial flights for two support members on a commercial operator

• CAA negotiations to make things easier in the various countries

• Accommodation for the 20 teens for three weeks during the build

• Food for the teens during the build

• A drone for the use of the trip

• 4 x Go Pro cameras

• Safety equipment for the build

• Branded T-shirts and caps for the build saying Molo Africa with the sponsor’s branding as well

• Lots of odds and ends

• Loads of moral support and encouragement.

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