South Africa

Between the Wright Brother’s first flight in 1903 and the first walk on the moon, only 63 years have elapsed. We have since sent unmanned missions to Mars and built a space station. All these achievements are closely linked to man’s ability to navigate in the airspace available to him.

The safety of pilots and passengers have not been left behind in this rapid process of change.
Constant research and upgrading of navigational aids with built in safety features and constant checking facilities, have kept the skies safer than most roads.

Part of these aviation safety features are the efforts of the people working in a section called Flight Inspection. This is a worldwide organisation that can be found in almost every country that has regular air traffic. South Africa not being the exception…

The safety in South African skies was first regulated in 1947, when the Directorate of Civil Aviation came into existence. In 1949 the first temporary ILS (Instrument Landing System), was installed at Palmietfontein, followed in 1953 by a similar installation at Wingfield Air Base. Flight Inspection in those days was done in a Lockeed Lodestar, belonging to South African Airways. During 1953 and 1954, the two ILS systems were moved to new locations, commonly known today as ” Johannesburg International airport” and “Cape Town International”.

The Department of Transport then purchased its first aircraft, a multi-purpose De Havilland Rapide, which also played a role in flight calibration.

The first dedicated aircraft for flight inspection was a De Havilland “DOVE” purchased in 1953.

In 1957 a Douglas DC3 was purchased for the astonishing amount of ONE Pound from the South African Air force where it was used for VIP transport. A “in-house” system was developed and installed by the Department’s flight inspectors to serve their purpose, and this system was used up to 1992 with minor upgrades in between. It was refurbished with a somewhat newer “in-house” system.

As history writes itself, we come across a few incidences that lighten up a flight inspectors life. One of them being the incident, were two already elderly Dakota pilots flew a flight inspection mission and discovered one of the engines was giving off excess smoke. On closer inspection (by opening the side window to see better, the pilot, being elderly and needing reading glasses) found the cause of the smoke only to be excess oil on the engine. However, in the process of looking out the window his spectacles decided to take flight themselves, leaving behind two pilots, that passed reading glasses around the cockpit in order to land safely at home base. This incident had the result of nicknaming one of the pilots “I can see clearly now”.
New HS-125 Equipment (1971)