Air News On Appointments Of Highly Experienced Personnel By Aviation Organizations & Empress Of Suva Airborne DC-6B

Air News On Appointments Of Highly Experienced Personnel By Aviation Organizations & Empress Of Suva Airborne DC-6B

Well known South African Aviation personality, Dave Andrew has been appointed Managing Director of Safair following the completion of the acquisition of Safair Operations and Safair Lease Finance, Dublin, Ireland-based ASL Aviation Group announced recently.

He will be based in Johannesburg and in addition to his new role, he remains Group Leasing Director.

"Dave is highly respected in the field of activity in which we are involved and brings with him a wealth of knowledge of the industry in Europe and South Africa," said Hugh Flynn, chief executive officer of ASL Aviation Group, when announcing the appointment.

Dave Andrews aviation experience is extensive having worked initially in engineering and maintenance with South African Airways and subsequently with Safair. His career developed over many years with prime responsibility for the placement and trading of aircraft through management of the marketing,contracts,legal and customer services functions both within Safair in South Africa and the ASL Aviation Group in Dubli,Ireland.

The ASL Aviation Group is a significant international group providing awide array of aviation services. The three primary activities of the ASL Aviation Group include: air transportation of passengers and cargo, aviation spares and maintenance support services and aircraft leasing services.

It has a staff of 1200 worldwide, a fleet of about 90 aircraft and an annual turnover of around 400 million Euros. The group's aircraft log approximately 70500 flight hours annually.

IATA To Get A New Director General &CEO

The International Air Transport Associations (IATA) Board of Governors has selected Tony Tyler, CEO of Hong Kong-based Cathy Pacific Airways, in a unanimous decision to fill the post of IATA Director General and CEO following the forthcoming retirement of the current Director General and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani.

The Board will recommend Tyler's appointment to IATAs annual general meeting planned for June 6-8 in Cairo.Tylers duties as the associations head are scheduled to begin on July 1.

"Tyler's leadership of Cathy Pacific through challenging times prepares him well for the job. His knowledge of Asia will help IATA take advantage of opportunities in the industry's largest market. And his global experience gives him the right perspective for our global association," the associations announcement said.

David Bronczek, CEO of FedEx Express and chairman of the IATA Board of Governors said:"Since taking the helm of IATA in 2002, Giovanni rebuilt the association, restored its relevance and set a very high benchmark for its leadership. Finding a successor was a challenging task for Boards search committee.

"We are absolutely confident that Tony is the right person to take the association to even greater heights, "said.

Tyler, 55, has been chief executive of Cathy Pacific since 2007. He joined the Swire Group, parent company of Cathy Pacific, in 1977 and has worked with the group in Hong Kong, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, Japan, Italy and United Kingdom.

He is also chairman of Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited and director of both John Swire & Sons (H.K) Limited and Swire Pacific Limited. From June 2009 to June 2010, Tyler served as chairman of the IATA Board of Governors.

Empress of Suva Airborne

After being earth-bound at Swartkop Airfield,Pretoria,for almost twelve years ,Douglas DC-6B"Empress of Suva" finally took to the sky just before Christmas on an all too brief ferry flight to what is likely to be its final resting place.

The ferry flight to its new home north of Pretoria, already postponed on two occasions, was again in doubts as forecasts of heavy rain threatened to delay the event once more. Landing on a wet and muddy runway was out of the question, but thankfully the wet weather dissipated during the evening beforehand.

The next morning following a final runway inspection, pilot Johann van den Berg gave the final go-ahead to fly. Co-pilot Flip pie Vermeulen was hastily replaced at the last minute by another experienced SAA captain and prop-liner man, Laurie Raath. Coincidently it was Raath who flew with Vermeulen when they delivered the D-6B to Swartkop twelve years earlier.

With the weather playing along-for the time being anyway-the pressure was now on flight engineer Mike Mayers to sort out last minute glitches on the aircraft itself. During the preceding power check on the Friday afternoon, the number one and number four Pratt & Whitney engines on the DC-6 only delivered partial power. A number of fouled plugs on the two big eighteen-cylinder engines were to blame.

Working against time into the early hours of the next morning, the offending plugs had to identified, removed, cleaned and replaced.

The Day Dawns

A menacing thick blanket of fog greeted those who gathered around the aircraft early on the Saturday morning at Swartkop.The crew refueled the aircraft, final checks were made and as soon as the sun broke through the mist, Van den Berg, Raath and Mayer's settled into the cockpit for start-up clearance.

The four Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines coughed into life with their usual rumbling, smoking manner and soon the aircraft taxied o the holding point of Swartkops runway 02. Preceded by Cessna 210 chase aircraft, piloted by Derek Hopkins, the 53-year prop liner lined up for the ever so-crucial take-off.

Flight engineer Mike Mayer's pushed the throttles forward on all four engines and for the last time at Swartkop, all experienced the heavy growl and thunder of more than 8000 horsepower at work.

The DC-6 accelerated smartly down the hill, the nose wheel rotated about a quarter of the way down the runway at 90 knots and amidst much cheering from the onlookers, the DC-6 took to the air at 07:15.

Airborne at last, the landing gear was retracted as she steadily climbed away to the north along the runway heading, still carrying 20 degrees of flap, and trailing four plumes of smoke from the big engine.

Departing Swartkop, ZS-MUL climbed out at 120 knots and then maintained a height of 5500 feet routing to the west of Wonder boom Airport, eventually speeding up to 160 knots ,once the flaps were retracted. Van den Berg and Raath positioned the aircraft to the north of the designated landing strip, while Mayer's kept his hands, eyes and ears on the four power plants at work.

The aircraft was then configured for the approach and with gear down and 20 degrees of flap, a descent and missed approach was initiated. The aircraft was handsomely turned out to the left for a teardrop, affording the crew a quick glance at the 850-metre-long strip.

The crowd which had gathered to witness the DC-6 landing at Drakensberg Truck Manufacturers site, near Walmanstal, were not disappointed as the low flying aircraft roared overhead.

Following one last impressive low fly-past in the opposite direction with the gear up for the photographers, Van den Berg initiated another teardrop and configured the DC-6 for the final landing.

A low and flat approach was made to the airstrip at 95 knots with the gear down carrying a maximum of 50 degrees flap. It was a sight to behold as the large aircraft slowly approached the crowd almost head-on.

The DC-6 was flared over the fence at about 85 knots and with a positive touch down, albeit slightly short, solidly met terra firma. The aircraft bounced once on the main gear, pounced on to the nose-wheel and then settled on all three, running centre-line. Reverse pitch was selected to slow the aircraft down, the aircraft disappearing into a cloud of dust as she rapidly came to a halt.

The aircraft made the complete stop within 500 metre of touching down. As the crowd rushed towards the aircraft, the DC-6 was taxied to her new home in front of the DTM business premises and its four Pratt & Whitney engines shutdown, perhaps for the last time.

The aircrafts ecstatic owners, Witold walus and Willie Muntingh, met the crew at the bottom of the stairs as the appreciative crowd gathered around the aircraft in admiration. Champagne and congratulations were the order of the day as Van den Berg, Raath and Mayer's disembarked.

Among the crowd which welcomed the aircraft were the faithful team of technical workers who had toiled at Swartkop to bring the aircraft back to flying condition.

This two-year-long restoration effort and amazing ferry flight must surely go down as one of the most remarkable aviation achievements in recent years.

At the time of writing only fifteen Douglas DC-6 aircraft remained in operation around the world. This DC-6 will be kept in a running condition and at its new location it will remain, much loved, perhaps to fly again one day.

Readers will find a detailed history on this historic aircraft by visiting website www.dc-6.co.za

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