For the aviation fans

[Velouria]

I think  Luxavia took over a lot of SAA 747-SP's - flew many times in the 80's and early 90's  - cheaper than SAA

 

 

 

It was one class arrangement BUT if you were in the know you could sit upstairs for an extra R70

 

First time I flew with them was on an old SAA 707 - that was my 707 experience. Stopped at least twice for fuel to get to Luxemburg

 

Exactly how they ended up with the SAA stock I can't say but because they were Luxembourg registered they could fly over Africa and not around the bulge like SAA had to do

"Luxavia was formed in 1971 by Trek Airways of South Africa. Trek feared, and rightly so, that South African aircraft, due to the country's apartheid policy, would be banned from flying over African countries. Luxavia took over Trek's licenses and were handed the Luxembourg landing rights in South Africa, thus being able to continue the flights between Luxembourg and Johannesburg. Cooperating with Luxair, aircraft were painted in Luxair colours and registered with that airline. Eventually, Trek titles were again to be seen on the timetables alongside Luxavia's. Luxavia/Trek ceased operations in 1994, after Trek's new venture, Flitestar, had failed to compete successfully with South African Airways on domestic routes."

 

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/luxavia.htm

[Bateleur1]

Flightstar did not last long. Was it not one of their aircraft that lost an engine on take-off in Cape Town?

 

Nope sorry it was Nationwide ...

 

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/plane-loses-engine-during-take-off-377999

Edited March 7, 2019 by Bateleur1

[SwissVan]

Flightstar did not last long. Was it not one of their aircraft that lost an engine on take-off in Cape Town?

Yep 737

 

Vernon Bricknel I think was the owner of NW (edited)

VB a one time customer of the company I worked for in SA.... what a puss

Edited March 7, 2019 by SwissVan

[SwissVan]

Flightstar did not last long. Was it not one of their aircraft that lost an engine on take-off in Cape Town?

 

Nope sorry it was Nationwide ...

 

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/plane-loses-engine-during-take-off-377999

Crew did a good job

I believe the captain on that flight came from Dundee in northern natal and flew piss cats for the same company my dad was working for....

[Velouria]

An interesting read about Flitestar, and how SAA bullied them into submission:

 

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/aircraft/flitestar.html

 

Key bits:

 

Flitestar took 25% of the domestic market and were carrying loads of 63%. Unfortunately due to the nature of the beast, SAA still controlled many things and chose to embark on a campaign of dirty tricks.

 

• Flitestar used the same ticketing system (SAFARI) and SAA started making Flitestar flights appear full in the system so that agents booked PAX on SAA instead.
• SAA aircraft tried to delay Flitestar departures by blocking Flitestar aircraft on push-back. Air Traffic Control always gave SAA preference.
• Luxavia’s B747 was leased from SAA and the A320 maintenance was done by SAA and these costs began to rocket.
• SAA helped their “token” opposition Comair to acquire B737s for next to nothing.
• SAA increased its commissions to travel agents and extended its frequent flyer programme to its domestic services.

[Bateleur1]

 

An interesting read about Flitestar, and how SAA bullied them into submission:

 

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/aircraft/flitestar.html

 

Key bits:

 

Flitestar took 25% of the domestic market and were carrying loads of 63%. Unfortunately due to the nature of the beast, SAA still controlled many things and chose to embark on a campaign of dirty tricks.

 

• Flitestar used the same ticketing system (SAFARI) and SAA started making Flitestar flights appear full in the system so that agents booked PAX on SAA instead.
• SAA aircraft tried to delay Flitestar departures by blocking Flitestar aircraft on push-back. Air Traffic Control always gave SAA preference.
• Luxavia’s B747 was leased from SAA and the A320 maintenance was done by SAA and these costs began to rocket.
• SAA helped their “token” opposition Comair to acquire B737s for next to nothing.
• SAA increased its commissions to travel agents and extended its frequent flyer programme to its domestic services.

 

 

I remember quite a few years ago on a Comair (think it was BA) flight we were due to take off before a SAA flight but in the pushback we also got held up and had to wait for the SAA flight which just like us was on their way to CPT.  Captain still made a remark about the hold up.  We somewhere overtook that aircraft in the air and landed before the SAA flight.  As we parked in CPT we had to wait for the stairs again and the SAA flight passangers got off before us.

[Spokey]

All these flights in Boeings and heavy metal stuff..... pffft

Who has flown in a “push pull” or a Super Cub

Or even driven (taxied) one

Yup, flown a Super Cub and a Tiger Moth, as well as a few others, perhaps of interest.....two of Douglas’s finest, DC4 and DC8.

[Spokey]

Big in the Vietnam War as well, close air support

 

 

Which being me onto this magnificent flying machine that refuses to go down or become redundant, the A10 Warthog

 

 

One of my favourite aeroplanes.

 

When I was flying into Bagram in Gulf War 2, (the sequel) these guys used to come and sit off our wings, behind and below. Was nice to know they were there if the bollox kicked off from the ground as we came in!

[Spokey]

It has the same engines as the baby Gucci Jet I am now involved with. Great performance low down, but at 25000 ft and above the engines are very sensitive to higher than normal outside air temperature, the aerie becomes a lazy little tart!!!

[Spokey]

Since I am in the hotel lounge in the sandpit, enjoying a nice glass of red and as far removed from MTB as I could be, here are a few pics to share, I shall keep it brief, as when bored in the hotel, I could go on a bit

 

One of my all time favourites.

 

Back in 1986 when the US attacked Benghazi in Libya, I was a young restaurant manager in the UK. On the night the top brass from Lakenheath had dinner in our establishment. It was the F111’s that did the dirty, but these guys did the recon.

Edited March 7, 2019 by Spokey

[Spokey]

 

I have been lucky enough to see Enterprise on the USS Intrepid in New York ( a great museum) but seeing Discovery at the Udvar Hazy in Washington was incredible. The burn marks and heat damage to the airframe had me staring in awe at the machine and marvelling at the courage of the people who flew these missions.

[SwissVan]

Yup, flown a Super Cub and a Tiger Moth, as well as a few others, perhaps of interest.....two of Douglas’s finest, DC4 and DC8.

Nice ????

When I was an appy the boss used to look after a whole range of supercubs and offer to take as for a circuit / check flight in them.

One particular windy day on TO he rotated very quickly and I remember thinking that we were not moving forwards...and never going to reach the end of the runway LOL

[Spokey]

 

This was at Camp Bastion (Forward Operating Base) in Afghanistan, 2009, view from the tower. My last gig on the old DC8 freighters before joing the Gucci Jet Set! We were a mixed bag crew, SA, UK, French, Zimbo. We flew in from RAF Brize Norton. I arranged with the boss to bring magazines and newspapers from the UK for the Control Tower staff. In addition after our fuel stop in Oman, we would pick up fresh milk for the Poms to enjoy with their tea. Once I started doing the milk thing we got “ Milk run, cleared to land “ on the radio as opposed to the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) callsign.

 

I think this was perhaps my best job in aviation!

[Spokey]

Nice

When I was an appy the boss used to look after a whole range of supercubs and offer to take as for a circuit / check flight in them.

One particular windy day on TO he rotated very quickly and I remember thinking that we were not moving forwards...and never going to reach the end of the runway LOL

In the late 90’s I flew a Kit Fox from Grand Central to Lusaka with a tech stop in Bulawayo. The cars on the motorway north of Pietersburg were passing us due to the head wind.....!

 

Edited due to the vin rouge inhibiting my spelling!

Edited March 7, 2019 by Spokey

[Bonus]

We flew down to Durban for a weekend for my 50th birthday. First time I'd ever flown that particular flight and, being ex ESCOM, I loved looking at the power stations from the air.

[Bonus]

Since I am in the hotel lounge in the sandpit, enjoying a nice glass of red and as far removed from MTB as I could be, here are a few pics to share, I shall keep it brief, as when bored in the hotel, I could go on a bit

C5BAE115-DE8B-4BEF-9909-8F93F6D8FAAA.jpeg

One of my all time favourites.

Back in 1986 when the US attacked Benghazi in Libya, I was a young restaurant manager in the UK. On the night the top brass from Lakenheath had dinner in our establishment. It was the F111’s that did the dirty, but these guys did the recon.

I touched the SR-71 on the Intrepid in NYC. It says "don't" but I thought "balls".