Training in Port Elizabeth?

[Vince]

Hi

I would like to know if there is a microlight training provider in Port Elizabeth? Did a search on the forum and saw that they were looking for an instructor.
Has this been sorted out as I would like to start training in Port Elizabeth/Uitenhage area.

Regards,
Vincent

[bryan]

They still have not got themselves up and running. Grahamstown Flight school closest and East London Wings Park next. Wings Parl have a very good instructor and their school will finally be registered shortly. It is not the easiest thing to get a flight school registered and we are all hoping that Uitenhage will get there soon
Regards
Bryan
ZU BFR

[Vince]

Thanks Bryan. Grahamstown looks like the best option as East London is a bit far to travel for training but will look into both.

[coastwise]

Hi Vince

If you are planning to start training, I suggest you do it soon as Larry McGillewie from Grahamstown is going away sometime in January for a while.
Larry can be contacted on 0825746102.

[Vince]

Hi Vince

If you are planning to start training, I suggest you do it soon as Larry McGillewie from Grahamstown is going away sometime in January for a while.
Larry can be contacted on 0825746102.

Thanks Coastwise

[Emiel Thysse]

Any changes regarding flight school in Uitenhage.
Thinking bout buying a trike early next year!!! Any help or advice will be apreciated....

[fred stemmett]

Come to the Airfield tomorrow. I will take you flying to see if you like it.

[bryan]

Hi Friend
No change in flight school status.Still only Grahamstown and Wings Park nearest you. Graaff Reinet status unknown. The difficulty is to find an instructor to teach down your way and no registered school there at present. Do not give up . Phone Larry and hear what he has to say
Regards
Bryan Erasmus
ZU BFR
ZU EZA

[fred stemmett]

I was tasked by the Uitenhage Flying Club to set up a Flight School. It is a task riddled with red tape and rules created by the flying fraternity. Firstly it would cost me R30 000 to obtain an instructors rating. This in itself is ludicrous. Secondly, I would have to literally go and live at a Flight School for at least a week to get the rating. Thirdly the instructor who sent me solo in 1999 is prohibited by law to train me in Uitenhage. What possible reason can exist for this?

The rationale(apparently) for all the rules and regulations is safety. Let me pose an open question. Does it do anything to ENSURE safety?Then how come experienced pilots and instructors have accidents. In aircraft which have authorities to fly and bla bla bla. No people. Accidents will happen. No matter how the paranoid think that by writing rules and making pilots jump through hoops they will not. They will.

Let me illustrate how rediculous our flying has become by means of an analogy: I go to my local Harley Dealer. I buy a new Wide Glide. The dealer now informs me that I must belong to a local club. Sorry? He then informs I must belong to the SA Motorcycle Club. Based in Pretoria. And I have to belong to the Harley Davidson section of the SA Motorcycle Club. And if I change from a Wide Glide to a Heritage Soft Tail, I have to go for another license. And my mates who also ride bikes will watch my every move and nail me on the Riding Forums if something should not suit them.

So you know what. I cancelled my cheque and didn't buy the Harley. Why? Cos I am watched enough by Big Brother. I am NOT voluntarily entering another lions den.

I know the Internet flyers will now be up in arms about safety and the image of the sport and bla bla bla. You know what. Soon you won't have a sport to be concerned about because you will have helped legislate it right out of existence.

Like Lennon said "Let it be". Let those who want to venture into the skies do so. It's risky. It's exiting. It's fun. And let the Internet flyers have a forum where they can discuss their Flight Sims on their gaming PCs.

And leave me to ride my Harley. I don't need you or your CAA or your Aeroclub or your Misasa. I exist on my own and I'm happy like that.

I do, by the way have a bike. And no, I don't belong to a bike club.

Let the protectors of their domain enter the arena????

[Tumbleweed]

There's some truth in what you say. Between the paranoia and the established feeling threatened there needs to be some form of balance.

[fred stemmett]

Micro lighting is more regulated in SA than in the USA??

[fred stemmett]

Has the K53 made the roads safer?

[fred stemmett]

Have all the rules and regulations made micro lighting safer?

[bryan]

Rules have been put in place for a reason USUALLY by some pilots who have a fair amount of knowledge. i do NOT always agree with all of them BUT they have saved my bacon acouple of times. By following them I may have saved myself some money and heartache and by breaking them could cost some elses life. You should know having had some minors lately. I bet you would be very pissed off with yourself if you had had a passenger killed or injured if you broke any rules. Therefore wether we be old pilots or recent soloists do what is expected and fly safe!
regards
Bryan

[fred stemmett]

Thanks for your response Bryan. But I respectfully disagree that rules and regulations ensure no deaths. Accidents happen. By the time you are able to fly around, you can fly. Only experience teaches you. Not rules. If the opposite was true experienced instructors would not crash. And they do. Fact is its a dangerous pastime. Like motor racing. And powerboat racing. And many others. My plea is to let me be. I take full responsibility for my flying. And even heavy jets crash. Despite all the safety features. I have been riding bikes for 35 years. Haven't had crashes. Not because of rules but rather because I limit my riding to doing so under as safe conditions as possible. I have also raced road bikes for as long. No crashes. Cos I don't want to crash. Therefore I go a bit slower. Than the guys that win. And I'm happy that way. So what I am saying at the end of the day is that neither you or anyone else is responsible for me. I am. And that responsibility I carry on my own. Both out of a legal point of view as well as a factual point of view. I will accordingly distance myself from the nannies out there. And if I should crash and perish, know that you won't have take any flack wrt to my estate. I can stop flying should I choose. Then I won't go out in flames. Maybe just die a shaky Parkinson's death. Not me bud. I will happily die like my friend Alam Honeyborne who die doing what he was passionate about. It's time for a mind shift.