Hangar devastated by fire

[Wart]

After consultaion with the owner and this affected party I can now release details:-

The hangar owned by Wayne and Erica Bond contained 2 business:-
Cato Flying School - instruction on microlight flex-wing and 3-axis
Cato Aerotech - agents and builders of SG Aviation and F1 Evo aircraft

In the hangar was:-
1 x 2 seater Rally (used for demonstration and training)
1 x 2+2 Seater Rally (under construction)
1 x F1 Evo (under construction)
1 x Aquilla II 503 (used for training)
1 x Savage (belonging to Hazard which he was converting on)

The fire appears to have started inside around 20:30 on Monday night and was contained within the hangar. The intense heat totally destroyed the aircraft and the structural integrity of the hangar. Nothing was spared. The Fire brigade were alerted at about 21:10 by a resident at Cato Airfield when the the fire was first found. By the time the fire brigade got there it was far too late (one of the firemen / fire chief did state that it takes about 10 minutes for a house to be destroyed!).

Wayne and Erica have lost a thriving business and their livelihood, as such we (his friends, past students and members of Cato Flying Club) are sending out an appeal to anyone who can assist in what ever manner so that they can manage through this difficult time and to assist in getting their business back up and running as quickly as possible.

Anyone who wishes to make a donation can use the following banking details:-

Bank: Nedbank

Account name: Cato Flying Club

Account No.: 1381405703

Branch code: 138126 (Gale Street – Durban)

Reference: Wayne Donation

You assistance is greatly appreciated.

Herewith a few photos of the hangar and what is left...

I have never seen anything like this and with the kind permission of Wayne Bond I have posted 2 photographs showing the devastation.

[Smiley]

I'm so sorry and sad to hear of this great loss!

I will give my donations soon!!!

[AndyCAP]

MAN! this is so sad! the only thing worse than this is having a fellow aviator killed or permanently injured in a crash

My heart goes out to all the affected people.

I'll contribute to the fund as well

[DieselFan]

Has there been any hints as to the cause of the fire?

[Tower]

Very Sad, Sorry to hear about your loss.

Good Luck

[slysi]

This is really devastating and can only sympathise with the loss of a business and the loss of a number of aeries. I pledge R500 to the fund.

Wart, I have transferred the money this morning please send me your email address so that I can send confirmation of the payment.

Come on guys I challenge those who are able to, to match or better the pledge.

Cheers

Simon

[Wingless Nut]

Words fail me. I feel for all affected and will lift you up in prayer. Will make a contribution, once HR hands me my "lucky packet". So sorry you guys!

[alanmack]

:arrow: :arrow: :cry:

[Coyote]

Devastated to hear about the accident - breaks my heart when a aerie gets hurt (let alone 5)

[Wart]

Eagle1 go to http://microlighters.co.za/viewtopic.php?t=3653 to see what we are trying to do to assist. Maybe you would like to donate a prize for our raffle or flying competitions?

[Oddball]

In response to a request for assistance/ donations from Warren Hill MISASA has replied as follows:

Dear Warren,

I am writing this to you on behalf of the MISASA committee in response to your request for a donation towards the fund assisting Wayne Bond with the loss that he has suffered. As a result of the survey that was conducted last year we have lowered membership subscriptions and thus reduced MISASA's annual budget. This of course does not leave us with much latitude to make anything other than a token donation.

We must also consider that Wayne is running a commercial operation and the allocation of membership money towards such a commercial operation is inappropriate. Nonetheless, as fellow pilots we empathise with his loss and feel that all microlighters would feel the same. This has been demonstrated by the group effort that is being mobilised to help him. In addition, since Wayne was a paid up member last year and has been a loyal MISASA supporter we feel that a contribution is warranted.

In light of these factors MISASA will donate R1,000.00 towards the fund and we wish him best of luck for the fund and recovery. We will deposit this into the account mentioned on the Microlighters internet forum.

Regards

Jay Hyde
MISASA PRO