Went to visit the Huey Hangar yesterday, and things are looking good there. The Huey certainly looks in good shape. The Engineers have done quite a bit of work on in and installed a rotor brake, which in the South Easter will probably be a blessing.
I can't agree more with Goldfish Jack. The Waterfront Company has taken on a very arrogant stance, and they're quick to go to Court, acting like little boys when they can't get their way. They recently lost a High Court battle by trying to prevent 2 "bergies" from hanging out in the V&A. They're also involved in a Court battle with Cosatu, who claims that they're emplying tooo many whites, that they are racist, and not interested in transformation. Now they've lost the battle with the Huey, but it seems that it really is a case of Egos overruling IQ's.
Now that Elvis has been prevented by a way of a High Court Order not to interfere with the Huey business and not to film it, he has moved onto another dirty tricks campaign. He, his baby kid or his cronies, are now into faxing the "adverse" newspaper reports on the Huey to tourism agencies, tour operators, the CAA, Cape Town tourism, The Minister's office, political parties and everyone he can think of, warning them that the Huey is unsafe to fly in and the peope are risking their lives going near it. One can only but wonder what goes through this guys head, and why he is so hell bent on preventing the Huey from flying? I'm convinced that this guy has become obsessive, and he's most certainly acting that way.
Rumour has it that he has bought a Huey, but that the CAA has denied him an import permit. Whether it is true is to be seen. There are reports going around that some Cape Town Helicopter Engineers and a CAA Engineer wil soon be going to the States to examine the Heli for airworthiness. It is currently, as rumour has it, in the restricted category, and will have to be ZU registered when it gets here. Now why in the world would "crazy ol Elvis" want to have a ZU registered Huey when he has been complaining to the CAA that ZU registered aircraft is unsafe because it is not maintained correctly, and poses a serious safety risk. Why would he want to operate a Huey when he is the one that has complained bitterly to the CAA and the Waterfront Company that a Huey is tooo big for the Waterfront Helipad and that it is a noise risk to the serene Cape Town???
This man obviously thinks that if he gets a Huey, he can compete with the Huey Club, make more money and put them out of business. I must say in defence of Gary, that where he has lead, the others have followed. When he took Quaside offices and bought golf carts to shuttle pax from the Quayside to the helipad, so did the others. They all got kiosks and golf carts to do the same. When Gary gets a Huey, now Elvis must also get a Huey. Nothing wrong with fair competition, but what has brought about the sudden change of mind? Initially Elvis and his baby kid could not get enough of telling the newspapers what a piece of sh1t the Huey was, that its not the right machine for Cape Town, that it is going to destroy the goodwill that had been established with the Cape Town residents because of noise, and all the million other issues.
Well all I can say is that at the end of the day, one will have to see if Elvis' Huey will arrive. One will have to see how it will be registered, how it will be maintained etc. One will also have to see if the Watefront Company will go to Court to prevent it from flying from the pad. One will also have to see what Cluver and NAC/Makana are going to say about another Huey down there.
The Huey boys are quite excited about Elvis getting a Huey. All of them seem to think that it will shift the focus off theirs, and hopefully Elvis will stop interfering with theirs and concentrate on making his own work. I personally don't believe that Elvis can compete with the concept created by the Huey Club, and that he will only be a second fiddle to theirs, but who knows? Maybe he will go into combat with Gary's two Hueys, and at the end of the day, may the best man win.
Come on Elvis, get your Huey my China! We want ACTION!!!!