The Huey in Capetown (including Huey down)
I have stayed out of the Huey debate that has been going on here as I didnt really know much about it, However that changed last week when I spent a few days in Capetown doing a photo shoot for a friend.
Out of curiosity I decided to wander in to the Huey office there, not saying who I was or my involvement in the industry, and see what they had to say. Well after getting a brochure from the lady sitting behind the desk, a young guy came in from out the back. Dont know his name but was mid 20s and wearing one of their team baseball caps.
I asked him about the operation, like any good customer should. The words out of his mouth absolutely blew me away. I was basically told that they were operating the Hueys thanks to a loophole in the CAA regs, whereby they couldnt charge people for a ride in the Huey, but I could become a member of the "Club" and the ride was for nothing. I said to him that I presumed the cost of joining the club for the day was the same as what it would cost if I had to pay for a ride next door at Sport of any other local operator, and I was given a big grin with a yes.
They are also running an Alouette II, also an ex mil machine, the same way as the Huey. It just blows me away that they can get away with this. Makes a mockery of the efforts of the professional operators down there who are trying to do things the proper way. On that note I have to say I enjoyed flying with Gary from NAC Makana. The EC120 we were using as a camera ship developed a slight problem so we ended up using one of NAC's 206Bs. Nice smooth machine and Gary and Kim were great to work with.
While there we also took Gunship and Mrs Gunship out to dinner at Baia Restaurant. Great people and had an awesome time there.
Regards
Ned