AvexAir?

[selwaykid]

Does anyone know if Mike VanGinkle is still around? How about Nick Turvey? I flew with these guys back in the early 70's and haven't heard anything for 10 years or so. thanks

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Yep!:ok:

They're still around and still running Avex along with Chester Chandler.

[cavortingcheetah]

:) But I think tke operation at Rand has entirely closed and that the hub of the Avex Universe is now Grand Central. Last time I spoke with ChiChi he was very well, just retired from SAA, I think. I was with them, Avex, in '76ish.;)

[Sultan Ismail]

Avex is alive and well at Grand Central, old hands will remember Dave Barr who now runs the simulator and is the author of the comm notes that have received accolades even on these 'boards.

Flew with them in December and will be going over again soon to revalidate my SA licence.

They are just a traing organisation, the aircraft are only insured for instructor and pupil, which blew any chance of taking the sprog along.

[Amabokoboko]

Check that, Sultan. I made enquiries about Hire and Fly a few weeks ago and they were more than happy to let me take an aerie up to a grass strip to fetch my old man and little bro'.

[Sultan Ismail]

Amabokoboko

The restriction definitely applied to the training fleet, the 2 Cherokee's 'FOV and 'ELH, but you are quite right there are other aircraft in the fleet, sorry for the misleading info.

[cavortingcheetah]

:) So, the bearded one is still there?:cool:

[GTJDS]

So old Ch Ch Ch Chester Chandler still around I Remember being on board the 747-300 Capetown whith Chester at the helm takeing off from SAL for LHR in the earley hoyrs when at about 15000 feet # 2 hp turbine let go with a big bang so we returned to SAL for a party on SAA. Not a good day though as it was the same day the Heldeberg went down very sad. I remember Mike and Nik very well from my days at FAGM in the earley 70s saw Nic bite the dust in ZS-ZAP at FALA put me off airshows for life.

[cavortingcheetah]

:) GTJDS
I had forgotten that ZAP and the Helderberg went down on the same day. I still feel that the passengers on the 747 SP were poorly served by the nature of the inquiry. They, the passengers and the crew must have known for quite a while that they were going to die. A very unpleasant scenario and while it is not really relevant to this thread, I still feel that SAA covered something up. Was it really a cargo of fireworks?:ugh:

[Sultan Ismail]

cavortingcheetah

Think you will find it was a Combi, and the main deck fire took out the control system duct in the ceiling.

Called for a rethink in the design and I believe SAA took them out of service shortly after, as Combi's that is.

I also remeber the day well, that evening, a Saturday, EAA Chapter 322 had its annual bash at the Lonehill Club, as it was then.

I had met the pilot earlier in the year on a flight from CPT to LHR, in the days when a cockpit visit was still ok.

I agree with you that the real reasons were never openly revealed.

[GTJDS]

No it was the same day that the #2 hp turbine on 747-300 "Capetown" blew up and returned to SAL and the Helderberg went down. ZS-ZAP crashed at Lanseria around 1975 if i remember correctly.

I am sure SAA did not tell all, the word on the street was that the helderberg had rocket fuel on board.

[cavortingcheetah]

:) That gives me cold shivers on a warm tropical morning.
Am I not correct in thinking that the FO had to go back into, forgive the lack of technical knowledge, I'm quite good on Dornier 328s, upper deck cargo hold with a fire extinguisher and that he could not get the door open far enough to enable him to deal with the catastrophy with which he was confronted.

[Whenwe]

I feel like opening up one of the many "Helderberg" threads and see what comes out again, like that "missing or taped over" tape from SAA.
But then again, I think what the families of Davie and his crew must have gone through and I wonder if it will serve a purpose.
Great respect for Avex and I had my first twin conversion back in the sixties with Mike.
Good luck

[Sultan Ismail]

Let's take another trip down memory lane, as I recall Avex were bought out in the late Sixties by Placo to go out there and teach people to fly. Said people would then buy aeroplanes from Placo.

In the late Sixties I learnt to fly with one of their instructors "out there" on a brand new Piper Cherokee 140B, straight out of the box, at the princely sum of 12 Rand per hour inclusive of instructor.

On Christmas Day 1969 with 47 hours and 30 minutes in the logbook I had my PPL. Earlier on that same day we had gone for a jolly to Port Elizabeth to pick someone up, for some reason PE Tower suffered "radio failure" that day and they brought us in on Verey flares, after we landed the Tower came on wished us Merry Christmas and did we like the fireworks?

Back to Avex, they had better business sense than Placo and eventually the directors effected a buyout and that is the Avex you see today.

And finally, the last flight I did with Avex at Grand Central, one hour with an instructor last December, cost the "princely sum" of 808 Rand.