A DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY
It is February 4, 1920. The scene is Brooklands Aerodrome in England and it is a typically bleak and grey winter’s day. Two young airmen, warmly clad in heavy flying suits and helmets, climb into an ungainly looking biplane. With a loud roar the biplane’s two 350 h.p. Rolls Royce engines come to life, and the machine trundles away across the airfield. Gaining momentum, it lifts gently from the ground and is soon no more than a vanishing speck in the sky. The date is now March 20, 1920, and seven weeks have gone by since the biplane left Brooklands. The scene has changed. We are now amongst hundreds of spectators waiting impatiently at Youngsfield in the shade of Table Mountain. We peer expectantly into the afternoon sky as the crowd buzzes with excitement and speculation. Suddenly the cry goes up. “There they are!” The tiny speck grows bigger and bigger until its outline is clearly visible. It is not the same aicraft which had taken off from Brooklands. That was a Vickers Vimy. This is a DH9. Yet, as the machine jolts to a halt and the crowd swarms forward we can see that the pilots are the same. We instantly recognise the lean, angular features of Pierre van Ryneveld and the cheerful smile of his companion Quintin Brand. The crowd is milling about the aircraft offering its congratulations to the two airmen. Memories fade on a sea of happy faces. That was 50 years ago. Sir Pierre van Ryneveld is now in his late seventies. Sir Quintin Brand died last year, at the age of 76. Jet Airliners are streaking back and forth between Britain and South Africa in a matter of a mere 13 hours. It is a far cry from the 44 days and two crash landings which the two pioneers endured in their attempt to cover the thousands of miles to Cape Town. Africa’s skyways have been tamed, and the men who tamed them have grown old or passed on. The year 1970 not only sees the fiftieth anniversary of Van Ryneveld and Brand’s epic flight to the Cape but also the fiftieth anniversary of the South African Air Force. Both anniversaries are connected, and Sir Pierre van Ryneveld is the connection. It was he who was responsible for starting the S.A.A.F. ———- U.S. SUPER JET The 1,800 m.p.h. supersonic jet being designed in the United States took a step forward this month when work started on the production of certain types for the prototype aircraft, which is to fly late in 1972. The United States SST is due to enter service in 1978 – five years later than its Anglo French rival, the Concorde. ———- S.A.A. HOLDS FIRST AUSTRALASIA MEETING The first South African Airways’ local area sales conference was held in Sydney during January to consider the 1970/71 advertising and publicity and to plan general sales promotion. Picture shows delegates attending the meeting, left to right: Noel Marchiandi, Interstate Sales Manager; Rob Oakman, District Sales Manager for N.S.W.; Cart Craffert, Regional Manager for Australasia and Far East; Fred Barkhuizen, Manager South African Tourist Corporation; Kevin McIntyre, District Sales Manager, Victoria and Tasmania; Bez Bezuidenhout, Manager Western Australia; Brian Robertson, District Sales Manager, New Zealand; Tom Hopkins, District Sales Manager, Western Australia; Justin White, Managing Director, Amalgamated Public Relations (Pty.) Ltd.; Allan Dexter, also of A.P.R.; and Les Lewis, Managing Director, Hawkins Lewis (Pty.) Ltd. ———- CAPE TO LONDON Another chapter was written into the annals of South African aviation history on February 1, last, when the first flight of S.A.A.’s new direct service from Cape Town to London took off from D. F. Malan Airport. Thousands of spectators turned out to watch the historic event. The restaurant, observation deck and main concourse of the airport building were crowded more than an hour before the giant Boeing 707 was due to take off for London. The aircraft landed with a full compliment of 139 passengers from Johannesburg and soon afterwards took off for London. As the aircraft roared down the runway the large crowd estimated at more than 20,000 cheered enthusiastically. ———- 1.2 MILLION FLY LONDON-PARIS Busiest single route for international flights from U.K. during 1968 was London-Paris. Nearly 1.2 million passengers used it. Second busiest individual route was London-New York, with 850,000 passengers. Nearly 16 million passengers flew into or out of Britain on international flights during the year. This represents an increase of 8.4 per cent over the 1967 figure of 14.7 million passengers. More than a million passengers were carried on routes between U.K. and each of six countries – Spain (21/4 million), France (1.9 million), U.S.A. (1.6 million), Republic of Ireland (1.4 million), West Germany (1.1 million) and the Netherlands (1 million). ———- MAN IN A HURRY Boeing 727 pilot, Captain Meyer Botha, is a man in a hurry. Not content with flashing across the country at the controls of the big trijets, the dapper and sartorially elegant Captain Botha has established himself as one of the country’s leading racing drivers. So successful has he been on the racing circuits that he was appointed in 1969 as South Africa’s representative in the World Formula Vee Championship held at Daytona, U.S.A. Captain Botha’s interest in motor racing started about 10 years ago, when he first entered a race in his own Austin Healey. From this car he progressed to an Alfa-Romao, eventually becoming the runner-up in the South African Sports Car G.T. Championship. After a temporary retirement from the racing scene in 1962, he returned to the track three years later to become a star of Formula Vee racing. One of his keenest supporters and helpers at the time was Mr. Louis Trichardt, an ex-S.A.A. man. Formula Vee racing is a true test of a driver’s skill because all the cars in each race are evenly matched. They are all powered by a Volkswagen engine with a restricted formula. Financial backing plays less of a part in this type of racing than it does in Formula I racing and the emphasis is purely on the driver’s ability.Captain Botha streaks down the straight in his Formula Ford.
Luck deserted Captain Botha during the Formula Vee Championship at Daytona and his attempt to win the event ended in a crash. Returning to South Africa, however, he continued on his winning way, establishing a world record with a string of 14 consecutive wins. Outstanding as this achievement was it did not enable him to capture the Formula Vee championship. His flying duties with S.A.A. saw to that. Captain Botha’s racing career is constantly hampered by the demands of his profession and he is often unable to compete at various meetings owing to flying commitments. However, he is hoping that his profession will be an asset in future, as air freighting has become a popular method of transporting racing cars from one centre to another. Captain Botha participates in races at cities as far apart as Cape Town and Bulawayo and transport costs are extremely high. Perhaps we might see a Team S.A.A. in future races. Captain Botha has now turned his attentions to Formula Ford and Production Car racing. The Formula Ford cars, depending on the gearing, can reach speeds of up to 138 m.p.h. They are built on the same lines as Formula Vee cars, but are powered by 1600 c.c. cross flow standard Cortina engines. They are also a lot more expensive than Formula Vee racers. Captain Botha won the first two races he entered in this class, bringing him a total of 16 wins in less than a year. His wins at Kumalo (Bulawayo) and East London were all the more meritorious in that they were achieved in a new car and on unfamiliar new tracks. The new Kumalo track has been firmly established as one of Captain Botha’s favourites. Captain Botha’s campaign as a Production Car racer got off to a sparkling start on February 3, 1970, when he won his class in the “Star” Production Car Championship Race by a full 16 seconds. In this race he was behind the wheel of an Austin Cooper S. Our flyer in more ways than one claims that he is a consistent rather than a spectacular driver and he attributes his success on the track to his flying experience with S.A.A. This, he says, affords him “a built-in safety factor” which prevents him from taking a chance. A bachelor, his plans for the future centre on motor racing. His ambition is to enter the world of Formula I racing, provided he can get the righ’~ type of sponsorship. Let’s hope he makes it! ———-OBITUARY
We mourn the passing away of a friend who’s motto in life was “Service to others! He is the late Mr. P. J. (Paul) Marais, Technical Assistant at Jan Smuts Airport who died on New Years Day at the age of 50. Paul joined S.A.A. at Germiston during 1940 and was in the Technical Section throughout his career. As a point of interest, he was responsible for various excellent ideas to facilitate work in his section and was actively concerned with the introduction of microfilming equipment in the Engineering Departmem. He served as board member in many social and public bodies and at the time of his death was inter alia, Chairman of S.A.A. Salstaff Group (also served on the Executive Committee of Salstaff), Member of the S.A.A. Technical School Advisory Committee, Member of the Kempton Park High School Parents and Teachers Association and also a member of his church’s council. Paul’s sudden passing away came as a great shock to us all and our sincere condolences go to his bereaved wife, two daughters and son. ———- ZS-SAI NAMED On January 28 the latest model 707C in S.A.A.’s Boeing fleet was officially named “East London” during a short demonstration flight from Ben Schoeman Airport. The Hon. H. E. Martins, Deputy Minister of Transport, was the main speaker while Councillor J. E. W. Glass, the Mayor of East London, presented S.A.A. with a plaque bearing the city’s coat-of-arms for mounting in the aircraft. Many of East London’s foremost citizens were on board for the occasion and from all accounts they thoroughly enjoyed the flight as well as the refreshments and luncheon served in the air. The Deputy Minister stated inter alia: “We are dedicated to the task of running an airline which, although Governmentowned, is economically viable and can hold its own, even in the face of fierce competition from the world’s best. In saying this, I am not merely making an appeal to South African sentiment, because I am only too well aware that in the market phase it is quality that counts and that where quality is absent, the voice of sentiment is not very persuasive. I venture to commend our services to you because it is my firm belief that what S.A.A. has to offer to both the business community and tourists can more than stand critical comparison with what others have to offer.” The Deputy Minister of Transport, the Hon. H. E. Martins (left), receives the plaque from the Mayor. ———- S.A.A. IN ISRAEL Seen here in happy mood during the official opening of S.A.A.’s offices in Tel Aviv on January 6, 1970, are from left to right: Mr. H. Kirsch, Managing Director, Peltours Head Office, Tel Aviv: Mr. J. C. Marais, S.A.A., Sales and Development Manager, Johannesburg; Mr. S. Davidowitz, D.S.M./Tel Aviv; Mr. Hashavia, an Israeli Travel Agent; Mr. U. Aylon, S.A.A.’s Israel Advertising Agent, and Mr. A. Elberg, Manager, P’eltours, Haifa. ———- MANAGER FOR RHODESIA Meet Mr. W. M. (Bill) Liversedge who became South African Airways’ Manager for Rhodesia with effect from January 1, 1970. Bill joined S.A.A. on October 31, 1964,as Sales Representative, Salisbury and became District Sales Manager, Salisbury, on November 1, 1967. He was born in Leeds in the United Kingdom on October 12, 1927, and is married to a South African. They have three daughters of 10, 8 and 6 years of age. We congratulate Bill on his appointment and wish him a happy term of office. - ———-FEATURETTE
PILOT’S OWN PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMME. On a recent flight from Chicago to New York, the Aviation News Digest Editor experienced the following unique public relations effort served up by an enterprising American Airlines pilot and writes as follows: “He treated his passengers as a minister does his flock – walking up and down the aisles chatting with them before take-off, answering their questions, exuding good will. He kept us posted regarding take-off (which in this instance wasn’t too long a wait) and, as the flight progressed, filled us in on points, of interest as well as giving us points of merit regarding the airline he represented. High spot came as we passed over a small Ohio city where he told the story of a teenager “cutting his wings” in a small monoplane while dreaming of one day guiding a commercial giant through the sky. The teenager was himself, of course! When we deplaned, he stood cheerfully at the exit to send us on our way with a personal handshake, a friendly comment and smile. Passengers were imbued with the feeling of having been on an exceptional flight. All of us would enjoy riding with him again – even if he told the same stories! Whoever thinks people no longer take pride in their work should meet this fellow.” ———- 747′S MORE SILENT Tests with Boeing 747 jets show them to be quieter than other jets. The new aircraft is significantly quieter in the landing phase – which is the worst noise offender at many airports, although not at Jan Smuts Airport. This noise reduction has been achieved even though the 747 is more than twice as heavy, and has engines more than twice the power of the Boeing 707. ———- POD TESTS A five-engined Boeing 747 jet is being test flown by the Boeing Company to evaluate the possibility of carrying spare engines in pods beneath the wing. A similar system is used for Boeing 707 jets. ———-
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