REUNION & RAND AIRSHOW 2013
(Pics by Willie Bodenstein & Joppie Nieman)

Sunday 29 September saw the Orange Tailers converge on Rand Airport. The reunion did not take the form of an official program as such, and the 300 odd crew was scattered over several different venues at Rand Airport. The majority was at the main terminal building where many was involved in the one or the other aviation activity or display. At Capt Flippie Vermeulen’s Hangar 5, another group enjoyed the spectacular display in style, and Capt Karl Jensen and many other pilots were at the EAA auditorium. Over at the SAA Museum Society Joppie Nieman and group of Orange Tailers enjoyed the day under the wing of the B747 “Lebombo”.

The Grand Rand Airshow that was usually held earlier in the year, this year moved to September, and as in previous years people flocked to what must be one of South Africa’s premier airshows. Rand is the only show held on a Sunday. It is also one of very few shows that have no repeats and this is probably one of the reasons why it is so popular.  

ABOVE:  The other reason for it’s popularity is the variety of aircraft and acts, and this year the organisers again pulled out all the stops to entertain the large crowd that attended on a near perfect weather day.


ABOVE: Opening the show was father and son team, Larry and Jason Beamish in the de Havilland Chipmunk. 




 


























ABOVE: Next up were Mike, Ricky, Ben, Pierre and Heynrich who jumped from the Antonov AN2 piloted by Heystek Pretorius. 









ABOVE:  Nigel Hopkins then did an amazing display in the CDC Aviation Quest Kodiak.


ABOVE:  The Grand Rand Airshow is also famous for its mass radial engines formations. On Sunday two T28s, eleven Harvards, one Beach 18 and one DC3 filled the sky.

The Beach 18 and the DC3 at the bottom of this formation of course belongs to our very own Capt Flippie Vermeulen, who sadly could not be at the show due to flying commitments in the East. 



ABOVE:  A new and rare Rand resident is the Beech 18 of Capt Flippie’s Springbok Classic Air. On Sunday it was piloted by two ex SAA legends, Captains Laurie Raath and Brian Stableford. 

 

ABOVE:  It was then time for a Tora Tora attack simulation by the Harvards, followed by a brief display by its younger brother, the T28. Later in the afternoon the show was closed by the T28′s with a spectacular performance.



ABOVE: Stew, Arnie, Ellis and SAA’s Scully Levine – who celebrated his 67th birthday on the day – then flew a lovely display with some new twists in the Eqstra sponsored Harvards. Just love that sound of the Harvard engines.



ABOVE: Johnny Smith who owns a crop dusting business then did an amazing display in his Radio Pulpit EA342 (Sbach) 



ABOVE: The first Jet display of the day was the Impala flown by Mike.
















ABOVE: Nigel in the MX2 and Deon in the Cirrus then flew a brief formation display before Nigel went solo in one of his signature breath taking displays. 

 





 

ABOVE: Two Bell helicopter displays – one featuring a car race - had the crowd on their feet. 


































ABOVE:  We do not see Warren in the SU29 often enough, his display was awesome.















ABOVE: Larry and Jason Beamish were next in the Team Triton Extra and Vans RV 7. Flying two aircraft with totally performance parameters is never easy but they made it look easy.



ABOVE: The SAAF Silver Falcons who last preformed at the SAAF Museum Airshow at AFB Zwartkops was a real scoop for Rand. Team 75 consisting of Majors Beau Skarda, Werner Vermaak and Captains Mark Gentle, Jaques Pohlman and Bok Meyer showed that they have not lost their touch and were a precise as ever. 



ABOVE: Menno in the Mustang with its eerie scream as the wind rushes over the gun barrels always has the crowd in awe.



ABOVE: Scully, Arnie, Sean and with Ellis as soloist also added new twist to their Gabriel sponsored Pitts Special formation display.

ABOVE: Orange Tailers Elbie Cameron (Jock had to do a flight for Mango) and Sinti Hartman at the crew reunion.



















ABOVE: Ex SAA Captains Laurie Raath & Brian Stapleford were at it again, this time in the Springbok Classic Air DC3 that celebrated her 70th birthday just a few days before. 






























ABOVE: Following the stately display of the DC3 was CC Pocock, bush pilot extraordinaire in his Cessna 172. 



ABOVE: Frank King an aircraft maintenance engineer did his second show in his RV7.




ABOVE: Followed by the Goodyear sponsored Pitts Specials flown by Johan, Nigel, Neill and Glen. Ex South African Airways’ Capt Dennis Spence, the team owner, announced that they have been invited to again perform at the El Ain aerobatic airshow in the United Arab Emirates in December 2013. Visit the website at http://www.alainaerobaticshow.com/





ABOVE: Brad and Ellis in the Mazda sponsored Extra’s were next and their high     g-force display always thrill the spectators. Brad then went on to race one of their sponsor’s cars. 



ABOVE: Next up was Charles and Jason in the Yak 52s. 



ABOVE: Elton followed with an awesome display in his Extra 300L



ABOVE: Trevor Warner, Airbus Pilot for SAA (South African Airways) preformed in his first airshow in his homebuilt RV7



ABOVE: Another unusual airshow performer and one much appreciated by all was the Learjet flown by Larry and Pierre. 








ABOVE: Charles, who had earlier, flew with Jason in the Yak formation display then took to the sky in the L39.







ABOVE: The show was closed by another two ship T28 display.

The Rand Airshow as always did not disappoint. The acts followed each other seamlessly. The spectators and media were well cared for and the Air Traffic Controllers were superb. Capital Sounds as always was on top form and the organisation of the show terrific.

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