Safety talk at Kitty Hawk05 August 2014

Pieter Roux

I COULD NEVER BE SO LUCKY AGAIN

• I had my first flying lesson in September 1996

• It was the realisation of a boyhood dream

• I had been building Airfix model airplanes since I can remember

• My dad took me to all air shows within reach

• When I arrived for my first lesson I had already worked through Trevor Thom’s Air Pilot’s Manual Book 1. My instructor did not want to believe me

• For the time I was an average student and soloed at 14 hours. I finished my PPL training in 46 hours

‘Good, clear Knowledgeminimises

Flight Training Hours’

• I started flying on Microsoft Flight Simulator running on MS Dos• MS 95 was superrealistic by comparison• In 2009 I had the privilege to do a jet orientation course on a

B737-200 T-AAJ

I STARTED FLYING BEFORE MY FIRST LESSON

My first flight with my new licence was on 23 Feb 1997 and my passenger on this occasion was my friend Dudley Wilson who got me into flying. He gave me all his flying books. I simply thought I owed him as much. We are still friends to this day.

• In 2002 I became a flight instructor

• 04 April 2002 – Tecnam conversion with Bob Hewing

• 23 August 2003 – Tecnam conversion Pierre Gouws

• 09 October 2003 – partial engine failure on PPL renewal test

• 25 October 2003 – I flew with a man named Charles Dickenson

• Nov 2003 – took the Tecnam (CVO) on a tour of the country, turning at the Bredasdorp (TFDC) Airshow where Pierre Gouws gave a fantastic display in the Tecnam

• My friend Chris van Zyl and I ferried this Tecnam from Jeffreys Bay to Pretoria

• On 07 May 2007 I did a PPL test prep for RAF Wing Commander Tony Harpur, a military attaché at the British High Commission

• He was a Harrier pilot in the Falklands War

• His squadron leader Bob Iveson was the only British pilot shot down in the war. He ejected safely and spent three days hiding in a shepherd’s cabin stocked with bully beef and baked beans, before he was picked up by friendly forces.

• Tony told me a funny story about one of the Harrier’s quirks that could get your head stuck between the ejection seat and the canopy

Becoming an SAAF Reserve Pilot• Recce flying• Communications flying• VIP flying• I invited Cassandra Pringle

on a SAAF training flight. It inspired her to become a pilot. She earned her commercial license in 2015

My first long trip into Africa as a SAAF pilot. Here we are refueling in Bangui, Central African Republic, after flying through the ITCZ

Flying the HS125 700-A ZS-IPE with Craig Gnesin for the first time. He was a fantastic captain and mentor to me.

The FAA Pilot Instructor Manual starts with an explanation of Maslow’s hierarch of needs. Essential stuff to become a good pilot.

Characteristics of Self-Actualized People

•Acceptance and Realism

•Problem-centering

•Spontaneity

•Autonomy and Solitude

•Continued Freshness of Appreciation

•Peak Experiences

I took this picture at Afb Waterkloof after a fantastic flight in the Hawker.