We're going to land this plane

Dave with student Andrew preparing for some sunset landings at Virginia Airport

The runway lights are on as Andrew is on short finals for runway 05 Virginia

The Durban coastline on base as we turn final approach

The colours of the skyye as the sun prepares to set

Into the blue yonder

One beauty doing circuit training from Virginia Airport is that you get to see our magnificent Durban coastline at all times of the day. Stunning morning flights as well as the sunset ones.

Bobby flying with our flight school instructor Dave

The piers off the Durban beachfront

Gathering darkness as the sun goes down on crosswind for runway 05 Virginia

Car petrol gets us there

Refuelling the aircraft is one of the daily tasks running a flight school. Fortunately the Rotax 912 engines of our Sling aircraft take 95 octane unleaded car petrol, so the expense is kept low, it's convenient to refuel and the aircraft are economical to fly. 

Each tankful of petrol is filtered through a special filter designed also to eliminate water, as well as any impurities in the fuel.

Part of the pre-landing checks ensures that there is enough fuel in the aircraft to continue flying in the event of an aborted landing. There should be 45 mins of fuel in reserve for this purpose.

Know your Spots

Know your Spots is an aviation safety awareness campaign launched by our local Civil Aviation Authority this year to improve pilots' awareness of their own limitations - in the same way that leopards cannot change their spots, so we as pilots cannot change our characters, but we can change the way we plan our flights, become aware of our limitations and make adjustments to our planning to reduce the possibility of an incident or accident.

Aviation Safety meeting held in Durban this week by the SA-CAA

Part of the Know your Spots CAA team

Durban Skyye Instructor and CEO Dave with Louis attending the meeting.

View of Durban from above

This is the view from our office in the skyye! Flights to and from Virginia airport, home base of Durban Skyye flight school, are required to route according to the Durban Special Rules regulations which take us around the harbour entrance when routing south.At 1000 ft leaving Virginia and 1500 ft returning.