Strange Business in Swellendam
Jim Davis has a passion for instructing. He has been training civil and military pilots, in the air and on the ground for 50 years. His other passion is writing, which he studied at Curtin University in Perth. You can see, and buy, his two pilot text books PPL and Flight Tests at www.jimdavis.com.au
A pilot’s logbook is far more that just a record of dates, times, places and flights; it is also a history of a pilot’s flying career and a chronicle of the lessons learnt that makes them the aviator they are today. Jim Davis takes a look back through his own logbooks, and records the incidents that have shaped his approach to flying.
I would like to report that my little flying school in George was expanding, and so it was. But not because it had so much business, but rather because it had so little.
I was inclined to ignore the economics of running a flight school. Fuel was dirtcheap, maintenance was minimal because my Cherokee was brand-new and the thought of putting money aside for engine overhauls didn’t enter my mind. Here’s the sort of stupid thing I would do.
I flew west for one hour and 15 minutes to the pretty little town of Swellendam. This was in order to do two hours of instruction in Tiger Moth ZS-DND, and one hour in a delightful little Piper Cruiser, ZS-BHZ.
Total income for the venture was R12. And my
