By Dian Townsend

We arrived at a wet and rainy Kitty Hawk Aerodrome early on Saturday morning. Although a low cloud base over Gauteng made for less than optimal flying conditions, it was still full speed ahead for the EAA Breakfast Fly-In, the first EAA Social Gathering for 2022! 

The first aircraft to grace the skies over Kitty Hawk was the SAPS Pilatus PC-6, although not part of the fly-in attendees, how could we not mention such an awesome aircraft? Upon departure, the PC-6 crew demonstrated the aircraft’s short takeoff capabilities, and rounded off their visit with a nice flyby.

 
The next aircraft in where two ultralights. And from there on, the skies over Kitty Hawk grew busier. Later in the day we had a Piper Tripacer, RV-8 and a gaggle of R44’s roll in. Quite a few more aircraft took to the skies from there on out, both residents and visitors.

 
Some of the true highlights of the day were the various helicopter departures. The squadron of three R44’s departed in unison, making a flyby down the runway after they had circled back. 

At the end of the day, the two turbine beauties, the Alouette II and Alouette III, flown by Charles Fuller and Rob Osner, also departed the airfield, singing their iconic Alouette song! After flying around the circuit, the two Alouettes lined up with the Kitty Hawk runway, and did a truly spectacular formation flyby.  Mighty good way to end off the morning! 

This was one of the first events of 2022, a year that will hopefully see the return of many events, and hopefully in September, airshows with AAD at Waterkloof! Let’s hope that this year truly lives up to expectations, being filled with loads of fun and safe aviation adventures! 

*All activities were undertaken in respect to current health and safety regulations*

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