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What piece of equipment (except your plane, of course) will you be lost without? “Unfortunately, it would probably be my cell phone!”
Who has been your role model or inspiration? “Any person who really loves and has a passion for what they do. It is very easy to see the difference in performance in a person driven by passion as opposed to money or ego.”
Biggest ever wipe-out or downer? “In 1989 I crashed my motorcycle and broke almost every bone in my body, except my left arm. I had an aircraft accident in 2005 but that was insignificant compared to the bike accident.”
You made an emergency landing in 2005 – what went through you mind? “I decelerated from 240kmph to zero in less than a second. I was very happy that nothing solid went through my mind!”
Any other way you kick-start your endorphins? “Being with good people.”
Your favourite saying? “Always reach for the stars.”
Your favourite trick or signature manoeuvre? “There have been so many brilliant aerobatic pilots, I am still trying to do what they can do, although often the ability to do a trick is more to do with the aircraft’s capability than the pilot’s skill.”
What's your Next Big Thing? “On a competitive level I hope to compete in the 2006 European Unlimited Aerobatic Championship and the 2006 Advanced World Championships, all depending on whether I’ll be able to get the leave due to me by my employer SAA. We have developed a brand new aerobatic aircraft called the Slick360. It is lighter and cheaper than many others and a potential competition winner. My goal is to place the Slick360 on the World Aerobatic Map.”
What pumps your adrenalin or really scares you? “It’s scary to see people take an aircraft off with no real plan. They kind of just bumble off and hope for the best. The flight normally becomes more and more complicated from there - I know because I have done it.”
You can fly 250 types of aircraft – what’s your favourite and why? “It’s difficult to say. Some planes are beautiful in their simplicity like the Piper J3 Cub, Chipmunk or R22. Some planes are magnificent and their presence amazes you even after years of flying them, like the Boeing 747. Some are sexy like the Hawker Sea Fury, Mustang or Extra 300S. Some are nasty - enough said! The Catalina, in which I was lucky enough to fly and become an instructor, is one of the most interesting planes I have flown. It is an amphibian and so can land on a runway or water. Imagine flying in Canada, the Caribbean or similar beautiful places. I guess that would embrace the romance of flying the most to me and at the end of the day, which is what I adore most about flying.”
What’s the most difficult manoeuvre you’ve ever pulled off in the air? “I successfully did a forced landing in a totally impossible location, a little dirt road in the mountains between Potchefstroom and Parys. I would never be able to do it again in a million tries. But I couldn’t tell anyone how brilliant I was because it was my fault that I had to force-land in the 1st place!”
What counts more, passion, fearlessness or experience? “Lasting passion will afford you the opportunity of gaining experience. You won’t get experience if you do not have the passion to see you through the lean times. Fearlessness will probably assure you never gain experience.”
Ever felt like barrel-rolling a passenger plane on the JHB-CPT route? “Without wishing to be overly romantic about it - each flight has so many fantastic facets. You cannot believe the wonderful sights you see while flying, or interesting people and colleagues. Flying an airliner can be as exciting and rewarding as flying a warbird at an airshow. It’s just different.”
How much longer do you see yourself competing? “You can keep going as long as the desire holds out. I will carry on for as long as I enjoy flying.”
Red Bull gives me … “the opportunity to spread my wings!”
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.jpg "One on One")
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