Fairchild Dornier 328-310 328JET.. Kumba Iron Ore aircraft..

The Fairchild Dornier 328-310 328JET belongs to Kumba Iron Ore in Kathu, which is a branch of the very widespread tree of the Anglo American Group.

This aircraft is one of the most fascinating planes I’ve flown in. The Dornier 328 Jet was designed and placed into initial production by the German aerospace firm Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, but in 1996 that firm was acquired by the United States aerospace company Fairchild Aircraft.

The 328JET was therefore the last commercial aircraft to be produced by the former Dornier business before it became insolvent in 2002.

Following Dornier’s insolvency, AvCraft Aviation of Virginia acquired the rights to the 328 program in March 2003, including the 32-seat 328JET and 328 turboprop, 18 328JETs in various stages of assembly, and the development work on the 428JET. After the successful sale of these airplanes, AvCraft negotiated arrangements with suppliers to resume production.

The first newly built 328JET was delivered in 2004. AvCraft also took on the production of these aircraft, due to low profit expectations for its other projects, until it filed for bankruptcy itself in 2005.

The resulting firm was acquired by private equity investors and reformed as M7 Aerospace.

This is a plane with two pilots and one aircrew, 32 to 34 passengers. Two Pratt and Whitney turbofan engines that give the plane a 3 700 km range at a max cruising speed of 405 knots or 750 km/h.

Often the two pilots are woman, I wonder if the sun shields have mirrors on them to adjust their make up…

I must say I do prefer it when they are in the drivers seat… the flight just seems so much smoother…!!

Avro Shackleton,.. da da…a Shackleton to the rescue.

The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force.

It served in the South African Air Force from 1957 to 1984. The aircraft is named after the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.

It was originally used primarily in the anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol aircraft roles, and was subsequently adapted for airborne early warning, search and rescue.

The aircraft is powered by the slow-revving Rolls-Royce Griffons engines with 13 ft. (4 m)-diameter contra-rotating propellers, which created a distinctive engine noise and added high-tone deafness to the hazards of the pilots. The Griffons were necessary because of the greater weight and drag of the new aircraft they provided great fuel efficiency for the long periods in the denser air at low altitudes that the Shackleton was intended for when hunting submarines – known as "loitering" – possibly several hours at around 500 feet or lower.

The is still one airworthy (SAAF 1722 based at AFB Ysterplaat) but not flying due to a lack of qualified crew members.

SAAF missions were mostly patrols of the sea lanes around the Cape of Good Hope, but some occasionally ranged as far as Antarctica. Most flew around 10,000 hours, with the only operational loss being 1718/"K", which crashed in the Wemmershoek mountain range in poor weather on 8 August 1963 with the loss of all 13 crew.

Although the joke has been applied to several aircraft, the Shackleton has been described as "a hundred thousand rivets flying in close formation."

Here are a few photos of the one on display at the Air Force Museum in Pretoria. …

I love things that fly…..

Flying.. not Birds.. but Planes..

In South Africa we have various airlines that fly the skies with internal flights… one of them is Kulula… this airline is well known for their sense of humour. I have flown quite often with them, as the flights just seem so much more casual and friendly…

Please remember my love of things is in the following order… chocolate… birds.. animals… aeroplanes… flying in planes… these of course all come after my wife. (shoo nearly dropped myself in the dwang there..)

We have our National airline…

And there is the foreign airlines that fly internal routes….

And then the colour of a mango…

And then my favourite…..

Now if that doesn’t say something about their sense of humour, then let me show you a few more photos….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And their announcements by the cabin crew as well as their pilots are hilarious… here are a few that I found on a website….

On a flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, the pilot said,
"Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants."

On landing, the stewardess said,
"Please be sure to take all of your belongings.. If you’re going to leave anything, please make sure it ‘s something we’d like to have." and then this one…

"As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses..we don’t want them either.."

And with the flight safety instructions…"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this aeroplane."

After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in the Karoo, a flight attendant on a flight announced, "Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted."

Heard on Kulula 255 just after a very hard landing in Cape Town : The flight attendant came on the intercom and said,
"That was quite a bump and I know what y’all are thinking. I’m here to tell you it wasn’t the airline’s fault, it wasn’t the pilot’s fault, it wasn’t the flight attendant’s fault, it was the asphalt."

Another flight attendant’s comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."

Part of a flight attendant’s arrival announcement:
"We’d like to thank you folks for flying with us today.. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you’ll think of Kulula Airways."

After a real crusher of a landing in Johannesburg, the attendant came on with,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we will open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.."

And from the pilot during his welcome message:
"Kulula Airlines is pleased to announce that we have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!"

And then one I really enjoyed…I heard this on a Kulula flight:
"Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing.. If you can light ’em, you can smoke ’em."