Boys High Aeronautical Society

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The Society started off their activities for the year by washing planes at the War Museum in Johannesburg!

From Mr John Illsley: let us spare a thought for all the ex-members of the Aeronautical Society and others who are going to be out of a job due to the demise of Comair! 😢

Members of the Society had a most enjoyable afternoon as they went to watch "TOP GUN: Maverick", a sequel to the first Top Gun movie which was released in 1986. A most entertaining movie featuring Tom Cruise who was also the lead actor in the first movie.

Twenty-three members of the Society attended the centenary event of the Aero Club of SA held at Middelburg airfield this past weekend. This was done under the auspices of the Experimental Aircraft Association, one of the divisions of the Aero Club, who invited the Society members to attend as their guests. Members did some volunteer work to assist EAA, but had most of the day free to look at visiting aircraft and to watch the various flying displays. Mr John Illsley (himself an EAA member) and Miss Roxy Meaker were on duty during the day.

The Aeronautical Society of PBHS has resumed work on a practical project first started in 2019 and then interrupted by Covid last year. The Society, as a practical project, is undertaking the construction of a Flying Flea. This was an aircraft originally designed in the 1930s by a Frenchman called Henri Mignet who was trying to give ordinary people a design which could be built and flown on a limited budget. It represents the start of what would become the homebuilt aircaft movement which continues to the present day. Although the first Mignet design was shown to have a fatal design flaw (which was remedied in later versions) but the design represents a historic step in the history of aviation.
The Society is building a static replica as a hands- on project. Working from the original drawings, the project has been broken down into manageable tasks. Currently work is focused on the wing ribs, fuselage and the rudder.

On its first excursion for 2021 (and the first since March 2020) the Aeronautical Society visited Lanseria Airport. We were hosted by Execujet who provided the boys with insights into the operation and maintenance of corporate jets. Talks were provided on all aspects of the company and the members were then shown the hangar with a cross section of aircraft types; the engine maintenance workshop and the engine test cell. At last light we visited the airport fire section and were given a demonstration of the equipment they use to deal with emergencies, including the special fire engines.

An interesting article on SAA in today’s Sunday Times and our very own Mr John Illsley, Master in Charge of the Aeronautical Society quoted in the article.

IN­SIDE | Sunday Times With a his­tory that is book-ended by the N**i sym­pa­this­ers present at its birth and the al­le­ga­tions of cor­rup­tion killing it slowly and painfully, SAA was none­the­less once a source of na­tional pride, thrilling ex­ploits and tragedy on a grand scale,...