Aviation Junction

Randolph Engineering Aviation Sunglasses

2010-11-05T13:41:00.003+02:00

Randolph Engineering Aviation Sunglasses

You have to admit- one nostalgic look at these classic aviator sunglasses, and you’ll find yourself wishing you could hop on a plane and aim for the clouds.
Randolph Engineering is one of the few companies still manufacturing aviators and is now proudly available in South Africa!   

RE was founded in the United States in 1972 by two engineers, Jan Waszkiewicz and Stanley Zaleski. Jan and Stanley started off designing and manufacturing optical tools and machineryand eventually started manufacturing premium performance eyewear. In 1982 RE became the prime contractor for military-style aviation flight glasses for the US Department of Defence.

Their unique "bayonet" style was originally designed simply to fit comfortably under headgear, but it soon became so popular that it became standard issue. RE has been supplying the US military and NASA with exactly these sunglasses for nearly 30 years!

  In addition to their collectable classic, RE has also introduced new and unique modern styles with the same meticulous manufacturing which includes more than 200 production steps, mostly done by hand, in every pair of sunglasses. No wonder then that Randolph Engineering guarantees their solder joints for life!

The mineral crown g lass lenses are ground and polished to precise optical distortion-free standards. Every RE glass lens is chem-tempered to resist breakage and absorbs between 98% and 100% harmful ultraviolet rays. All lenses offer glare reduction and various finishes such as Neutral Grey, High Contrast Tan and AGX (green) lenses and frame finishes include "Gun Metal Grey", "Matte Black" and 23 Carat Gold Plating. 

The Bayonet style is still the most popular among pilots as they still fit comfortably under helmets and headphones. They also offer a slightly and fully curved temples.   Not only are solder joints guaranteed, but every pair of RE sunglasses comes with a maintenance kit which includes replacement screws, spare nose pads and a small screwdriver,

This is a truly remarkable product made by a truly remarkable company. So put them on, hop in an aircraft and aim for the clouds.

True Pilot Stories

2010-09-28T12:33:00.004+03:00

These are real stories!!!!!!

Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!"
Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!"

One day, the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to hold short of the runway while a DC-8 landed. The DC-8 landed, rolled out, turned around, and taxied back past the Cherokee.
Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and said, "What a cute little plane. Did you make it yourself?"
Our hero, the Cherokee pilot, who was not about to let the insult go by came back with a real zinger: "I made it out of DC-8 parts. Another landing like that and I'll have enough parts for another one."

There's a story about the military pilot calling for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit peaked." Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was number two behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. "Ah," the pilot remarked," the dreaded seven-engine approach."

A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked, "What was your last known position?"
Student: "When I was number one for take-off".

Taxiing down the tarmac, the DC-10 abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate.
After an hour-long wait, it finally took off. A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?"
"The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine," explained the flight attendant, "and it took us a while to find a new pilot."

A man telephoned the United Airline office at Denver International Airport and asked, "How long does it take to fly to Colorado Springs?"
The clerk said, "Just a minute." (my favorite)
"Thank you," the man said and hung up.

Tower: "Flight 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 degrees."
Flight 2341: "But Center, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?"
Tower: "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"

The passenger piled his cases on the scale at the United counter in New York and said to the clerk, "I'm flying to Los Angeles. I want the square case to go to Denver, and the two round ones to go to Seattle."
"I'm sorry, sir, but we can't do that."
"Why not? You did it the last time !!!

2010-09-07T14:16:00.002+02:00

Llewellyn Devitt 24 August at 12:28

Engine Failure after take off. Back in 1982 a friend invited us for Sunday lunch on a plot on the banks of the Vaal dam in Deneysville. a friend of mine and our wife's rented a 172 from Witbank Flying club ZS_ILI, we took off from Witbank, flew over Secunda and the Vaal dam, and landed in Dennysville.we had a enjoyable day and a lovely lunch. At 4:O clock we decided to go home. I had a gut feeling that something is not right but took off anyway , about 30 vt. above the ground I lost 60 % of engine power but still had runway beneath me and decided to put her down. Unfortunately we ran out of runway there wasn't enough. we hit some rocks and broke the nose wheel off. the plain then tipped over stood up on her nose for a split second, I thought we were going to fall back on her undercarriage. the next minute we went over onto her back. I remember telling the pax that they were upside down and had to hold onto the roof before loosing the safety belt, and then I forgot to do it and fell on my nut. the door was jammed , I couldn't open it, I gave it one kick off its hinges I don't know were the strength came from but I was out, Basil my friend crawled through the window till today I don't know how he got through that window because he is bigger than the window. they retrieved the plane and repair it, we actually flew it again The problem was an oil pipe knuckle that cracked and sprayed oil onto the magneto. About 10 years ago I opened the Sunday papers and saw ILI had another engine failure some were close to Johannesburg and the pilot was actually killed. things happens so quick sometimes you haven't got time to think, especially on take off.

Aviation Junction Online Directory

2010-08-11T16:48:00.001+02:00

Welcome to AVIATION JUNCTION

A database for all companies in the aviation industry

Welcome to Aviation Junction's Hanger. It is the most comprehensive online aviation directory in Southern Africa. Aviation Junction will give you're institution or company premium exposure to thousands of web users local and abroad. We are constantly striving to keep our site up to date with the most recent information possible. Are you looking to hire and fly? Are you looking for an aerodrome radio frequency? Do you want to advertise an aviation related Job? Just click on aviationjunction.net.

You might ask what is in it for you as an advertiser. Well, to start, I will begin with where I was situated a few years ago. I lived in England for four years and was stationed in Nottingham where I joined the Truman Flying Club at Nottingham City Airport. There I made friends with other pilots and enthusiasts. They were very curious as I was one of two foreign pilots and the other one was French and didn't really manage to communicate very well with the people.

It was here that I found out that a lot of them wants to come and do training in South Africa as it is much cheaper and they get a free adventure out of it as well. Their only problem was that they really didn't know to which school to come and if they Googled 'flying schools in South Africa' the results were only a few schools and some schools from the USA also amongst the results.

They had a real need for some kind of directory to see all the current schools in our country and then take it from there. Well that was just some potential students from abroad. When I got back to South Africa, I realised that we had the same problem here. There is no one directory or magazine where you can get hold of all the aviation businesses, clubs or schools in our country. By using Google you always get the same results and if some businesses don't spend money or put in a real effort to market their websites, nobody actually come pass their websites by normal search engines and it is only the well known ones that usually pops up.

So we realised there is a gap in the market and that more and more people around the world is depending on the internet whenever they need information. That is why we established Aviation Junction.

Our aim is to list each and every Aviation Business in Southern Africa so that people will have a one stop informational site regarding South African Aviation. We will do the marketing basically for our clients globally so that people will know where to look should they need information. We will advertise at aviation events and on every possible aviation website, even on facebook and twitter and aviation magazines, local and abroad

Another reason for Establishing Aviation Junction was that if I wanted to fly to an Airfield and I didn't have Easyplan or an Airfield Directory that I have purchased, I was stuck. I wanted to fly from Mosselbay to Oudtshoorn one morning but didn't have my Airfield Directory with me and couldn't get any information about Oudtshoorn Airfield on the internet. I eventually had to phone George tower to get the information.

With Aviation Junction, Pilots will have free access to aerodrome information of each and every airfield in South Africa and we will constantly update this.

Our goal is to have one of the most comprehensive aviation directories in the country and premium advertisers will even get quarterly reports on the amount of hits they got through Aviation Junction and they can decide for themselves if it was worth advertising with us.

2010-07-10T15:58:00.003+03:00

Introduction to Aviation Junction Coffee

As you may have guessed, Arabica Coffee gets its name from Arabia, the land of kings. When it comes to coffee,
Arabica is definitely king. As legend has it, a goat herd named Kaldi discovered coffee on the Arabian peninsula
around 500-600 A.D. He observed his goats excited behavior after eating the red cherry-like berries of a coffee plant.
Hence the name Arabica, however, scientific evidence indicates that coffee first grew in Kaffa, what is now Ethiopia, in
North-eastern Africa and was transported shortly afterwards across the mouth of the Red Sea to Yemen.
One could assume that the name coffee comes from the word Kaffa which would support the evidence that coffee first
appeared in this region. Semantics aside, it is accepted that Arabia was the origin of commercial coffee trade so
Arabica Coffee is appropriately named.
Of the more than forty species of plants in the Coffea genus only two are suitable for making coffee, Coffea arabica
and Coffea canephora the latter of which is more commonly known as Coffea robusta. Of the two, Arabica is definitely
the premium bean.
Many factors determine the quality of the end product. Such as, where the coffee is grown, soil, climate and elevation,
not to mention harvesting, processing and roasting of the mature beans. However, one fact is undisputed, the finest
coffees in the world come from Arabica Coffee plants.
Arabian Coffees accounts for about 80% of all coffee produced in the world. It prefers higher elevations and drier
climates than its cousin C. robusta.
The tropics of South America provide ideal conditions for growing Arabica Coffee which grows best between 3,000 and
6,500 feet but has been grown as high as 9,000 feet. Generally, the higher the plant is grown the slower it matures.
This gives it time to develop the internal elements and oils that give coffee its aromatic flavour. Therefore you can
almost literally enjoy the “ Mile High Experience “ in the air, your home, office and everywhere else on the ground
Within the C. Arabica species there are three main varieties; Typica, Bourbon and Caturra. Each has subtle
differences that add character nuances to body, acidity, balance etc… that are detectable to the discerning palate.
More importantly, the sub-species have been bred to adapt to a specific growing region to be resistant to certain
afflictions such as fungus, parasites, insects etc… that differ from region to region.
Interestingly, C. Arabica, is self-pollinating as opposed to C. Rrobusta, which is not. This might explain why this coffee
is more abundant throughout the world. Also why it does well at higher elevations where bees might be less active due
to cooler temperatures and why Robusta prefers lower, hotter, climates where bees are more plentiful. Just a theory
but food for thought.
Coffee from Eastern Africa, specially out of Ethiopia, is still today regarded as some of the best and oldest coffees in
the world and therefore Aviation Junction will sell only the best and most popular coffee in the world.
We want to sell a product that is exciting and new to the market and although our coffees has an Aviation Theme, it is
there for everyone to enjoy.
Aviation Junction has introduced 4 Flavours to the market but will as the market grows most definitely look at importing
all kinds of flavours from around the world. The sky is basically the limit!

4 Flavours currently available

B17 Flying Fortress - Dark Roasted
Bell UH-1H Huey - Espresso
Spitfire - Medium Roasted
Harvard - Decaf

Our Coffee is packaged in 250g Aluminium foil bags with a one way valve for prolonged freshness.

Instruction are on the back of the package.
Please feel free to contact us or one of our sales consultants should you have any queries.

Can be ordered from info@aviationjunction.net

The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? —it is the same the
angels breathe.
— Mark Twain, ‘Roughing It,’ Chapter XXII, 1886 .

Avatar the Movie & the Aircraft they used

2010-01-22T13:42:00.001+02:00

I am sure that 90% of you have seen the new movie which has also received a whole string of awards. What facinated me was the computer generated graphics and since I am an aviation ethusiast more so the aircraft that were used in the movie. It is some very interesting craft but if you take into consideration that the movie plays off in 2150's they aren't much evolved from what you get today. They looked very real indeed and had a lot of detail on them. They actually looked very nice

I must say that they look heavily armoured and that they are not build out of aviation aluminium. Maybe that is some kind of new ultra light super hard armoured substance. The choppers has enourmous air intakes and two rotors which are protected by some rotor guards. I guess that they are specifically for flying in the dense forest.

You will notice that the rotors also tilt independately and it seems that it makes the Rotor Craft more manueverable, but my common sense tells me differently. Maybe I am wrong, and that it will actually make out a great design.

I am not very clued up in rotor craft and maybe there are some of you chopper specialists out there that might know if that helicopter might become a reality one day.

For you who haven't seen the movie, click on this link for the previews: www.avatarmovie.com

Post us your comments on the aircraft used in this movie.

Why did they overflew their Airport by 150 miles?

2010-01-13T11:14:00.001+02:00

I feel sorry for the two pilots of Northwest Flight 188 that lost their jobs because they overflew the intended airport of landing. What is worse is that their licences might be revoked and boom, their goes their entire career.

You will all agree that everybody makes mistakes and that it would sound a bit harsh on these two guys if you take into consideration the experience these guys have got and never had they done anything wrong before. The one pilot has got about 20 000 hours logged after his name and the other one about 11 000 hours. (Maybe they were bored to hell after spending more than half their lifes in one of these birds in the air and flying the same routes over and over again.) These two guys would most propably be excellent pilots and might have become so well oiled in what they were doing that they could do it with their eyes closed, that is figure of speach now.

But to cut to the chase, I think what they have done has caused irreversible damage to the airline they were working for.
I can just imagine that a lot of passengers will have lost all trust in the airlines and they will think twice before getting onto a plane. After all, it was a huge safety incident and anything could have happened and there would have been one more story for Aircrash Investigations.

To be a pilot is only something that a small percentage of our human population are priveledged to do. You have to have a passion for it and it takes hardwork and perseverance. One should also be aware that 100's of people are putting their lives in your hands if you become an Airline Pilot. There is something special in being a pilot and therefore it is only very few people that achieves this.

For this reason there shouldn't be any excuses for doing things like this. I would agree that their commercial licences be revoked but let them keeo their private licences as I am sure these guys have a passion for what they do and one should take everything away from them. I am pretty sure that they are capable of flying a plane and even more so if they haven't got the luxury of an auto pilot that can cause them to drift away into cloud 9 like they did with the nice big Airbus.

Well it is easy to speak, we don't know what the real circumstances were. They even might have suffered from a lack of oxygen or even a lack of rest between their flights. All we can do now is speculate untill the incestigation has been completed.

To conclude, I find flying to exciting to fall asleep whilst doing it

ASN Aircraft accident 09-JAN-2010 Jabiru J400 ZU-CTD

2010-01-12T08:42:00.000+02:00

ASN Aircraft accident 09-JAN-2010 Jabiru J400 ZU-CTD

Light Aiplane does Emergency landing on beach

2010-01-11T09:43:00.000+02:00

Well done by the J400 Jabiru pilot for landing him and his family safely on the beach after he lost his propellor. He has also done well for not hitting any of the people on the beach. ( maybe there was a bit of luck involved.)

If you take everything into consideration, he didn't have much going for him. He was most propably very low, the beach was full of people and to land on sand will most certainly almost always cause your wheels to get stuck on touch down and cause the plane to roll. He also had a full load on board wich means he had a higher stall speed than normal.

I am sure that the investigation will reveal that it is a mechanical fault and most propably not from the manufacturer but the guy who has serviced the plane last.

This incedent shows just how safe the Jabi's actually are.

At first I didn't like to fly the Jabi's at all but has started to grow very fond of them.

For more info, take a look at http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=71253
and also at http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=181&art_id=vn20100110082808600C208316