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No more, the sound of fighter jets over Cape Town
Posted: September 9th, 2010 | By Paul Ash |
The sound of former Royal Air force fighter jets and strike aircraft roaring up the Cape Peninsula is no more.
Thunder City, the Cape Town-based military jet operator, said its aircraft would no longer take paying passengers on high-speed adrenaline-soaked flights.
The company had suspended all flights following the crash of one of its BAC Lightning fighters during an airshow at the Overberg air force base near Bredasdorp last year.
Veteran Lightning pilot Dave Stock was killed in the crash.
According to a report on SA aviation website Avcom, the South African Civil Aviation Authority allegedly gave Thunder City three months to sort out issues pertaining to the airworthiness of its aircraft following the airshow crash.
However, its operating certificate was apparently pulled in March this year.
Thunder City operated a fleet of three English Electric Lighting interceptors, five Hawker Hunters ground attack aircraft and three Buccaneer low-level strike aircraft.
The Lightnings – relics of the Cold War – had undergone thorough and expensive restorations. Operating and maintenance costs were extreme, however.
The aircraft were used to take punters with deep pockets on experience flights out of the Cape Town base.
The rides were not cheap: 45-minutes in a Lightning would cost about 10 000 euros (more or less R100 000).
It would seem that the ongoing recession has had an effect on Thunder City’s operations but the trouble with the CAA following the Overberg crash is also a significant factor.
It is not clear yet what will become of the aircraft.
Most countries have severe restrictions on private military-jet operations, while the complexity – and cost – of keeping these aircraft airworthy is beyond the scope of most individuals.
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