43 Air School is a dedicated fixed-wing and helicopter flying training organisation, catering for the private, general commercial, airline and military sectors.  It has extensive experience in training self and corporate sponsored pilots from different cultural backgrounds and from various countries around the world.

The school is able to provide a high quality service because it has the following fundamentals in place, essential for the conducting of effective training:

Environment	Well suited for initial basic and advanced operational flying training.
Equipment and Facilities	The school is geared specifically and exclusively for flying training.
Expertise	Personnel have extensive operational and training expertise.
Experience	The school has been conducting career pilot training for more than 17 years, and has completed in excess of 240 000 hours flying training for more than 2000 individuals.

History

The original 43 Air School opened in 1942 as part of the Joint Air Training Scheme during World War II.  Approximately 100 aircraft, mainly Avro Ansons and Airspeed Oxfords, were used to train navigators, bomb aimers and gunners.

In 1988, some of the redundant buildings were renovated and the new  43 Air School was established.  The first pilot training course commenced on 01 February 1989, with 11 trainees.  The school was awarded its first corporate contract in 1992, followed by the first military training in 1993, and first airline contract in 1995. In 2001 South Africa’s second largest carrier, British Airways/Comair, selected 43 Air School to train its cadet pilots.  In 2002 South Africa’s national carrier, South African Airways, contracted the school to train its cadet pilots.  This was followed by a similar contract from Kenya Airways in 2003, Air Mauritius in 2005/6, Citi Jet in Ireland in 2006, etc.

In June 2002 the school was bought by National Airways and Finance Corporation (NAC), a member if the Imperial Group of Companies, and one of the oldest and the biggest general aviation companies in Africa.

Present

Today the school is one of the largest and most respected flying training establishments in Africa, with a reputation for providing a high quality flying training service.  Courses are approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority, and range from basic flying training to integrated “Frozen” ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot Licence) level.  Specialised modules such as aerobatics, MCC (Multi Crew Training), and CRM (Crew Resource Management) are provided as required.

In 2005 the school received approval to conduct JAA (European Member States) training. Several groups of JAA students have in the meantime been trained at the school as part of a Jet Pilot programme run by Sigmar Aviation in Ireland.

The school operates a fleet of 49 training aircraft, and has a staff of 124 of whom 48 are flight and ground instructors.  Full residential facilities for an average student population of 200 cadet pilots is provided at its on-site campus.

Equipment and Facilities  

Operations Infrastructure

The school has the complete infrastructure specifically designed for the management and conducting of flight operations and training activities.

Flight Ops procedures are standard as at most aviation organisations such as airlines or charter companies.  This is to provide for efficient and safe flight operations, as well as to school trainees in the standard industry procedures.

Administration Centre

The Administration Office caters for cadet enrolment,

equipment supply, personal file storage and accounts functions. 

Flight Operations Centre

The Flight Operations Centre is used for the daily management of all training activities, such as Flight Scheduling, Met and Flight Briefings, Signing On / Off by aircrew, and the filing of Flight Plans.  The schools Manual of Procedure, AIP, NOTAMS and AICs are available to all pilots in the Ops Centre, which is manned whenever flying training is being conducted.
 

Crew Room

This is a tea and coffee lounge for pre and post flight relaxation.  It is conveniently located near the Operations Centre and the Flight Line, and has a stock of aviation related reading material.

 
Briefing Offices

Each Flight Instructor has a well equipped Briefing Office.  This allows for thorough one-on-one pre and post flight briefings.


Training File Room

Cadet training files are stored in a secure central facility, and are readily available to relevant staff.

Flying Training Equipment

Training aircraft are standardised on one particular aircraft manufacturer type, with single-engine aeroplanes for basic and intermediate training, and multi-engine aeroplanes for the advanced stages.  This allows for easy transition as the training programme progresses. Aircraft are fully equipped to conduct all aspects of VFR and IFR training.  Synthetic training devices provide for the full scope of procedural training from basic orientation exercises to Multi Crew Coordination training.

Fixed-wing Aircraft

Basic Training	29 x Piper PA28 - 140 / 180 Single-engine Fixed Pitch and Fixed Undercarriage
Intermediate Training	8 x Piper PA28R  - 200 Single-engine Variable Pitch / Constant Speed Propeller, and Retractable Undercarriage
Advanced Training	6 x Piper PA34 - 200  Multi-engine Variable Pitch / Constant Speed Propeller, and Retractable Undercarriage
Aerobatic Training	1 x Yak 52 Single-engine Variable Pitch / Constant Speed Propeller, and Retractable Undercarriage

Synthetic Training
 

Basic Training	2 x Alsim AL 50 FNPT 1 Instrument Procedures trainer 1 x Robinson  R-22 FNPT 1 Instrument Procedures trainer
Advanced Training	1 x Alsim AL 200 FNPT 2 Instrument Procedures trainer 1 x Alsim  AL 200 FNPT 2/MCC (Turbo Prop/Jet) Instrument Procedures training device
Radio Telephony	1 x RW -1, 8 Station Radio Telephony Procedures training device

Helicopter Training

The bulk of CPL training is conducted on 6 Robinson R22 and 2 R44 helicopters.  Advanced training such as turbine conversions are conducted on a Bell 206.

Ground Training Facilities

The theoretical knowledge instruction / ground training facilities are sufficient to allow separate courses to be presented for individual groups if necessary.  Lecture halls are equipped with various training aids, and additional learning resources such as reference books, videos and Internet facility are available to cadets in the library.

 Lecture Halls

Basic Training	1 x Lecture hall seating 16 cadets
Advanced Training	5x Lecture halls for 30,30,24,20 and 16 cadets respectively

Library

The library has a stock of books, videos and CDs covering the full scope of course academic content.  Internet facilities are available for additional research and projects. The campus also has wireless internet coverage available to students at a monthly fee.

Examination Centre

A computer-based online examination centre for conducting all internal examinations and progress tests, as well as CAA examinations has being established at the school and approval to conduct the CAA examinations is in the pipeline. 

Aircraft Maintenance Facility

43 Air School has its own CAA approved Aircraft Maintenance Organisation with complete airframe and engine overhaul capability, located at the airport.  This ensures maximum aircraft availability, and minimum disruption of training programmes and schedules.