New pilots get a chance to fly

POLOKWANE – Model airplane enthusiasts gathered at Area 51 Flying Club in Dalmada on Saturday to practise new flying laws and tactics, which will be implemented on July 1. New pilots were also taught how to fly safely without causing damage to the planes.

Jaco van Eeden, Area 51 events organiser, said they wanted to teach the pilots to position the model airplane camera to take great aerial pictures and videos.

“There are new regulations to be implemented in July hence we need pilots to master the laws on time and get ready to fly. One can use the skills learnt to become a professional videographer and photographer,” said Van Eeden.

According to one of the pilots, Lehumo Mabitsela, the new laws stated that one could not use model airplanes for commercial purposes, but only for fun.

“These planes are very expensive, hence we need to commercialise them to get our money back,” said Mabitsela.

Grant van Loggerenberg from DJI South Africa said the idea of the event was to give new pilots a chance to fly and consult with the pros where they did not understand. He added that one of the new regulations stated that a pilot should not fly over 120m.

“The model airplanes have GPS and this makes it easy for the pilot to control the plane. The plane has automatic control where one can just press ‘Come Home’ for the plane to come straight back from where it took off,” said Van Loggerenberg.