Tertius van Schalkwyk

  One of our young LAC members, Kalvin Vincent, recently delivered a school speech on the remarkable Cessna P210 Pressurized Centurion. His enthusiasm, curiosity and technical interest remind us why youth aviation matters — because every future pilot, engineer or instructor starts with a spark of wonder.  Kalvin Vincent Speech About the Cessna P210 Pressurized Centurion  By Kalvin Vincent  Hello, my name is Kalvin Vincent, and today I want to tell you about one of the most remarkable Cessnas ever built — the Cessna P210 Pressurized Centurion. For me, this is not just another Cessna. The P210 is one of those aircraft that stands out because it was bold, clever and ahead of its time. It took the trusted Cessna 210 design and added something very special: pressurisation. That meant the aircraft could fly higher and more comfortably than a normal unpressurised single-engine aircraft. Instead of sitting high in the sky with oxygen masks and pipes hanging around, the P210 gave pilots and passengers a much more comfortable way to travel.  The Race to Build a Pressurised Single  The P210 came from a very interesting time in general aviation. Aircraft manufacturers were trying to build fast, comfortable, high-performance aircraft for private pilots and business travellers. Mooney had already tried to build a pressurised single-engine piston aircraft with the M22 Mustang, but it was not a big commercial success. Beechcraft focused more on aircraft like the Baron, which was a twin-engine aircraft. Piper later became a serious competitor with the Malibu family. Cessna’s idea was to take the proven turbocharged Cessna 210 and turn it into something even more capable. The result was the P210 Pressurized Centurion. I think that is what makes this aircraft so interesting. Cessna did not just build a fast aircraft. They built a serious travelling machine.  What Made the P210 Special? The normal Cessna 210 was already a strong aircraft. It was a high-wing, six-seat aircraft with retractable landing gear and good cross-country performance. But the P210 added a pressurised cabin, which made it much more comfortable at higher altitudes. The pressurisation system worked by using compressed air from the turbocharging system. That air helped maintain a more comfortable cabin altitude while the aircraft flew high above much of the weather. Earlier P210s used turbocharged Continental engines and offered impressive performance for a single-engine piston aircraft. The aircraft could fly at high altitudes, carry passengers, and cover long distances. But the P210 was also complex. It had retractable landing gear, turbocharging, pressurisation, and in some versions, de-icing equipment. That means it was not an aircraft to treat casually. It needed good maintenance, proper checks, and a disciplined pilot. For me, that is an important lesson in aviation: the more capable an aircraft is, the more respect it deserves.  Comfort at Altitude  One of the biggest reasons the P210 was so special was comfort. In a normal turbocharged aircraft, flying high often means using oxygen masks. That may be fine, but it is not always comfortable, especially on longer flights. The P210 changed that by giving passengers a pressurised cabin. This meant that the aircraft could fly high while the people inside could enjoy a more comfortable environment. That made the P210 a very attractive aircraft for pilots who wanted to travel longer distances and fly above more weather. To me, that is what makes the P210 exciting. It was not only about speed. It was about making serious general aviation travel better.  Improvements Over Time  The P210 continued to improve during its production life. Later aircraft received useful upgrades such as air-conditioning, better equipment and systems that made the aircraft more practical. Some versions also had equipment for flight into known icing conditions, including de-icing boots on the wings and tail. Cessna also simplified some parts of the aircraft over time. For example, changes to the landing gear doors helped reduce complexity and maintenance concerns. These improvements show how aircraft design develops. Engineers build something, pilots operate it, maintenance teams learn from it, and the aircraft improves over time.  The Rare P210R  The version that really stands out to me is the P210R. The P210R was the final and most powerful production version of the Pressurized Centurion. It had a more powerful Continental engine, improved performance and a higher service ceiling than earlier versions. It is also one of the rarest 210s ever built, because production ended shortly afterwards. That makes the P210R very special among aviation enthusiasts. I like rare aircraft because they have a story behind them. They show what manufacturers were trying to achieve at a specific time in aviation history. The P210R was Cessna’s final push to make the pressurised 210 even better.  Aftermarket Conversions  Even after Cessna stopped building the 210 series, many people still saw huge potential in the P210. Some aircraft received aftermarket upgrades such as intercoolers, additional fuel options and performance improvements. One of the most famous conversions is the Silver Eagle, where the piston engine is replaced with a turbine engine. That proves how strong the original design was. If people are still upgrading and flying these aircraft decades later, it means the P210 was more than just a normal production aircraft. It became a platform that owners believed in.  Why I Think the P210 Stood the Test of Time  The P210 is now more than 40 years old, but many examples are still flying. That says a lot about the aircraft. It was fast, comfortable, complex and capable. It gave pilots the ability to fly high in a single-engine aircraft with pressurisation, and it created a special place for itself in general aviation history. The P210 was not perfect. It was expensive to maintain, and its systems needed proper care. But that is also part of what makes it interesting. Great aircraft are not always simple aircraft. Sometimes the most fascinating aircraft are the ones that pushed the limits.  Why This Aircraft Inspires Me  What I like most about the P210 is that it shows what aviation is all about: ideas, engineering, competition and progress. Someone had to ask, “Can we build a single-engine aircraft that flies high, goes fast, carries people comfortably and still feels like a Cessna?” The answer was the P210. For me, learning about aircraft like this makes aviation even more exciting. Every aircraft has a story. Every design has a reason. Every system has a purpose. The Cessna P210 Pressurized Centurion reminds me that aviation is about flying. It is also about understanding, learning and asking why and that is why I

Obtaining a Private Pilot License (PPL) involves several steps, including meeting eligibility requirements, undergoing training, passing exams, and gaining flight experience. The Lowveld Aero Club team will guide you each step of the way. First, let us look at eligibility requirements, starting with the age old question: am I too old? Well, theshort answer is that you are only as old as you feel. If you want to learn to fly and you are medicallyfit, there is nothing stopping you. You will need to obtain at least a Class 2 medical certificate from aDesignated Aviation Medical Examiner (DAME). Contacts of these specialised doctors are availablefrom the Club. In terms of minimum age to start, you can start your training at the age of 15 (which is the minimumfor issuance of Student Pilot License -SPL) but you would only get your PPL at the age of 17.The school will help you to apply for a SPL by submitting your application form, a copy of yourmedical certificate and two passport size photographs to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).Secondly, because aviation communications e.g. talking to Air Traffic Control (ATC) is done in English,you must be able to read, speak, write, and understand English. Easy, right? With your paperwork submitted, you can start ground school so long. We provide you with a kit full ofreading material for all the subjects that you need to study. It also includes other equipment neededsuch as navigation computer and plotting tools. Much of ground school will be self-study but yourinstructor is available in case you get stuck. You can supplement your study using question banks asyou get ready to write exams. As soon as you start scoring high nineties in your practice questions,come and write your exams. The exams consist of multiple-choice questions covering various aviation topics such as principles offlight, air law, human performance, aircraft systems, navigation, flight planning and performance, radiocommunications and meteorology. Lowveld Aero Club is one of the few accredited CAA exam centresin Mpumalanga province so you will have an easy time writing your exams from the school withabsolutely no need to travel anywhere. A word of caution: flying is easy. The hours in the cockpit arefun. Exams are not fun for most people. Get them out of the way as soon as possible! A minimum of 45 flight hours is required to earn your PPL and this includes 25 hours of flight trainingwith an instructor, 15 hours of solo flight time and 5 hours cross country time. In reality, you will needslightly more than this because we all learn differently, some exercises may need to be repeated andsome lessons may be slightly longer. During your dual hour training phase, you will familiarise with the aircraft, learn emergency drills, learnhow to prepare for flight, learn the effects of the various flight controls, taxi the aircraft, fly straight andlevel, climb, descend, turn, and do slow flight. You will also practise how to safely stall the aircraft (youread that right!) and avoid spinning. There will be hours of practising taking off, climbing, remaining inthe airport circuit and returning for landing…and taking off again for another circuit, thus honing yourlandings and learning how to coordinate with other aircraft using the same airport. At some point, you will have impressed your instructor enough to be “cut loose”. The day of solo is aday that you will never forget. After a couple of circuits on that great day, your instructor will climb outthe aircraft. You will know exactly what to do because you have been trained well and you will doeverything as you have been taught but this time alone in the cockpit. You only need 1 take off and 1landing to be admitted into the club of pilots. From there, the rest of the training goes pretty fast. It will be interspersed with dual training (in theairport environment and the training area over Barberton Valley) and cross country exercises as wellas practising emergencies and abnormal procedures such as emergency landing and precautionaryflying. Soon it will be time for you to do your PPL test. This time you will fly with a testing instructor. He willbe in the role of a passenger so you just need to demonstrate the same things that you have beentaught over and over, to the CAA standards

                                                                             By Joseph Nderitu Joseph Nderitu is a Kenyan student who did all his training from 0 hours to Commercial Pilot/Instrument Rating (CPL/IR) with Lowveld Aero Club. He shares below the 5 top reasons for choosing Lowveld Aero Club1. Home Away from HomeThe Lowveld Aero Club brings together pilots who share a common love for flying. I had opportunities to hear from the “grey beards” who have flown pretty much anything under the sun. Some fought in wars, some still fight forest fires using impressive air tractors. Some fly for the airlines, others fly just above electricity lines as they swoop down to fight fires in various parts of the country. Just a few days ago, I was having coffee outside the club when Lt. Col Koos Kieck walked in with a few passengers from Hoedspruit. Kieck, flew many hours in the mirage that is on the lawn of the club. We chatted a bit about his days in the war. I can only imagine how it felt to fly anaircraft where, upon rotation, the pilot had less than 5 seconds to retract the gear, otherwise the speed would bend the doors! Such history simply inspires. The camaraderie helps you to keep learning because you always get a chance to know just how little you know, and how much more you can learn.2. Quality of InstructionI am a firm believer in training under dedicated career instructor. Oftentimes, large flight schools keep changing instructors. Whilst there are good instructors who take pride in developing students into, the truth is that good, “solid” instruction is not easy to locate. Good instructors have built the experience, skill, patience, and mindset required to be a teacher, mentor, and coach. It is one thing to fly well. It is another thing to teach others to fly well.The aviation training environment is awash with instructors who only want to build hours. That is not to say that grade III instructors building hours using this track are not worthy. However, the sad fact is that not all dual hours logged are equal.I was particularly interested in training with Charmaine Vincent, the CFI at Lowveld Aero Club, not just because of the thousands of hours she has logged training different people in different cockpits, but because she is well known in the Mpumalanga area as an instructor with a good head on her shoulders. Charmaine’s calm demeanour and expert decision-making taught me more than any textbook ever could. Her ability to inculcate the fundamentals from the start ensured that when I was finally flying solo, I could draw on those critical lessons with confidence. Aviation training is expensive. Therefore, it’s crucial to get the best instructors in the market to train you!3. Focus on SafetyFlying comes with its own set of risks. It is often said that if God wanted us to fly, He would have given us wings. We operate in an environment that can turn dangerous quickly. To guard against this, safety procedures are important. At Lowveld Aero Club, the slightest snag with the aircraft gets checked out by the maintenance facility on the airfield. Nothing is glossed over; no snag is too small to be checked and the plane only flies when it is signed out after maintenance. For this reason, when flying, the student’s mind is at rest. Because the flight school has a focus on safety, students learn to operate in this mindset right from the start.4. Simple/Reliable Administration ProcessesOver the course of the training, my paperwork has been handled well and my accounts kept accurately. Sylvia Strydom, the Club Secretary, runs a tight ship. Payment processes, insurance arrangements and student records are managed to the highest standard. You can focus on flying because the tedious and complicated processes are taken care of. This is not just about compliance with CAA standards. It is a way of working and it sends a continuous message to students that we need to be organised, in training and, later, in our professional and recreational flying.5. Mpumalanga is Simply NiceLast but not least, Mpumalanga province is simply a nice place for aviation training. Reasonably priced accommodation, easy to get to Johannesburg and generally secure, I could not have a chosen a better place to stay during the training. I also had numerous chances to fly over diverse places and take in the sights of the province.From Nelspruit I flew to Komatipoort, Middleburg, Lydenburg, Phalaborwa, Hoedspruit…The views, of the rolling escarpment, the vast wilderness of Kruger National Park and the calm Nelspruit town as you approach the airfield from the north, especially on early Sunday mornings will forever remain in my memory.