Julian Swift has until Friday to pay R5000 fine or spend 10 months in prison for "intercepting" communications with over-the-counter radio.
PLANE spotter Julian Swift has until Friday to pay a R5000 fine or spend 10 months in prison for intercepting radio communication between the control tower at OR Tambo International Airport and pilots in the air, using an over-the-counter receiver. Mr Swift was found guilty of contravening sections of the Electronic Communications Act on two counts, including possessing a receiver without the necessary licence, for which he was cautioned and discharged by magistrate Emmanuel Magampa at the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court. The judgment could place limitations on plane spotters and on retailers that sell over-the-counter receivers without a licence.
Mr Magampa did not accept Mr Swift’s claim that he did not know he needed authorisation to listen in on these conversations, and said plane spotting was "conduct that does not accord with morals". He said there was no way anyone could say as a matter of fact what the accused knew or did not know, and it was peculiar that Mr Swift was once exposed to a military environment and yet saw nothing wrong with his conduct.
But defence lawyer Adv Schalk van der Sandt said his client would consider applying for leave to appeal on the grounds of ignorance and that the statutes the magistrate relied on were not aimed at plane spotters but entities with profit interests.

Five friends who were partying on a rooftop at south Delhi's Shivalik area in the wee hours of Sunday morning got the shock of their lives when they spotted a small fire in the engine of an aircraft flying overhead. At first they couldn't believe their eyes but immediately called the police helpline to report the incident.

The aircraft, an Air India AI 101 from Delhi to New York, was already preparing to make an emergency landing at the airport. Airline officials, while claiming that there was no fire in the engine, said that the pilot had reported a technical snag in the right engine shortly after take-off and had asked to return to Delhi.

"This was a long haul flight and with respect to safety it made sense for the pilot to return. The flight landed without any problem," said an airline official. Airport sources explained that since the aircraft had taken off for a long distance flight it was full of fuel and the weight of the aircraft would not have permitted it to land. "As is normal procedure in such cases, the pilot had to jettison the fuel out of the aircraft to reduce its weight. Only then would it have been able to land," said an official. - FURTHER READING

This year the British National Helicopter Championships was held at Sywell Airport in Northamptonshire June 2011.
There was plenty of brilliant performances from all the helicopter pilots. This year saw a lot more Robinson R22's at the event. Of course this isn't a surprise really since this helicopter is one of the most successful in its class. 

Please feel free to download as many of the images as you wish.

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