In its constant war against poachers, the Kruger National Park has found help virtually on its doorstep: an aircraft builder in Mbombela.
The park recently acquired four Bat Hawk ultralight reconnaissance planes, a donation by Anglo American as part of its commitment to sustain the environment and the country’s natural resources. The planes are locally manufactured and provide a less expensive, home-grown solution to a problem that is not going away as long as there is a demand for rhino horn.
The park’s rangers, as well as their counterparts in other nature reserves in South Africa, have been using Bat Hawk aircraft for a number of years. In that time, it has been dubbed “the rangers’ plane”, because it can perform all the functions of a ranger — just more efficiently, because it can fly.
The park was already operating three of the aircraft, as well as four Squirrel helicopters and two Cessna fixed-wing aircraft. With the additional four aircraft, aerial patrols of the park have become a little easier.
Built in Mbombela, the Bat Hawk was the brainchild of Andrew Pappas, a Lowveld pilot and aircraft builder. About 20 years ago he started building Bantam aircraft, imported from New Zealand, under contract. Ten years and the rigorous testing of prototypes later, Micro Aviation South Africa was born and was building Bat Hawks, designed by Pappas himself.
All three of Pappas’s sons, Donovan, Terry and Kuen, followed in their father’s footsteps to become pilots. However, Donovan was killed in a car accident in 2020 and Andrew succumbed to Covid a year later. Terry then took over the family business.
The Pappas planes are helping to patrol the 2-million hectares of the Kruger game reserve at a time when the nation’s fiscus is too stretched for it to pay for them.
Cathy Dreyer, head ranger of the park, says it is always a challenge to reach all areas in the park, not only to guard against rhino poachers but also to deal with a variety of other crimes. For example, carcasses are frequently poisoned by poachers who want the talons of predatory birds and are hunting for bush meat.
According to Dreyer, the rhino poachers are part of well-organised syndicates armed with sophisticated weapons. The rangers need to be one step ahead, and this is where the Bat Hawks provide a solution when budgets are tight: they are significantly cheaper to operate than the park’s helicopters.
The aircraft cost about R500,000 each and use 12l of automotive fuel per flying hour, while a Squirrel costs R12,000-R15,000 per flying hour. The Bat Hawks’ two side-by-side seats and a transparent dome provide the pilot and passenger with good all-round visibility.
The little aircraft’s propeller sits high above the pilot, making it less susceptible to being struck by stones and grass when the plane lands on dirt strips. The plane flies low and slowly, and is very quiet.
According to Terry Pappas, his father’s creation is the “ultimate platform for conservation”, especially in the African bush.
But it also has its limitations, as Guy Leitch, pilot and editor of SA Flyer, points out. “[The Bat Hawk’s] low-speed handling makes it vulnerable in strong winds, especially crosswinds. In addition, it is not protected against ground fire, so the pilots and observers are vulnerable.
“The airframe is covered with fabric, which would need replacement every 10 years or so, and therefore the aircraft should not be left outside.”
Leitch says in the plane’s favour is that it is locally designed so support and maintenance are readily available.
Also, he says it is “a well-tested and proven design, which is easy and safe to fly, especially at the low speeds required for wildlife conservation work. It is capable of doing almost all the work a helicopter can do, but at a fraction of the operating costs. It is very easy to maintain and needs minimal ground support.”
Leitch adds that the plane’s ability to run on readily available car fuel instead of hard-to-get and expensive aviation fuel makes the pros outweigh the cons.
Environment minister Barbara Creecy said at the handover of the aircraft that the war against rhino poachers in particular had delivered significant successes last year. In the first half of the year 69 poachers were arrested, as well as four rhino-horn traffickers who tried to smuggle 56 horns out of the country.
Search-and-seizure operations had led to the confiscation of 29 rhino horns.
But despite these achievements, it is clear that the battle against poachers is far from over and will have to continue using all possible means.
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