Page 71 - World Airnews Magazine November 2020

FEATURE

rangers to investigate. His team will also drop rangers off in places Within his small team, safety depends on something simple yet
that are otherwise inaccessible, such as islands in the swamp fundamental: making sure everyone knows what’s going on.
region. When the office knows all the details for the day, including
when to expect pilots back, they can watch for the helicopters on
NO ROADS, NO CELLPHONES, NO AIRCRAFT CONTROL Spidertracks.
For the most part, the Zambezi Delta is flat and forgiving, with “Being so remote and not flying out of an airport, we’ve got to
its highest point at 100 feet above sea level. A third of the area make sure that we report to the office every single day. Otherwise,
is delta, a mix of grasslands, savannas, and swamp forests that it could leave us in a lurch,” Mark said.
remain dry nine months of the year.
The rest of the land is wooded, with mahogany trees that stand PRESERVING AN ECOSYSTEM
upwards of 50 feet. Although COVID-19 has slowed down tourism, Mark has big plans
“Those areas of the ones we have to be aware of because if a for the future of Wildlife Helicopters.
chopper went in there, there’s no way to land. The canopy would Wildlife Helicopters will begin to shadow Mozambique’s primary
simply swallow you up,” Mark said. veterinarian - a wildlife vet. Pilots will once again act as an eye in
100 miles north of Beira, and without much of a road network, the sky to make sure Mozambique’s wildlife continues to thrive.
Wildlife Helicopters is base is very remote. Mark also acquired another block of land northwest, where
“There’s no real living there,” Mark said, “Just one main road and Mozambique shares a border with Zambia. It’s home to lions and
then a couple of dirt tracks here and there, so helicopters pretty elephants, although both populations are at risk of dwindling
much help you get around.” further.
He said that there is a future plan for them to work on
OUTSIDE OF CONTROLLED AIR SPACE anti-poaching with Rhino in Southern Mozambique, where their
“There’s no cellphone communication or anything, so we rely on horns cost upwards for (US) $250,000. South Africa is losing around
two rhinos a day from poaching - Mark would like to replicate his
Spidertracks pretty heavily to know everyone’s safe and sound, work in the Zambezi Delta to increase the area’s rhino population.
and where they are at any given time.”
Mark recognises that it’s easier for pilots to start to neglect the “They are only just on the right side of the curve. Rhinos are
basics of safety and to ‘cowboy up there’ outside of controlled breeding slightly faster than they are poached, but it’s becoming
airspace. pretty close,” Mark said.
“Pilots feel like because they are running these smaller aircraft Thanks to a remote Mozambique base, Wildlife Helicopters can
that the safety rules don’t apply to them and they can fly ad hoc continue to serve a large area and assist in a range of conservation
and do whatever. What we’ve tried to do is make sure we have a efforts. In a place where aviation plays a crucial role in conser-
formal protocol for how everyone flies,” he says. vation, Wildlife Helicopters is helping to keep animals safe with
their Spidertracks. To make sure their pilots stay safe, they’ve got
During the low season, there is often only one pilot at camp. Spidertracks. Q

NEWS

HE , WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED THE

GLOBE IN HELOS, DIES

for air combat. After his service, he joined
IBM in 1967 to sell computers but in 1982 and ended on less than three weeks later
Joe Ronald ‘Ron’ Bower, who set two jumped back into aviation when he joined on September 3, averaging 10.2 hours a
speed records circumnavigating the earth a fellow IBM colleague to help launch an day, with the longest day reaching 17.5
hours. The total distance traversed was
in helicopters, died on October 12. He was aircraft sales company. There, he built a 20,508 nm and he logged a high of 2,263
78. team of mechanics, pilots, salespeople, nm in one day.
Born on Dec. 28, 1941, Bower had and administrators to support the sales Bower is survived by his wife of 57
amassed more than 9,000 hours over his 55 business, as well as establish a database of years, Peggy, along with his children, their
years of flying and obtained nearly every Bell 206 records. spouses, grandchildren, and a great-grand-
aircraft rating, except for blimps and hot air In 1994, he broke an around-the-world child. Outdoor services will be held on
balloons. record set in 1982 by Ross Perot Jr. and December 28. Q
He had served in multiple roles, including Jay Coburn. Bower flew eastbound in the
as a flight instructor, combat pilot, sales 206B3 Jet Ranger III, departing and ending
executive, and purchasing consultant, at the Bell Helicopter Textron delivery
in addition to his east- and west-bound center in Fort Worth, Texas. The trip began
helicopter world records. Soloing in 1962, on June 28, 1994, and ended a month later
Bower’s flying and business expeditions led on July 28, gaining recognition for a world
him to pilot aircraft in 37 countries and visit speed record, five specific city-to-city
more than 50, according to a tribute site. speed records, and as the first western
Bower originally gained experience in the helicopter flight across Russia.
US Army flying Hiller observation heli- His westbound trip followed in 1996,
copters on the demilitarized zone border beginning and ending in London in a Bell
with North Korea and then Hueys during 430, setting a world speed record for a twin
the Vietnam War. He earned 11 medals helicopter. That trip began Aug. 17, 1996,

World Airnews | November Extra 2020
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