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Pilot Profiles
SCULLY LEVIN - Gabriel Wings
Gabriel Wings flight team leader Scully Levin is by far the best known aerobatic pilot in South Africa. He was instrumental in the late 1970s and early 1980s in getting the first aerobatic teams sponsored in South Africa.
Scully is a senior captain with South African Airways and has logged about 25000 hours flying everything from lights singles to the largest airliners such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340. His actual air show career spans over 25 years and he has flown over 1500 displays in a wide variety of aircraft ranging from the Pitts Specials, Harvards, other World War II Warbirds to the Boeing 737, 747 and Airbus A340-600 at these shows.
Scully and his team have enthralled hundreds of Control Instruments customers at several customer days held at the Rand Airport in 2008 and 2009. He regales some lovely stories about his flying experiences, including his favourite tip for those who have won a flip in the Pitts Special: bananas are a wonderful food. You should eat them before you go flying, because they taste the same going down as they do coming up!”
ELLIS LEVIN - Gabriel Wings
Ellis Levin first started his aerobatic career at the age of 17 in a Pitts Special. Unsurprisingly he learnt how to fly from his dad.
"My old man taught me to fly right from the beginning and I have learnt just about everything from him. He's always placed great emphasis on handling an aeroplane with precision and smoothness at all times. No exceptions!" says Ellis.
Ellis has 11,000 flying hours to his name and rates the 2001 Nissan Coastal Tour as one of the highlights of his career. The tour entailed flying between three to four displays a day, for a week with his dad along the Natal coast.
Evidently the family's aerobatic passion is genetic, as his own son Ethan has also taken a keen interest. Gabriel Wings' fans should also look out for the team's latest addition - namely Ellis's sister, Sally. Sally reckons Ellis shares many aerobatic characteristics with their father. The team is now a four ship display and according to Ellis is "busier and faster than before and definitely something to look out for.”
ARNIE MENEGHELLI - Gabriel Wings
Arnie Meneghelli flies with both the Gabriel Wings and Flying Lions formation teams. He began his aerobatic career in a Harvard and has subsequently flown numerous other types including the Pitts, Zlin, Extra and Baron amongst others - all of which are "phenomenal performers," he says.
Arnie, who became involved in the air show industry at a late age, has 4,500 flying hours under his belt. His team mate Ellis Levin says, "It has taken a great deal of hard work, dedication, passion and commitment on Arnie's behalf to fly at this level. I don't know anybody else who has accomplished what he has in such a short period of time."
Arnie is close friends of the Levin family and has witnessed Sally Levin follow in the footsteps of her father and brother. She now also flies with the Gabriel Wings. "It's fantastic to see Sally progress and share in the aerobatic culture and ideals and we have high expectations of her. Likewise it's been an honour flying with her father who never ceases to encourage and inspire. He is a professional in all spheres and never takes anything for granted," says Arnie.
SALLY BATES - Gabriel Wings
Flying is in Sally Bates blood. She is the daughter of the great Scully Levin, sister to Ellis Levin and a third generation pilot.
"It's great to be able to fly with my dad and brother - it's the aspect I most enjoy about this sport," says Sally. "Ellis is just like my dad in that he has a great temperament and is an unbelievably good teacher. He's also calm and encouraging."
She has 2,000 flying hours under her belt and is employed by SAA. If she could fly any one plane it would be the DC3 Dakota as this was the type of plane her grandfather flew in WWII.
In 2008 she flew in a Boeing 737 formation at Ysterplaat with her dad and Pierre Gouws. The display stands out in Sally's memory not only for its 'fun factor' but because it was the first Boeing 737 formation display in the world and Sally says "to have been a part of it was something extraordinary!"
The Levin flying legacy will no doubt carry on through Sally with the arrival of their baby. The pregnancy grounded her for nine months, and she is now "itching to get back into the air".
Customer Day with Fitment Centres and Gabriel Wings
Gabriel Wings Media Coverage
| African Pilot Magazine - Mar 2008
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| Aviation and Safety Magazine - Mar 2008
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Autoinsight Magazine - Mar 2008
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| Airnews Magazine - Feb 2008
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| Autoinsight Magazine - Feb 2008
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