The Flying Lions Aerobatic Team is a South African formation

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

team. They fly a four-ship aerobatic display using North American Harvard aircraft. The team operates five aircraft but only uses four in their display, leaving the fifth to be used as a backup. The Flying Lions have been in operation since 1999 when Arnie Meneghelli acquired the Harvard aircraft that the

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

was decommissioning. The Flying Lions participate at many major airshows around South Africa during the airshow season.

The pilots

Scully Levin

Scully Levin is the team leader of the Flying Lions Aerobatic Team. He was born in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provin ...

in 1946. He joined

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier of South Africa. Founded in 1929 as Union Airways it later rebranded to South African Airways in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannes ...

in 1971 at the age of 25 and flew one of their aircraft in a three-ship formation at the inauguration of President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

. After reaching SAA's mandatory retirement age, he joined Mango Airlines. He has over 27,000 hours of flight experience. Levin is also the leader of the Gabriel Wings Aerobatic Team.

Arnie Meneghelli

Arnie Meneghelli is the number 2 pilot and the owner of the Flying Lions Aerobatic Team. He has flown many aircraft types including

Extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

s, Pitts and Zlins. Meneghelli also flies as the right wingman of the Gabriel Wings Aerobatic Team.

Ellis Levin

Ellis Levin is the son of Scully Levin and the number 3 pilot of the Flying Lions Aerobatic Team. He is currently flying

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

aircraft with South African Airways. He also flies as a soloist for the Gabriel Wings Aerobatic Team and is the wingman of the Mazda Zoom Zoom aerobatic team.

Sean Thackwray

Sean Thackwray is the number 4 pilot of the Flying Lions Aerobatic Team. He was born into a military family and flew Impalas, Mirages and

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

in the South African Air Force. In the past he flew for

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...

Airlines and currently flies with South African Airways. He is also the left wingman of the Gabriel Wings Aerobatic Team.

Steward Lithgow

Steward Lithgow is the number 5 pilot of the Flying Lions Aerobatic Team. He was part of the team that landed an SAA

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

at Rand Airport and he was one of the pilots that participated in the 2004 presidential flypast.

2006 water-skiing stunt

In 2006, the Flying Lions Aerobatic Team performed a water-skiing stunt with their aircraft in the Klipdrift Dam near

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. The pilots flew low over the dam and reduced their altitude until their aircraft's wheels were about four millimetres into the water, the deepest they could safely go. The stunt was approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority. The pilots who took part in this stunt were Scully Levin, Arnie Meneghelli, Stewart Lithgow and Ellis Levin. The stunt was photographed by photographer, Frans Dely.

References

External links

Official homepage
{{Modern aerobatic teams South African aerobatic teams