Designed on a Desk… Proven in the Sky

Some people collect fridge magnets… others casually design bits of fast-moving military hardware and then photograph it like a proud parent at a school sports day.

For those that do not know… I designed the tail on “Talon” the Hawk. Yes, that Hawk. The one that slices through the sky with the subtlety of a V8 Supercar and the attitude of a RedBull-addicted Bird of Prey.

And late last year, I managed to sneak a cheeky photo of her heading back to Makhado… probably thinking important jet thoughts like “Wow, that oke did a lekker job on my tail.”

Fast forward to today… and boom. There she is again. Coming to Pretoria for a quick visit, sun glinting off her body, tail proudly doing its thing, and me standing there grinning like an idiot in the blazing sun with a camera while the fishermen wonder why I’m pointing excitedly at the sky.

Because here’s the thing… you don’t just see machines like this every day. You feel them. The noise rattles your ribcage, the speed messes with your sense of reality, and for a brief moment you forget emails, traffic, and load shedding schedules. It’s pure mechanical theatre. And when you’ve had a hand in the design? Ja… that hits different.

Always a pleasure photographing these machines.

Because some art hangs in galleries… and some art flies past at a gazillion km/h and salutes you with that amazing sound of our people.