Welcome to Aeronautical Instrumentation’s Blog

For those of you reading this and wondering who this Character is that is sending you e-mails, allow me the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Clinton Carroll, owner of Aeronautical Instrumentation at Lanseria Airport.

Why am I sending this you ask? Well, I have been involved in Aviation since I was a small child, flying around in C130 Hercules in the old Safair days with my dad. I have since then had such a love and passion for the Aviation industry, that I knew I had to be involved when I was older.

My background: While growing up, my dream was to become a training Captain on a 747, but when I matriculated my father insisted that I complete a trade, just in case one day I failed a medical for whatever reason, at least I had a trade to fall back on that would still allow me to put food on the table for my family. Wise man. I joined an Instrumentation company and qualified as an Instrument Mechanician in 1999, where I specialised in Gyroscopes.

On my 21st birthday my parents gifted me with a PPL, allowing me the opportunity to soar. I will never forget that first introductory flight, where the love of flying that machine myself truly took hold of me. I had found a whole new level of admiration for the skies. I love working on aircraft daily, and my love for maintenance grew to such an extent that flying was never at the top of my priorities anymore, and therefore once I’d completed my PPL, I decided not to chase a full time career in flying. There is nothing greater than the smell of Aviation with that first cup of Coffee in the morning.

This has never changed. I have flown for years and gained a significant amount of experience in this industry, especially now understanding Aircraft from a technical and from a Pilot’s perspective. I started getting a very different outlook on Aviation and the diversity it had to offer, as well as the massive Gap between what Pilots / Owners needs were VS what the maintenance advise is that is offered, especially when it came to upgrades.

Since this epiphany I purchased my own business and have grown it with this in mind, and ALWAYS given my full and honest opinion when it comes to what an Owner wants VS what I believe he needs and always advised if I think the owner may be overcapitalising. Often I find myself reducing the installation, and the Customer walking away happier and with extra money in his pocket than he had budgeted for.

I have seen recessions come and go, but the biggest stand out for me is the support of the General Aviator who got us through these tough times. As much as we are equipped for and exposed to the Commercial and Business Aviation sector, its always the General Aviator who’s business is a constant. I’ve analyzed this and come to the conclusion that the General Aviator buys and operates his/her Aircraft as a hobby. They don’t buy an Aircraft because they need it but rather because they want it.

The question then beckoned, how do I get the message out to the General Aviator that we are here, we understand and we want to be involved? We want to see and help them keep their prize possessions operating.

When I built our first website, the concept was to make it as informative as possible. It worked to a certain extent, but still did not achieve what I was looking for, so we have just spent a small fortune doing it again. Weekly, new products will be added to inform the Aviation Community of what is really out there, but also going one step further, and including Airframe and Engine information at the same time. I have decided to look wholistically rather than with Avionics / Instrumentation Blinkers on.

My concept for this platform is to showcase new products, because if I battle to keep up with the technology movement and this is what I do every day, I shudder to think of how daunting it is for the General Aviator.

I too want to help the Pilots and owners out there have a clearer understanding of how the aircrafts systems operate. Knowing what I do, it makes my assessment of an Emergency situation a whole lot easier, and helps me keep a cooler head about what is going on.

I would also like to invite anyone who has more editorial skills than myself that would like to write topics from an informative perspective, to make contact with me and share his/her experiences and knowledge with the industry.

I also want to appeal to those of you reading this to please send this on, and ask others to go to our website at aeronautical.co.za and subscribe to our newsletter.

In the past this platform has been used for more advertising than engagement and I want to change that. I will be sending advertising too, but I do not want this seen as another Junkmail in your inbox. If you do feel that this is how you perceive it, please contact me on [email protected] or on 083 459 6279 and let me know. I am not an Editor but rather a Pilot, Maintenance Technician and Business Owner with a Passion for a slowly dying industry that is plagued by high pricing and Political interference, and just want to revive what is an awesome industry to be involved in. We are a small community, so let’s stand together and make this work.

Till next Time,

Clinton Carroll.