African Wildlife & Environment Issue 83

ECO HERO

The Cessna 206 aircraft which put Sollie's piloting skills to a severe test

a basis for the evaluation of vegetation changes in all of KNP’s landscapes. 498 fixed points were established which were each photographed twice per year – in the wet and dry seasons. Some landscapes showed very little change over time, but others were dramatic, graphically illustrating the complete eradication of mature marula and knob thorn trees by elephants. Aerial photography was initiated in 1980 when a camera hatch was installed in the aircraft’s floor. Various cameras were used as the technology advanced. By 1983, 167 aerial photography transects had been established. Initially Salomon did the flying himself for this project but with his subsequent promotion to Park Warden, he passed on this role to others. It soon became apparent that analysis and interpretation of these photographs would be impossible without an automated system and the necessary computers and software were acquired and a dedicated botanist was employed to deal with the programme. A fantastic narrative of vegetation change in KNP is contained in these archived images. During his time in Kruger, Sollie was a keen participant in many of the sports available there. He was always committed to keeping fit and would run a few kms almost every day, and he kept this up well into his retirement. He loved cricket, and even while stationed at lonely Punda

of 250 ft at the low speed of 100 knots (±185 kph) which normally would have resulted in a fatal crash. Luckily for them, they were passing by the Shipandi windmill which had an extensive overgrazed area around it. With the engine completely dead, he turned the aircraft towards the more accessible area and managed to land it between the trees with no damage to the aircraft or injury to the crew – a brilliant bit of airmanship under extremely traumatic circumstances! The cause of the engine failure was later ascribed to the crank shaft which had snapped into two pieces during the flight! Sollie kept the two pieces of that crank shaft and had them permanently mounted on a frame. He said they served as a reminder that “the Lord still had work for him to do”! After this incident, SANParks acquired a new aircraft, a Partenavia P69 ‘Observer’ which was twin-engined for greater safety, and had a glass nose giving significantly improved visibility – an ideal aircraft for its purpose! A man of many parts Another facet of Salomon’s vision was the long term monitoring of vegetation change using photography - both fixed-point on the ground and from the air using aerial photography. Fixed-point photography was implemented in 1977 to provide

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