Jabiru South Africa - Company Background
Shadow Lite CC trading as Jabiru Aircraft SA are a South African Civil Aviation Authorities Approved Aircraft manufacturing company license number AMO L14 and Aircraft maintenance organisation license number AMO 909. We have been manufacturing aircraft for 26 years. We have a full in house manufacturing section that can be divided into various sections, machining, manufacturing, painting and assembly. Our maintenance section provides full airframe and engine servicing where customers can book their aircraft in for general servicing and annual inspections We also carry out accident repairs, modifications and refurbishing of aircraft and overhauling of engines. Our maintenance section holds the only SACAA approved D license ( Engine overhauling) for the Jabiru engine in South Africa.
Our company was formed in 1991 and started its life in a building that at one time had been home to chickens. Hey don’t laugh – Chickens have wings. The building was redesigned and our factory was opened. We initially were manufacturing the British designed Shadow and Streak Shadow aircraft. It was in 1996 that Len and Les Alford a husband and wife team decided that they needed an alternate engine for the Shadow series of aircraft and that was when they came across the Jabiru engine with four stroke security. Initially only the Jabiru engines were purchased but when Australia asked them if they would not be interested in distributing and sell the Jabiru series of aircraft – Len decided that it was time to visit the Australian factory in Bundaberg.
Len saw, flew and placed his order for the Jabiru there and then. The aircraft arrived in late 1998 and within three weeks the kit registered ZU-JAB was built and ready to test fly. Shadow Lite now trading as Jabiru Aircraft Southern Africa are proud to say that since 1999 they have successfully built their company to one of the biggest distributors of composite aircraft in South Africa. Jabiru Aircraft S.A. is a fully SACAA licensed Aircraft Manufacturing Organisation ( license number AMO L14) and SACAA licensed Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (license number AMO 909). The company has worked extremely hard on getting the Jabiru series of two seat and four seat aircraft acceptance by the SACAA which entailed three visits by representatives of the SACAA to Australia. At present Jabiru Aircraft SA have got full SACAA NTCA acceptance on all series of Jabiru aircraft and aircraft are sold either in kit form or Jabiru Aircraft SA fully built. Our company was one of the first to obtain full training status for the aircraft which afforded owners to use their aircraft for PPL training and at present the sales are rapidly increasing as more and more PPL flight schools realise how affordable the
Jabiru aircraft are to run in the school environment.
So for all those want to be, got to be, will be – pilots out there –please do your home work – ensure that you do back ground checks on all the available aircraft out there – make sure you purchase from approved SACAA licensed companies – They should have an Aircraft Manufacturing License ( e.g. our AMO is L14) And most importantly that the aircraft have been approved by SACAA. After all the SACAA are there to help ensure your safety - that you, your family and friends are safe when flying, by ensuring that the aircraft you are flying are built and tested to approved international recognised standard.
Back to a our history – Our factory were initially based in Bothas Hill in Kwazulu Natal and as the demand for the Jabiru increased and more kits arrived to be built space was running out and we realised that we needed to move – we scouted around for a good position – we needed to be close to a port for sea freight, where the humidity was not high and where customers could fly in. So why George you ask? It had all the right elements, Port Elizabeth is just down the road for our sea freight container shipments, we have a great site on a National Airport where airfreight shipments arrive just about on our door step. Potential customers fly in to see our factory, while customers can fly in for servicing and collecting aircraft. George Airport has light air traffic and what a runway to do flight tests. We have a great passion for building Aircraft and we enjoy working and living in one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa In the Heart of the Garden Route