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Springbok Flying Safaris was born out of a love for vintage aviation by Captain Flippie Vermeulen when he first started his conversion on the Douglas DC-3 Dakota at the age of 19. Now, with the Vermeulen family’s wide variety of expertise and more than 76 years of experience stemming back from South African Airways & 21 years of preserving vintage aircraft with Springbok Classic Air and Springbok Aviation Services, the Springbok Group of Companies is well equipped to provide a unique, one of a kind, world-class service to our clients.
CEO Captain Flippie Vermeulen and his wife, Maryna,founded the Springbok Group of Companies in 2001. Captain Flippie was a Senior Training Captain and instructor with South African Airways with over 25 000 hours on aircraft ranging from the J3 Cub to the Airbus A340-600. Captain Flippie is still an active Grade I instructor on a wide variety of modern and vintage aircraft.
Eldest son of Captain Flippie and Maryna Vermeulen, Ben is the CEO of Springbok Aviation Services. Ben is an aircraft restoration specialist with more than 20 years experience working on the care and maintenance of rare vintage aircraft.
Petro Vermeulen, daughter of Captain Flippie and Maryna Vermeulen is a professional airline pilot with 14 500 hours of experience. Petro is involved in the day to day management of the Springbok Group of Companies and still actively pilots both modern and vintage aircraft.
Piet is a professional Airline Pilot with over 14 000 hours of experience. He is also a Grade II instructor with the Springbok Group of Companies, and is a master of flying vintage aircraft such as our Douglas DC-3.
Tim has been Ben’s right hand man since 2008, and has grown into a big part of the Springbok Group of Companies family. His vast experience in maintaining aircraft of all shapes and sizes makes it possible for us to operate our vintage fleet with peace of mind that we are safe in the skies.
Our Springbok family consists of folk from all walks of life, young and old, who collectively share the love of vintage aviation. From Carson City in the USA to Istanbul in Turkey, Beblenheim, Germany and Cape Town in South Africa, it is a privilege for the Springbok Group of Companies to share our collective resources in the pursuit of preservation, conservation and education.
