Elephants, Rhinos & People’s Air Wing prepares to take flight, with fundraising event at Han Solo’s place.

In late February, Elephants, Rhinos & People (ERP) launched a fundraising campaign for the proposed Namibia-based ERP Air Wing. The Hawthorne, California event was staged at celebrated actor (and pilot) Harrison Ford’s private hangar, and included an exclusive tour of nearby aviation and aerospace facilities including SpaceX and Astrolab Venturi, which is developing a lunar rover slated for launch later this year.

‍Quintin Smith, a Partner in Group Elephant, which is ERP’s primary benefactor, briefed delegates gathered at the Ford (a.k.a. Han Solo) hangar on ERP’s plan to build the Air Wing based on a fleet of new NX Cub ‘backcountry’ aircraft. The Air Wing will operate in Namibia, where ERP controls significant tracts of conservation land on which elephants and rhinos will be roaming in increasing numbers, as its plans to develop a 1 million hectare megafauna sanctuary come to fruition. The aircraft will be used to conduct anti-poaching patrols and herd monitoring operations.

The first of the planned fleet of Cubs, built by Yakima, WA-based CubCrafters, is scheduled for delivery in July at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI, the world’s largest annual airshow. A second Cub is due soon thereafter and both will be partially dismantled, containerized and shipped to Namibia, where they will become enablers in combating wildlife crime.

‘These rugged backcountry aircraft will play a vital role in safeguarding threatened megafauna on ERP’s rapidly expanding conservation areas in Namibia,’ said Air Wing Project Lead Tom Haines, also a pilot and a legendary aviation journalist. ‘Many pilots care deeply about conservation, quickly grasp the significance of this initiative, and understand the potential inherent in deploying light aircraft to safeguard elephants and rhinos in the wild.’

‘This first event, while focused on fundraising, is an important step in a campaign to raise awareness of the need for more effective anti-poaching measures in Southern Africa,’ added ERP Air Wing Development Director, Don Weinbach. ‘Elephants and rhinos are being targeted by well-organized criminal networks, and the urgency of the need to address this effectively can't be overstated.’