It was an awesome flight. Total flying time from Kitty Hawk to Ballito was 3H45min (that excludes the 45min stop at Battlefields). Had a coffee and chat with Lourens and Nan and they reminded me of the Battlefields fly inn 12 May. So hope you all ready for this.
My average ground speed was about 80mph at some stages it was 105mph and the highest altitude was 9 676ft over the mountains at Volksrust. All in all a smooth ride except for the decent and take off from Battlefields. That's why they call it Battlefields? Just past Devon before Standerton I seriously considered turning back. Very low cloud was covering the ground for several miles. I climbed and went slightly off course to try and avoid this. I was relieved to see it opening up in front of me.
At Battlefields there was a bus full of pro soccer players and some serious soccer practising next to the runway. I had to break up the cell phone photo sessions around the plane to get going and kept on answering the same question of "Eish is theees a plane?" No, it's a flying motorbike and I'm in a hurry to deliver these snakes to Durban”, pointing to the Cobra logo on the panniers. Within seconds I could start up without shouting "clear prop"
The Rendezvous point North of Ballito and outside the KS CTR was also too bumpy for my liking. After several orbits waiting on the transponder-equipped plane to take me in, I found myself heading for Ballito carefully trying to stay inside the corridor. When I join overhead the yellow sling with Dave and Kevin was ready for take off to fetch me but did not expect me to be so fast. After a great lunch and a couple of beers on the beach front and a swim and more beers in Kevin's pool I was on Kulula back home at 19h00. Oh, and we made a quick visit to Airmagic's impressive factory but Paul was out selling stuff.
Next time Paul.
Thanks Bennie for letting me fly the Cobra and for Kevin and Dave for the great time. Can't wait for the next one!
