Holiday adventure, who wants to join ?

[John Young]

Please let me now if your require this.

Hi Rudi,

Solid chap this Dobbs - you can rely on him.

Regards
John ZU-CIB

[ZULU1]

Hey Rudix, you cant leave out FALY (Ladysmith) awesome hospitality. Give JohnT a ring 0829531378 and I am sure they will meet up with you.

Great bunch of aviators with accommodation and hangars.

Zulu1

[Dobbs]

Hi Rudix,

Let me know if you require accomodation in Empangeni, Ornate is a disused military field which is "out of bounds" to all, one because of the sensitivity of the area, and secondly because the min. alt. over the St Lucia / Eastern Shores area is 4500 ft.

There are however a number of other airfields in the area, Hluhluwe being one where there is a filling station 100 m away from the field.

Let me know if there is any other info. you require.

Cheers and enjoy the planning!

[SkyJunkie]

[quote="Rudix"][quote="skygroupie"]Sounds AMAZING. Any seats for a groupie or two??? :D :D
Please pick me!![/quote]

Hi Skygroupie !

My second seat is taken but I will ask the other guys, will let you know via a PM

Where are you based ?

Fly safe,
Rudi[/quote]

Hi Rudi
I'm training with Flo at the moment at Centurion. Based in Randburg. Often found skulking around Rietfontein (as groupies do) :D Hoping for an empty seat on a flyday.
Seriously sleep deprived from the 4 am call time - and pre flight checks take me an absolute AGE!! But I'm JUST LOVING IT!

[Henni]

Hi Rudi,

Clinton is coming with, so the Mizer will be really loaded to full gross. After watching "Fly our beloved country" last night, I'm even more excited about this trip.

See you over the weekend - considering joining the breakfast at Witbank on Monday.

To all the rest, I'm on leave till next year - have a splendid festive season and safe flying to all.

Henni

[Rudix]

Hey Rudix, you cant leave out FALY (Ladysmith) awesome hospitality. Give JohnT a ring 0829531378 and I am sure they will meet up with you.

Great bunch of aviators with accommodation and hangars.

Zulu1

Hi Zulu,

Yes, I have had the privilege of meeting the Ladysmith guys, they organized some fuel and oil for me and we shared a great lunch. Also a nice spot if you want to stay over with accommodation at the field.

Thanks, we will keep it in mind, will sit down with Henni this weekend and try an finalize our route.


Regards,
Rudi

[Rudix]

Hi Rudix,

Let me know if you require accomodation in Empangeni, Ornate is a disused military field which is "out of bounds" to all, one because of the sensitivity of the area, and secondly because the min. alt. over the St Lucia / Eastern Shores area is 4500 ft.

There are however a number of other airfields in the area, Hluhluwe being one where there is a filling station 100 m away from the field.

Let me know if there is any other info. you require.

Cheers and enjoy the planning!

Hi Dobbs,

Thanks, will discuss our stop-overs with Henni this weekend, we now need to make more definite plans. Will let you know !

I was not aware that Ornate was out of bounds, I landed there a while ago with a friend and he even left his plane there for 2 days, not something I would do

Hluhluwe sounds like a better option, I saw it on the map and will fit in well.

Thanks for the advice, there is nothing better than local knowledge !

Looking forward to meeting you !
Fly safe,
Rudi

[Rudix]

Sounds AMAZING. Any seats for a groupie or two??? :D :D
Please pick me!!

Hi Skygroupie !

My second seat is taken but I will ask the other guys, will let you know via a PM

Where are you based ?

Fly safe,
Rudi

Hi Rudi
I'm training with Flo at the moment at Centurion. Based in Randburg. Often found skulking around Rietfontein (as groupies do) :D Hoping for an empty seat on a flyday.
Seriously sleep deprived from the 4 am call time - and pre flight checks take me an absolute AGE!! But I'm JUST LOVING IT!

Hi SkyGroupie !

Sounds great, I am sure you are having lots of fun with the Rietfontein bunch, they are always up to something :D

So far all the seats seem to be taken But there is still hope, will keep you in mind and informed !

Enjoy your training and fly safe,
Rudi

[Rudix]

Hi Rudi,

Clinton is coming with, so the Mizer will be really loaded to full gross. After watching "Fly our beloved country" last night, I'm even more excited about this trip.

See you over the weekend - considering joining the breakfast at Witbank on Monday.

To all the rest, I'm on leave till next year - have a splendid festive season and safe flying to all.

Henni

Hi Henni,

It is great that Clinton is coming along, I am sure he is going to love it !

I also watched "Fly our beloved country" again and I agree, makes me just want to jump in the plane and go somewhere ! I tried that this morning, heading for Loskop dam and "points beyond" but low cloud forced me to turn around after 35 minutes Well, these things happen, lets hope for better WX for our trip. We will have to be flexible in case of bad WX but we can always adapt the route as we go, will go armed with maps and EasyCockpit.

I will fit in a quick flight tomorrow early but I will have to leave early to go and collect the Zodiac, will be back later, if you are still there we can have a chat.

I am also planning to go to Witbank Monday morning, should be fun, I have "almost" gone a few times but something always got in the way !

Regards,
Rudi

[Rudix]

I am looking forward to seeing more of this !





And this (Hope the WX is better, this day it was raining)



Fly safe,
Rudi

[Henni]

Hi Rudi,

Awesome! Soon we'll be back with new pics. Between youself and Clinton there should be at least a few...

With the Mizer now taking off and climbing like a homesick angel, I'm even looking more forward to this trip. Clinton & the extra gear no longer poses any worrying sensations - the extra cruising speed will also come in handy.

Looking forward to our shakedown X-country trip tomorrow (Good to have found a friend like Rudi who's just itching to go places - Mizer will be seen at all sorts of locations because of this new found friendship.)

Collected all my new paper work today - we are legal for the next year and all set to go.

Henni

[zu ebl]

Hi Rudi,
Enjoy your trip,may you have excelent weather,i'm down in
Margate,sunny weather,windy but still nice flying weather,
look forward to all your pic. happy Christmas to you and
your family and to all your friends on the trip.
Next weekend trip i'll join your guys with the Gyro.

Regards
Willie

[Henni]

Hi everyone,

Just an update of our shakedown X-country:

Loaded Mizer with 50 litres of fuel, Clinton & myself. Took off from Rhino for Heidelberg. Mizer takes off and clears power lines much, much better than she used to, even when loaded lightly before. However, following Rudi in a shallow climb to 7000ft, she only does 60mph at full throttle in this configuration. We fly full throttle nearly all the way to Heidelberg (to try to keep up with Rudi) which uses a LOT of fuel.

Once at Heidelberg, only 1/3 tanks fuel remain. Do a touch & go at Heidelberg and immediately head for Rhino, this time at a much reduced power setting yielding 55mph. We've now lost Rudi due to our slow speed, so my main concern is reaching base with the fuel left. Comms is so noisy, it's almost useless.

Well, as fuel gets lighter, our speed builds back to 60mph, only this time at much less than full throttle. When we reach Kitty Hawk, I drop Clinton just to be safe (as we are now running on fumes only), head for Rhino, refuel & return to pick up Clinton. Lesson learned: The Mizer now performs a lot better than she used to, but at full gross she is still slow - best to aim for a 55mph cruise which is way too slow for Rudi.

One up, full fuel she will cruise easily at 70mph & even climb slightly, a HUGE dfifference. So, maybe I'll skip the South Coast trip and rather undertake some other longish cross country where I'll not annoy or hold up someone else. My KRII will be finished in the not too distant future and then I'll really go places. The late Sakkie Hallgreen used only 2hours 15minutes from Lanseria to Margate - now that's the way to go.

Sorry for the longish feedback & keep well,
Henni

[Rudix]

Hi Rudi,
Enjoy your trip,may you have excelent weather,i'm down in
Margate,sunny weather,windy but still nice flying weather,
look forward to all your pic. happy Christmas to you and
your family and to all your friends on the trip.
Next weekend trip i'll join your guys with the Gyro.

Regards
Willie

Hi Willie,

Thanks ! Yes, I hope the weather will play along.

A Merry Christmas too you and your family as well.

It would be great if you can join us next time, the more the merrier.

It is now looking like I will fly alone the first part of the trip, we were going to be three planes leaving from Rhino but it is now down to one.

Have a great holiday !
Regards,
Rudi

[Henni]

It is now looking like I will fly alone the first part of the trip, we were going to be three planes leaving from Rhino but it is now down to one.

Hi Rudi,

Sorry to disappoint you friend, but Saturday was a clear indication that this would not work. You flying with the hawks, I flying with the pigeons. I doubt if even the Challenger would have been able to keep up with you at full gross.

I could tag along and just arrive long after you at each destination, but that would take the comeradie out of the trip which would have been the main fun.

Have a lot of fun & fly safe.

Henni