Holiday adventure, who wants to join ?

[Rudix]

Yes, great idea ! Thanks, I would love to do that. I will let you know what the final dates are asap.

I think someone will be glad to get to finally meet you

Fly safe,
Rudi

PS, today is my last day of work till Jan 7, now the fun starts :D

Great.

Braai will cater for all requirements (tastes) and provide a free meal (one less to worry about or plan) on the way.

Yeah – looking forward to meeting you know who.

Regards
John ZU-CIB

PS: You lucky whatdoyoumacallit – off for a month – jeepers.

PPS: Never stay away long enough for the BOSS to realise that he can do without you.

PPPS: You are your own BOSS – so not applicable to that one.

Hi John,

Great, thanks ! We won't miss it for anything :D

You know who says it is about time you meet eye to eye

Have a great weekend,
Rudi

RE:PPPS, yes, but he is the worst BOSS I have ever had :D

[Rudix]

TO:

Rudi and your “Intrepid Flying Gang” – here is an offer that you can’t refuse.

Hi John

Good to chat to you on the phone, I look forward to meeting with you in person some time.

As suggested it would be great to have Rudi and his intrepid aviators stop over at my field on their way down to the coast as an alternate to Howick, we are close to the falls, Midmar and Albert falls which are all spectacular from the air at this time. My strip is 700m long and is adjacent to the Umgeni valley near Hilton College, approaches are clear from both sides. There is a boundry fence at the threshold of 17 which is well marked with a chequer board if coming in from the South, the other end is over the valley and our home. I shall send you the co-ordinates in a later email. Our place is in a very beautiful area and well worth a visit, Demon has been in a couple of times as well as the Crosswinds gang when they have visited KZN. I have attached a photo of the Rietfontein aviators on the field taken a couple of years ago.

We are closing our factory for the holidays next Friday so I should be at home so if you have a chance fly across some time during the holidays.

Cheers and regards

James Bentley

Regards
John ZU-CIB

WOW, thanks for setting this up John, what a stunning place !!

Please tell James that we would love to visit and it will be a privilege to fly into his stunning flying field.

THANKS JAMES !

Now I can't wait to leave !

Thanks again for setting this up for us.

Kind Regards,
Rudi

[Big-D]

Eish - This adventure sounds great man :D This is what light flight is all about (Says me, the ultimate Patch-flyer )


Dish, I am glad things are finally working out for you - I was getting worried about you and I am glad that you are getting help from mates and hold thumbs you qualify soon.

D

[Rudix]

Eish - This adventure sounds great man :D This is what light flight is all about (Says me, the ultimate Patch-flyer )


Dish, I am glad things are finally working out for you - I was getting worried about you and I am glad that you are getting help from mates and hold thumbs you qualify soon.

D

Hi D !

So why don't you join us ?

[lamercyfly]

Yo Rudix....

Just a few more things to put into your thinking cap

1. Standerton Airfield - non existant and very closed
2. Waterways - most definately no longer there

Enjoy the planning. Please do not count on landing on roads and places not designed for landing. It is O.K. when you are flying in a small and experienced gang, but with many pilots chances are good for disaster...eg, Escort Ultra city..Not a runway, just a stretch of grass which calls for skill if there is more than 5kts of cross wind.

I lost a dear friend 2 1/2 years ago due to an unscheduled stop. Things go pear-shaped very quickly......

Count on 2hr 20min endurance for most 503 and 582 motors fitted to fully loaded trikes - this gives you about 30mins emergency to find alternate landing.

When you are ready, let me know if you need help planning the right day for weather...

Natal is having a very, very wet and windy season. It is either raining or howling with South Westers. Bear this in mind. It has not been this wet and windy in almost 8 years. I know, as we ran flips out of La Mercy, and the last time it rained this much was 9 years ago....we ended up taking off in the rain, as the customers just wanted to fly and could not be bothered.........muddy wet runways, huge puddles of water Anyway, just something to consider, that Natal is having a very, very wet and windy season.....

I am having a jol of my own, but still find time to dream about your journey

Cheers.

[John Young]

WOW, thanks for setting this up John, what a stunning place !!

Please tell James that we would love to visit and it will be a privilege to fly into his stunning flying field.

THANKS JAMES !

Hi Rudi,

Actually, I don’t deserve any credit.

James approached me with the request to make the offer to you.

What a nice guy.

Regards
John ZU-CIB

[Rudix]

Yo Rudix....

Just a few more things to put into your thinking cap

1. Standerton Airfield - non existant and very closed
2. Waterways - most definately no longer there

Enjoy the planning. Please do not count on landing on roads and places not designed for landing. It is O.K. when you are flying in a small and experienced gang, but with many pilots chances are good for disaster...eg, Escort Ultra city..Not a runway, just a stretch of grass which calls for skill if there is more than 5kts of cross wind.

I lost a dear friend 2 1/2 years ago due to an unscheduled stop. Things go pear-shaped very quickly......

Count on 2hr 20min endurance for most 503 and 582 motors fitted to fully loaded trikes - this gives you about 30mins emergency to find alternate landing.

When you are ready, let me know if you need help planning the right day for weather...

Natal is having a very, very wet and windy season. It is either raining or howling with South Westers. Bear this in mind. It has not been this wet and windy in almost 8 years. I know, as we ran flips out of La Mercy, and the last time it rained this much was 9 years ago....we ended up taking off in the rain, as the customers just wanted to fly and could not be bothered.........muddy wet runways, huge puddles of water Anyway, just something to consider, that Natal is having a very, very wet and windy season.....

I am having a jol of my own, but still find time to dream about your journey

Cheers.

Hi David,

Thanks for the info, yes, I am aware of the state of the Standerton field, was just using it as a initial waypoint (same with waterways).

We now have dates (will publish them along with the new route) so it is time to make a more accurate list of stops. We will try to only land at the better strips. I have landed at the Ultra City and I am sure it will be fun (NOT) in a cross wind.

I still need to find out the range of the planes flying with, we will then be limited to the lowest, I suppose 2 hours @ lowest planes speed should be ok. Confirmed from GP we have 3 x 3 axis planes but we will have trikes joining along the way and we will plan accordingly.

WX is a major concern, it has also been very wet up here in GP, we will have to build in some spare time in case the weather prevents us from flying.

It would be great to get advice from you, both you local KZN knowledge and general cross country experience will help !

I will publish the next version of the planned route as soon as I have had time to work it out.

Enjoy Prieska and have a safe trip back,
Fly safe,
Rudi

[Rudix]

WOW, thanks for setting this up John, what a stunning place !!

Please tell James that we would love to visit and it will be a privilege to fly into his stunning flying field.

THANKS JAMES !

Hi Rudi,

Actually, I don’t deserve any credit.

James approached me with the request to make the offer to you.

What a nice guy.

Regards
John ZU-CIB

Hi John,

Well, thanks then for conveying the message, looks like a stunning place and a "have to visit" option, thanks to James again for the offer.

Fly safe,
Rudi

[Rudix]

Here is the latest update.

A few of the guys had a "meeting" on Saturday. Henni (Mizer) has now confirmed that he will be joining and it looks like Dish (Challenger) will also join, even if it is with an instructor.

It was decided to do the trip first week in January, that way we can keep the families happy by being home for the festivities and it will also give Dish more time to get ready. The plan is to leave 2 Jan and be back by 6 Jan, WX depending......

Below is the latest version of the route, Howick will be replaced by Eva's strip (don't have the coordinates yet), from there we will most probably fly around the Oribi airspace to Liteflight. The actual strips along the coast must still be decided. Maybe some of the locals can suggest options ? We now also need to decide where to stay over (and how, camping or BB?). We also need to decide on refueling stops.



And distances:



Now that we have dates, any other planes that want to join ?

Fly safe,
Rudi

[SkyJunkie]

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

[Tumbleweed]

I might join you from Secunda for a way if the timing works out.

If you would rather top up with fuel here to push through to Newcastle, let me know about the petrol and I can have drums filled for you.

[Dobbs]

Hi Guys,

I see that Richards Bay / Empangeni features on your return journey.

We at Empangeni have an 800 m grass field and arranging fuel / refreshments will be a pleasure.

Please let me now if your require this


regards

Dobbs

[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

[Rudix]

I might join you from Secunda for a way if the timing works out.

If you would rather top up with fuel here to push through to Newcastle, let me know about the petrol and I can have drums filled for you.

Hi Delta,

It will be great if you can join us ! I will ask the other guys about refueling in Secunda, that might be a good option for the planes with less range.

Will let you know what they say, thanks for the offer !

Fly safe,
Rudi

[Rudix]

Hi Guys,

I see that Richards Bay / Empangeni features on your return journey.

We at Empangeni have an 800 m grass field and arranging fuel / refreshments will be a pleasure.

Please let me now if your require this


regards

Dobbs

Hi Dobbs,

Thanks that will be great, I was wondering about a refueling stop in that area.

Will keep you updated, at the moment it looks like we will sleep over the first night at Eva's field courtesy of James, then we can fly down to the coast the second day and maybe stay over at Richardsbay or at Ornate.

The current plan is to leave 2 January so we should be (WX depending) in your area 3 Jan.

Fly safe,
Rudi