Microlighters

Hi guys

Lets say its is an overcast day with very little wind. Temp min of 14 degrees and max 21 degrees. This forecast is in the Cape Town area for this Saterday. Is it possible to fly ones trike through out the day. There is a few friends of mine that wants to go for flips... So I want to fly in calm conditions with them.

See http://www.1stweather.com/metrocast/cap ... nded.shtml
Normally very accurate

Phil

As long as you can maintain the requirment for VFR flight you can fly. So that would be 500 foot vertical separation to the cloud, 5 nm horizontal visibility and not over more than 3/8 cloud.
It can be fully overcast with cloud at 1500ft agl but if it is clear underneath and you stay under the cloud - legally you can fly up to 1000ft agl.

Thanks all.

Did air law very resently so all the law and rules are still fresh in my head. Ek is net meer bekommerd oor skud (wil nie die ouens was eerstekeer in n trike vlieg afsit nie. En ek het nog net altyd in oggend of aand gevlieg. Middag is dit te warm en dan stamp jy. As dit lekker koel bly en wind stil wat min in die Kaap gebeur behoort mens tegnies die heel dag te kan vlieg in jou trike. Wil weet of iemand dit al so ervaar het.

Dankie
Karl

At 21C max you shouldnt bump too much, although I dont know the Cape flying weather that well. Now the wind down there may be a different matter. If you are a relatively new pilot I suggest you chat to some locals to set your mind at ease.
But on the day of flying I suggest that if it doesnt feel or look right to you, then stop flying.
Good luck and enjoy.

Thanks Andre. Makes sense to me. Will do so. Any locals that can comment here?

Ah - jammer nie die vraag reg verstaan nie. Ja nee kan nou nie comment oor die kaapse weer nie. Maar in die algemeen as dit koel bly dan is dit kalm lug en wanneer dit warm word skud jy maar.

Dankie Stephan. Hoe kom jou microlight aan? Amper reg om in die lug te spring?

Flying in hot weather at sea level is fine and the only bumps will be from thermal activity over land. If there is an onshore breeze it is usually calm but be aware of cloud formation as moisture is drawn up over the sea and cloud formation can take place rapidly. Off-shore in hot weather brings some bumpyness due to hot air being blown from inland. In no or slight wind it is perfectly flyable and the pax feels much less bumps than the pilot anyway. What you must be aware of in our beautiful Western Cape run by the DA is the wind. Once again on-shore not too bad but from North Easterly to South Easterly it picks up a lot of wave formation over the mountains and the fact that alot of our airfields run in a North to South direction doesn't help much for the landings in windy conditions. If you are a new pilot check out the weather on that day, speak to regular flyers and don't feel pressurized to take yourself or anybody up if you aren't comfortable. It sounds mucho to say "I have flown in some really crapy weather " but 99% of the time it is terrible (believe me) and flying should be about enjoyment and I respect the fact that you have the same concerns when it comes to the guys you want to take up. So yes if the weather is calm with a slight breeze it is perfectly flyable especially when there are hardly any clouds. Clouds indicate thermal updraughts and the small y ones rock and roll.

Hey, Karl, the past few days we had some thunderstorm activities in the WC. On Wednesday afternoon it was cool here in the Piketberg area, 18Deg with no wind, and I mean nothing, zilts! After taking off and cruising low level ( 150ft AGL ) for about 5miles, I suddenly encounter Eastern winds from the mountains in the East and it was substancially warmer than on the ground. The higher I climbed the worse it got. So I went down to under a 100ft AGL, 'cause I could see there was no wind on the water on the ground.

The moral is; sometimes it looks picture perfect from the ground and just a few feet up there are invissible streams of hot air moving diagonally over the ground and wich is not very nice to fly in. Usually after such weather for a few days, you get cool stable air and makes for great flyin'. Hope you have fun on Saturday.

Thanks Sprinter, Ranger and Wallaby. Will keep this in mind.

Cheers

Friday is Flyday!
The view from my office window is lowish cloud, clear for more than 5 miles, just listened into Ysterplaat, wind is northerly at 15knots so I am gonna go fly.
Trikes are a bit more vulnerable to turbulence than Gyro's I believe but my view is that if its within your own capabilities, just do it.

Managed to fly 5 hours in total taking 3 pax allong. First my broher in law for a 2.5 hour flight from FAFK to Bolandlugspuit, to Groto Bay to Blouberg and back. Then guy at work around the patch for an hour. Then a friend for 1.5 hours to Melkbos and landing at Morningstar (landed there with first pax as well) Morph you guys were there the whole day! No flying???

Flew morning, lunch time and afternoon. Great day - very smooth.

Cheers
Karl

Nice meeting you Ranger

Karl, I expect to see a pic of me in your trike sometime!
I await my flight!
Ross