Microlighters

In February 2007 (huidige jaar, pel) I accepted an offer from 6 German hang glider pilots to be their tug pilot, based at and aero-towing them from Prieka over the period 1 - 14 December..............(Don't ask where Prieka is.....it's donner ver from Durbs, and only my GPS knows where it is.

As many of you know, Annie and I sold our beloved Dragonfly when we closed La Mercy. Brett (of Jackals and mielie leaves fame) bought her. But he knew that I had this obligation to fulfil, and graciously agreed to let me take the Dragon for this job.......

Getting ready has been a darn nightmare, cause the Dragon was hangared up at Cato, and I was building a hangar for a couple of guys at Ballito. I desperately needed to get the Dragon down, so that I could begin preparing her, but I could not leave site..........Aish!

Anyway, with all the rain we are having, Annie managed to sneak me up to Cato during last week. Pinetown was under mist!! But Cato was clear.....

The last 3 days have been a nightmare from hell.......Exhause had to be replaced, exhaust mountings buggered, carbs overhauled, 3 extra fuel tanks with transfer valves and electric fuel pump, landing light etc., etc.,......and finish building a hangar at the same time........

So, first departure date was Friday morning 4am.........Then Sat morning 4am,,, eventually left Sunday at 4.50pm.......And today was my lil' girls 5th birthday......no time for parties, but I was there for the birthday candle blow-out and sing-song.........some things you have to do.

Now, unless you were in Durban this afternoon, and saw the weather 'on the deck', with misty drizzle, you won't really know what I took off into.......But that's where the title of this story comes from, 'Prieska - or bust'.

I hauled off-a that Ballito strip, 10 to 5pm, hooked straight into a bank, course direct Piet's farm, 22km outside of Ladysmith(on the Newcastle road)......but it's misty on the horizon, clouds on the deck, so I start working the valleys (you can do this at 45mph ), and I notice the GPS has increased 'time to destination' from 2h20 to 2h35.......that's cause I'm flying parralled to the coast.......so I carry on, until I reach the Tugela River valley, then I manage to turn in and man does the ol' Dragon like a tailwing. 80mph on the GPS.......But low level, man, really low level........skimming over sheer cliffs, dropping into lush Natal bushveld valleys, hammering straight at towering hills, knowing that with the tail-wind, I'll have huge ridge-lift to nudge me 'over-the-top'........and as you come over the top, barely 100feet AGL, the earth just drops away into another awe-imspiring bush-veld valley...........But I'm not really in this for the scenery, I'm trying to find a way out of this pea-soup

No fuel gauge, only estimating consumption, when shall I start transferring? 1 hour gone, at approx 18lt per hour, O.K. start transferring from first tank.........Is the electric pump working..........Hell, I don't know, it worked in the hangar ...........glove off, reach around and feel the pump, yup, it's working.............

Eventually I pass over Tugela Ferry.......now in familiar territory, but the sun is setting, and I have just left the thick cloud of Natal.......cloud now 3/8ths at about 4000feet AGL............So I climb a bit to try and find better tailwinds, but no-go........so back to the deck......waving rural children.......cart-wheeling rural children..........laughing big African Mamma's..................goats high-tailing it out of the way...........

Sun gone!! I am prepared......have put mag torch into pouch of glove, so can check instruments while holding torch in mouth .....spot on track, 10mins to go, "Dave, kan jy my hoor, dis Piet?" Ah, Piet my man, your voice is 'sweet as a mellow lark' (courtesy of Bob Dylan). Yeah, Piet, I am switching my head-light on and off.........."I see you Dave, turn left a little....... I am parked on the Northern end of my runway, you must land from South to North.......800m long......my lights are on"........

And tha's what microlighting is about......no fancy fuel flow meter, no fancy fuel pressure guage, no fuel guage, no direct track from A to B.........Just wing-it man, just wing-it.......... and fly like a bird.........

Fly safe guys (and gals)

Episode 2 tomorrow (with some pictures). I am leaving here at about 4.30am to route via Bethlehem and onto Ficksburg. Depending on conditions, I may push through to Gariep Dam.......

Great stuff Dave :D :D

I agree this is what microlight flying is all about, after reading your post I just want to go out and fly somewhere.

I have a similar attitude towards flying, way to many guys look up at the sky and if it is not perfect they don't fly. I had a good private snigger at this years EAA Sun&Fun when many of the "big blik" pilots only arrived on the Saturday because "it was raining on Friday". I flew in on the Friday and did not get (very) wet, had to fly around 3 storms but it was some of the most exciting flying I have done yet. When I left home-base I was pretty sure I would have to turn around and that was fine, I would still get some flying time but everytime I managed to fly around a storm there was a gap again in the right direction and soon I was on finals at Rustenburg.

Have a great flight the rest of the way, I am looking forward to the next episode.

Fly safe,
Rudi

Dave have fun,fly safe and enjoy your self.sorry i mist the first leg.i will look forward to all your logs.
Brett :D

cant wait for the rest ..............

Good luck Dave. Was supposed to fly towards KBY today but it IMC at rand and winds are all 30+KTS...

Keep us updated...

Eish George....

Would've been seriously bumpy here today....

Had a bumpy flight to FAVB on Friday with the Cheetah. What you expect flying in this part of the world between 12h00 & 17h00.

Andy sounds happy though after taking her up....

Bad Nav

Great story (thus far) Dave, good luck with the rest of the journey and look forward to the next chapter.

Gotta be honest im not sure i like the "or bust" connitation in the heading... Personally i would prefer "prieka or a safe landing somewhere else"

Fly safe and keep the story coming....

:D

Great read Dave! Seize the day!!

Prieska - means the place of the lost she goat.

Have fun David and happy landings.

I remember a photo of Mike Blyth, sitting on a step in some Columbian outback, looking haggard but alive, with a laptop on his lap, capturing moments of his flight with Olivier on their second epic journey..........Here I sit, in the Wimpy at Ladybrand.........ja, 3 days and here I am in Ladybrand........

Monday morning, real early, Piet wakes me with a cuppa........5.15am and I get airborne, crank a steep turn, burn up Piet's runway (he runs for cover ), and off the Dragon wings me to visit the distant horizon on a perfect summers dawn.......


Dang, but only an open cock-pit pilot, with uninterrupted forward view, can for a moment close their eyes and feel with me the beauty of dawn flight, in the calm of 'pre-day'.......mist covered valleys and flat-lands..smoke curling lazily up from rural huts..........the world at slumber, deep in deepest dreamland.......and I am up and alive and living............Thankyou Otto, thankyou Orville and Wilbur, thankyou to the countless folk who lost their all in the quest for perfecting flight......I ride on your wings.....A moment of silent gratitude for them all dear reader..................


The berg comes into view. Majestic. Awe inspiring.. Nasty black clouds curling over from the N/W, the turbulence starts........it gets bad.......it gets really bad.............Full power, climb attitude, descending, weightless...hammered back into seat, glance sideways...wings flexing, flung into 4-point harness, hammered back into seat......grab hold of alu tube with one hand......no bloody hell, get your hand back onto the throttle...................descending wayyyy too fast........left, left now, follow the ravine, out-run it....power, power, check speed, check power, check attitude....damn it, take stock, check in mirror for load on back seat, check underslung pannier still attached..........All O.K........

O.K. ya bastard big piece of rock, was that the best you had......throw it at me so early in the day......I'm coming back at you......

By now I was overhead the steep climb from Natal up Van Reenen's pass, big rig's about 500feet beneath me, crawling(just like me) up Van Reenen's..........Problem is, I know there is a sign up ahead on the side of the road which says ' Windy Corner', and I am going to cross Van Reenen's right there.........Ha! you chunk of rock, I'm ready for the challenge...

I crawled over the pass, and threw caution to the wind.......I screamed......I laughed.........I choked back emotion......I opened my flight suit and took the camera out and squeezed off a shot of the wind-sock on top of Van Reenen's at 'windy corner'.............I did it!


Cloud's on the tops of the mountains, so I am still limited to only about 300feet AGL.....strong wind from the North....I am crabbing........but I am alive.......by this I don't mean I cheated death, but that every piece of my being, - physical, emotional, intellectual - was screaming with purpose, a huge surge of sense of being alive, of using my skills to achieve something powerful.......



Harrismith passes by......Bethlehem approaches.....Headwinds have backed off to a reasonable steady about 5kts.........I drop down to 30feet AGL, following the contours of lands and hills........I have always dreamed of spreading my arms and floating over grass covered hills and valleys........just dreamily skimming over the countryside........I lived my dream.......I lived my dream..........



"Bethlehem traffic, TUG approaching from Harrismith, joining low level due to cloud, estimate 5 mins".........It is 7.25am, Bethlehem is still asleep.......about 10 crop sprayers standing forlorn, their wings tied down, they remind me of cattle standing in a rain-storm.........


Bethlehem refuels me with AVGAS (I mix it with my remaining fuel), and set off for Ficksburg..........Ah! the beautiful hills and valleys of the Eastern Free State.........something you have to experience...........I just carried on living my dream.......waving at farmers working their cattle, swooping past rocky out-crops.....crawling up steep hill sides......dropping down, spiralling down, into the adjacent valleys......following winding, flooded rivers, weeping willows, tall stately and proud pin poplars..............Even flying at about 5feet AGK alongside a farmer in his air-conditioned enclosed state of the art Agricultural Tractor while he was ploughing his fields........a friendly, astonished wave.......and he is gone......a part of my memory..........a part of the legacy I would love to pass on to my fellow pilots.........


Go fly guys........go fly.........go stretch your horizons.........slowly build your experience.........and you will wonder as I do at the beauty of our country.......and of flight.........and of the simple things that bring joy.......



That was day 2. I enjoyed the hospitality of Maluti Air's Anita. I booked into their beautiful log cabin, on the airfield, surrounded by game and lions (yup, they grunted me to sleep last night). Anita loaned me the students vehicle, and I set off for town to have a hair-cut, massage, buy eye-drops and just chill...........


This morning I dragged myself out of an electric blanked bed at 3.45, drank a cup of black, sweet tea and returned to the Dragon.........I gave her an early morning kiss on her left cheek(wing strut dudes)........and then...Oh! NO, no, no.... The hangar door had been left open during yesterday violent thunder, lightning and rain storm, and my flying suit, headsets, seat and neck-warmer were all soaking wet..........and it's 4.30am and bloody cold.....now what?

So I hang it out to dry on the wings while I pre-flight..........then I climb into a wet flight suit.......Brrrrrrrrrr.....and then I sit in a wet seat..........Brrrrrrrrrrrrr........considered having a leak to warm up:):)

Anyway, 20 minutes into flight and the things were almost blown dry...........

Same, same as yesterday, this stunningly beautiful scenery of the Eastern Free State, bordering on the Lesotho highlands.....I fly to Ladybrand at about 200feet AGL.........to early to see any farmers........to early to see anything other than flocks of birds heading out to their feeding grounds..............


Conditions are not favourable(Yeah! Right! conditions were favourable yesterday hey!) to continue today.......strong headwinds.........so am planning to change my route. No longer going down to Gariep..........leaving instead to fly direct to Koffiefontein Mine, otherside Bloemfontein, and then on to Prieska.........expecting favourable tailwinds all day tomorrow, so should make Prieska in about 6 hours of flying ..............

So here I sit, in the Wimpy at Ladybrand, drawing smiles from folk cause here is a man who 'looks around while he types' yeah, there were these really sexy girls that took typing as a subject for Highschool, so I figured, "hey, why not". So I did typing as a high school subject, made sure I aced it so that I could spend the second half of the class period perving the babes, and passed typing with merit at high school...." Must say I was the envy of my buddies in History class..........:) And Annie thinks I was a 'dork' for not taking Home Economics.....cause besides Corn Flakes and peanut butter sandwiches, I am pretty much useless in the kitchen .....

But hey, I fly, I don't need to be anything else..:):)

Talk later,

Hi David,

Your writing is almost like poetry, simple appealing,very descriptive and sure leaves a lump in my throat and a longing in my heart.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Safe flying and kind regards,

Gunter Rostek.

Dear David,

I guess that someone has to put perspective on this.

David is a hugely accomplished and experienced MPL pilot with some 11 000 hours.

David, I write to you as a friend without attack.

You are omitting the “Don’t try this at home” bit that you see on TV.

David – go and sit in the corner for 5 minutes and think about it.

Have you reached the true and ultimate epitome of “I am infallible?”

Your writings are entertaining, but you see …..

“This oke with long hair and an untidy chin together with a pony tail and his de facto gave me lectures about human performance and challenging weather conditions. Safe height was mentioned a few times. You know them?”

David, I hope that I am getting through ….

Fly safe.

Regards
John ZU-CIB

Yes John, I am always open to being checked......even Zwelaki sometimes reminded me that I was rushing my pre-flights

But I don't have 11000hrs, only 3 500 .

And yes, I did say something about "go fly guys, push your boundries, slowly, one step at a time" or something along those lines.......And that is essentially what it is about.....

I remember writing about the pilot who lost his life recently in that C-182 accident in the Ndwedwe area, and I recalled how I had been spared death in the exact same circumstances.........And that is how some of us learn, by being spared death, while around us friends lose their lives doing exactly what we did..........

But, yeah, you can rest assured that all flying I do is very calculated.....to the best of my abilities........and if I should pass on while doing what I love so dearly, then so be it........do not mourn my passing......instead envy me for how I went.........I will go with a smile I am sure.

But for now I am having a blast......

Tomorrow is a big day..Ladybrand all the way to Prieska.......I need to rest..

Cheers my friend, and thanks for caring enough to give me a gentle prod........

Safe flying

Good one mate keep it up I have never met you BUT you must be an issparation to all the new fly boys and girls and I take note of what you say and have done some of it.