Microlighters

The Gang - Prieska

From the left: Anton (Local lad, from Cape Town), Reinhardt, Stefan, Paulie, Self, Stephanie, Rosi and Tony


The first 2 hang glider pilots, Stefan and Paulie, together with Sylvia (their retrieve driver) arrived last Thursday, and no time was wasted. By sunset we had already performed out first test flight. Performance not that great at this altitude, but we will make it work!

On Friday the other 2 guys, Tony and Reinhardt, together with Rosi(their retrieve driver) arrived and Anton arrived from Cape Town on Saturday.

5 Hang Glider pilots, all world class, and one Dragon.........the scene is set....

the locals, checking it out


The gliders are state of the art. 2 ATOS Rigid wing Gliders, 2 Aeros Combat (topless) and 1 La Mouette (topless)..

Day one sees everyone off on a 'recce' flight....Tony and Reinhardt casually do 150km out and return flights, while the other fellows stay local. The mood is set.......

Reinhardt, preparing his days task


Then we have the mother of all thunderstorms. 60kt gusts.....Roof sheeting ripped off houses, 150year old trees easlily blown over, dust bins rolling down streets, road signs ripped out of the ground, vizibility down to about 40m (dust)......man, what a storm..The day was predicted for thunderstorms, so no gliding........

The next day, after scouring the met data, we planned the course to Douglas 129km.........Tony, Reinhardt and Anton made it, while Stefan made 80km. Paulie had a nerve-wrecking tow, and his mind was screwed. He landed within 5 mins and called it a day.

I had nothing to do, so took Anton's lil' landrover and drove to Douglas to fetch him. It is a great atmosphere when you collect the pilots. The energy is electric, the talk just flying, the km's home pass all to quickly.........



Our office, under the big tree

This morning we planned a flight in a southerly direction, making use of the winds predicted........Thermic activity was not expected to become more than moderate, so a reasonable flight to De Aar was planned. The tug's were hard work, seeking out the thermals, coring them with the gliders under tow, no time to look at ASI or VSI, it's seat of the pants stuff. You feel the thermals, you feel the sink, you instinctively steepen the bank through the sink, again instinctively levelling off for a moment as you encounter the rising air again, then banking again. All the time watching the glider, making sure he stays put. Feeling the speed, feeling the wind, feeling the pitch pressure..........it's beautiful........and then the moment the glider pilot is waiting for, when I am satisfied that I have put him into the middle of a good thermal, I give the release signal - my arm out-stretched, waving it up and down............That sudden surge as he releases, a glance over my shoulder to see which way he is turning.....Yawing the Dragon to get a fix on the towline to make sure it is still attatched (R800 per line - we lost one at La Mercy). Then it's down, down, down to fetch the next one....and it's playing all the way down Full-blown spins, Split -S's, wing overs, just get down..........swoop low, drop the tow line as we don't want to land with it due to the stony surface, then tight circuit for a full stop.

As I land, the girls are there to hook up the next guy.......all ready, safety checks done........one girl runs 100m ahead to be my signal co-ordinator - 'all out, all out......'..... My eyes are glued to my signal lady, the slightest sign that she indicates a stop and I re-lease that line.........Feel the drag, feel the wind, rotate, (check the mirror - dust, can't see a thing) ,check in ground effect for just 2secs (check the mirror again, glider good), then max climb. I have already been scanning the area for thermal indicators, birds of prey, swallows, dust rising, smoke rising, butterflies.........300feet AGL and I start searching............the thermal hunt is on..........Sometimes you smell it, sometimes it hits like a wall of water, sometimes it shakes the hell out of you and gives you tons of sink just before hammering you........each one is different.......but you get to know them, to read the signs, and before long you have figured out where the house thermal triggers, what the trigger interval is, and you set your sights................

Today, Tuesday, Stefan never got away, and after 2 launches, packed it up. Paulie flew 90km's, Anton 80km's, and Tony flew over 350km to land between Middelburg and Steynsburg. Have a look at your map, folk. That's an admirable achievement, all the way from Prieska. That's the equivalent of Durban to past Harrismith, in a straight line!!! And what a modest guy! I spoke to him earlier, and all he said was "Great tow Dave. See you later" Wow!!

At the time of writing this, we still have not heard from Reinhardt. Chances are he is in for a long walk, as there is most probably no cell-signal where he has landed. That's a day in the life of a 'flat-land long distance hang glider pilot'.....awesome stuff.

And now I'm off to the local pub for a few drinks with the gang....

Cheers.

good to hear the gliding storys,yes that is a great distance,with no motor.do thay have raido contact
brett

lamercyfly wrote: At the time of writing this, we still have not heard from Reinhardt. Chances are he is in for a long walk, as there is most probably no cell-signal where he has landed. That's a day in the life of a 'flat-land long distance hang glider pilot'.....awesome stuff.

Awesome story Dave. But aren't the chances very high that you will loose folks? I mean 350 km away from everything in the northern Cape and no cell phone signal, you could just dissapear, die of dehydration etc. Surely they must rely on other forms of communication in case the cell phone doesn't work?

The gliders are state of the art. 2 ATOS Rigid wing Gliders, 2 Aeros Combat (topless) and 1 La Mouette (topless)..

Pictures?

Morph wrote:

I mean 350 km away from everything in the northern Cape and no cell phone signal, you could just dissapear, die of dehydration etc.

It appears that these okes are not sussies.

The reason Prieska was chosen is because of the amazing road infrastructure out of here.

There are 5 main routes leading outta here. All these roads in turn link up with others. This, together with the really good cell signal, and the empty skies, makes SA a prime destination for overseas pilots to come and better their own records, and to challenge world records.

If the prediction from our beloved Met department had managed to hold good for just 24 hours, then I have no doubt that both Tony and Reinhardt would have set new world record Tri-angle flights today. We planned a tri-angle from Prieska to Kimberley, then down to De Aar and then back home to Prieka......It's a ruddy joke, the met page......And they have the audacity to say the page is for 'micro sport aviation, eg., Ballooning, paragliding etc., and they cannot even get it right for a 24 hour projection. Bloody embarrassing in front of my German guests......

Any-way, last minute frantic planning this morning at the airfield, and we chose a route from Prieska to Hopetown to Britstown and back. Not a record, but a good 280km tri angle.

There is still a week to go....they are here until 14th........let's see what the 'trough' can do for us.........

Flying the Dragon in these conditions has been an enormous challenge....cross wind landing.......gust rotations.........dust devils kicking off 50m in front of you while you are about to touch down......full power..get out, get out, escape now..get height..watch attitude...keep speed....out of the corner of your eye, which way is it turning (should be clock-wise in southern hemishere)...bank right now, meet the rotating air head-on......washing machine....dust, bits of grass and rubbish.......jeez...

........"go-arounds for many reasons" I remember telling my students....Never thought of a dust-devil as one

The guys allways land within walking distance of a major road. That's a survival rule, that you do NOT break...and you stick to the route you told your ground crew you were going on........and you have some 5 lit of water as ballast on board.....and you can sleep overnight in the middle of winter in your harness. Remember that you dress for zero degree temps, so you are just fine for warmth once back on the ground. So, no, contrary to what it appears to be, it is very calculated, and flown by pilots of the highest calibre........

I'll keep you posted of todays flight......post something tomorrow...

Cheers.

....Tony and Reinhardt waiting. Aeros Combat topless behind.....and Reinhardt smoking ...and he gets to 18 000feet ASL without oxygen........his body is seriously acclimatised.....like the sherpas of the himalayas.....


... Reinhardt, in front of his ATOS....note the spoilers on the upple surface, and the kinked leading edge ending in winglets...... What you can't see in this picture are the flaps for landing.....D.


....Another pic of the ATOS..here you can see the section of the trailing edge which is the flaps (flat plastic sections)



....In this picture you can appreciate the wingspan and wingform of the ATOS rigid wing hang glider as opposed to the state of the art Flex-wing topless hang gliders alongside it.......

The weather has been rather unpredictable for this time of the year in our parts.

Met predicted 86% chance for thunderstorms / rain at 18h00 for Kimberley today. Their prediction was spot on until the cloud mass decided to pass Kimberley on either side.... proceeding to the Free State!

WX has a mind of its own and energy to dissipate where it chooses....

Awesome to see Prieska out of the air.... still a lot of pivots out there?

Have you to "Die Bos" - wonder if it still exists?

Yo John...

Hi. Where is 'die bos' and what is it.... sounds like a good drinking hole

Whas is you I met a couple of years back at he Rainbow factory? I had just flown in from Durban in a blue and white Skyranger, and you had just landed from Kimberley. You had flown up solo, and we traded stories about speed and 582 motors fitted to these aircraft.....

Why don't you pop down for a day and visit us in Prieska. There is no hangar for you, but you can park alongside the one we are in, and I have a nightguard every night. There are spare rooms in our B&B.

It's not that far.....the guys do more than that in their hang gliders

Cheers.

Hi David

When I worked in the old Telkom setup (1982-1990), we used to camp out at "die bos" It is a secluded camping terrain. I was one of the technicians at the time that brought modern telecom systems to the people. No more nommer asseblief after we left. Boy, did we piss it up there. Lots of Blue Ball Monkeys there and they used pester us. Ask the locals if the place still exists. Maybe not so safe in current day and time. The photo of the group looks like the hotel.... if so, they really haven't changed the interior decoration since I was there.

Wish I could pop over there for a sleep over but CXO is out in Vryburg. I leased the plane out to Andy & George for training purposes. Maybe next year, a long distance trip down to Upington, the Orange River, Augrabies and down to Port Nolloth might be a serious option to consider. What about the Fish River Canyon?

Couldn't have been me up at Rainbow. The only time I've been there is when a mate of mine and I flew up to Lanseria in his Cessna Reims Rocket 172, but I'm sure we'll meet sometime.

Johan Gouws ( Bonnie ZS-PMG ) also lives in the Prieska area. I think he is always in the mood for a lekker kuier with fellow aviators....