anthonyhugo wrote:Those in the know, how hectic is the turbulence when crossing the ridge at my proposed location?
What I can remember from the 1'st Microland files that Roel presented: if the wind is blowing north then landing at Aeroden, Aviators Paradise & Kroon will be hectic?
We fly this area all the time and there are certainly a couple of things to keep in mind.
Firstly, yes, you are right, if a northerly is blowing you will get bounced on the leeward (southern) side of the Magaliesberg. The wind speed, particularly at 1000ft AGL, will determine the degree to which you will get bounced (read: size of rotor). So the trick here is to check the weather charts for Aeroden on the morning of your flight
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=395350. If the winds aloft are less than 10 knots (white or light blue on the Windguru chart) you are good to go over the top!
What I do more often than not when flying over from the area of The Coves to Aeroden, is I sneak through the nek directly in front of The Coves 36 (on Google Earth it is identified by the
silica quarry just to the north of the mountain). The northerly wind tends to funnel a little through the nek but you trade a little more head-wind speed for having to climb over the top and getting bounced in the process!
My rule of thumb for flying the Magaliesberg is this: If the winds aloft are 20 knots or above I steer well clear of them mountains AND the rotor areas alongside them!!
Question: Do I ever climb the 1.8 x the mountain height to get over the Magaliesberg?
Answer: Again, depending on the winds aloft being less than 20 knots, the answer is NO! There are MANY times in close to zero wind conditions that I have snuck over the top with 200ft to spare, ALWAYS taking the approach to the mountain at 45 degrees to prepare for a breakaway in the event of an engine-out.
It is important to note that the profile of the Magaliesberg is a 1:5 - 1:8 slope of the NORTH face and a VERTICAL drop on the SOUTH face. The reason why I mention this is that on the north side if you needed to glide, your trike glide ratio would out-perform the mountain slope, as long as you INITIALLY had some distance between you and the mountain to allow you to pull in and get your flying speed up for the glide.
Oh yes, a final point . . . . if a healthy southerly is blowing you will experience the effects of rotors at Aeroden!!! Basie calls them 'Goggas'! Look sharp!
On my return from a flight I ALWAYS SMS the weather station at Aeroden to check the wind speed and direction before landing! For an
instant weather report from
Aeroden Weather Station (25°43'30.17"S 27°44'23.90"E):
SMS "AD" to 36010 (Cost R5 - free SMS do not apply)
I hope that this helps!
Ant: Let me know when you are planning on coming over and I will gladly walk you through some mountain flying!
