BOTSWANA fly-away 25 April to 10 May 2015

[kloot piloot]

Enjoyed following your trips gents, and ladies.

Just a question on the Vic Falls flying / no flying. Do you think the current chopper and microlight tour operators have some sort of concession (or even a grip on the decision makers) that they had the power to deny you access to the airspcae over the falls? Or was your access denied for other reasons?

Just curious, because I spoke to someone a while ago who wanted to start microlight flips from the Zim side and I could not think who one could refer him to.

[mulderpm]

Hi Roel, we can just speculate, but after giving us 4 promised deadlines for granting permission, spanning from 3pm until the following day 10am, the authorities simply said they are not issuing permission for any NTCA today. Maybe the next day would have been ok? Also, when we asked the operators how to get permission they said we won't be given permission. On the day, the people from our group that drove to the falls reported very intense scenic flight traffic. So who knows what the reason was. Mervyn is intent on taking the matter up with our AeroClub and CAA.

[Louis Cole]

Enjoyed following your trips gents, and ladies.

Just a question on the Vic Falls flying / no flying. Do you think the current chopper and microlight tour operators have some sort of concession (or even a grip on the decision makers) that they had the power to deny you access to the airspcae over the falls? Or was your access denied for other reasons?

Just curious, because I spoke to someone a while ago who wanted to start microlight flips from the Zim side and I could not think who one could refer him to.

Roel I have a no.(+260 97 735 0437) of a trike pilot called Phil in Livingstone who may be able to help. He was just as dumbfounded as we were when we were denied permission and says that the Zambian Airforce has to approve all permits to fly in Zambia. Apparently according to Mervyn, a General decided on the day that no uncertified aircraft would be allowed to flly over the falls on that day. Phil confirmed that he saw a General with the ATC on that particular day. I still have my suspicions that Batoka Skies had something to do with it. Who knows?

[ME 109]

Massimo alongside ZU CSZ

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Oom Polla....

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Mervyn breaking Vic falls news...

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Mervyn sorting a wing.

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Louis waiting......

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Waiting for Vic Falls clearance

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Waiting for Vic Falls clearance

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Lifetime memories that will stick with me, this Botswana trip.
The experience gained cannot be measured, these flying hours were not merely logbook entries booked for flying in the home circuit ! I have included a few photographs of persons and events that, in hindsight, sums up the adventure for me.
Firstly, Mervyn.....
Always ready to sort someones problem of the day....sorting out wing problems, test flying sick engines, loading motorcycles onto trailers Your efforts to organize the Vic Falls fly-over were superb. A big thank you!
Oom, Polla (Blue Max)..... To be actively participating in this form of aviation at your age...
Louis Cole....Made me realize that it IS possible to safely fly the whole distance
Paul and Dionne, a big thank you for making the adventure a reality.
Massimo....apologies yet again for the helmet and headset confusion at Kasane I have some beautiful close up aerial shots of you alongside...I will ensure that you get them.
I can like this for hours, and new memories will spring to mind, but in one sentence: this was awesome!

[mulderpm]

Thanks Andries. For us it was only a pleasure. That we could share this lifetime dream with so many of our fellow pilots, family and friends was absolutely remarkable.

Are we seeing you at the fly & braai on Saturday at Microland. If so, please bring your pictures. We are intending to do a background slide show and share the pictures. Maybee two projectors will be required?

[Massimo]

Wow looking through all these pics and reading the posts im thrown back into the depression I just recovered from I still cannot believe that all that pre-planning and excitement is done and dusted and we are already back.

What an incredible adventure it was, so much fun and great flying, and the crowd was not bad either . The bots authorities were always so accommodating of this swarm of mosquitoes in the air and it made the trip even that much more enjoyable. You always felt calm and relaxed and nothing seemed to bother too much....

A place with such an expanse of wilderness, as soon as you move away from the 1 or 2 tar roads you find urself in AFRICA. No people or civilization to speak of. You just flying along and oh look there is another herd of ellies just walking around in the bush!!! Incredible just incredible

I felt truly blessed that i could take my whole family along on this trip, my little girl had soooo much fun. Thank you everybody for making this trip so awesome. A special thanks to Paul, Dionne and even Merv for all the additional PT.

Im definitely ready for the next one, please lets not wait too long

[BuzzLight]

You're Right Massimo....just as we recovered from the depression of being back at the office all these wonderful memories are pouring in on the site. Thanks for all the pictures guys! It brings back such wonderful memories!! Truly a experience of note....hopefully this is going to turn into an annual event!! Tx P & D for sharing your bucket-list with a bunch of lunatics. .Lol...It was such an interesting event - from having to load the trike for the first time onto a trailer (Tx Merv!!), to travelling the vast distance to Kasane...Tx Misses Sibela for allowing Senyati to temporarily import 15 microlights...haha...(whatever you say - don't mention we're making a movie)...to sleeping over at Elephant Sands and having elephants drink water less than 15 meters away...to the camaraderie of assembling the trikes & wings again for the first time at Kasane international airport....in the blazing afternoon sun. ...no one was "on their own"...everyone chipped in to make sure that we were ready for flight...even though some distinguished guests had spare nuts and bolts... ...to the evening braai's with the "wonderfully tender steaks" from the local SPAR...no wonder everyone resorted to chicken as the meat of preference...to the first time completing a flight plan....and then the awesome flights over the Chobe & Zambezi river (Flying over 4 countries in less than one hour...in a microlight)....and the daily formation flights to Senyati Lodge...some of us getting confused how low we should go...getting lost in the trees...and some of us looking for closer landing strips to avoid the daily schlepp of filing a flight-plan..enjoying the 4x4 drive through the Chobe national park...witnessing a lion kill..spotting Leopard...and enjoying the Booz cruise and dinner on the Chobe river....to the trip from Kasane down to Makgadikgadi...stating on our flight-plan that we have 5 hour endurance...off cause....so that we could land and refuel on the national road...to the awe of the motorists having to stop for us to refuel...taking pictures and posing with pilots..even sitting in the trikes for pictures...thank you to the ladies (Ground Support Team) for pulling our trailers in the convoy to ensure that we could refuel...Andre thought it appropriate to ask his pax to sit ontop the spare petrol tank for incase he missed the ground support team...and then we were off to the Makgadikgadi pans...nothing could prepare us for the vastness of these pans and the beauty of it all...we spent a wonderful afternoon there...exploring the pans...and the flamingoes...doing extreme low level fly by's and landing where ever appropriate...we even saw some microlight acrobatic formation flying.. ...tx wingman...., and then for the unlucky ones amongst us that had to come back the next day...we had a last dinner on the pans...what and awesome experience...the most amazing sunset was dished up for us....Thanx to everyone who made the experience an unforgettable one...Thanx P & D & Merv for everything you did to make our experience so much more unforgettable...ZU-DHG (Chris) singing out...

[Massimo]

[mulderpm]

See you all at the braai on Saturday

[NickSwardt]

Damn Chris, with that story I'm immigrating

See all you guys on Saturday, I'll bring the charcoal and I'll see if I can arrange another projector

[Lassie]

Dito, dito, dito, kan dit nie beter se as my geveerde vriende nie. Julle Micro
Land ouens rock Thanks and hoping to be able to join you again soon. Drink 'n dop op my Saterdag, net te ver om te vlieg met 'n trike sonder om olifante te sien. The Bonsmara's are not that entertaining. Hope to see you at 10000ft over the mountains enroute to Numbi/Barberton

Greetings
Dawid

[Lassie]

'n Klompie foto's.

[mulderpm]

Hi Dawid, seeing that you can not make it, will you please send your photos (DVD) with someone to the braai. Or maybe post them to someone in Pretoria. They look fantastic. That trike taking off in front of the car looks very typical of our road landing. Some of the motorists that were waiting started doing that. Acording to the road marshals, Dionne & Fiona and Sharon, there was only one Zimbabwean driver that moaned because he was going to be late for an appointment at the border. All others just wanted pictures and were in awe. In the time we were on the ground (20 min) there must have been only about 10 cars and trucks. The road was really not busy at all. Most of us did not have to wait for a car to pass before we could land. And, while we were on the ground, all the cars and trucks stopped anyway to look and take pictures. For those that were not there, that strech of the A3, and two more, between Nata and Kasane are runways. All are demarkated as runways (sign board), with longer white lines and a hard, wider sholder. They are called ELG1, ELG2 and ELG3.

On our way to Maun we planned a refuel landing at Motopi airfield. The runway was in a very bad state and we decided that it was much safer to land on the tar road next to it. Again there was very little traffic, a car every minute at most. During our time on the ground, about 10 minutes, a truck arrived and stopped to chat to us. He also blocked the road so that we could safely take off. Avoiding the potholes in the road was more of a challenge. And one of us is still looking for his petrol cap.

See you on Saturday.

[mulderpm]

See all you guys on Saturday, I'll bring the charcoal and I'll see if I can arrange another projector

Thanks for the offer Nick. There are going to be so many pictures that there will not be enough time to do them all on one screen. Two or more projectors will be good.

We will bring some fritter mix and a laptop, projector and screen as well.

If you want copies of the photos I would suggest you bringing a memory stick....a big one.

Oom Polla, I will bring the one (8GB) I borrowed from you....sorry I kept it for so long..

[Massimo]

Shew Dawid those are awesome photos!!