BOTSWANA fly-away 25 April to 10 May 2015

[mulderpm]

Maun TWR - The caravan on approach, please do an orbit, you are number 8 for finals, behind the Microlights.

Kasane TWR - A2-xxx please look out for the 5 Microlights on right hand down wind for 08......they are very very slow.

What an unforgetfull adventure.

[NickSwardt]

I can't comment on the Maun controllers but I'm sure the Kasane girlie was very happy to see us leave

What a great week we had, I really took a scary amount of photos and will post as I get to it:

Thanks to Paul and Dionne for everything, I cannot wait to go back, I vote we try to make this a yearly trip
We cannot do this only once!

Thanks to everybody for making it unforgettable

IMG_1084.jpg (8.67 KiB) Viewed 2772 times

[Louis Cole]

We flew into Maun airport in no particular order and about 7 trikes joined on a RH down wind for 08 with very little separation between us. Katsile, the very efficient ATC for the day tried bravely to issue joining and landing instructions amidst all the pilots desperately trying to announce their intentions and reading back instructions. I was last in line and on base leg when I noticed a trike performing sharp spiral manoeuvres on the threshold of 08. On short finals Evil Knievel managed to pull out of his daring acrobatic stunts and landed with me following close behind. Foolishly I decided to land instead of doing a go around or landing deeper over him, I got caught in his prop wash and goose stepped across the rwy. after being blown off first. That was the point where my brother who was my pax for the trip kakked himself and wrote the first chapter in his yet to be published book "Fifty Shades of Brown". Evil explained to our great amusement that his exploits on his first landing at an International airport was partly due to performance anxiety but that his trike had mysteriously been caught in an up draught over the threshold and that despite all his efforts, could not lose height in order to land. As a final desperate measure he decided to release his hand throttle or "handvet" as he called it and managed to land the trike safely. By this time we were all crawling on the floor with laughter.

Our time in Maun was spent flying sorties over the Okavango delta where we saw herds of buffalo, elephant, giraffe, antelope, zebra, hippos, lion and what not. Again one had to put your absolute trust in that wonderful Rotax motor as there was just water for miles on end with the occasional private lodge with a landing strip where we were not welcome.

The last evening we had a wonderful farewell dinner at the Audi camp where we all rehashed our experiences and shared new friendships. We learnt that Blue Max had been approached by one of the local ladies to stay behind and open and run a bush camp. Tiaan and Jacques were adamant that he should consider the offer as it would save us all overhead costs should we decide to return one day. The proposed camp was duly named "Oom Polla's Ovambo Bush camp".

The last day Paul and Dionne took a final flight over the delta whilst the others trailered back. Jacques and Tiaan set off for Schweizer Reneke via Ghanzi in their trikes while Ben and I took off for Sua Pans on our way back to Jakkalsdans.

I was very impressed with the locals and officials who were very friendly and accommodating. I think most of us benefitted from the experience of flying in controlled airspace where we had to file a flight plan virtually every time we flew, obviously having to communicate with the ATC, planning our daily flights and all the related things we normally don't have to do. I personally find that I have learnt a lot more during my trips to Namibia and Botswana than all my years of flying in relative "safe" conditions.

[mulderpm]

Thanks Louis

Yes, it is impossible to get the experience we all got on this trip by just flying localy. Flying cross country....that is including an outfield refuel landing and covering more than 200 miles, with varying weather condiotons, is trully a learning experience. I definitly learnt a lot more on this trip and the others in Mozambique and the ones to Barberton and Numbi than all the hours flying locally. Experience comes with experiencing, and handeling, varied conditions and terains and not just hours in your log book.

TOM....THE FLYING CAT

[mulderpm]

In the spirit of what have you learnt from this trip and "you know your undercarage is up, if it takes FULL power to taxi to the apron":

"You can not taxi to the threshold if you have not undone ALL your tie-downs"......thanks Frank for saving me the embaresment.

[NickSwardt]

[Frank Smallwood]

Just a few words on the Flyaway. Great trip and great company. Lots of new experiences. We were very lucky in going through borders. On the way through the pioneers had struggled through in 3 hours but when we got there it was a breeze maybe half an hour in total ours. By then the immigration and customs knew what we were about and all went smoothly. Elephant sands for the second night in Botswana was great. As we arrived there was a group of half a dozen elephants around the waterhole.
Rigging the microlight at Kasane was quite a struggle in the hot sun. Thanks to everyone who assisted those such as myself who struggled. On flying my aquilla after rigging I found that it had a significant tendency to turn left. Also it was flying a lot faster on trim than it had before, which was good in that I found myself keeping up with the others without having to pull the bar in all the time. Landings were a good bit faster than I am accustomed to but with the wide tar runways that we had almost everywhere this was not a problem. Also fuel consumption was quite a bit higher, not surprising given the increased air speed.
Some great memories generated during the trip such as skimming over the pans and flying over the Okavango delta.
On our last day in Botswana we decided to splash out and spend a night at lodge in the delta that would let us fly ourselves in. This was quite an experience. We took off early in the morning and headed out with the only the GPS to guide us and no other trikes to confirm that we were going the right way. The map doesn't show any landmarks to navigate by and the ground looks very similar in all directions. After 40 minutes with a nice tail wind the GPS was saying we had another 2nm to go and there was a landing strip to our east which didn't look to be in quite the right direction but after a quick 360 the GPOS was pointing us towards that landing strip. We landed on a good dirt runway and got out of the trike. Nobody there. I was all for walking to find the lodge but Sharon was a bit more sensible, being nervous of the lions and buffalo. Just as well. The direction I was going to take was the wrong one. We took off again to buzz the lodge to come and fetch us and as we flew over saw a landcruiser on its way to the air strip. By the time we landed again Max was waiting for us and was keen to go for a flip when it was offered. Max must have been 2m tall so his knees were up around his ears.
We were welcomed at the lodge with the staff singing a welcome to us. It is all very colonial and we were each give a water bottle with our name on it and were soon out in the delta in a Mokoro. Saw lots of birds but not much other game and the Mokoro polers keep to the shallow water as there are lots of Hippo in the deeper channels.
Our tented room, a separate chalet type tent, was at the end of the row and had an outside bath which we took advantage of listening to Hippo grunting away and watching the Maribou storks thermalling above us. The tented room was very luxurious with a huge double bed.
After sundowners on a break in the evening game drive watching another stunning African red sunset we had a great supper.
The following morning we left about 07:30 and got back to Maun pretty quickly as we had a light tail wind. The first time on the trip that the wind was out of the northwest.
Packing up the trike at Maun didn't take too long despite a bit of a delay getting the car onto the apron. The security guard insisted that we get a permit from the terminal building where Sharon was told that the man on the gate would issue the permit, which he duly did when she came back.
We drove the whole way back to Benoni in one day with only stops for refueling and one when a traffic cop in Botswana stopped me for speeding but he was nice about it and didn't fine me just told me to watch out for speed signs. The return through the border was even quicker than on the way in. Less than 20minutes through both sides.

A great trip all round. Thanks to Paul and Dionne for driving the whole thing and especially to the ground crew for all their efforts.

Looking forward to the next one wherever that may be.
Cheers Frank

[Louis Cole]

The flight back to Sua Pans again over Motopi and a pitstop on the road close to Gweta was again in perfect weather conditions and we touched down after a 3hr 15 mins leg about 18 mins. faster than the inbound leg. In the mean time We'd heared that Tiaan experienced engine problems close to the Ramatlabama border post and decided to trailer the rest of the way.

The next morning on day 15 we set off at sparrow for Francistown in slightly chilly but calm weather. The leg took us 2 hrs 05 mins but 30 mins. before Francistown the weather turned bad for the first time on the whole trip. Somebody put the tumbledrier on spin cycle and we were really thrashed around and landed in a 17 kts.head wind gusting 19 kts. on rwy 11.Considering the conditions the landing was good but Ben scribbled chapter 2 in short hand and we were really relieved to be on the ground. We battled to tie the plane down in the winds and used all the concrete blocks available. Only CEX and another fixed wing on the apron as opposed to the 30 or 40 at Maun.

That evening all weather forecasts predicted strong winds and it looked like we would be stuck in Francistown for 2 days. My pax had serious reservations about flying and elected to sleep in the next morning. I wanted to get away and probably made a stupid decision to take - off at about 10:00 in a 19 kts. wind. My brother decided to join me for the leg and in the process completed a few more chapters of his book. It was really kak weather and we were absolutely at the mercy of the weather. Compared to Hammerstein in Namibia it was different in that I felt that I had control the whole time whereas it was not the case in Namibia. The terrain on top of it was totally unforgiving and I just went into a blank mode for the entire leg because the "what if" scenario was just pointless. I dreaded the possibility of a cross wind landing at Selebi Phikwe but fortunately we had a perfect head wind on rwy.12 and landed after 90 mins. It ended well but I have to admit that it was the wrong decision to fly that day. We were met by all the familiar officials who met us with open arms and friendliness. It just couldn't get worse or could it....

[Blue Max]

Tx Louis,
n ou kan rerig lelik worry as jy in strek wind vlieg en daaraan dink dat daar net een rigting landings geleentheid is wat voorle.!!
Ek kan my jou bekommernis indink want toe ek by Francistown verby gaan het die wind erg gepomp en ek het geweet jy is in die lug.
Bly almal veilig tuis.

[mulderpm]

Tnx Frank. Some pictures please. We heard you reporting on the radio when you landed at the lodge. We were also in that area at time.

Tnx Louis. We are waiting anxiously for the next chapter in your report.

We are thinking of having a slide show in the background at the next Microland Braai on the 23rd. I will bring a laptop, projector and screen. Bring you best pics on a virus free memory stick. Louis, hope you can join us. Make the others lekker jealous.

[Louis Cole]

If I thought the previous day was bad, Day 17 would turn out to be worse by far. The weather front appeared to have passed and even Windguru was happy for me to go. We decided to change our route plan and enter S.A. via Gaberone to Pilanesberg instead of via Polokwane. We were ready to go at 05:20 and after a radio check with the tower we took off in perfect condtions. We had arranged to meet our ground crew at Palapye (FBPY) for a fuel stop before setting off for the 137 nm leg for Seretse Khama Int.Palapye was a totally forgettable airport firsly because the coordinates given were incorrect, secondly because we could see no access road for the ground crew from the air, thirdly because it was a kak rwy and fourthly because it was still a kak rwy. On touch down I heard and felt a stone hit my prop and upon inspection it looked pretty bad. I tried duct tape but to no avail. Fortunately I had a replacement prop for the 618 and after waiting for the ground crew to arrive and a phone conference with Pieter de Necker the prop was fitted and the tracking set and we were off after a 3 hr. delay having informed Gaberone of our delay and new ETA.

Somebody put the tumble drier on the spin cycle and for the next 2 hours we bounced around in very uncomfortable conditions and I was put through a very tough gym session. My brother was able to finish the last chapter of his book and the title by now changed to "Fifty Shades of Dark Brown" Fifteen nm. from Gaberone mid sentence with the ATC, my head phone packed up and I had no comms. whatsoever. By this time I was seriously gatvol with the comms. problems I had yet again been experiencing and decided to land at Machaneng. It was with great disappointment that I made the decision to de -rig CEX and trailer the last leg home having had two reminders not to push my luck too far. I seriously considererd leaving my trike at Machaneng and fly back the next week after the Botswana Airshow but my wife was arriving from Canada the following day and I guess one has to report home at some stage.

. The whole trip was an unforgettable experience having met wonderful new friends and sharing it with old flying buddies as well. Once again thanks to Paul and Dionne for the hard work putting the trip together.

All in all I flew about 1700 nm. in 36 hours at an average speed of 47 mph. One can just marvel at these incredible and reliable machines we fly and the hammering they take in turbulent conditions. When you fly over mountains, bush and swamps as far as the eyes can see and your mind starts questioning your judgement, Mr. Rotax just continues purring behind you oblivious of the terrain below you. Namibia and Botswana ticked off the list. Mosambique, Zambia (yes Vic Falls), Swaziland and the long way round S.A. to go.

[Louis Cole]

[quote="Blue Max"]
Tx Louis,
n ou kan rerig lelik worry as jy in strek wind vlieg en daaraan dink dat daar net een rigting landings geleentheid is wat voorle.!!
Ek kan my jou bekommernis indink want toe ek by Francistown verby gaan het die wind erg gepomp en ek het geweet jy is in die lug.
Bly almal veilig tuis.[/quote

Dki Paul. Die wind het so sterk van voor gewaai dat ek omtrent soos 'n helikopter geland het. die volgende oggend het dit maar bars gegaan om los te maak en moes ek die enjin aansit om te verhoed dat dit nie terug waai nie. Ek en Ben moes onder die "bar" inkruip om te verhoed dat die neus nie lig in die wind nie. Nie een van my beste besluite nie.

[Louis Cole]

Tnx Frank. Some pictures please. We heard you reporting on the radio when you landed at the lodge. We were also in that area at time.

Tnx Louis. We are waiting anxiously for the next chapter in your report.

We are thinking of having a slide show in the background at the next Microland Braai on the 23rd. I will bring a laptop, projector and screen. Bring you best pics on a virus free memory stick. Louis, hope you can join us. Make the others lekker jealous.

Tnx. Paul. Will definitely try to make it.

[Bundy]

You have a real talent for writing Mr Cole...thanks for sharing.

[mulderpm]

Agreed, Louis you make for very enjoyable reading. Mr. Hussey, how about this writing being transplanted into the MISASA magazine? You have the contacts.