ZU-DVE (and ZS-WUO) (and ZEE) Flight Log

[afskies scribe]

...Was like that moth in "A bugs life" - Graham kept telling me (the person with colour blindness and night blindness) "follow the light, follow the light" and eventually I wanted to scream "but it's sooooooo beeeeeautiful".

Well said, Gert that's exactly how I feel at the inevitable end of another fabulous flight! :D

[gertcoetzee]

Sunday 19 November 2006
At last I have managed to combine meeting mistress and flying at same time - now I only need to make one excuse to get away from home. Took Pippa for her first flight today.
See my log on http://www.zu-dve.com for more
1:15 minutes of (f)lying.

[gertcoetzee]

Sunday 26 November 2006
For the first time in a week not a strong south easterly. Took Andreas for a 3 hour flip - see
http://www.zu-dve.com for today's log
(3:15)

[gertcoetzee]

2006-11-30
South Easter Howling but I HAVE TO FLY
See http://www.zu-dve.com for picture log.
One hour of physical excercise doing circuits - I added graphics to try and explain the joy of landing at Morningstar in a South Easter.
1.0 Hour
Total 272.8 hours

The picture below is that final approach - the top one is the track, the yellowish line is the runway. The bottom one is the altitude. The inlay is the groundspeed.The runway is at 95m - notice how I am almost there, and then a gust takes me, accelerate a bit, going up and back down on track. S

[gertcoetzee]

2006-12-06
After reading "Understanding the Sky" took to the skies looking for those thermals, downslope winds, ridge top turbulence, lee side winds, sea breeze and so on. Got them OK but experienced them as the usual....bumps.

See log http://www.zu-dve.com for today's log.
1:40
Total Hours 274.4

[DarkHelmet]

Gert, was Understanding the Sky worth the investment?

A tip Tobie gave me:

When looking for a thermal you will feel the wingtip that enters the thermal lift. The trick is to sharply turn into the thermal because it will always "throw" you out.

I have been trying it and find it rather hard myself!

[gertcoetzee]

2006-12-13

Flew to Moorreesburg, and back via Darling...
See log http://www.zu-dve.com for today's log.
3:00
Total Hours 277.4

[gertcoetzee]

2006-12-14

A cloudy morning in Cape Town, but Francois and Peter beat me to it. Got there at 06h30 to find they're already gone. Cloudbase at 1000ft, took off and flew under cloud to Wintervogel, where Shane had just returned. Had some problems starting, before returning to FAMS.

If you do a 360, what is the diameter of your circle? Interesting question - if you have a GPS - let me know. See http://www.zu-dve.com for my diameter.

Also discovered 2006-12-13 http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/ which is a free website where one can manipulate GPS data. Very handy - see some pics on today's log.

0:40
Total Hours 278.00

[gertcoetzee]

Tuesday 19 December

Took Francois to Saldanha to get his Trike after he forgot it there on Saturday. Quite windy, but not bumpy at all. On the way back we tried different altitudes, but had to settle for a long ride.

See the log picture on http://www.zu-dve.com

Ah, and there is another riddle for you Morph - see if you can figure this one out.

3:00

Total Hours 281.0

[Biggles]

Looks like someone put a wheel off the edge of the tarmac!!

[gertcoetzee]

Almost, but that wheel has got those marks only on one half. Morph?

[gertcoetzee]

Friday 22 December 2006

Stretched Francois boundaries today. See http://www.zu-dve.com for today's log.

Today: 1:33
Total : 282.5


Oh, and about that log of the 19th (see picture & Biggles' comment). We both landed quite hard in gusty Morningstar - I came in first, bounced on the right wheel (outer side of tyre shows mark), and landed off the runway on the left wheel - in what felt like an eternity midbounce I thought the trike was going to roll. I watched Francois coming in, and the windsock was really very indecisive at this stage, he landed better than me, but was also rattled. That's Morningstar for you. We think if we have a gravel runway parallel to the tarred runway we will have more luck on the gusty and crosswind days! Your thoughts?

[Biggles]

Iesh!! You must have come in hard. Had a similar landing at FAFK. Not a nice feeling thinking you are going to face plant!!

[gertcoetzee]

Saturday 23 December 2006

Flew with Francois to Aurora. Sadly a fellow pilot lost his life in an accident just before we landed at Morningstar on return.

See http://www.zu-dve.com for my log of today, and
viewtopic.php?t=3505&highlight=
for Greg's post.

Today: 3:06
Total : 285.6

[gertcoetzee]

Sunday 24 December 2006

After yesterday's tragedy it was with a bit of apprehension that I took to the skies. It turned out that I was not alone...

See http://www.zu-dve.com for today's log

Today: 3:20
Total : 288.1