The Flying Fish

So, “World Cup Fever” is here (apparently)… I don’t know about you, but I’m not feeling it. The sound of vuvuzela’s is annoying, the hawkers at robots are annoying, the need for a SSC and FAC to go do circuits is annoying, and I find soccer plain boring. No photographers are allowed on the active side of Stellenbosch airfield. I honestly don’t know why; what’s the difference between standing on the one side of the fence and taking photos, and standing on the other side of the fence taking photos? Not much except for angle and distance. Or one could just stand on the balcony and get a nice view of pretty much the whole airfield. Just do go on ‘that’ side of the fence, or the cops WILL have a word with you. I know this from experience. Four words come to mind: “Stupid World Cup Restrictions”. I’m on holiday now, and I’m supposed to be doing all this assigned holiday school work. Needless to say I went to the library and picked up a couple of books (ok, 7), and I’m working my way through ...

Tuesday, 1 June Today was quite a big day for me. I wrote my final mid-year exam paper this morning, and I go on holiday next week. Needless to say I’m excited! Not only did I complete my exams, but I’ve also completed my Cessna 152 conversion. It’s only taken me a few months! Thinking back on today, it feels like the events happened weeks ago. It’s got that surreal feeling. I’m sure you’ve experienced something like it at least once before. I was tired. Writing a 3 hour chemistry exam isn’t fun, especially for someone who detests chem as much as I do. After some lunch and a power nap, I headed off to the airfield for my long-awaited C152 flight. It felt so weird having to fill in the authorization sheets; the last time I had to do that was in December. How time flies. Paperwork done, I headed to trusty ZS-LSN and did a pre-flight. I remembered everything, surprisingly enough. Then my instructor told me to climb in and get comfortable while he went to grab his headset. Checklist in han...

29 May 2010 First of all; THE CUBBY IS BACK IN ACTION!!! Yesterday, she took to the sky after almost 2 months of being stuck on the ground. Yes, I’m extremely happy. And today, I got to fly my beautiful baby, so you can just imagine the grin on my face. * Reach for a Dream is an organization that helps children that have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses fulfill their dreams. For the past couple of years (except for 2009), Stellenbosch Flying Club has hosted a day where some of these kids are given the opportunity to go for a short flight. The members of SFC graciously donate their time and aircraft for these flights, and KFC provides meals for the kids. In the past (2007 and 2008) I helped out as ground crew, but this year I was given the privilege of flying some of these kids. It was an amazing experience! The morning was bright and cold. The sky clear, and there wasn’t a breath of wind. After a short briefing about how things would work, I took the Cubby out and did a f...