The Flying Fish

2013 has been filled with scares, thrills, and many laughs and great opportunities. Obtaining my first flying job, and realising that people weren’t joking when they said that an instructor’s students are out to kill them. Learning the art of teaching, learning when to intervene, and when it is safe to allow a student to continue and make a mistake. I’ve been fortunate enough see sun rises and sunsets from the air, and soar with the birds (and in some cases, take drastic action to avoid hitting some of the birds). I’ve said good bye to friends, and seen people grow and move on. I’ve met people from all over the world, and made new friends. I’ve learnt to love the Cessna 172, something I never thought I’d find myself saying (I mean, come on, it’s a tri-gear aircraft). I’ve flown in formation with RV’s, and T28’s Trojans; Bosbok’s and Cessna 152’s; I’ve experienced formation aerobatics from the front seat of the highly capable MX-2; and I’ve seen the majestic Boeing Stearman n...

Monday, 2 December Every year, Working on Fire holds an open/demo day at the start of the fire season. It is normally held at Fisantekraal Airfield, but not anymore! For the start of the 2013/14 season, the Stellenbosch Airfield was the host. Which meant that for the first time in my memory (and possibly ever), there were 7 Huey's at the airfield. It doesn't get sexier than that. Along with the Huey's there were also 3 Dromaders, 7 Spotters, and the FFA's brand new Air Tractor AT-802. The 802 is a monster of a machine, and has a hopper with a capacity of some 3100 litres.  As is the norm, an hour or so is spent giving speeches and showing videos to the invited guests, and then a fire is "started" (this year they used a smoke machine) so that the guests can see the pilots and aircraft in action. The display consisted of 3 Huey's (two with Bambi buckets, and the other the troop carrier), 2 Dromaders, the AT-802, and 1 Spotter. ...

We had some hectic weather last week, and I decided to set up the GoPro to photograph the movement of the clouds. It's quite interesting watching clouds form and dissipate. Eventually it started to pour with rain, with plenty of thunder and lightning, and I decided it was time to fetch the GoPro from the top of the steel tower (that was scary), and put it in the clubhouse in order to film the lightning from there. Here is the result of my efforts.

It was with great happiness (and a little bit of fear) when I finally had the opportunity to park myself in the front seat of an MX-2, for an aerobatic (formation) sortie. Before we could get going, I first had to figure out the parachute. The last time I was handed a parachute was when I went for a flight in a glider. I know, a parachute while in a glider, doesn’t seem right, right? But anyway, it was quite simple to strap on, and once I understood what to do should I need to bail out (right hand across chest, grab ring, pull), it was time to climb into the red beast. This in itself is an art. Stand on the step, shake sand and grass off shoe, step on the pilots seat, shake sand and grass off other shoe, climb over the instrument panel, stand on the forward seat, put each foot on the floor by the rudder pedals (being careful not to kick the throttle, or any of the pipes winding their way around the cockpit), hands on either side of the ‘tub’, and lower yourself in. The s...

It was one of those ideas that floated in through the door to the bar. Naturally. While having dinner after having attended a presentation on Meteorology and mountain waves and the like, my friend and fellow aviator said "I want to fly to George tomorrow. But I don't like flying alone". So I jokingly said I'd go with. He said that would be great. So the next day we arrived at the airfield and were greeted by a glorious morning. We set off at 09:00 in his trusty Jabiru, heading towards Tulbagh, then Ceres to see the snow. Despite flying a fair amount this winter, I hadn't yet been to see the snow, so I was quite excited. Airfield at Tulbagh Tulbagh/Worcester Valley with Ceres ahead When we got to the Matroosberg, I was a bit like "Well? Is that it?" I always envisaged the Matroosberg to be a huge mountain range (ok, sitting at FL075 and looking down at the mountains might've made it seem a bit smaller than what it actually was), covered...