Lucky Fish!

11 September

Another boring Saturday, spent sitting at work attempting to study, right? Well, yes and no. I did sit at work (yawn), and I did attempt to study (double yawn), but once work finished, things got a whole lot more exciting!

Today the de Havilland Centenary Celebration was held at Stellenbosch Flying Club. Raffle tickets were being sold, and everyone who bought tickets stood a chance of flying in a Tiger Moth or Chipmunk.



After work, I was ordering lunch when I was asked if I'd like to go for a flight in a Super Cub. Is that a trick question?! 30 minutes later found me strapping myself into the front seat of the great white beast. We flew to Strand, then back to Stellenbosch via the Helderberg gap. Once at Stellenbosch we did 3 circuits. It was on downwind of the first circuit that both pilot and I realised he had forgotten to show me where the flap selector is. Hee hee, it's little things like that that make flying fun.

The circuits went alright, but it was definately a different experience for me. The Super Cub has loads of power, and I found the controls to be extremely heavy. If I'm honest, I much preferred flying the Tiger. But it was still an awesome flight and I thoroughly enjoyed the new experience.

The Raffle took place just before 5pm, and guess who's ticket was the first to be drawn... Yup! I won a flight in a Tiger Moth. So I found myself being strapped into a taildragger for the second time that day. The fligt took us anti-clockwise around the Helderberg Mountain, then back to Stellenbosch. Short and sweet.

I had barely unstrapped myself from the Tiger when I was asked if I'd like to fly in a Citabria and take some air-to-air photos of the other aircraft. Of course I was up for a flight, and I rushed off to find my camera.



And so I found myself being strapped into a taildragger for the third time that day. It's got quite a large cockpit, and it's incredibly comfortable. After take-off we headed south to Somerset West and puttered around while waiting for the Tiger's to come along. I felt like police chopper pilots must feel; circling overhead the houses. It was actually quite cool. And it was also great not having to do any work; I just sat back, relaxed, and watched the world go by.

After a bit of waiting and a few steep turns, Tiger Moth ZS-PCW came along, and we flew alongside her for a couple of minutes while I took photo after photo. Tiger Moth ZS-DNR then came along and we flew in formation once again while the camera fired away. I'm a bit trigger-happy.





Unfortunately we didn't manage to fly in formation with the Chipmunk and the other Tiger Moth. But the flight was spectacular, and I've decided I quite like this whole air-to-air photography thing!

It had been a beautiful day so far with clear skies and little to no wind. What better way to end a great day than with a flight in the Cubby as the sun starts to set? And so I found myself sitting in the FOURTH taildragger that day! This time with my old instructor sitting in front of me (the poor guy hasn't flown the Cubby in ages).

After 3 circuits and 3 somewhat dodgey landings (two of which were mine. Whoops), I was on the ground once again. This time I'd be staying there. After tucking the plane in for the night, I realised for the first time just how tired I was! Which is no surprise, really.

I consider myself extremely lucky to be given the opportunity to fly in 4 different taildraggers in the space of about 3 hours (and I can log three of the flights!). A big thank you to the pilots, and everyone else that made the day so awesome!

de Havilland aircraft flying that day:
Tiger Moth's:
ZS-DNP
ZS-DNR
ZS-PCW

Chipmunk:
ZS-DHC

Aircraft flown in:
Super Cub
Tiger Moth ZS-DNP
Citabria ZS-FKL
Cubby ZU-DVR