The Flying Fish

R e a c h   f o r   a   D r e a m The morning dawned grey and overcast, the clouds threatening us with rain. Pilots and ground crew filled the Clubhouse, mugs of coffee in hand, the smell perking up even the sleepiest of us. Alison stands up front, trying to get everyone to quiet down and pay attention. First, a Welcome and Thank You to those who have volunteered their aircraft, fuel and time for the Reach for a Dream day. Reach for a Dream is an organisation that gives children with life-threatening illnesses the chance to fulfil their dreams. From meeting celebrities, to swimming with dolphins, to taking to the skies in a light aircraft. This is where the Stellenbosch Flying Club comes in. Every year, the Flying Club hosts a day to take these children for a short flight. In 2013, weather put a damper on the event, and eventually it was decided to postpone until 2014. The weather almost destroyed our plans once again, but after the Safety Briefing, prese...

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...

Here's a short video of some of the flying I've been fortunate enough to do in the last 8 months or so... This is why I haven't been updating my blog as much as I should :-/ Enjoy!

This is a 3-part journey that I began on 17 September 2012. Part 1 – The Ferry Flight Part 2 – Botswana Part 3 – Going Home The intention of this is to share my experiences. The reason I decided to call this my IFR Adventure is because, well, I followed the roads (and sometimes went off the roads and got stuck in sand, whoops). A lot of it is random ramblings, so feel free to skip that and just look at the photos. My memory isn’t excellent, so please excuse any mistakes (or feel free to point them out). Everything said here is my own opinion. I will try and update as much as possible, but I’m writing this in bits and pieces. Cheers! IFR Adventure, Part 1: The Ferry Flight For months I had been planning to attend the AAD 2012 air show at AFB Waterkloof. But I also wanted to go to Botswana. As the months ticked by, I tried to figure out how I could go to both the air show and Botswana without spending too much money. Eventually I decided to drive up from the Cape, go to th...