The last night of the course we land at Kunkuru a beautiful lodge in the middle of the bush. I can now operate as PIC on any South African registered single-engine piston. There are no rules ‘from throttle to bottle’, so when we return at Brakpan he pours me a nice glass of ‘Suid-Afrikaanse’ wine. Love it, where else would this have been possible?! I am satisfied, and so is the examinator. I have to fly at less than 50ft AGL, soaring over the fields with a high power setting and the nose trimmed up. Next to the normal parts of a CPL check, I also have to show a spin and spiral dive recovery, and pass for ‘low flying’. The grass strip is very short, the only way to take-off is by early rotation, taking flaps, and building speed in ground effect. This illustrates the mentality of the pilots at Sky Africa. Runway 21 it is, let’s go! Examination flight The grass is of medium length, and there are not too many humps and potholes. Is it an option to use the strip? I jump into an open truck with my examinator, and we drive over the grass strip to inspect it. In fact this strip is not even included in Brakpans Airfield Information. However, there is also a grass strip at Brakpan, direction 03-21, that has not been used for ages. Unfortunately the wind picks up, and is out of limits to use runway 18-36. In the clubhouse I take the mandatory Air Law exam, and prepare for the check flight. Peculiar, but for the flying club it is a good source of income. When there is air traffic, the race gets temporarily suspended. Upon arriving at the airfield the next morning, I understand the presence of several dixi-toilets right next to the Brakpan runway: it is time for the monthly car-race. I force myself to remember all landmarks for my cross country check tomorrow, where I also have to make a diversion. We will fly for 2,5 hours and visit several landing strips. With the map spread out on the table I juggle with my calculating disc and plot the route. It is back to basics: no GPS, no assistance of VOR radials or other navaids, but purely the map, pilotage and dead reckoning. When Glen concludes that my theoretical knowledge is sufficient, I am allowed to start preparing my first flight in the African airspace. The program starts with several briefings: the rules of the Johannesburg TMA, high altitude operations and precautionary landings. The first two days of the course consist of the ‘foreign license validation.’ I meet my instructor Glen, an ex-airforce pilot with thousands of hours of experience flying at the South African bush. Frequently pilots from Lufthansa, TAP and Qantas come to Brakpan during their layover, to rent an airplane and make a nice bush trip. It is also possible to build some flight hours, affordable and in a fantastic environment. The team is specialized in bush pilot training courses. Sky Africa is situated at Brakpan airport (FABB) since 1981, at half an hour drive east of Johannesburg International Airport. I am ready for a week full of adventure at Sky Africa. This is Africa!Ĭuriosity regarding bush flying, vague plans to travel to Africa as a low-timer, and hunger for new skills and flight experience outside of Dutch airspace got me in South Africa. They just stare at the brightly coloured Cessna 172 that approaches them. Out loud: ‘The approach is free of obstacles, it’s a gravel strip, I don’t see any potholes, just some giraffes on the runway… ehr what?!’ I continue the low pass, descent a bit lower, but the giraffes don’t move an inch. I descent to 200ft AGL to make a runway inspection. Rundu Bundu, the next field, gets visible. It has power lines at the end of the runway, over which the aircraft could only barely climb in the current density altitude. I just came from Rooiberg, a private grass strip. I already made five touch and go’s, at five different airfields. It is extremely hot, we have been flying for 1,5 hours.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |