Microlighters

Leaving Tonto at home and off to Secunda next week,maybe Tuesday or Wednesday after having my Raptor serviced by Flo on Monday.Flightplan from Jakkalsdans near Lanseria via Krugersdorp (FAKR), Baragwanath, Tedderfield, Kliprivier, Nigel,Leandra, Evander, Secunda.Plan to leave at sparrow and ETA roughly 08:30 after a 3hr. flight.Flo arranged hangarage at Secunda for 2 days through a friend,Leon le Roux.Have not been on a long flight for a while but looking forward to it despite the butterflies.Suppose I've got to get used to it if I plan to do Namibia next year.

Pm sent.

From Tedderfield, route straight to Secunda. You will pass Klip about 5 miles to your right and about 20 miles further just see Heidelberg strip about 15 miles to your right.

You should route just to the southern edge of Evander - call Secunda traffic on 122 and maintain direction which puts you on right hand downwind for 29 or If you come in on 11, just deviate to the right from Evander, call and come in straight.

If there's a strong crosswind and you prefer to slip and slide on the grass track it's about 50 metres north and parallal to the tar strip

Luckily the smoke stacks give you an accurate weather report 10 miles out. Circuits to the North of Sasol.

Thanks for the advice and the hangarage.Really appreciate it.Will give you a call later.

CEX serviced today and chomping at the bits for a 05:30 take-off and 3 hr flight to Secunda.Thanks again Tumbleweed for the kind offer to hanger my trike for the two days.Will definitely make an effort to meet you.Weather looks to be fine.

This was very much a tale of two trips.The one to Secunda on Tuesday had me filled with butterflies as I hadn't done a X-country trip for a few years.The return trip on Thursday however was very different as those butterflies turned into an angry hornets nest that had me k#kking myself.

Taking off from my farmstrip at 05:45 in perfect conditions after having been cleared by a friendly Lanseria ATC, life was as good as it gets.With my wife doing a 1200 km walk in Spain, I had lots of free time for CEX (ZU that is of course) and an opportunity to connect with a school friend of 47 years.Routing past Krugersdorp and Tedderfield I headed straight for Secunda.As I approached Secunda I was met by a thick low hanging cloud over the town. After briefly considering going under it I decided to climb to 6000' and as my GPS announced "Arriving destination" the Secunda runway opened up for a perfect landing on rwy 11 after a flight of 2 hrs. 18 mins..Interestingly I used the "Glymps" App. that Bugwar mentioned in the first post on "Flying Events" and my trip was followed by Flo and my friend in Secunda.The App appears to use a lot of battery power and my cellphone battery went dead over Nigel which I think probably left them wondering what had happened to me.After putting my trike in Tumbleweeds hanger I was off to meet him and two days of catching up with friends.

The return trip was very different and I took off at 05:45 with a steady X-wind after being assured by the Windguru courtesy of Paul from Ingwe,that except for Krugersdorp,the weather would be fine all the way.I made good time routing past Heidelberg,when somebody stirred the hornets nest over Panorama.Having flown mostly in near perfect conditions in the proximity of the dam recently,Iwas in for a rude awakening.Let me explain it in a way that would be better understood.Ek het myself amper bek#k en in 'n ander bloedgroep in geskrik.After briefly considering continuing I quickly decided to land at Panorama and on my second attempt I landed with not atrace of wind oin the ground.I was met by Helga who offered me coffee and welcome advice to just fly through Rock & Roll corner as she called it.I took off after 15 mins. or so and what followed was undoubtedly the scariest half hour of my life.As suddenly as it started,it stopped again just before Krugersdorp and I had an uneventful flight home to land safely after 2 hrs 37 mins.

Relieved and tired after an intense workout on the parallelbar,I took a little time to reflect on my trip and came to the realisation that flying the patch in near perfect conditions actually inhibits one's progress as a pilot and that experiences like the one I had,was like money in the bank that you could draw from when times got tough.Unpleasant as those 30 mins. were,it was a great trip on the whole.

The App appears to use a lot of battery power and my cellphone battery went dead over Nigel which I think probably left them wondering what had happened to me.After putting my trike in Tumbleweeds hanger I was off to meet him and two days of catching up with friends.