Mike, James & the Team are flying around the world !!

[Sukkelaar]

And they are on their way, Godspeed. Lots of people to see them off. Great morning was held by all.

I saw the "Springs manne van staal" around their braai eating (again) . Hope they
were not selling beverage to other pilots.

Lots of fotos were taken, maybe someone will post.

regards

Sukkelaar

[Peg Leg]

SHOW us some fodies

for those that may not have Google Earth:

[Oddball]

Dang- lets see if I can get this posted now...

Its 05.15 now and Mike and James are 150km from Luanda, some 12 hours into thier first major leg to Sao Tome (22 hours flying time).
Jean D'assonville, Andrea Nagel and I said farewell to them at Pilanesberg airport yesterday afternoon at 5pm. They were in good, but subdued spirits and focused on the task ahead. In Pilanesberg I sat with James as he filed an unbelievable flight plan for an LSA...

We took off to head back to JHB and they flew west into the sunset and coming night to Botswana; during a final farewell and check over the radio they were feeling very emotional and I think somewhat awed by what they were about to do....

Take off was late in the afternoon so that they will be able land in daylight tommorow in Sao Tome. After landing at Pilanesberg we sorted out some problems with the GPS (repositioned the antennas) and repacked the aircraft a bit. The tanks were filled right up to 440 litres, shoehorning a last 17 litres in after letting the fuel settle (the tank baffles sometimes mean that a full looking tank 'drains' after a few minutes and you need to top up once more). Thier take off run was around 600m and they seemed to climb away just fine.

Its been a hard few weeks getting the aircraft ready, and together! I agree with some of the sentiments about needing further testing, checking etc, but sometimes one needs to set a goal and go for it!

From Wikepedia:
An adventure is an activity that comprises risky, dangerous or uncertain experiences. The term is more popularly used in reference to physical activities that have some potential for danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing, and extreme sports. The term is broad enough to refer to any enterprise that is potentially fraught with risk, such as a business venture or a major life undertaking. An adventurer is a person who bases their lifestyle or their fortunes on adventurous acts.

I think that I can safely say that Mike and James are flying themselves in the hall of great adventurers here!

Jay

[Oddball]

PS You can follow thier progress in real time using Google Earth by following the yellow link at the bottom of this page (you need to have Google Earth installed)

http://www.airplanefactory.co.za/world/default.asp

[Oddball]

PPS Somewhere I saw the question as to what a certain instrument is. For information this what is on the panel:
Transponder (top left)
Stormscope (bottom left)
MGL Voyager Master (left, big screen)
Garmin SL30(?- can't exactly recall the model now...) Nav/ Com radio (top top middle)
Auto-pilot , roll/ nav (top middle)
Auto-pilot, pitch/ altitude (middle middle)
Propellor control (middle bottom)
MGL Voyager Slave (right, big screen)
Intercom (right top)
Dimmer controls (round silver buttons below the intercom)

[Peg Leg]

Hey Jay

Thanks for the nice post - I've just check GE and Mike & James seem approx 11km offshore, past Luanda. You guys did well and I follow your progress with awe!!

regards
Peet

[cobra]

Thanks for the feedback Jay... and no major weather for the rest of the leg. The current wind forecast at position 110/22kts @ 8000ft (13kts tailwind)

[Oddball]

We're having an updating problem on the Google Earth file but Mike and James are now around 40km from Sao Tome...

Thats over 18 hours that they have been flying now so they should have plenty of fuel; we'll post up everywhere once we know they are safely on the ground.

Jay

[Nkwazi]

I see they've landed safely in Sao Tome, great!!

[Oddball]

I've just had a mail from M&J; they're definately safe on the ground at Sao Tome; struggling to get comms to the net; see the site for photos and further updates..

[Morph]

PPS Somewhere I saw the question as to what a certain instrument is. For information this what is on the panel:
1. Transponder
2. Stormscope
3. MGL Voyager Master
4. Garmin SL30(?- can't exactly recall the model now...) Nav/ Com radio
5. Auto-pilot , roll/ nav
6. Auto-pilot, pitch/ altitude
7. Propellor control
8. MGL Voyager Slave
9. Intercom (right top)
10. Dimmer controls

[DarkHelmet]

Why do they fly at night?

[Oddball]

Hi there Dark Helmet, James recently got his IF rating, and Mike his night rating; flying straight and level at night is much easier than landing at night. Most of thier flights now are really long, 20 hours for the last one, 14 hours this afternoon and then 22 hours over the Atlantic. Taking off into the night and flying through the night means that they will at least land in daylight, giving them that extra chance. Also, I am sure that they are not convinced about the existance/ servicability of IF landing equipment/ beacons in many of the places that they will land now.

[DarkHelmet]

That makes a lot of sense! Thanks Oddball!

[Morph]

I see they have a Ballistic Chute handle in the lower middle of the dash

What is their plan over the long water stretches if they pick up problems. Especially seeing as they are going to be doing this at night. I see they put life jackets on. Is the plan to pull the chute and gently drift down, then bale, or.....?