Snakes at Rand..

[Oddball]

Fair comment Stephan- we were a bit voiciferous on the way- normally we go onto one of our ops channels but we had a new guy with us who did not have those frequencies and who kept asking questions...

Sorry- don't have a scanner handy or I would do it- you can see the online version at http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=999826

If that link does not work go to the Times site (www.thetimes.co.za) and use thier search facility (at the top left) to search for 'Snakes' and you'll find it.

[Stephan van Tonder]

No Worries. It just didn't sound good and sounded like someone was getting lost(around ergo slimes dam). Had to try and get my position reports in sideways between that as we were in the same area as a cessna 210 in a hurry to Thabzimbi - didn't want to meet up with him by accident.
But love what you guys do for the microlight community and awareness. Will try hard to catch the dusk show.

[Nkwazi]

Anybody know what time this will happen - 5.30??

[Tracer]

We were there , but unfortunately they weren't allowed to do the dusk display . The wind wasn't favorable (Rand guys worried about feld fires), but I guess OddBall will tell you about that.

[Nkwazi]

Good to see you there Tracer, ja pity they couldnt display up close, quite impressive when they did it in the distance though

Took this photo just as they were preparing to take off

[Stephan van Tonder]

sorry to hear they couldn't do the dusk flight. The mid morning one was very good and the smoke effects was very nice.
Towing that long tail is also very impressive.

[Jetman]

Yes Oddball

You and your team did so well. To hang in tight as a group like you okes did in that strong wind is really something that you and the team can feel proud of. Well done!! . Do you also feel nervous before take off in stronger winds.?? . I allways feel nervous but when the adrenaline kicks in, its play time as uasual.

Cheers Skin

[Gaylord Focker]

Well done to the snake team the display was anything but fantastic ,exeptional considering the gusty wind !!!

Well done guys , looked absolutely awsome !!!

[Dish]

"anything but Fantastic" - GL ??? WTF??

Yip - was great to see the lads flying, well done mates, could not have been easy in those winds yet you held your own amongst the best. looked brilliant and well done to all involved...

[Lesser_spotted_owl]

Gotta echo Dish,

awesome stuff!!!!!

My trike would still have been in the hanger, let alone flying in close formation. makes me proud to be a triker.

Well done guys

BTW, Nkwazi, i must have been stood right next to you when you took that pic, 'cos i have one almost exactly the same.

[Oddball]

Hey there everyone,

Thanks so much for all the support; today I have a melange of feelings running through me; I feel wonderfully priveledged to have flown at that show, very pleased that we got to fly, and fly safely, and held it together in very difficult conditions. For me as the lead pilot its somewhat easier as all I have to do is position us correctly... sometimes difficult in that wind! the other guys who fly behind me, Elio Ferri, Steve Yap and David Levy, are what makes that show look good and they work really hard to make it look that way.

I am also annoyed and dissapointed that we did not get to fly the dusk show- the airport manager decided that our pyrotechics might set the veld alight; apparantly its not good to do that for some reason... We worked our butts off to get that show ready, and it is spectacular; we jumped through all the paper hoops that we needed to (that's more tiring than flying formation in that wind yesterday), and many people wanted to see the show, including the likes of Scully Levin and Arnie Mengelli. We were 99% sure that we wouldn't start a fire and we agreed to step the show up higher to make it even safer, but...
The guy did make a small concession- if the wind dropped below 7kts we could fly it (set by the fire guys who thought that below that wind speed they could manage a fire). When we took off it was still at 10 kts.

So we are really sorry that you didn't get to see it and we very much appreciate your support.

To answer the question of getting scared before take off- yes; I find it very stressful and scary, worrying about what might go wrong, what last minute glitch will scupper the show, worrying about the wind... but the moment I take off its just about flying; fly the aircraft, fly the show...

Jay

[Dish]

Well Done Jay boy ! its a great show and cr@p happens, we all look forward to the pyrotechnics at the next one. we think you did brilliantly as is so dont stress, it is what it is !!!

[Frootbat]

> > > > > From L/R Jay, Dave, Steve & Elio. > > > >

[AndyCAP]

We had a Mango Cpt watching the show with us. His initial comment was something to the effect of “you’ll never see me in one of those” He also made a chirp about the snake tail being too draggy, etc. Yet as the show progressed his attitude changed to a point where he commented how well you guys were flying in the conditions and how novel and neat the whole show looked – he was really impressed.

The cherry on the cake was seeing you guys fly overhead Larry Beamish’s hangar with lights inside your wings at sunset - and seeing the crowd of people at that after-party (which surely must have included a number of blik airshow pilots) cheer and wave loudly in appreciation.

You guys flew in conditions that many blik pilots would rather stay grounded and really upold the lighter side of flight


PS I still vividly remember your first appearance at RAND two years ago. It was one of the highlights of that show

[Oddball]

Thats great to hear! I am training an ALTP pilot to fly trikes at the moment - after initial misgivings (I talked him into coming to try the trike out) he is now loving it..

I hope that we don't become known as mad guys who fly in stuff that we shouldn't though- we just fly when our slot is. I can tell you that any trike pilot can fly in these conditions; they're scary, but once you are comfortable with the idea that your aircraft will not fall apart you can do it easier. We'd prefer to fly earlier or later, but that's simply not when airshows happen... it also helps to know that you'll be back on the ground in 12 minutes! Funnily enough, especially for me (as my wing is bigger than the others') the hardest part is often handling the aircraft on the ground.

As for the guys at Larry's hanger- there were most of the well known pilots there and after these years of work at airshows to get accepted they welcomed us fully when we came back later for a drink- we have managed to change the perception of many of these pilots with regards to trikes; last year I even took Mike Weingartz (the pilot who normally displays the Impala- very nice guy) for a flip in my aicraft and a few more of them are also interested.