Venturing out into the dark

The sun sets and the moon rises over ZDL at Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg airport under the setting sun and moonlight

Rounding Durban harbour the city comes into view

Now that I have my night rating and have done a few coastal flights it was time to venture inland. As the darkness can be very disorientating, I wanted to fly to Pietermaritzburg while it was still light, then make a night flight back to my home turf. I needed to file a flight plan for the journey back and, as Virginia airport was closed for the night, had to get my flight plan "search and rescue" contingency arrangements cancelled by King Shaka Airport when I landed.

I imagined that the route to Durban would be one big black hole but I was actually surprised at the carpet of lights all the way. It's incredible how development has taken place joining the two cities. I did notice though that mountains disappear in the darkness and we could not even see Alverston mast.. quite scary what you could be flying towards in the dark.

Seeing at night

I need reading glasses to see the cockpit instruments and this is more critical at night, whereas I see better outside without glasses. So Llewellyn has been trying out a few options and working out with masking tape where my line of vision and focus should be. It is different to sitting at your office desk as the computer screen and papers are gererally closer to your eyes than the cockpit instruments.

 

So a solution is in hand.

 

Into the blue with James

Into the blue.. that's all you can see over Durban.. what a great weekend of blue skies and sea. My daughter's boyfriend James had his first Sling experience today. The "angry" front view of our Sling ZDL and the sky/sea pics were taken by him.

Getting ready for Mozam

We're doing the flight planning for our trip to Inhambane, Mocambique at the end of this month., the first of our international flights in Sling ZDL and Marc's Sling SAA. We're busy with the flight permits needed to fly in Mocambique, have done some route and frequency planning and are getting the planes ready for the trip. As we intend to fly over water as well, we have also bought life jackets for the planes. A beach cottage in Tofo awaits!! The route we will be taking is up the north coast of KZN, having cleared customs at King Shaka, then crossing the border near Ponta d'Oro and continuing up the Mocambique coast to Machangulo and cutting across the bay to Maputo.  In Maputo we clear customs in and file a new flight plan to Inhambane, following the Mozam coastline up north to about one third of the way up to the northern border.




Sling SAA






Flying across the bay to Maputo

 

 

Queen Mary 2 sets sail from Durban

The Durban night sky was spectacularly clear tonight and I took off in ZDL from Virginia shortly after the sun had set.

Marc joined me for his first night flight and we were just in time to see the cruise liner the Queen Mary 2, Cunard Cruise lines’ flagship ocean liner, leave it’s berth to continue it’s around the word cruise. It is the world’s largest ocean liner.

We continued our flight down to Amanzimtoti climbing to 3000 ft to get a better perspective of the lights of the city and watched as the setting sun spread a cloak of darkness over the world as we could see it... the twinkling lights of thousands of homes grew brighter and the stars flicked into focus.

After doing a few turns down south we flew back to the harbour in time to catch the ship entering the ocean and we circled overhead amazed at our spectacular and private overhead viewpoint.

Returning to Virginia, the darkness had set in and again was surprised how the land rushes up at you when landing.... the night optical illusion makes the dark runway appear further away than it is in reality as you unexpectedly touch the tarmac.

Durban and Sahara Stadium by night, with the GPS reflection in the cockpit window

Getting ready for our night flight as the sun sets.

Here's an idea of the size of the ship compared to the world's largest passenger plane.

Flight 'n bite

 

 



Inanda Dam from the air

 Anyone recognise the airfield in the top photo? We did a quick flight to Pietermaritzburg last Saturday and for a bite at the airport which fills up when the Airlink plane makes its regular Johannesburg flight. Quite a neat little airport and they make a great cappuchino.

 

Touch-and-go at King Shaka

On our way to King Shaka International for a quick orientation visit

Gotto wash the plane after each sea-salty flight

The Easter crowds were already at the north coast/Umhlanga beaches for the long weekend holiday

In preparation for our April trip to Mocambique I wanted to do another flight into King Shaka International - this time the wind was blowing from the south so I was allocated runway 24 to land on. Was all going fine until I couldn't make out a word the ATC was saying, even after repeating, but the confusion was overtaken by a clearance to land, so in I went whilst a smaller commercial flight waited patiently for me to cruise in at a relatively slow 70 knots and then clear the take-off path.

 

First Licenced Night Flight in Sling ZDL

Twilight and we were in the air

Waiting for the sun to go down and let my eyes adjust to the gathering dark

We have just got back from 2 weeks in Europe and I was keen to get back in the seat of the Dragon Warrior ZDL and take the plane for my first licenced night flight.

 

Llewellyn and I got down to Virginia early after closing up at work for the weekend and waited for the sun to sink. Sunset was 5.50pm and night flying is determined as 15 minutes after sunset to 15 minutes before sunrise. Before then we were up in the air and practised a few landings and I re-acqainted myself with the lie of the land before it got dark.

 

We then did a flight to Ballito and back through King Shaka International airspace and returned for my first night landing at Virginia. Then I flew to the general flying area so I could climb and view the clear nightscape from 2500 feet before returning to Virginia for my second and darker landing. The moon was just peeping up over the seas, so I would have liked to stay a little longer, but supper with my mom was calling. Awesome feeling knowing that I can do it by day or night!!

Landing at night can be a little tricky as there are some illusions created by the darkness... dark areas seem further away than they are and bright areas seem closer. Stars look like they can be aeroplanes coming at you and pilots often land short of the runway as they think the plane is higher than it actually is. But once you get the feel of the landings right, they can be some of the best landings you can make. Awesome stuff.. had a few good ones!!
 

Night Rating and PPL revalidation

 

Thanks Warren (left) from Ayre Aviation for the training for my Night Rating as well as putting me through my paces for my first PPL licence revalidation. I managed consecutive sunset and sunrise flights last night and at the crack of dawn this morning to pass both.

 

Wow, Durban really is beautiful by night and by day. Unusual last night was the inversion with high winds (up to 65kms per hour rocking the plane, and the high temperatures at 3000 ft - 42 deg c, whereas it was 29c on the ground at 8pm.

 

Waiting in ZDL at twilight for the growing dark and adjustment to my vision

Catching the sunrise reflected in the window behind one of Ayre's 4 Slings they use for training. I was doing owner training on our own Dragon Warrior ZDL.

As the sun has risen, getting ready to fly out for my revalidation test. A pilot needs to have the first one within 12 months of getting your licence, and every 2 years thereafter.

200 hours

On Sunday with our flight down to Fredenheim our Sling and I both notched up 200 hours. Wow, never thought I would actually fly one day and already have this number of hours behind me. Tomorrow I am booked for my Night Rating Test and on Wednesday at the crack of dawn before the heat of the day sets in I have my first PPL re-validation test.

 

 

 

 

Friends re-united

It is great to find an old number, give it a ring and reconnect with friends from the past. Rich and Rosanne were friends before I got married ie more than 25 years ago.. Richard I had met in the army on a border camp to the Angola border somewhere inbetween my years at Varsity.

 

He then went on to farm sugarcane down the south coast and once I had qualified I did a number of his farm title deed registrations. Their daughter Jenna is now married to the son of an airfield owner at Fredenheim near Margate. So we took a flight down to Fredenheim where Rich and Rosanne met us and we enjoyed a breakfast at the nearby Leopards Rock Cafe.

 

Wonderful re-connection!!

 

The Richard's Bay crew

It's great to have pics that are not always taken by me, so I lifted these off Facebook taken by the others who flew in the Piper with Warren and I to King Shaka and Richard's Bay. We also have few pics of ZDL from a perspective outside of our own cockpit, so here's the Dragon Warrior in full flight as night falls.

First flight into King Shaka

Wow, hey guys, poor ZDL has been parking in the hangar waiting for an awesome night like last night to get out for my night cross-country. Last night was just perfect and my instructor Warren and I set off at twilight making our way to King Shaka and then off to Richards Bay

This was my first and long awaited visit to King Shaka from the pilot-seat and as you can see I was flying straight in "flying the papi" as one might say. The papi is a clever lighting system that shows whether you are flying in on the correct slope for a good landing - all red lights means you are too low, all white lights means too high and half white/half red means you are on a perfect slope.

Coming in for a perfect landing at King Shaka. Initially quite intimidating, especially when the AirTraffic Controller (ATC) said I must look out for an AirBus at my 10 o clock position at 1000 feet... couldn't see any plane at all!!! But the approach and landing were all quite simple, more so because I did a touch and go, so no handing over to Approach, Tower, Ground and Apron control... whew!

We were also white water rafting... almost.

Trying a VOR to Richards Bay, with the harbour on the EFIS clearly coming up.. see the small image of the plane on the screen showing our position.

I'm looking a bit dozy after landing in Richard's Bay, but just needed this pic to show you I made it there in a Sling!! ZDL rocks!!

 

It's beach weather

We have so much beach around us in Durban that there's a strong possibility one would have to do a beach landing in the event of an engine problem. This was obviously a good one on the beach in Durban yesterday and apparently the plane took off again from the beach after fuel contamination had caused engine failure.

Llewellyn and I took this as an opportunity to discuss and learn more about possible causes, prevention and remedies for fuel related problems. Here's what we came up with:

 

Before Take-off

 

1. Use the black electro-conductive approved filter when filling the tanks.

2. Physically check the fuel levels in both tanks and ensure you have enough for the proposed flight.

3. Bleed the fuel from the tank drains and check for water or other particle contamination.

4. Start and warm up the engine on one tank, then switch to the other tank for taxiing and mags check, so that you can be sure both tanks are capable of fuel delivery before you leave the ground.

 

During flight

 

5. Don't switch tanks if you are close to the ground.

6. Put the fuel pump on before switching tanks.

7. Don't run one tank near empty before switching so that if you need to switch back you will have some fuel left to get you to a landing field.

8. If you experience a fuel problem, switch to the other tank and if necessary re-start the engine.

I'm not suggesting any of the above were the cause of the problem with FMJ, we just thought we would think more carefully about it as a real potential problem every time we fly.