Jaunt to East London

I did a quick jaunt to East London a few days ago with my mate Louis in his Savannah to get it checked out in time for the sale of the plane (the trip we postponed from last week due to the high winds). East London is the home of the Savannah factory. We landed half-way at my favourite landing strip at Port St Johns - up on the top of the mountain and also went past Hole-in-the-Wall, part of the magnificent coastline along the Wild Coast from Durban to East London.. a 3 1/2 hour flight away (with headwind) and 2h 50mins returning (with small tailwind).

 

Hole-in-the-Wall : Wild Coast of South Africa

On top of the mountain at the Port St Johns airfield

Landing at Port St Johns



Destination What's Landing - aeropark in East London. Beautiful homes with hangars attached

East, West, home....

I have always loved the Cape, for the mountains and the scenery, but we have the climate, the warm ocean and beaches and it's our home. Our journey to the southernmost tip of Africa was largely an east/west trip with a little south thrown in. Flying west was best and coming home to the east we had the sun in our eyes most of the way. And the last stretch home from Port Alfred to Margate we had the highest winds I have ever flown in. Up to 70 kts (130 km/h) - mostly crosswind, with a 25 knots headwind component, which means we were flying sideways like a crab (if a crab could fly) just to be flying in the right direction. Also, a bit disappointing was the cloud of smog we were flying in as we reached KwaZulu-Natal. There were at least 10 fires I could see at any one time, huge billows of smoke that covered the eatth and went out to sea and there appeared to be a temperature inversion... a hot layer of air above a colder layer. This traps the smog down under and makes visibility poor. We encounntered this on one other day on our drive from Cape Town to Tulbagh and at one stage the car came over a hill and we drove straight down into this brownish layer of ugly smog.

The incredible Sling, our Red Rocket, had taken us on a journey and a half and had brought us back home safe and sound. Thank you guys for such a magnificent flying machine.

East London and the eastern Cape coastline

East London Westbank Cemetary and Lighthouse - family grave I clear every couple of years

East London West bank

The Port St John's runway on top of the mountain

KwaZulu-Natal South Coast

Landing at Margate for lunch - the scene of an ugly aircrash the day before.. RIP Rob and Hazel

Flying coastwise of the Bluff with Durban harbour in the background and haze

Durban harbour entrance as we round the Point

Durban's Moses Mahbida Stadium means landing at Virginia is minutes away

My daughter Kate-Lynn on hand to meet and greet as we arrive home in Durban on the 30th April