As joint owners of our Sling ZDL we have notched up well over 100 hours flying together over huge mountains, past many scary clouds and thunderstorms from one side of Southern Africa to the other, but this was the first flight we have done together with Llew in the left seat and me in the right with me being comfortable flying from both sides now. Most right-handed instructors prefer the right seat, but I am left-handed and it has taken a bit of adjustment to fly with my right hand. Fortunately I did my early training in the Foxbat which has a centre Y-stick, needing the pilot's right hand to control the plane from the left seat so my first flying experience was with my right hand.
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| Llew gets into the left seat while I handle the selfie |
We did a jaunt to Pietermaritzburg hoping to have a toasted sandwich in the coffee shop there which opens when the scheduled Airlink jet flies in, but unfortunately they don't serve food over the weekend.
The air was pretty bumpy today with crosswind landings in both Pietermaritzburg and Durban, but the visibility was excellent and we got some good snaps of Durban's beautiful stadium and coastline.
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| Llewellyn prepares for the flight to Pietermaritzburg |
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| Gazing intently ahead for oncoming traffic |
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| Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium in all its glory |
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| On a clear day you can see forever |
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| Thumbs-up Dave (left, in the right seat) and Llew (right, in the left seat) ha ha |
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| Durban Harbour as we turn inland for Light Flight, then on to Pietermaritzburg |
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| Pietermaritzburg Airport |
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| Looking a bit windswept as the wind was gusting 25kts |
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| Our Durban Skyye Sling ZDL at Pietermaritburg Airport |
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| In a first, our flight school CFI, Brad, was passing by in the flight school Sling FYA and took a snap of us alongside before we continued on our separate ways |
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| The Bluff and Harbour entrance as we rounded it on the return leg to Durban |
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| Congratulatory drink after our first flight in reversed seats |
