Flight Performance and Planning

Waxed this exam with 88% pass this am. Am pretty stoked, it was an incredibly hard exam and took me back to Matric Science days. Glad I got past this one without too much of a fuss, although I am still not sure how I did it. :-) Have Human Performance on Monday, Air Law on Wednesday and Navigation on Friday so it's going to be a busy week ahead and not too much fun this weekend.

Sling 4-seater ready for around the World

The larger 4-seater prototype of our aeroplane has just taken to the air for the first time and is ready for it's Around-the-World promotional adventure.

Well done guys, this is an awesome achievement for a South African-based designa and construction. I look forward to following your trip around the world and to the delivery of our own Sling in August.

Neat chopper

There are quite a few neat aircraft at Light Flight where I train. Here's a chopper I captured yesterday. Home built and very cool. One of the limitations with them I always thought is that you are stuck where they land, but you will see the clever little wheels (like a wheelbarrow) the owner has made.. you lift up each side with the fulcrum and clip the wheel on. When both sides are done the helicoper is pushed easily in and out of the hangar. Simple but effective.

Oh, did I tell you I got lost this week? Not too hectic and within a few ks of my home field, but part of my training to venture out on my own and find my way back. I was retracing my flight to the N3 highway when my instructor spotted me cruising the skies from the ground and diverted me back to the field. Next exam is on Tueday - Human Preformance - and Friday I write (or click .. its an online exam) Flight Planning and Performance, a little more tricky... loads of graphs and stuff.

First Exams - 92% pass

Inbetween visiting Pietermaritzburg Airport, and a quick visit to Cape Town where I can be seen practising my take-off skills, I have been hitting the study books - Monday did my Radio Licence, and this morning wrote my first PPL exam... and hey, a pass of 92% in Principles of Flight is a good start. Have registered for 2 more exams next week and hope to hit off 2 a week until I am done.

Groot Constantia was the home of the first Govenor of the Cape Colony founded by the Dutch in 1652. A good place as any at Simon van der Stel's former residence to show that flying is just a matter of getting your feet off the ground.

Little strips separate us

In preparation for my Radio Licence exam Monday I visited the Pietermaritzburg Airport Control Tower and got some better insight into how the little strips on the board representing the air traffic in the area are separated. Scary stuff, but it seems to work.

First hour solo

Just completed 1,1 hours solo.. and beautiful landings.. so proud of myself. Here instructor Noel gives me the thumbs up, after touching down on a crisp Cato Ridge morning at Light Flight.

Gorillas/helicopters in the mist?

Getting up at the crack of dawn usually ensures smooth air, but also an early morning mist/fog blanket that takes an hour or two to clear. I taxied out to the holding point, waited a bit, taxied back and had some more coffee and eventually decided it was ok to take off from 01 as it progressively cleared. The airfields surrounding us were clear and we even had a bit of excitement as a military Puma helicopter paid a visit with a fly past and I was able to capture an action shot as we hurried up abeam while it slowed for us.

My landings are coming along beutifully and I expect to do some more solo in the morning. I have also booked my first PPL exam for next Wednesday and write my Restricted Radio Licence on Monday night. So busy few days ahead.

Sling 4-seater for Around-the-World

Working on the canopy assemply for the new Sling 4-seater, South Africa's Airplane Factory is under pressure to finish the prototype.

Due to be launched by the Director of Civil Aviation on Tuesday 19th July, the Sling will set off on it’s Around-the-World endurance adventure the next day. Due to time constraints and practical implications flying over Africa, the route has been amended to the following:

Tedderfield airfield in Johannesburg to Pilanesberg to clear customs then direct to Pointe Noire, Republic of the Congo. This is a 15,5 hour flight. Then the flight to Dakar is a long one.. 4200km around the coast of Africa (to avoid politics) which, due to a massive fuel load, will take 24 hours flying. The 3 remaining legs to the Azores (in the Atlantic off Portugal), New Foundland (Canada), and Oshkosh (Wisconsin USA)  come in at 15 hours each, so that shouldn’t prove too much of a problem. A substantial benefit of this route is that it has four stops only en route. Few long legs is really the way to go.. Easy flying, cheaper landings,  sleeping in the plane. The Sling will return to South Africa heading west again completing a cicumnavigation.

You can catch the Google Earth route of the Sling 4-seater on the website here.

What a way to launch a product. Go Sling Go!!

Hot Stuff

Here are some sketches from Mike of our Sling in red livery. Going to add some decent stripes, but this is "Hot Stuff" in the making.

First Solo flights today

Sjoe, was landing perfectly on Monday but the paperwork and insurance was not in place for my solo, so managed my first flights on my ace today after work and shortly before the beautiful sun was ready to set after a stunning day in Durban.

Was pretty awesome.. not the most perfect landings on runway 19 but I did ok, the second circuit better than the first. Thanks Noel and Brad for the patience and effort you have put in to getting me to this point. Can only get better. Had to rush off to Pietermaritzburg as the sun did set for the second part of my Radio Course with Sakkie, the ATC at the Pietermaritzburg Airport. So will have to postpone the regulation celebration drinks to the weekend....!!

Flying the Sling

The red Sling I flew in to The Airplane Factory

Dave and Llewellyn with their Sling in production

We designed our cockpit avionics layout on the computer

Terry and Ruan putting the prototype 4-seater together

Dave with The Airplane Factory's CEO Mike Blythe and our aeroplane

Computer design of the 4-seater prototype

We spent an awesome weekend in Johannesburg visiting Mike Blythe's Airplane Factory where our new Sling is in production. Mike picked me up in the red TAE at Lanseria Airport to fly to the factory at Tedderfield. At the factory there are about 10 Slings in production and Mike hopes to push up production as the orders flow in.

Also being built is the 4-seater prototype and in the 4th photo above Terry and Ruan fit some of the panels to the aircraft. They also showed me some of their incredible Solidworks computer designs that precede the final product on the factory floor.

A morning at Light Flight

Dave takes off at Light Flight

Dave and Kate-Lynn check out the instruments on the Foxbat

Kate-Lynn visits Light Flight

My daughter Kate-Lynn came to watch me flying last Saturday and the top photo is the first of me up in the sky taken from the outside.

Cruising the Skyways

Proof that I made it to Margate on my first dual cross-country is in the top photo. We got off to a shaky start with a little brake trouble after start-up (and Noel will no doubt laugh often about this) but after that it was plain sailing.. or flying I should say. We landed first at Richmond which was just a 15 minute hop away, and then headed towards Ixopo. With maps, stopwatch and landmarks noted, neither of us could find Ixopo airfield and it is maybe no longer in use. It was not intended to land there though and we continued our journey towards the sea and Fredenheim... beautiful little airstrip on the edge of a cliff and in the Oribi Gorge area.

After a touch-and-go at Fredenheim we continued to the coast and made a landing at Margate where we enjoyed an excellent breakfast and watch the airforce helicopter in training. After that we routed along the beach doing some low-flying over the breakers towards Scottburgh and saw the sardines from the air.

Changing frequencies several times we crossed inland into the Virginia general flying area and routed back to Light Flight where we finished off with me doing a couple of circuits. All in all 3,1 hours flying time!!! Excellent exercise.

Converting NPL to PPL

So I can convert my NPL licence to a PPL after I get it, I am registering now as a PPL Student. The PPL licence will enable me to fly my Sling aircraft in the long-range tanks heavier version.

Registering now as a PPL Student pilot will also enable me to write the higher PPL exams.. otherwise I would have to do the NPL exams and then re-write to get my PPL if that makes sense.

So today I did my intro flight on a Cessna 152, an old workhorse compared to the light and responsive Foxbat I have been flying. So here's a pic of Sierra Charlie Lima .. again I was concentrating too much to be able to take any pics in the sky.

Getting ready for cross-country



Flying over Grassroots with Light Flight behind 



Getting ready for my first dual cross-country I have been flying in to the neighbouring airfields - Emoyeni, Grassroots, Rob Mirtle and back to Light Flight ... all within 5kms of each other. It's a process of learning to recognise an airfield from the air and adjusting to the different altitudes of each field but recognising the height from the ground for landings.

I have also been studying the aeronautical charts for the area and plotting the different airfields. My landings are coming along slowly but there is progress.

Chart of the Durban TMA

Noel takes a pic of me flying

Right downwind Runway 01

 Doing circuits at Light Flight I am now right downwind for Runway 01, trying to get my landings right in preparation for Tuesday's cross-country to Richmond, Ixopo, Fredenheim, Margate, Scottburgh and back to Light Flight. This also takes us into several frequency zones as we change from the uncontrolled general flying area in the Pietermaritzburg general flying area, as well as Margate controlled space and back out again.

The flight will take about 2 hours and I have been preparing my first flight log... drawing vectors for anticipated wind, ground speed, distance and flying time, as well as fuel consumption and anticipated totals and reserves.

Taking off from Light Flight 01

Final Approach Runway 19

I thought I was landing nicely on Thursday but with the cold front we have had since, the air was bumpy today and even on final approach was throwing us around. There was also a little crosswind so learnt about crabbing and lining up with the runway even though the nose of the plane was pointing a lttle off into the wind. Good experience weather I am told. My Instructor took the photo in case you were wondering how I was on finals and snapping away at the same time. Notched up 11,7 hours total so far by the end of the lesson.



What comes up must come down

The crew at Light Flight School got a table of pilots and friends together for a pasta evening. Here's my instructor Noel (above right) giving the thumbs up. Then this morning I accomplished my first landings... wow, what a feeling! I was concentrating so heavily though that I forgot to take a photo and had to snap one in the car returning home to remember the day. Hopefully it wasn't just a lucky day like playing pool sometimes when you can just about sink any ball and the next day none. Well I managed to get that plane pretty steady and just floating down out of the sky... bit of a bump with the landing, but not too shabby. Was on a high the rest of the day!

Richmond Fly-in

We got up early this morning to get to Light Flight School where I joined Marc in the yellow machine Echo Tango Delta for the fly-in to Richmond. This was my first time in another aeroplane since starting my lessons, so it was cool to experience something different as well as analogue instruments only.

What a magnificent airfield where we were joined by a ralley of MG classic/vintage cars.

The second photo is of an impressive retired SA Defence Force Bosbok... immaculate and neat.

Well done guys for an excellent fly-in attracting about 20 LSA's and experimental craft and trikes.

First pics from the cockpit



Instructor Brad from Light Flight School practises stalls with me



I can multi-task but at this early stage of my flying asked Brad to take control as I took my first pics from the "driving seat"...ha ha. We practised stalls today.. no power, under power, no flaps and with flaps.. no problem. Must say that the little Foxbat handles them well. I was interested in knowing that there were available emergency landing strips below. Quite amazing how many private fields there are in this area. Landings were very shaky and Brad had to sort them out for me.. amazing these dual controls, although they can also be restricting if you are trying the get the feel of it and correct your own mistakes.

Clocked up a total of 8,7 hours as of today... and climbing.



Fear of Flying

I've always had a fear of flying, but at the same time an intense fascination with it. As a kid at Kloof schools, I used to "fly" my bicycle down the hectically steep Emolweni Hill just before school.

I spent many hours designing and drawing my bicycle with wings and pedal/cog driven propellers that would take me into the air half-way down the hill and land me triumphantly on the school fields below. That was never a problem.

It was the big commercial airliners that bumped and shuddered, and perhaps the engine fire on my first trip to London, aborting take-off in Nairobi, that was scary.... but nothing that a few double shots before boarding a flight couldn't cure. Maybe it's a control thing... when I'm on my own and in control, I'm fine. Jumping solo out of an aeroplane with a parachute was no real problem either. I think the scariest part was taking the step out of the plane by myself into the wind and clutching on the wing struts all alone. Letting go was easier. Floating down was glorious.

The wreck in the photo is my flying school's training plane that crashed into a local Church steeple killing the newly qualified young pilot and his father. I cry to myself when I look at the wreck and the photo. I hope there was some other sense or greater purpose in this tragedy. So scary! Air Crash investigations on TV are also fascinating to me.. I've watched them all and followed with great respect the care and attention to detail that takes place to unravel the darkest moments before the crash. I'm awed at the safety improvements introduced afterwards and usually retro-fitted to hundreds of aircraft to make flight safer in the future.

I'm conscious of the risks and responsibilities of a good pilot and am enjoying the challenge. Just teach me to land in one piece and level. I'm getting there!

5,5 Hours.. 12 landings

Dave with Pietermaritburg Air Traffic Controller Kim, and Light Flight Instructor Noel

First photo in the air over Camperdown

This is my first photo in the air flying the Light Flight School Foxbat 22 with Instructor Noel.

We had a hectic morning flying lesson inbeautiful weather conditions, visiting the neighbouring airstrips on farms in the area, as well as landing for brunch at Pietermaritburg Airport. I had my first tour of an airport Control Tower as well.

Then it was off to work for the rest of the day at my law office.

3,6 hours and climbing

So my 3rd lesson down and 3,6 hours flown .. and counting.. Did my first emergency landing without power today.. quite scary and thankfully my instructor Noel was totally in control.. wondering how I will be able to handle that when I am a little more experienced. It was hard enough to get the Foxbat steady and level on my flyovers over the runway.