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PAINTBALL ‘n Paar van die vliegklublede het in Desember gaan
paintball speel. Dit was nogal pret,
maar ek het agtergekom ek raak te oud vir sulke dinge.
Ons was so goed gekamoefleer dat Philip selfs op sy eie magte
geskiet het. Alhoewel ons nie die
rondte gewen het nie, was dit pret. ONS BESOEK CUBBY FABRIEK Alf Botha, Dicky Maritz, Pieter van Deventer en die uwe het
onlangs die Cubby fabriek op Secunda gaan besoek. Vir die wat nie die vliegtuig op die lugskou sien vlieg het
nie, dit is ‘n 75% skaal van die Piper Cub wat aangedryf word deur ‘n 85pk
brandstofinspuiting Volkswagen enjin.
Ek het onlangs die geleentheid gehad om die vliegtuig te vlieg en ek moet sê dat dit ‘n baie indrukwekkende vliegtuig is met uitstekende vliegeienskappe. Dit vlieg teen 90mph en staak teen ongeveer 30mph sonder om die
neus te laat sak. Dit
kan twee volwasse persone dra en steeds klim teen 700 vpm en verbrand sowat 10
liter per uur. Die fabriek is nie baie groot nie, maar weliswaar baie proffessioneel
en netjies. Hulle produseer
huidiglik een vliegtuig in net minder as ‘n maand.
Die afwerking en sweiswerk op die vliegtuig is van hoogstaande gehalte.
Op hierdie stadium is daar twee op bestelling vir Tzaneen en sal teen einde
Februarie en Mei gelewer word. Die
koste van so ‘n vliegtuig beloop minder as R200 000. BELANGRIKE DATUMS 17 Januarie – Klubvergadering 12 Februarie – Vliegveiligheidsdag 7 Maart – Alg jaarvergadering 25 Junie 2005 – Lugskou BRING EN BRAAI Ons gaan
voortaan elke tweede Vrydagaand by die klub braai.
Die van julle wat niks te doen het op ‘n Vrydagaand nie, kan gerus
saamkom. Die kroeg sal ook altyd
oop wees. Die volgende dae is
ge-oormerk vir Bring & Braai: 21 Jan, 4 & 18 Feb, 4 & 18 Mrt. Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Kariba I’m on Fire! It was May 1980, and I had flown from Salisbury the day
before, refueled at Kariba and night-stopped at Lusaka.
Out of Lusaka, I was on track for Kariba in a Piper PA-20, Romeo Victor,
at FL075. Lusaka Information had failed to respond to my call at boundary out
and I was taking my time tuning in to Kariba 125.5.
Below I could barely make out the Kariba-Lusaka road through the canopy
of trees. In the distance lay the Zambezi River, but Kariba Dam was not
visible beyond the mountains. Just as I clicked over to Kariba frequency a strong smell
entered the cockpit and at the same time smoke erupted from under the cowling
and swept over the windscreen. My
reaction was immediate: “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday”, no doubt in a panic
stricken tone. Kariba responded
immediately: ”Who? What? Where?” Even in that short time the smoke had cleared, but the fear
had not abated. I was some 5000ft
AGL, below was dense foliage and away in the distance the river, with a flat
open island mid-stream. Thoughts
that ran through my mind were flames burning the wing fabric and destroying the
lift, the Perspex windscreen melting and me being cooked alive inside. If I went
down in this corner of nowhere, could I salvage my aircraft, and would it ever
be found? I eased back the power and scanned the instruments, meanwhile
keeping a constant communication with Kariba.
Everything appeared stable and normal, except the pilot.
Eventually I saw Kariba Dam and then the airfield came into view. As soon as I could, I cut the motor and glided in to land.
A lump came to my throat as I saw the ambulance and fire engines waiting
on the threshold. As I rolled to the first turnoff and jumped out, the firemen
had their hoses ready, but these were not needed and an examination revealed
that oil had dropped from the rocker covers onto the exhaust manifold. Meanwhile a scheduled Viscount flight from Kariba to
Salisbury had been held back for the “emergency” and a rather embarrassed
and relieved pilot taxied to the ramp. I
made my way up to the tower to apologise and thank the controller, who replied:
”I am only too pleased to see you, the last time I heard a mayday call was
when a Viscount was shot down and I actually saw the smoke trail of the missile,
and the plane going down.” After a very welcome cup of tea, I set off for Salisbury and
climbed over the escarpment. Panic!
A flash of red, this time inside the cockpit at the firewall!
Thankfully I did not call Mayday again as I realised that the sun behind
me caught a patch of red undercoat where the black paint had peeled away. As I cleared to land and taxied off the runway, Charles
Prince tower said, “Romeo Victor has landed after last light!”
That was the least of my worries after an eventful day. Story by JJ van Niekerk, extracted from SAFlyer Dec 1998 with
their permission. HUMOR A
fighter pilot goes to a bar after a good days flying. Whilst there he meets a
young, attractive and available lady. She is charmed by his tales of aerial
combat, high speed flight, and death defying feats. The inevitable happens and
they slip away to somewhere more comfortable for an evenings intimate
entertainment. Much
later that night the pilot drives home to his long suffering wife. On the way he
puts on his oxygen mask and draws the straps up as tight as they will go. When
he gets home he removes the mask and bravely enters the house. Immediately he
tells the wife exactly and honestly what he has been up to that evening. She
replies: "Do not lie to me, I can see you have been flying that damned
airplane yet again".
The
student in his Cherokee was flying a solo cross-country. He lost his way and
before he finally ran out of fuel he decided to put it down on a road. With
hardly any cars on the road he managed to coast his aircraft into a gas station
and said to the attendant, "Fill 'er up!" The
attendant just looked at the pilot. "I
bet you don't get too many airplanes asking for a refuel," said the pilot. The
attendant replied: "True, most pilots use that airport over there." -oOo- Two
airline mechanics were working on a 747 when lunchtime came. Rather than leave
what they were doing, they just took their lunch break while sitting in the
cockpit. While they were eating lunch, one mechanic bet the other that the
landing gear would not retract if he pulled the gear lever up. He
lost the bet.
Vlieggroete Willie
Leeuwner
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