Later in the day – 5p.m.
All our pilots were up and away on task when there were calls from people on the ground that the wheat field behind the airfield, hangars and where the team ‘ huts’ are based was on fire. And it certainly was – the flames engulfed the field in no time and the smoke rose in huge waves of white, grey and blackness. They were HUGE and it was really quite worrying there for a short time. We battened down the hatches, put valuables in the car and were ready to ‘ hit the road’ out of the way. Fortunately the fire was contained to the field only but there certainly was consternation for a while in case it moved to the camping area. The fire department came out in force and was soon damping down the last traces of fire. I guess the farmer will be a very unhappy soul. However the birds from the bird sanctuary to the north of the field were soon enjoying the after-effects and circling away in the remaining smoke. At least they were happy!
In the meantime Bossie and Ian have driven back to
Feel sure Attie got the best of the deal as he has had a good day’s flying, rather than sitting in the car again! They will all enjoy a good night’s rest tonight, I am sure.
Tuesday 29th July
Tuesday 29th July
Good morning everyone – the S.African team is now all present and correct! Attie & Bossie arrived at the a/f at 1 a.m. this morning, so promptly fell asleep virtually on the spot. The glider is now rigged, their registration is all completed and they will be doing their scrutineering shortly. So we appear to be all in order which is always pleasing to know that it is done and behind you – and now the pilots can get onto the serious business of flying!! Whilst rigging the JS.1 there were several people and pilots who came by to check it out and have a good look at it. Feel sure over the next few days there will be continued interest and looking.
Yesterday both Laurens and Quintin had good flights and checked out some of the task area. We also tested out the radio coms and were able to talk to the pilots some 120 km. away so that is good news. Laurens was at 800 m. – so our many thanks to Herbert Martin for the loan of the magnificent radio & aerial. Also I now have wheels – a 2 door red diesel Golf, so that has been called my Ferrari!! (not . . .!) – again my thanks to Herbert. Both Quintin and Laurens had problems with uploading data to their Colibris, but they have come right this morning – some of the cables were creating problems, so instead of USB cables, when they used the serial port – things went OK. Technology!
There was a briefing this morning at 10 a.m. for the now first official training day. All ran very smoothly with an agenda of what would be dealt with. Today there is a 3 ˝ hr AAT with distance of 303.2 km – 531.4 km. They want pilots to hand in flight recorders after the day’s flying - obviously so that the organisation can check their systems as well as the pilots.
There is a bird sanctuary to the north of the a/f, so gliders have to steer clear of the area and yesterday there were several raptor birds clearly visible enjoying the good strong conditions.
Weather today is very dry and expected to
go up to 2 200 – 2 300 m. There is a
front over the
So that’s the news for now – first launch is expected shortly, so off to the runway.