I decided to join the SAAF forum and post on there that I WILL become a pilot. At first I don't think anyone thought that I was serious... It's not everyday that some random person joins the forum and claims he will be a pilot. (If only they knew how serious I am!) After a few days or so on the forum I met Heather. I could not believe my eyes when I first read what she posted. She said: 'we can arrange a flight for you...' A flight? You mean I can go fly? YES! For the first time in my life I will fly in something different than a B737!
All I need to do now is to give her a time and a date whenever I can make it to Stellenbosch Flying Club. This is trickier than I thought as the only transport I have is my parents. (If only I can get my Drivers License!) They are very busy because of the December Holidays that is coming up. We have to have enough supplies in the butchery so they can't really take a day off from work.
After a lot of begging I finally got them to say the 4 letter word: Okay. The only time that they could take me to go fly is on a Sunday. I arranged it with Heather and we were good to go. Surprisingly that is the only day that the weather will be good enough for flying as well! Sunday, 7 November 2010 is the day my journey begins.
We arrive at the Stellenbosch Flying Club at 9:05am. I am only supposed to be there at 9:30am but the traffic was a lot less than we expected. Secretly I don't mind being there earlier as I get to be at a airfield! The 25 minutes was one of the longest waits ever... Somewhat 200 meters away in a hanger I can hear some engines firing up. Ohh how I love that sound and the sweet smell of Avgas.
I am greeted by Heather and another friend of hers called Aristide. He is a instructor and has a PPL and a CPL. Heather shows me around the aircraft and I get to sit in a Cessna 177! Whilst inside she teaches me some functions of certain dials (which I cant really remember as there was a LOT of them...) After her lecture we casually stroll towards our plane. (I feel like running towards it and jumping in but I just can't do that...) We will be flying the Microwing Cubby! Here it is:
Heather shows me the controls and what everything does and how it works etc. While she does her pre-flight inspections I can feel the butterflies starting to build up in my tummy. We hop into the cockpit and are almost ready to go. She briefs me shortly on what I have to do in case something happens. I was very happy and scared at the same time when she said I have to sit in the front. Doesn't the Pilot usually sit in the front? Oh well, I just gave a big smile and said okay! The engine starts and I can feel the plane start vibrating under me. We put on the headsets (which is very very awesome) and do some checks.
As we start to roll onto the runway I can hear her radioing the other planes to inform them that we are about to take off. After a quick engine heat up we are ready for take off. As the plane starts to bolt down the runway I can feel some slight G forces. We are now 300feet ASL (above sea level) and my smile stretches from ear to ear. I can see the ocean, the mountains, the cities, everything!
We head over to strand area and are 3000ft ASL. I never knew the Strand is so beautiful! There is no wind or clouds in sight. What a sight to behold! She opens the door and I am 10cm's away from having a 1km drop... The air that flows past us into the cockpit, the sound of the engine, the other airplanes that keeps on radioing each other. This is what I was born to do!
We head over to the mountainside and do some sight seeing. Heather asked me if I wanted to fly. What do you think my answer was? She tells me to put my hands on the flight stick and my feet on the rudder controls and feel how it moves when she flies. She hands total control over to me. I am now flying a airplane all by myself. I do some turns and it feels great! Turn to the right, level out, turn left, level out, turn left while lowering altitude, level out. Ohh how wonderful it feels to fly! Can the magic of flight ever be described in words? I think not.
I hand over the controls to Heather. Now we will be doing some steep turns and a stall. The steep turn is, well, steep. Have a look for yourself!
After the steep turns we did some stalls. She pitches the nose up and lower engine power. Suddenly we are falling from the sky! She pitches the nose down again and start gaining speed! I can feel the negative G fores. 1 word. AWESOME!
It is time to head back. (I don't want to but we have to) To finish it off with we will be going through the Hottentots Holland mountain gorge. We approach it and I think to myself: 'Soon I will get to see this often.' How beautiful it was is indescribable.
As we approach the runway there is some other planes that is flying under us, over us and in front of us. There were planes everywhere. We slowly head towards the runway and I start getting butterflies again. We soar 1ft above the tarmac for about 20 meters and then touchdown. We have landed safely.
Everything was just so perfect. This is what I want to do with my life and it is most definitely what I will do. I want to fly and I will fly. The feeling of freedom. The feeling of excitement. The feeling of danger. It is becoming a drug.
So this is where my journey starts. Thank you Heather for letting me fly a small aircraft for the first time. I will definitely repay you in the future when I will be your Pilot in a Gripen.
I have started preparing myself for the upcoming selections. I compiled a module with all the information about the SAAF. The History, equipment, insignias, bases, units, everything. I WILL be a SAAF pilot. It doesn't matter how long it takes me to achieve this goal but I will get it.
I will end off with some more photos from my first flight.
Approaching the Strand.
Flying over the Strand.
Flying with a open door.
Flying over Somerset Mall.
Flying through the gorge.
The Stellenbosch Flying Club.
The Pilot and her trusty Co-Pilot!
...Jaco over and out...
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