Flying Stories

My flying career began when my sailing buddies started putting girls before boats and I found myself lonely on a Sunday with no one to come sailing. So I decided to try gliding. My intro flight was at the Magaliesberg Gliding Club on an autumn day in 1986. It was like sailing but in three dimensions! I went solo after about a year and bought a share in an ASW-19, 15-metre standard-class sailplane. On my third soaring flight I almost killed myself when I got caught in a huge cumulonimbus storm cloud. It’s a long story, but with that much experience, someone or something else helped that day and I walked away without injury or aircraft damage. My instructor was very proud of his student.

In 1993 I moved from pure sailplanes to touring motor gliders, which are touring aircraft with gliding capability. I’ve been hooked ever since and have owned three including Grob 109b, Ximango 200S and Pipistrel Sinus 912. All but the Sinus are tail-wheel aircraft. My power flying ratings include tail-wheel, variable pitch propeller, constant-speed propeller, retractable gear and geared propeller. Other aircraft I have flown regularly are the Cessna 152, 172, SambaXL, Citabria Kcab and Tacnam 2008.

My longest pure glide is 5 hours, 30 mins (1990), longest cross country flight was Johannesburg to Maun via Francistown 1,100kms (1993), and my longest direct cross country in non-powered flight is 320 kms from Beaufort West to Colesberg in 2011 (Cape Province, South Africa).