New Pictures

Watch this space, I may add some more pics to this post at a later time!

Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche ZS-MYG

Ex SAAF Boeing 707 Tanker

Kulula Boeing 737-800

My First Solo

So it finally happened. I have been thinking about this day for close to a year now, and on Friday the 8th of February 2013, a day I will never forget, it happened! Best part was, my instructor never told me I was going solo (thanks Jason).

I arrived just before 6am at FALA (Lanseria International Airport) as we had scheduled an early morning lesson in the circuit, because any pilot will tell you how nice and smooth it is to fly early in the morning! We flew a couple of dual circuits, and after about my 4th landing we rolled off the runway ready to request taxi clearance back to the hangars. Just before I contacted ground control, Jason asked me if I was keen to give one a "whack" by myself. Well I had the engine running , I was sitting there strapped into the left seat, and I was 'in the zone' so to speak after our dual practice, so I was not about to say no! Besides, any pilot will also tell you (while you are asking him about early morning flight conditions) that his first solo is probably the single most special and important day in his career. Many will even say you are considered a 'real' pilot only after your first solo!

I finally got to taxi like a big boy onto Lanseria's main apron and had a lesson on how to park like a 'real' pilot on the apron from Jason, and I did so in parking bay Charlie 8 behind a nice big Boeing 737-800 (sorry but all the details are important to me). I then dropped Jason off, who as an instructor proceeded to the control tower to observe. I got taxi clearance back to the active runway run up bays, and commenced my pre-takeoff vital actions. Done! Taxi clearance up to the runway holding point, contact tower control. Done! Line up and wait. Done! Final checks. Done! Clear for takeoff runway 06L. Takeoff! What an amazing experience. The next 10 minutes were a bit blurry but great fun and great experience too! I flew my circuit, making calls to tower where requested, doing my checks where necessary and slotted in behind another student who was in turn behind a Kulula Boeing 737-800 (told you the details were important to me) and landed smoothly, which was fantastic. Taxi back to the apron Charlie 8, and wait for my instructor...

You just don't have enough time to sit there and take it all in! We taxied back to our hangar, and lo and behold I noticed the traditional water buckets! You see, pilots also have weird traditions and initiations, the main one being getting doused with water after you first solo by all your instructors and friends etc. Oh well! Jason told me to leave my phone and other electronics in the plane... hahaha!

The rest is history and I will let the pics speak for themselves. By the way, that is ice in the buckets!

First solo, 8 February 2013, Lanseria International Airport (FALA).

Cessna C172 ZS-PXH.

Sent by Jason Everard from Skyhawk Aviation.

SAAF Museum

Another awesome morning of flying some WWII era aircraft at Air Force Base Zwartkop, Pretoria.

Come on down, they normally fly on the first Saturday of every month!

Flying High

Here are the promised (and delayed) pictures of one of my flights this past week. Not too many as the main point of going up is for me to fly, not play around!!! I went up at just after 6am on a beautifully clear morning with the sun still just peeping its face over the mountain ridges! Not many better ways to enjoy God's glory than in nature, and being so high watching a sunrise over the land just makes it even better! I also took some shots before the flight just for the fun of it.

Enjoy!

 Notice the bird?

 One day when I'm big, I get to fly the twin! :P

 But for now this is my ride! :)

 The hot air balloons took the opportunity of a beautiful morning too!

New Year

New Year! First Post! No Pictures? Time to take a break from the pictures! This last week has been a blast for me, and I'm going to tell you about it here now, so I have decided to take a break from pics and also incorporate posts with JUST WORDS..... GASSSSSSSPPPP! (I'll include a 'color-in' section every now and then if you get bored with just words hehehe).

Friday, January the fourth, I officially started my flying lessons at Skyhawk Aviation Lanseria, and in the week since have logged my first 6.3 flying hours! Half the purpose of this blog is for me to share the next couple of years of training and fun and experiences with all that care to read it, and this is the start of a long story for me! As I said, I have had a blast, getting to fly last Friday, this Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with briefing a session before every flight. Although a misconception is that pilots have it easy with studying, there is much studying to be done as I have to complete 7 exams with a pass rate of 75% as well as classroom time of around 1.5 hours before every flight! Wednesday is just a briefing day, with no flying! This is all just for a basic Private Pilot's License (PPL). Who's complaining though? I get to spend my days 7,000 feet up... or at least in a classroom at the airport!

This coming Monday morning I will be starting with my first week of ground school (a pilot's 'official' classroom time in preparation for these exams) but luckily I will still get to fly after the morning sessions! I will hopefully get comfortable enough with my surroundings to take my camera with this week, as this will become a photo report from now on at every opportunity! Next post should have some cool pictures! 

So I can't wait to get back in the air, and I hope you look forward to hearing about each big step that I blog about!

Here's to 6.4 hours...!

P.S. I really couldn't resist a picture, so here is a picture of  the plane I have spent my week in :D

(Credit to Marius Barnard)

Christmas Post

So it's about time I got to go shoot something again! The S.A. Museum of Military History is a nice visit and I have been going their since I was a small boy, but the SAAF C47 Dakota was definitely new to me! She made for one or two nice shots! Also included are a few random 'around the house' pics done in holiday spirit, plus a few of a very beautiful, dark, storm sky from a few weeks ago! Enjoy...

 SAAF C47 Dakota

 I would say "find me in the picture", but that would be too easy right...

 Bella, our special needs dog!

Editing Pictures

So, I haven't been out to photograph anything in a while, but in the meantime I have been playing with Adobe Lightroom for editing and watermarks etc. I decided to play around with probably my favorite image to date and this is how it came out. The unedited original pic can be found in my Dikhololo post too for comparison!
*EDIT* I have now also added another pic I took at the SAAF Museum in November after some color enhancement and sharpening!

Dikhololo Holiday

My friend Justin and I were privileged to go on a holiday together to Dikhololo Game Reserve in the Northwest. We had a great week of swimming, playing tennis and squash and golf among other things. The highlight of the week was probably Thursday when we had a surprise visit by a large number of Mongoose (Plural Mongeese? Hehehe!) at our door step. They happily fed out of our hands while I happily clicked away at them as it is not every day that you get so close to wildlife! To top off the day, that afternoon we were greeted at our door by a lone female Kudu. As we came around the corner out of the doorway, we were greeted by a further seven Kudu, including three large males. Justin fed them while I shot them... with my camera of course! Here are my favorites including a few other animals at other times.

 Even a braai can be a cool photo opportunity

 This shy guy was just finishing crossing the road... and taking forever

 The first Mongoose arrive

 Then a few more

 They know how to chill

 S M I L E

 A few more join the party

 The babies are really cute and playful

 Begging for food

 This dassie came and spoiled the party

 But then the Kudu joined us

Yes, the closest one is inside our room!