SA Flyer — Edition 263 — September 2017

68 SA Flyer Magazine

Adventure flying

Text: David Levy

It is called the

Panorama Airfield

Departure Lounge

because it is the

place where, now and

then, trike pilots take

leave of their senses.

O

N a frigid

Friday

morning

in April

2017, by

the light of

Venus and

someone’s

cell phone,

Helga and John lifted off into the cold dawn

air, encouraged by a lively send-off from the

other departure loungers.

John, an ex-merchant navy type,

was going to navigate using a map and a

magnifying glass. To avoid any hitches, it

was carefully tied to his wrist using a hitch

knot. His wife, Selina, took the back seat as

cabin crew. Her job was to beat him over

the head periodically to ward off sleep,

hypothermia and bad ideas.

Septuagenarian trike pilot, Helga,

encouraged by the fact that she had

recently mastered the technique for turning

on her new smart phone, opted for a GPS

track.

Daniella, Helga’s daughter and

long suffering legal guardian, had been

appointed as ground crew because she

had a company car which, like all company

cars, was multi-functional and was to serve

as a fuel bowser, meals-on-wheels and

sanatorium. It could also tow a heavy trike

trailer. She departed IFR (I Follow Roads),

choosing traditional foul language and

explicit hand signs to navigate through the

early morning traffic.

The heat of the day in the Karoo

was routinely endured on the

trip, as flying after midday isn't

common practice for trike pilots.

TO AFRIKABURN -

The hard way