SA_F_2015_04_

34 SA Flyer

HELI GAME OPS

Silence hung thick in the air.

The well-oiled ground team

stood motionless waiting

for the signal. Coiled like

springs, they would explode

as fast as their legs could

carry them the instant

Chris activated the siren to

announce that his hard won

herd of zebra were safely

captured inside the boma.

I

T had been another long day of game

capture in the bush and the truck was

almost full. The occasional clapping

blade slap was interspersed by the

humming tail rotor, a sure sign that

Chris was getting closer.

Seconds later, the throaty roar

from the helicopter’s Lycoming engine

swamped out all other sounds as the

machine dived to within a few feet of the

ground, deflecting the alert zebra straight

into the capture kraal.

The site was filled with chaos as the

wailing sound of the siren panicked the

zebra deeper into the boma. The team,

hidden by clouds of dust, burst from their

positions, closing their plastic curtains

behind the bewildered animals. Chris came

down low onto the tails of the galloping

animals to push them all the way into the

waiting truck. He then called on the radio,

“Ted, we’re done for today, that’s another

eight zebra. Please tell the farmer to meet

me at the fuel drum now. I want to top up

and then he can fly back to the lodge with

me.”

“Brilliant!” Ted replied. “You can start

the fire and get dinner ready so we can eat

early. It’s going to take us an hour or so to

pack up. See you at camp.”

It was sunset by the time Chris and

the farmer got away from the capture site,

which was not a problem since the lodge

was a mere ten minute hop down the Mogul

River valley. Ted and the team followed

behind a couple of hours later, dirty, hungry

and tired but content in anticipation for the

crispy lamb chops that would be waiting.

When Ted arrived in camp a dark

silence hung ominously over the lodge.

There was no fire going, no aromatic smell

of a braai, and an empty space on the lawn

where the helicopter should have been.

They found the wreckage soon after

John Bassi - Low Level Flying

LOW LEVEL

Flying

Low level flying while darting requires total

focus while maintaining situational awareness.

Note the power lines behind the helicopter.