Pilot September 2017

(Martin Jones) #1

African Skies | Going Solo


76 | Pilot September 2017 http://www.pilotweb.aero


switched on until the operator has seen or
heard the target since a launcher’s weak
spot is its limited battery life, especially
the case with older launchers bought on
the black market. We−the target−
disguised our approach by using the sound
of the breaking surf to mask our engine
noise, and our low level approach to sneak
up in the horizon-level sea-dazzle. We
noticed that other aircraft soon followed
our lead and there have been no further
successful missile attacks since those days.
To see a large Russian cargo plane fly this
approach is a sight to behold.
What, you might ask, was the non-
flying, accountable manager doing
prancing around Mogadishu dressed up in
a flying suit? It would indeed be a good
question. In fact, I often asked myself the
same. The answer is that we got busy,
and at our occasional busiest we were
making daily flights resupplying the Big
Fella’s camp.
We had decided that we had an
opportunity to grow our company
modestly and wanted to do so in a way
that would set us up properly for the
future. Our first requirement was more
pilots and our focus was on hiring
indigenous rather than expatriate flyers.
While the Mogadishu trips were, strictly-
speaking, single-pilot operations, the
reality was that two crew were needed on
the ground in Somalia−and occasionally
in the air if the going got hectic. Madam
decided that I would be her temporary


crewman saying I could be useful on the
ground. In truth I suspect she just didn’t
trust Flashheart and me without adult
supervision. (A later, maniacal trip to
South Africa that, among other things,
involved a written-off hire car, a police
chief, assorted bodily injury and general
tomfoolery was to prove Madam right.)
Flashheart was issued with a newly
recruited junior pilot as his First Officer.
As the flights were private, and not
categorised as commercial air transport,
I could log them as Put (pilot under
training) hours. To this day I maintain that
a PC-12 is my ideal PPL trainer−but only
when someone else is paying for it. For
example, the PC-12 is perfect for learning
to fly angle of attack−both Madam and
Flashheart were devout followers of the
goddess Alpha−since every approach is
flown with reference to the angle of attack
indicator. It’s also a cinch to land with its
wonderful trailing link gear. And there’s
a loo in the back, and a fridge too.
You never see a Cessna 152 with
those amenities.
My earlier plans to get a PPL in the
usual way using our Fuji had gone
completely and badly awry. My logbook
didn’t record many Fuji hours but did
show a lot of PC-12 time, including
instrument actual and simulated, high
performance training, and complex
training. Even my Fuji hours were messed
up. I had logged plenty of ten-minute
flights to the island and each of these

involved a takeoff, a landing and circuits
but not many proper lessons. Since my
real aim was to fly aerobatics that is what
I did whenever I could, especially as
Flashheart’s passion was aerobatics too.
We would jump into a Fuji just before
dusk, climb up over the lake and play at
aerobatics for half an hour before landing
back and having a refreshing sundowner.
Our favourite game was for the non-
flying pilot to simulate emergencies−the
more unexpected and unlikely the better,
and at an unusual attitude if possible.
Engine failure at the top of a loop;
elevator cable snapped on downwind−fly
with trim; ailerons jammed on final−use
rudder; and so on. We also discovered
that our Fuji wouldn’t climb above a
density altitude of 15,000 feet, but that it
would spin brilliantly, around and around
and down and down. Flashheart was
drumming the very basics of flying an
aeroplane into me on every Fuji flight.

We disguised our


approach using the


sound of the surf to


The PC-12 is a cinch to land, mask our engine noise
and has a loo and a fridge
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