HORST AND I SET OFF before sun-up the next morning to once again try and find Pol.
We had gallons of strong coffee to keep Hypnos from sitting on our eye lids and some substantial sandwiches to feed the worms.
With the main and underwing tanks full, we had a good five and a half hours endurance. In fact closer to six, which I know is not far over the ground in a Porter. The Porter is so slow that it is reputed to be the only aircraft to have suffered a bird strike from the rear, but nevertheless, it was better for this job than a four-by-four. The only limiting factor appeared to be the size of our respective bladders and there were various ways around that problem, particularly armed as we were with the Porter’s peculiar “off-road” abilities.
We landed just the once during that day, for fuel. The other two times were out in the desert, for “comfort stops” and more cups of coffee! Our spirits sank deeper and deeper as the hours and the endless tracts of scorched desert crept past.
It was as if the very desert itself were saying to us, “Give it up! The guy hasn’t an icicle in hell’s chance out here. What’s one more desiccated little pile of bones anyway, to add to the thousands. Some, much tougher than him, are already here, which I have tortured and claimed before?.....Nothing!.....Go home!.....Go home to your comforts, your air conditioning and your imported luxuries! I shall be here when you and the whole human race have been swept away in the sand storms of time,”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2023 من SA Flyer Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2023 من SA Flyer Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
SACRIFICE
John continues his anecdotes about the sacrifices he has had to make in the course of his helicopter bush flying career.
KENYA - SAA PARTNERSHIP DELAY
KENYA AIRWAYS AND South African Airways announced the establishment of a highly anticipated Pan-African Airline Group three years ago.
TO PARIS FOR LUNCH
One morning I arrived back at Lanseria from a two day charter to a dreary Northern Cape iron mine. Entering the terminal, I removed my wings and epaulets, thrust them into my flight bag, and headed for the restaurant.
ASCA'S MPUMI MPOFU: READY FOR TAKE-OFF
Ms Mpumi Mpofu has occupied the hot seat as Chief Executive of ACSA, the Airports Company of South Africa for a tumultuous past four years.
HYDROGEN POWERED PLANE TESTED
WORLD’S LARGEST liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft, using a 1 MW fuel cell engine, has been tested.
CAMEROON - BLAMES BOEING
BOEING JUST CANNOT STAY out of trouble. It has become the whipping boy for endless absurd claims.
IRIS GOES TO SOMALIA
Having spent the last couple of years flying to a rota, I was thoroughly enjoying the freedom and randomness of flying charters at Sunbird Aviation.
TELEPORTATION
One of the best clients for whom I ever flew was BP, the British oil giant. I was with them in Algeria for about seven years, from the very start of their large gas projects, right in the heart of the Sahara Desert, near the small towns of In Amenas and In Salah.
FEBRUARY 2023
February has shown steady growth in the number of aircraft registered. Four fixed wing and one helicopter were added while the non-type certified (NTCA) register grew by seven.
RIGHT SEAT RULES NO. 16 FUEL SYSTEMS WHY SO COMPLICATED?
You know those aggranoying people who say, “Oh I wouldn't fly in one of those little things - you can't just pull over and fix it if something goes wrong\"? What makes this particularly irritating is that the bastards are right.