Zimbabwe Air Rally 2021 Part two

The following day we were up early to watch the departure air show once again, it is a large amount of razzle-dazzle to be honest.

- Richard Browne

Navigators in and out of the logger tent, pilots coordinating startup and taxi times, the sound of many large six cylinders and of course the buzzing of the props as they beat the air upon the way past. This is made all the more energetic by the dust kicked up off the Fothergill runway.

The consensus was to take off uphill and make a shorter turn towards the first gate which added a minute or two depending on aircraft performance. Jason and I decided to do what the locals did and we turned right, making for a fishing camp on the lakeshore. I was given this advice many years ago by an old Captain. When I asked him if we were going to de-ice the Jumbo, he responded with “What are the locals doing?”

We figured we’d hit it square on time and then made for the rest of the route, the wind seemed to be a hell of a lot stronger than we thought though and at one stage we were flying at 85 knots with flap down for at least an hour. As the journey progressed we found the turning points more difficult to find, a pump house and then a pan which eluded us entirely.