A visit to the Klerksdorp Aerobatic Extravaganza.

The Klerksdorp flying club hosts an annual Aerobatic Extravaganza, this is mostly aimed at aerobatic instruction but it also forms part of air show and fly-in. As the weather have prevented me from attending a few fly-ins this year I decided that I will try and attend this one. The week before departure did not look good, high winds blew day after day, the weather predictions kept on saying it would get better but it did not !

I decided to prepare everything and only make the final go-no-go decision on the morning of departure. The Friday afternoon before departure the wind was still blowing very strong but I prepared the plane and packed what I could. I decided to use "Floyd", the Streak Shadow as the higher flying speed, compared to the Rans S12 would help if I had to face strong headwinds.

I have not really packed full camping gear, photo equipment and ferry (long range) fuel tank in the Shadow before. I was quite surprised how easy it was to fit everything in, the Shadow has more space than you think.

The Saturday morning of departure dawned bright, and windy ! But, it did not look that bad so I decided to take-off anyway and head in the right direction, if the wind and turbulence was too bad I could always turn back or just go for a local flight. I managed to get in the air at 5h25 am with the sun just starting to appear on the horizon. Once I was airborne I could see that the wind was quite a bit stronger than it looked on the ground, between 25 and 30 mph but at least it was slightly from behind, giving me a tailwind component of around 8 to 10 mph, a nice bonus. It was a bit bumpy but but not too bad at this point.

Shortly after leaving Rhino Park I got a call from my friend Andre, on the ground at Rhino, wishing me a good trip, a nice touch !

The planned route was from Rhino Park to Bapsfontein, Petit, Brakpan then to Circus airfield near Vereeniging, past Parys, Sasolburg and Potchefstroom to the final destination of Klerksdorp. The planned route was 151 miles long and according to my calculations would take about 1h40 minutes at economy cruise and no wind. This would allow me to finish the trip on the main tank so that I could keep the extra fuel in the ferry tank, 25l, just incase I could not get fuel at Klerksdorp, that would be enough to fly back to at least Heidelberg where I knew I could get fuel. As it turned out I managed to get fuel at Klerksdorp, served by a friendly pump attendant who was very interested in my little plane.

The flight went well, the turbulence slowly got worse but never so bad that it was not fun, by the time I got to Circus airfield I knew that I would be able to go all the way as the weather was clear. I tried various heights to find the smoothest air, the best turned out to be around 6500 feet.

Shortly after take-off. The sun starting to light the horizon and the pollution.

Brakpan airfield, I have only visited here by road, should pop in sometime.

Open fields after the city.

Soon after passing Vereeniging the country side changed from buildup areas to more open spaces and farms, a far nicer sight ! The Jabiru engine was purring, my ground speed was mostly above 110 mph so all was well in the world !

Soon I had Potchefstroom in sight, up till now I did hear a few other planes in the air heading towards Klerksdorp but not as many as expected. I think the weather stopped a quite a few pilots from going.

Klerksdorp airfield.

Before long I had the Klerksdorp field in sight, there were a few planes on the ground but non in the air, I wondered why?

The PC Pelser airport building, everything is in good condition and well maintained, nice to see a municipal airport in such a good condition.

I found out soon enough, the landing was "interesting" with a 30 mph wind right across the runway, well, the Shadow handled it well and I was soon parked in front of the fuel bay, 1 hour 20 minutes after leaving, not bad and even better was the fact that I only burned 12l ! Hmmm, I love that Jabiru !

Shadow parked at Klerksdorp, tied down against the wind and covered against the sun !

Once fueled and parked I unpacked the camera equipment and headed for the club house, meeting old friends along the way, now this was what fly-ins are all about. Arriving at the club house I was treated to Klerksdorp hospitality and a free breakfast ! As it turned out all meals and drinks were on the house for the weekend as long as you were a pilot ! Now that is nice ! Thanks guys !

A Russian Yak 18T.

Once the eating was done I went on a photo walk through the parking area, there were plenty nice planes and interesting people about.

At the fueling bay, I am sure he burned more than 12l on the way here !

Two Extra 300's flown by Nigel Lamb and Jason Beamish.

There were some guys flying in the wind, the experienced guys made it look easy, we were treated by some fine displays.

A Zlin 50L with ferry tanks, I once build a 1/4 scale RC model of this plane.

 A colorful Christen Eagle, look at that windsock!

Due to the strong wind and approaching storms many planes left by about 1pm, it was a shame to see them go but I could understand that it was not a bad idea. I did consider leaving as well but with a very strong wind right from the front and severe reported turbulence I decided to stay overnight, camping, and rather leave early the next morning in hopefully better conditions.

The afternoon and evening was spent chatting with friends and looking at flying videos, all washed down by plenty cold beers, it was HOT ! That evening we were treated to a lamb on the spit, what a way to end a great day, or so I thought.....

During the meal a storm moved in and it started raining, at least there was no hail but I was a bit worried. By the time I decided it is time to go sleep it was still raining, well, it was still hot so I did not mind getting a bit wet, it only took me a few minutes to get to the plane and pitch the tent. Soon I could relax with the rain pattering on the tent, slowly drifting into a peaceful sleep.

NOT FOR LONG !

I woke up at around midnight with the tent wildly flapping and the plane squeaking and groaning !  The wind was howling outside and I had to hang on to the tent else it blew away. It slowly got worse, at least the rain mostly stopped, at one point the plane had its wheels clear of the ground, only kept down by the ropes, I started worrying if the ropes would last, they were not that strong ! This went on for at least 2 hours, I did not dare leave the plane as I was afraid it would be blown over.

The first lull in the wind saw me running around looking for more and stronger ropes. I found some and tied the plane down real good, at last I could re-erect the blown down tent and try to get some rest with the wind still pumping outside. I had a rather restless sleep !

I woke up around 3h30 in the morning, the silence was a great sound ! Hardly any wind ! I just hoped it would stay this way till it was light enough to take-off. Around 4 am I started packing up and loading the plane, by 4h30 it was done and I went for a shower. After that I had to wait for a sort while for the light to improve but by 5am I was in the plane and had the engine running.

I managed to take-off in almost ideal conditions at around 5h05, the sun was still below the horizon but there was plenty light to fly, the air was smooth with only a slight headwind. Now this was a lot better and worth the wait !

Dawn, a great way to start the day from 6000 feet.

Passing Potchefstroom I saw this model flying field.

Vanderbyl Park and all the pollution the Iron smelter produces.

Man made hill just outside Springs, no more open fields.

I could see that I might have a problem at this stage, the first signs of fog could be seen towards the east, as I passed Brakpan and Springs I made a mental note that I could return here incase I could not land at Rhino.

Just past Petit I encountered the first fog.

The fog was low down in this area and I knew I would not be able to get below it. I decided to continue hoping that at Rhino Park it would be open or a field like Kittyhawk close by.

A well known landmark in the area, Bapsfontein tower, not often seen like this !

A few trees peeking through the fog.

On the horizon I could see thicker fog, not good. Towards the west it was still open but there were no landing options close by, other than some fields, I would only use in an emergency. It looked like turning back would be the only option. I transferred fuel from the ferry tank just incase the flight got extended.

Beautiful but scary !

When I got to Rhino Park, or where the GPS told me Rhino Park was, the cover was solid. I called on the Rhino frequency to see if there were people on the ground but got no reply. I decided to head back to Springs. As I did a slow turn I saw a gap in the fog, and even better I was the ground below and what looked like a reasonable gap between the fog/cloud and the ground. I circled the gap descending, the gap was long so I lined up looking down, the space between the cloud and ground looked flyable.

I descended through the gap, keeping the speed up and my options open, thinking if the gap was too small I would simply zoom-climb back through the gap. The Shadow will zoom climb at over 2000 fpm so it would be easy to escape.

Once I was below the cloud it was quite dark and gray but I had at least 300 feet clearance and I could see the railway track close to the flying field, using the railway track and the GPS I aligned the plane with the runway heading strait in, no joining or circuits this time! What a sight to see the start of runway 09 looming through the murk. It was a perfect landing even if I say so myself !

What a relieve to be on the ground.

Back home !

I just had to take this photo ! It felt good to be back after a challenging flight but it was great fun ! The return flight took 1 hour 40 minutes due to the headwind.

I unpacked quickly, put the plane back in the hangar after thanking Floyd for the great trip and headed home for a good rest, a real adventure !

The GPS track from the flight.

The GPS track showing how I descended through the cloud before doing a direct approach to the runway.

Total distance traveled was 304 miles. Total fuel burned for the complete trip was around 27l, not bad for a 304 mile trip and 3 hours flying time, this included quite a bit of taxing as well.

I learned a lot on this trip, and have a lot more respect for the weather.

Time to go plan the next trip, where to next ?