Early morning breakfast run to Parys.

A planned early morning departure turned out to be not as early as planned but with the promise of a great day ahead the Jabiru was soon in the air. Not many planes were in the air yet, just a few lucky people were sharing the air with me so early.

I was flying in a Jabiru SP along with my friend Graham in an Ikarus C42. We decided to route from Rhino Park taking a short cut across Midrand and Grand Central airport on our way to Rand airport where Graham wanted to land to pick up Peter. It was quite interesting flying across the relatively build-up area, something we normally avoid.

Calling Waterkloof airbase so early in the morning resulted in no reply so we simply announced our intentions and flew to Grand Central. A call to the Grand Central tower asking for permission to route overhead was answered with permission to continue, it is not often that you are allowed to route across GC like that !

Grand Central from above, even though it was early there were already planes in the circuit.

After crossing Grand Central we headed South staying along the least populated part of Johannesburg. It was a nice clear morning giving us a great view of this large city. Looking down at all the people below starting their day, and all the traffic made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to fly !

Johannesburg CBD on the horizon, so many houses, so many people !

Soon we were approaching Rand airport, also already busy. We were cleared to land on runway 35. It was the first time I landed there and quite exciting to visit a historic airport like this. There is a lot of history here, I need to go back again and spend some time taking photos and absorbing the atmosphere. I managed not to get lost on the ground and ended up parked in front of the control tower where Peter was waiting for us.

The Jabiru parked at Rand airport.

The control tower, the air was already busy but not many people on the ground, those who could fly were flying !

Soon we were on our way again, heading south towards Parys and the Vaal river.

A power station in the distance with a mine in front, man at work.

Before long we had the Vaal river in sight, we decided than rather than flying direct to Parys we would follow the river as far as possible, nice scenic flight and as we were still a bit early for breakfast at Parys we would rather spend the time in the air than waiting on the ground.

The slow flowing Vaal river wandering through the landscape.

All to soon we reached Parys, after joining overhead we had an uneventful landing and could get out to stretch our legs. Total flight time up to this point was about 1 hour 55 minutes.

That's me and the Jabiru, a great plane to explore in as it is fast enough to go places but still slow enough to enjoy the trip.

The Parys flying club club house, a few people are already eating.

We had a very friendly reception from the guys and girls of the Parys flying club, planes were still arriving so we decided to find a table and eat before things got hectic, they were expecting a whole bunch of "Biker pilots" for breakfast.

2 Jabiru's and the Ikarus C42 parked next to the taxi-way.

After a great breakfast we were soon airborne again heading home. Graham had to drop Peter off at Rand airport again but I decide to fly back following a different, more direct route. I needed to get back to Rhino Park as I still had a photo assignment for a local magazine. They were doing an article on the Rhino Park flying school.

Flying just east of Johannesburg, crossing places like Nigel, Springs and Brakpan.

A few clouds but great weather and not to much of the usual smog, a more rural setting.

All to soon Rhino Park was in sight, the end of another flying adventure and two airports added to my growing list of airports visited. Parys is a great breakfast destination, we have vowed to return !

Below is the track that I flew, total flight time was 3 hours 15 minutes of pure joy. Note the "wandering" flight on the way to Parys and the more direct flight back.

The Jabiru only burned 23 l of fuel for a total distance of around 350 miles (560 km), great consumption ! I was flying quite slow to match my speed to that of the Ikarus, that did help the consumption.