My “raison d’etre” (ici)

 

The first flight I did after arriving was with Pierre Bouwer (my instructor) who did all the flying, allowing me to follow the systems and understand how he managed to keep his flying so accurate (apart from tremendous skill!) For those interested, they have a GPS showing the lines we need to fly, a radar altimeter accurately measuring the height above the ground, and a navigation bar which amongst other things shows you down to the meter how far left or right you are drifting from the line. Despite all that it is extremely tricky to keep yourself within a few meters of the line. The scenery is almost solid bush (similar but not as dense as Gabon) so there are no reference points to use outside the cockpit so one ends up flying almost completely on instruments. Its not easy keeping speed constant (too fast and the loop will collapse and buckle – requiring two days to rebuild; too slow and it will take too long to fly), height within 25 feet of target height (250’ above ground) and staying accurately on the line, all at the same time and all while the loop below is tugging and yanking at the helicopter and messing you around.

The loop with generator in the centre	Loop, chopper and fuel store

And the take off and landing is even harder! The loop is a ring of PVC pipe with a 30m diameter, a generator in the centre (the loop is the transmitter antenna and needs the generator to provide its power), and a smaller circular structure about 80’ higher up the cable to the chopper which is the receiver. Total line length is almost 200’. And the whole thing weighs 600kg! The area to put the loop down onto the ground has about 5-10m of clearance on either side of the loop’s dimensions and is surrounded by trees, so you have to lift the loop vertically up to clear the trees before moving forward. Nearly impossible to do alone, so the techie (or Pierre in this case) has to talk me up and give me commands to keep me directly above the loop at all times.

Very careful, steady and accurate lift is required from Andrew (the other pilot who doesn’t need a babysitter)	Lifting the receiver ball off the ground

The day after my introductory ride-along I was thrown into the pilot’s seat and had to do it all myself, with Pierre there to talk me up and more importantly, to tell me where I was drifting before I dragged the loop into the trees. It was way harder than I imagined. Obviously I am new to it all, but I wobbled all over the place, dragging the loop around before getting airborne and heading off to the survey area. Keeping the accuracy on the line is exactly like flying IF – you have to concentrate all the time, constantly correcting. And the minute you fixate on one gauge, your accuracy slips on the others. Shew! Lots of practice needed. But, although I have only flown once, I’m enjoying the challenge and having to revert to being a complete student again!

Receiver ball on line and generator about to lift	Generator off the ground, back of loop still touching

Today is now an off day because we are having a little fuel issue, and the rainy season is fast approaching which will mean many days of glumly staring at the rain from under cover. Also, with two computers and all sorts of circuitry in the back of the chopper, they fail from time to time and we have to return to base while the techie does his thing. So down days are to be expected and anticipated I guess…

Loop clear and climbing above the trees	Free and clear, rotate to forward flight

The more observant of you will wonder why the loop lifts at an angle. Well in the hover it hangs skew, but in forward flight while surveying the loop hangs behind the chopper and is pulled level to the ground.

Now about the tiger fishing in the nearby Zambezi River….

Creepy crawlies

 

Night one was fine here… A little bit of getting used to the camping idea – keeping clothes off the floor but with no cupboard or shelf space. One rather tense moment came as I got into bed and lifted my bag off the floor to see a small scorpion scuttle out from underneath it. Poor guy didn’t know what hit him, but the last thing he heard was a high-pitched scream like a ululating woman at an illegal mineworker’s strike before a shoe sent him on his way.

The mission clinic just behind our camp	Our camp from the top of a nearby water tower for the clinic

Night two, however, heralded the news that three snakes had already been killed over the last few weeks by the security guards watching the helicopter and fuel dump, and that someone had just been stung by a scorpion on his hand and was in agony. Clearly living here was a serious activity and it was just a matter of time before I would be stung or bitten causing pain so great that I too would wish to be crushed with a giant shoe by a ululating striker. Night two was one of paranoia and fear. I walked to the bog with my torch sweeping frantically in front of me, I tried not to pee in Morse code, tensing up at every moving shadow or flickering of a moth, and I checked every inch of my bed, sleeping bag and tent floor for any lurking beastie… And I survived the night.

The shower set up. The tank lying on its side and if you look closely to the left, the shower heads	They put a roof over the bogs!!! Its like trapping your head under the duvet with the worst fart ever!

Since then I have established a routine of slow walking, frantic torch sweeping and bed inspecting and have relaxed. Unfortunately if it happens it happens and I’ll have to deal with it then. Roughing it like this is also becoming less of an issue, so I’m likely to make the full 8 weeks without losing my mind. The food here is surprisingly good too. The chef has apparently worked at a couple of Safari camps, and has been baking bread and cake, preparing full English breakfasts every morning, and has made a lasagne and quiche for lunch. I’m gonna get fat here!

One of many little beasties around the camp	The airstrip we use. We have to put the loop into one half of the apron space next to the runway

Back to the bush…

 

After being lucky enough to have 6 months at home in Durban following my Gabon tours, I am again up north into the great unknown. This time I am working for a company called Fugro, an international Geosurvey company which in essence is contracted by mining companies to scan the ground (or ocean floor) to create a map to show them where to dig next.

What a pleasure, though, dealing with Fugro compared with the Gabonese lot. They are obsessed with health and safety, in a good way, and they provide all the necessary gear and even pay for my flight up! (like every other company does except the one in Gabon) So I’m pretty stoked. I am also going to be working with other South Africans, so have people to talk to this time which makes the evenings shorter. The flying is pretty much flat out all day which again will keep me busy. While perhaps not tremendously exciting work, it is technical (tick), difficult (big tick), will be a good experience and the exposure will add nicely to my skill set.

So after a couple of false starts (everyone in Durban kept saying goodbye to me only to see me a few days later because my departure date was postponed again) I finally left on Saturday morning for JHB. Checked straight through to Lusaka and then met up with Pierre (my instructor for the next two weeks or at least 40 flying hours) and we went to the departure gates and were about to board when they announced a 2 hour delay. We saw our plane, we saw it pushed back and towed away somewhere. Apparently someone broke one of the doors and they had to take it to be fixed.

So unfortunately we arrived in Lusaka at sunset, and the drive to the hotel (Cresta Golfview - although there is no view of the golf course next door) was in darkness. However the next morning when we drove into town for supplies, I realised the lack of daylight to see my surroundings wasn't particularly important. We could so easily be in slightly lower class suburb of Joburg! I spent the entire morning shaking my head and muttering that I was still in SA. We went to two shopping malls which could easily have been in SA. I started calling out the shops the same as SA, but after Spur, Mike's Kitchen, FNB, MTN, Totalsports, Game, Shoprite, Spar, Newscafe,  Debonaires, Steers I just gave up. There are way fewer local shops than SAn and they are barely noticed amongst the regulars.

Just inside the front entrance of Lusaka International	Some advertising and stairs up to the VIP lounge

Obviously I am now comparing everything to Gabon, which one expects to not have much to do with SA, given the French influence, but more than that this country has infrastructure that Gabon never will. I know I've only seen Lusaka so far, but Libreville still looks like a run down, 3rd world shanty town, albeit a large one. Lusaka on the other hand has smart, clean shops and malls, roads in fairly decent nick, and incredibly friendly and polite people. I thought it may just have been the hospitality industry, but security guards and random passers by are very helpful and reply with "It's my pleasure" when thanked. I even got "an absolute pleasure" from one lady! The locals all speak very good English and seem to be very peaceful and non-aggressive people. I read an article on Zambia in the inflight magazine which said that they are actually proud of the fact that their last 7 (I think it was) presidents are either still alive or died peacefully, as an indication of their nonviolent nature.

Check in and security control at Lusaka

Gabon was also friendly, but not always so, and in many cases they have the French attitude of not being overly gracious to the English. And it interested me that Gabon, with more oil than God has sheep and a population of only 1.5 million in total, is a rundown, shabby country with very poor infrastructure while Zambia appears far smarter and second world. Where does all of Gabon's oil money go?!

Typical African village, Solwezi	Nothing like Lusaka with gleaming shopping malls

On Monday morning we flew from Lusaka to Solwezi (small town to the northwest of the country – close to the copper belt mines). Solwezi is a very small, typically African town. I took a couple of pics here because it is worth seeing. Briefly. We were met by a driver, did some grocery shopping (R7000 worth) before heading off on an exhausting 6 hour drive to camp, arriving once again just before nightfall. Again, I was impressed with the fully tarred, good quality road all the way. Schools everywhere, well signposted – just generally far more impressive standard of life for the people of Zambia, compared with Gabon.

The accommodation wing	Presidential suite
Le bog (fly maker)	La cuisine (food maker)

The camp is rustic. Very rustic. I kind of knew it was going to be basic, but I couldn’t avoid a little sphincter spasm when I saw where I am going to be for the next 8 weeks… I have now seen them take off and land with the loop. My instructor is just going to sort out the system (hopefully he can fly today with the techie) so that I can then start flying myself – possibly from tomorrow…

Romantic outdoor shower	The dining room / living room