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….