As we climbed up to cruise and headed south, we didn't realize we would look back on this one leg of the rally as the most challenging one. From here on, it was WORK and Nick bore the brunt of that as my focus was on less challenging duties. We noticed on our navigation apps that many tall ridges were ahead of us. Soon, it was apparent that we would be dealing with cross winds most of the way. Below us were unusual land formations and outcroppings of rock. Some brush fires in the distance started spreading veils of smoke over the area. At times it was hard to see Cedric and Alexandra. One of my jobs was to keep sight of them, but it was becoming more difficult. We could talk to them on the 123.45 radio frequency which helped. The ridges ahead of us, about six of them, ranged in altitude between 6000 and 7500 feet. It was a warm day and we knew Smuggler was going to be challenged by this. The Stampe as well.
The cross winds picked up the further along we went and we experienced more downdrafts when we were really hoping for updrafts. Ridges came and went but with difficulty as we carefully picked out "saddles" in the ridges to fly through when Smuggler struggled too much to get up to altitudes that would give us significant clearance over the crests. Flying like this put us in the range of mechanical turbulence off the mountains. I grew up flying in different types of turbulence and the mechanical variety is the most unpleasant from "where I sit". Smooth air flow from winds hits the crests of ridges, tops of tall buildings, bounces off canyon walls, or splits and spills around the edges of buttes etc and the airflow breaks into jagged chunks of velocity. When you get on the receiving end of that turmoil one can get hit pretty hard with violent and sudden pitches, surges or drops in altitude.
An hour into the flight and Nick and I concurred this was not going to be a pleasant flight. One of the problems with Smuggler was that in turbulence she had a tendency to roll suddenly. Nick had to have both hands on the stick as maintaining directional control took more "muscle" in that the controls were heavy. He did this while monitoring the nav app to determine the best approaches to these ridges while he also looked ahead to gauge the best areas to pick up some updrafts. As usual, I kept an eye out for power lines and towers, and the Stampe. Smoke was becoming a problem from area brush fires and while approaching one ridge, the one beyond it disappeared in the acrid haze. A couple of times he asked me to take over the controls while he worked on the GPS or radio which could be interrupted by terrain interference or other factors. When I took the controls, I tensed up as I could feel in my hands how hard Smuggler was trying to both fight and yield to the winds. I was very happy to hand her back to Nick!
At one point we lost radio communication with Cedric and Alexandra and worried a bit. Finally we heard them back on the frequency and were happy to catch sight of them briefly before another ridge and some smoke came between us.
We approached the second to last ridge and got over it okay. The last one was a bit higher and we climbed as best we could to clear it. We approached it at a slight angle and all seemed okay. We sailed over the top and then suddenly, BANG! A huge downdraft like a sledgehammer hit us from above. We dropped so hard and so fast and then yanked up again that it's impossible to say what fraction of a second went by. It's hard to say how close to the terrain we came. In front of my windshield was the engine cowling. On top of it is the main tank fuel cap out of which is mounted a vertical upside down L shaped vent. The arm of the "L" points forward and is open ended to allow airflow into the tank to equalize air pressure. In that millisecond of violent turbulence, gas came pouring out of that vent, hit the windshield, then splashed over the top and hit me in the face and upper body. Was most thankful for goggles, cap, and flightsuit. When I looked down in my lap, I saw my iPad there. The downward momentum yanked it up and out of it metal brackets on the control panel in front of me and the only reason all $650 of it didn't go flying out of the cockpit was that I had it connected to its charging cord which was connected to the cigarette lighter mounted down and to my right. I saw the Beatles live in concert and they couldn't take my breath away as easily as this encounter with Mother Nature did.
Beyond that last ridge, the sky cleared of smoke and the beautiful coast of the Indian Ocean with our destination to its right was brilliantly shining in the afternoon light just ahead. I was never so happy to see an airport as I was seeing Plettenberg Bay airport. Some wind shear due to currents of air off the ocean appeared to be a problem near the approach end of the runway, so Nick wisely made it a "long" approach and touched down half way down the field where we landed without much ado. Nick alerted Cedric coming in behind us of this and the Stampe made a similar landing down field. Apparently, someone landing before us got hammered on short low final but made it in without serious damage. When we parked and I got out of the plane, I literally got down on the tarmac and kissed the ground.
At the hotel, we met up with other rally teams that had landed an hour or so before us and their stories were similar to ours. "Man! What winds!" "Got banged up a bit coming over the mountains!" "Didn't know this plane of mine could roll so fast!" "Felt like being in a food processor!" "Where's the beer?!!" The realization that the next day would be the last leg of our rally adventure was exhilarating, but put a lump in my throat at the same time.
We rested hard this night.
Our friends Ron and Val from the UK whom we met in Megara Greece and who were at New Tempe the night before, arrived at Gariep Dam early morning to fly with us on to the finish in Cape Town. A nice coffee break before getting started for Plettenberg Bay.
Ron getting his Tiger Moth ready to launch. As he was not officially in the rally, his plane did not have a team number or flag on the tail.
Val about to get in the Explorer she would fly in to Cape Town.
Mark getting his Tiger Moth ready to go.
Team member Graham from the UK getting his Cessna ready to go.
Steve by the Cessna Caravan. Without the Antonov, the Caravan and a van motor vehicle got our luggage on to the end of the rally. A challenging logistical task. Was very grateful to Steve who was very careful with our bags and made sure his load was properly situated and within proper weight limits.
Max getting the new van loaded for the drive to Plettenberg Bay.
Joel and Olivier - our film crew who interviewed us and flew alongside us on many legs of the rally in the Antonov to film all of us. They were such fun on the trip and had great senses of humor. We enjoyed them so much.
Gariep Dam
Some photos of the trip to Plettenberg Bay showing land masses, ridges, and smoke that made the flight both impressive and challenging.
Views of the Indian Ocean coast and the small city of Plettenberg Bay were so welcoming because it meant we were done with ridges, smoke and turbulence.
Looking back at that last ridge we had to cross and the smoke that obscured some of the sky for us.
A selfie of a wind blown Me now smiling because the worst is over. I hadn't yet readjusted my goggles after that strong downdraft nearly pulled them off my head.
Our hotel room and views from our balcony of the Indian Ocean and two of the ridges we had crossed to get here. Only blight on this scene is the Shell gas station sign. Could have been worse. Could have been a Taco Bell.
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