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5 ways to die in Goma (Sean O'Connor)
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28 July - South African landing Championship, Bloemfontein
20 October - Aerobatic Nationals, Oudtshoorn
9-11 November - TFDC Fly-In, AFB Overberg www.flyin.org.za
We have pleasure inviting you to the launch of our new documentary "Shackleton 1722" This has been in the making for nearly four years and is the definitive Shackleton story.
Place:
Air Force Base Ysterplaat
28 June 2007 at 18h00.
ATCMet Flip Day --> G Pinnock
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It is with sadness that we wish NCG all the best with her new life. I will never forget moments like my first flight on 11 November 1994 with Rod, or Night flying with Anton or IF with Oom Syd in NCG.
Like kids at Christmas
Incidents and Accidents 18 of 20: ZS-DJO - The Runaway Plane--> Danny Buitendag
Viginia Airport, Durban. When this incident happened, the pilot was attempting to start the engine, but was not intending to fly. This was a newly imported aircraft and only had one airframe hour. On the third attempt, with the throttle and choke fully open this time, the engine started, but would not run at less than 2,000 rpm. The engine was shut down. After a 2-minute wait, the pilot started the engine again. This time the engine rpm was very high and the pilot again attempted to shut the engine down. However, the pilot was unable to shut the engine down this time. The parkbrake managed to hold the aircraft stationary for a few seconds, but the aircraft started to accelerate, across the taxiway, then across the runway and came to rest 70 meters away against the wall and bushes forming the eastern boundary of the airport. Post impact, the aircraft's nose caught fire. The pilot released the canopy and climbed out uninjured.
Probable Cause: "The cause of the high engine RPM was due to the pilot leaving both the throttle and the choke fully open thus causing the high engine reveolutions. A contributing factor was the pilot's failureto apply brakes and also chock the aircraft wheels."
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We live on the slopes of 2 active volcanoes. Nyamoragira had an eruption 7 months ago and the closest, Nyiragongo, had a major eruption in 2002, which covered most of the town & ½ the runway, trapping a few aircraft behind the lava. They’re still there. In 2005, the crater rumbled, cracked & leaked some lava out again. Apparently the resident volcanologist says that his most recent samples indicate that magma with very deep origins is finding its way to the crater unhindered. Don’t ask me what that means. He’s also famous for sampling the local brew and prostitutes, so maybe he got the samples mixed up.
Looking across the crater of Nyiragongo at Nyamoragira (approx. 8km away), the 2 active volcanoes. The rugged looking peak on the left is just an ordinary mountain.
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The town is also situated on the edge of Lake Kivu (our house is 50m from the edge). It’s a creepy lake, it may have been a gigantic crater zillions of years ago, so there is no beach – the depth is 1400’ right from the edge - it just drops straight off! Half the town is in Rwanda and during their most recent bout of ethnic cleansing, many thousands of bodies were dumped in the lake! Volcanic fissures in the bottom of the lake release methane into the water which is immediately dissolved due to the immense pressure. There is an estimated 200 cubic km of the gas – apparently enough to power the entire US of A for a month dissolved in the lake. Any volcanic disturbance below the lake will cause an upwelling of the methane rich water, which will result in it releasing the gas. Ignition will occur by the volcano, lightning, human fires on the banks, etc and there will be the mother of all explosions. More than 2 million people living around the lake will be fried. Any survivors will vrek from the carbon dioxide which will settle in the lake basin.
Lake Kivu looking unusually inviting
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Swimming in the lake is also dangerous because it is constantly releasing carbon dioxide, which settles on the surface. My co-captain, Cameron & I found this out when we were in the water about 100m from the shore. We only just managed to get back, gasping for oxygen and then had to find the strength to haul ourselves up above the layer of gas. There are just a couple of small, hardy fish species that manage to survive in the lake – no crocs, hippos or plants.
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With the humidity here near the equator and the orographic lifting caused by the volcanoes (10500’ and 13500’), the occurrence of violent electrical storms is apparently the highest in the world. The approach to the airport from the north is between the 2 volcanoes, whose peaks are less than 10km apart. Tricky when it’s IMC!
- Then there’s the fighting. There was a rebel attack (don’t ask me who the rebels are and who the good guys are, it’s confusing!) last week 50km north of here and then last night there was automatic rifle fire outside the front gate of our house. I was just about to get under my bed when the sound faded off down the road. Probably just some tart after the volcanologist!
On the whole though, it’s been an awesome experience so far. Flying over the Rwenzori, mountains of the moon, Lake Victoria & the Nile in Uganda and the rest of this magnificent part of Africa is an experience that will always be one of the highlights of my flying career. There is just so much of everything here – fertile land, water, minerals, energy. Maybe there will be a time in the future when people realize that there is more than enough for everyone, but probably not.
posted by Cape Town Flying Club at 10:52 PM
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