Bad
Weather Splits Unity Flight to 2 Phases
Dear Friend,
The inaugural UNITY FLIGHT OF SOUTH AFRICA of British
Pilot
Robert Vallier's Ufosa Foundation has been hit by very bad weather,
and has had to be split into two Phases.
Unusually bad weather has worked against the Project for
the entire duration of the trip so far. After reaching the first 15
of the 30 Communities, and with more thunderstorms in the local area yet
again, Robert decided that the remaining 15 visits
will be postponed, and that he will return to complete these as the second
part of the Flight, in April next year.
A spectacular lightning flash in another
fierce thunderstorm, captured in this picture outside Johannesburg by
Ufosa Team Member James Hooker. Thunderstorms are bad news for all
pilots.
Almost from the outset, the Flight encountered very bad
weather. Robert has been flying a South African registered aircraft,
and as such flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) of the air.
Unlike in the USA, 'VFR on top' - flying above a blanket of clouds
- is not permitted in South Africa, and regardless of altitude the
pilot must always remain in sight of the ground and within certain
specified limits of horizontal clear visibility.
This photograph was taken just after
take off from Cape Town on the first leg of the Unity Flight. The
route is just to the right of the central peak.
Achieving that and maintaining it soon
started to become difficult; and flying below the clouds is not always so
easy either especially in a mountain range. "The situation
becomes a problem," says Robert, "when the terrain starts to rise
and the cloud base drops as one flies
Flying towards Middelburg. The
terrain is rising and the cloud base is dropping.
the route. All of a sudden one can find that the
room available for manoeuvring between a mountain peak - or just flat but
high ground - and the clouds has lessened to a dangerous degree. Also there is always the matter of updrafts and
downdrafts too - particularly a factor when flying in mountain ranges and
always dangerous when there are thunderstorms in the area. When the
margins between the
As you can see in this picture, there is
not a great deal of clearance between the ground, which is about 4,000
feet above sea level, and the cloud base - here at around 5,000
feet.
cloud base and the ground is small, a strong
downdraft can very quickly push a plane down into the ground - not a happy
situation!"
There were certainly batches of beautiful weather; but the
reality was that Ufosa 1 was grounded
twice because of the weather and the Ufosa Team had to travel long
distances by road in Ufosa 2, often
early hours in the morning and late at night; Robert was grounded
again in Durban for two days with appalling weather. They then had
to undertake 2 venues per day on a couple of occasions, to catch up on the
schedule.
All of this had a knock-on effect of physical tiredness
and strain, neither of which sits well with a pilot in the air.
Fresh thunderstorms in Johannesburg led to further deliberations over the
Flight’s status, and finally to Robert's decision to split the Flight into
2 phases.
Dodging the clouds -
maintaining VFR and safety levels. It was getting a little
tricky.
“Flying has many elements to it”, said Robert
speaking from Johannesburg. “One of the most difficult things
that a pilot has to learn is when NOT to fly. Too much pressure and
not enough sleep can lead to trouble, and one has to recognise the
limitations and ensure that safety remains paramount. I felt the
limit was being reached, and regretfully I decided I had to pull the plug
for now. But, I will be back for Phase 2!”
Another view of an extended blanket of cloud, with the
planned route dead centre. A descent was required to fly below the
cloud base, and the route amended to travel around the range.
Robert and his Team have visited 15 communities, and so
have reached the half-way mark of the Unity Flight. Ecstatic
welcomes have greeted him, with choirs singing, bands playing, people
dancing, as well as police escorts, and many speeches. A huge amount
has been accomplished already, with over 30 organisations' being brought
into the Ufosa programme and vast amounts of information gathered.
The 15 Communities visited by Robert and his Team so far
in Phase 1 are:
Communities 1-4 have already been covered in our earlier
NewsLetters. The other 11 will follow, and details on East London -
Community # 5 - will follow very shortly.
The Ufosa
Foundation's inaugural UNITY FLIGHT OF
SOUTH AFRICA launched on 1 October. Our National charity
is reaching out to 30 communities throughout South Africa, with an initial
5-year schedule to bring help in Education, Family Wellbeing and
Health.
Our website can be found at:
www.ufosafoundation.org.
More news next time!
Regards,
Admin
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