The Pathfinders
SAFARI PILOTS TAKE TO THE AFRICAN SKY!!
It is a pilot’s dream -- a challenge and an opportunity -- to fly somewhere different, somewhere new, into unknown airspace. It was a chance to venture into the African sky in a small aircraft, to fly over trackless wilderness, to clear an airstrip of elephant, giraffe and warthog, and to land on a rugged bush strip at a place few others have ever been. Of necessity, some came first so that others could follow.

We knew we could arrange and organize African flying experiences for pilots who wanted wild animals, dirt strips, and exotic vistas under their wings. We set about to do it and launched the venture at Oshkosh and the AOPA Expo in 1996. We've been busy ever since.
By the end of October, 1997, we had dispatched six flights. (All returned on schedule). There were smiles all around when the flights returned and stories to be told! We congratulate these spirited men and women -- the Pathfinders -- who launched into the African sky to make their dreams, and ours, a reality.
Thank you!

Flight #1
They were strapped into a C-210 at the holding point of Lanseria's Runway 06L. Tower asked if they would accept an immediate departure and an early right turn-out from the "circuit". They accepted the clearance, pushed the throttle forward, and blasted off with a skillfully-executed, maximum- performance take-off into the South African sky.

They -- Doug Cayne, computer industry consultant for the Palo Alto-based Gartner Group, and John Fulton II, the ATP-rated UC Berkeley Astronomy student -- had jetted-in from San Francisco and made history as the first pilots to undertake Hanks Aero Adventures' Self-Fly Safari® . Twelve days, and more than 3300 NM later, after piloting their C-210 around the southern tip of Africa, over Zimbabwe's thunderous Victoria Falls, through Botswana's Chobe Wilderness and Okavango Delta, they returned -- safe and smiling. "It was a great trip!" the two enthused on the tarmac. "Expect the unexpected! If you get a chance to fly down here, don't miss it!" Doug and John logged more than 28 hours along a modified version of our Marathon circuit -- a tight schedule of flying designed for pilots who just can't get enough time in an airplane. "It's a grueling schedule" Doug reflected. At Wavecrest, on South Africa's Wild Coast, they chased stubborn cattle from the sloping, grass strip before landing. At Xugana, a landing strip on a small island in the Okavango Delta, they cleared the strip of a herd of grazing lechwe (antelope) before they put down for the night. Departing from Singita, in the South African Lowveld, they did a short-field take off to make certain they'd clear the trees -- and a browsing giraffe who watched them fly past at "eye- level". "An adult male giraffe stands about 15 meters high. That's 50 feet tall -- what the FAA calls a '50-foot obstacle'", John observed. "We made it out with room to spare". "He watched us go by", Doug marveled.

Flight # 2
Arthur Hayssen, and his daughter, Nancy, of Santa Rosa, California, flew the second Self-Fly Safari® -- a Desert-Delta route -- and had an "eye-level" encounter of their own with a "meter-long lizard" while polling a mokoro (dugout canoe) through the narrow papyrus channels of the Okavango Delta. "This lizard was right there hanging onto the reeds watching us -- this far away!," Nancy recalled holding out an arm. "Startling" may not adequately describe the situation. "It is harmless," their game ranger quickly assured them. "And good eating!" he added as they slid past. But back at camp other offerings were on the luncheon menu that day.

Memorable as it was, the staff at Xugana will remember the Hayssens. A game ranger needed urgently to get home for a funeral. Arthur put him in the plane and flew him to Maun --less than a hundred miles -- but a journey that would otherwise have taken the man days. That's the value of an aircraft in the bush and the best of attitudes of those who fly there.

Arthur, the ATP-rated Chief Flight Instructor at the Santa Rosa Flight Center at California's Sonoma County Airport , flew the Botswana route in a C-182. He leads wilderness and mountain flying expeditions as far north as the Arctic. He also teaches meteorology and geography, and is an FAA Accident Prevention Counselor in northern California.

Flight#3 - "THE MAGIC SAFARI"
In July, Ray & Rhoda Batson, both pilots, endured more than 22 hours in the back of scheduled carriers getting from their home port at Hurricane, Utah to Johannesburg, South Africa. Both in their 60's, Ray and Rhoda qualify as our Senior Pathfinders. They flew for 19 days in the African bush and covered about 2200 NM.

Ray, a retired planetary cartographer with the US Geodetic Survey, worked as part of the team mapping Venus and Jupiter. He worked with several astronauts and briefed Jim Lovell and others during the Apollo missions to the moon. Ray wore the same, but now faded, pink hat on his safari that he's worn flying small aircraft around the North American continent.

One stop, at Kings Pool, on the Linyanti River in northern Botswana, was the scene of a safari highlight."We had lions attacking young elephants close by our camp with a hippo acting as referee," Ray told us about what was obviously a chaotic scene. This was not the distant call of a lonely lion. This drama, within 200 yards of their tent, featured the spine-tingling snarls and roars of lions attacking a herd of enraged trumpeting elephants fighting to protect their young. "The elephants formed up around the babies and fought off the attack crashing against trees, kicking up dust, and breaking branches," said Rhoda remembering the night."The battle stopped as quickly as it began," she said. The next day there was no. evidence of an elephant kill. Their defense against the marauding pride was successful.

Ray and Rhoda made another landing at Tashinga, a short, domed, gravel and grass airstrip hemmed in by tall trees on the southern shore of Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba. One of the more challenging strips in the area due to its shape and lack of ground visibility, they found a black rhino on the airstrip. After rolling to a stop without annoying the huge animal -- or her babies-- they were met and taken by Land Rover and motor boat to the Matusadona Water Lodge on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba. This began the start of yet another adventure.
Ray and Rhoda, along with another guest and Mark -- a trained and armed guide -- spent a morning walking along the shoreline when they spotted an elephant in a mopane grove. "Looking for big wild animals is different when you're on foot than when you are in a Land Rover..." Ray noted. "Conversation was nil; we communicated by signs. Suddenly we could see the top of the head and the feet of a big bull dozing in the thick bush... We could hear a couple of young bulls duking it out with their tusks a little farther along the trail, but couldn't really see them. We were kneeling next to the trail (like, where else was there?) when a fourth bull came around a bend clearly aware of our presence. He shook his head and threw a little dirt with his trunk. We all stood, slowly. Mark raised his gun. I raised my video camera which indicated in the finder that the battery was almost gone (I hoped Mark had more bullets than I had battery). The elephant's ears went out enlarging the profile to terrifying proportions, his trunk went up, and he came at us. My camcorder went dead -- either from terror or battery exhaustion. Mark shouted and sighted his gun. The elephant trumpeted. He was less than 50 feet away, and closing fast. I must, at some time in my life, have experienced the same breathless, aching tightness in my groin that I did then, but "when" escapes me."

The Batson's account of the episode stops there ("The Magic Safari: Part 1".) We saw Ray and Rhoda a couple of weeks later when they returned to Lanseria and can attest that everyone (including the elephant) escaped unharmed. It had been a "mock charge". But at the time, you don’t really know.

Flight #4 - AN UNEXPECTED STOP
Wolfgang and Gudrun Polak, from Sunnyvale, California, win the "Thinking Pilots" award for coping well with a difficult situation. They stopped in Germany before continuing to South Africa and had recovered from jet lag by the time they arrived in Johannesburg. As a result Wolfgang completed preparations and license validation exercises in two days. Their extensive flight took them to South Africa's northern Natal Coast area where, like all coastal weather, conditions can change rapidly. Enroute from Londolozi Lodge, in South Africa's eastern game-rich Mpumalanga Province, to Rocktail Bay Lodge, on the pristine Indian Ocean coast in early August, they ran into some weather. A winter cold front had come in off the south Atlantic sweeping eastward over South Africa bringing clear skies and cool temperatures (low 60's) to the highveld but cloud at the coast. At Londolozi, 50 miles inland, there had been rain during the early morning game drive.
Prior to departure, they checked weather with available sources including local pilots and a telephone call to the national weather office. Hourly observations from coastal weather stations were incomplete or absent. The sources gave conflicting assessments of what was obviously a meteorological gray day. But, by departure time, there were breaks in the overcast, conditions showed improvement and they decided to go. They filed a flight plan by telephone.

Their course ran south along a valley for 150 nm and then, crossing the low Lebombo Mountains, turned south east another 50 miles to the coast. Once over the ridge of low hills, flying conditions deteriorated with lowering overcast, light drizzle, and turbulence. They were getting into the clag and having to descend to stay visual. Alternative action was required.

What would you do?
They had their GPS and a WAC chart. Mbazwan, their destination, was just 35 miles ahead -- a grass strip on the coast. No tower. No navaid. The map showed lowering terrain towards their destination but, still, it was unfamiliar terrain. There were several alternates. One (many are listed in the Hanks Aero Adventures Trip Kit), was Richards Bay (FARB) -- more than 100 miles farther, but along a more southerly course. But, that course, too, led into the soup. Richards Bay has a tower and an NDB cloud break procedure over the sea.
Another alternate, Manzini (FDMS), was 35 miles away -- back the way they'd come. It's a towered field with an ILS. However, it sits in the rise of the Drakensburg Mountains with a 6,000' minimum safe sector altitude. Further, it sits in a foreign country -- Swaziland. Not South Africa. In the circumstance, a landing at Manzini would mean an unannounced landing in a foreign country without having so indicated in the flight plan.

A third alternate, Nelspruit (FANS), was in South Africa, 70 miles north of Manzini -- also back the way they'd come. Nelspruit, too, sits at the foot of the Drakensburg. It has a cloud break procedure with an initial fix at 9,000 feet. The field has a narrow, sloping runway and is known locally as a tricky place on instruments.
Solution !

While Wolfgang flew the aircraft, Gudrun reviewed the options. They decided to divert to Manzini. They turned back, contacted Matsapha Approach, advised them of their situation and intentions, and were cleared in. They landed in visual conditions. Wolfgang used his authority as PIC to land at a foreign airfield without prior notification in his flight plan. It was not an emergency. Manzini is an official Port of Entry for Swaziland.

There’s a lesson here for all of us. A Self-Fly Safari® puts you in command of aircraft over wilderness areas of southern Africa. Your flight has been carefully planned and you’ve been well briefed. Once you've launched you are PIC, on your own, over unfamiliar terrain, beyond radar coverage, crossing international boundaries, and heading for remote, bush strips. Don't forget the weather -- even during the months of April through October which tend to be excellent VFR flying. Be alert and prepared to make decisions. IFR flying is not permitted on a validated South African license. But, under your authority as PIC, if you need to get down you can do whatever is necessary. If you have a set of Jeppesen Africa plates, bring them along. Jeppesen Low Level Enroute charts for the region are useful and available at South African pilot shops.

Flight #5 - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
The Doyen of Self-Fly Safari® Pilots this year was, without doubt, Captain Harry Harden, of Amherst, New Hampshire. A retired US Air captain with more than 19,000 hours experience in aircraft of all sizes and complexity, he's flown Constellations, Clippers, MD-80's and continues to fly his C-180 on floats as soon as the New England ice breaks in the spring. Harry and his daughter, Heather Newell, set out in September for game viewing, and fishing in Botswana's Okavango Delta. Their visit coincided with the "bauble run" -- an angler's dream when the Delta is full of frenzied fish.

It helps to have 19,000 hours total time under your belt when you go on a Self-Fly Safari® . Captain Harry's case illustrates the point nicely. (Whatever flying skills you develop in that length of time -- only those who are there could say -- is beside the point.) The perk came aboard his 16-hour overnight South African Airlines flight from New York. Harry sent a note to the flight deck to "pay his respects" to the Captain. After dinner, the Captain invited them both to the cockpit offering Harry the jump seat -- a comfortable change from the racks passengers are confined in at the tailend of most airliners.

They slept back in their seats but returned to the cockpit when they awoke. Over Botswana the SAA crew, knowing that Harry would be cruising the bush below, briefed him on the terrain, the weather, showed him landmarks, and gave him a bird's-eye-view of his wilderness route. The crew knew the Okavango and Kalahari, knew some of the places he would visit, and gave him names of people to look up. [Lesser mortals take note: We can always ask the cabin staff to ask the pilot...]

Despite his vast flying experience, Captain Harry was required, like the rest of us, to get his FAA license (ATP) validated. Harry produced a simple navigation log for a proposed short three-leg cross country flight. He took the open-book written and then jumped into the C-182 with Flight Instructor Cedric, who knew of the good Captain's aeronautical background. They did a little air work and set out on the first leg of their cross-country. Harry kept his finger on the map and demonstrated that he knew exactly where he was the whole time. Cedric quickly concluded the Captain was indeed as competent a pilot as his hours would suggest. So they decided to have some fun. They descended to low-level over a reservoir and played at flying the track of the shoreline. They were back on the ground at Lanseria in 0.9 hours. Harry, who's experience includes F-86's, commented only that "We pulled a few G's."

A few days later, Harry and Heather departed on a 10-day Self-Fly Safari® with stops at five camps in Zimbabwe and Botswana. They returned on schedule to Lanseria and emerged from the aircraft smiling, tanned, and barefooted. On safari, they'd walked through bush, climbed hills, floated on river boats, polled through reeded channels in makoros (canoes), and caught fish including a 5 ½ pound Tigerfish.

Highlight: Full moon night at Lloyd's Camp in the dry Savuti region of Botswana's Chobe National Park. Everyone has gone to bed, it's cool and quiet with gentle sounds of the night bush lulling guests to sleep. Suddenly, a loud crashing sound fills the camp followed by cracking timber and the clatter of overturning pails. Guests awaken and peer from their tents to witness the monstrous form of a huge, tusked elephant as it walked through camp. Quickly, Lloyd dressed only in skivvies, stands in its path hurling loud invective at the intruding beast. It gets the hint and wanders off without further damage.

Harry's daughter, Heather, Office Manager of the Humane Society of New England, wins the award this year (all awards are Undisputed Bragging Rights) for closest encounter with big game of all who flew Self-Fly Safaris® in 1997. The site, again, is Lloyd's Camp, earlier that evening. [Note: Everyone in camp is told on arrival that wild animals do sometimes walk through the premises. The animals are not tame.] The group is sitting around the camp fire in the reed boma, enjoying desert, in animated discussion centering on the days game viewing. Heather excuses herself to fetch something from the tent -- a mere 10 yards away. Just beyond the boma wall she stops dead in her tracks. Three feet away stands a lioness -- looking at her. Befitting one who deals daily with animals including some in poor temper -- Heather does not panic. "Lloyd... Lion," she said. Calmly, loud enough to be heard. Dinner conversation stopped abruptly. Lloyd, at the dinner table just a few paces away, was instantly at her side. Lloyd flashed a light beam on the lioness and, "shooed her away", Heather recalled. It doesn't get any closer than that!

FLIGHT #6 - BUSH DOCTOR
A Doctor in the African bush is just as scarce and welcome today as he was in Doctor Livingstone's day. Dr. John Elliff, ophthalmologist from Sterling, Colorado, completed the schedule of flights in our first year. He wins the "Good Samaritan" award. Dr. John was called to examine ailing people twice during his 12-day flight through Botswana and Zimbabwe in a normally-aspirated C-210. With him on safari were Sue Dunphy, a Director of the Eye Foundation of Kansas City (Missouri), and Brett Holden, former RAF fighter pilot. After determining that one patient urgently needed more specialized care and medical facilities than he could dispense at camp, the good Doctor flew an unscheduled medivac leg and airlifted the patient to Maun, Botswana.

Afternoon thunderstorms -- a common occurrence from November through March -- were starting to develop in the Johannesburg area but, to the north, along their route in Botswana and Zimbabwe, the days were hot, dusty and dry and affected flying conditions. Approaches and departures from some strips were rocked by wind shear (dust devils). The heat -- well into the 90's before midday -- made for high density altitudes. The bush strips they used further compromised take-off and climb performance, even with the 210's Robertson STOL kit.

Their Botswana itinerary included the Tuli Safari Lodge, the camp at Duba Plains, and Lloyd's Camp. They crossed into Zimbabwe and stopped at Victoria Falls and spent a couple of days at Matetsi Lodge near Victoria Falls before making a short hop to Makololo Plains in Hwange National Park.

Safari highlights? There was no consensus... the herds of buffalo, the leopard kill, the charging elephant, the delicious crocodile pot pie they'd eaten one night... it was hard to say. For Sue, it was lions roaming in camp after dark -- not an ordinary experience for a girl from the "Show Me" state. But there they were. For Brett a nicely iced "Birthday Cake" (the bulk of which that afternoon had been jettisoned from the posterior of a male elephant). The cake was presented to him as a joke after he falsely claimed to Makololo Plains’ renowned baking staff that it was "my birthday and you ought to serve me a cake". Brett, currently working on both an ATP and a type-rating on a Vicker Viscount, is a veteran African flyer. His experience with everything from understanding the accented voices of Zimbabwean controllers, to his smooth handling of Immigration and Customs officials helped make the flight a relaxing, hassle-free safari. For the Doctor, "At the end of the day," he said, "all my batteries were charged!" He was referring to the ability of the camps (most without mains electricity) to keep his extensive video equipment functioning. But, clearly, it was him, too. "We wanted to have a good time doing this, and we did."
He left us with advice on a medical kit for safari pilots: "You don't have to haul a drugstore. But on the other hand, if you need something specific, bring a little kit." For example, he recalled, one patient he visited enroute was suffering an allergic reaction to bee stings. "Why not take a little ampule of adrenaline and a syringe?" he suggested. "It's no big deal. It'll fit in your shaving kit."

A SIXTIES SAFARI
Safari pilots are a spirited group and, rightly, take pride in their achievements whether over-flying crocodile-infested waters, circumventing thunderstorms, or chasing antelope off sloped runways to make enough room for a landing, etc. Chris and I feel the same way. We've been challenged out there and had fun.

But, with GPS to guide us, sheets and warm beds to sleep in, and well-organized safari camps to show us the bush and feed us, it's easier these days than it used to be.
At the AOPA Expo in Orlando, we were privileged to meet two Americans who did it -- long ago. They were Edmund and Virginia Ball, of Muncie, Indiana, producers of the famed "Ball Jar", which our mothers and grandmothers used to can the summer's crop of fruits and vegetables for winter consumption.

In 1968, Ed, a former Piper dealer, was invited to South Africa to visit other dealers. Before he returned to the US he had logged 40 hours in a PA-32-6 Cherokee and covered close to 4,500 NM. He started in Pretoria, South Africa, flew west through the Namibia's Fish river Canyon, south to Cape Town, rounded Cape Agulas (Africa's southernmost point) skimmed the Indian Ocean along the Wild Coast, past Durban, to Maputo (Lorenco Marcs), Mozambique, through South Africa's Kruger Park, north into Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls, and a few other stops on their way south back to Pretoria. They did it all with early aeronautical charts and a compass.

"If Virginia and I were a few years younger, we would be prime prospects for you, " Ed told us.

Thanks for the vote, Ed. All we can say is that you had the idea long before we did and, most of all, you did I when you could. No. missed opportunity, no. regrets.