Last weekend I attempted to fly yet another ‘maintenance/engine preservation’ flight as allowed for by our Commission Against Aviation. It had been 29 days since I knocked off the rust and it looked like the perfect day for aviation.
However, the weather had other ideas. A cold front was blowing in from the Cape and as is typical with our cold fronts, by the time the arrive in the hinterland they are devoid of cloud. What it was not devoid of however, was wind. Our runway runs 31/13 and the wind generally comes from the south in winter and the north in summer. On this day it felt breezy but not unmanageable.
However, once I’d taxied down to the departure end (the wind was directly cross so I chose 31 to get an idea of how taxiing would feel), I was feeling a lot less confident. Added to this the fact that there is a hill about 1nm south of the airfield and the skittishness of my aircraft on the taxiway, and the 30ft width of the runway, I decided that today was not a good day for flying.
For fun, I turned on the runway directly into the wind and was seeing 15 gusting 25kts on the airspeed indicator. This made me happier about my decision. Nominal crosswind limit on the Sling is 15kts although I’ve landed safely and easily in more. Its the gusts that worried me. On another day, at an airport with a wider runway, with only a few days since I last flew? Maybe. But not here, and not today.
So I put the plane back in the hangar – there’ll always be another day. The highlight of the day however, was a dove. There is a chap who lives on the airfield who seems to have befriended the dove to the extent that this bird is now tame. Being the only moving human on the airfield on Sunday, he arrived to ‘help’ with my preflight. This involved lots of walking around the wheel spats, sitting on the wing, flying onto my back while I sumped fuel and then at one point, actually flew INTO the plane and sat on the back seat. Fortunately he didn’t feel the need to relieve himself at any stage during the process. Crazy bird followed me all around the airfield wherever I went on foot..
