December 20 - The Verneuk Pan.
This morning we rose to a 50kmh southwest wind and high cirrus clouds. The sizeable front that is passing us to the south is sticking around longer than expected. However, around 11am the wind lightened enough for us to get some tows from the Brandvlei Airfield, but the wind direction was in exactly the wrong directions so didn`t fly XC, opting to wait for a change in the weather.
Just a few kilometers to the east of Brandvlei lies a massive dry lakebed called the Verneuk Pan, or `Cheat Lake`. We headed there, and in the now light wind, the lakebed (the flattest, lowest portion of which is more than 20km across) had become a puddle of shimmering heat, with a mirage so convincing that the sky seemed to melt into an inviting lake of cool blue water- a lake that we could never quite reach. Conditions were perfect for towing, and the expansive lakebed allowed us to tow for several kilometers in any direction! With three winches running, the whole team got up and thermalled around together over the impressive landscape. On the Verneuk Pan, distance and scale is entirely skewed. What looks like a short walk, just a few hundred meters perhaps, turns out to be several kilometers. Furthermore, when standing on the surface the horizon looks almost identical in every direction which is an intimidating prospect if you find yourself standing there alone. All of us agreed that it was one of the most incredible and unique landscapes we had ever flown over. Tonight we are camping out on the pan, stargazing into an atmosphere that has been scrubbed clean by wind and low pressure and that is unpolluted by any light at all because we are more than 500 kilometers away from the nearest major city.
December 21 - Verneuk Pan to Vosburg
Who launches at 2:30 in the afternoon in miserably weak lift, difficult stable conditions and still flies 187km? Dav does! Due to changing conditions and some questionable decision making, we launched very late today. Dav was the first to go, and by this time was in such a hurry that he didn`t even finish his tow, releasing at less than 200 meters. He turned and hooked a narrow desert thermal and drifted it back to the east, towards our next two turnpoints- Van Wyksvlei and Vosburg. By the time the whole team was in the air it was after 3pm, but Jerome, who launched last, also managed to fly almost 100km, in variable conditions- he reported mostly weak lift but one thermal of 10m/s took him to almost 4000m where he had a groundspeed of 85kmh. Mathieu and Remo had 100km flights as well, but in the wrong direction, which meant that we didn`t see them until late in the evening, after a friendly farmer drove them over the 100km of dirt road to meet us here in Vosburg. Meanwhile, Dav was another 80km downwind, nearly to De Aar! After a few phone calls a nice De Aar local picked him up and took him back to the De Aar airfield, where he will be going for distance tomorrow by himself. Dav reports that his flight was ridiculously difficult for the first half, with very weak and disorganized lift and two scary low saves, but the entire second half was pure pleasure. Dav finished his flight off with a 35 minute final glide from
December 22 Vosburg to De Aar
This morning the wind is light from the southwest, but is forecasted to become very strong in the afternoon. It`s 9 in the morning now and our plan is to launch early and try to get to De Aar before it blows out…
Alas, we spent the day relaxing by the pool in De Aar at Potties B&B, which was a welcome change from the dusty desert heat of the Karoo! De Aar is a quiet little town in the central Karoo, and happens to be a rather popular distance flying site… and the forecast for Friday is looking better… stay tuned for news of Friday`s flights!
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