For the aviation fans

[DJR]

Fixed

Totally useless information, I know, but it relates to your name, Bateleur, as well as flying:

 

The Bateleur has a very short tail. In fact, if it folds its wings, then the wingtips extend way past the end of the tail. That configuration makes it unstable in flight. If you look at a Bateleur flying / gliding, it will always tilt from side to side to keep a level flight path, as if it has to make constant corrections. Like a plane dipping its wings non stop. In fact, its name means acrobat / tumbler in French. What it gains though, is incredible and quick maneuverability, which means that it can hunt more agile pray. 

[Cois]

Seeing that there are a few frequent fliers on here...

Do not laugh, but I am nervous like never before. My uncle bought flight tickets from Lanseria to Cape Town next month.

 

No don’t laugh but I have never flown in a airplane before. Yes at age 38 it will be my first time in a plane.

 

What can I expect? I took a flip in a chopper few years back for a photoshoot, so chopper with no doors and space for 4 people.

Will they look at me funny if I have a surgical mask on (infection is a real problem and can kill me at this stage)

 

Any tips? And sorry for the hijack.

[eddy]

I can understand why the first 4 were said as it was still early days but the last one is just crazy. We 3 years past his proposed date and probably not much closer than when he said it. Mach 4????.

Well, we got to Mach2.2 within less than a decade from the prediction , and then development stalled......

Edited August 28, 2019 by eddy

[Robbie Stewart]

Seeing that there are a few frequent fliers on here...

Do not laugh, but I am nervous like never before. My uncle bought flight tickets from Lanseria to Cape Town next month.

 

No don’t laugh but I have never flown in a airplane before. Yes at age 38 it will be my first time in a plane.

 

What can I expect? I took a flip in a chopper few years back for a photoshoot, so chopper with no doors and space for 4 people.

Will they look at me funny if I have a surgical mask on (infection is a real problem and can kill me at this stage)

 

Any tips? And sorry for the hijack.

 

Not laughing at all. I am stoked for you Cois. Enjoy the experience, and make sure you get a window seat bud. You are going to see SA like you have never seen it before. As for the mask, don't stress it.If people look at you funny, just smile and ask them to stop farting...

[patham]

Seeing that there are a few frequent fliers on here...

Do not laugh, but I am nervous like never before. My uncle bought flight tickets from Lanseria to Cape Town next month.

 

No don’t laugh but I have never flown in a airplane before. Yes at age 38 it will be my first time in a plane.

 

What can I expect? I took a flip in a chopper few years back for a photoshoot, so chopper with no doors and space for 4 people.

Will they look at me funny if I have a surgical mask on (infection is a real problem and can kill me at this stage)

 

Any tips? And sorry for the hijack.

 

Just think of it as a bus. Which is about how glamorous air travel is these days.

 

Maybe google if anxious flyers find it calmer to have a window seat or an aisle seat- maybe seeing the ground below you might help or hinder, and request that seat when you check-in. But I think if you survived a chopper flight - a domestic airliner trip will be as boring as paint drying.

 

As for a surgical mask, maybe they will look at you funny, but at age 38 - stuff'em - who cares. I fly with a lot of Asian tourists on the domestic flights in Australia, and they love wearing those masks - so its common here, just not in S.A.

[DJR]

You can nowadays even buy designer masks in stylish colours and with artsy designs on. I'm really going to seriously think about doing it next time I do a long haul flight on the way to a holiday. Last time I suffered from a terrible flu that hit me 2 days after the flight and made half of my holiday a miserable time. Cois, wear your mask and to hell with what the others think.

[Bateleur1]

Seeing that there are a few frequent fliers on here...

Do not laugh, but I am nervous like never before. My uncle bought flight tickets from Lanseria to Cape Town next month.

 

No don’t laugh but I have never flown in a airplane before. Yes at age 38 it will be my first time in a plane.

 

What can I expect? I took a flip in a chopper few years back for a photoshoot, so chopper with no doors and space for 4 people.

Will they look at me funny if I have a surgical mask on (infection is a real problem and can kill me at this stage)

 

Any tips? And sorry for the hijack.

 

Well as said above, if you have flown in a chopper before it properly would be very similar to a bus ride but with a nice pull from the start.  Normally the flights are uneventfull but I do always love the takeoff and also the landing.  I would go for a windows seat BEHIND the wings so that you can see a bit of the countryside.  Make sure you book your seat online a day or two prior so that you can reserve your seat in advance.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Bateleur1

[Bateleur1]

Totally useless information, I know, but it relates to your name, Bateleur, as well as flying:

 

The Bateleur has a very short tail. In fact, if it folds its wings, then the wingtips extend way past the end of the tail. That configuration makes it unstable in flight. If you look at a Bateleur flying / gliding, it will always tilt from side to side to keep a level flight path, as if it has to make constant corrections. Like a plane dipping its wings non stop. In fact, its name means acrobat / tumbler in French. What it gains though, is incredible and quick maneuverability, which means that it can hunt more agile pray. 

 

I actually know that.  That is why I used the name.  I used the name in the days when I was playing the Microprose F16 flight simulator and gave myself that callsign  

[SwissVan]

Seeing that there are a few frequent fliers on here...

Do not laugh, but I am nervous like never before. My uncle bought flight tickets from Lanseria to Cape Town next month.

 

No don’t laugh but I have never flown in a airplane before. Yes at age 38 it will be my first time in a plane.

 

What can I expect? I took a flip in a chopper few years back for a photoshoot, so chopper with no doors and space for 4 people.

Will they look at me funny if I have a surgical mask on (infection is a real problem and can kill me at this stage)

 

Any tips? And sorry for the hijack.

Everyone flies in a plane for the first time at some stage....Try get a window seat that’s not looking over the wing.

You are beating cancer so flying on an airliner is a walk in the park for you.... seriously millions of people fly all the time.

 

Sit back, relax and enjoy the new experience!!

[Long Wheel Base]

Seeing that there are a few frequent fliers on here...

Do not laugh, but I am nervous like never before. My uncle bought flight tickets from Lanseria to Cape Town next month.

 

No don’t laugh but I have never flown in a airplane before. Yes at age 38 it will be my first time in a plane.

 

What can I expect? I took a flip in a chopper few years back for a photoshoot, so chopper with no doors and space for 4 people.

Will they look at me funny if I have a surgical mask on (infection is a real problem and can kill me at this stage)

 

Any tips? And sorry for the hijack.

I would say a B737-800(I assume you will be flying kulula or mango and that's what they fly) is a lot less scary than a chopper with no doors. It really is no big deal at all, air travel is still by far the safest form of travel. It is even safer than walking somewhere!!!!! Just think about how absolutely amazing the technology is and how 2 CFM56-7B engines can produce so much power to move that plane with all +-182pax on board at such a great rate. The acceleration is impressive, the way you get forced back into your seat. Then the fact that it can climb to +-310000ft in a matter of minutes is mind boggling. When coming into land just think about how 4 main wheel located brakes and thrust reverses on the 2 engines can slow all that mass down with relative ease. All of this just shows you that you are on one of mans greatest inventions. Maybe I am just bias but an aircraft is just head and shoulders above anything else out there.

WRT the air inside the aircraft, despite what a lot of people say about it being stale recycled air, this is not true. The aircraft constantly needs to be pressurized and things like toilet valves(the toilets use a vacuum system and although there is a big tank that stores all the stuff flushed away the pressure needs to be relieved somehow so some vrot air is dumped overboard every time a toilet is flushed) and door seals are constantly letting air out. So that air needs to be replaced somehow. What happens is air bled from the engines(its bypass air that is simply compressed so not mixed with fuel or burnt air), now this air is SUPER hot so it then gets mixed with very cold outside air and pumped into the cabin. Now obviously you are in an enclosed area with other people so germs are around but its not much worse than being in a crowded shopping centre or a lift or a office etc. Still nothing wrong with taking precautions, so don that mask, just don't shout hi to your buddy jack.

 

 

 

EDIT: It is also NOTHING compared to your last year. This is a walk in the park.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Long Wheel Base

[Pinarello1]

                 WATCH supersonic Su-34 fighter-bombers and An-26 transports land on highway in Russia             

[Bateleur1]

I would say a B737-800(I assume you will be flying kulula or mango and that's what they fly) is a lot less scary than a chopper with no doors. It really is no big deal at all, air travel is still by far the safest form of travel. It is even safer than walking somewhere!!!!! Just think about how absolutely amazing the technology is and how 2 CFM56-7B engines can produce so much power to move that plane with all +-182pax on board at such a great rate. The acceleration is impressive, the way you get forced back into your seat. Then the fact that it can climb to +-310000ft in a matter of minutes is mind boggling. When coming into land just think about how 4 main wheel located brakes and thrust reverses on the 2 engines can slow all that mass down with relative ease. All of this just shows you that you are on one of mans greatest inventions. Maybe I am just bias but an aircraft is just head and shoulders above anything else out there.

WRT the air inside the aircraft, despite what a lot of people say about it being stale recycled air, this is not true. The aircraft constantly needs to be pressurized and things like toilet valves(the toilets use a vacuum system and although there is a big tank that stores all the stuff flushed away the pressure needs to be relieved somehow so some vrot air is dumped overboard every time a toilet is flushed) and door seals are constantly letting air out. So that air needs to be replaced somehow. What happens is air bled from the engines(its bypass air that is simply compressed so not mixed with fuel or burnt air), now this air is SUPER hot so it then gets mixed with very cold outside air and pumped into the cabin. Now obviously you are in an enclosed area with other people so germs are around but its not much worse than being in a crowded shopping centre or a lift or a office etc. Still nothing wrong with taking precautions, so don that mask, just don't shout hi to your buddy jack.

 

 

 

EDIT: It is also NOTHING compared to your last year. This is a walk in the park.

 

Technology has improved hey      (I know it was a typo  ).

[Bateleur1]

                 WATCH supersonic Su-34 fighter-bombers and An-26 transports land on highway in Russia             

 

Something not right in that piece of propaganda.  The only tarred section is the runway.  Both ends of the runway is gravel road.  So not really sure it is a highway or the russian idea of a highway is slightly different to my idea.

 

It is not uncommon for government to build a piece of road to be used as a runway.  There is a stretch in the Ellisras area in SA as well.

 

Sorry it is way north from Ellisras just north of the one horse town Swartwater

 

 

Even the runway numbers are painted

Edited August 29, 2019 by Bateleur1

[Cois]

Snip

 

As you just put it, I can’t wait!

Another stunning adventure to go on.

 

Looking forward to this trip. Just thinking of it all is making me emotional.

[Long Wheel Base]

Technology has improved hey      (I know it was a typo  ).

Yoh a bit heavy on the zero there

[Bateleur1]

As you just put it, I can’t wait!

Another stunning adventure to go on.

 

Looking forward to this trip. Just thinking of it all is making me emotional.

 

While picking a window seat try book on the right of the aircraft (normally a 'G' number ex 22G).  You should get a nice view of the west coast if you approach Cape Town.  If the South Easter is blowing you will come in straight and land and you will see the coast line with Koeberg, Robbin island etc.  If the Norh easter is blowing you will fly out to False bay and most propably make a right turn into the airport.