Flying around Cape Town

Something I haven’t had the opportunity to do, up until now was get the chance to take a flight round Cape Town and get some new material for my image library.  An old family of friend of ours who I’ve known most of my life recently got his pilots license and offered to take me for a flight around Cape Town and the Southern Peninsula in his fixed-wing plane.  The plan was to meet at Morningstar Airfield at 8:00 on Sunday.

I arrived just before 8:00 not knowing what to expect, what I wasn’t expecting was to see, was the plane was a little smaller than I thought it would be!  Pre-flights check done, it was time to close up the hangar and board the plane.  Once I was in and my belt and door were securely fastened some last checks were done, I was told where to find the sick bags, incase and we taxied towards the runway, all while checking brakes and other vital components.  Once we were given the all-clear, it was time to up the revs and get going.

pre-flight checks underway

Once airborne we headed out towards Cape Town, with a good view of Robben Island, we climbed to 1500 feet, and there were constant radio checks to make sure we weren’t in the way of other aircraft, and that other aircraft knew where we were.  Before crossing over to Table Bay we just had to make sure we had the all clear from Ysterplaat Airforce Base before we could cross over their airspace.

Table Mountain

After we crossed over Table Bay we headed round towards Camps Bay, aiming for the Southern Peninsula.  It was fascinating seeing things you regularly see, but from a completely different angle.  Once we were past Hout Bay we headed towards Kommetjie, and after circling the lighthouse we dropped to 500ft for a good view of Noordhoek Beach.  Once we were back up at 1500ft, we headed through Noordhoek towards Fish Hoek, grabbing a quick shot of our house on the way.

Kommetjie

We then followed the coast towards Muizenberg, before we began our route back towards Morningstar.  There was a bit more turbulence on this side, but still made for a fun trip.  Once back near Morningstar, we circled, lined up with the runway , dropped the revs and began our descent for the landing, and you definitely knew when your wheels touched ground!

I wasn’t certain what I was too expect, but I left Morningstar smiling, it was a great experience and I hope to get invited again sometime soon.

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