This article was sent to us by our friend and associate in Durban, Steve McCurrach:

Greetings fellow flyers and conservationists,

Launching on a negative note is no way to put out a positive 2012 ‘new year’ vibe, but how else does one react when 2012 is heralded in, with more rhino deaths year to date than what there are days in the year – 21 poaching deaths by the 18th of the month. This is sickening and our rhino are under siege by poachers who will kill this massive beast, merely in order to take the horn. As we all know, the horn material is sold in the east (China) where it is revered as a potent aphrodisiac. Most ironically is that science has proven there to be zero stimulant to the libido or anything similar in rhino horn, so the poor endangered animals are dying for the sake of a myth born out of man’s vanity.

The alternate use of the horn is that of dagger handles, used as decorative wear in Yemen. The fact that any human will allow the death of this gentle giant, for the sake of what amounts to a fashion statement, is an indictment of the highest order on people who call themselves men. Most will know the quote of the infamous Mahatma Ghandi “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated“ and this being so, then the converse will be true, making the Yemenis and the South African poachers the lowest of low.

December Patrol Feedback (a little of this may partially be duplication of an interim report to earlier to Bats pilots only):

Continuing with rhino conservation efforts – namely the very kind and caring handful of local pilots flying anti poaching patrol in conjunction with ZWSI (the Zululand Wildlife Security Initiative), supported by The Bateleurs and Project Africa/ACT (African Conservation Trust); I spent almost all of December on patrol in Zululand, that is until my wee aeroplane threw in the towel with wear and tear breakdowns. At a first glance I had what looked to be a stitching failure in the plane’s fabric covering but upon closer inspection by maintenance engineer Kevin Fryer he promptly declared the plane unfit for flight back to it’s base and this due to a UV breakdown in the structural integrity of the fabric. There began a long plot; of acquiring a trailer, derigging, loading and driving to Springs, Jhb and leaving it at the manufacturer where it is to have an entire recovering. So whilst grounded I obviously have time to write feedback reports right! Anyway there endeth my bleat and on with the report.

Below; Buffalo doing what buffalo do, then
Camp 1 was Bayete Bush Camp,
Africa as it ought to be – here you can fly for 15min without seeing a person, track or pathway, just immense beauty.

For the first time since starting our Bateleurs flight patrols in June, this zone took its first hit, in terms of poaching directly for horn, but then again one poacher in another incident was found in the reserve and when confronted he stupidly fired on the guards with his shotgun. He was subsequently fatally wounded in the return fire. Loss of life can never be a yardstick for success in terms of anti poaching, but it does sometimes take such sad loss, before people realise that areas which are diligently conserved for the all important preservation of wildlife is not a food and products store. I suppose that when we reach a place one day where there are no longer any incursions into game reserves, then this message will have evolved into a universal understanding. If only.

We covered thousands of kilometres and many hours of flying through December with two pilots Duncan and Jas continuing patrols into January. This saturation patrolling being the case, some will immediately ask “how then did we allow a rhino loss during this very period?” a question which could have a dozen answers, but suffice to say that the poachers are damned lucky that we did not bump into them on that day’s work, because once we have them spotted, then they’re not going to get away. The aerial advantage has adequately proved it’s enormous benefits and saddened as we are by the rhino loss, we will continue undeterred and all the more motivated.

Back to the unrelated reserve incursion; where the wounded poacher managed to crawl back out through the fence and a short distance into the adjoining settlement area, where he succumbed to his wounds. A substantial search for him and his two accomplices was undertaken and interestingly the ground sweep of the relevant area by the APU did not detect him, but after several orbits of the zone in the plane the body was spotted by B and we then talked the ground crew into the position.

These images may be disturbing to some, but surely ZWSI and the rhinos can only stand to benefit by such visuals, serving as a deterrent to potential poachers.

First sighting…. followed by a low pass and to capture this zoomed assessment pic.

Below the APU arrives, thanks to our early spotting and guiding them in on radio, as the APU was then able to gather evidence, a major item of which was the shotgun carried by the poacher – this would have been ‘hustled’ away by the community members had they found him first and thereby making a very weighty load on the guards, to convince a judge that this poacher was armed and shooting at them.

Next pic is the community arriving in their droves.

After some heated moments, the local Induna arrived and negotiated a calm on the scene and tactfully leading the folk in prayer for their fallen brother, irrespective of the reasons by which they had lost him. Notice so typically the cheeky young uns in the bottom of screen, little interested in such humanitarian matters and issues of faith, whilst everyone else has their heads bowed – these were even possibly his accomplices of the night before.

The white Cruiser on the reserve fenceline and the assembled people in the foreground depicts the distance the poacher managed after exiting the park and into the settlement area.

No greater a statement could possibly have been made w.r.t. poaching being verboten and a dangerous occupation. This fella was through a stout, barbed and electrified fence, he was armed and he then shot at the guards, the consequences of which were seen first hand by the community. This occurred preceding the public holiday 16th December which generally marks the start of the annual vacation. We can only surmise that the volumes of migrant workers later arriving home for their annual leave were all told of this fatal occurrence and this resulting in the most powerful possible statement, deterring would be poachers for ‘the season’.

Just for good measure, on this same outing and whilst on our way back to base we ran into a poaching party, who were thoroughly straffed by the aircraft and who were running like scrub hares in a car’s headlights. They ran in circles whilst looking over their shoulders at the plane, so heaven knows the extent of the certain thorn assault on them. Nevertheless they went to ground and whilst pinned down a ground patrol arrived and we left it to them. This was one hectic flight, but accomplishing so much.

Whilst the above incident might have deterred the small game poachers, the professionals made their mark on ‘our’ zone with the abovementioned first ever poaching of rhino specifically for horn. Two rhino were seemingly shot right where they lay in the shade of a tree and within only a couple of hundred metres of the boundary fence. With the horns efficiently and neatly removed, this was clearly the work of a professional. Amidst the sadness for this loss and the enormous concern that it brings for the welfare of the rhinos in the region, it was most impressive to see the response to this crime. The Ezemvelo KZN Vet, the serious crimes unit, the “CSI” special unit van, amongst others arrived pretty damned quickly at the scene. Rhino poaching is now formally listed as a priority crime in S.A., as would be say an armed robbery, a murder or such like and it was something of a comfort to see this reaction in accordance with the declared priority status. Evidence was gathered for ballistics etc. and apparently there is an ‘earmarked’ suspect in this case – so we can only hope that the investigation team is successful.

Rhino horn poaching is taken very seriously by all parties, evidenced in the images by the entourage of vehicles attending this crime scene. If the sophisticated poacher has only ever heard that rhino poaching is now a rated ‘priority crime’, then hopefully by distribution of these images they will also see that this is true. This crime scene speaks volumes, in terms of how committed and how serious is the law enforcement in this regard.

Rather than including more image attachments in this mail – there’s too many, I have loaded the pics to my web.
You really want to open any interesting looking images in full screen in order to get the real view; a mouse click on any image will open that image to full size in a new Explorer window. Once viewed this window can simply be closed and you will be returned to the original Explorer window of thumbnail images.
The most current images are first in line and then going back to older Zapp images and eventually to even older and unrelated Bateleurs images.

http://airserv.co.za/bas.php?pk=bat

I can only hope that this editorial content will motivate the carers and contributors towards our cause – Bateleur pilots being but one sector, with the confident hope that you will all continue with your most meaningful contribution. If you reading this and not a participating pilot, then join us or give me a shout and I’ll guide you through to one of the official/recognised & registered anti poaching support agencies.

All the very best to you and yours for 2012.
Cheers for now.
Steve

With grateful thanks to these folks (below) from a fast growing band of people who are ready to step in and to go the extra mile in protecting our wildlife. At a rate of 21 in 18days, this band will soon turn into an army – so poachers beware, the net is tightening on you!
To the contributing ZWSI landowners who provided accommodation and to BP (names may not be mentioned) for organising this so efficiently.
Simon for the indispensible runway, fuelling and logistics support, all done in his calm and unflappable manner.
Simon (again) and Kim at Bayete for so readily looking after the visiting aeroplane ‘rescue team’.
Dean L and Jas for a brilliant act of Samaritanship – I called back to Durban looking for a trailer, they provided one, brought it to Zululand and helped to load up.
Lorelle, my Schatzie, for her unstinting patience and background support of the work.
Jas (again) and Duncan for the follow on flights.

Join us on Sunday 22 December at the Hout Bay Beach parking lot (at the Chapman’s Peak Drive end of the beach) at 10h30 for 11h00. People opposed to the construction of a toll plaza and office block on this internationally renowned tourist attraction will voice their objections by marching to the planned toll plaza site to hand over a memorandum of protest.

Chapman’s Peak Toll concessionaries Entilini plan to build a two-storey luxury office block, as well as a toll plaza on a portion of land owned by the Table Mountain National Park. According to an article published in the Cape Times on 9 January 2012, the building will cost R54 million, R25 million of which will be covered by you, the South African Taxpayer. The province has already reimbursed Entilini to the tune of R1.6 million in “preliminary design fees”.

In January we were commissioned to cover the arrival of the Drillship Deepsea Metro II in Cape Town. This 6th generation Drill Ship was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, and will spend a month at DCD Dorbyl’s newly upgraded A-berth facility undergoing client-specified modifications. Once these are complete, she will relocate directly to he first contract site off the coast of Brazil.

In October Damen Shipyards Cape Town launched their newest vessel, the Multicat Service Barge Chicala. Looking for all the world like a baby aircraft carrier, this vessel is a multipurpose service barge used for various dredging-related tasks.

The Aerial Perspective were commissioned by Cape Town Shipbuilders Veecraft to photograph a formation of three new vessels which they completed recently and launched simultaneously in November. Once final fitting out and sea trials had been completed, the two 30m Incat personnel carriers Deborah and Perez, as well as “little sister” Ahuva, a 20m Incat crew ferry vessel, were put through their paces for The Aerial Perspective’s cameras in Table Bay.

All three vessels were built for the same customer, C&I Leasing, and by the time you read this, they will have been wrapped up in plastic and loaded onto a cargo ship for transport to Nigeria where they’ll be transporting supplies and personnel to the offshore oil rigs and plattforms.

On Saturday 10 December Tyger Valley Mall hosted the Tygerbear Foundation’s “Holding Hands” Campaign, and the Aerial Perspective was overhead to capture the giant teddybear face made up of several hundred people holding hands on the rooftop parking lot.

The tygerbear foundation helps victims of child abuse – a worthy cause indeed, and we at The Aerial Perspective feel priviliged to have been able to contribute.

For more information, visit the Tygerbear Foundation’s website.

While preparing for a sortie on Friday last week, we heard what sounded like a very large Harley-Davidson motorcycle approaching from behind the hangars. What emerged was this stunning example of the North American T-28 Trojan, a trainer used in the past by amongst others the US Navy.

This particular example was owned until recently by Stu Davidson of Port Elizabeth, but was recently deliverd to its new owner here in Cape Town. It will be living in Worcester, but is likely to be a frequent vistor to Cape Town International, as according to the new owner, fuel here is cheaper. And at a fuel burn of 45 US gallons (around 170 litres) per hour in the cruise, that’s definitely a consideration!

While downloading GPS tracks recently to geo-tag images for one of our clients (yes, we offer that service too!), we were rather amazed at the extent of our travels.

The pic shows most of our flying this year between July 19 and September 26. So if you heard a plane flying overhead anytime between those dates, it was probably us

We’re happy to report that ZU-TAF touched down at Cape Town International today at 3:18pm local time. Pilots Mike Blyth and Jean d’Assonville took off yesterday from Cabo Frio, Brazil at 10:42Z (that’s 12:42pm SA time) in their South African-designed and built Sling 4 prototype on the penultimate stage of their round-the-world flight which began at Tedderfield Airpark South of Johannesburg on August 8.

Never mind that their marathon 26-and-a-half hour non-stop crossing of the Atlantic was done in a single-engined protoype aircraft, what is even more notable is that favourable tailwinds saw them touching down at Cape Town International just under 30 minutes earlier than their planned estimate. The Aerial Perspective was there to capture this auspicious occasion, having intercepted them over False Bay near Muizenberg, and escorting them in to touch-down.

Congratulations Mike and Jean, and the team at The Airplane Factory on this truly awe-inspiring achievement!

Rainy day reading: make a cuppa java -

Some “proper” Cape winter cold front activity had left me a little anxious with plenty of rain, low cloud and gale-force north westerlies keeping us ground-bound and unable to complete our month-end aerial photographic sorties.
Fortunately the front moved through more swiftly than forecast and sunshine and blue skies were a fantastic early morning greeting right on the 31st of the month.
After an early getaway from CT International Airport in the trusty CTFC Cessna Cutlass we got our low level pics in the bag and headed off-shore for our climb to FL 105 (10 500ft for those not in pilot-speak mode

The flight had been seamless, smooth and a little chilly (with the door removed for photography) up until I noticed three of my mates flying their paragliders on buttery smooth post-frontal lift off Signal Hill and then on the climb at Lion’s Head, working their way up slowly to cloud-base…

Damn, here I am stuck in an aeroplane when it’s really flyable for proper flying!
I did the decent thing. Shut up and fly – but I did grab a few pics of the lads having some fun and made a pact with myself to process said workload efficiently so I could zip out of office to fly (with apologies to Keith and Lucia back at the office).

To keep email size down I have included only one pic shot on the decent towards Hout Bay (from the aeroplane earlier) which I thought gave a nice “candy-floss” feel to the valley (more pics on request).
These beautiful fleecy little cumulus clouds were a sure-fire indication of a fantastic paragliding day in the making (it was minus 2 degrees at 10 500ft). I had to fly later…

Aeroplane squared away and work in the bag I wasted no time getting back to the office and on to Signal Hill.
Boy, was I surprised to see not one of the trio I had seen earlier and nobody else for that matter either. I practically had to pinch myself when I arrived at take off.

25kph straight up, post frontal, now clear skies with occasional thermals coming through and not a flying soul around. Had to be a dream…

Just to make sure it wasn’t I called Stephan Kruger who was one of the three up earlier when I flew past to ask where he was – ah, a quick food break.
On his way back right now.

Quick rig and layout and up and away. Off along Signal Hill, little bit of work climbing Lion’s Head to just above the summit and a quick decision for a direct glide onto the centre of the 12 Apostles – cloud base too low to go via the upper cableway – base at about 800m. With Stephan following close behind, we put in a bit more thermalling above the 12 Apostles Hotel to get level with the peaks and just below base before chatting on radio and deciding to head to Karbonkelberg, again in a straight line without visiting the slopes of Little Lion’s Head above Llandudno.

Karbonkelberg splits the WNW prevailing wind in a tricky way which leaves plenty open to interpretation as to which face will have the best lift, but the Oudeschip corner jutting out NW from Suther Peak on the Karbonkelberg massif was causing a significant bit of divergence (much like the inverted bow of a ship), splitting the wind and forcing it to run laminar along both sides with very little lift. It took a few turns tight up against the cliff faces to ensure safer altitude to cross onto the the cliffs above the Boss 400 crane wreck, now about 1800ft below being battered in a tumultuous grey Atlantic winter swell.

Decision time – we chatted briefly again on radio about which route to take – gung-ho out over the ocean direct to Kommetjie – or the more conservative, safer route, over the Sandy Bay dunes and Hout Bay. Sanity prevailed and we opted for the latter – I’d have hate to have to have been rescued by my NSRI colleagues after a botched ocean crossing attempt!

The downwind venturi ride over the dunes to overhead Baviaanskloof in Hout Bay was quick and uneventful with hardly a bleep either way, up or down at 60+ kph groundspeed, but oh it was going to be challenging getting up again on the Hout Bay slopes of Constantiaberg at a tad over 200m ASL on reaching.
There I was thinking what next, when as though pre-ordered a tight little thermal core popped right off our new home in Baviaanskloof (giving added perspective to “house thermal” for me) and up we clawed very slowly…

Eventually we topped out at cloud base, again below peak height and it was another ballsy glide straight out over the bay for Chapman’s Peak, squeaking in just above the view point, again on a diverging spur with very little lift. Luckily Stephan’s climb at Constantiaberg had been slower than mine and he was lagging behind because there was not enough room for two overhead the Chappies view site. Ever so slowly I extricated myself from the clutches of not very friendly out-landing options on the slopes of Chappies, working my way across the cliffs to where a couple of gravity-defiant BASE jumpers have taken the leap of faith above the Chappies tunnel (overhang). Phew! Respect when seen from my vantage point.

Stephan joined me with height to spare and there we sat clocking out on some little raunchy bullets ricochetting upward off the fluted Chappies cliffs contemplating another decision – easy glide to Kommetjie and certain landing soon thereabouts or something more challenging?

No brainer decision – the challenge to get back – and reduce our recovery drive logistics won.
Now to think clearly and get home to Signal Hill – which way?
Cloud base had dropped and high level cirrus was starting to block out the post 4PM sun – not good for thermals, not good for us.

Crossing back from Chappies left no option but to go back via the lower cliffs of Noordhoek Peak (well below the Black Eagle nest, sorry eagles!) and into the deep ravines guarding Blackburn Gully in the quest for more lift and height – we made a point of avoiding the nest site though, staying tight on the Blackburn side.
Again we put in a few beats low, squeaking up to cloud base just above Blackburn Gully at about 720m ASL and then out around and west of Constantiaberg and Skoorsteenkop and on towards Vlakkenberg (behind Mandela Park).
This was the trickiest part of the flight now much later and significantly cooler with limited thermal activity and quite deep to the eastern side of the Hout Bay valley – backs against the wall of the Vlakkenberg with township shouts of excitement easily audible and the only way home out forward into the Llandudno venturi overhead Suikerbossie. Hmmm. Interesting.

Somehow and inexplicably, a feint of cumulus began evolving out ahead in the middle or nowhere and certainly not in keeping with thermal lore, roughly overhead the World of Birds and I scurried for it happy to find some snippets to scrounge my way back to a now reduced 700m base, but well back (east) but higher than from where I had started.
The vario decided the wind had backed and it gave me the confidence to head for the back table above Kenrock in the hope of squeaking back around Juda Peak and a run aback along the 12 Apostles for La Med and maybe a shot at getting back to Signal Hill. Wishful thinking! Obviously the vario-GPS processor runs on magnetic heading Ant – duh!

The back table instead threw nothing but 4m/s straight down (um, lee rotor Ant, no divergence) and I suddenly found myself trying to select the softest looking pine tree at Suikerbossie to tree-land on. Bugger this was going to tight! The Dominican Grimley School field was the only “emergency out” option if I had to run for it downwind in sinking air. A questionable make, but nice to know I had to option.
No time to look for Stephan. Hoped he was OK. Busy now….

I slipped through the Suikerbossie gap eyeball level with the restaurant, grateful now for the apparent lack of wind and tried in vain to pick up some lift below the Llandudno radio mast. Nope. Nothing.

Oh well. Llandduno beach, here I come. High tide, winter beach, little dry sand left. Bit of boulder skimming on final approach and voila! Safe and dry on the beach to be joined minutes later by a jubilant Stephan having had a similar forestry inspection final flight path Hilario and Paul also down on the beach having just flown Llandudno asking if we were the two crazies deep in the Hout Bay valley in a NW – nice to know what your mates think of you

To my recollection of peninsula flights, I don’t believe anyone has made it to Chappies and back that far towards take off at Signal Hill yet.
Perhaps now a new challenge – Signal Hill to Chappies and back?

Stephan, thanks for the company mate! Great flight.
Also, if I may, sort of symbolic for me getting a low save thermal off Bev and my new home and then landing on Llandudno beach where we are to marry in a months time

Role on Spring

Ant

PS you can find the tracklog here