FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0442.PDF
450 FLIGHT, April 6 1961 SPORT AND BUSINESS Panel blown out of Anne Burns' Skylark 3 wingtip by lightning during the climb to an altitude of 35,000ft Mrs Anne Burns (centre), seen together at Kimberley with Boet Dommisse, Mrs Debbie Dommisse and bottle of celebration refreshment DIAMOND COUNTRY... Province and back was the better. This route is over very inhospit-able dry terrain and produces extremely strong thermals because of the very dry air. Flying the north-easterly route over the hospitableFree State farmland, I did not experience such strong thermals. Von Michaelis was able to fly for considerable periods under highcumulus streets at about 12,000-14,000ft a.s.l. and his average speed was considerably faster than my average of 42 m.p.h. I set course for my final glide into Kimberley Airport from 60miles out, near Dealesville in the Orange Free State, calculating that I would have 1,000ft to spare at Kimberley. In the event, at 7 p.m.,I flew in to such smooth lift on the glide-in that it would have passed unnoticed had I not, for a moment, shaded my eyes from thedying sun to look at the climb meters. This last thermal carried me to 16,000ft a.s.l.—which must be a world record for an eveningthermal. With 6,000ft in hand, I arrived over the airport, where a mayoral celebration was awaiting. During this flight Eoet Dom-misse's "'high cu"' started before midday on the way out, and cloudbase kept getting higher as the day wore on. 200 km Triangle The same magnificent weather continued on the following day,with very high cumulus marking the tops of the thermals. As there was only a light wind, Anne showed how good the Skylark 3 can beby rattling round a 200km closed circuit in world record time at nearly 50 m.p.h. She did not use the clouds much. At this speedone needs to be well strapped-down during the high-speed inter- thermal glides as the turbulence can be quite exciting. By the next day, January 12, it was evident that the weather cyclewas changing, as cloud development was much greater and cloud base was lower. The clouds looked better than they in fact were,and considerable search was necessary before a suitable one pro- duced an internal 8m/sec to rocket me up for my diamond height.Accurate centering in this cloud was necessary in order to retain the lift, but the flight otherwise was easy and a delightful experience.Icing was quite heavy, but the dive-brake did not freeze in and the only noticeable effect was a slight heaviness on the elevator. The following day—Friday the 13th—continued the tendency ofthe weather cycle to give over-development and Mrs Burns pro- ceeded to achieve a cu-nim height gain that has only once previouslybeen exceeded, and then only by a small margin. This weather the South Africans call "cumulus colombus," and it requires treatingwith respect. Mrs Burns entered cloudbase about 6,000ft above ground in one of several clouds that were visibly growing in size.On the way up, the glider rapidly acquired an electrical charge, with discharges occurring from the pilot's knees to the radio set,and the metal parts of the control column and of the rudder bars being unpleasantly tingly to the touch. At about 34,000ft a.s.l. a nearby major strike induced a furthercharge on the metal portions of the glider which it could no longer store, and it discharged itself violently through various portions ofthe left wing into the cloud. Anne was temporarily confused by this shock but, coming-to more or less instantaneously, checked theoxygen and decided it was time to get out of the cloud. Further height was gained on the way out, and she switched on to pureoxygen as a precaution (the rate of climb indicated that the altitude at which pressure breathing was required was rapidly approaching,and pure oxygen was the next best thing). The pilot's view from this altitude of surrounding "cumulus colombi" was astoundinglybeautiful. By this time a major storm had become centred over Kimberley Airport, and the lightning activity there made the pilotdecide on a precautionary field landing out in a small clear space between the thorn trees and ant-heaps some 14 miles to the east. So ended the Kimberley Performance Safari 1961—for my wifeand I, at least. We trailered Boet's glider immediately back to Jo'burg that night (300 miles) in order that a quick repair to thelightning-struck wing might be started. Monster Ant-heaps A few comments on field-landing conditions in South Africa maybe of interest. The terrain immediately round Kimberley, for about 20 miles, and to the west (into the Kalahari) and south (into theCape Province) is not good, comprising for the most part thorn trees with a liberal spread of monster ant-heaps. However, in thesedirections the dry air is very good for vertical development and experienced pilots should have no difficulty in finding the oddlanding spot. To the east is the whole run of the Orange Free State; one vast farmland, and surely the glider pilot's dream ofheaven. To the north-east into the Transvaal there is also cultivated land as far as about the latitud; of Pretoria. Beyond that to thenorth, and further to the east, the terrain is not so good, consisting of "bushveld" with little arable land. As regards gliders, the two Skylark 3s had much competitionfrom the Air-100 and the Ka-6s during the meeting. The latter performed exceptionally well. The two-seater Ka-7s did very wellbut were not quite up to the standard of the Skylark 3s and the Ka-6s. In conclusion, a few remarks on South African gliding personali-ties will complete the picture. Boet Dommisse (unable to fly throughout the rally as he had promised us his glider) is the greatmoving spirit of South African gliding—organizer, expert pilot and wise counsellor. Without his drive, generosity and advice we, atleast, would have fared ill. His wife Debbie is his able supporter, attractively cheerful at all times, even when gloom has descendedon the rest of the retrieve crew. Heinie von Michaelis is South Africa's great naturalist and artist. He combines this with being anexpert sailplane pilot and raconteur. Supporting these two is a solid cross-section of South African citizenry, typical of whom,perhaps, is the droll Tim Biggs, skilled engineer and aviator, who seems never at a loss in any situation. As to future possibilities, fresh records may well go to theingenious BJ-2 sailplane just finished by Pat Beatty in Johannes- burg. This new glider has a phenomenally flat glide at 90kt and yetwill thermal happily at 30kt—all done by varying the geometry. If there are no snags, this glider is a potential world-beater. Footnote: After surprisingly rapid confirmation by the FAI, fiveworld record certificates were presented to Anne and Denis Burns by Philip Wills at the British Gliding Association ball in London on March10. Mrs Burns received those for feminine gain of height, out-and- return distance, and 300km and 200km speed; and Mr Burns that forout-and-return distance.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
