22-24 Nov, 19

Our campsite

This weekend we went up to Maliba Lodge, about a 2,5 hr drive from Maseru. We have been doing so on this weekend for the last 2 years. This is our third. And we do it because I ran the Lesotho Ultra trail run. It’s a 50km mountain trail run through the mountains of Tsehlanyane National Park in Lesotho.

Sello!

This year was fun, because we brought our friend, Sello, with us to run. He is a very talented runner, and has done well in a number of road races in 2018 and 2019. As a way to end off his racing calendar for the year, I thought we would enter him into the 38km Mountain Challenge, which is the shorter distance run at the same time as the ultra marathon.

We have been supporting and helping Sello for about 18 months. We love his attitude, his humility, and his passion for running fast. He can talk about it all day long. With help from many of you, we have been able to get him some gear, nutrition, and race entries over the last year.

Both races kicked off at 5:30am on Saturday. Sello shot off the mark, and from what I hear thats about the last anyone saw of him until he crossed the 38km finish line in 1st position, 20 minutes ahead of the course record, and 50 minutes ahead of number 2!

Hearing the news via text from Emily while I has not even halfway on my route did encourage me to push on and push hard. The route is very technical and tough, and I was expecting that. My goal was to have a fun day in the mountains, and I did! I finished in 8 hrs and 40 minutes.

Me on the final stretch, joined by Jane.

What a fun weekend. A good time camping with friends, seeing a young star like Sello do so well was an unexpected bonus.

Nov 21, 2019

Today one of our planes came out of a major inspection. It had it’s whole tailplane removed, inspected and refitted, as well as an engine cylinder change.

I took a picture of our house. Somewhere down there.

Due to the cylinder change, it needed a 2 hour break in flight. This flight has to be done at a constant power setting and specific fuel flow for 2 hours without too much variation. Due to the type of work, it should also be done close to home base in case there are any issues that arise. So, today I spent 2 hours circling Maseru and keeping a close eye on the gauges. All went great and the plane is ready to go for tomorrows scheduled flights.

Nov 20, 2019

The airstrip running left to right, uphill.

My first flight today was to Methalaneng. It’s our most challenging airstrip. It has a one way landing, and the abort point (the place where you commit to landing) is just after you turn final approach. The airstrip is in a valley, at 90 degrees to the direction that the mountains run. So you are landing up slope. As you turn final, you have to decide if you can continue or not. If you can, whatever happens from that point onwards, you have to deal with, and continue to land. You cannot turn away and abort the landing due to the mountains. If you decide you can’t land when you reach the abort point, you add full power and get out of there.

We have a limitation of 7 kts tailwind for this airstrip. We have found that once it is over 7 kts, it’s too dangerous. We also have a remote weather station there so we can check the wind before we depart, and while we are en route. Today, before I left the wind was 6 kts tailwind. So I was expecting a 50/50 chance of landing.

When I arrived, I saw the windsocks showing a tailwind. I tried the approach up until the abort point, but it was too unstable and I aborted. I climbed up and gave it a second try, just in case it felt better the second time around. This time it felt worse, and I gave it up before reaching the abort point.

My two passengers who where supposed to go there asked to be dropped at the next closest airstrip, Mantsonyane, a 5 minute flight but 2 hour drive. We hardly every fly to Mantsonyane as it has a good road network, so I was excited to get to go there today.

Mantsonyane airstrip, right next to the hospital.

We landed there without any problems. I felt bad to not leave my passengers where they needed to go, but felt confident in making a decision based on keeping us safe.

Nov 19, 2019

Recently we have had some new old equipment taken out of our planes, and a new system fitted. This means that the planes need to be reweighed and their centre of gravity calculated. This is not something I am involved in or know who to do, but it was super cool seeing the guys weigh on of the planes today.