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Aviation

Zee PHG

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Reading my last post, I realised I alluded to the Zee PHG photo without actually publishing it.  Daft.  Here you go:

Brent flying his powered hang-glider with Hout Bay in the background

While the uninitiated might presume this tiny aircraft to be a microlight, it is actually a powered (aka motorized) hang-glider – the wing is a perfectly normal standard hang-glider with which (unlike a microlight) you could run off any handy hill or mountain and have a soaring or thermic flight sans engine or undercarriage.  The undercarriage and engine are designed to be super light-weight, allowing the entire assembly with pilot to fall within the allowable maximum weight for the glider wing.  This means that if flies just like a normal hang-glider, albeit with slightly more drag.  They are designed to allow pilots to take off from a handy spot, fly to the nearest hill or thermic area, turn off the engine and soar.  Yes, you do need a license – first as a hang-glider pilot, and then a power conversion to fly the PHG.  You’ll recall from earlier blog posts that I went off and learnt to do this some time ago, before unexpected circumstances landed a powered paraglider kit in my hands.

Looking down the Cape Peninsula from 3000ft - click for enlargement

This was the first time we’ve flown the PHG and PPG together, and although we didn’t do formal tests we made a number of observations.  Launching the Zee in zero wind was an absolute breeze (hur hur), with the machine accelerating smoothly across the beach on its big bubble wheels.  By comparison, I took three sweaty attempts to get the PPG airborne: no-wind takeoff in deep sand with a paraglider and 30+kg of kit on your back is a challenge.  Once in the air, the paraglider (I fly a MacPara Eden 4 Powered with a PAP125 engine and on this occasion a 125cm carbon prop) seemed to climb more rapidly, or at least at a steeper angle.  Cruising speed was identical at trim, with the PPG a little faster on cruise with the trims open.  Both aircraft felt the rotor turbulence behind the big peaks; I had one 60% asymmetric collapse and Brent described a few significant bumps, but I think he had more confidence in his rigid wing.  I could lose height very rapidly by putting the paraglider into a spiral, but lack the hang-glider’s ability to accellerate into a steep descent in a straight line.  Landing the PPG in a limited space is of course  very easy; by the time we returned there was a 10 knot wind blowing, and I was able to make a precision landing a few meters from the car, whereas the Zee needed a bit more space and rollout.

Considering flying to Rio for tea?

For about 1h20 flying time, including several climbs from low level up to 3000ft, we used 5.5 litres of fuel (petrol) for the PPG and 8 litres for the PHG.  We didn’t have anyone specific to assess the relative noise, but onlookers who I spoke to said they couldn’t hear either aircraft from the moment we climbed out over the bay until we were setting up for landing – good news for environmental and noise-abatement reasons.  Grins on the pilot’s faces were equally wide, and the post-flight beer/cider at Dune’s Restaurant 50m from landing tasted equally good!

What’s the verdict?  We need to fly more 🙂

Aviation

Whale Shark Aerial Photos

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Yowzer…I loaded the same pictures from my last post onto Facebook last night, and the response has been phenomenal.  Imagine my surprise when I get a forwarded forwarded forwarded email from the surf community including my picture as evidence of a huge shark terrorising the surfers at Noordhoek!  Well, lads and lasses, a big shark it was, but the terror is misplaced: you can’t see it well on the Facebook photo, but it’s a gentle giant – a Whale Shark.  That makes it much more special than “just another” Great White (something I prefer to see from the air than the water, unless I’m on the bottom with a regulator in my mouth), as a sighting of a Whale Shark in the Atlantic is rare.  Wikipedia will tell you all about them and their tropical/subtropical range – seldom south of 30 degrees – but I was very tickled to learn that the species was first described when one was harpooned in Table Bay.  Yay for African science, bummer for environmental consciousness.

A couple of pictures from the flight:

Kommetjie from the air
3000ft on the powered paraglider, working on my sunburn
Lots of surfers in the water at Noordhoek
Whale Shark and surfers

 

There’s been some bruhaha about the species and size of the shark, so I referred it to our guru, Johan Anderson, of Wings and Whalesharks fame.  Johan flies all sorts of things (and is the man behind the Zee PHG pictured above), but one particular project of his is flying a microlight in the Seychelles for whale shark research and spotting program.  He confirms that it is indeed a whale shark (not a great white) and not quite the 7m monster suggested by some sources.  As whale sharks grow to around 12m, this is a smallish specimen.  For comparison, I’ve cropped together (at precisely the same scale) the shark and surfers, so that you can decide for yourselves.

Whale shark and surfers cropped to the same scale

What a great sighting, and a lovely flight.

Heading back to Hout Bay at 3500ft to avoid the turbulence from the mountains

UPDATE:  This just in – get the story from the surfer’s seaside perspective on the Wavescape website, as well as some expert opinion from more shark experts.  Compelling reading…I can imagine the guys in the water had a good tachycardia.

 

General

Very special sighting

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Short story (longer one to follow): I was joined this morning by a fellow powered hang-glider pilot for a sortie from Hout Bay, on the western coast of the Cape Peninsula. Due to my current lack of a PHG, I was flying my PPG while he took to the sky in a Zee PHG trike of South African construction (more on that in a later post). We flew high most of the time to avoid some turbulence from the low-level south-easter, but not too high to notice this in the water near some surfers and kayakers off Long Beach, Noordhoek:

What lies beneath

Closer inspection reveals it to be a small (large = 12m!) Whale Shark – a very rare find in the cold Atlantic.

According to an expert I consulted, it is exceptional to spot a whale shark anywhere on the West Coast, and the specimens that are found are usually dead. One theory is that they drift around in warm eddies of the Mozambique Current and then become “lost” and die when the warm water dissipates. I think they are like my mother, and only dive in warm water.

WhatAmIReadingToday?

Afrikaans makes you smarter

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…if you learn it to become bilingual, *grin*. It turns out that any two languages will do.

Having been born into a very English-speaking household, making the transition to studying (and often practicing) medicine in a very Afrikaans environment was entertaining, in a darkly-humourous-while-deeply-uncomfortable way. Once, when being interviewed in Afrikaans and asked to describe my abilities to understand and speak the language, I accidentally but likely very accurately exchanged the word for “fluent” (vlot) with the word for “rotten” (vrot). However, the foundations laid in school (where it was a compulsory second language) and six years of an immersive environment has led to me becoming a passable Afrikaner in most situations…and assisted in the acquisition of a beautiful wife along the way.

The perpetual debate for bilingual parents has always been whether to raise children from the outset in one language, and then introduce the other later, or to speak both from the beginning. Common wisdom suggested the former; research is now emerging to suggest that bilingualism is good for the brain in all sorts of ways. This article from the New York Post summarises it nicely.

Lekker, ne? Niks van daai Alzheimers vir my nie! 😉

PS – If two are good, are three better? Hau, eish!

General

Finding beauty in unexpected places

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For some time I have been watching a trend emerge; a meme and theme that resonates within me. Recently I’ve witnessed it progress from conception to creativity concrete reality, and now the evidence abounds. While I inevitably and unavoidably turn to the wilderness to find my peace and beauty, I am grudgingly but increasingly forced to admit that it can be found closer to home. What am I harping on about? Parkour.

Parkour has been around for a long time, but has emerged so gradually into our modern lexicon that most people can’t remember first seeing it. That it has become embedded in our culture is inarguable: compare a classic Connery era Bond movie with the latest Craig incarnation and you will see realise the significance. Although originally based on the undeniably Francophone principles of simplicity and elegance of movement, even true parkour traceurs will no doubt admit that the interpretation of movement through the environment enouraged by the offshoot ‘free running’ enrich and enhance the activity. To me, parkour/free running embodies an innate urge to embrace our wildness, and is a natural expression of human animals seeking fulfilment within the bounds created by an urban environment.

There are plenty of examples of individuals aspiring to “GoPro/YouTube Hero” status out there in the internet ether, but I am recently and deeply encouraged by the emergence of films that not only celebrate the athleticism and courage of the participants but also the beauty to be found in the concrete jungle: the urban fringe not distant on the basis of distance itself but rough through it’s edginess rather than just being on the edge. You are familiar with the concept: often the most innercity and developed areas are the least human. Despite this, the traceurs and cinematographers have brought movement, life and fluidity to our most stale structures; flow in our concrete fondament. I myself am trapped in a daily cycle of urban living, longing for the release and vibrancy of the wild; when I watch this breed of film I am renewed by the wild beauty to be found in our ‘tamed’ surrounds.

Is this a sport, a lifestyle… or our newest and most visceral form of dance?

Anaesthesia, Fun

King Vision Self-Laryngoscopy

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Some time ago I posted a video clip of self-laryngoscopy with a C-MAC. For the sake of proving I don’t necessarily endorse on product over another, here’s a shot from a recent airway course…

Yes, I do have a gag reflex. These video laryngoscopes are remarkably atraumatic when used carefully, allowing this kind of visualisation without discomfort. Don’t try this on sick patients, however.

Aviation, Fun, WhatAmIReadingToday?

Evaluating the risks of extreme sports

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I stumbled across this article examining the risks of various extreme sports from a statistical viewpoint on the BBC Future webpage.  It makes makes brief, interesting reading… and I was particularly attentive as I enjoy several activities that are mentioned.  Bottom line: BASE jumping and high-altitude mountaineering are a fairly effective way from dispatching yourself from this mortal coil (pun intended), whereas sky- and SCUBA-diving are fairly equally safe.  Of course, this analysis doesn’t assess the potential physical and mental health benefits to be gained from spending lots of time getting exercise in the fresh air  (or water!).  For a wider discussion, see the preceeding piece on micromorts as a measurement tool.

Evaluating the extreme from a good vantage point 😉
Anaesthesia

SASA 2012 Presentations Available

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You’ll no doubt recall my rough notes from the 2012 South African Society of Anaesthesiologists Congress last month, which were surprising well recieved.  The good news for those that wanted more detail and info from the sessions I missed is that most of the presentations are now available in PDF format on the conference web page.

Click here for the list of presentations

 Click the link to open the list, and then either open the presentations or right-click and save them for your viewing pleasure.  Kudos to the organisers for the effort and to the presenters for allowing open access to their work.

General

Blog tweaks, tweets, upgrades and fiddles

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If you’re a regualr reader (or an observant occasional one) you’ll have noted that I have been adding some changes and upgrades to this blog in the last few weeks.  This is partly because I am a card-carrying gadgetologist (*grin*), but mostly because I am trying to keep riding the wave of ease of online media.  People want to have everything fed directly to their cortex in a continous stream, and be able to tweet, FaceBook (when did that become a verb?) and share effortlessly.  However, the essence – of simplicity and something interesting to read – is something I’m at pains to retain.  To balance this equation, I need some empiric data: your comments!

I’ve integrated the following recently:

  • Search function – top right and easy to spot from any page
  • Easier link to the galleries – mindless viewing pleasure
  • Email subscription function – new posts direct to your inbox!
  • Streamlined sharing, direct-to-email and direct-print links at the bottom of each post
  • Twitterfeed for those spontaneous thoughts and images

Behind the scenes, I’ve upgraded the blog’s engine and post archiving system, which should make it quick and easy to use.  There is also now a mobile interface, so you an read the blogin a pared-down form on your smartphone.  It is difficult for me to assess these changes and especialy compatibility across platforms , however, so I really do need your comments and insights.  Try the links, subscribe via mail, rant, enthuse or complain – I welcome it all!

General

Rambles from the Road – Mpumalanga’s Panorama Route

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My delightful and talented wife has been invited to present her Masters dissertation at a conference which is being held this week at a hotel bordering on the Kruger Park. To her credit, she invited me to come along, so with a week of leave in hand we flew off to Lanseria (near Johannesberg) and took a hired car into the hinterland. If you know my approach to hired cars (“They make the best 4×4’s”) you’ll already be imagining where this could take us…

Due to other commitments, Fran flew up 18 hours ahead of me, and being a sweet and doting husband I of course insisted that she take my new pride-and-joy GPS. It’s been more than five years since I had a new GPS, so I’m suitably excited about this one. (At this point, female readers are wondering what I’m on about, and the males are nodding appreciatively). In any case, I may as well go and buy another, as by the time I reached Gauteng it had a name (“Hannah” – it’s a Garmin Montana, capiche?) and has been claimed forever by my better half. True to her gentle and understanding nature, I am still allowed to program geocaches and press buttons if I ask nicely.

We have two days free time to get to Kruger and no commitments along the way. As a result, we have always been exactly where we wanted to be: wandering. Last night brought us (via various roadside stalls and geocaches) to the Blyde River Canyon, where we stayed surrounded by scores of polite, pale European tourists and perversely red-arsed baboons, in fairly equal proportions. At least the Germans and their consorts did not leave a calling card on our patio table to enhance the aroma of our morning coffee.

In the many intervening years since I last laid eyes on the Blyderivier it has lost none of its beauty, and has gained or retained an appellation I had not remembered: third largest canyon in the world. It is exceeded only by the Grand and Fish River Canyons, and is certainly the greenest of the three. What did surprise me was the quality of the surrounding attractions: either Mpumalanga Tourism or the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve has excelled in making sure that the various resorts, viewpoints and other amenities are neat, staffed and functional. They deserve much commendation, especially for the way in which (at least in appearance) the local communities have been integrated in managing and maintaining the attractions. I hope tourism in the area continues to thrive.

The road calls again; more to follow later!