This was by far the highlight of my entire year.... I received a phone call two days ago, from our forum member, Sean, inviting me to join Johan and himself for a flight in their new helicopter.
These are the lads that fly the helicopters between Oranjemund Airport and the Debeers Marine vessels....
Last night , I battled to sleep as I was like a wee boy looking forward to flying on my first helicopter ride......
It was interesting to don the headphones and to listen to the lads go through their pre flight ritual....
I had often driven past the airport on the way to the beach with the dog.... I would always stop to watch the helicopters taking off...
Now here I was, strapped in about to take off, what a gut wrenching feeling, you know the kind you get on a rollercoaster..... as that beast of machine powered effortlessly into the misty morning skies....
Yes, the weather was typical Omund weather for this time of the year, plenty of misty cloud around....
the lads headed out over the mouth and turned north up the coast.... the yacht club a speck beneath us......
I am led to believe we were travelling in the region of 300-320 km an hour.... and it was less than 10 minutes and we had just passed the old jetty at NO. 3 Plant......
I was stunned by the various colours the ocean kept reflecting back at us on the helicopter.... the sea was pretty flat......
The snaps are in no particular order.....
I was saddened to see the poor condition of the soccer, rugby and cricket fields.... as we stated on another topic on this forum, that contracting company should be brought to book for not doing a good job......
I have flown on fixed wing planes in my time, but in all honesty .... That helicopter felt so safe... Sean and Johan were raving about their new toy...... seems this bird can be programmed to fly itself to an extent....
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Interesting to see the Appie training centre still standing ....
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How is that for a trashed looking soccer field, looks more like on of those illegal dagga plantations in Mexico, perhaps the service controller cannot see how trashed the field is from his office...
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Notice how grey the vacant homes look....
Still a nice place to live....
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Thanks again to Johan and Sean for a really professional flight, Sigh! come to think of it, I don't remember seeing a stewardess serving drinks onboard...
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I have video footage of the trip, but still have a bit of editing and conversions to carry out before uploading....
Great day.....
Stunning !!
Absolutely stunning photo's Mike.
Nice . . . a walk down memory lane . . . no outer cresant?
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WOW, awesome to see, thanks. Amazing to think that my childhood memories of Oranjemund are of a VERY green oasis with the desert surrounding it. Looking at these, and then at some old photos from my folks, I have come to realize that we looked at everything with "green-tinged" eyes. Still an awesome town by the looks of it.
Thank you Thank you, Mike! Great photos and wonderful memories! daman
Hi Mike,
Thank you for the great photographs, I second Keith "on the trip down memory lane".
Have the Aliens been landing in Oranjemund lately? Ha ha!
What are all the strange circles on the sports fields?
Must be trying out a new irrigation system!?
Great to hear that things are picking up in Oranjemund again and that the gloom of the last 3 years seems to be lifting.
Thanks again
Debby and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a peaceful festive season and all of the best for 2012.
What a joy! Thanks for sharing that with us Mike.
daman
Great pic's of Oranjemund.......and here is the flight attendant Michael requested !!............. image04
(http://www.smiffys.com.au/admin/ProductImages/Large28879.jpg)
WRT to your comment on the soccer field and a hash plantation... yeah mon!
"Crop circle phenomenon" lies with the current water pressure in town. The automated irrigation system was laid out using the pressure specified for the the pop-ups installed such that the entire area would be covered by overlapping circles in 1 complete cycle of the program. If the pressure is not adequate, the pop-up may rise above the ground but the spray distance is insufficient to overlap the adjacent sprayer's circle.
So off we go back to the water supply thread...!!!
Thanks Mike for the really great photo's - just spent the last hour poring over them. Will send the link to my parents and Clayton to have a trip down memory lane as well !! So nice to see houses I recognise, the shops, roads and parks that are embedded in my childhood, teenage and adult memories! Places I walked as a child, places I explored with my own children ! You are right about the sadly reduced green of the fields and parks - even Swakopmund is getting greener !! And really horrible to see the trees dying in the vacant houses. And as for the eerie circluar rings on the soccer and rugby fields ...
Hopefully 2012 will be a great year for Oranjemund !
Thanks for posting great photos Mike!
It was an absolute pleasure to have you on board at last, you must be the most enthusiastic passenger I have ever flown! It really is great for us to fly with somebody who appreciates and enjoys it so much.
Now, if you could just bring Toonfandangl's hostie along next time.
Although it might be a bit distracting if we hit some turbulence...... Boobs
Thanks Sean, real professionals the two of you....
Frank! Can I borrow your Hostess?
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Hmmm, should I be concerned? yesno
BoomSmilie_anim BoomSmilie_anim BoomSmilie_anim image14
image071 :nono1: For Sean Perhaps, not me, I'm a happy chappie!
(http://www.sanza.co.uk/pics/8023.jpg)
Hey, I'm just quietly admiring Mike's photos whilst selflessly ensuring that my passengers are aware of the hazards that we face up there. You can't be too careful you know!
Particularly nice photos of the town there Mike, looking forward to seeing the video clip that you took.....
Great pics Mike. Thank you very much. Gave me a really good veiw of town. Wow!
Thanks Michael, I enjoyed also going down memory lane, I still say they were the good old days in my youth and teenage years, I lived there with my family for twelve years left Oranjemund 1963, and have visited twice since then, last visit was 10 years ago. Thank you for keeping in touch through Oranjemund on line and the photos are great. I missed the old Power Station that was a focul point to get my bearings and work myself around the town. I could just make out my home in first avenue. Lorna (Gibson) Stonefield