Flight Log: Lüderitz FYLZ -- Windhoek FYWH 28.11.2010

Distance: 266 NM
scheduled Flying time: 2h 16min
Filed Route: DCT
ATIS Lüderitz: No Atis, Sandstorm
Clearance: dct destination climb FL 090
Take Off Time: 12:10 (UTC)
ATIS Windhoek: Cavok wind 160 18 kts
Landing Time: 14:45 (UTC)
28.11.2010 Lüderitz/Windhoek: After about 20 minutes' waiting in the terminal building, the emigration officers from Lüderitz arrived. They were slightly amused that we were thinking of staying in Lüderitz on a day like today. But we had already decided to fly on straight away.

We quickly talked to the airport officer who collected the landing fees. We asked how and where we could submit a flight plan to Windhoek. After checking the fuel in the plane, we realised there was plenty. Flying on to Windhoek seemed a very good idea. We feared that when opening the caps too much sand could get into the tanks and then we'd have other problems to contend with.

Submitting the flight plan by phone was no problem. After about a quarter of an hour, we were back in Marie and taxing along runway 22. In the meantime the sandstorm had got stronger and the upwind was now at about 45 knots. We took off and ascended. The higher we got, the less we heard of the abrasive noise of the sand grains on the Cessna's metal. The flight to Windhoek was very calm because the sandstorm ceased at about 50 nautical miles from the coast. The heavy wind had also now stopped. Sand storms seem to be a phenomenon along the coast. Sonja Fröhlich from Hanover's local paper the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung hat told me during an interview about her experiences with a devilish wind in Lüderitz. At the time, I didn't really believe it, but had real proof now.

A very arid desert lay below us with several mountain ranges. The nearer we got to Windhoek, the more we saw the odd settlement, farms and streams lined with trees. Here in the desert it clearly rains much more than we had thought.

We were on the flight towards Windhoek International Airport. About 30 nautical miles away from the airfield, the stormscope showed us that a huge thunderstorm was brewing about 60 miles east of the airfield. And we really did see a huge blanket of cloud between the harmless cumulus clouds. But as we would be landing soon at Windhoek International, this was no problem for us. After landing, we asked an airport employee where the aircraft company Westair was located. He on the other hand was quite surprised and asked us if we were really at the right airfield. He went on to say that Westair's maintenance facilities were at Eros Airport and not the International. It had taken us till then to notice that we'd been talking about the wrong airfield the whole time. Our destination was not Windhoek International, but Windhoek's local airfield which is called Eros.

The upshot of this discussion was that we paid the landing fees and submitted another flight plan in order to carry out the ten-minute flight to Eros airfield.

Now we really did seem to have a problem. Because in the meantime the thunderstorm had got closer and it was raining too. And to cap it all, Marie wouldn't start. When we switched her on, she did start running briefly, but stopped again. What were we to do? Our first theory was proved wrong that the plane might have got too much avgas when started while the engine was still hot. Martin got out briefly, looked underneath the plane, but found no fuel marks. The second theory: lack of fuel. We tried to start the plane up again and used the external avgas pump as well. And surprisingly Marie started - now that the rain had begun to get heavier. Being grounded at the airfield because of a faulty engine would have made us quite unhappy.

Our explanation for the engine's grumpy behaviour was that perhaps due to the airfield's altitude (5,000 feet) and the high temperature air bubbles could have formed in the fuel line. These had to be expelled into the pump so that the engine could run smoothly. The maintenance team at Eros airfield confirmed our suspicions later. So once the engine had started, we took off for Eros. The airfield was located to the west. Luckily the thunderstorm came from the east. So we flew ahead of the thunderstorm to Eros.

After landing, we parked the machine and looked for a taxi. Of course we hadn't booked a hotel room either. Eventually we checked into the Kalahari Sands Hotel. This was a hotel that matched our sandstorm experiences perfectly and was otherwise a typical desert hotel with a casino.