I flew into a little dirt strip in the bush yesterday. The strip was 800 meters long so it wasn't really a short strip but there was a 5 degree bend in the middle of it that made the takeoff a bit "Sporty" shall we say. Also the dirt was a little soft in the rollout area and I dug my wheels in a bit when I turned around to taxi back.
We shut down and transferred our gear to a waiting helicopter that was taking the stuff on to a hunting lodge. While we were doing that, the entire village came out to greet us! They don't often see an airplane on their strip, and I imagine having an airplane and a helicopter there at the same time was a very rare sight.
During the loading of the helicopter I noticed some large animal tracks that were left by something big. I asked the helo pilot what animal made them and he said, "Oh those are mouse tracks.... Hippo-Pot-o-Mouse!" South Africans have a curious sense of humor...
Having seen that, I will make it clear to management that leaving the PC12 on the strip overnight is NOT an option! I'd hate to come back in the morning to find that a Hippo destroyed a wing cause it wanted to scratch an itch on its back.
I am hoping to take an interpreter with me on my next flight. My Portuguese isn't good enough for communication and I need someone to explain to the villagers that they need to get off the runway when I start my takeoff roll!
More pics to follow in the next few days.
RC
