Eye in the Sky
We chat to pilot Tim Irvine who always keeps an airborne eye out for Robben Island swimmers. From the air, he says, you can see that it really is “a big ocean” and a “big swim”!
Swimmers’ heads are usually down, watching the green and the odd jellyfish. But high overhead, there might be eyes looking down on you! Tim Irvine, who flies out of from Morningstar Airfield just east of Blouberg, grabbed for his camera recently when he saw a small boat in the sea. He had a hunch the boat was guiding a swimmer, so he went to have a look and shot off some pics of local skipper Roger Finch skippering swimmers.
He says he loves being able to show swimmers the magnitude of their achievement from his angle. “A friend of mine did it recently so great respect (I’m a runner not a swimmer).”
Tim explains how you take a pic while flying. “I sit with my camera next to me and the lens cover is off. The plane has a centre stick so I leave one hand on the control and the other can click the camera. My camera is old, but it’s a Canon which has a zoom, so I preselect what zoom I want then pick it up and take the pic. Planes are inherently stable and this plane can actually fly straight and level for about 30 seconds before I have to nudge it back straight and level. The issue with cameras is distraction and you do need to monitor engine temps, radios etc, so I allow myself a short chance to take a few pics and then move on. Shooting through a perspex canopy has issues with glare, and even the glare off the sea is an issue so I need to think how I am going to position myself for the shot I want.”
Tim flies two planes, a Vans RV8, and a Whisper Motorglider. The Whisper Motorglider is recognisable by its long wings, with 16m wingspan.
“I love looking out for whales, I see dolphins (they make a disturbance on the water which you can see from far away), I see seals and I have spotted a number of sunfish. Sharks I seldom spot and have only ever seen very few.”
Before you start ringing up Tim and demanding personalised air shots, he warns that even with a zoom lens, you can’t make out faces! “How high we go depends on the airspace, but south of the nuclear power station we remain below 2000 feet (big planes above us) and north we can go to 4000 feet and then further north past Atlantis we can go higher. Over built-up areas we remain at 1 500 feet. Over the sea we can go lower, but must remain capable of gliding to land. I am conscious of never being an annoyance.
“Other potential hazards include birds, you don’t want to hit those. When I go lower, I’m going fast, as if there is an engine problem I would convert speed into height and then use the height to glide to shore. This plane, which is a motor glider, is actually made of fibreglass and the wings are foam core with fiberglass around – I’m told it floats, but have absolutely no intention of testing it.”
