Mission 3 - Rainbow Airbridge to SOS Children's Village Umtata.

Second visit 27th March 2004

Saturday the 27th of March dawned crisp and clear, MET indicated clear skies for both Saturday and
Sunday, the clear blue winter sky is now showing itself every now and then and this suited us nicely.
We flew down on Saturday morning; the PA 28's departing Grand Central at 07h30 local, the two
Cessna's at around 08h30.

Ernie arranged four aircraft; two Cessna -182's and two PA-28's, all piloted by volunteer pilots, thanks go
to Armand, Lowrens, Francesco, and Wighardt for their support.

The two Cessna -182's flew direct to Umtata routing south of Estcourt, while the two Pipers routed via
Oribi Pietermaritsburg for refuelling, a flying time of some 3 and 4 hours respectively. Return flights
were split up, the two 182 Cessna's did a turn around and flew back after refuelling; the PA-28's stayed
over and flew back the following morning, Sunday the 28th.

Thank you to Air BP our number one sponsor for the fuel, sponsored for all our flights, to Dischem
Pharmacy for nappies and energy bars, Nestle for Nestea, cereals, soups, milk formulae, and some sweets, and Johnson and Johnson for a pack of mixed baby creams and powder. Approximately 750 kg's of product were delivered by the 4 aircraft.

On our first visit to Umtata we committed ourselves to a further visit to SOS Children's Village, our first
mission did not include a wide variety of items, and this one did. Our aim is also to support organisations
on an ongoing basis. SOS make use of the products themselves and support families in the broader
community who need a little help.

Report by Mike Ehrman