Small airplanes are great transportation machines for getting from airport to airport, but they also provide a means to get to places and have off-airport adventures that couldn’t be achieved any other way. A new film to debut at Oshkosh tracks the adventures of a pilot and two rock-climbers who seek out three of Southern Africa’s most isolated rock faces, traveling via trike and a fixed-wing Cheetah microlight. The 19-day trip was a challenging one, with dangers presented by not only the difficult climbs, but also the mountainside flying, bad weather, uncertain landing areas, and eccentric bureaucrats. The film, titled “No Need for Parking — An African Rock Adventure,” features pilot Mike Blyth and climbers Marianne Schwankhart and James Pitman.
They describe the film as “spontaneous and anarchic,” and note that it offers “an object lesson in aircraft maintenance and contemporary free-spiritness, set to a kwela soundtrack.” The film will be shown at the EAA Museum auditorium, Wednesday July 30, at 11:30 a.m.
