By Sean Cronin

Gavin Neil of the Mozambique Aero Club invited South African pilots to participate in a fly-away to the picturesque lagoon town of Praia do Bilene. Situated 90 miles northeast of Maputo, Bilene is nestled by the crystal-clear Uembje Lagoon, with the roaring Indian Ocean just beyond the towering dunes.

Bilene Airport is positioned slightly inland from the town at an elevation of 131 feet. Its asphalt runway 01/19 stretches 692 meters, which is more than adequate for light aircraft, given its sea-level location.

Ten aircraft traveled to Mozambique, gathering at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport early on the morning of Friday, 22 September, to clear customs. They arrived from various locations, including Silver Creek, two from the Hazyview area, others from Bapsfontein, The Coves, and even Swaziland, making this a truly international event.

The weather cooperated on Friday, allowing everyone to have a smooth flight to Maputo. Some of us enjoyed breakfast en route, which was quite an interesting experience in an open cockpit Bathawk. Gavin greeted the group in Maputo and assisted everyone in passing through customs with ease. He is currently in discussions with Mozambican officials to potentially reduce airport fees in the country, aiming to attract more private aviators to their beautiful nation.

The flight from Maputo was undoubtedly the weekend's highlight. There were literally hundreds of whales, and the aerial view of them was breathtaking.

On Saturday morning, poor weather halted all flights, so the entire group headed into town for shopping and sightseeing. It cleared up enough later in the afternoon to permit a brief flight around the lagoon area, where the whales were once again very active just off the coast.

On Sunday, the weather turned quite nasty, preventing anyone from taking off, which extended the weekend into a long one since no one could fly back home. Not that anyone was complaining.

The day was filled with socializing and sampling the local prawns, prego rolls, and, of course, the local beer.

On Monday, the weather was favorable for the party, allowing everyone to take off for their journey home. After passing through customs at KMIA, they each went their separate ways, yet shared a unanimous thought: they must definitely do this again.

A special thanks to Gavin for organizing this on his own and working to make Mozambique more accessible to the general aviation community in Southern Africa.