My first plane was a CESSNA 172 and was ditched into the Lagos lagoon by a friend. With the insurance money I acquired a
CESSNA 206.
We fitted a new engine, a
Continental IO-520-F (300 PS), a 3 blade constant speed propeller and new set of Sperry Avionics.
To fully utilize the aircraft I added the
IR (Instrument Rating) in Fort Worth (Texas) and the the
CPL / Multiengine Rating in
Reno (Nevada / USA) to my license.
The modern Avionic allowed me to fly in (almost) any weather but this could become sometimes rough in a tropical Thunderstorm. Tired of the toppled artificial horizon I also installed an electrical one and the problem was solved. I even considered a
Stormscope to avoid the worst Thunderstorm cells. The price of US$ 5'000 prevented it!
I had a lot of "expiriences" with my Cessna, and its loss was painful. We almost purchased a ""Piper Navajo and arranged the ferry flight to Nigeria but the military coup, declining business, the loss of my investment in
Summit Aviation and
other "minor" disasters, depleted my funds and
recovery was not in sight. All came to a crashing end. Quite literally!
My mother visited us in summer 1990 and we decided to make am extended tour around Nigeria. So we started in Lagos with 2 vehicles, the Range Rover driven by myself
and a Landcruiser with the trusted
Salomon as driver. Mami, Sandra, Nancy our driver and myself where in the party. Via Kaduna and Kano to the
Yankari Game Reserve. Than we headed south towards
Enugu and spent some time at the
Abraka River Resort.
From there via
Benin City back to Lagos. It was an interesting trip with many highlights.