Desert Gazing - Sky Flight

[Daggerfall]

Hi Everyone

We had a very eventful night :) . We reached the meeting point around 9:00 with Agalon and Solmaz.The event started as planned and everything went smooth till we passed the underpass.

The first part was a fast drive on the track and the second part was a little bit technical and the last part I believe showed everyone a glimpse of the next step :)

We have experienced all kind of problems : some second tries, pop outs, dead jeeps :) etc but we resolved them one by one with great team work ( and nice coffee and snacks) and attacked to the next challenge. I think these kind of issues bring us together and strengthens the bond between our members and you become more than just another driver in another car :)

Luckily both jeeps died ( dead tired )at the same spot when we catch up with the other convoy and we took them out with members who wanted to leave and joined the convoys and kept driving another extra hour. I am impressed by the members willingness to continue after I offered them the extra hour to reach the target. And I believe they liked the last part :))

Where to start: thanks hakkoum for the double cable advise, thanks Baris and Kimoz for the amazing support and dedication they showed all night till the end. We took some hits by loosing supports but they took the extra load and flag and carried to the finish line. And Issa until he had to leave due to his electrical issue with his car.

And thanks to all our members who joined us last night .

[giorgio]

Sky Flight

Another amazing drive from the Almosters. The third night drive for the Ramadan period and the best out of three so far.
We were divided into two convoys, the first one was led by Booy and the second by Daggerfall.
I was (for a first time) second lead with Booy’s convoy and I was agreed we were the last ones to depart.
The drive started smooth with some desert dunes action on a slow paste. It was not more than 5 min into the drive when we came across the first convoy and we bypass them, continuing advancing on the track.
The drive had three parts, 1st part semi technical and small climbs, the second part was fast paste rally style with the lead car reporting speeds up to 125Km. As a second lead I only manage to reach 110Km while the end of the convoy as a result of the intensive dust and luck of visibility they reported 70-80km.
In the first and second part the convoy had minor delays (couple of second tries, and one stuck) but overall we were ahead of time.
As mentioned earlier the fast track was adrenaline instanced as the visibility was poor and in one part we had to slow down to connect the convoy.
The third part was the most fun and most challenging. This is where all the magic happened.
Everything started after the leader reached to the road and receiving confirmation that no one wanted to leave the drive.
As per schedule we had another hour of drive before the final destination. The third part started with a steep climb immediately after crossing the road. There we had some second tries. Pushing forward the drive became very technical and in the next 5 min we had several second tries and a stuck. The front cars was following the action in the back of the convoy via the radio and the scenario was that Hakkoum with the Explorer got stuck and Jock was his rescue mate. During the rescue we saw the second convoy passing next to us but the bad luck hit them too and now both convoys were stuck next to each other with the clock ticking who will advance first.
As mentioned above our convoy was on a rescue mode and immediately after reporting that the task was successfully completed, Jock called for a technical problem. His Jeep had a broken fun belt. It was a no brainer that the car could not continue and it had to be towed out to the main road for recovery. That mission was one that Booy and Mohannad undertook but not before Booy instructed us to connect with Daggerfall’s convoy so we can continue the drive.
Now when we change frequency and while we were trying to connect with them we figured out that they were not in any better shape than us. Issa had an electrical problem with his Jeep and they were trying to repair the problem.
Long story short Jock was pulled out and Issa’s car was fixed (at least good enough to drive himself and the people which wanted to leave) out to the main road.
After this Saga the remaining cars formed one convoy and they pushed forward, the drive continued to be technical on a more fast paste with big climbs and many spots with soft sand.
The second and third tries continued until we reached to the flat ground. The final stretch before our final destination.
At that point I was maybe five cars behind the lead car and right after Kaylee, the paste was high close to 90Km and the visibility at one point was down to 0, at that point I reached for my radio to call that I cannot see the car in front of me ( I am sure that Kaylee could see my head lights but I could not see her tail lights) when suddenly I see in front of me a dune spill over stretching almost to the middle of the road. I was going too fast and I was too close for me to maneuver my way around it, so I had no choice but to go over it with my left side. I remember telling my passenger “hold tight we will Roller over”
The car hit the small dune and the impact was severe. The car went pass over 40 degrees with its left side lifting to its side. We were officially on our way for a high speed roll over.
Although my thought may not have been the correct one for that moment and scenario one think came to my mind “DON’T FIGHT GRAVITY” I felt the car throwing me violently to the right (on two wheels) and I follow the line that I was thrown at while relaxing the accelerator tried to gain as much space to give time to the car to drop to its left side again.
The impact from the drop was severe. Hitting the ground the car fished tailed to the right hitting the edge of the road (elevated surface). From that point on I felt that I had control back and the danger had passed. I floored down the gas petal and brought the car to a straight line when suddenly the whole car stated making noise and driving out of control (back side). I managed to stop, calling on the radio that I had an accident and the following cars should stay at the side of the road and to stop.
When I came out of the car to my surprise I only had a pop out on the back right side. With the assistance of Agalon, Daggerfall, Baris and couple of other members, we quick took care of the issue and we all exit and concluded the drive.

This was one of the most interested drives I have done so far and the near miss high speed roll over experience was one to remember.

P.S Leaving the drive and as I was going home I figure out that my steering wheel was out of alignment by a lot and I had several light on my dashboard. So today after work it will be a visit the garage for repairs day.

Thank you all for the amassing drive. See you all soon. yaeh am not durnk

[Sostick]

Wow Giorgio! I didn’t realize all of that! Glad. You are safe!!!! The funniest thing is that we were pacing ahead of schedule till 2 thirds of the drive and when Marshal Booy asked if anyone wanted to leave nobody did it. And then the fun started with the 2 broken cars. Though the wait was worth 100%. The last stretch has been amazing. Regarding “showed everyone a glimpse of the next step :)”: you read my mind! I was clearly feeling we were raising the bar. I was wondering how could I have make it with stock tires and suspensions. I probably would have been stuck many times! As usual thank you all for organizing it! Another amazing drive and please don’t stop organizing midweek night drives! They make my week!!!!

[Scorpio]

Sky Flight

At that point I was maybe five cars behind the lead car and right after Kaylee, the paste was high close to 90Km and the visibility at one point was down to 0, at that point I reached for my radio to call that I cannot see the car in front of me ( I am sure that Kaylee could see my head lights but I could not see her tail lights) when suddenly I see in front of me a dune spill over stretching almost to the middle of the road. I was going too fast and I was too close for me to maneuver my way around it, so I had no choice but to go over it with my left side. I remember telling my passenger “hold tight we will Roller over”
The car hit the small dune and the impact was severe. The car went pass over 40 degrees with its left side lifting to its side. We were officially on our way for a high speed roll over.
Although my thought may not have been the correct one for that moment and scenario one think came to my mind “DON’T FIGHT GRAVITY” I felt the car throwing me violently to the right (on two wheels) and I follow the line that I was thrown at while relaxing the accelerator tried to gain as much space to give time to the car to drop to its left side again.
The impact from the drop was severe. Hitting the ground the car fished tailed to the right hitting the edge of the road (elevated surface). From that point on I felt that I had control back and the danger had passed. I floored down the gas petal and brought the car to a straight line when suddenly the whole car stated making noise and driving out of control (back side). I managed to stop, calling on the radio that I had an accident and the following cars should stay at the side of the road and to stop.
When I came out of the car to my surprise I only had a pop out on the back right side. With the assistance of Agalon, Daggerfall, Baris and couple of other members, we quick took care of the issue and we all exit and concluded the drive.

wtfsmilie A creepy feeling went up my spine after reading that.....happy to hear that you are safe and sound yuush

[Mohamadahshan]

Morning night owls,

Sky Flight was by far my favorite night drive, the 3rd part on the technical dunes was amazing, fast paced. I feel bad for the one who left and missed out the best part. But, Hey! Best is yet to come with Almost 4x4.

Looking forward to joining the next drive, technical dunes are more attractive at night cool

[optimus]

Hi All,

First of all, thanks to Bu Salem for organizing this drive. Though he was not present but the drive was outstandingly managed & coordinated by Booy & Daggerfall. Thanks a lot, to both of them.

I reached at the meeting point around 2100 hrs. Most of the members had reached and were busy in getting ready their 4wd’s. I too started to deflate the tires, mounting the flag & thanks to Kareem for helping me cleaning the air filter. Once this was done Booy whistled for the briefing.

Members were divided into 2 convoys. One was lead by Booy & 2nd by Daggerfall. I was in the convoy lead by Daggerfall, KiMoz 2nd lead, Baris sweeping. Since the drive was designed to be fast paced, Issa & Jose were placed within the convoy to ensure its safety by keeping it linked.

As the members lined up behind the lead car, I placed myself at no 5, In my front was Kaylee, at my 6 was Roiees. The drive started with some warm up and then suddenly after 200 mtrs it started to gain the momentum. It was not far that we had our first casualty. Kaylee had a popout at a tricky angle.

Along with the support team, the members also joined to help but after shoveling for around 15 mins we couldn’t find a perfect place to place the jack underneath, the chasis was almost touching the ground plus the angle was not in favor. Finally, Daggerfall decided to shift the car to the flat ground. Issa pulled it from the rear, quickly the arrangements were put in place & the popout was fixed. The drive continued with few 2nd tries till I remember at one place driving even at 80 km/h and at some places driving through huge dust clouds where I couldn’t see anything beyond 10 mtrs.

Then came the point where we crossed the other convoy, we could see they were trying some recoveries, just after crossing them lenny got stuck so we had to stop. So, both the convoy’s were stand still just 50 mtrs apart. Issa came for Lenny’s recovery. Once the recovery was safely done, Booy came to our frequency and flagged Daggerfall that they have got some mechanical issue with one of the Jeep’s, needs support so he could escort it back to the tarmac at the same time Issa too flagged that he has suddenly developed some issues with the electronics of his 4wd. Daggerfall calmly took the situation undercontrol and told to us to wait and he be right back. We were 2 dunes away from the place of situation. Finally, it was decided that Booy’s convoy would also join with us as he I believe he stayed with Jock to ensure that both him & Thor reach their destinations safely and if anyone wanted to leave they could follow him.

After both the jeeps were pulled out of the desert, Daggerfall came back and took us for the last 1-hour roller coaster. I enjoyed alot this part. It had everything from small technical dunes, Climbs, sudden decents, Gatch road etc.

We had the last popout when we were heading towards the main road. We were driving on the gatch road. I knew Yorgoch was driving front of me but I couldn’t see him due to the dust. We had 40-50 mtrs gap. Suddenly he radioed ‘Guys I had an accident, don’t drive on the right side’ I was like my God hope he is okay, hope nothing bad happened to him. I changed my track and started to cruise on the left side o when I passed by him, stopped, checked he had a popout. I Radioed Daggerfall about the situation. He said he will come back to help fix the popout but let us the rest of the convoy carry on as it was only about half a kilometer from the main road. We reached near the road, inflated. Got ready to leave.

Yet another challenging day spent with my 2nd family called almost 4x4.

Once again I thank Bu Salem for organizing, Booy & Daggerfall for leading, Baris,Kimoz,Issa,Jose, Agalon & Solmaz for supporting.!

Till Next time!

[giorgio]

Sky Flight

At that point I was maybe five cars behind the lead car and right after Kaylee, the paste was high close to 90Km and the visibility at one point was down to 0, at that point I reached for my radio to call that I cannot see the car in front of me ( I am sure that Kaylee could see my head lights but I could not see her tail lights) when suddenly I see in front of me a dune spill over stretching almost to the middle of the road. I was going too fast and I was too close for me to maneuver my way around it, so I had no choice but to go over it with my left side. I remember telling my passenger “hold tight we will Roller over”
The car hit the small dune and the impact was severe. The car went pass over 40 degrees with its left side lifting to its side. We were officially on our way for a high speed roll over.
Although my thought may not have been the correct one for that moment and scenario one think came to my mind “DON’T FIGHT GRAVITY” I felt the car throwing me violently to the right (on two wheels) and I follow the line that I was thrown at while relaxing the accelerator tried to gain as much space to give time to the car to drop to its left side again.
The impact from the drop was severe. Hitting the ground the car fished tailed to the right hitting the edge of the road (elevated surface). From that point on I felt that I had control back and the danger had passed. I floored down the gas petal and brought the car to a straight line when suddenly the whole car stated making noise and driving out of control (back side). I managed to stop, calling on the radio that I had an accident and the following cars should stay at the side of the road and to stop.
When I came out of the car to my surprise I only had a pop out on the back right side. With the assistance of Agalon, Daggerfall, Baris and couple of other members, we quick took care of the issue and we all exit and concluded the drive.

wtfsmilie A creepy feeling went up my spine after reading that.....happy to hear that you are safe and sound yuush

Imagine the feeling that went through my spine

[Rooies]

Good day all

Third night drive & was really looking forward to test my new tyres again thumbsup . The convoys were dealt in, I was with Daggerfall just behind Optimus. As stated by Optimus it was not long before we had the first hiccup, but as usual everybody jumped into help & before long we were back "on the road". The track had ups & downs, twist & turns, the BF's did not let me down, were in the past I was slipping& sliding, now I was keeping in the "road" were I was supposed to be. When we got to the road crossing I remember getting stuck there previously (lessons learned), first gear & a heavy right foot was all it took to clear the dune. Some places the pace was fast & at stage I lost Optimus, yes even with his glowing flag pole, but that soon was a thing of the past & we pushed on. After a while we caught Booy's convoy, could see there was some problems, Lenny got stuck, we all stopped & shortly Booy called Daggerfall & requested that his convoy joined us. Optimus, Kareem & myself pulled out the chairs & relaxed it bit while the issues were resolved & Daggerfall took some people back to the road.

Then the fun started, Booy's convoy joined, the route got more technical, nice climbs, drops, twist & turns, fast, slow, something of everything. We hit the flat sections, the speed increased as well as the dust. Next moment we heard "accident", fortunately it was only a pop out. We got to the main road all safe & sound except for the 2 fallen comrades.

Overall another awesome drive & looking forward to next weeks drive.

Take care everybody & hopefully see you in the sand next week.
Rooies

[Mohanad]

surprisingly, last night was my second night drive with the club ! i was with Booy's convoy and the first part was amazing and smooth. we did not have any recoveries or pop outs so we enjoyed unstoppable drive. until Jeeps decided to give us some action melt
i decided to go with Booy to assist Jock with his Technical issue and the convoy continued and merged with Daggerfall's convoy.

well, i wish Jock & Issa will get their jeeps back on time for the Solo Bats ninja

thanks to our Marshals for organizing this drive.

See ya in the sand.

[Johanna]

Hello everyone,

wow Giorgio, your trip report reads like a thriller. I did not recognize yesterday that your situation was really serious...Good to hear that it was just a pop out and not a high speed rollover...

But from the beginning...
I reached the meeting point early and after the usual car preparations and the chit chatting our convoy lead by Daggerfall started first.
We just passed the first dunes and I got a pop out due to a rookie mistake. I forgot to engage the 4WD. I was annoyed with myself, this was absolutely not necessary.
Thanks guys for all the helping hands and sorry for the delay.

after the pop out fixing we continued the drive through small dunes and flat areas. Especially the flat areas where pure adrenaline, as we reached around 100 km/h with nearly zero visibility. As Giorgio mentioned, that you can see the car behind you does not necessarily mean he/she can see you too. So for some moments I was completely blind, I couldn´t see the car in front of me, just hoping for the best. This was a thrilling experience, I love it.

After both convoys got connected and some drivers left us, we continued the drive in an area with climbs and soft sand, except the usual second tries we were facing no serious issues.

On the last few kilometres we drove on flat ground very fast with poor to zero visibility, Giorgio reported an accident, Daggerfall and some others went to check and help, while Kimoz brought the rest of us back to the road.
Later we learned that Giorgio only had a pop out, but the circumstances I just read today. Glad that nothing serious happened to you!

This was the best of the three night drives we had so far, a thrilling and action packed night to remember!

I guess this was the first drive with a perfect running car, after I changed tires, cleaned the air filter, installed the kill switch and replaced the air flow sensor it was amazing to see and feel what the patrol is capable of.
We ended the drive at around 1am, I reached home at 2am, still full of adrenaline and not able to sleep, but very happy :)

@Solmaz it was nice to have you has a passenger, its good to have some female company ;)

Thanks to the marshals and the support, again a amazing trip. Looking forward to see you all soon in the sand