Inspiring Amanzimtoti woman flying high at 81-years-old
Still chasing her dreams at 81-years-old, Athlone Park resident Lynn Schroder took to the skies in a microlight aircraft.
AGE is just a number for an 81-year-old Amanzimtoti woman, Lynn Schroder, who spontaneously decided to experience the skies in a whole new way, hoping to inspire others to follow suit and chase their dreams. She took flight in a microlight aircraft on May 16.
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Microlight aircraft are designed to carry no more than two persons and cannot exceed certain weights, depending on whether it is a landplane or floatplane. Additionally, stalling speed at the maximum weight cannot exceed 45 knots.
Lynn said she had always wanted to fly in a microlight and on the day, her husband, Lawrence Schroder, was fishing.
“I noticed these beautiful aircraft flying about and I thought ‘that’s just what I want to do’ and after searching on Google where the nearest airway was, I saw one at Craigieburn and asked Lawrence if he could take me. The day was absolutely beautiful and we charged off and got there before 14:30. It was wonderful. It had a seat at the front for the pilot, and one at the back for me. Once we went up, we went all over the land and sea. I could almost touch the sea, it was everything I had hoped it would be,” said Lynn.
She flew with Noel Mcdonogh in his weight shift control microlight, also known as a flexwing, and is similar to a hanglider with a ‘trike’ unit suspended underneath it.
The dynamic husband and wife duo together have swum the Midmar Mile 66 times, cycled in 11 countries, caravanned to places like Drakensberg and the Kruger National Park. While Lynn has run 194 parkruns in Amanzimtoti, Lawrence has completed the Comrades Marathon a dozen times.
Lynn said, “I felt that so many people do not realise their dreams. It’s no good saying ‘could have’ rather than making it happen. I hope that in some way, my experience can inspire people to go now and try for themselves whatever it is they have been putting off.”
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