B.E.R.G.

PSS FEST Volksrust 2011

2011-11-07T04:22:00.013+02:00

The SU-35 Sukhoi “Flanker” Russia Jet of Mike May on its Maiden flight.

The feld fire near Oom Louis Farm house made this picture even more realistic.

The settings on My Nikon D90 was As follows: 1/1000 sec, f5.6 ,ISO 100 ,

18- 105mm nikor lensSet at 40mm.

BERG Photo Of the year

2011-10-31T03:53:00.001+02:00

HTL # 3 (Photo's by Evan Shaw)

2011-04-04T15:54:00.028+02:00

Eeeish! How close is that?????

Get out of my &%$#^@* way !!!!!

"Turn right Dammit!!!!!"

Lionel the Slave Driver
PS. Read his comment below!!!!

Derek with his patched up 2met

The flight line

Close formation on landing

Rudi

Another spot landing

Ivan

The Wolfie Snarl

Nigel's little boy

Running repairs

Right - Piet's Thulani on approach. Wolfie taking evasive action!!

Below - Derek and Ian

And finally young Jason "The rising STAR"

Vloksrust midsummer trip 2010

2011-01-10T12:29:00.035+02:00

Over the last 3 years between Christmas and New Year we have done this relaxed and informal slope soaring trips and so was the 2010 event. Every year as we set out towards Volksrust there is always the concern about the weather and lately even more so because of the extreme weather conditions we experiencing. So you can land up with no slope soaring possible at all or on the other hand the conditions could be perfect.

It so happened this year that we had a perfect day one on the North West slope and the next two days with very light and variable winds. It is for this reason that you have to take an assortment of gliders that can handle from no wind to a howling 40 kph wind. This means taking more than one glider and depending on conditions you could end up flying some of them and the rest could not even get assembled.

However what made this year’s planning more difficult was that after the 3 days on the mountain we were set to travel down to the KZN South coast to spend the a few more days on the coast and while we were there we were to meet my younger daughter at the King Shaka airport to spend some time with us and afterwards travel back with us home.

Before we left we had a small rehearsal as to make sure all of us knew what space were available as I had no tow–hitch fitted to my personal vehicle and therefore could not use my trailer. Obviously as you will see in the next pictures my plans did not worked out as planned.

If somewhere in the future you land up with a similar situation you could do what I ended up doing on the home leg of our journey.

HS Buccaneer PSS Build (Part 3)

2010-12-13T13:35:00.001+02:00

The 1/72 scale Airfix kit that I build in Part 1 and Part 2 provided me with a lot of information but did not include a much needed front view of the buccaneer. I had to revert back to a Google search to find a drawing that contained cross sections of the fuselage. With the aid of this drawing I then scaled the 13 formers to I/7^th scale that I required. Six of the Formers (where the jet engines are situated) were too big to print on a normal A4 (unless you tile them) printer and I had them plotted by my brother on his A2 plotter.

After cutting them out and pasting it on thin Formica I will cut and shape those to the outlines of the plotted formers to make up templates for my hot wire foam cutter. Up to yesterday I managed to do 5 of the smaller formers with the bigger 8 still to be done. Once all the formers are done I will order the foam and proceed cutting it, building up the fuse in sections as per Formers 1 to 13.

This technique differs somewhat from the top view /side view approach and may require more work but I think that I will end up with a more accurate / symmetrical fuselage especially more so because of the complex curves of the buccaneer’s fuselage.

For now I am happy with progress and I am including some pictures of the build as up to this date.

I don’t know when I will make the next posting and therefore would like to this opportunity to whish all the BERG Blog readers a Merry Christmas and a happy new year (2011)-May all your landings be good ones.

There is a Buccaneer in my front garden (PSS build Part 2)

2010-12-04T14:42:00.006+02:00

Over the last 3 evenings I managed to finish the Buccaneer 1/72 scale model and I must say that this project is now starting to draw me in. I do not think that building the plastic kit was a bad idea as I have learned a lot and now getting more and more excited about the project.

I did not have any major problems with the build, as many reports pointed out, and found that my fuselage top and bottom lined up ok, however the right hand saddle where the wing would slot in had a 1 mm lip but I shaved this off and had no further problems with the fit after that.

My biggest problem was in and around the cockpit area, but somehow just carried on no matter what went wrong. The biggest setback I had was when the fuel nozzle disappeared after I had glued in position. I did not wait for the glue/paint to dry properly and carried on working and when I turned the model over knocked it off. Later on I realised that the nozzle was gone and started a massive search that lasted for at least a half-hour before it finely found it - stuck to my left outside forearm. The buccaneer won’t be Buccaneer without this all important feature and if I did not find would not know how to manufacture a small part like this, but in the end everything worked out I am happy with the result.

The only things that I have done extra were to make a stand to mount the Buccaneer on because I wanted to see how the Buccaneer would look like in full flight. Of the 144 pieces that came with the kit there must be about 60% or more left (fuel tank and bomb parts).

I did not fit them on the wings as they would crowd the underside so much so that you would not see any part of the wing! Anyway I think it will take about the same time or more just to assemble and paint all the bombs that the Buccaneer could carry. I probably will assemble them, but for now I don’t want to lose the focus on the building the 1/7 scale PSS Buccaneer.

I don’t think that I will get much more done in terms of building this Des but I would like to get the plans drawn up so that I can start building in Jan 2011.

I posted some pictures that I found really inspiring to me as you can see with them you do not need to imagine how the Buccaneer would look like flying on Volksrust slope and I hope that you will enjoy as much as I did taking them.

Roll-on 2011!

Building the HS (Hawker Siddeley) Buccaneer S50 PSS Part 1

2010-12-03T09:34:00.002+02:00

Well there you have it, a brave statement to make to start a build like this but this time round I decided not to rush this PSS project so rather that the 40 days build of the Aero Commander I have given myself at least 40 weeks or even more!

Not easy decision to make but I am sure it will be worth all the effort. So yesterday I bought an Airfix model Kit of the Buccaneer HS S50 1/72 scale (the same version that SAAF use to fly) and I was pleasantly surprised that kit included the SAAF livery and decals of the Air Force at the time (No 426), late 1960 to early 1990).

The main reason for acquiring the 1/72 kit was for the detail, 3 view drawings and other information that one can obtain from the kit, a luxury that I did not have at the time I build the Rockwell Aero Commander.

After studding the plastic kit and browsing the Internet it became clear to me that even the plastic kit itself was not an easy build! So I decided to build the kit even though that I am not a expert at building plastic model aircraft kit’s and so doing can get the feel for what I am letting myself into.

I have found at least one good build of this model so I will try and follow it closely and see how it works out.

The idea at this stage and similar to Aero Commander, is to scale the buccaneer to 1/7 of the original size making the scale wingspan just under 2 meter. I might also stretch wing somewhat as to improve the wing loading, although the 22 ounces per square foot of the Aero Commander work well I would not like to exceed this figure as a starting point.

Once again I will photograph and post the Build as I proceed with the work.

Here are some pictures to start with.

More Pictures of The Cesna 'Dragonfly'

2010-11-16T08:32:00.001+02:00

GEMS PSS 2010 Event a major successes.

2010-11-14T23:40:00.026+02:00

Paul Carnel’s winning entry with the Cesena ‘Dragonfly' does a close in fly-by on the Volksrust North slope.

The wind was howling on Saturday, so much in fact, it was very difficult to lift the bigger models into the wind and launch. In the video below, take note how the wings are bent downwards by the force of the wind until Norbert manages to get them up and flying just before the launch. Also note how the guys shirts are flapping in the wind!!

Evan Launching Izak’s Mig 7 for it’s Maiden flight.

Paul receiving the winner’s trophy from Evan Shaw.

The 2010 GEMS PSS event over this weekend started on Saturday with excelent conditions for the entire day with a steady North westerly wind of +/- 30 kph and at times peaked as high as 40 kph. This proved to be Ideal conditions for Pauls ‘Dragonfly’ my Aero Commander and Norbit’s Jet. Sunday however, some low cloud set in and the wind changed direction to easterly. Despite this Norbet flew his 6 met SB10. Not exactly a PSS, but spectacular none the less!

There were not many slope gliders that didn't take to the air and everyone had a ball of a time. Thanks to a well run Event from the GEMS club. Here are just a few of the many pictures that we took over the weekend.

Evan Launching the Aero Commander

Norbit’s Jet Fly By.

The War-birds squadron displaying how to do formation flying.

Paul’s "Splatfire" did not got shot down in a dogfight with some other war birds, it just promptly explode on a perfectly normal landing !

By Sunday the wind turned Easterly and most of the pilots had already stared the journey back, however we manage to take this group photo with the aid of 3 photographer’s and if you're wandering what Evan is doing on the ground take a look at the picture below.

I took my E-slope Mini Pulse with and it had no problem flying in the high wind conditions we had on Saturday, but unfortunately the way I mounted the wing proved to be the weak point, breaking away from the fuse on landing, (no major damage and it can be fixed in half-hour or so.) Flying out over the slope I never needed to run the motor as there was so much lift. However the one time I needed it was when I came to far back over the slope and go into some serious turbulence just behind the edge of the slope. I just open the motor for a burst and it shot forward back in to the smooth air within a few moments.

To all the Members of the GEMS club, thanks for a very relaxed and pleasant weekend.

Now to think of a PSS topic for next year’s event!.

Seems Izak was very upset the weekend came to an end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Actually the ravages of flying in very windy conditions and facing the setting sun on Volksrust west facing slope)

Berg Picture of the Year (2010)

2010-10-24T20:44:00.003+02:00

(Click on the picture to open it in a new window and then click on the picture again to make it bigger)

This picture collage was compiled consisting of 11 pictures all taken of the last 11 months of postings from the BERG blog.

Thanks to all of you that have contributed to this year’s postings.

(pictures and articles)

I hope that next year’s postings on the BERG blog will be as rewarding.

Fireworks at BERG Nats

2010-10-04T17:13:00.017+02:00

And this is the result of Juanita's now famous "flaming exit" speed run. The model was rather far away and rather low on the last leg of her speed run and "landed" on the HT wires across the road from the B.E.R.G. field.

There was a big spark with the model disintigrating immediately and before we knew it, the dry grass was alight. To make matters worse, there was a bee hive situated in the burning long grass making firefighting a tad difficult.

Here is Juanita with the only parts of her model salvaged:
the towhook and canopy!

E-slope Mini Pulse successful maiden flight

2010-10-02T21:26:00.010+02:00

About a year and 6 months ago I bought a Mini Pulse electric kit from a LHS. At the time these kits were hard to find but if you did found one on shelf in a hobby shop like I did you don’t even argue about the price and just buy it like I have done.

At the time the kit coast around R1250.00 and took about 2-3 evenings to assemble and install my radio gear. But here comes the catch, the Mini Pulse is tail dragger and if you want to ROG it, you will need a reasonable length of smooth run way to do so. The same argument also holds true for when you want to land it.

I was hoping to fly it at the Berg field but as you can see in the pictures the grass is not even enough to allow ROG. So the next thing it did was to hand launch the Mini Pulse only to find that on landing the undercarriage was ripped out and ending up with two neat holes punched into the wing were the wheel pads went in.

After repairing the damage the next thing was to find a field were one could ROG and land the Mini Pulse. So I ended up going all the way to the new GEMS field (in the mean time all forms of e-flight have been banded here as well) and at last I could take off and land from any direction. Now the only problem was to travel the distance but as keen modeler I did not mind doing the trip, however this set my mind into thinking mode and after speaking to Izak Theron (he also fly a Mini Pulse at GEMS) about the undercarriage problem and the possibility of removing it so that I can hand launch and land it on the BERG field, he pointed out to me that the next Items in line will be the under wing mount servos and then the fixed prop that will hit the ground on landing.

So Izak suggested that I mount the servos on top of the wing and ad a folding prop in order to save the prop and electric motor from damage on landing. After milling the Ideas around a bit I thought that I would rebuild the Mini Pulse from scratch with foam and a bagged wing construction including all modifications that we spoke about. The building took about four to five weeks and the Turninge 480 motor, speed control and lipo-battery were bought from Hobby King. The AUW came just under 1 Kg (without the undercarriage) and that is about 100 gram heavier than the normal Mine Pulse.

So as you can see I made the maiden flight yester day and it flew strait away the only difference that I could detect is slightly less vertical performance due to the extra weight. Landing now is now more a pleasure than a headache and as you can see after three landings on the Berg field I could hardly notice any damage on the underside of the Mini Pulse.

It would now also be possible to fly the Mini Pulse from the slope and you can be sure it won’t stay behind on my next trip to Vloksrust , and O yes if you are lucky enough to fly on tar runway you can always put the undercarriage back.

I would like thank Izak Theron for all the Ideas that made this really such a fun project and for Jogen that took all those stunning shots of the maiden flight.

Spectrem Air operates a much modified Basler DC3-TP67 for airborne mineral exploration based out of South Africa. The aircraft was converted at the end of 1992, and has been operating as a turbo-prop since 1993. More photos here http://www.douglasdc3.com/safrica/safrica.htm

More Nationals Pictures

2010-09-30T17:38:00.027+02:00

Almost ideal weather, great company and good food for a full
three days of flying flying and more flying. Our B.E.R.G 2010
Soaring Nationals held over the long weekend was a resounding success. Thanks to all too many to mention who put in
so much effort to make it all possible.

BERG Nat's 2010

2010-09-27T08:24:00.004+02:00

Pictures from Volksrust (last weekend) and Berg( this weekend)

2010-09-13T02:38:00.000+02:00

Thulane's maiden flight.

2010-07-26T09:34:00.000+02:00

The thrill of Flying

2010-06-21T08:51:00.017+02:00

It all started on the 25 of Dec last Year (2009) when I opened the most unusual Xmas box you can think of. A small purple package the size of a Cd audio disk, and two somewhat lager packages in the same wrapping, but don’t be mistaken my family had the plot all worked out to the N’th degree.

My daughter Lauren had her camera ready to take whatever was to happen next. I had to open them in the correct order. The first gift contained a small plastic toy plane with the fuselage filled with sweets and the first picture was taken of a puzzled me.

Next I had to open the gift that contained what I thought was a Cd disk, still puzzled I had to read carefully before I eventually realized what they were giggling about, and then the second picture was taken.

I was totally supersized that they got me a flip in a DH82 Tiger Moth and I had to do this with in the next 6 months.

The last gift was a pair of flying goggles for the flight, along with the third picture been taken.

At first I was a bit concerned about flying in a just about 80 years old Tiger Moth and was putting it on hold until Lauren came to me 3 weeks ago and announced that “ Guess what Daddy?, you are going to fly in the Tiger Moth on Father’s Day".

Well there was no turning back for me now and all I could do was to count the sleeps (20 of them) as Father’s Day came closer and on the last two day’s I even started to look up the history of this once famous trainer.

So when the sun came up yesterday (Father’s day) I at least new that the Gipsy Major inverted 4 cylinder power plant of Tiger moth could deliver 100 KW or 130 Hp (well that is the same power as my car develop) and that over 4000 of them was built before and during the second world war with the main aim to be used to train pilots.

With most of the butterflies in stomach now under control (only just) we set of at 9.30 AM to Rand Airport where there are two Tigers Moths operating from. I was treated to a Breakfast in the Harvard Café (overlooking the apron).

We were just about finish with our breakfast when Lauren got a call on her cell phone that it was my turn to get ready.

First I had to get into a proper flying overall and then my wind breaker over that. The outside temperature was around 12 deg C. So I was expecting it to be colder once in the air and in an open cockpit.

Then all of us set of to where the bright yellow Tiger were standing and with the aid of a small step ladder I mounted the front seat of the Tiger Moth.

As you can see on the photos there is no fancy instrumentation and the original huge compass is still in place (Yes Sir No GPS!!). In the mean time Lauren and Celeste were taking pictures as much as they could while I was getting strapped in and making me comfortable.

Then the pilot Ken Cloete gave me a short flight briefing for the 30 minute flight( with some planed low flying included) before he step to front of the Moth and after the second swing the Gipsy major motor jumped to life(Yes , no self starter). What surprised me was that even with the open cockpit how smooth and relatively quiet the Gipsy Major was running.

We took off in a southerly direction and the headed towards the south. The Tiger Moth effortless gained height while the Gipsy Major motor hummed along. As we got close to Klipriver drive, we cut across the hill and Ken came so low down a narrow valley that I was able take a picture of our shadow on the ground.

When we got to the bottom of the valley Ken carried on flying just about ground level and flowing the Klipriver back towards Rand airport. Every now and then he would pull hard up if the reeds and trees would get to close for comfort. Eventually as we got back to the main highway( I think from Durban) and when we turn and flew parallel with it could not help to smile as we over took some expensive motor cars on the highway just below us.

Then all to soon the Runway at Rand Airport appeared before us and Ken Made a Perfect 3 point landing (I could hardly feel the moment we touched down) in the short grass next to the tar runway (due to the lack of brakes on the Moth) and a end to a flight that I will still remember for a long time to come.

To my family and all the staff at Classique Aviation ( http://www.classav.co.za/index.html ) many thanks for a Thrilling experience and to Ken Cloete the pilot for the excellent way he flew the Tiger Moth especially when we were doing the low flying. I highly recommend that if you can to have flight with them to do so as worldwide there are only 250 airworthy Tiger Moths left and they might not be flying for many years from now.

3rd 2M Challenge for 2010 at BERG, 13 June 2010

2010-06-14T08:47:00.004+02:00

While waiting for Rudi I took this early Morning Sunrise photo at the BERG field!

Report by Rudi King.

Although it’s winter in “sunny” South Africa, the morning was not as cold as I expected... I met Piet just after 07h00 at the field and soon the other pilots started to arrive. Nigel was the only one to arrive after 09h00, but I guess it’s not too bad for someone with baby twins... The pilots’ briefing was short and sweet and the games begun!

Below: Nigel's Tsotsi wing repair test !!!

Above: Mark De Klerk's winch jammed and needed some frantic work by Jason to get it going again !

A coldish North Eastern wind set testing conditions for round 1, but round 1 turned out to be the easiest for the day, for me anyway... The wind direction maintained consistent throughout the day, but the wind speed increased at a steady pace. While staring up at your glider with the wintry wind in your face, one could easily have imagined yourself to be standing on a slope. Thermals blew through so swiftly that I didn’t even know they were ever there. More than one pilot showed bravery in following a bubble of warm air, downwind and more than one pilot paid the price of “the walk of shame”... It’s always a little funny, until you have to walk 200m or more to pick up your own model... The tricky conditions challenged everyone and the Greenhorns and Juniors were very impressive with the way they performed in the wind.

Martie served delicious boerewors-buns after round 5 and all pilots then decided to call it a day because of the wind.

Thank you very much for everyone that came out to the field today and added to the spirit of the 2M Challenge! Below are the scores after 5 rounds, with no throw-away round.

Names                      Class                               Total                                  Position

1 Rudi King              X-League                        4519                                   3
1 Johan Bruwer        X-League                       4230                                    5
1 Tsepo                    Junior                             1555                                   11
2 Piet Rheeders         X-League                        4383                                    4
2 Mark de Klerk      Greenhorn                        3930                                   7
2 Michael de Klerk Junior                               3009                                   10
3 Derek                   X-League                        4710                                   2
3 Nigel                     X-League                         4226                                   6
3
4 Alan Smith             X-League                        4715                                    1
4 Juanita Smith          Greenhorn                       3644                                    8
4 Reino Jacobs        Greenhorn                       3233                                   9

Congratulations to Alan, Mark and Michael who took first places in the 3 classes!!

2M Challenge # 2 GEMS

2010-03-28T21:35:00.000+02:00

Results and Report to follow later this week on MGA Blog.

2M Challenge #1 SGC

2010-02-12T20:32:00.026+02:00

Last Sunday morning we headed up north deep into the Tropics for the first leg of the 2M Challenge. A bit of a long drive for us people from the south - about 90km through some of the worst of the highway roadworks in Gauteng - to our destination the Silverton Gliding Club.

Despite our past few weeks of almost daily rain we opted for the 4x4 adventure challenge entrance to the field. The only other crazy to attempt this was Alan Smith who jovially also used the same route out. We chickened out and took the sedan route out – one adrenaline rush in that wild bush a day was enough for us.

The weather was perfect – clear blue skies to start off the day with light winds and early afternoon thunderstorm development.

All the requirements for a challenging flying day.

And the famous Silverton “disappearing thermals” even had some of the top dogs scuttling for the spot in a few less than six minutes!

The field itself was in superb condition – miles and miles of green, lush kikuyu grass. And Silverton is our absolute favourite birding flying field. We were greeted with some colourful Cape Longclaws busily chasing off other birds from their territory on arrival. On the way out we saw Egrets, Blacksmith and Crowned Lapwing and Black-headed Heron as well as all the regular little Bishops and Weavers in the reeds. Also saw some duck and Cormorants and a Woodland Kingfisher while retrieving Gordon’s Fling from the dam. But by far the best of all has to be the eagles: Thermalling with the Black Eagles and hearing the calls of the Fish Eagles in the Pienaars River that runs right past the flying field ... aah yes ... now, where was I ...

This contest really took me back in time – and I mean way way back to the good old days when a max was six minutes and spoilers were a new high tech device which you would be contemplating dabbling with the complex mechanics on your next model. But the one thing that hasn’t changed over all these years is the great bunch of guys flying model gliders. A thoroughly enjoyable day and I think everyone had big F-U-N. And good to see John Monk flying with us again.

There were a few minor crashes but I think all repairable and even Gordon’s Fling should live to see another flying day. Also great to see a few youngsters partaking and looks like we should see Nigel’s son Bradley competing soon.

Well done Rudi for putting the concept on the map and thanks to Martie and Barbara for keeping us fed and watered through a very hot day.

Results should be up on the MGA Blog by now. So, time to get that 2 meter model finished now guys – the next contest is on the 2nd of May at BERG. See you there.

Mid-summer Volksrust Slope Trip.

2010-01-27T11:42:00.017+02:00

Main Article as published in the RCSD 22/1/2010

The Rockwell Aero Commander flying on the Vloksrust slope.

With the South African Summer in full swing, and lots of holidays around Christmas we once again seek the tranquility of Volksrust and the 1500 foot high inland mountain of “Tamatieberg” about 290km and three hours easy drive from my home in Randburg- Johannesburg.

This was the third year that we have done so, and so far the best in terms of perfect slope weather. Sadly, only five pilots attended the first group of slope pilots — 28 Dec 2009 to 1 Jan 2010 — but nonetheless we certainly had more than enough models to cater for most weather conditions that could arise during our four day stay.

We took around 1000 pictures between four of us and selecting some to forward with this article proved not too easy; there were so many nice pictures and you just do not know which to select and which to omit.

Preparation for the trip started about a week beforehand when I took all my slope gliders from their hibernation place in my garage attic roof to remove the dust and cycle the batteries for the up¬coming trip.

It is at this stage that you have to select which models to take with and which to leave behind, but over the last two trips I now find the selection process easier. I still ended up with eight gliders to take with, and a small trailer with lid and a custom made “wing rack” is a must to get the gliders safely transported.

We set off on Monday morning at around 6.30 AM the 28th of December, and the weather did not look too promising at all with 5/8 overcast and low clouds. This, however, started to lift and when we got to Volksrust at 9.45 AM “Tamatieberg” was just about clear with a steady and strong NNW blowing up the slope.

The plan was to meet up with Edmund and Sam at the guest farm (they had arrived on Sunday already), unpack our luggage and then ascend to the NW slope. This we did and when got to the main slope could fly straight away. My anemometer registered +/- 40 km/hour.

The wind coming up the slope was, how¬ever, very gusty and cold. Jochen Smit arrived at 12.00 midday and was also wise to leave his planes in the safety of his car and instead he set about taking pictures.

I must admit that I was very tempted to fly my Aero Commander first but played it safe and flew my Hill Billy and Glass/ bagged Zagi first. Launching in this wind proved to be difficult and on one of my launches with the Hill Billy it got totally out of shape, and it shot straight up for five meters, did a half roll to the left and nearly inverted before I could get my hands on the controls.

I managed to get it upright but at this stage the Hill Billy was heading 90 de¬grees to the original launch path and straight for the hip high bushes on my left. Just as I thought that I had it under control it flipped to the right and now with no height left only just managed to get wings and nose level as the Hill Billy flopped to the ground with luckily no flying speed left and minor damage to the fuselage. Jochen managed to take a photo sequence of all this and it still amazed me that I did not end up with a total write-off.

Landings presented similar problems but we soon adapted to the conditions. Once you were safely over the edge you had a ball of a time.

At around 4.00 we stopped flying after having our first fix of slope flying and by now the clouds were just about blown clear, setting the scene for Tuesday. I still had go Volksrust town and Jochen fol¬lowed Edmund to our guest house as this was his first slope trip.

Tuesday the 29th of December and day Two started out clear with very high clouds and blue skies.

Jochen was up before me at 6:30. At this stage of the day there was no wind and after my first cup of coffee I proceeded to rig my E-Tsotsi for the first flight of the day as breakfast was only scheduled for 7.30 AM.

Once again, Jochen set out to take pictures. With the white cloud as back¬ground I could climb out higher than normal and once up high cut the ESC and glide with no wind or thermals down. This is also the ideal time to confirm the still air trim and minimum sink setting on my glider. Three or four long motor runs will get you 35 to 40 min flight and in this farm type setting is very relaxing and a pleasant experience.

Shortly after breakfast we departed to the mountain, and from where we were to the top amounts to a 13km semicircle drive to the NW slope directly above the guest farm.

As we drove up the mountain we were treated with the most amazing and beau¬tiful cloud scenery, the air was clear with no haze or fog to spoil your visibility and I just got that gut feeling that it was going to be one of those near perfect days that you can dream of on the slope.

Once on top and the flag pole set up we could fly straight away again. The wind was coming straight up the mountain at 25 to 35 Km/h with no gusting. Better conditions I don’t think you can get here. To confirm this we were treated by a flock of 30 or so storks that were circling high above the slope and rapidly gaining height. I managed to get a few pictures of them with my camera set at full zoom before they disappeared out of sight.

Jochen started off with his two meter Tsotsi and found the lift too strong for it and switched to his F3B Shongololo and soon had it on the step whistling from the left side to the right side of the slope. I think you can safely bet your bottom dollar that you will see him back on the slope for sure. Unfortunately, Jochen had to leave back for home at around 3 PM.

During the day the wind stayed this way and at no stage did we have the lack of slope lift, and apart from our thermal and electric ships we flew just about every¬thing that brought along. This included the 1/7th PSS Rockwell Aero Command¬er and, like last year, I was just totally amazed with this plane’s handling char¬acteristics and flight performance.

On the second flight I had the privilege to put the Aero Commander thru its passes as a small group of paraglide enthusiasts formed an audience, giving me the feel¬ing that Bob Hoover must have had when he performed his aerobatic routine in front of the crowds with the real Rockwell Aero Commander.

The conditions seemed just too strong for the paragliders and after they left it were just Sam, Edmund, my wife Jenny and myself with whole slope to us. Sam managed to do her first solo take off and landing and later on launched Edmund’s Zagi.

At this time of the day around 4.00 PM the wind kept on blowing and I was flying my CMP Discus with the now experienced toy pilot “Teddy Brown” at the controls and after a perfect flight switched to the Hill Billy. We only stopped flying at 6.00 PM.

Wednesday the 30th of December the day dawned with no wind whatsoever and we made use of this time to go the local town of Volksrust to shop for the necessary odds and ends.

However by 12.00 PM midday we were back on top of the mountain and this time we had to move to the northeast slope before we could fly our Zagis in reasonably smooth lift. The wind direc¬tion kept on shifting to the northwest until we ended up on the main, northwest slope at around 3:00 pm and very light lift.

Thursday 31 December (Old Year’s eve) happened to be the day we had the lightest of wind for the whole week (5 to 10km/h). Allen joined us with his 2.2 me¬ter Fox locally build glider produced by Craig Baker, but unfortunately could not fly because of the lack of wind. Shortly after 3:00 pm we gathered all our mod¬els for a group picture and then disas¬sembled and packed them away for the journey back home on New Year’s day.

Early on New Year’s day I had my first flight for the year and also the last flight of the trip with my E-Tsotsi before break¬fast and the trip back home. Every one of us had lots of flying and one thing is for sure — we will be back at the end of this year, wind or no wind.

Who needs a Rudder?

2009-12-07T16:02:00.028+02:00

Shortly before launch! Note -Rudder is still attached!

Piet - "Now Ev, if the rudder comes off, just keep flying. OK!"

At the last Highveld Thermal League (HTL) held on Sunday 4 December my Shadow and Jochen's Shongololo were involved in a mid-air shortly after launch in the first slot of the first round.

Both of us never even realised that the two planes had actually hit each other. I remember passing, what I thought was another plane below mine. Obviously it wasn't, but because of the difference in size of the two models, (the Shadow at 3,6 met and the Shongololo just under 3 met.) it looked as if they were at different altitudes.

All I remember thinking was that the roll rate wasn't as it should be. I started fiddling with the aileron/rudder mix , but was soon concentrating on working the thermal to gain altitude. I did see a shiny flash a few times, which I thought was a bit of winch line or something but in fact it was the Shadows rudder, which had been torn off and was fluttering down.

It was only on landing approach after 10 minutes of flying that I saw something was sticking out the side of the fin. I recorded a 9minute 58second flight and landed 1,2 meters from the spot. Gavin and Lionel came over and told me that they has seen something land in the adjacent field.

The damaged Shadows fin. Note, no rudder ----------------A bit of Shadow fin stuck to the Shongololo

Anyway after some cyno and some tape I soon had everything more of less back together and then it was back to the comp. Luckily not missing any rounds.

-------------------------------------------Hard at work getting it all fixed up.

Jochen only noticed the bit of the Shadows fin wedged between the wind and fuselage on his Shongololo when he was preparing for his next flight a round later and came and showed me. Up until then I still had no idea that we had actually had a mid-air. I just thought that I had perhaps flown into a winch line on launch.

Looks kind of funny without a rudder, but it still flew pretty good. Wasn't too bad on landing either.

So! Who needs a rudder?

Gavin, on the far left, pointing out something fluttering down to Jason!

Dion Launching Paul's Explorer!

Some of the photo highlights of my Year 2009

2009-11-25T12:00:00.007+02:00

With only one month to go before Xmas one tends to reflect back on the year gone by, Good and bad and then take the positive’s and one will always be amazed at what you were blessed with. So take a moment and relive some of those special moments with me.

On the 3rd Jan 2009 the PSS Rockwell Aero Commander took to the sky at Volksrust for a perfect maiden flight. (Pictures taken by Izak Theron.)

Click on the any picture to open it in a new window and then click again on the picture to zoom biger or zoom smaller.

In April the three cross country flights with the E-Tsotsi 2M electric glider, resulting in a 72 km by road and 63km straight line SA Distance Record.

All the pictures that I took too many to display at once on the blog of the nature and surrounding arias and oom Louis place at Vloksrust but here are some of many of them.

And at last the picture that got on to the front cover of the RCSD October 2009 issue

and don't forget Shrek the tug pilot

New low cost Electronic scale from Life Style West Pack (0.1 gm -500gm)

2009-11-21T18:30:00.002+02:00

BERG Building Group now has 4 members.

2009-10-26T08:32:00.000+02:00

Picture above and below.

Mark holds his new Tsotsi fuse from the mould he build at the BERG building group.