New Years Slope Fly-in at Volksies

Friday 2 January 2009:

The first week of 2009 saw a bunch of the Volksrust regulars congregate at Tamatieberg to kick off the year with a bang. Norbert happily joined in when I offered him a ride and we set of early on Friday to join the chaps who have been there since Monday. It turned out to be one of the best slope outings in recent memory with all three days we spent on the mountain being flyable. When we arrived the conditions were already good and although interspersed with some slermal lift we could fly to our hearts' content. I was having a ball with the Gentle Lady in the light lift. At some point Len Thomas had his Bird of Time up and got caught off guard when a real Volksies Boomer tried to suck his model into orbit.

Len tried his best running away from the lift but to no avail and he started having trouble keeping an eye on it. I must have been the only other mode 2 pilot around, as I soon found myself with his radio stuck in my sweating hands. Not having spoilers on the plane and being warned that the wing joiner was slightly "sub standard", made it damned near impossible to bring it down without folding a wing. Charl helped as spotter in case I lost sight of the model. After getting to grips with the handling of the plane I tried getting it inverted. On the first try the BOT just rolled out of the half roll, like any half decent polyhedral ship should, but on the second attempt I got it right. Initially the plane kept on climbing but with the right amount of pressure on the elevator stick it soon started losing height. The landing was a breeze compared to the fight to get it back.

Ken Kearns, as usual, had an immaculate collection of craft. Here he is getting ready to launch the electric assist ASH26. With the motor the launch is effortless (far right).

To keep his planes true to scale Ken even goes to the extent of making his own scale pilots and he does not mind sharing info. Here he can be seen giving Glen a Pilot Making 101 course. Glen thanked him by a little later taking out the ASH26 in a midair with his Weasel.... ;o) Not to worry Glen, we know you didn't mean to. Sod's law #27 section 14 states that with only two aircraft in the air on the slope at any given moment in time the chances of them trying to occupy the same airspace at the same time is no longer a probability but a certainty, it's just a question of how long you can avoid it. Fortunately the damage wasn't all that bad and Ken had the model up again a little later after some quick temporary field repair.

	These two beauties are from Len's hangar. To the left the very scale like built up Handley Page Victor. The T21 Slingsby below is a "rag ship" that apparently took Len two years to build. Len prudently refrained from flying these two in the quickly changing conditions.

A late afternoon storm approaching from the south had us scurrying around the mountain flying on the NW, W, SW and E slopes. By the time it eventually settled on the Eastern slope it was blowing so hard even the birds were grounded.
Ken was keen on trying out his Celair Celstar G1 aerobatic glider. This model is based on a locally (Ermelo nogal) manufactured full size aerobatic glider of which there are, as far as I can determine, only three "copies" around.
Ken asked if I would mind launching for him. I was a bit apprehensive with the gale force blow tearing up the slope but Ken was adamant he wanted to give it a try. I quickly saw that the usual way of lifting the plane until the wings started working at more or less a horizontal attitude was not going to work as the wind almost twisted the model out of my hands.
On the second attempt I only lifted it to about 45° and gave it a firm push. It still shot upward like a cork in water. Ken was in 7th heaven...... right up to the point when the right hand wing folded :0( Check out the before and after pictures below.

Before...

After...

Mike bummed the broken airframe off Ken, keen on trying to repair it. Ken just stripped out the radio gear and the pilot who had fortunately survived the crash.

We called it quits for the day when it started getting too cold and the call of a Windhoek around the braai fire could no longer be ignored.

Saturday 3 January 2009:

Saturday started off with a fresh enough wind on the NW slope that allowed me to kick off the day with a Toko-induced adrenaline rush. There are few experiences one can compare flying this carbon rocket with. One that comes close I think is that very first time as a kid you manage your first solo on your new bicycle with the training wheels off and Dad no longer keeping you upright. I get the shakes every time I fly this plane and every time it feels like the first time.

One of the highlights of the day was the launch of Len's T21 Slingsby.

	Andries Gouws, on holiday in Vryheid, had joined us for the day and was given the unenviable launching task. The Slingsby is literally more than a handful to launch with its wide body and very litte room for a proper grip. Under the watchful guidance of some of the regulars Len gave the order to launch and the plane climbed away gracefully. It soon became apparent that the Slingsby did not like turning slowly with a tendancy to dip the inside wing. It also did not like picking up too much speed. After some not quite comfortable flying, Len decided to rather come in to land and not being too confident with the handling of the plane, once again yours truly was roped in to do the honours, after ensuring me crash indemnity.
The tip stall tendency was quite noticeable and I lingered just long enough to suss out the handling characteristics and to see what the effect was of deploying the spoilers. I set up the landing making a wide downwind turn, mindful of keeping the speed within its narrow speed range. Nursing the very effective spoilers I managed to land it fairly gracefully to the cheers of the peanut gallery. Post flight inspection later revealed a bit of wash in on the wings (ooops) and everybody consented that the flutter experienced was due to the ailerons being driven by inboard servos via some bellcranks that just weren't stiff enough.

Andries launching Piet's Omei

Charl launching Gert's Coro Mig

	Piet could eventually no longer stand all the egging on and decided that the moment of truth had arrived.... It was time to maiden the Aero Commander. Andries was roped in to do the launching and after quite a run up the model effortlessly climbed out from the slope, doing its owner proud. Well done Noah!
Piet was ecstatic, but with his nerves in tatters, he could only manage about 7 or 8 minutes before he decided to bring it in. The maiden landing was smooth and uneventful.

Somewhere between all the launching duty being enforced on Andries, he managed to squeeze in a flight on his 3m Ash26.

Mike's Ventus 2ax with power pod strapped to it's back also got some airtime, again with Charl doing the heavy work of launching.

The Vulcan seen here being launched by Andries really surprised with it's docile handling and Len soon settled into some relaxed flying with this plane. From a distance you'd be hard pressed not to think this is the real McCoy.

Piet also had some fun with his Emoyeni in the excellent conditions.

Norbert's SB10 was graceful as ever.

Another big scale ship being launched, this time it's Mike's Diana 2 being launched over the lip.

We called it quits a little earlier than the previous day. One can only do so much flying before your energy reserves and your tolerance to the sun's unrelenting rays dries up.....

---

Sunday 4 January 2009:

Sunday started out even better than the previous two days and the big scale ships were soon tearing it up, like Mike's Big DG500. Once again Charl did the launching honours. With the wind registering way over 30kph on Charl's anemometer, even this 15kg bird took to the sky with nothing more than a firm heave (it's the picking up that gives you a hernia...)
Having shot close on 300 photos up till now, and to ensure some more airtime for myself I vowed to spend more time behind the transmitter than the camera for the day. I flew just about everything in my hangar and eventually by 3pm could quite happily say that I had had enough.

The year could not have started off on a better note and even the prospect of returning to work the following day could not dampen our spirits. One can only hope that the past three days was an indicator to what was to follow the rest of the year.

Catch you there next time!

Scrum Down, Thunder and Lightening, Big Kahunas, Local Fauna and Flora & Buzz Lightyear on Volksrust

A couple of us went down to see in the New Year at Volksrust.... On Tuesday afternoon a rain shower was spotted moving in towards the slope at great speed.

We scrambled to pack our models away, but Piet was not in time to complete packing away his Aero Commando and tent before the wind and rain hit. ....And hit with a force it did...... . The wind was so strong it just buckled the flimsy poles in seconds.

Piet and Edmund dived in under the cover to hold it down and away form the Aero Commando.

The wind hit with such force, it was coming across the slope horizontally in great sheets and within minutes the hollows filled up with water. I have never seen such strong and determined scrumming.

Robert claims that Piet and Edmund must have had "Ball like the sheep at Oom Louis farm" to be out in the storm with all the lightening about. (I wonder about BJ sometimes??)

Even the Lady Sheep get a glint in their eyes when they see such a well hung gent.

Meanwhile, Robert preferred to sit in the back of his Van and braai his Wors while all this was happening.

And then, ---------------as suddenly as it started, --------------- it was all over and the rain shower passed over to the south.

Our two intrepid "front row heavyweight" emerged from under the tent to reveal the slightly wet, but undamaged Aero Commando. (See the BERG Blog for a report on it's maiden flight http://berg-gliders.blogspot.com/ )

The sun came out and the flowers took on a sparkle. (If Izak can post flowers, why can't I?)

Even the local Gecko's came out to dry off in the sunshine and survey the surroundings.

If all that wasn't excitement enough, even Buzz Lightyear popped in to see if all was okay.

And then, off he went too. ------ To "Infinity and Beyond" I suppose

Weekend at Volksies

Not having had enough the previous visit, Norbert and myself decided to join some of the BERG guys for some more action at Tamatieberg. I thought we were in for another pearl of a day when we arrived at the slope and the first plane I unpacked and tossed off the side was my Toko. Although the wind started out well and we still managed to get some quality airtime, it started petering off later in the afternoon.



That was when the first casualty of the day happened when the lift died and Peter Karner lost his foam PSS Mustang. An unsuccessful search followed and Peter decided to wait and see if Mike, who had gone down to the farm, could spot it from the bottom. Not long after this the wind stopped completely before doing a 180° turn on us and a hectic 15 minute flight window ensued on the southern side of the mountain. The next casualty of the day occurred when one of the chaps from Northrand lost a beautiful (but very heavy) PSS Mosquito that he had converted from electric. The general consent from the onlookers was that the unfortunate pilot made the all too common nervous mistake of hanging on the elevator and not letting the plane pick up enough speed to get on step. The resultant "Whack!!" halfway down the mountain could clearly be heard at the top of the slope.


The flying was abruptly cut short when out of the blue, with little warning a thunderbolt struck very close to the tower behind us and everybody decided that discretion was the better part of valor and promptly packed up and left, just as the rain that had been threatening the whole afternoon started. It cleared enough a little later to allow me to get my customary spell of pre-sunset electric flying at the farmhouse with my E-Hawk 1500.

Just to show us how unpredictable Volksies could be, Sunday dawned bright and sunny with very little cloud. Typically you would expect a day like this to generate a lot of thermal activity that inevitably causes erratic flying conditions. Not this day. Mother Nature blessed us with consistent enough wind that we could fly anything and a good couple of big scale gliders were put through their paces. A handful of PSS planes and an assortment of other aircraft were also flown.

My F18 Hornet also got some airtime. Just as I was getting comfortable with the model it rudely reminded me that it has quite an authentic flat spin that needs a good 30-40m of vertical airspace and a healthy nose down attitude to recover from this maneuvre. Fortunately the only damage was to the pilot's pride....

The highlight of the day for me was when I could eventually entice my son away from the stick hut building that he and Russel was so enthralled with, to get some stick time on my aging Gentle Lady. Patience is not generally one of my strong points but the reward of seeing him complete some controlled circles and even a loop or two thrown in to keep his wandering attention on the task at hand, is reward enough for me to keep at it. Thirty minutes was all he could muster before the more interesting survival training excersize beckoned him to complete his and Russel's masterpiece of construction; a very authentic bushman shelter.

Peter Moore pitched up for the Sunday as well and had an absolute ball with his Shongololo and his ASW28. So much so that I decided that this was going to be my next slope project and the fuselage and all the required material has now been acquired. Still need to pay Dion a visit for all the scale goodies to go in the cockpit. Watch this space!!!

We decided to make the most of the opportunity offered by the excellent conditions and stuck around until 4pm before heading back. Plans are already on the drawing table to come back just after the new year to put a good start on the 2009 flying season.

Blake is getting more and more airtime independant from Dad.

Partners in crime!

No Norbert! You gotta throw it, not push it....

Thats more like it!

Tigershark in action during a low level high speed pass.

Exploding LiPo's - Spitfire shot down in Flames

Last week my trusty old GWS Spitfire met it's end. Finally!!!

But not in the usual way as you'd expect, with a crash , - it's had plenty of those. Each time it was repaired and flew again. (These little foam models are amazing and are so easily fixed)

This time it really was "shot down in flames" so to speak.

Without going into too much detail, one of my colleagues had an accident while charging a LiPo battery and it exploded and the burning battery ended up next to my Spitfire. By the time we got the flames extinguished the whole rear end was burned away.

Luckily all the equipment was undamaged, except the ariel wire! Phew!!!!

Anybody need a well used -"Authentic War Bird Look"- Spitfire wing? Just slight singing on the Aileron TE.

So what have I learned from this?
Don't fool around with LiPo's. They are unpredictably things and should never be left to charged on their own.

Also charge them in one of those fireproof bags.

Jets over Volksies

It has been a loooong six weeks since the ETB PSS fest and the anti-climax of not being able to maiden the Blue Angels F18 Hornet. Eventually I could bear it no longer and decided to return to Tamatieberg for another attempt at getting the model airborne. Unfortunately the F3B team trials was scheduled for this weekend, so the only person I could coerce to join me, without feeling guilty about robbing the team trials of much needed man power, was Norbert.

Weather forecasts on the telly were not very inspirational (60% chance of rain, both days), but after two weeks of solid work I couldn't care less if they predicted a hurricane with it's epicentre smack bang on top of the mountain! In retrospect I would probably have welcomed it.... I have a plane that I feel could very likely handle it and even thrive on it. But now I'm getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at the slope around 10:30am. I was amazed at the transformation in the landscape since our last visit. Everything had that lush Natal Midlands green to it (see the panorama shot above). First model to take to the sky was my trusted Zagi 5C, just to test the air and make sure there weren't any holes in it. As is so often the case on overcast days thermal activity was either totally absent or unnoticable. This meant the northwesterly could do it's magic uninterrupted. After a while it was evident that the wind was not going to let you down a few moments after launching your prized PSS possession.

For the long awaited maidens Norbert was up first with his F5. Apart from the fuselage being so wide as to make holding it difficult for my average sized hands, the launch went perfect and the Tigershark climb out confidently with a little flap deployed. Being the only two occupants on the slope has it's benefits. I stood watching for a while and then dragged the camera closer to shoot some pics while Norbert could enjoy the slope front all to himself. The F5 has quite a turn of speed and even seems to handle slow flight with a bit of flap, if not very scale like, at least quite elegantly. According to Norbert the F5's behaviour was totally predictable.

After about 30 minutes of flying Norbert brought it in for a nice controlled and dignified landing.

I opted for some quick and light action with my Mini Corado for a spell while Norbert put the F5 up for another bout. Gradually conditions improved even more, up to the point where you could fly the proverbial brick. Time for something heavier.

I discovered the flight pack on the F18 needed a top up charge, so in the meantime I put my Toko together for a flight that turned out to be the adrenaline rush of the weekend. This has been the first opportunity since I bought the plane in April, where I could really test out its capabilities. This 1.7kg carbonized adrenaline rocket was built specifically for DS with a bullet proof full carbon wing and it goes like stink. This plane literally brings out the speed freak in you and you can't but fly it like you stole it. The energy retention through turns and out of dives is something to behold. Coming in with a bit of height to start with, I could do loops of 100m+ in diameter without it losing too much speed to carry it over the top. During one specific speed run from behind I came in a bit lower than I expected and where another plane would usually have been buffeted and slowed down a bit by the usual turbulent section at the crest of the slope the Toko punched through it like it wasn't even there.

The 4 servo wing has been set up with flaps coupled to ailerons and makes for some very lively rolls. The ability to mix crow in helps you slow it down enough from Mach 1 for at least a semblance of a controlled landing. I slowed it down a tad too much and a bit of a hard belly landing stripped one of the HS85MG aileron servos (....?!) The first ever metal gear I have been able to damage to this extent. With the servo being epoxied and no spare gear sets on hand I had to sadly accept that I would not be flying this amazing plane again this weekend.

It wasn't long before Norbert decided to get his speed fix for the day and he put the DG600 together to take advantage of the excellent conditions. I had already assembled the F18 Hornet and felt comfortable that I could manage the launch on my own. Just to be sure I walked all the way forward to the spot where we usually launch the big scale models. This gives you enough recovery airspace between your model and terra firma should anything go wrong. Tentatively "bouncing" the plane in my open hand it felt like she just wanted to go..... so I let her.... and off she went. Two clicks of down trim had her flying straight and level and it wasn't long before I built up the confidence to pick up the pace to see what she could do. I found the elevator a wee bit sensitive and switched to dual rates which sorted it out. Rolls were crisp and axial. In the low fly pasts the digital servos in the wings were humming a quite agreeable tune, almost like an small electric motor. Although a bit of an anticlimax in the speed department, after having flown the Toko, the F18 was everything I had hoped to achieve with this re-incarnation of the first one I flew. It turned out the CG was perfectly set up, with a slow recovery from a shallow dive, it has a very "delicate" stall, but only after really hanging back on the elevator, it does beautiful loops and I'm sure it can benefit in some lead treatment to speed it up some.

The rest of the day was filled with a lot more airtime on both the jets and only late afternoon did I switch to my Zagi again. Although it was completely overcast the whole day we only had some scattered drops of rain, nothing to force you to stop flying though. A pity that I didn't think of sticking my camera in Norbert's hands to shoot some pictures of my models in flight. Next time I'll remember.... The low cloud at sunset made for some stunning scenery. Day end proceedings included a nice bottle of Nederburg Baronne shared between two friends around a cosy braai fire while the rain that threatened the whole day eventually arrived.

The Sunday turned out clear and sunny and as so often happens then, a lot of thermal activity as a result. So most of the flying was done with our thermal and electric ships. There was also some quiet times that I used to wander around and do some flora photography. There is an amazing variety of wild flowers growing on top of the mountain. Although I did manage to squeeze in some airtime on the Zagi as well. I would wait for a lull in the wind and just as it picked up again, toss out the Zagi to hunt that inevitable thermal that was building up somewhere in front. I managed to hook three of these boomers and climbed the Zagi to speck height each time. Then burned off all the height for some high speed passes, only to start the whole process again. Norbert was flying his well worn flying wing and being his usual adventurous self ended up doing two outlandings. He eventually had to retire the wing due to some structural damage purely from old age and too many landings. We reluctantly retreated to civilization just after 2pm, overall very satisfied with the weekend. We keenly await the next trip in three weeks time.