Mid-summer Volksrust Slope Trip.

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?

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

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)

BERG Building Group now has 4 members.

Picture above and below.

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

2009 Nationals - Noordsberg

Dandelions & Unicorns, Wind, Cold, Mist, Rain, Sunshine, Thermals, Sink, Calm, All made up one very interesting and challenging weekend. And thanks to all you made this yet another event to remember.

Tow men hard at work
Team work.
Our ever present companion Max.

Everyone got a screwdriver kit and multi meter.

Team DMAC
The Wolf Pack with Amazimmy for company

The Goodies and Tsepo and Justice

Team ETB

Team Silverton (Don't know what Russ is doing there?)

The Wolf Pack

SOS Children Village Group

Only Lionel will know what he's cheering about?

ETB's Plane rack and Dion

Shadow with power pod.

Tsepo

A few more Purple Dinosaurs

The HLG Champs

No flying in these conditions.

Craig

Rudi

Nigel

Rudi, Johan & Conrad
2009 Victor Ludourm - Rudi king

Tsotsi’s take's over BERG field !

Mark and Megan with his recently build Tsotsi.

My E-Tsotsi (in fore ground) my normal Tsotsi (in the middle) and Mark’s Tsotsi (the furthers away from camera)

On Sunday we maiden yet another two Tsotsi's, and with most of the club members at the Nat’s in Durban we and our Tsotsi’s were the only one’s there until 1.30 PM.

Both Marks Tostsi and my own flew straight away with no problems at all,. Mark manage to home in on 2 powerful thermals that were driven down wind quickly in the strong wind we had. But the Tsotsi prove to have just enough penetration to come back overhead on both occasions.

Congrats to Mark on completing 4 flights lasting from 10 to 15 minutes each ,but that maiden flight that went straight into thermal land was really something to see.
( at last your perseverance to complete the Tsotsi have paid of and I wish you many more flights like we had on Sunday)

Solpe weekend at Estcourt!

Wolfy and I arrived at the Blue Haze lodge on Friday afternoon. The trip was quite uneventful, besides the million and one speed cameras that have been hidden in all sorts of placed, at Villiers at the toll-gate when the speed limit changes from 100 to 80km/hr, there is a camera hidden behind a shield that catches almost every car!!!
Saturday, a brilliant, sunny warm day, with good NNW wind 15-20km/hr just what we needed to start a great weekend.
Wolfy and I were expecting the group of the Durban Guys to arrive at the slope but no sign of them (?).
So the two of us we carried on and enjoyed the day. Soon after our arrival at the slope, we were joined by a group (6 or 7) of youngsters, shepherds from the nearby village. They were interested about our planes and watched eagerly the planes flying and whistling through the air.

Maybe watching too eagerly!!!!!!

Wolfy unpacked his planes, an Eish (not sure about the spelling), the ASW20 (3m) his DG-1000, the Zagi and all assembled he left them behind the trailer. He then flew the DG first and then attempted to launch his Zagi, however the wind was a bit gusty and not enough lift. The Zagi landed a bit below the edge, immediately one of the youngsters proceeded to retrieve the plane , very nice of him ....... and a 5.00 Rand reward!
I had a little hard landing with my DG and had to perform a little field-surgery. Wolfy and I where involved in the repair when I spotted one of the youngsters running away with great speed. I got up and inspected the area. I then asked Wolfy to see if he is missing anything. About 20 min later, after a nice lunch prepared by the Lodge-Chef, Wolfy went to fetch his DG and he noticed that his radio transmitter was gone, so his 4m Eish, so his 3m ASW, so his big leatherman knife, so his cigar lighter, so his cigars, so is LiPo charger .......all gone and the youngsters gone as well.

We got robbed!

I immediately checked my equipment and possessions but nothing was missing. We called at the Estcourt police station, within the next hour a police van with two policemen arrived at the scene. After compiling a thorough report (and that is without skepticism) they were really thorough in their investigation.
We then left with the idea the we would get back the next morning to investigate our-self about the whereabouts of the planes. It would be unthinkable for these kids to carry two big planes all the way to their homes, they must have hidden them nearby.

The next morning after having visited the police station at Estcourt (they promised that we could go along with one of them to investigate the robbery, but being Sunday I didn't think that this would materialize!), we decided to get one local chap at the Lodge, Cedric (waiter and tour-guide) to come with us as an interpreter . We arrived at the slope, no one in site (obviously!). Cedric had a brilliant idea, to ask some of the locals the whereabouts and where these shepherds boys are living. We got some very good information, there is a gang of these herds-boys that are involved in cattle theft and other illegal activities and they are harassing the local community. We got lucky, Cedric apprehended e youngster, about 12 years old, and after inquiring about his whereabouts on Saturday, he confirmed to have seen the whole scene, he cam up with the name of the main instigator and where he was living. Not long after an other 4 youngsters joined in the investigation. One of them, actually saw the thieves and knew about their hideout.
They even told us that the instigator comes from a family of gangsters that rules in the township and that he is responsible for many of the thefts and robberies in the area.

We found Wolfy's planes alright, the fuselages and wings all smashed, they only took the batteries, they didn't know what to do with servos and other equipment. They just vandalized the planes, took the radio control, knife, LiPo-charger (?maybe the green luminous color attracted them?), lighter, cigars and batteries.

Te same day, Wolfy went to the police station in Estcourt with all the information the we gathered during the day, the station captain was very pleased and would immediately start the investigation and apprehension of the culprits.

On Monday we got confirmation that the guys have been arrested, all the goods had been found in their possession and that on Tuesday they will appear in front of the court, other thefts and robbery matters have been discovered and additional charges have been laid against these thugs.

The local community was very pleased on our investigating success. The Lodge-Owner promised us that next time he will make sure that an armed guard will be present while we will be busy flying.

This is AFRICA, we must be aware all the time what goes on behind our back, make sure that you are in good numbers and that someone always is watching while the others are flying. Remember when you fly you attention is to the plane and anyone can take even your purse out of your pocket!!!!! Even if you think that a shepherd-boy could have no interest in your plane he will steel it just for the matter of steeling..........fun!?!?!

We will be back again and will still fly at this wonderful site, the wind, the lift, the landing is fantastic., the grass is short and thick, just GREAT!

Have a good one!

Michel aka amzimmy, Zimmy etc etc

RC Gliders for sale

Tony Roberts is scaling down on his flying activities and has the following models for sale.
If you are interested please contact Tony  on one of the flowing numbers.

082 5770072 any time
011 793 4036 after 7 P.M.
011 609 8610 office hours.

E-mail tonyr@dfc.co.za
or pant@iafrica.com

GWS Foamy ME 109 complete with motor and prop.

R400.00

Fomie Spitfire - unflown complete with 3 servos and battery

R400.00

Paragon 40 Trainer w/s 1600mm new and un flown.

Super tiger 45 - 1/2 hr Run time with 3 servos.

R2200.00

B.E.R.G. from the sky

I fitted a micro video camera on the DG-1000 (foam jobby) with a nice clean result, quite a lot of fun! It is just a 1min13sec video. Unfortunately the quality had to suffer for the upload! If you wish I can make a CD (.AVI file) with the full 18min of the video.

Enjoy,

Michel

F3j Q1 at BERG

20 seconds to go. Get down there!

Note - Full Crow

Shadow on approach

Just before touchdown

Craig in action

Run

Nice climb out

Splat

Back breaking, arm wrenching stuff

E-Tsotsi Mk2 maiden flight

Saturday, August the 15th happened to be one of those cloudless winter day's with very light and variable winds (coming from the SSW) and more of a hassle for the winch pilots, but for me and myE-Tsotsi I could not asked for a better day to fly it's maiden flights.



(photo on the right) Piet and the E-Tsotsi -Mk2


After finishing the radio installation an charging the Tx and flight pack lipo batteries, I arrived at the BERG field at around 2 PM. Zimmy, Wolfgang and Boris were already unpacked and enjoying the fair weather.

I don't know who was the glades to great each
other but Zimmy said that he already had the Mafia lined up to come and get me out of my
winter bunker after no flying for the last 3 months or so.

Unfortunately I got bogged down with work and to the boot my left eye acquired a moving black dot that meant that I have to compensate for two Tsosi's while flying. Anyway I assembled the Tsotsi and with the folding prop held close with a rubber band, hand launched it straight into the slight breeze for its first trim glide.

(photo on the right) Wolfgang and Trevor discussing the big Thermal( fish?) that got away!!

True to the Tsotsi tradition it went straight as a die but nosed up a bit and required some down elevator to compensate for this.

I programed in a few clicks down trim, remove rubber band over the prop, opened the throttle stick to 2/3 full throttle and again launched the E-Tsotsi into the breeze and it effortlessly climbed away for its first flight. at about 3 times winch height I cut the motor and had to add a few more clicks of down trim in. The extra wight did not make much difference and it stay up in the very light lift conditions with no problem and the maiden flight lasted for 32 min. (I had to restart the motor a few times) and on recharging the lipo's I used 1340 mah of the 2100 mah battery capacity.

While recharging the flight pack had a chat to Trevor, Wolfgang, Stefan and Boris and not to forget Zimmy. Zimmy and Boris flew a ARF EPP foam DG 1000 electric gliders with unique retractable brush less motor system. the lipo batteries might be on the light side but on a good thermal day they will be more than adequate. It will also be ideal on the slope when the conditions are light.

Now you see me

and now you don't

Zimm and Boris with the EPP electric DG1000

Stefan converted his Tx to 2.4 Gh and look happy with his conversion reporting solid operation a fair distance.

(Below) Stefan (having fun with DHG glider)

(Above) Trevor hunting the Thermals after a winch launch

My second flight with my E-Tsotsi mk2 lasted 1hour 3min 45 sec in almost perfect late afternoon weather and on arriving home recharge the flight liop pack to 1649 mah.

E-Tsotsi mk2 recharging.

I know it's not always the case that a maiden flight works out well but there is not much that can beat the feeling when it do and even more so when you clock 1hour and 35min in your first two flights.

Rc Plans and Moulds

If you are into building your RC models from Scratch here is a link to Kobus Dirker's web site
for plans and moulds. I had a look at the plans list and there is a good selection of plans at reasonable price (Rands). Local is lekker so go and have a look.
http://rcplansmoulds.jimdo.com/

New XC 2 meter E-Tsotsi to challenge World Distance record.

After flying 3 distance flights this year ( 35km, 50km and 72km) I have gained lots of experience, and one thing that came out of this exercise is the fact that to go far you need lots of battery capacity, good penetration / glide angel ( more so when gliding) and a wing section that can carry the weight. On top of all this you need a powerful brush less motor that can swing a big prop with out robbing you from your precious battery
capacity. Talking about energy management!!!

With all this info I have now come up with the E-Tsotsi – mk2.
The airframe is still the same except that it is a little stronger and heavier and I have also made space for 4 X 2300 mh lipo 3 cell packs ( ruder and elevator servos are now mounted in the tail) all in parallel giving a total of 9200 mh.

I also fitted slightly less powerful motor 450Watt in place of a 550 Watt motor. From previous data it is possible to fly 40 to 50 Km per 2300 mh lipo pack depending on the conditions giving a theoretical distance of close to 200 km.

I still have to fly the maiden flight , and then if all goes well, tackle the paper work and planning for this flight. Hope my friend Evan and the rest of the team will be there to support me come the big day.