And now for some not-so-local news from the weekend: Sunday being a lovely warm day with a reasonable wind blowing in from the west, Martie and I decided to visit my sister in Heidelberg and spend an hour or two on the slope on her farm.
The main slope faces south west but I’ve flown in winds varying from south to west. The west corner sometimes works very well – probably due to the deep and narrow ravine just behind that corner.
Total launch point height from the flat fields near the farm house is 70m: 30m slight rise to the base and then 40m of full on steep slope (Google Earth stats). Red spot is the launch ledge and the photo view is from the green spot. BTW – check the very bottom left of the picture: The yellow spot marks the flat field that we propose flying the HTL final on the 2nd December.
But be warned: this is not a slope for sissies! You first have to walk from the farmhouse to the slope, then climb the slope face – and you have to land at the bottom!
The view from the top is lovely, you can see foreverover a big valley scattered with farmland and small dams.
Wind was a little gusty at the top so I opted for my little elliptical model which performed so well at Volksrust last weekend. Big aileron throw gives great manoeuvrability and helps to get out of trouble quickly - but sometimes gets you into trouble just as quickly! I bought this model from Charl Randall who says it’s a Tito but I can’t find any info on the web – anyone out there seen one before and have some info on it for me?
After some great flying with the swallows (very welcome back), all that’s left is to land it down the bottom - watching carefully for the shadow! And then the long trek back to the farm house.
6 comments:
Hi Derek and Martie,
Well that is a very nice article that you have put together.
Now that the bug has bitten we look forward to many more postings on the BERG blog.
Regards,
Piet.
Hi Derek and Martie,
Well that is a very nice posting that you have put together.
Now that the bug has bitten we look forward to many more postings on the BERG blog.
Regards,
Piet.
Welcome aboard Derek.
Looks like a lovey place. Looking forward to the HTL there in December.
Evan
Welcome Derek and Martie,
Nice to see your post keep them comming, Derek are there any
bigger more suitable slopes in that area (Suikerbos) it would be nice to find a good slope closer than Volksrust.
regards
Mike (duck I am comming in low and slow)
I've had a look at Suikerbosrand. There are some great slopes up there but not much north facing. It is an enclosed nature reserve with entrance fee and one-way circuit drive (like a mini game reserve)and we may have to get permission to have a fly day there. Maybe we can have a club outing to check the place out (sneak in a few small slopies just in case). The scenery is spectacular and they have a great braai area with full ablutions.
Hi.
Bit out of date, but the plane looks nice me, so I search a bit and it is propably Tito from this site http://blhandorra.com/
Very nice place to fly indeed.
Regards
Tom
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