Another Shongololo is born

Last night Heinrich's Shongololo came out of the moulds. That's the 4th one since the group started in January. This one is yellow on top and dark grey underneath, with a yellow fuselage.

Good luck with the finishing Heinrich and we look forward to seeing it fly soon

Heinrich and Mark examining the finish.

Jack joined in the celebration

Some other photos from previous weeks below:

Painted wing moulds awaiting the skin lay-up

Joiner and Joiner Box

Fuselage laid up in the mould and ready for joining.

Carbon canopy and servo tray.

Frost Bite Sloping -Brrrrrr!!!!!

Yesterday Charl and I snuck out for a little Slope flying. Charl had seen a south facing slope he wanted to try. What look promising on Google Earth turned out to be 4x4 country and very rocky. So we could not get to the better looking slope we would have liked to, but the smaller slope we did get access to had a good shape and the lift was good. There is no landing space for anything other than a Foamie and even that is likely to make a dent in the covering. Next outing we will go with a 4x4 vehicle and see if the bigger slope perhaps has better landing facilities.

The one nice feature at the slope we flew is a small escape landing plateau just below the launch point before the main drop off.

But anyway we had an hour or two of some pleasant flying in the freezing cold wind.

It's amazing what we do for fun!

All Quite on the Western Front

Not much action at BERG on Sunday due to the weather and people being away.

Piet was away in East London on business and Mike was away on a fishing trip for the whole of last week, so he stayed at home to spend time with the family.

Of course the Blue Bulls victory on Saturday would have left some with rather thick heads.

As for myself, I went and flew at ETB on Sunday with the F3B team to help then with Distance practice. It was a real early start and I was on the road before sunrise.

The early start meant we were at least able to get in some flying before the wind picked up. By midday we had completed 4 rounds and were just starting some speed practice when the wind got too strong and we had to pack in.

Just a reminder that BERG will be hosting two F3B practice days next month on Sunday the 10th and the following Saturday the 16th. The emphasis will be on Distance, with some Speed as well. So if any of you want to try your hand at F3B this will be a great opportunity. It is not a comp, so is very informal and relaxed. Of course the top pilots will be there and ready and willing to help.

Code Name “ Didgeridoo”

Well that’s the name Evan and Tony gave my 2 X scale “Aquila “. Anyway I am progressing slowly but surely. This will be my first GBOGH RC glider and that is more than 5 meter in wingspan. The pictures here show that I have done the leading edge and bottom carbon spar and also laying in the servo leads. I am planning to put 3 servos in every wing. As I go along I will keep you updated.

Easter weekend at Volkies

We had some great flying with winds up to 85km/h on Saturday with heavy mist that only lifted by noon. Here are some pics:

On Sunday we had wind at 35 km/h out of the south east with wave forming to the East of the slope.

This got the boys firedup and the big ships came out to play.

Peter Karner also flew his Prodij for the first time and had a blast.

A great time was had by all and we hope to go back soon.

Postals 6th May 2007

We had a bigger than usual turnout at BERG for the Postals on Sunday. Not only from BERG members, but the team form MMS came and flew at our field as well because they have been experiencing frequency problems at their field and are nervous to fly there until they have found the cause of the problem.

The team from BERG was Piet, Mike, Chris, Tony, Peter, Evan and Heinrich.

Phil Binet and his wife Mary joined us for the day and Piet soon roped Phil into the role of scorer. Thanks Phil for a job well done!

The weather was lovely, with a gentle breeze all day varying from SE through to NE and the thermals plentiful. All the winches were arranged in a semi circle all facing different directions, from East all the way around to NE. If there was lift there was also sink and you had to time your flight properly to catch the thermals, which some accomplished very well while others struggled. But all in all a very plesent days flying.

Heinrich brought his bike along to retrieve the chute. But the grass make the ride very bumpy and he found it much easier to pay Justice to retrieve the chute for him.

After all the Postal flights were done it was down to some relaxed flying in the last thermals of the day. It's a hard life here in Africa!!!!!

Piet's Dickorydoo takes shape

As you all know, the BERG 100 Cross Country is scheduled for the end of July and Piet is hard at work "prepetating" to get a suitable ship ready for the event. I visited him yesterday and and managed to get a few spy photos of the model he is busy building.

It looks like a giant Aquila but will have ailerons and flaps and be about 5 meters span. He has chosen a very interesting combination of sections. The root is the SD5060 going to the SD7037 at the poly break, then to the SD 7032 at the tip.

DX7 Type Approval

Message from Dave Armatage

Hi Guys

Just to let as many as possible know that on the 26th of April I picked up the Type Approval certificate for the DX7 radio from ICASA.(Independant Communications Authority of South Africa)The DX7 is now finally type approved for model flying use in South Africa

Regards
Dave Armitage
SAMAA Frequency and Airspace Delegate

And a question from Wessie at Clowns Hobbies

Hi Dave

Great news!
Just a question - is it just approved for "model flying" or is it for "general RC use".

Is it therefore illegal to use a DX7 to say, control a RC car or sailboat (As I am fully aware that this is what is currently happening)

Not trying to start a flame war here, please gents, just trying to establish exactly what is legal.
Wessie

I'm sure Dave means the 2,4GHz system is type approved and not just the DX7. Futaba has also launched their 6EX FASST system. Here is a link to Dee Tee Enterprises where the Dx7 and the 6EX can be seen http://www.deeteeenterprises.com/NS.Futaba.6EX.2.4GHz.php

Paragliders visit BERG

Late on Sunday after noon after a glorious days flying in "Campaign air" three paragliders arrived at the field.

By the time they were ready to fly we had packed up and most people had left. I stayed and watched and took a few photos.

Later, two Microlights flew over in the last rays of sunlight.

Gordons Shongolo is born

Last night the job was to open the fuselage and stab mold and then celebrate.

About to start, Heinrich and Henk standing by, Gordon giving instructions

Cracking the fuselage mold

Please come out nice!!!

Fuselage revealed

Stab about to come out

And there she is

All layed out

with a very happy Gordon beaming over his new creation.

The group Gordon, Henirich, Henk and Tony

Some new projects happening at BERG

If you thought things have been a little quiet of late, you are mistaken.

As you all know Mike is always busy with something and here is is with his new RES/100 Model that he has put together for his assault on the NATS. It is an old 3 meter wing on a Pathfinder fuselage. From what I have seen it flies quite well, but needs a bit more tweaking before it will be perfect.

Young Blake (Pictured) and his brother Russel are having a ball with their tiny RC electric models. Very tough EPP twin motor planes that use the motors for vector control.

Charl was out at the field again with his Aquila looking splendid in it's new colour scheme.

Charl has also started work on his third scale K4. The span will be 4 meters. These are the bulkheads cut out and ready to glue to the foam blocks. How about that for size? Talk about GBOGH!!!! The fuselage will be about 400mm high and 200 mm wide. More about the construction method later.

This is the battery pack for the K4. Who needs nose weight with that monster.

Charl is joint owner of a full size K4 which flies out of Orient so this will be a very interesting project to watch.

I don't have any photos of the full size glider, but in the mean time here is a three view of how it looks.