Shongololo # 16 is Born

On Wednesday evening Shongololo N0. 16 (Nicknamed Shongij) was born.

Kobus opening the mould.

And out popped the fuselage

Kobus with all the bits and pieces

The Team. Lionel, Kobus and Jochen

Tony's New Shongololo is Born

Tony's New Shongololo was completed on Wednesday evening amongst much celebrating and the dreaded "load shedding" (AKA Power Failure) Cracking the moulds

And out pops the wing. Much to Tony's delight it seems.

He tells me he has the approval of the Queen on the colours scheme.

The group that helped build his model. Tony, Jochen and Kobus.

And then the Champaign flowed!

In the background, standing against the wall you can see Kobus' wing moulds painted and ready for laying up.

Shongololo #14 is born

Last night Shongololo #14 was born. This is the second Shongololo for Hannes. His first one has not flown yet, but he has promised that he will be working on it these holidays. So hopefully it will fly soon.
Hannes, Kobus and Tony inspecting the wing after it came out of the mould.


The proud owner with his new baby.

Nice colour scheme on the wings. And even a brand new wing bag.

Mike May's wife makes wing bags. So if anyone wants one, please contact him.

Derek's Shongololo is born

Last night Derek's Shongololo was born. In fact, from the top she is the same colours as the one he previously owned. It's also the colour sheme of the Shongololo on the MGA Logo.

The bottom is different though in that there is carbon showing through between the orange stripes. Nice and shiny too.

This is the 12th Model this year to come out of the Building group and they just keep getting better and better. Can't wait to see this one fly.

Peter Joffes' Shongololo is born

Peter Joffe's Shongololo is now out the moulds and looking splendid. All yellow with blue trim.

These wings have been masked and sprayed with bands of yellow and blue underneath.

Peter is no stranger to Shongololol's, having built and flown one in another building group a few years ago. So this is another one that will be flying soon.

We wait with anticipation Peter!

Roberts' Shongololo #7 Maidened

One very happy Robert Davies is now the 5th owner of a Shongololo from the building group to maiden his glider. Remember, his is the one with clear coat on the wings so you can see the hybrid cloth.

As per normal, a check to see that all was set up correctly and moving the correct distance and in the right direction and it was onto the winch for the first flight.

And as per normal she flew like an angle.

As they say, a picture tells a thousand words! How's that smile?

F3B at BERG and Shongololo #8 Maiden flight.

BERG hosted the first of the F3B League events on Sunday 21st October.

This was Round Zero in preparation for next years League and also for pilots to be given a handicap. Check out the F3B Blog for more details and results.

The BERG field is in superb condition and looking really good after the rains. Once again our club did a great job at providing lots of help and assistance. Marti was of course there with her travelling diner and there was plenty to eat and drink.

Preparing to fly

Pits and car park

Winches

A huge thanks must go to all you guys and girls for the time you put in to make these events work.

F3B takes a lots of manpower to get it to work properly and sitting out a base B for ages is a thankless job. THANKS YOU GUYS!

Base B Helpers

The flight line

View from Base B

Not to be forgotten! Len Thomas flew his Shongololo #8 for the first time this weekend. Not only did it maiden, but he also entered the event and flew it in it's first event. Ending in first place in the B League, in your first ever F3B competition is no mean feat Len! All these firsts is maybe an omen that you will be the new force to be reckoned with! Well done Len!.

Len with his brand new Shongololo

Demise of Shongololo # 1

It is with great sorrow that I report the demise of Shongololo #1. Tony pointing to the spot where the nose embedded 300mm into the ground. About a meter further away the two fuselage servos and receiver, can just be made out lying in the grass and then the fuselage and wings can be seen 10 meters further away where they ended after the impact.

We had to dig the nose out of the ground with a screwdriver it was in so tight.

Shongololo #11 (Hopper) is Born

Shongololo No.11 was born last night.

Rudi, the proud dad, with his new baby "Hopper" At a healthy 1500grams. Very colourful. Orange wings, black underneath, green fuselage and yellow stabiliser.

Two more Shongololol's Maidened

Sholgololo numbers 9 and 10 were maidened on Saturday 6th October.

Trevor with Barbi and Evan with NartjieEvan, moments before the first launch
Fisrt time - Flying free

Trevor with Barbi hat.

2nd Shongololo(#10) ready to fly

With just 2 and a half weeks to go to the F3B League round Zero, Shongololo #10 is now complete and ready for it's maiden flight.

It's already tasted a dork landing with it's nose poked into some wet soil so nose weight can be added. 180 grams of leads poured in got the weight as far forward as possible with and all up flying weight of 2190 grams. In the background you can see Rudi's plane. Wings joined and the first layers of the fuselage done!

Some nice little plastic cover fitted over the flap and aileron horns finishes off the wing nicely. A friend is making these on a card of 8.

He also makes some neat plastic covers with a bubble for covering the servo holes on the underside of the wing amongst all sorts of other vac-formed components. Scale pilots, Canopy's, Cowls etc.

You can contact Kobus Dirker directly on cell 082 886 4828 or email kobusd@worldonline.co.za if you are interested in getting some vac-formed stuff

Shongololo, nicknamed Barbi, is Born

Why be normal! Who said pink is for girls!


Shongololo No.9 was born last night. Nicknamed Barbi.




Trevor and Peter opening the molds. Herman looking on.

I have seen Dion's pink models and I know Michell and Wolf have pink in theirs but when Trevor brought the paint around he shocked us with this pink. It's pink, very pink.I would look shocked as well Trevor! But it's very nice!