Aerobatics League has another bash at it

We are planning to hold the Aerobatics League event this Saturday,
the 4th of September,  as conditions look to be delivering a beaut of a north wester.
So come along, join in and get involced in a bit of the action..
We are looking to pull off at least 2 rounds each and possibly a third
if wind and time constraints allow.
Venue will be Chapmans Peak and kick-off will be 10AM…
so be there bright and early, sign in, payup, list your maneuvers and get ready to rock and roll
for a full days flying, as open sessions will follow the aerobatics event.

Hotbox thermal fun in Hout Bay

After a promising prediction by all the weather forcasters
most Cape Slope guys are well aware that when a
South Easter is trying to make an appearance from one side of the Peninsula
with a cold front bearing down from the other side,
the wind will be a bit wishy to say the least and the poor old South Easter
was just going to get beaten into sibmission.
Which is just what happened and hence the aerobatics comp for the weekend
had to be called off, as there was nary a chance the wind would deliver
anything even near to a stable pattern.

This was after Saturday had delivered a good dashing of rain,
followed by break in the weather that had a good few of the slope guys
out for a afternoon session at Chapmans peak.
With a new front promised for Monday, the Sunday weather turned east
and hot as a kettle.

Not to be deterred a few crazies made up of Bobby, Charlie, Marc and myself
made a run for the Sandy Bay slope in the hope it would channel the North Easter.
No luck on that side, but while staring at the east side of the slope we watched
a raptor thermal its way to heaven, and the decision was made to give it a bash.
Bobby took along his home brewed nYoni and we took the wings and the Aldij.
After a bit of a scratchy start there were some thermals that
popped at exactly the same spot every time. With this little piece of info in the armory

Bobby managed a good hour and a half flight, right to the top of the ridge
and back on a few occasions, while I ran around with the BEE wing
attempting to steal the thermals from under him. In the end a washed out day
proved to be a great heap of fun, while offering some awesome views of the
Hout Bay landscape and a good few raptor fly byes as they utilised
one and the same thermal landscape.

Bobby and Charlie take in the Sandy Bay scenery

Bobby works the thermal bubble that was there with amazing consistency

A bit of the Hout Bay scenery that was on hand

Aerobatics League Schedule 2010

Yes we did fly last weekend, albeit in a howling North Wester,
and it was fun to say the least… till rained out,
but focusing on this weekend for the aerobatics league.
Here is the revised schedule with the square loop and
4 point rolling circle added back in with respective K-factors attached.
Looks like we will do the league event on Sunday due to the weather settling
in for a good old fashioned South Easter and Red Hill looks
likely to be the slaughtering grounds.
Confirmation will be via sms as to venue.

Remember the three new mandatory moves are as such,
and you are to choose seven optional moves based on k-factors.

He who dares wins!
or has a butt clenching moment of note, while deciding just which way is actually up.
R 50-00 entry fee payable on the day to cover costs.

Black Eagle Trophy t-shirts reprinted, so if you ordered extras
please organise payment as we will have them there on Sunday for collection

See you there.

Saturday afternoon cam fun

A great days flying had on the Saturday last.
Notably the 11AM to 2PM session was the best with solid, cold and clean lift racing through the valley
and all the glassies had a great run and Chris Leal’s ME 109 got a maiden under the wings.
A little bit of CG adjustment to the rear and she will fly like a dream.
Those that arrived a little later missed out somewhat as the direction switched
to the west north west and made it all a little less predictable.
Still we had the chance to get two of the foamie warbirds, Christo’s Mustang and my Spitfire
loaded up with Go Pro cams and managed to get some great footage in awesome lighting conditions.
Old Kippie here managed to stuff up the camera settings and ended up home with 1.5 gigs of nadda/nix.
Yelling at the camera and tears of frustration were not helping the cause either,
so Christo to the rescue with his footage and some really nice stills from the flight.
Thanks Christo for some fantastic shots!
Looks like more of the same this weekend as another cold front builds on Saturday.
Yipee!

Wet weekend brings flying weather to town

Just a few pics from the long weekend and a few notes
Saturday – lovely day up at Chapmans Peak with early conditions just beautiful
slowly dropping trough the day.
Sunday – Ice cold westerly thumping through Kommetjie, following the arrival of the
frontal system overnight. Lots of pouring rain quickly subsides and gives us ballistic lift
Monday – Still cold but lovely South Wester up at Kommetjie again, stayed true throughout the day.
Highlights:
1. Damian flicking on his landing flaps while involved in a flip/flash/splash type manouvre
with the Voltij and ending up with a very long walk as the Voltij " lands" itself at the bottom of the slope
2. Steve launching the Polykarpov on Monday and ending up with as long a walk as it runs out of lift.
A little damage, but remarkably in one piece – the plane that is…. not Steve.
3. Malcolm managing to get the Impala stuck up on a rock right at the top
of the Kommetjie slope after suffering blowback at the top.
Man thats one long way up to the top of that slope.
Impala took some injuries but will fly again I have no doubt.
4. Foamie PSS combat takes place the whole weekend and the speed
of combat on Sunday was just scary, resulting in an overnight repair mission
for the Monday session.
Note to all pilots… when watching the combat recovery
of some other poor blighter that just took a whack, keep eyes on your own plane…
as Damian and myself failed to do… and Malcom failed to do… really well.
Must say, it's really tough to keep your attention on your own foamie while howling with laughter
and trying to see if the poor bloke next to you is going to recover from his death spin, or not
All in all, the Cape Peninsula is one hell of a place to be slope soaring!

TOSS Aerobatics League kicks off again on 28th August 2010

All SAMAA registered slope fliers welcome to join us.

NEXT EVENT -28 August 2010

We have re-structured the league format to make it achievable by all levels
of competitor with any type of glider. The new format is a single class with the
THREE “Mandatory Manoeuvres” and an additional SEVEN manoeuvres
selected from the “Optional List” with a higher K-factor manoeuvre scoring more
points than a low K-factor manoeuvre.
(You will be required to select your Optional manoeuvres on the
score sheet before the start of the event)
(K-factor explained) K-factor (K) – The scores awarded by the judges for each
manoeuvre is multiplied by the K-factor allocated to the manoeuvre.
Example – an 8 out of 10 score for a “Cuban Eight” would score you 80 point
whereas an 8 out of 10 score for a “Rolling Eight” would score you a 120 points

CHECK THIS LINK FOR DISCRIPTIONS AND DIAGRAMS OF THE MANOEUVRES -

Discriptions and Diagrams of manoeuvres (Extract from the MGA Document MGA-rules-10-aerobat.pdF)

Mandatory Manoeuvres

Optional List

Entry Fee: R50.00 per event payable on the morning.

These event dates are weather dependant and subject to change.

Please check the TOSS info Line  0712108400 prior to event for possible changes.

FUTURE EVENT DATES:

28 August 2010
02 October 2010
11 December 2010

Black Eagle project gets legs

Following the success Black Eagle Trophy, most of the guys seemed to take
a hiatus from building anything. Flying, yes, building, no!
The EPP warbirds have endured and boys are we having a blast with
these awesome little machines. Not as tough as the indispensable BEE wing,
but definitely worth the eye candy when flying formation combat.
They just look too darn pretty when gaggled together as a pack of 4 or 5 fighters at a time

In the meantime, and based on our discussions at the event itself with the guys from
Percy Fitzpatrick foundation, we were committed to building a scale Black Eagle glider.
The prime objective of this project is to see if we can illicit a response from the
smaller raptors. From what is understood, the small raptors are likely to come out
and beat the beast to death, or foam pieces if it ventures near their nesting sites.
That’s the theory anyway, and we are going to see if this is indeed the case!
If so, it opens the door for a fluid approach to the study of nesting sites
all over the peninsula as well as  the rest of South Africa.
The Fitz guys are excited about the project as are we…so this Black Eagle will be
built as a proof of theory subject and if the smaller raptors just plain ignore it,
then were back to the drawing board. But it is certainly worth the time and effort.

After spending some time going through the internet and picking up on the
Eddie the Eagle build on RC Groups, I sourced the plans from the UK,
from http://www.myhobbystore.co.uk/product/16122/sf418–eddie-the-eagle
which was a cinch and the delivery and handling of the whole process was plain sailing.
There are also some other really nice plans up there for PSS models…. winkwink, nudgenudge.

In the meantime we had the pleasure to meet Dr. Lucia Rodrigues who heads up the
Black Eagle section at the Fitz and she spent an afternoon on the slope with the guys
and gave a few handy hints on some minor adjustments to the overall design.
Plans in hand we have started a build, I will handle the fuselage as best I can,
Jeff will be doing the wings and Damian is lined up to do the artwork,
feathers and all the detail. Whoa, that’s a wee bit of work for all concerned.
All balsa, wood etc  for the build is being sponsored by Hobby Warehouse
and electronics, servo’s etc is being sponsored by Chris Leal,
so a great thank you to the guys for supporting this project.

Very hastily organised,after a Friday evening phone call,  a few of us
headed out to Spier wine farm on Saturday morning early to Eagle Encounters
that is situated there. Run by a charismatic and knowledgeable raptor trainer
called Hank Chalmers, we were given a close up view of the Black Eagle that they hold there,
amongst what must be about 40 different raptors that have mostly ended up
in rehabilitation due to a list of injuries, man made and otherwise.
This place is so worth the visit if aviation/birds/flight are on your menu of interests.
We were lucky to be given a flight demonstration as well and believe me a Black eagle close up
on a flyby is a really impressive sight. Not small by any means, the sheer grace
of the animal is astounding a she (and yes it was a she) skimmed
the grass with millimeters to spare. This little trip served as immense
inspiration to all involved to get the Black Eagle glider to reality.

Who you looking at TOSSer?

That beak can do some damage, fingers away…

Hank, the man in charge and the impressive eagle. Those talons can snap your arm in two in a split second…

Landing – some stills from the videos

Brakes full on for a side view of the landing

Touchdown

and take off again

and now to attempt to add some media… if this doesn’t work it’s time to have a chat to our webmaster

…….    . sound of phone ringing….

and the fat lady sings

What a lovely South Wester on Sunday and
the Kommetjie slope delivered beautiful stable
conditions with the wind holding firm throughout the day
and in the ice cold conditions, the lift maintained
fantastic energy, for what wind was actually blowing on your face.
In what could be described as somewhat less lift than St. James
delivered for the day when the warbirds were last hoisted off the cliff,
Steve chose to find out what the Polikarpov i-15 biplane really was able to fly in.
With it’s rather large fuselage, short nose moment and biplane layout there had
to be just a hint of a concern as to just what enough lift would
be required to keep this rather short, rotund and lead laden lady in the air.

Steve recons the Polikarpov weight is undetermined as yet, as his scale only goes to 5 kilo’s!

Not a problem though. Once off the slope, this pocket rocket lifted it’s skirts
and flew like a dream in conditions that would have had one thinking
that it would be a trifle light. So once more, lessons learnt that
sometimes we underestimate our craft and their gliding abilities.

Ready, steady, little lady primed and ready to go

Wishy Washy weekend

Ideas of a decent weekend of sloping ahead
were quickly dashed with a dirth of wind once again,
but the chance to just get outdoors was grabbed at.
Luckily a few of us found some lift off the Kommetjie site
in light South West lift that improved slightly with the day.
It still took some nice skills to utilise the lift available
to source the best height…. and stay up there!
Towards the end of the day it cooled off and became quite
pleasant indeed and the foamie warbirds had a blast through to the evening.

Christo threw out his tiny elevon scratch built balsa glider
( all 70 odd grams of it, in traditional balsa, ribs and tissue building skills )
after finally figuring the wing-loading out to be 5oz!…
and it flew like a dream in the light lift.
All in all, a fun day out in the sun.

Christo's tiny elevon scratch build

Small glider, large area, hand me the binoculars Scotty!

Ridge running Mustang

Not the worst place in the world to be slope soaring

and finally, something that was given to me by Lionel Brink on his PSS visit.
A quick setting epoxy, that literally goes off in front of your eyes…
tried it out the other nite and was pretty amazed .
Seems to better the traditional 5 minute epoxies
and for those quick fix jobs is pretty darn useful and sets very strong too.
The guys up north swear by it for their thermal ships and its available at AMT.

Smooth-On Super instant- and it is

Black Eagle Trophy PSS Festival 2010

The Black Eagle Trophy PSS Festival

Hosted by Two Oceans Slope Soarers

Cape Town, June 19th and 20th 2010

THE IDEA

The Black Eagle Trophy PSS Festival flew gracefully into the annals of the Cape slope soaring scene
over the weekend of the 19th and 20th June 2010. With 21 pilots entered, the event promised
to be packed as most pilots had two aircraft at least to add to the mix.
Following the hosting and success of the  second Two Oceans Slope Soarers Aerobatics event in January
it was felt that there should be more development in our club sphere and driven by Damian Hinrichsen’s
suggestions and constant requests for a relevant date, we set a date for a PSS event that was a good
6 Months away from the Aerobatics event and slap bang in the middle of winter. We were hoping to garner
the standard winter North Westers that pepper this part of the world in association with each
approaching frontal system. With the idea of hosting an event established, we decided to
create the event around the impressive and threatened Black Eagles that grace our slopes in Cape Town
as well as other parts of the country. Hence the Black Eagle Trophy PSS Festival by name and an agreement
to donate a portion of each entry fee to the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology,
for the study and preservation of the varying raptor populations that inhabit the slopes we soar on.
This followed our need to create a conservation platform within the slope soaring fraternity and
give something back to the environment we utilise so readily.

THE PLAN
With the TOSS committee firmly set on a course of action, the planning started,  the rules and documents
created, the contestants entered, and many entrants started the mammoth task of getting their pride and joy
slope soarers ready for the competition that was barely six months away.
Based on the three available classes, Foamy, Sportsmans and Expert class, with a lot of scratch building
as well as revamping and total overhauling of ARF kits began in order to match each available class.
Being a bit of a foamie combat club, Damian Hinrichsen had the vision of creating a fleet of slope warbirds
that were EPP foam based, allowing for the combat zone to be filled with the sight of scale warbirds
in hot pursuit of each other. With this in mind he quickly went about drawing up the plans for at least
10 different warbirds ranging from the indomitable Spitfire to the Zero, with Mustangs, P40 Warhawks,
Messersmitts, Fokker Wolf’s and many more thrown into the mix. Along with the well known slope
aeromodeller Anton Benning, they cut the initial fuselage shapes while Anton created the
wings, wingspars and relevant pushrod systems as part of these fantastic little kits.
With huge enthusiasm the entire field of entries got about building these foamy slope soarers
which proved to be brilliant in their simplicity and saw the black EPP foam being taken down to shape,
covered with orocover, given the relevant decals and dusted with a protective varnish for the final finish.
Panel lines and detail became part of the build and many superbly finished models rolled off
the desktop line and into the foamie class, ready for the inevitable battle. There was a stark
dirth of slopers on the slopes in the weekends leading up to the event as many of the pilots
hid in dark corners concentrating on the large scale warbirds, finalised each with delicate detail that
annoyingly seemed to take longer than it should .

THE BIG SHOW

A beautiful morning dawned on the 19th July 2010 in our part of the world.  A few intrepid slopers were
seen on the slopes as early as 7:15 am staring into the dark while awaiting the arrival of dawn
and the first few flights of the day. Our skinny little Cape Peninsula is such a sitter for a good North Wester
and mother nature duly delivered. Not a howler by any note, but with more than sufficient lift to start
the event and take whatever the day threw at us. Early morning was light but flyable and the foamies
entered the judging area and were duly awarded points by the static judge for the day, Herbie Newton,
and then released skywards to open up a days warbird combat that was to prove hugely successful.
These foamie warbirds were sometimes incredible in their detail and realism as applied by the
differing individuals and proved an absolute revelation in the light lift and gaining more attributes
as the lift improved throughout the day. One competitor racked up three and a half hours of flight time
from maiden flight to the end of the days proceedings. Some kind of stick time that.

This was followed by the sportsmans class that was punctuated by the 2 meter plus class of plane
with some great renditions entered from the Mustangs of Damian Hinrichsen and Bobby Purnell,
Malcolm Riley and Anton Benning’s  Impalas, Lionel Brink’s Tucano, Chris Leal’s Me 109, Carlo Davis’s Sea Fury
and A10 Warthog and  Marc Beckenstrater’s enviable Mosquito.
The premise being that ARF kits could be entered, and in true fashion some stunning conversions
of power kits hit the slope. Toss away the motor, add vast amounts of lead and away we go.
That not being enough, large amounts of detail were then added to create realistic interpretations
that go well beyond simple ARF’s. Some, such as Dave Greer from Durban scratch built  a lost foam
ME 109 and entered the class as well. In general the standard of the models was extremely high
and were presented beautifully in all their glory. The final class was the Expert class, again made
open to the ARF’s  and scratch built but with the emphasis based on detail, detail, detail.
In this class only two intrepid individuals entered who felt that their application to detail as
required in the class designations was up to scratch as it were. Christo Le roux entered a magnificent
P40 Warhawk that had to be seen to be believed with a sound system incorporated that had all and
sundry titivated as the “engine” spooled up, gained speed to full revs and then had the ability
to emit a wail of gunfire. The second entrant was Steve Meusel’s scratch built Polikarpov i-15.
This beaut of a subject was a first for us slope folk this side of the world, and given the fact that
none of us have flown a biplane on the slope, proved to be a much debated subject.
During the day the wind grew in strength but still maintained a bit of an on and off affair,
but by mid afternoon was more than sufficient to see Anton Benning flying his small scale Impala
for increased periods of time. In the end with a chance for flight and with the wind just being
sufficient the P38 Lightning took to the air with a camera mounted on board, had a half hour flight
till the lift once again proved a little light for this 30 oz wingloaded warbird and the inevitable
landing had to be applied. In the end there was just a shade too little lift to expect the guys to maiden
large scale warbirds on the day, but a week later in insane lift at the St. James site and on the back
of a 60km/h wind, every single one of the warbird gliders took to the air to prove their mettle.
In the end they all flew like a dream and the big surprise of that day was to see the Polikarpov biplane
tearing up the air with grace. On the PSS day the combat zone and the foamies ruled the sky, many
a beating was taken, many a fetch had from down the slope, and in the end humour and strapping tape
ruled the day till sunset forced the closure of the slope. The shadows were lengthening and evening approached
with a few individuals still on the slope nattering away, when the mascot of the festival arrived in the growing dark.
A large Black Eagle flew in right over our heads as if in blessing and circled it’s way up the peak in the dusk
without so much as a wing beat, amply showing us landlubbers the true art of flight.
The sunburnt and somewhat tired individuals then headed for a meal at Dixie’s to swop war-stories
while sipping a relaxer. Sunday dawned as beautiful as Saturday without a single cloud in the sky,
but the wind gods deserted us and only the very lightest of gliders were able to stay up as mist moved
in an enveloped the bay. A healthy breakfast was on offer and general natter filled the air while all waited
for even the slightest whiff of wind and the electric gliders plied vertical power in place of lift.
Mid morning saw the conditions unchanged and the awards ceremony then took place.

THE AFTERMATH

The first order of business was to hand over the cheque for the sum of R 2 500-00 to Dr Rob Simmons
and Dr Andrew Jenkins of the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Based at the University
of Cape town, which was gracefully accepted. Due to the presence of a few of the Raptor research
specialists on the slope for most of the morning, a great relationship was established that bodes
well for slope soarings involvement with the research institute itself, as well as future investments
in the protection and study of the raptors that grace our slopes. With the generous sponsorship of the
hobby shops, people involved in the sport and the members of Two Oceans Slope Soarers we were blessed
with ample prizes to give out in all categorizes from first to third as well as spot prizes based
on TOSS committee decisions for those spot prizes.

The prize winners were as such and well done to them all for the effort instituted in creating the PSS
model of note that garnered the desired results.
Expert Class:
1. Steve Meusel – Polikarpov i-15
2. Christo Le Roux – P40 Warhawk

Sportsmans Class:
1. Marc Beckenstrater – Mosquito
2. Bobby Purnell – Mustang
3. Chris Leal – Me 109

Foamie Class:
1. Bill Dewey – Heine
2. Christo Le Roux – Mustang
3. Marc Beckenstrater – Zero

And to all our sponsors and Two Oceans Slope Soarers members who selflessly helped to create a
fantastic festival, our gratitude for being actively involved in the resurgence of PSS in the Cape Town area.
Hobby Warehouse, Clowns Hobbies, Southern Hobbies, Anton Benning of AB models,
Christo Le Roux, Steve Meusel for the warm beenies, Chris Leal for financial support of the Black Eagle fund,
and Kevin Farr and Iris van der Vlist for design and print of the t-shirts. If there are any sponsors and diligent
supporters we have failed to acknowledge, please forgive us.
Here’s looking forward to next year and more success with PSS.

Photographs:

©COBOS BOTHA sponsored by WiFly.co.za
Malcolm Riley
Peter Vergeer
Kevin Farr

Chapmans Peak, the scene of the event

Foamies in the paddock awaiting judging

Damian stares through the looking glass at the gathered fleet

Static judge for the day Herbie Newton

What a place to hold a PSS event

Anton Benning's Impala doing the rounds

Early morning Impala run

"Ridge Runner" Mustang

Foamie Zero on patrol

Foamie ME 109 study

Entering the arena

Battle commences

Spitfire in trouble! HELP!

FW 190 teamed up with ME 109

Half pipe warbird furball

Contact sequence while the Spitie stays out of trouble

How to lose a bit of stability. Contact! you may need that bit Mally!

Late afternoon battle sessions

Late afternoon camera bearing heavy metal P38j Lightning

Mission accomplished homeward run

All the contestants gathered together. Well done guys.

That's a lot of birds! Good looking too!

Sunday morning scene that greeted the pilots, Gus Thomas on the sticks

Misty morning electric session

The Black Eagle Trophy

TOSS chairman Jeff Steffen who has to take a bunch of credit for making this all happen

1st place in Expert Class and Black Eagle Trophy winner Steve Meusel and the scratch built Polikarpov i-15

Second in the Expert Class, Christo Le Roux and the P40 Warhawk

1st Place in Sportsmans Class, Marc Beckenstrater and the Mosquito

2nd in Sportsmans Class, Bobby Purnell and the Mustang

And now for a very big thank you to the guys who put in the time and effort,

not to mention some cash to get to the event from all over the country. We really appreciate it guys!

Lionel Brink, MGA Chairman and the rather large Tucano- all the way from Gauteng

Our man, Dave Greer with his brace of birds – all the way from Durban. Thanks Dave!

Club member and ardent supporter Chris Leal, all the way from Gauteng

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!