Thanks to Cape Sailplanes

I would like to thank Cape Sailplanes for their support of the F3J team.

Mark Williams has supplied me with one of the AVAs at cost. His markup is very small on these products due to our small market and high original pricing, so it is not a huge saving but every bit helps and this is most appreciated.

We will be following a rigorous training schedule this year and we will compare the various models so this model was urgently required. The AVA has been a very successful light condition glider in Europe and USA.

Mark is also sending it to us free of charge and if I can find the finances will repeat the process of charging us only cost with the molded Supra.

If you are looking for their contact details go to

www.capesailplanes.com

Or email
info@capesailplanes.com
They carry a great range.

I will keep you all posted as to the performance of the models in practice.

Thanks very much for your support Mark.

On this note, if there is anyone out there who is able to assist us in going to the world championships, please contact us.

Craig Goodrum

Tiggers Early Morning Practice Report

The first formal practiced dawned early with a cool overcast Highveld morning. A breeze was blowing and this considerably assisted the launches in the low-lift conditions. Mark tested the conditions first with a winch launch or two, but afterwards we resorted to the standard tow lines for all practice flights.


We decided to use both the fixed “yolk” approach as well as straps – and the pilots will analyse the launch data to see which is most effective according to the conditions.


The first tow (Mark’s Eish!) went off relatively smoothly even though the ground was really rough to run across. Conditions were initially challenging for the pilots; low cloud & very little lift.


Kurt was the first junior up the line – the juniors provided the most challenging tows for most of the day.











Smooth-flying Paul showed everyone else how to do it – finding lift & finishing off with a good landing.








Craig returning from another successful flight (this was taken after his Eish! flat-spun in on launch #2).











The pilots also had a chance to tow: Mark & Craig square up for their start signal.















Run, Forrest, run! Apparently this is extremely rare footage of Craig towing :)

Team practice

The team (with the exception of Conrad and Chris) met at MMS at 06h30 for the first early morning "dead air" practice. The conditions where better that expected with a mild northerly wind to help launches. Also even from 07h00, light yet consistent lift was available.

The practice went very well apart from an incident where Craig's Eish! (Eish!!!) stalled completely on launch, going into a flat spin.

Paul impressed everyone with his smooth flying. Kurt is also looking very polished. Simon is steadily improving, Mark was impressed with Simon's calling. (Ilma's comment)

Tigger towed tirelessly all morning giving 120% for every single launch (and some skin).

Tigger will post some photo's when he has access to some bandwidth.

Most flights were recorded using a Alti 2 data logger for analysis.

Mid Week Building Session

The tail feathers for Kurt's first Eish! being laid up. If you look carefully in the background you can see the new carbon tooling as well as the first set of 68grm carbon Eish! wing skins.

Quote from Norway

"And this is the team Norway will cheer for:

Juniors:
1. Conrad Klintworth
2. Kurt Stockton
3. Simon Tladi"

See you in Slovakia!

Keep Track of the Fund Raising Effort

Keep track of the teams fund raising efforts by visiting our sponsorship page on the F3X website.

MMS Challenges All Clubs

Midrand Model Soarers has generously donated R1,000.00 (R500.00 for each team) to F3J team funds. Furthermore they challenge all other clubs to match or better this amount.

Thank very much MMS.

First Team Meeting and Practice

Both teams held there first meeting and practice session on Saturday the 14th January 2006 at MMS. Sadly Conrad and Chris could not attend.

Michelle laid down the law, then we all practiced. Craig working intensively with Simon and Rodney training Kurt. Paul and myself worked on our own.

I even managed to finally complete my Diamond Eagle landing tasks.

Next session 06h30 , MMS, Saturday 21 January 2006.

Yes that time was 06h30. What does the '0' stand for?

Oh my word it's early!!!

Thank You SGS Fire Doors

Both the senior and junior teams would like to thank Trevor Austin of SGS Fire Doors for his generous donations to each team. This is greatly appreciated and will really help.

South African F3J Team Blog Opened

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