09 September 2011

Sneak peek ahead of North v South slope challenge


The local lads are looking forward to Russ's next week (17/18 September) slope aerobatic challenge against the three Two Oceans Slope Soaring (TOSS) lads coming up from the Cape. A recent brief window of opportunity saw a couple Minivec slope aircraft arrive in Durban and the race now on to have these ready for the event. Mark got to experience the maiden flight in excellent slope conditions at Ziggy-nanda this afternoon. This amazing aircraft was not only a dream to assemble but also completely blew us away on its maiden flight. A vice-less pussycat for relative novice Mark but on rails for aerobatic work, with an energy retention that was stunning..... Mark was quickly trying things he had never experimented with on the slope before. He had followed the instructions implicitly and there was not a single peep of trim needed to any single control surface! Everything else we own slope wise is now instantly redundant - kudos to James the Hambone for the stunning design and the China factory for building it so right.


Yours truly has always been negative about slope aircraft with fully symmetrical sections ever working on the Kzn slopes, well that theory was well and truly proved dead wrong, the effortless way that the craft cuts through the air shows just how clean and accurate is the only way forward, remarkable.....

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