Very nice

Ken Kearns' 4.2m Electric Glider -- Info from Juan.

Saturday three weeks ago Ken had his new 4.2m wingspan Electric glider at the club. It is a real beauty !

It uses a Hyperion outrunner 4025/12 with a 6S2P battery set up ( 3300mah to 4000mah packs - Hyperion batteries) swinging a 15 x 8 foldable prop and 80 amp "Opto" Hyperion controller. .This Ken claims gives him at least 8 launches ( whilst in the air) on one charge.

Launching it for the first time was a bit tricky as I found it difficult to get a grip This finally worked out, it was reasonably straight forward and she went off with plenty of power to spare

Guess what I will be building soon ?........


Juan Pretorius......more photos here

SAMAA management committee workshop

Louis and I joined a SAMAA workshop last Saturday. There's some info on the SAMAA BLOG.

Here are some more candid comments for JOMAC members.

The SAMAA management committee consists of eleven sub-committees. In my view it is overly complicated and bureaucratic. Decision-making is generally slow and averse to risk. This is not necessarily bad, but it is frustrating at times.

Also, there is still a remnant of the old-fashioned: “We know what’s best for the members. We must protect them from their own stupidity”.

With the exception of the General Manager (Bob Skinner), all committee members are volunteers. They give up their time and often money in the interests of SAMAA members. Their hearts are in the right place. But as my boss used to say “It's just that some of their heads are facing the wrong way”.

None of this need affect JOMAC. We should continue to guard our independence and maintain a healthy arms-length distance. At the same time we should support the Association.

Taking it easy

Look at the windsock.

Shade on the gliding field

Here's the new glider gazebo, excellent.
As someone said, now the glider pilots can enjoy themselves, (...what?).

Level those wings on landing Andre -- Claudio Damin

Picture of Andre Van Rensburg's mini stik about to hit the ground.