Build ye swabs, build!
First off a fantastic birthday wish from all at TOSS to Uncle Bill and the reaching of his 70th birthday
accompanied by a fine bash at Dixies on Saturday night that seems to have gone on into the wee hours
according to accounts. Well done Uncle Bill, happy birthday and many, many more.
Another weekend dawned with nary a whisper of wind showing on the charts
and Saturday was as limp as a slug. So a large amount of
build work was done and in some cases completed,
as the crew locked themselves away in sheds and rooms,
and in some cases even refused to answer the phone.
Sunday dawned much the same, but after Jeff had taken an early morning run
up to Red Hill it was confirmed that there was indeed a South Easter blowing through.
This was threatened by a frontal system that we could all see rising from the north.
So an early morning run was required to get the best of the situation
and harness whatever lift there was to be had. Chris Leal flew in form Jo’burg
for the weekend on Friday and we had a chance to maiden his new 2 meter Luna/Lanyu/
whatever the final name happens to be, and boy what a beaut. Flew right out of hand as if on rails.
With the efficient design it promised to be quick, and was, and delivered nice stable
flight even as the conditions lightened up ahead of the impending front.
After the successful maiden flight, we set up Chris’s radio with the new glider ,
made some CG adjustment, tossed it off the hill again and left Chris to his own devices.
Also on the menu was his new Hyperion Messerschmitt BF 109, but by the time
we had finished tossing around the Lanyu, we had run out of wind and lift,
so that will just have to wait for another day,
but what a pretty looking power plane to glider conversion,
that promises to turn a few heads at the PSS festival in June as this slick little machine covers the sky.
In the end a number of lads arrived just a bit late as the wind dropped off totally
and the lift went to the dogs. An early day was called and most headded back to the build sheds
to continue the build-up into the June event.