On Saturday 16 June 2007, Dennis Cronje’s magnificently build F1 Rocket took off on its maiden flight at Stellenbosch Airfield. A first flight is a pretty big deal for the home builder. The test pilot was Gideon Langeveld who oozes the right stuff. It was an education to see how methodical and unhurriedly Gideon and Dennis went through the flight briefing. When Gideon finally advanced the throttles at the start of runway 19, the aircraft piled into the sky as if it had always belonged there. Gideon reports he took his hands off the controls (untrimmed aircraft) on climb out and she just flew straight as an arrow. After a few stalls at altitude to peg the approach speed, Gideon demonstrated a peach of a three point landing. The aircraft (designated ZU-FIR) is a testament to Dennis’s skill as a builder. Congratulations! Pictures are in the “rest of the story”.
Thumbs up after successful flight.
Startup.
Blue sky all around!
Dave, how is, euhm, YOUR building project going?
Ermmm, well…. Metal work is complete, give or take a few rivets. One excuse I have is that I did quite a bit of work on the F1 for Dennis….. Mostly electrical stuff and some riveting (I have long arms…). Other excuse is a lame story about being busy and travelling and needing a ton of money to finish it….