Rustenburg Sun and Fun: SEP 2006.

The EAA of South AFrica held a Sun and Fun event at Rustenburg. 13 RV's from all over the country attended. A Special thanks Louis Smit of Margate and Mervyn and Yvonne all the way from Durban that attended. Considering we have just less than 50 Rv's flying in South Africa this is a great turn out. I was quit excited since I manage to get a ride in Dennis Parker's RV7. I am still in the building phase, wth out a flying RV, so when the opportunity came I grabbed it with both hands.   Dennis hangars his RV7 ZU-VRV at Carltonville, it has a beautiful and unique colour scheme. The story behind it goes that it was the tamest colour scheme suggested to him so he went with it. It is well equipped and sports a constant speed prop. We got airborne just after 9am. Soon after take-off Dennis gave me control. Once again I was impressed at the RV's handling, I was grinning ear to ear. It was a short hop of only 15 minutes and we were overhead Rustenburg. We easily managed 166knots cruise and burning 9.4 Gallons per hour without even trying or leaning specific. Just as we joined for landing, we heard the other RV's flying in formation approaching Rustenburg. We decided to join the other RV's for a loose formation fly-over the airfield, and joined up with them 5 miles out. There we were, 6 RV's in loose formation flying over the field, awesome.   After landing I got introduced to a couple of the RV guys. It was good to meet them in person, since I have only communicated with some via email. They are all a good bunch, or at least that the way it seams ;-). Good to know that one day when I am flying that I will be joining such an open and friendly community. In total 13 RV's attended the Sun and Fun event.   There were some very nice RV's at the meet. I was really impressed with the quality and effort people put into their airplanes. I took a lot of photos, and concentrated on the RV's I haven't seen before. So I am sorry I haven't taken photos of the ones I have seen before, I will remember to do it next time so that the article is more complete. I was just so overrun with joy and amazement that I didn't even think about it. Apologies!   Dolph gave us a flip in his RV10. It is an awesome family cruiser with lots of space inside. The back seats has more leg room space than my wife's 4x4 car! Don't think because it is big it is lazy, not at all, it leaped into the air very quickly and seamed very nimble in the climb and roll.   Dennis and I had to leave early leaving at +/- 1PM due to alternative prior engagements. After taking off Dennis showed me how his Autopilot worked. A fantastic little add-on to an experimental plane. After a while he gave me control again. Flying mid day meant it was a bit turbulent and the autopilot did a better job of making the ride smoother than I did. I was over controlling and over correcting the bumps...I blame it on inexperience.   Dennis landed at Carletonville with a nice 3 point tail wheel landing. I was smiling ear to ear, I had a fantastic day. That night I was dreaming RV flying my own, The next  morning I was early in the garage and spend 8 hours building on mine. I can't wait to get mine in the air, but in the mean time I will work on it steadily and consistently to join the guys when it's ready. In the mean time I can dream and remember the flights and good bunch of RV guys.   Kind Regards, Rudi

CLICK on any Picture for a LARGER version
ZU-VRV my lift for the day	Dennis Parker - Proud Owner	ZU-VRV	The Tail of ZU-VRV
ZU-VRV instrument panel	On the way to SNF	On our way	166kt @ 9.4 GPH
RV Loose formation	Over Pretoria CBD	Rustenburg Airfield	All the aircraft @ SNF
Nice picture overhead pic	ZU-CXI taxi after landing	ZU-KEA taxi after landing	All the pretty RV's at SNF
All the pretty RV's at SNF	ZU-CXI	Lady Bird ZU-BSO	ZU-DLZ
ZU-RVSeven	More ZU-RVS	More ZU-RVS	More ZU-RVS
ZU-KEA	ZU-KEA instrument panel	ZU-KEA tail	ZU-KEA front
ZU-EBF	ZU-EBF instrument panel	ZU-EBF engine	Check ride in ZU-EBF
ZU-DRF	ZU-DRF instrument panel	ZU-DRF Engine	ZU-DLZ leaving for home
ZU-DHP	ZU-DHP instrument panel