Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

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Fyko
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby Fyko » Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:11 pm

Hi KWV,

Nice picture. Could you email it to me? And tell me some background - like where and when. Those T-hangars look like what Charles Fourie built at Rhino.

Best regards

Fyko
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby Fyko » Fri Feb 14, 2014 9:48 am

Yesterday I met with Alan Blain, the editor and publisher of Aeronews, which was the official mouthpiece of the Aero Club from February of 1983 onwards. He is managing a restaurant, The Oak and Vigne, in Greyton, Western Cape. Previously Greyton was to me just an NDB on the edge of the Cape Town TMA but it's actually a very charming little village.

Alan has a copy of all 36 issues of Aeronews that he produced and I have so far seen the first seven of them (including the complete version of the issue Freddie of Microlighters kindly sent me), the balance next week if my luck holds, and what a nostalgia trip, and Alan remains one of the nicest guys I ever knew.

A big thank you to rotatetwo12 of Avcom for pointing me in the right direction, without you I'd still be searching, and thanks to Avcom for the great service it provides.

Best to all,

Fyko
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salem
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby salem » Fri Feb 14, 2014 1:44 pm

Old MAC CDL's never die (-) That's me in Saldanha 6 months ago
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Martinvt
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby Martinvt » Fri Feb 14, 2014 5:36 pm

Hi,

My pa het baie jare terug ook n Mac-CDL gehaad.

Maar nooit sy lisensie klaar gemaak nie en die vliegtuig verkoop.

Sy registrasie nommer was nog ZS-UXB

Dis waar ek gese het eendag wil ek ook Microlights vlieg.
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby Biggles » Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:44 am

I have very fond memories of the Mac-CDL. In fact my first light aviation flight was in one. As an aviation mad youth my folks splashed out for a flight in one for my 13th birthday. Beforehand I was thinking a Pitts Special would be more my speed. After the introductory flight at Fisantekraal I began plotting and scheming to get a license. It took a while but 15 years later I went solo at Fisantekraal.

I will try and dig up the photo of us taxiing off.
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nicow
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby nicow » Thu Mar 06, 2014 12:22 pm

Martinvt wrote:Hi,

My pa het baie jare terug ook n Mac-CDL gehaad.

Maar nooit sy lisensie klaar gemaak nie en die vliegtuig verkoop.

Sy registrasie nommer was nog ZS-UXB

Dis waar ek gese het eendag wil ek ook Microlights vlieg.
Martin,ek sien hy is nogsteeds op jou pa se naam...dis 'n 83 model en in 85 op jou pa se naam gesit...
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razor
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby razor » Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:15 am

Hallo almal
My droom was ok van klyns af om eendag te vlieg en ok n vliegtuig te besit .ek het in die laat tagtigs as n klyn seen die eer gehaat om in n basic 4000 te vlieg en daar het als begin .Die oom se naam was Fritz de Flaming hulle het buite Petit n privaat runway gehaat en daar was ok n AIR coupe daar ZS UDB wat ek ok die eer gehaat het om in te vlieg . Maar die basic was net die beste. Dertig jaar laater het ek laas jaar vir my n SHADOW TRAINER gekry soortgelyk aan die MAC CDL . Met baie liefde en harde werk is hy klaar .te danke aan baie hulp van Andre maartens op Petit wat my hulp verleen het om n droom te bewaarhuid. Het hy sy ATF geslaag. Nou kom die groot probleem LICENSIE KYK DIE MANNE IS MAAR SKRUKERIG AS HULLE HOOR WAT JY WIL VLIEG .hoekom wil jy daai ding vlieg daars baie ander BETER goed om te vlieg . Ek se jy gaan waar jou sak jou vat . dit gaan nie oor wat jy vlieg nie solank jy dit geniet en veilig is
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby Stan » Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:18 am

Moenie laat die ouens jou pla. ek het 'n Aerolight Eagle en die mense vra hoekom wil ek 'n dinosaurus vlieg. Dis myne en hys betaal. Het my omtrent R3000 gekos omtrent 25 jaar gelede. Ek sien daar is 'n paar Mac CDL's wat nog vlieg en is net so oud. Geniet dit want dis lekker.
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby nicow » Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:37 am

Stan wrote:Moenie laat die ouens jou pla. ek het 'n Aerolight Eagle en die mense vra hoekom wil ek 'n dinosaurus vlieg. Dis myne en hys betaal. Het my omtrent R3000 gekos omtrent 25 jaar gelede. Ek sien daar is 'n paar Mac CDL's wat nog vlieg en is net so oud. Geniet dit want dis lekker.
=D* =D* =D* =D*
Ek stem saam (^^)
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wingnutzster
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby wingnutzster » Thu Oct 27, 2016 6:43 pm

Fyko wrote:Anybody out there with old microlight pics?

I'm working on an article for my column in SA Flyer about my time at Rhino Park in the early 1980s. At that time Fanie van Rensburg was selling Quicksilver MXIIs by the dozen from his shop in the Willows.
Hennie Malan was flying his American Eagle, John Cokinogenis (now Cook) was flying his Pfledge, Louis Meyer had just imported his Spitfire ans was building the first Thunderbird from it.
Doug Davy was building his Dual Patrol based on a Rally 2B. Various MAC CDL's were operating at Bapsfontein (Mikroland was just opening). There was even a device called a B1RD (no kidding) that only John Pocock of helicopter fame ever flew for its owner.
Mike Blyth started flying there wth Fanie in a Quicksilver.

I need good pics of all of these because it's just not possible to describe an old microlight adequately without good pics.

If you can locate pictures of the right quality (even in Grandad's old albums) you'll get to see them in print. And be acknowledged in the magazine. 8) 8)
Hi, fancy reading this...I am the illustrator for among others Fyko's fantastic stories in SA Flyer and wouldn't you know it this exact piece is being published again and I am in the usual research stages of my work and am really really struggling to find pics of the classic micros he mentions namely the Eagle, Fledge, Mac CDL but in particular and this is important - I need to see what the 'Patrol' looked like. From what he describes it seems to be an adaptation of the Quicksilver side by side but I can't be sure.

P.S. this forum is not just of passing interest to me I actually owned an Eagle XCR ZS-UNT, restored her to flying condition with the original Cayuna motor but had to sell when I lost my 'hangar' and the guy i sold it to let it rot away and used the motor for something else - I offered him more than what he paid me for it a few years after I sold it but he wasn't interested :cry:
Illustrating this piece is thus of great interest to me, any help you guys can offer would be immensely appreciated as deadline is just about here and I have run out of time.

*Oh and I am possibly in the market for a classic bird again, doesn't have to be locally produced and even a foot launched or hang glider would be great if anyone knows of anything.

Thanks Chaps!
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby falconp1 » Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:56 pm

Welcome Wingnutzster.

I have admired you illustrations on may occasion. Fyco,s storys are also very entertaining. I've always wondered what happened to the articles he was going to do regarding the microlight story. Are you try to do something similar?

Regards
Freddie
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby wingnutzster » Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:58 pm

Really getting desperate to source pictures of or at least find out what the Patrol was?! In preparation for this illustration which basically satirically emphasizes how complex and scary these 'contraptions' were in the microlight/ultralight boom of the time...I have a pretty good memory of my XCR and it is mentioned in Fyko's story so first idea was to draw up that crazy machine, I quickly did a very rough sketch which I will submit to the editor as a concept but honestly speaking it really is more about the South African made Patrol so any pics or info would be great. :wink:
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IMG_0471 copy.jpg
The very first idea was to caricaturize the Eagle and emphasize the madness of the contraption (although I thought it a beautiful bird when I owned one)
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby wingnutzster » Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:01 pm

falconp1 wrote:Welcome Wingnutzster.

I have admired you illustrations on may occasion. Fyco,s storys are also very entertaining. I've always wondered what happened to the articles he was going to do regarding the microlight story. Are you try to do something similar?

Regards
Freddie
Thank you Freddie, no SA Flyer are running the story again but whereas Fyko used to source his pictures I now illustrate them and have done for some time - 90% of the time it's "Pipers and Cessnas" :roll: so this one is a lot of fun but it's hard to research the subject
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby wingnutzster » Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:23 pm

The deadline has actually come and gone I think so I'm pulling an all-nighter - I believe the story will be printed in the December edition if I'm not mistaken.
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Re: Old Microlights - Do they just fade away?

Postby Fyko » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:20 am

While searching for the pics I wanted of my Patrol and other aircraft from the 1980s I found all of Dave Becker's prints at the SAAF Museum Zwartkop. There are more than 100,000 photos stored in filing drawers the cover an entire wall higher than you can reach.
The problem is to access them. The 'protector' sees everyone as a potential picture thief/destroyer and won't let you near them. What he says is you must tell him EXACTLY (his caps) what you want in writing, and he''l have someone pull that material sometime in the next few months. (I kid you not - months).
However, a boer maketh planth, and I circumvented the dude with guile. I scanned a few thousand pics from ZS-U-- onwards and posted them on my BeckerPics website:

http://www.villadcocos.com/BeckerPics/

These scans are sorted by registration and not by aircraft type, so you need to know what you're looking for, or you can just start picking out pictures starting at ZS-U--.

I did 'optimize' the scans to reduce the file size without loss of picture quality (NXPOwerLite) so where there is a picture quality issue it's from Dave economizing on film and printing paper - not my scanning process. The scans file about 9GB so I can only post the best shot per registration. (The total size of all BeckerPics is more than 100GB - and thats reduced from 400GB plus before optimizing with NXPower.)

My Patrol was registered ZS-UZF, which gives you a starting point for aircraft from 1984.

Let me know at fyko@villadcocos.com if I can help you with anything else.

Best etc

Fyko

PS BeckerPics was one of my first attempts at PHP programming - so it may appear a bit clunky to navigate. The problem is making it compatible with all available browser (each one behaves a little differently). If you have insoluble problems let me know the problem and the browser you're using and maybe I can help. IE and Opera work the best.

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