Hi guys!
Capetown is a wonderful city, I lived there for a few years and always find an excuse to go back, in fact I will be back there late next week to go and fetch a plane and fly it back home.
A bit about my aircraft, over the last few years I have build, refurbished or bought the following aircraft, I love things with wings and I love aircraft I can work on and "tinker" with!
Streak Shadow, powered by a Jabiru 2200A, 85 hp engine, a great little plane! Here she is:
Rans S12 powered by a Rotax 618 75 hp 2 stroke, we had some amazing cross country adventures together! Here she is:
Next came a Savannah STOL, build from an Italian kit powered by a Rotax 912EX, 95hp engine. I can operate her from around 35m (about 105 feet) runway and have landed her often in the African bush, sleeping under the wing in a tent. She cruises at around 100 mph and is almost impossible to stall.
This Bush Baby is a locally produced kit based on a Kitfox, she is powered by a Rotax 912UL and flies like a dream, really responsive and safe. I have flown her all over Southern Africa.
Next is a KR2, powered by a custom build engine of 2.4l, fuel injected with a Garret turbo charger and inter-cooler producing around 130-150hp depending on the boost. She currently holds the South African record for speed over a 500km there and back track for planes of under 600kg, her average speed over the track was around 179 mph. The engine has since been upgraded and I plan to attempt breaking the world record for that class (213 mph) in her. She is more than capable of attaining that speed at high altitude.
And another KR2, this one a bit slower with a 2.1l, water-cooled VW engine that is turbo charged and injected as well, her top speed is around 175 mph but the turbo is a bit small, will upgrade it sometime.
You might wonder about the turbo chargers in some of my planes, I should mention that I fly from a hot and high (4800') runway that is only around 2500' long so the extra power and altitude compensation that the turbo provides for take-off in the faster planes helps a lot!
Then there are the non flying projects, all "work in progress", a Pietenpol I am rebuilding, another highly modified KR2S, a Russian Aviatika bi-plane build by the Mig factory, a Teenie two and a Zenair 601HDS. Along the way I also had a few planes that I sold......
As far as my photography goes some of my work can be seen here:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/rudixsa
And here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63900012@N08/sets/
I was a professional motor sport photographer for a few years, shooting mostly local events and internationally F1 and A1 racing, these days I shoot mostly landscapes for fun!
Thats me!
Fly safe,
Rudi