The History of Our Club

 

 

By DANNY DREW

 

  

WHERE DID IT ALL START ?
Aeromodeling has always been part of Valhalla and Voortrekkerhoogte (as it was known) and photographs that the late Wim van der Klaaw showed me, confirmed that competitions were held at Air Force Base Swartkop as far back as 1948. Though no formal clubs existed to my knowledge, the skies were buzzing with control line aircraft on weekends, especially Sunday afternoons. At Valhalla, free flight was also done in the veld.

The First Radio Control Aircraft that I saw was a high wing flown by Frik Els at the Valhalla Primary School in 1956. The Aircraft could drop a parachute and was guided by a citizen radio, which was an old escapement system. On the particular day it set itself on course for Pretoria at an altitude and was subsequently followed by all on bicycles and Frik in his Austin!

At the Voortrekker Monument the fuel was exhausted, (and so were a few of us as well!) where it settled in a tree. 

COMING TOGETHER...1974
In 1974, a group of modelers started flying on the field next to the Valhalla Scout Hall. It was an informal group and after a while it was decided that a club should be formed and the search was on for a flying strip. A suitable place was found on a farm near Erasmia and after a meeting, Albetros Radio Flyers was born.

Good times were enjoyed, but after the death of the owner of the farm, we had to move back to the field at the Scout Hall. Flying resumed and good times were again had by all.

Weekend flying was fun, taking into account those were the days of 27Mhz and the start of the CB Radios. Interference was the order of the day and most crashes were attributed to this. Classics include striking the NG Church on the base leg, spinning into a garage of a house and the roof of a car parked next to the field.

One weekday I was teaching the late Peet Klopper to fly and had a glitch, which was uncontrollable. The plane spun in and hit the top of an electric pole that created an almighty flash! Underneath were Council workers doing whatever they had to do.

We rushed to the scene and picked up the evidence at a hell of a speed and left.  The workers were nowhere to be seen and I often wondered if they completed the job that day. Peter Hollier and his late son Christopher as well as Robert Sterling who was still at school were among the staunch supporters of the group. 

THE EARLY DAYS
Consensus was reached amongst the group that it was not safe to operate on this field and the search was on again for a flying field. Peet Klopper, who grew up in the Knoppieslaagte area where we are now and actually lived up the road, spoke to Tommy Ellis. Tommy Ellis owned what we see around us and a few roads in the area were named after him. He used to fly bombers in WW2 and had a full size strip on his farm.

He was a grand old aviator, and property magnate who entertained the EAA on a regular basis especially for breakfast on a Sunday Morning. In no time two huge runways were graded at the bottom of his farm and we were in business. The runways were eventually covered with grass and cutting on a Saturday morning during summer commenced at 06h00. By 09h00 the field was done. "Mac" Mac Donald was a master at this art.

We had our fair share of Tiger Moths and other vintage planes beating up the field. The property is still situated next to the R22 flanked by the Krugersdorp highway.

On 14 October 1977, the first meeting of the club was held and White Hills Radio Flyers became a reality. The club was named after his farm White Hills due to his generosity.

A committee was also established with the following members:

Danny Drew - Chairman

Peet Klopper - Secretary

Barry Vlok - Treasury

Safety Officer - Peter Hollier

Robert Sterling and Christopher Hollier were also present. Zeke Uys, an early member of Albetros Radio Flyers was also voted on the committee and was the Chief Instructor. Entry fees were R18.00 and monthly fees were R1.00. All members had to be SAARF members. Scholars paid no fees but had to be members of SAARF - this was for insurance purposes.

The Badge

 

The development of a badge for the club was also on the agenda. A SAA co-pilot on a flight around the bulge one night designed the present badge. Peet Klopper who was a Chief Steward at the time was part of the crew. I still have the original drawing somewhere but sadly the name of the pilot was never registered anywhere and has since left South African Airways. Miniature wings were purchased at the Royal Air Force Museum and after the crown was removed, it was replated and issued to members who went solo.

Those were the days when a HP 40 cost R55,00 at Frasers with no silencer. The Falcon 56 or Senior Falcon was the trainer and the Redipak agents such as Frasers sold Graupner products in abundance.

A Sataba 6 channel cost me R260 and I got a discount so that I could join SAARF now known as SAMAA. An Amigo glider which was really fun to fly only cost R36.00 and not to mention what hobby stuff cost at American Hobby Center with a Dollar rate of 1$ to 68 SA cents!

The club experienced a steady growth in the following years and developed a culture of being a friendly club. The annual Christmas party became the highlight of the year. The emphasis was to give the children a treat and many happy memories remain.

The policy at the time was to sponsor most of the expenses from club funds for this event. The wives of club members made a great contribution to the festivities and their catering skills are still remembered.

The World Gliding Championships was held in Verwoerdburg in 1977 and although gliding was a low-key event in the club, members at the time took a big interest in this event. One of the highlights was the participation of club members in the World Aerobatics Championships held at Baragwanath Airfield at the time. Club members worked for a week, assisting in activities such as time keeping and scoring, etc.

Numerous big names in the model industry were over here from America and it was an excellent opportunity to meet the big boys. Sadly, this was the last international event. Thereafter sanctions took over. 

THE '80s
The membership still grew at a steady pace and in 1983 came the next move to the field where we are now. A flying incident was the cause of this move and Tommy Ellis decided that we could no longer operate alongside full size aircraft. He actually facilitated the process and put us in contact with Isak Lochner who owned the property across the road and the rest as far as you can see. Llewellyn Koch did the groundbreaking work here.

Our part belonged to his late mother and on passing, the sister became the new owner and from that time onwards we hired the ground.

By now, many new members joined and the first Air Show was held in 1983 which was a huge success. A full size, hair-raising display was given by the EAA and other clubs soon followed this act. After the display the Aircraft all landed on the opposite side of the field. The runway in those days was well maintained and we even arranged a fire truck for them. What was significant when I looked at the photographs and the video that was made at the time, was the quality of modeling and also the large number of scale Aircraft that took part. Robin Hooke was the safety officer and a noteworthy judge at competitions. The annual Air Show became a regular event.

It was at this time that the club was supported by a Hobby Shop called THE RC HANGER managed by Dave Roythorne, a colourful character in his own right and an excellent scale modeler. The shop was first established in town and later in Valhalla. Good times can still be remembered as a result of this association. A competition in association with the SAAF Museum was launched in 1986 to promote Scale as well as the Museum. It was open to R/C Aircraft with a wingspan of 1.5m and more and the warbirds had to be replicas of SAAF Aircraft with colours and all. The Officer Commanding at the time, Colonel Peter MacGregor, sponsored a beautiful trophy, which was made by 1 Air Depot and was a model of a P51 Mustang (chromed!) in SAAF markings on a wooden stand.

A Major George van Rhijn, the official artist of the Museum designed the trophy. The competition was never held due to hobby politics. I often wondered what happened to the trophy, most probably on a hobby politician’s fireplace! Another highlight of this era was the Model Aviation Course that was presented by the club with a focus on the SAAF Museum. Premier Trading of Benoni and Toyota sponsored this course. The South African Museum participated fully and due to the success and interest displayed by the group of schoolboys in the activities of the museum it led to the establishing of the Friends of the Air Force Museum branch in Pretoria. The rest is history! I was elected Chairman of the branch and held the position for a few years. Another facet of the hobby, which came to its own as a result of this course and placed the club on the map, was gliding. The postal competition was started by Keith Luden and resulted in the club becoming the national champion on more that one occasion.

The club also acquired two wrecks, a DC 4, the second last one built by Douglas (SAA operates the last one) and a B34 Ventura from SAA. Both at the end of the day propped up the finances of the club after being sold for scrap. The acquisitions of both aircraft are stories on their own! 

THE NINETIES
Many changes occurred during this period. The quality of the flying field developed and also sadly we experienced continuous theft of the roof. The runways were tarred and the present committee upgraded the rest of the facilities. I retired as chairman in 1995 after a period of 17 years.

The way forward to the millennium holds exciting challenges for model aviation. The environment in which White Hills is situated has become a modeler's paradise with the SAAF museum and the history of military aviation on the doorstep with all it's exciting aircraft and archives for research. With the possibility of the Experimental Aircraft Association moving closer, even more challenges will become available. The support of the Defence Force and members through the years has not gone unnoticed. Characters like Cameron Germishuizen, Hoppie Fourie and many more rallied to the call when the chips were down.

My association with the club for 21 years was a wonderful period and will still be in the years to come. There is a great future for the club and with the legacy of an excellent team spirit and culture it has already become a benchmark in model aviation.

 

 

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With the 21st Anniversary of the Club coming up (October 1998), I was asked to write about the early years and how the Club came into being.

After perusal of the documentation and the old minutes of meetings, I concluded that to pen 21 years of history is a job on its own. The stories and events of those days are exiting and in fact, must be researched and compiled into book form. I am planning to write a more comprehensive document on this and involve the parties concerned as many modelers and some colourful characters contributed to the success of the club.

The young modelers of those days deserve a special mention. As it is, there were many of them who realised their dreams in aviation by taking their first steps at White Hills, building and flying model aircraft. 

 

 

Written in 1998 by DANNY DREW - Founder member, White Hills Radio Flyers