It all started one late afternoon in 2009 on Askop farm, just outside Plettenberg Bay. I was on my way home from our pottery studio when I spied this model plane in the sky. It was Douglas, a resident on this farm, and a mate flying this beat up foam electric powered glider covered in black insulation tape, which was the only material holding it together. “Best fun I’ve had in years” he said. For the total cost of R550 he got the radio, the plane, a battery and charger. Cheap at the price of having great fun. And so it began.

​

My son Beau, visited over the Xmas season and brought a plane, a flying simulator, and a radio and trainer plane for me. A year later we were flying at a field  up in the Crags when Ronald, and Dowse pulled up in their bakkie and said, “Hey Uncle we also fly those things”. When Ronald arranged permission for us to fly at the Kurland Polo fields, that’s when it all took off. The Crags r/c guys grew from Ronald, Preston, Dowse and Piet to the current group of members.

 

In March 2010, in order to get the Sport going, I imported 51 RTF (ready to fly) electric powered foam Kits at R750 each. We were flying every minute we could, and every weekend, even in the rain. Word got around and the sport started to grow. From the original 4 to 12. Guys were coming from as far afield as George and Knysna. By 2012, We were flying large electric. Nitro and Gas powered models. Unfortunately, due to “a complaint” about the noise levels, we were relegated to only flying electric models.

 

As the club grew, which included fliers who either moved to or had retired in Plett, the hankering of flying Nitro and gas planes persisted, so the search for another location for a flying field never ended. This took almost 3 years before one of the r/c fliers, Johan Naude, negotiated a strip of farm land in the Wittedrift area down Stofpad Road. We set about purchasing fill from Denron, levelled the runway and fenced the area that the owner had let us use. The membership steadily grew.

 

By 2019, with the influx of a few seasoned r/c members, the flying skills and types of flying developed. Gliding, Slope soaring, Pylon racing.

 

The costs of entertaining this hobby has become quite expensive. But with the introduction by Rod Goodrum of easy build, very affordable fun planes for around R350, the club entered into another phase where R/C flying really became what a hobby should always be - GREAT FUN, EXCITING AND DOESN’T BREAK THE BANK!

 

In 2020 the club moved to Ganse Vallei. A big thank to the owner of the property, Hendrick Malan, for allowing the club to use the site as a benefit to the greater Plett community.

 

To be continued....