Across the Alps with a model aeroplane - an exciting adventure.

[Terry Walters]

Fantastic achievement guys what a great result for you!

Terry

[Martian]

Brilliant achievement well to you all

[cymaz]

CONGRATULATIONS

[David perry 1]

Chris, tje 35 mhz dual connection is so that one pilot flies the model from.one side of a ravine or pass to the otjher then switches OFF. the second pilot has switched on and takes control. Because xtal rceievers allow a Rx to listen to more than one Tx it works, with the protocol used on 2.4ghz systems which demand receiver binding to ONE tx it wouldnt work.

Hth

D

[Josip Vrandecic -Mes]

Hi Max , congrats from the heart, and I know it was not easy and simple

Cheers  , elk goed

Jo

 

 

Edited By Josip Vrandecic -Mes on 23/09/2016 10:27:31

[Manish Chandrayan]

Brilliant achievement, congratulations to every one involved

[Max Z]

Just to give you an idea of the flight of the Blériot. The fat red line is the approximate flight path. The thinner red line is the road across the Simplon, with the tunnels and semi-open galleries in yellow (we even had to station team #5 on top of one of those). The start in Ried-Brig is at 850 m. a.s.l., the pass itself is at 2005 m. a.s.l., so add another 100-150 m. flying height and it adds up to approx. 1300 m. altitude gain. #6 is at the highest point, then it dips down to the landing location, but there is a ridge at #7, so we had to station a team there as well as the landing site was not visible from #6, and as we did not have enough teams we had to improvise with the start/landing team (Henk+radio man) taking over at #6, #6 team rushing to #7, take over, s/l team to the landing site, taking over and landing the plane. All the time teams #1 thru #5 had to stay in their respective locations to guide the plane down in case we did not make it to the top. #1 team had fallen back to the starting point to bring the plane in in that case. In the event, we did not need to invoke this emergency plan since we made it to the top. All the time the teams were under strict orders not to risk any lives or damage to properties, but to crash land the plane in the nearest spot possible even if it meant a total loss of the plane.

Max.

 

Edited By Max Z on 25/09/2016 14:41:36

[Terry Walters]

Fascinating Max and very pleased that you shared this with us on the forum. A great achievement! The photo helps us to appreciate the enormity of what the team achieved.

Terry

[Pete B]

Many congratulations to the whole team, Max - a magnificent achievement!

Pete

[Max Z]

Thanks guys. As you can imagine, many photographs have been taken by the team members. This one, taken by team member Rob, I feel stands out, summing up the mission in a most atmospheric way:

The group has now been unified in a club, named THE FIRST AVIATORS. The intent is to carry out more flights like this one, and to appear on special events.

Max.

 

Edited By Max Z on 01/10/2016 08:45:26

[Nick Cripps]

Hi Max,

A superb photograph of a fantastic achievement. Well done to all involved.

[MattyB]

Congratulations, what a superb achievement! Sounds like the early ascent phase was tough... How long did it take you to cover the 11km?

[Max Z]

Thanks Matty. The estimated flying time was 50 minutes, but it took us 90 minutes from start to landing due to the slow ascent as I described earlier. And the thermals we caught about midways in the flight really helped, I doubt that we would have made it without those, I fear that we would have run out of fuel beforehand. But the weather conditions were clearly in our favor, it was a glorious day in more than one respect...