Six for Wolstonbury Hill

Due to the prevailing wind it was decided that Wolstonbury Hill would be our location for today’s flying. I met Scotty in the New Way Lane parking area and strolled up the side of the hill. Upon reaching the crest we could see Paul directly opposite us on the other side of the bowl. With much frantic waving of arms and shouting to ascertain the best flying point we turned to technology and used our mobile phones instead which made communication with each other much easier. Paul said that he would fly his Phase 6 and judge the lift…we watched in anticipation from afar. After a successful flight we joined Paul at his location where John joined us with his Strega followed by Rob with his Validimir’s Models Graphite 2e. The wind was at this time very light at about 7 mph and we all had several short flights and with stronger winds forecast later in the morning, we waited expectantly. At this point Robin joined us with his Alula and his scratch-built wing he also tested the available lift, which was still marginal. 

The result of this was that he had to recover one of his models from way down the hillside. Scotty brought along his Middle Phase but that stayed firmly on the ground due to the lack of wind, but he did manage to fly his bright red Messerschmitt Me163 Komet very well and made some good landings. Paul was awesome today by hand launching my Wildthing several times giving me the opportunity to perform some low-level circuits and landings in the very challenging conditions. Paul was also on good form displaying his exceptional flying skills with his Ascot but unfortunately while landing his newly built Phase 6 it hit one of the many lumps that are abundant on the landing area and popped off its wing causing the attachment bolt to shear. Rob had the greatest advantage over us all as his electrically powered propeller on the Graphite 2e came into very good use at times. At one point John’s Strega, Paul’s Ascot and Rob’s Graphite were all in the air at the same time. Unfortunately, Robin’s Alula suffered a broken servo horn during this mornings session. The wind direction now changed as expected and it was almost unflyable from our current position, so we decided to pack up and return home. On the way back down the hill Scotty and I met Robin who was now surrounded by a large heard of cows. Robin had managed to find a good spot further around the bowl and was happily flying his scratch-built wing despite his attentive bovine audience. In summary, a nice day but more wind next time please.