Tuesday 25 February 2014

New member of the Family

Hi All,
Just took delivery of my new RCRCM Typhoon from Ebay.
Paul and Tim alerted me to it last week and I snapped it up on 'Buy it now' at a bargain price.
Just need to discuss with Tim how best to put it together.




Can't wait to get it into the air. I flew Paul's last weekend and it was fantastic.

Rob

Monday 24 February 2014

Down at the Seaside

Amazing video of two full size gliders soaring the cliffs - You must watch this!
These guys are bonkers!

Sunday 23 February 2014

Pat Teakle scale slope gliders to be built again!

I am lucky enough to own a Slingsby Vega (4 mtr) 1/4 scale glider that was manufactured by Pat Teakle probably 20 years ago. I bought is as a kit and is on Tim's build list for when he gets some time to build it. Well after many years of not being able to get hold of these fantastic kits, they are to make a return. If your Interested in large scale gliders then here is the link:
http://www.patteaklegliders.co.uk/328313619
The new kits include: ASW20, Vega, ASW17, Salto, Slingsby Dart 15 and many more.

Paul

Saturday 22 February 2014

Soaring today at Itford Hill

H All,
Myself, Paul H and Terry B went to Itford Hill this morning at 09:30 to be greeted with a very good WSW wind at about 20 mph almost constant. Lift was not completely reliable, but enough for us all to stay up in the air for just over 2 hours almost without a break. I flew the Ninja, Terry flew his 2 new Wild Things (one at a time !) and Paul flew the Ninja and Typhoon.

Rob

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Soaring 22nd Feb and 23rd Feb

Hi all,
Having again checked the weather forecasts for this coming weekend it would seem that Saturday is less windy than Sunday and some of us are going to Itford Hill at 09:30 and others have decided to go to Mill Hill.
Sunday might be good for Mill Hill but gusts over 40 mph are forecast.


Rob

Sunday 16 February 2014

A beauitiful morning on Itford Hill

Rob, Graham, Dave, Terry, Geoffrey and me all climbed our way up to nearly the top of Itford Hill. Those brave (some say daft!) climbed straight up the steepest part of the hill while the other sensible people took the wander along the South Downs Way.
The wind wasn't the best but the warming sunshine, fantastic views and the very good company made a most enjoyable morning slope soaring.
We saw a host of new gliders coming out to play. Graham had a lovely big floaty glider that made excellent use of the light lift.
Terry brought along two new gliders from the SAS stable. A 46'' Wildthing and a 60'' Wildthing both immaculately finished and given the light winds performed ok.
Geoffrey seemed to find most of the lift during one flight and seemed to only come down because of the ice that had formed on the leading edge of his Spectre.
I flew my Ninja and had a couple of flights with the camera fitted but the decreasing wind made the extra weight too much. I then got out my Typhoon. I was a bit apprehensive given my track record and breaking the fuselage but it was amazing. It performed so well it a very light breeze and soon was climbing away in nice little thermals.
I had two flights and had a great time with the Typhoon.
David and Geoffrey had goes on with the Ninja and flew it very well. This for me was the best day of the year so far. Long may it continue.

Monday 10 February 2014

Mill Hill 50mph +

Some slope soaring video from yesterdays flying at Mill Hill, Sussex. Here a Contour Roam 2 is on board my Ninja but given the very strong winds the video is very shaky with the glider being buffeted all over the place. You will catch the odd glimpse of Jacks Ninja hurtling past. Ending with a rather abrupt landing at the end.

Sunday 9 February 2014

Must be Mad!!

This morning we ventured out in a gale to Mill Hill. What a pain the entrance / exit of the car park is now! Rob, Jack, Dave Wilson and our new friend Tyrone went down to the hollow at Mill hill. The wind meter maxed out at 50.8mph and it was rough as hell with a minus 1 wind chill factor. I took some HD video with the Contour Roam camera but the Ninja was getting so battered that the film is all over the place. However here is a little video showing how windy it was and how difficult it was to launch let alone the landing!
A warm welcome to Tyrone. A very nice guy we met who had brought along his new SAS Fusion for its maiden flight. Not the best day for a maiden but control throw issues meant a flight was possible.
David got airborne but unfortunately the wind got the better of him and he ended up in the field behind and got a stern telling off by the farmers wife. Lucky David.

Saturday 8 February 2014

Cambrian Elan 100'' Is Born!


Today I started to build my Cambrian Elan 100'' glider. I was very Impressed with the kit, As soon as you opened the box it was clear Cambrian had provided good grade wood and virtually every thing needed materials wise to build her.
I am going to start a building blog following my progress as I attempt to build this beautiful aircraft. It has to be said that I am not at all an experienced builder and I suppose I need to prove to myself that I actually can build a simple plan built glider. So if you have any Interest in what's being built, take a look at the Elan building page.
Here is the progress after 'Day 1'
Cheers
Paul

Sunday 2 February 2014

Great Morning at Mill Hill

Hi All,
There was a good turnout this morning at Mill Hill, the wind was very light at 09:00, but got progressively stronger as the morning wore on. By 11:30 it was pretty strong (about 20 mph), but also cold. Our group consisted of Rob, Graham, David and Geoff plus (from HDRCMC), Peter, Kevin and Jeff. Many thanks to all who came along, it was very enjoyable. We all had a few dodgy landings and there was only 1 mid-air collision which resulted in Geoff D having to retire. David's Spectre also developed a fault and he retired. Below just 2 pics I managed to get from today.

 Here we see Jeff, Peter and Kevin from HDRCMC

Here's Graham with his newly re-covered Fusion.