Flying Itford Hill 31 Aug 2014

 

 

Hi All,

Today Paul, Clint, Graham U and I (Rob) met at Itford at 09:30.

We went to the N facing bowl, but found that there was little or no lift at that time.

 

We decided to try our new Vagabonds and Graham kindly took some video of the occasion as below



 

 

 

 

There wasn't much lift but we all managed to get some kind of flying in.

Graham reverted to his Libelle which flew for 40 minutes without a break and we all just watched because we didn't have anything up to that.

After about 11:00 the wind swung round and we were able to get some better sloping , Paul flew his brilliant Typhoon, Clint his Pzazz and I stuck to my only model on the day - the Vagabond.

 

At 11:30 we were joined by 6 colleagues from Dartford who had come down for the day and we all got on famously - it was good to meet them and I hope to see them again.

 

All-in-all a variable day, but still we got 3.5 hours of relative good sloping.

Rob



Soaring Mill Hill on 28th Aug 2014

Hi All,
Today Graham, Clint and I met at Mill Hill for some soaring.
When Graham and I arrived, there was wind but almost no lift because the wind was too Westerly.
After a short while it moved more South Westerly and we were all able to fly.
I was going to maiden test my Hacker Vagabond which Tim Hampshire kindly put together for me, but it was too blustery, so it stayed in the boot. Graham flew his Fusion, Mijet and Vagabond, but agreed it was not a good day to test mine.
Clint arrived to find the wind exactly where we wanted it, but very blustery - gusting up to 25 mph at times. Clint flew his M60 and Pzazz.
I flew my Stargazer, but a relatively soft landing in long grass caused the wing to twist and fuselage snapped along an old break.
May be that the Stargazer won't fly again..

We met a lot of locals who were very friendly and I also helped Les (from SRFC) to set up his new Wildthing which went very well.

A good 3 hours of flying.

Rob Stanley

Slope soaring a car park verge.

Rob loaded up most of this video earlier on in the week but I thought I would post the complete video. We parked up above Betws in south Wales to enjoy the view but the urge to try out the slope became irresistible......

Hacker Vagabond up at The Bwlch, South Wales

During a few days away in South Wales I visited The Bwlch. The wind was NW and about 20Kts and directly onto the Ice Cream Slope. Unfortunately, I was the only person up on the slope during my time up there. Do I smell or something or maybe they had been warned in advance that I was on my way!

I left the Typhoon in the car and wandered along the slope with my Hacker Vagabond. The wind was too windy and the lift too strong really. I know that sounds daft but the Vagabond is better in lighter conditions. Here is a video of me flying the Hacker Vagabond and if you watch the video to the end you will see why I wear a hard hat - Funny!

Hopefully, this will spur some off you who haven't visited The Bwlch to come along on our next visit up to the Valleys. The views are amazing, The hills are massive and the locals are generally friendly!
I am hoping to go again within the next few months. anyone Interested in coming with me?

During my visit we also walked up Pen-Y-Fan (the highest mountain in South Wales) at 2,970ft. It took us 70 minutes to walk to the top form the car par (1680ft) but the views where just amazing. What a place to fly your models from!

 

 

Sloping at Itford Hill 23rd Aug 2014

Hi All,
Today myself (Rob), Graham U , Clint and 2 new pals - Alan Hall and his friend Carl went to Itford North bowl to fly our models. The wind wasn't in the best direction and as it happened, the bowl worked only marginally well. Graham and I had a mid air collision which totally wrecked my Stargazer tail, rudder and elevator, and I had to land with ailerons-only courtesy of Carl who made the best soft landing I've ever had (thanks Carl - you're a star).

Graham had his handy glue with him plus some cross-weave tape, so we pretty quickly repaired the Stargazer and it was away for the rest of the day ( with a bent fin), but it was fine !

Graham's new Vagabond was almost unscathed and continued to fly for the rest of the session.
 After this, we moved back to the West face of the hill and things were much better.

Clint brought his trusty Pzazz which flew really well and his M60 which flew even better.

At 12:00 Clint had to leave, and I saw our new friend Adam walking up the hill to join us with his 2nd hand Apache from SAS. I have never seen one before, but it turned out that one of the Itford locals also had one today - so 2 in a day !
Adam's flew really well but I suspect a bit nose-heavy.

After 3.5 hours we all called it a day and headed for home.
Many thanks to all who made this the best day for a long time

Rob

Soaring at Itford Hill. North Bowl. 20/08/14.

Paul Hampshire in Wales today 20 Aug 14

Hi All, Here's Captain Hampshire on his first day of holiday ! Flying his Hacker Vagabond.

Itford Hill 20th Aug 14

Hi All,
Today myself, Clint and Graham U went to Itford Hill North- facing bowl at 10:00.
The bowl was working really well and we all got loads of lift for our models. Clint flew his Pzazz and M60, Graham flew his Libelle and Vagabond  and I flew the Stargazer and Fillip 400.
During the session, the Fillip came a cropper on landing, the lift disappeared and poor old Fillip hit the deck hard. I will repair it with SolarTex next time to make it stronger. The other planes flew really well for 1.5 hours and then the wind shifted to WNW and dropped to almost nothing.
Clint decided to try his luck on the WNW slope, but the Pzazz came a cropper and will also need to be rebuilt. Graham flew his Libelle on that same slope and it was pretty successful. All-in-all a good session with some minor damage.
Graham will be uploading some video shortly . . . . . . . . .

Rob

Lone Flyer on Itford Hill 19th Aug

Hi All,
Today I went to Itford Hill for 08:30, I did put out a shout, but in the end nobody could come. I ended up flying on my own on the WNW facing slope. The wind was strong and gusty, but there wasn't much lift. Mostly from the wind off the hill, but I flew the Stargazer and it was variable to good. At times it lifted way up , but mostly I had to stay near the hill to get any kind of lift. It was also freezing cold in the 20 mph wind, so after 1.5 hours I decided to call it a day.

Here's a picture of my Stargazer resting between flights. I used this opportunity to set up the flapperons properly so as to help me land in the gusty conditions.

Regards
Rob

Mill Hill 16/08/14.

Arrived at Mill Hill at 11.30 having been to Devils Dyke having seen a number of paragliders from the A23, wind was w/wsw no model fliers but plenty of kite flyers!  Mike and Chris were flying a variety of models on the Hill. The wind was a bit weak so put the Libelle up and it was away in  a thermal!. The wind increased and a few more people arrived the wind went westerly but worked well with some powerful thermals going through. We were treated to the sight and sounds of a P51, Jet Provost, Breitling Stearmans, The Blades and  a Lynx which were  using Shoreham Airport as  a base for Airbourne. I was on the Hill for nearly four hours and flew my Fusion, Libelle, Vagabond and aging Mijet all had three or four flights each, a successful and enjoyable afternoon!

Libelle at Old Hay Airfield friday evening.

MIll Hill Saturday 9th Aug

Hi all,
Today we all decided to congregate on Mill Hill, (being the best SW slope around) at 12:30. From our regular group there was me (Rob), Paul, Tim and Clint, plus two new pals - Adam and Gavin.
Adam brought along his newly acquired SAS Apache which he and I tried to get working but didn't have the right tools on the day. Gavin came along to see Tim's new Ninja to see if he wanted to buy it. The wind was very strong (up to 25 mph), so we reverted to mouldies and foamies.
Paul flew his Typhoon with great skill (as ever) and then moved on to Tim's Guppy which we all had a go of and all agreed it is a great model. I flew my Ninja and Clint flew his M60 from down on the lower ridge where we joined some of Alan Head's pals for a bit of combat. The conditions were not the best. Both Adam and Gavin got to fly something of ours today to give them a taster of things to come.
Up the top of the hill we were joined by the Mill Hill regulars plus our mates Ralph Johnson and Mike Richards (of SRFC) and they mostly flew mouldies of various sizes and makes to great effect.
In all we had a brilliant 2 hours on the hill - many thanks to all who came long to join in.

Rob

F5J Clinic Saturday 9th Aug in Ashurst

Hi all,
I just got this note from Bernie Jones about an event in Ashurst tomorrow and Sunday - anyone interested, please comply with Bernie's instructions below - many thanks,
Rob

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Note from Bernie Jones - 

Just a note to tell you we are going to try and run a F5J clinic this Saturday 9th August, which will be followed by the BMFA League F5J event on the Sunday details of the comp can be found here http://www.esoaring.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2740

 

Details for Saturdays F5J Clinic on Saturday 9th are sparse as it’s the first one we have done , but between us we hope to be able to cover many aspects of the competition and flight, it will be a flying clinic so bring models and the start time will be around midday, it looks like it might be the best weather of the weekend

If you are going to come please let me know and also if you have any fellow flyers that would like to join us please let them know  and also me of course,  - bernie@esoarer.co.uk the field costs will be covered by www.esoaringgadgets.co.uk  and you will be able to fly till late, field directions will be signed on the day from the X roads details of location can be found on the competition link above

 

Regards

 

Bernie

Another video from Colley Hill.

Colley Hill. 5/8/14

This is one of many vids taken today.

The Vagabond chills out on the Beach.

I had a day with my girls and we stopped down at Seaford beach. Luckily for me I had my Hacker Vagabond in the back of the car from yesterday (really ??). With a SW wind and the tide low the shingle bank beach and the use of a sea wall proved to be a good source of lift. Here's a bit of video.

The Libelle's would have had no trouble and a little more wind you could have soared something a little bigger. Hopefully we can all have a day out on the beach again soon ! Maybe a BBQ and a few hours cruising the beach. Let me know if beach soaring is of Interest to you?

Maiden Flight of the Hacker Vagabond at Newhaven Fort

Rob, Clint, Graham and I met up at the Newhaven Fort car park at 10.00 today for some RC sloping off the Cliffs. Its an easy walk up the hill to the most beautiful views over Newhaven Harbour and beach.

With very little wind and very little lift I maidened my new Hacker Vagabond. No fancy flying just focus on keeping it above the cliff top. It flew well in the light lift and as the wind increased so did the lift and soon Rob was up with his Stargazer and Clint with his Pzazz and then we were joined by Graham and his Hacker Vagabon glider.

The wind continued to get stronger and then I moved onto the M60 and Rob onto his Ninja and Clint onto his M60 and Wildthing.

 



The sky was buzzing with gliders and also two Paragliders. One of them went off to Brighton and back and then landed right beside us. We also watched two right wallys leap off the cliff edge in what looked like a bed sheet on strings. What a pair of plonkers ! What some people do for an adrenaline buzz. Even the experienced Paraglider guy said they were mad. All in all a good morning's flying. Thanks guys I thoroughly enjoyed the flying and the company.