This weekend flying - Sunday looking good!

UPDATE: THE WIND IS SHOWING NW AND NOT NNW NOW. MIGHT TRY AND FLY WEST OF THE CAR PARK TOMORROW. THE SAME PLACE WE FLEW LAST WEEK (NOT ACROSS THE ROAD FROM THE CAR PARK)

Looking at the weather we are expecting over the weekend, I will punt for Sunday being the better of the two. Sunday will start of cloudy but will improve with a good (20mph+) NNW wind blowing.
Ditchling Beacon will be the preferred choice but given the trouble we had last week parking at Midday, I would suggest we meet up early to avoid a packed car park.
This unfortunately, means I will be up at the car park for 9.00am. Wrap up warm and bring a flask of tea / coffee. It will be worth it the effort !!
Anyone needing any help / advice about Ditchling Beacon then please drop me a line.
Hopefully see some of you up on the hill on Sunday morning.

Traceur Slope Soarer Kits

Traceur models have been ordered and should be with us within 3 - 4 working weeks. Thanks Rob, Ian, Terry & Mike for your fast payments. All kits now sold.  I will let you all know when these are delivered.
Good News Guys.......
I have been in contact with the manufacturer in Germany and have placed an order for 5 at just £70 each ) As you would expect they want cash up front so please can those who wanted one (Ian, Rob & Terry) email me and I will supply you my Paypal details to make a 'Gift' payment. Then I can pay the supplier.
They will take 3 - 4 weeks to get delivered as the kits will be made just for us. I have 1 more kit for sale and the other one's for me, so let me know if you would like the one that's still available.
I have been flying Tim's Traceur and they fly much better than the Vagabond and I just love it.

Vagabond Ditchling Beacon.

Sorry Rob,, Terry missed todays session, did a bit of power flying. Just waxed the the skis! One never knows. Apparently I was flying on the wrong slope....mmm ok.

Itford Hill this afternoon

Hi All,
This afternoon Terry Burnal and I went to Itford Hill to get some mid-week flying.
When we arrived we met someone just coming off the hill with a 3 mtr mouldie who said that there was very little lift. Terry and I had our foamies, so we decided to go up and try our luck.
I took my Vagabond and Terry had his two Wildthings.
The Vagabond is supposed to fly in virtually no wind, but I didn't have much luck with it today.
It seemed reluctant to fly straight and level, preferring instead to porpoise all the time.
I tried adding weight to the tail - no good, I tried putting some reflex on the flaps - a little better. I removed all the weight from the tail - a little better still, but all-in-all I was very disappointed with it.
I have flown it before perfectly well, but today was a let down.
Terry's Wildthing 60 was a delight to fly and even the 48 flew pretty well in the very light conditions.
We were both amazed that the Wildthings did so well, but the Vagabond did so badly - who knows ?
I should have taken another model but didn't have room in my wife's car.
However, it was great to see Terry after his absence for a hand operation and we both got a lot of lovely fresh air. I was rejuvenated at the end of it.
Thanks for the idea Terry, see you again soon ?
Rob
P.S. Sorry no pictures or video

The first flat field take off!

After trying power while slope soaring I set elevator/rudder/motor mix...perfect!!   Zero wind and haze.

100" `floppy` winged thermal soarer at Ditchling Beacon yesterday...

Another enjoyable sloping session! I`m very pleased with the performance of this glider, the mini cam mounted on the all moving tailplane made no difference to handling. Thicker gauge wing mount rods will reduce flex and stronger springs/tape to keep wing root butted to the fuselage. Looking forward to flying  at our Club field soon!

Todays superb flying at Ditchling Beacon (West)

Here's a brief video of the fun and games we had up at the Beacon today.

Watch in HD and in wide screen for best viewing.

A warm welcome to a new friend and welcome back to an old one.

The day didn't start well with the new layout of Ditchling Beacon car park proving to be rubbish with a smaller amount of parking spaces than before that made finding a space very time consuming. Finally we all found parking spaces and I got an opportunity to say hello to our newest buddy, Ian D.

He found our blog, got in contact and the rest as they say was history. Dave W was there with his Middle Phase and already flying was Graham. It was a bit chilly but the sun was out and the views were amazing looking over the Weald from an area West of Ditchling Beacon. The NW wind making it Impractical to fly at our usual spot just across the road from the car park.

Then after Dave's middle Phase had an unfortunate coming together with a lage chalk object called the Southdowns and his glider didn't win. He briefly flew my Ninja and enjoyed a bit of open sky and flying something different before heading off home. Then, who should turn up - Jack. Remember him. Tall bloke, flies a Ninja (a bit too well for my liking). Welcome back Jack its been months! Just in case you had forgotten what he looks like........

With the return of the 'Black Bast..d' there was nothing to do but to try and smash my Ninja into his - Combat!!! Why is it so difficult to try and hit someone deliberately but when you are behaving yourself and trying your utmost not to hit anyone, you do? Me and Jack played silly beggars till my fingers were going numb and then Graham had a go too. He had been busy flying his beautiful and very graceful flexi-wing glider. Showing us how well he can execute aerobatic manoeuvres with what should be a flat field floater.

Well done to Ian for his maiden of the Wildthing. You flew great Ian! and a huge welcome back to Jack, who unfortunately for me, still flies too bloody well.

Cheers guys - a great day out !

 

Hopefully good video to follow tomorrow.

Micro Sloping

I did some of this last year on a beach in North Wales - very rewarding! Lets go and try it again this year eh - anyone fancy trying it?

It was so cold I felt like my face had been Botoxed!

It would have been a lovely and warm day up at Ditchling Beacon if you were a Polar Bear but for us old fogies it was bloody cold but the merry banter kept the frostbite at bay together with my transmitter mitt that stopped my fingers falling off.

 I was joined by Les, Rob and Graham up at the Beacon. The wind was only about 10-12knts which gave us sustainable lift but nothing amazing. I maidened my 'Zulu' which flew lovely in the light lift but didn't set the world alight with stunning agility but I am hopeful with some tinkering and the addition of some more ballast it will prove a very tasty glider especially on those light wind slope / cliff days. This was purchased from T9 HobbySport. for £47.99 plus P & P and built by Tim then covered in shrink laminate film.

Watch the video in HD and in widescreen for the best viewing.
Tim lent me his Tracuer ( from Modellbau) which was a sheer joy to fly. On half rates it was an animal rolling and looping with little effort in the lighter conditions. Graham and Rob had flights with it and I think the general consensus was that it was superb and offered more than the Hacker Vagabond.
Graham had fun flying his big wing and his Vagabond, Rob had the trusty Stargazer together with its rebuild tail section and showed amazing skill to avoid the barbed wire fence that I threw the Tracuer towards while launching it for him. Better than I did as I landed on the fence later on. Les impressed us all with his 'Straight In' landings. Maybe a little more of a hold off may be needed next time Les but very well flown never the less.

Update on our 12 acre field

Hi All,
Firstly Happy New Year - secondly, sorry for the delay in sending our best wishes to you all.....

We have received great news that our new field - the 12 acre one near Burgess Hill - is now a reality, following some final talks with the farmer.

Paul and I will be hoping to make contact with the owner very soon to finalise the arrangements with him and to that end, we have drafted a list of questions/ issues regarding our use, access and rights on the field.

We fully expect to be able to report final details within a couple of weeks and will then be able to set up a club meeting to discuss our own requirements, etc... We will also ask for volunteers to help us get the field ready for flying. There will be quite a lot to do, but it will be worth it to have our own glider-dedicated field to use 24 x 7.

Watch out for the next instalment which will hopefully be the 'call to arms' for us all to get together . . . .

Best regards
Rob Stanley

Slope Soaring Sussex Hon. Sec / Hon. Treasurer

My Vagabond New Years Eve. Mill Hill. 2014