A Quiet Weekend for Fixing Broken Models

Hi All,
This weekend turned out to be disappointing for weather and therefore we decided to postpone Itford Hill until better conditions prevail.
On the other hand, I took the opportunity to repair my broken models instead.
I started with the fuselage on the Quark which I 'cracked' last time I was at Itford and now have a fully working Quark again albeit with some slightly different red covering on the repair (why is 'red' Solarfilm not the same all the time ?)

I have been working on my favourite Stargazer (which was only £30, but flies so nicely) and it now has a new tail-end all made from solid balsa instead of being built-up (because it got broken all the time).I can't wait to get it flying again.

I also was working on a re-cover of the Ninja because after several years the covering was looking a bit sad. I spent quite a few hours of Saturday re-covering it with cross-weave after having put new metal geared servos inside. All I need to do now is cover it with coloured tape - looks like it'll be 'Aqua blue' which looks green to me !!

On Saturday I was talking with Will because he wants a more aerobatic model to fly, so after thinking about it, I decided that he really needs a Traceur. As they aren't made any more, I decided to let him have my kit and all the bits I had bought to put in it. Will came over on Sunday and has now taken it home for his first 'build' project. It's very much pre-fabricated so I hope and expect he will make a good job of it.

Regards

Rob

This is one of the videos taken on Sunday 21/6/15 at Itford Hill.

Itford Hill, Sunday 21st June

Hi All,
Paul, Graham, Will and I met up at Itford Hill yesterday morning to take advantage of a forecast westerly at 15 mph. When we got to the top, the wind was a little stronger than forecast but straight onto the hill so we were hoping for some good lift (which in fact wasn't as good as hoped).
Graham flew his Mijet and electric glider (can't remember the name) , both very well indeed.
I had the Moth and Quark made by Tim, the Moth flew as well as ever, but I had trouble slowing it down for landing for some reason (not flown for 5 weeks), but Paul gave me valuable information on future landings. I also maiden flew the Quark by Tim and it flew really well, but I tried a loop without enough air speed and had a hard landing. Some minor fuselage damage resulted.
Will had his trusty Spectre which he flew very well and managed to break his bad luck spell at Itford. Paul was instructing Will on how to practice landings.
Paul brought his new paraglider, but after he had untangled the strings, and with help from Will and I, we decided that the wind was just too strong to try it out. There's always next time, and it looked like it might be a great deal of fun. Paul then flew his Valenta Dragon which unfortunately suffered a broken servo, but he still managed to land it better than any of us with fully-working models and it lives to fly another day.

Thanks Rob for your excellent flying report.

What happened after Rob left?......well, after we had all stopped clapping & cheering !

Will kept chucking his Spectre off and then after a few quick turns, landing back near himself. A guy flying nearby with a Wildthing was watching Will's antics and wandered over to give him some constructive advice on how to keep his model up for longer, as Will obviously was having issues keeping it up (oh Matron !!!!). Will explained to the guy,  that all was OK and he was just practising his landings and was in complete control (well nearly). We believe Will - Honest !!

As Rob has already mentioned,  I brought MAX the RC Paraglider pilot along for a maiden flight. I tried to tell him that the wind was too strong and he should wait for a calmer day to fly but would he bloody listen? Even Graham told him on more than one occasion to stay in his box but some people just don't heed good advice and here what happened to the little chap.......

 

 

After Will and myself had extracted Max from the barbed wire fence, his only comment was (which I thought was very funny for a plastic bloke wearing a bright red jump suit) - '' I was saddened by the lack of penetration !''. Now where have I heard that before?
Maybe you need some Viagra Max........

This weekends flying........

Tomorrow doesn't look very favourable weather wise plus I'm helping move my daughter from her flat in East London, so that's a non starter for me.
So my only option is to go flying on Sunday morning. The wind looks W at 13 - 15mph - Which will make it spot on for Itford Hill. Cloudy but no forecast of rain (yet!).
Might be the first flight with my RC Paraglider ?
Hopefully get down to Itford for 10.00am.
Please be aware that the London - Brighton bike ride is on and crossing the masses of bikes can be an issue, so I will go down the A23 and along the A27 to Itford.
I'm picking Will up on route, so that makes two of us who will be flying on Sunday - Anyone else going to be joining us?

BMFA Meeting Regarding the National Model Flying Centre

Hi All,
As you know I recently received a notice from the BMFA about an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to discuss the BMFA being able to acquire a piece of land (not yet found) to start work on the National Flying Centre. The trouble is that they tried to get a piece of land previously, but lost it because they couldn't act quickly enough because they were preparing to ask all their members for their opinion. So now they are proposing that they be allowed to act without asking every member so as to be able to act more quickly should a suitable site come up.
All affiliated clubs will asked to vote 'Yes' or 'No' at the meeting in Nottingham on 4th July, or to nominate another club to vote for them if they can't make the meeting.
As neither Paul nor I can make it that day, we asked Taj Manning from Mid Sussex Flyers to represent us and I have sent off our 'proxy' form saying that he will do that.
I also sent you all an email asking for your opinion in the form of 'Yes' or 'No' and have received 8 replies so far, all 'Yes'.
I await the replies from another 4 members and have till Monday morning as the deadline.
However, even if we don't receive those replies, we will declare our club result as a 'Yes' and inform Taj accordingly as 75% of our members are in favour.

Many thanks to those who voted.
We would also like to thank Taj Manning for helping us out by voting for us on 4th July.

Regards
Rob Stanley
Hon Sec. / Hon Treasurer

Mijet Itford Hill 6/6/15

Flying Itford Hill last weekend in around 30mph wind. Mounting the DVR on the tailplane doesn`t give the best view of this `plane!                                                                                                                         What I was trying to achieve was the correct set up of crow, initially there was a large amount of zooming but with a lot of down trim overcame most of it. Have now programmed in  a curve mix..voila! While me being in setup mode decided to progamme a rud/ele mix to aid knife edge, havent tried it yet but it must help.

Wales on a shoe string !

So far we have Jack, Will, Scott and me signed up for Wales 2015. The dates being the 7th, 8th and 9th August.
Thnaks so much guys for the promt responcses and for joining in the fun. it will be a mega trip !
I have booked my room at the hotel. If booked through Booking.Com then you can cancel up to the day before, so if its crap weather then we can cancel with no payment !!! Result........
Here is the link to the hotel (Day's Inn Hotel)
Hopefully will be able to bring along the Willow 2 for some big air flying - cant wait !!!

South Wales here we come !!

For all those who have said they would like to come along on our 3rd visit to the fabulous Welsh mountains (Will / Scott / Jack / Clint / Paul) and anybody else who fancies joining us, I have been looking at dates and for me personnaly I am a little strapped for time what with work and two holidays coming up but here goes......

Option One - Friday 7th / Saturday 8th / Sunday 9th August

Option Two - Friday 21st / Saturday 22nd / Sunday 23rd August

Option Three: Late October

Option Four: Go to the Isle of Wight again for a weekends flying?

We can stay in the same hotel as we did the prvious times (Currently £97 for two nights in your own room or £97 for a twin and share).

If we plan to do as previous trips we leave early on Friday morning and get up there around midday. Then off flying. Saturday is spent flying and if you are really keen you cam fly on Sunday morning or alternatively have breakfast on Sunday morning ahnd then head home.

You could do it in two days (Sat / Sun) but that reduces the amount of flying you get. Your choice really!

The place we fly at is called The Bwlch and should work in most wind directions. Steve has a shown me one other slope that worked well, so I think we should be covered with slopes to fly and then its just up to the weather. For map  click here for more Information about The Bwlch click here

I am keen to get the dates firmed up and hotels booked so If you do want to come along and you have a preferred date then please let me know ASAP !

Low Riders

Thought you might like these?

Boogie on the beach !

Dune Gooning

I want to do this.......

The Dutch Coast

Finding the balance – and I'm not just talking CofG!

Walking off Wolstonbury Hill in mid April after my first ever taste of slope soaring (or rc flying of any kind for that matter), I remember Scott saying to me that the biggest challenge I'd face learning to fly would be finding enough time to practice. And he wasn’t wrong. With the pressures of work and family life, finding the time (or more accurately, being able to justify the time) to throw “toy planes” off blustery hilltops is a weekly challenge.

Since Wolstonbury, I've probably clocked up around six or seven hours off actual flying time – including maidening my Spectre at Butts Brow, crashing it (for the first time) at Itford, grazing the nettles at Ditchling Beacon, hurling it off the cliffs, pulling some loops (and crashing several more times) on the Isle of Wight and, most recently, enjoying some more relaxing thermalling from the field.

So almost two months on and seven-hours of thrilling flying time later, I'm just about able to launch, fly and land my Spectre – just not necessarily all in the same flight! Thanks to some great tuition and supervision from everyone at Slope Soaring Sussex, I think I have developed the confidence and basic building blocks to become a proficient flyer – in time.

So far I've been lucky. My wife has been extremely supportive and encouraging of my new hobby. Not without justifiably asking on occasions, however, whether this is the thin end of the wedge – a question that I always find hard to find a convincing and non-incriminating answer to, not least because I’m still uncertain myself!

I’m also fortunate that my two young children (aged one-and-a-half and three years old) are mad-keen on anything that flies and love tagging along to get in on the action. When I got home from work yesterday, my eldest took great delight in showing me how to launch his “glider” (a Playmobile plane) while clutching a Duplo “transmitter”. Learning to fly has become more than just a hobby for me. It is an investment in a common interest that I can enthuse and bond with my kids over.

While the cards are perhaps not all stacked in my favour – lack of time, money, driving licence etc. etc., I plan to keep seeking the allusive balance that enables me to clock up my hours and continue growing my skills and experience. 

Lovely thermic flying at the field today

A group of us met up at the clubs flying field looking for the elusive thermal. Not the sort you wrap up warm with in the cold but warm rising columns of air that help scoop up the light DLG's and electric gliders and send them skywards.
I was lucky because not long after arriving I managed to hook a lovely thermal with my Libelle DLG. She soared away high up to a spec under the boiling clouds. Both Will and Scott had a go with the Libelle which is a lovely glider to fly. Scott had his electric glider and Tim had his Solius electric gliders. Both guys flew and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I flew my old rudder / elevator motor glider which as usual just carried on climbing away. Will took over and climbed it away even further. Bernie joined us with a huge F3J electric glider by Valenta. What a beauty (That's the glider not Bernie by the way!) very impressive with a fast climb out and a nice slow landing pace. Eventually everyone left except me. I stayed on till 14.30 which gave me 3 1/2 hours of flying fun. I managed to climb away with my other DLG after many launches and a cracking flight with my Nan Omega. She wouldn't come down. In the end I put out full landing flap and lots of nose down to get her out of the strong lift. I had a mega time with just wonderful conditions. Sorry no video or pictures this time.

This weekends flying

Hi all.
Weather looks ok for the weekend ahead. Saturday looks like a sunny day with a 15mph (ish) WSW wind. This should bring Itford Hill into play if you fancy a little walk up the hill tomorrow.
My choice will be Sunday. A lighter Northerly wind with sunshine and warm conditions. It seems it could be ideal conditions for some flat field flying. Maybe DLG, electric gliders and some bungee flying. If we get to Sunday and the wind is a little stronger than forecast then we can go up and fly on Ditchling Beacon. To get the best warmth from the day Its best to let the sun get on the ground for a bit. Maybe get to the field for 11.00 - 12.00 and have a few hours flying. I will update the blog on Saturday evening to confirm timings etc. I will bring along my electric thermal soarer for people to fly.
How about a mini competition or some flat field Instruction?

More from the IW.

Hi all
After that lovely days flying on Saturday when you guys came over, a few of us went up to Stenbury Down again yesterday, the wind was very slightly from the West, a bit like Saturday, myself, Bill, Tony and Paul were there plus a few from the Solent Heights Club.

    I had got the head camera out and charged it up before going, not the best of cameras but for a cheepo not to bad, I'm going to get a GoPo I think for these Vids.

I flew the Moth to start with as did Bill and Tony, then we got the Typhoons out, I didn't manage to get any footage of Typhoons unfortunately as the little card in camera soon filled up, I just love the way the Typhoon flew, such an efficient glider the way it finds lift.

Happy flying all!

Chris

Caption Contest

I know you lot are full of wit (yes wit!). Here is a cracking shot that is just screaming out for a funny caption. If you would like to share your caption with us all then please leave your side splitting caption in the comments section below.

Go on give it a go........

You could win a bottle (deodorant, mouthwash, nit shampoo ??)

Some of Jacks superb pics from Saturdays flying

Here are a few of the top quality pictures taken by Jack during our day out flying on the Isle of Wight.

Wills Spectre

Scott's Wildthing

My Traceur

The old Girl - My Valenta Dragon

Action shot! Bills Moth landing

Stenbury Down

A Ninja having a fling with a Wildthing

Thanks Jack !!