Greetings from the land of the Simien Mountains! Loving
Ethiopia so far, a truly stunning country. Spending the weekend in Nairobi but
back to Addis Ababa on Monday for another 3-5 weeks depending on how things
play out!
Been thoroughly enjoying reading the blog and it’s really
helped keep me sane in moments of madness just to catch up on all the news from
the slopes back home. The glider review pages are fantastic!
Before I went away I put a wanted add in the BMFA for a
"battered big-wing mouldie" as a bit of a long-term prospect for once I know what
I’m doing. Anyway it came up trumps and I got an email from a guy in north
London looking to part with a trusted old model.
So today I managed a new first – buying a glider from the
other side of the world! The internet is a dangerous thing!!!
It’s an F3B plane called a "Europhia", made in
Germany by Martin Weberschock. It comes fully fitted out with servos and is
described by the seller as:
“A VERY good flier which is only let down by its
scruffiness. It's fully structurally sound, full of carbon parts and, I think
anyway, ticks most of your boxes. This is NOT a mint condition plane at a
giveaway price, it's a good, strong, long serving, and knocked about mouldie that
could, I believe be exactly what you want. The Europhia is an F3B (multi-task)
glider that means it has to cope with thermal, distance and speed tasks so it
can be set up as "softly" as you want initially, it all depends on
how you want to fly it, if you're not going to use it in competitions you can
set it up in "sport" mode and use it as a "top-end" sport
model but eventually, for it to show its full capabilities you're going to have
to fly it faster and smoother, especially to release its aerobatic performance”
This is the current newer model:
http://www.weberschock-development.de/enfmb/modelle.html
Anyway, it’s a bit of a long-term project to get myself
to a standard where I’ll be ready to fly it but hope that by next spring I’ll
be ready to take to the skies with her!
Will, you're such a go-for-it type! Very inspiring. I've no doubt in my mind you'll get to the required flying standard very quickly! Go for your life buddy!
ReplyDeleteThe Simien Mountains look stunning, with some challenging slopes to fly off!
ReplyDeleteHaha cheers Roger! Looks like you've been keeping yourself busy too! Definitely some decent thermalling potential out here Rusty if watching the birds is anything too go by. You might get arrested by the Ethiopian government though!
ReplyDeleteHi Will, SO pleased that you're OK being out there for 4 or 5 weeks and also pleased that you're keeping up with the guys on the blog.
ReplyDeletePlease stay in touch and maybe send us updates about what you're up to (not even flying-related), as we're all your buddies and like to hear from you
Best of luck
Rob
I second Rob's comments - keep us updated even if not flying related - it's somewhat out of the ordinary, what you do, so I'm sure we'll all be interested.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much fellas, that's really kind. Your a great bunch and I'm glad I stumbled across Slope Soaring Sussex all those months ago! Clocking off at 1am and leaving for Nairobi airport in 5 hours. Trying to decide whether or not to bother trying to sleep! It's a lot less glamorous than it sounds and I'd kill for a home cooked meal in my own home with my family. Still it's a privilege to be able to travel and meet people from around the world so always try to make the most of it. Happy flying and keep in touch!
ReplyDelete