A Very Good Friday

Four of us out flying this morning to the West of Ditchling Beacon.

Mark, Jim, Ian and me. I had expected more people out flying today as this was going to be the only decent day of the whole Easter weekend but the guys flying today seemed very happy. Ian and Jim continued to make good improvements with there flying today and Mark was having fun with his Phase 6 and a mouldy.
I flew my Aresti and the old lady Dragon with my Mobius camera mounted on the wing.

We were joined by some full sized chugging there way along the hill. I really enjoyed my Good Friday. Thanks to the guys who came along.

Easter Weekend

Looking ahead at my forthcoming four days off the weather looks pants !!!!
The only reasonable day will be tomorrow (Good Friday). The weather is set to be sunny (am) and a 20+ mph NNW wind at 9.00am but reducing as the morning progresses. This wind direction doesn't give us many options but the easiest one would be to fly at Ditchling Beacon but at the car park go West (to your left) and not across the road as usual.
I aim to be there at 9.00am to take advantage of the higher wind speed and a less busy car park.
Why don't we use this session to practice those 'A' badges?
Please let me know if you intend to come along just in case there are any last minute changes.
Grab this day opportunity if you do want to fly this weekend as the weather is then set to be typical Bank Holiday crap ..........................................
Hopefully see a good crowd up there tomorrow morning?

Glider Trolley

Got my new glider trolley today. It's really a fishing Carp wheelbarrow but it should do the job. Should be fine carrying all the models and gear up the hill.

Will post some more pics when I have pimped it up a bit.......

Tim's new 'Phase 6' complete with landing flaps

Another Tim Hampshire built model and as usual this one has been built to a high standard but has the addition of landing flaps. This video demonstrates the advantage of having the control and stability of landing flaps a the speed and control of the Phase 6. Video taken during our flying at Ditchling Beacon this morning.

Also, Paul and Rob spent about an hour tutoring Jim and Ian L with their Spectres and Jim's Middle Phase. Both Jim and Ian did extremely well this morning despite the NE gales and driving rain at times. Well done both of you..

Ditchling Beacon Saturday 19th March

Hi All,
Paul and I braved the freezing NE winds this morning at the Beacon.

We arrived at 9:00 and I was amazed to see that Paul had brought his 1/4 scale Olympian scale model (the same as the one on the cover of BMFA news this month).

It's got a 3.75mtr wingspan and we had to set it up in the car park taking up about 3 parking spaces. Once it was all together, Paul carried it carefully across the road and we got it over the stile to the NE facing ridge where we both had to launch it to keep it under control. The wind was gusting and taking the model with it  - I've never felt so much lift from a model before. One short push forward and it was away.

I must say that I'm completely won over by scale models now I've seen this beauty flying.
The landing Paul made was straight from the 'How To Land A Massive Model In High Winds' textbook  - (I saw it somewhere - I think !!!).
The airbrakes were very effective and come from both above and below the wings. It landed so gently even the scale pilot had a grin on his face.

As we were packing away the Olympian we met Bernie who was up the Beacon to walk the dog, so he didn't fly with us today.

Next we assembled my 'new' Phase6 which once belonged to Paul, was built by Tim and was sold to Adam, who didn't really fly it, so he sold it to me on Wednesday (are you keeping up ?). I asked Paul to trim it up for me and then I took over and was completely bowled over by the way it handles. I just love it and want to fly it again !

After some while I landed the Phase 6 and Paul had by then launched his M60, so I watched that for a while until the cold got the better of us and we retired to the cars.

Altogether we both had a brilliant morning (or an hour anyway), flying.

Rob

Ian Lisseter's Spectre has flown

Hi All,
Yesterday Ian L came over to my house and we set up his completed Spectre ready for the maiden flight.
Today Ian and I met at the Beacon at 10:00 and it was VERY COLD in the strong NE wind.
We went over the stile to the N facing slope edge and I flew the Spectre to trim it up.
It went very well, just needed some up elevator to keep the nose from dipping, otherwise a very stable and well-built model.
I then handed it to Ian for his first real Slope Soaring session.
It went very well, Ian stuck to my instructions - traverse the hill in a figure of eight and turn into wind at each end of the slope. The model was brilliant and Ian proved a very competent flier.
After about 20 minutes I took over and landed because we were both getting too cold to carry on.
Ian has proven his skills and got his first taste of sloping and the Spectre was easily up to the task.

Can't wait to see Ian again for his second flight !

Rob

North Easterlies..........

Hello all.
Looking at the weather forecast for the next few days and into the weekend we are looking at NE winds for most days. That means flying at Ditchling Beacon. Easy parking and good lift !!
Unfortunately for me, work is getting in the way but hopefully at the weekend I will be out playing again. If any of you are going flying, please remember to put something up on the blog and tell others that you are flying. Maybe see some of you out over the weekend as I hope to maiden the 1/4 scale Oly 2.

Sunday March 13th at Wolstonbury Hill

Great gathering yesterday up on top of Wolstonbury Hill, the wind was as predicted but perhaps a little stronger, but it was ENE so the hill was working fine.
We had (at various times) - Paul H, Ian A, Roger H, Jim H, Andrew L, Rob S, Scott T and Mark J with friends - Scott's dad, John (fantastic Mr Fox) and Ralph.
There was a great selection of moulded and foam models with a balsa one thrown in for good measure (Jim's Middle Phase).
Every model got flown or tested out at least and only a few casualties were suffered - John ended up in a tree (see picture below) and Andrew snapped his Art Tech Diamond in half at the nose (easily fixed).
Otherwise it was a very successful and enjoyable day all round.
Here is a selection of videos and pictures that hopefully capture some of the spirit of the day...........

 

 

Fun on the Beach

I found this video and had to share it. The model is a Le Fish also known as a Tracuer. There are a few flying within out group. Just to let you know that Ian D still has his kit for sale for just £60. This plane is magic to fly and I have had so much fun with mine.........

And here is mine down at the beach. A hand launch from the beach up against the cliff.

Contact me if you are Interested in Ian's Tracuer

Parham - Eastbourne - Butser - Parham

Hi all
I wanted to share with you this video of my mate Craig flying his DG800 self launching motor glider along the South Downs last Sunday morning. It follows the complete flight from Craig taking off under his power and first along to Eastbourne then back along to Butser and home to Parham. 175kms in 1 hour 42 mins which averages out at 103kph. Its well worth watching all the way through for you to understand the difficulties and tough decisions needed to be made when slope soaring along the South Downs in a full size glider.

You will see him hurtle past Ditchling Beacon but I think we had all just packed up and gone home at that point.