Veteran Car Run London to Brighton 5th Nov

Hi All,
This Sunday 5th Nov, the London to Brighton veteran car rally takes place and it runs pretty much right through the middle of Surrey and Sussex, so it's going to mean closed roads if you're flying on Sunday. As you can see from the route below it's going through Pease Pottage, Handcross, Hassocks, past Jack and Jill (Clayton) and onto the A23 at Pyecombe.
If you're planning to fly on the S. Downs, be aware that the roads on the route will be closed mostly.....
Here is the route itinerary from the RAC website -   RAC veteran car route

The Route
The route spans 60 miles starting in London, travelling
through the Surrey and Sussex countryside and finishing on Brighton
seafront.
7.02am - 8.15am: Hyde Park, London, W2 2UH
• Wellington Arch
• Constitution Hill
• Buckingham Palace, The Mall
• Westminster Bridge
7.10am - 9.15am: Lambeth, A3203
• Kennington, A23
• Stockwell, A3
• Clapham Common, A24
7.25am - 9.45am: Tooting, A24
• Colliers Wood, A24
7.35am - 11.00am: Morden, A24 – A297
• Rose Hill, A297 – A217
• Banstead, A217
• Burgh Heath, A217
• Reigate, A217 - A25
7.45am - 11.15am: Redhill
• Earlswood, A23
• Salford, A23
• Horley, A23
8.15am - 2.00pm: Crawley, A2219 – High Street
- A2220 – A2004 – A23
• Pease Pottage, B2114
• Handcross, B2114
• Staplefield, B2114
8.30am - 2.15pm: Hammer Hill, B2114
• Whitemans Green, B2115 – B2036
8.45am - 2.30pm: Cuckfield, B2036
• Ansty, B2036 - A272
8.55am - 3.00pm: Burgess Hill, B2036
• Hassocks, A273
9.00am - 3.30pm: Clayton Hill, A273
• Pyecombe, A273 – A23
• Brighton, A23
10.02am - 4.30pm: Madeira Drive

Itford Fun

Rob and I met at the parking area at the bottom of the hill at around 9.30.  Rob had his Phase 6 and his Moth and I decided to take my Weasel just in case the wind did not materialise and my Middle Phase which I had since February and never flown.  We started to walk up the hill and there was hardly any wind and it had not improved much when we made it to the top of the west slope.   Shortly after we were joined by Ian with his brightly coloured Super Starlight, M60 and Jart and then Russell arrived with his Sierra and newly built Omega.

With very little wind the only model flying to start with was my trusty Weasel.  The wind started to pick up so Ian gave his Super Starlight a go which floated around very well and only need a little blast on its motor to keep it afloat.  As the lift was sporadic Ian gave the motor a final blast to gain some height and with the whirr of the motor the model shot up like a rocket!  Russell then Maidened his Omega which went very well and hardly needed any trim adjustment at all, well done Russell! The wind finally picked up and Rob flew his Moth.

A couple of short videos of Ian’s Super Starlight floating around and with its rocket boost…

As the wind strengthened it turned slightly more north westerly so we moved camp over to just below the trees.  By the end of the session all of the models that we took had been flown and all had landed safely.  This included my Middle Phase which I landed safely with Ian’s excellent instruction.

All in all it was a great session, we all had fun and every model went home in one piece!

Scotty

Just checking in........

Hello guys from a not so sunny Mexico. I’m glad that you are enjoying the flying in my absense. Have you missed me? What do you mean NO!
We have had tropical storms, wind and lots of rain over the last week but the weather seems to be improving. They have 3 huge Eagles here in the Hotel (Porta Del Carmen, Cancun). These fly free during the day and I’ve been watching them soar high above the buildings and jungle, I knew I should have bought my DLG with me.
Anyway, just wanted to say ‘Hi’ and I hope you get some good flying in over the weekend.

The Limit Ex Maiden Flight

Hi All,

Today I went to Ditchling Beacon with the Limit Ex to maiden fly it.
Paul has flown his and found it twitchy in quite a high wind, it would roll far too much, so I toned down my ailerons to compensate for that experience.
I threw the Limit straight into wind and it went away straight and level, no trim needed - so far so good.
I wanted to turn left and as soon as I put in a little aileron, the nose dipped wildly and it went into a spin. I could not recover it from this despite trying my best at such a low altitude, so it landed a little way down the hill.
The model is fine - no damage at all, but it was very disconcerting to fly it with such weird characteristics.
I've never flown a model like it before - so unpredictable.
I have checked the C of G and the control surfaces and everything I can think of, but all seems fine.

I would be interested to see how the others come out in the air, compared to Paul's and mine.

I am prepared to be told what's wrong and have a go at fixing it, but my impression having flown many models, is that it's not good at all.

Anyway, that was the first and last time I fly the Limit Ex, move on to the next model ........

After that experience I launched my DLG and it flew brilliantly in the lightish wind.
I was joined by Richard W with his 5.3 mtr (yes - 5.3 !) ASW 22 and it was the bees knees.
From a distance the ASW looked just like a full sized glider and when it was making low , fast fly-bys it screamed and the wings were bending alarmingly - although at 5.3 mtrs you would expect that.

I left Richard there after 2 hrs and in the car park were a load of fliers getting models ready, but I didn't know them....


Rob

Turbulent Day

I was a little late getting up on the hill and when I arrived Ian and Mark were already up on the hill.  Ian had his Eurphoria and Jart and Mark had his Vector and another Mouldie.  I took my Dragon and “comfort blanket” aka the Wildthing.  For the record I was late as I doing some repairs on a Middle Phase which I acquired although I took the Wildthing in favour of the Middle Phase as I ran out of time doing the repairs!

We were joined a little later by Russell with various models, one of our newest members Marc with his Wildthing and another flier with a mouldie.

When we started flying there was excellent lift however it was a little bumpy and we were all encountered the twitching of wings when we flew through the turbulence.  As the morning progressed the turbulence became worse and towards the end of the session flying became extremely tricky and was almost too much for Marc and my Wildthings to cope with. 

Ian knew it was going to be a bad day when I asked him for assistance with the Dragon! It got worse when he looked round to prepare for a landing with his Jart and realised that all of the cows had congregated on the best landing spot at the top of the hill forcing him to make a landing to the side of where we were flying.  The final straw was when he decided to fly the Euphoria in the worst of the turbulence and Euphoria hit some particularly bad turbulence which was too much for the wing and broke the aileron section of one wing.  Ian managed to limp the Euphoria around for a landing but the damage was too bad and the heavy landing snapped the fuselage.

Here’s a video that I took of Ian landing the Jart, just to give you a reminder of the great flying and great weather you are missing out on Paul! (if you squint you can just about see the plane).

Scotty

Wicked wind at Itford Hill

The forecast was for an 18-20mph westerly wind on Sunday morning so Itford Hill was the obvious choice. I arrived to see birds hovering and spiralling skywards; all looked very promising.
There were about six of us model pilots on the hillside, some familiar faces such as Scotty and Marc and others (new to me) who were very well equipped. Medium to large mouldies were evident, including the Jart, Aresti, Vector and similar slick models. I think the conditions suited the mouldies as they were able to slice through the wind and turbulence. Marc and Scotty's Wildthings (EPP combat wings) were struggling to make headway, Marc's model was blown back into the shrubbery at one point and needed rescuing with a stick.

I had two woodies to play with: the Sierra is the heaviest so I launched that. It went off like a rocket and after 10 exhilarating minutes landed with a bump and a new dent in the wing, but nothing major.

 

I decided the Omega's maiden fight could wait for a less blustery day.

To keep the cold out I was wearing a 'Dickies' padded overall suit for the first time, no photo I'm afraid but definitely recommended for chilly, blowy days like this.

One of the mouldies suffered a mid-air wing fracture when caught by a violent gust of wind, a nasty snap was audible from the hillside. The pilot managed a controlled decent but a hard landing was unavoidable and more damage was the result.

Apparently that same wing had previously been damaged and repaired. We all gathered round at this point and offered helpful advice...

Happy landings!

Russell H

Highside glider taking shape

I've just finished building for the next two weeks. The Highside glider has come on leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. I'm not a proficient builder but its given me so much fun and happiness I can't wait to get back and get on with the building.
Here she is as of today. Tips still need fitting as well as all the electrics and snakes. Still plenty to do.
To see the build in pictures - CLICK HERE..........

I'm off on my hols

Hello all........
I'm off on holiday from Saturday and I didn't want to disappear for two weeks without letting you know and the blog go silent for ages. Ian and Rob plus others will hopefully be out flying and Rob has said he will try to keep the blog updated, but if anyone is going flying, please put a shout out on the blog so others can join you if you want some company.
I have very limited WIFI access where I'm going so you may not hear from me till at least November 6th - lucky you!

Late call to fly at 'The Long Man'

Depending on what forecast you watched you got a slightly different story and this kept meaning our chosen flying site kept changing with it. We went from the Cliffs to The Long Man to Mount Caburn and finally we decided on The Long Man at Wilmington. Ian, Scott and myself shared a car and got easily parked at the car park around 9.30am.
After a short walk to near the top we were greeted with a good SW blow and a completely deserted slope. We all had a mouldy, Ian also had his Jart and Scotty had his foam comfort blanket (sorry I meant Wildthing).
Landing was interesting with myself and Ian choosing the most difficult place to land which was just in front of the gulley containing the path and the a small grass area before the slope dived away to the bottom. Well here the first video. I have lots to come but need to do some work on them first.

Later we were joined by Rob P with his Erwin (sorry not a Graphite). This is a little pocket rocket dressed in a Ninja suit. Scotty did really well again today by getting in lots of stick time with his Dragon. Coming along well Scott but still no sign of an attempt at landings. Come on - pull your finger out man !

 

Spektrum DX9 Transmitter For Sale

Black Spektrum DX9 Transmitter mode 2 with case for sale.

Little use - very good condition

Includes:
Charger
Manual
Neck Strap
SD card

Will only work with DSMX receivers

£260.00

Contact Tim at t.hampshire@tiscali.co.uk

Its looking more like a glider......

The Highside Glider build is coming along well and I am updating the build blog page most days, if anyone is interested. Click here is see where I am with it all.

 

Valenta Carbonara Maiden

Oh yes the beast flew - whoooooooo!!!!

With a good NW wind blowing around 20 - 25kts it seemed a good day to maiden the Valenta Carbonara. The 4m super ship comes in just under 5 Kgs.

Checked and double checked all the movements and everything is connected properly and we were ready to go. Ian gave it a good launch and she went off with no fuss or the need for much trim. The first flight was a little cautious but managed a few loops and rolls and some reasonable speedy fly pasts. The landing was very uneventful with the flaps working well and giving me a good rate of controlled decent. The touchdown was lovely and I remembered to put the flaps away just a second before touchdown. Time to warm the hands and have a chat / gossip.
My second flight went very well with the confidence rising and so was the speed. She handled the windy conditions with ease and just cut through the sky like a knife through butter. Very stable but agile on the turns. The second landing was a doddle with the Carbonara pushing on through the sink behind the hill and touched down nicely for me.
Love It - Love it and yes............ I love it!
Here is some video from my head cam. Some dim arse put the camera on his helmet with the lens rotated through 90 degrees. Filmed the whole flight with the camera at right angles, hence the strange thin picture as I managed to rotate in editing.

Highside build blog

For those who might be interested in the plan build of my Highside sports glider then I have added a build page in the menu above. Click here to view my build blog.
I don't claim to be the best builder in the world but I am enthusiastic about building this model. For the true builders among us (yes, that's you Russell & Tim) then please be kind to me...........

My next challenge - Highside Sports Glider

After all the fun and games trying to build the Limit Mk3, I have decided to give plan building another go. I have purchased a plan of a Highside glider plan from eBay and the short kit and balsa pack from SLEC http://www.slecuk.com/balsa-wood/Highside-Glider-CNC-Pack-PRC001.html
The Highside is a 3 channel sports glider with a 1397mm span (55'') and designed by Lindsay Todd here in the UK. The plan originally came free with the RCM & E in November 2016.

I'm not in any rush to complete this build and especially as I'm going to build it at my work where I have decent lighting and a good solid workbench to work off. I wanted a new building board and looked around on the internet to find an alternative to the £30 balsa building board I had borrowed from Tim to build the Limit Mk3. There were lots of recommendations for using plaster board. This being flat and easy to pin to. B & Q had just what I wanted for £4 (a sheet of board 1200mm W x 600mm deep x 12.5mm thick - http://www.diy.com/departments/gyproc-handiboard-square-edge-plasterboard-l1220mm-w600mm-t125mm/128389_BQ.prd

Here we are set up with the 'protect-a-plan' plastic cover from the Balsa Cabin to protect the plan - https://balsacabin.co.uk/product/protect-a-plan/