Weekend Flying

Hello all...…
The weather forecast for the weekend is for lovely sunny weather but the wind is from the SSE - SE which really isn't to good unless you want to travel up to Colley Hill (Reigate).
There is a possibility to go and fly the Newhaven cliffs on Saturday but I'm not sure that would be very popular after our last visit to the cliffs.
Sunday offers virtually the same but slightly more SE wind. I don't really want to travel down to Eastbourne so for me the only other choice would be going flat field flying at Ashurst.
It could be 7 - 10mph but still ok for some fun off the bungee or to go and fly DLG's. I know Rob has a brand new DLG to fly but he is still waiting for his RX.

Update Sat evening -
Paul , Ian and Rob will be at the North Field tomorrow from 11:00.
We're bringing DLG s, thermal and electric gliders...…

Health and Safety Free Flight Style...

A clip from the Saturday evening free flight from the BMFA Nats.  I have been to the Nats several times and one of the highlights is still the Saturday evening free flight.  This year there was even a spectator “safe zone” however it was virtually empty and most spectators were around the launch area.  You definitely need eyes in the back of your head but great fun!

Government Consultation Paper on Future of Drones

Hi All,
I have sent you all a copy of an email from the BMFA about the consultation paper from the Aviation Ministry about future legislation for drones. Unfortunately this covers all unmanned aircraft (not just quadcopters), so we are being encouraged to respond to the consultation questionnaire.
A number of club members have already done their responses via the online website (many thanks to them) and it would be great if you could all take some time to respond so that we can get an overwhelming response for the government to consider - especially separating quadcopters from the rest of the aeromodelling community. It takes about an hour to do but it's got to be worth it .
The email I sent you contains the BMFA recommended replies to each question - you don't have to put anything else other then 'yes', 'no' or 'don't know' and you don't have to answer any of the 'why' questions if you don't want to.
Here's the BMFA link
Link to BMFA Documentation


Please have a go if you've got the time and want to make a really positive contribution to the future of our hobby.


Many thanks


Rob Stanley
Hon. Sec.

This one's for Tony.......Itford Hill 1922

First ever gliding competition held at Itford Hill in 1922. I've got a feeling Rob was also flying up there on that day.....

The Dragon Has Landed… Finally!

This weekend we had all decided to fly on Saturday for various reasons and as the wind was looking to be best from 1 o’clock onwards we didn’t have our usual early start of 9 or 10 o’clock.  As the wind was a west south westerly we decided to meet at Itford.  I think Tony was as relived as I was, no brambles or gorse to deal with this week!

When I arrived at the top of the hill at 1.30 Paul, Rob, Mark, Tony and Russell were already flying various models ranging from Tony’s Wildthing to Paul’s Willow 2 which both had already buzzed me as I walked slowly up the side of the hill.  I think Rob and Russell both had their Coyotes along with various other models.  Sorry Mark, I didn’t see what you had with you today.

We were joined today by the usual walkers, runners and mountain bikers, along with a horse rider doing gallops up and down the hill, well the horse was doing the galloping, and a first for me, two tethered hang gliders.  We had been flying for well over an hour and with no warning given, one of the hang gliders decided to fly untethered from behind where we were flying.  Not a great move given that there were several moulded gliders flying around at speed!

I took my Dragon and my “comfort blanket” as Paul calls it, aka Wildthing.  Today the Wildthing stayed on the ground as I was determined to persevere with the Dragon, a get on with it or admit defeat sort of scenario. 

After the first couple of minutes I was getting a feel for it again and with much encouragement from Paul after not too long I was doing multiple loops and speed passes along the slope.  Then Paul suggested that I tried flying around with the flaps down to see how the Dragon reacted and doing dummy landing approaches to see where to position the glider.  Before I knew what was happening with Paul shouting, “more nose down”, “more nose down” and “keep the wings level” the Dragon was sliding through the grass.  I’m sure that it wasn’t a textbook landing but at least the Dragon was down in one piece with no damage and I was elated, I had finally done it!!  Just to be sure it wasn’t a fluke we put the Dragon up again and after a couple of runs along the slope I landed her a second time.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and patience Paul, very much appreciated!

Our YouTube video collection has had over 100,000 views !!!

Our YouTube video collection is getting massive now with 221 videos loaded up there for you to watch, These go back about four years and include most the common flying sites and lots of new ones to some of you. If you fancy taking a look sometime here is a link to our playlist.
Slope Soaring Sussex Video Collection. So far these videos have been watched over 100,600 times. Everything flat field flying to cliffs and DLG to every type of slope imaginable we have something for everyone. Feel free to include any video's you might have. Just send me the links.
Here is the most popular video up there with over 8.698 views:

If you haven't done already please subscribe to my video channel. Doesn't cost you a penny but you will be informed as and when a new video is posted. If you like a video please click the liked video button.

Finally, please let me know the title of your favourite video within our playlist. Keen to know what sort of video you guys enjoy. Leave your suggestions in the comments area below, please!

Magnificent Seven Glide Again!

A great turnout today up on Newhaven cliffs with Ian, Scott, Tony, Graham, Robin, Mark and myself all flying. It felt like the old days with plenty of friendly banter and us all enjoying each others company.

We had a couple of cliff flying virgins with Robin and Tony who both flew and one of them managed to get back to the landing zone and Tony cleverly landed his model over the back but on the path. Scott on the other hand shot off downwind and into the sunken jungle of doom, well the brambles and gorse behind the slope. An hour later Tony and Scott appeared with a wildthing and tattered clothes and covered in dirt and blackberry stains. Not sure what they had been up too but Tony look knackered!

These pics were taken by Scott while him and Tony were enjoying themselves in the bushes. Apparently looking for a model in a tree. Oh yes..... likely story!

 

Ian and Grahan had mouldies, I had my faithful old M60, Mark flew his Blaze and Robin flew his own design wing. Here are a few video's taken from this mornings flying:

And a shot behind Graham just before touchdown.

Thank you everyone for making the effort and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as Tony and Scott seemed to have done? Who would have thought the rain would stay away and give us a good couple of hours soaring.

Now the Videos from yesterdays flying in South Wales

Three video's of yesterdays flying at The Bwlch & Hirwaun Common.

A lovely Summer afternoon in South Wales with Steve, an Ascot and a Zulu

The long drive up to South Wales was deffinately worth it. Three and a half hours drive to Neath and drop off the family and my Mother-In- Laws and then up to the Bwlch to meet up with Steve Houghton (A470 Soaring fame).
Steve was already airborne with his Genesis wing flying the VR98 slope at the Bwlch with a gentle Northerly wind. I flew my foamy Zulu which went reasonably well between the spells of no wind and bugger all lift. Lobbed the Ascot out into what I hoped was a thermal drifting through and boom it was up and gone in a flash.

Myself and Steve continued to swop between models and enjoyed a good hour or so up on the VR98.

Then we packed up and drove to the slope above Rhigos to a place called Hirwaen Common. A classic looking slope with the Tower Colliery below us and the horizon filled with the Brecon Beacons. Just an amazing slope in my mind. The landing area was huge and lovely and smooth air for landing.

A huge thank you to Steve for the great company and local knowledge. Cheers Steve!

Paul's flying visit to S Wales

I'm sure Paul will create his own post and tell his own story, but here is the video I created of us flying today.

We began at the Bwlch, on the VR98 slope, in beautiful sunshine and big fluffy cumulus clouds,  and then after a couple of hours drove up the Rhigos mountain pass to Hirwaun Common, with amazing views of the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains. All in all it was a fab afternoon.

Christchurch & District MFC

Last Tuesday, whilst I was on holiday in Dorset, I encountered a very friendly and welcoming group of guys on the slope overlooking Ringstead Bay. They turned out to be the Christchurch & District Model Flying Club, slope soaring section. There were about ten members present with a splendidly diverse collection of models. I admired their well-organised approach to model flying and general camaraderie, just after midday they all landed and gathered their folding chairs into a circle in the lea of their parked cars to enjoy a communal picnic and wide-ranging chin-wag. With a 15+mph SW wind on the slope and steady sunshine members gradually peeled off to return to general flying and landing tuition.



The group presented me with my first (and quite possibly last) encounter with a 35mhz 'peg board'. I took the no. 64 wooden clothes peg, attached it to my TX aerial and joined in the flying fun. Mine was the only telescopic aerial on site, and I only needed it for two out of the five models in my roof box (the others have 2.4ghz receivers), so it felt like the end of an era...
At times there were up to half a dozen models in the sky - all at the western end of the slope, the east end is reserved for hang gliders and 'jellyfish' who like to fly off over the neighbouring cliffs. The discipline of each group of ground-based and aerial pilots was generally pretty good, although at one point a non-flying member of the para-glider group came over to apologise for one of their pilots who had strayed into our airspace - apparently he was a visiting Russian flyer who hadn't understood the briefing properly.
The C&DMFC Facebook page gives a good indication of the group's membership profile and their aeromodelling activities - I can think of worse ways to spend my retirement...

Happy landings

Russell

Who's up for a day trip or even a weekend trip to the Isle of Wight?

As you can see from my post below the Isle of Wight offers some wonderful opportunities for some great slope soaring. We have in the past had day trips over to play on the many hills and cliffs the Island has to offer.
Scott and Rob have come along in the past and we have had a great time.
We know a few of the guys over on the Island and have joined up with them sometimes. I'm happy to organise another visit over to the Island (maybe in September (after the schools have gone back) as it will be cheaper then.
Who is anybody is interested in a day trip or a cheap weekend trip (a nights B & B) and as much flying as we can get in?

Isle of Wight Cliff Soaring

Had a lovely day yesterday on the Isle of Wight with my youngest and her friend. Slipped a few models in the car just in case an opportunity came up to fly. After a visit to a theme park we drove along the southern side of the Island to a small car park just along from the Pearl Factory near Brightstone  (MAP)
The girls had a chill in the sunshine and a picnic and I quickly rigged the Ascot.
I have flown at this site now on many occasions so was sort of confident 'it might' work!

There is always a little trepidation when the wind is light and you are standing at the edge with the sea below you but hey just get on with it. I was quickly in ,thermal mode' with some extra camber / down flap to give me some additional lift and I was maintaining above the cliff top (which is a bonus).

Two flights and two nice landings with no harsh sink or turbulence as the wind was very light. A lovely hour's soaring on a beautiful day.
I do love the Isle of Wight!