SSW wind gusting to 21mph

I must have misinterpreted the weather forecast today. The wind was described as a light S-S-Westerly maxing at 11mph. So I took some nice light wooden models to the SW slope of the Long Man in Wilmington. When I got to the top of the hill I was nearly blown off my feet!
I set up my foamy flying wing but struggled to hold it in the gale, so I let discretion be the better part of valour and retreated back down the track... only to be met by three model flyers coming up. I told them it was jolly windy up there and they said good, that's what we came for. So I decided to follow them back up and see how they got on.
The guys introduced themselves as Craig, Dave and Dave's boy George. They had driven over from Rochester for the day, equipped with two Phase 6s, a Middle Phase, two Zagis, a Wild Thing and a vintage V-tailed pylon racer called an Adrenalin and quickly proved that the site was flyable, if a little hairy at times. The Wild Thing collided with a Zagi, breaking a pushrod on the Zagi, one Phase 6 did a splendid spot landing but broke both horns on the torque rods in the process (the plastic in this 25-year-old model had become brittle), later Craig's Zagi was blown back over the fence twice. The second Phase 6 (young George's model) was a beautifully finished example that Dave had picked up for £25 at a swap meet. George's aerobatic skills were admirable, but he called on his dad's help for landing in the very-strong lift, Dave had a few close calls, one of which made George dive to the ground to avoid being knocked over by the speeding model.
The trio were well coordinated in the air, calling out their intended manoeuvres before carrying them out, this facilitated some very pretty consecutive swoops, rolls and loops, as three Chris Foss designs chased each other around the sky.
Meanwhile, I summoned up some courage and launched my Xeno (during the quieter moments) and achieved four short but controlled flights with uneventful landings.
By 1:30pm I decided it was time to go and find a site better suited to my lightweight woodies, so I headed off up the A22 toward the Ashdown Forest. I know of a gentle SW slope in the Forest where I can throw my gliders into the sun and look around for thermal lift; I was not disappointed. One RC glider was in the air already and I soon joined him with my Dynaflite Daydream and was happily aloft for the next 25 minutes. A free-flight competition was underway somewhere on the forest, I heard a couple of screaming two-strokes but didn't see any, although my flying companion had seen an errant free-flight model in the car park earlier.
While the lift lasted I had another go with my Omega (vintage aerobatic model). There were problems with the trim and I had removed ballast but it still seemed nose-heavy, however, fiddling with the control surfaces helped and I finally achieved a stable 5-minute flight with safe landing. It's a very pretty model but not (yet?) my favourite to fly.

Happy landings all,

Russell H