BMFA Update on EASA Rules for Model Aircraft

It seems that there is good news from the BMFA about the impending introduction of new EASA rules designed to limit the use of drones and other models in order not to put people's lives in danger or to infringe their privacy... originally all model aircraft were going to be included, but Europe-wide model flying organisations have made representations at all levels and seem to have got the rules changed - see below for the BMFA update -

BMFA Update On EASA Rules

Hopefully this will allow us all to continue flying as now - I'm sure further updates will be forthcoming in due course.

Rob Stanley.

Ditchling Beacon Sunday 28th Oct

Hi All,
This morning, we met up at Ditchling Beacon car park at 08:30 - there was actually a bike race going on up the roadway, a time-trial event, but they didn't get in the way. The car park was reasonably full, but the 4 of us managed to park OK. I was joined by Jim H, Mark J and new prospect Nick G (Paul E had texted to say he couldn't come unfortunately)….
Having had a disastrous test flight last time with the club trainer and Paul E, I went to the Dyke Saturday morning and spent 30 minutes getting the  C of G right in preparation for today.

We crossed the road and the wind at the top of the Beacon was very strong and gusty - probably 20 - 30 mph, but I threw the Spectre anyway and after trimming a little down elevator it was going well.

I passed control to Nick G on the buddy box and he got straight into the swing again after a few years off and was flying horizontal 8s into the wind easily. I told him he could have a go at loops, rolls etc if he wanted and away he went ! No problems at all. I landed the Spectre in the rough conditions and after a short warm-up rest, we tried again, with Nick taking control from take-off this time. After a few minutes he lost all control and I was able to step in with the master tx and land it. We investigated the problem, but nothing was obvious, so away we went again only to have the same 'dead stick' situation. When I landed I range tested the model with both txs and all was OK , then we realised that Nick's tx glove had a metal reinforcement and that had cut the signal dead !
Nick then flew on his own with the master tx and attempted 4 landings - 3 of which he aborted and the last one was good. A great re-introduction to gliding for Nick and everything was intact at the end.
Meanwhile, Mark was helping Jim with his 60" Wildthing but it was looking like there were issues with the trim and possible C of G, but anyway a control horn snapped so Jim never got airborne (sorry Jim)…
Mark then flew his Blade which was brave in the conditions , but it went fine until his landing caught a wingtip and broke the tail-end.

Altogether, I think Nick and I had the better day of it, but I am most grateful to Mark for coming along to help Jim set up his model...
Many thanks to all who came...

Rob Stanley

Firle Fun

Tony and I met in the carpark at 9.30 and we decided to try the bowl on the west side of the road as suggested by Mark.  As we arrived it was evident that we would have plenty of company as there were already 5 or 6 fliers there from other clubs.  We were shortly joined by Robin and the three of us flew on and off for an hour and half or so.  

It was Tony’s first time at Firle but agreed it was a lovely site.  It has a huge landing area with good visibility and no objects to avoid but as we found out can get a little busy!

It was very cold and you couldn’t fly too long before your hands got too cold even wearing gloves but it was a lovely sunny morning and we had the benefit of a line of trees to hide behind whilst flying.  It was nice to see an eclectic range of models and even a decent sized self built Minimoa which looked very graceful.

There was a steady stream of newcomers and by the time we left there was a dozen or more there.  As we left we were buzzed by a full sized glider but it wasn’t a Kestrel… Ian??

Unfortunately Tony and I had to leave 11ish as we had other commitments.  Sorry Mark, I passed you on the drive down through Firle!

I hope that those flying on Sunday morning have a good session.  Sorry Tony and I cannot make it but look forward to seeing you all soon.

Change of plans - Sorry Guys!

Sorry to do this to you guys but I have still got so much to do before I go to Wales on Sunday and I have builders due to start work on my house on Monday while I'm away, so that means I will have to miss flying tomorrow.
I can hear the cheering from here!
It will still be good at either Ditchling West or Firle or even possible the Long Man tomorrow.

On the plus side of things Rob is going out on Sunday morning is you decide to miss tomorrow morning.

So sorry as I hate letting you guys down but the filling, sanding and painting wont do itself plus pulling up carpets, dump runs etc etc  - what joy!

Look forward to catching up with you next weekend if at all possible.

The weekend ahead (27th - 28th October)

Here we are again looking at the forecasted weather for this weekend.

It's going to be cold. Unlike last weekend when I was up on the slope in my T shirt this weekend it will struggle to get above 5 or 6 degrees. Get that warm weather gear out of storage.

Saturday 27th - Sunny intervals NNW wind 19 - 30mph (forecasted on top of Ditchling Beacon)

Sunday 28th - Sunny Intervals (more sunshine) 25 - 40mph (forecasted on top of Ditchling Beacon)

I am off to Wales on Sunday morning for a few days and hope to get out Sunday PM or sometime on Monday with a model. Our mate 'Almost Welsh Steve' has given me some slope advice on where to go and fly.

So, Saturday AM is the only real chance I will have to fly with you guys this weekend. Ian has mentioned going to Firle with the big, heavy gliders as the landing area is huge, parking should be good and only a stroll to the slope. See post above...….

Rob is planning to go to Ditchling Beacon 08:30 Sunday to help Nick Goodman and Paul Everett fly the club trainer.... if he can sort out the C of G !

A beautiful day for mid October.

Just the four of us up on Itford Hill yesterday. I met Ian at my work and we set off for Itford with a selection of light wind gliders, as the forecast was for a very light westerly. We met up with Scotty and Tony and made the slog up the hill with arms full of models.
At the top of the Westerly slope we were met with a gentle on slope breeze. Not enough for Tony's Wild Thing but enough for Scotty's Libelle DLG and Weasel. Talking off a Weasel glider. Have you seen Tim has a brand new Weasel for sale, see the post below for a ready built, ready to go model perfect for those lighter wind days. Tony flew my Zulu and managed to float around fine. I flew all my models including the Ascot which went into sub orbit with some great thermals and as the wind got lighter I flew my Expro. Ian was doing a fine job with his Jedi and his electric thermal glider.

The wind then moved round from the North West. Picked up the whole lot and marched up to the NW bowl at the top. The wind had moved round into the bowl but still not much. We played for another hour or so. The DLG's came out again and myself and Ian enjoyed the challenge just to sty up. Thanks who came along to play.

Dream-Flight Weasel For Sale - Brand New - Ideal for those lighter wind days

Dream-Flight Weasel Trek - £125.00
Unflown - ready to fly.
Comes with recommended servos and battery.
Spektrum receiver.
Comes in storage/travel box.

Contact Tim t.hampshire@tiscali.co.uk

If you are interested and want to see a Weasel flying. Here is mine flying off the sand dunes in Wales

Light sunny conditions forecasted

Its midway through the week and as usual I start looking ahead at the weekend weather forecasts.

Currently both Saturday and Sunday look like very will enjoy light winds with some sunshine.

So based on these ever changing variables we could be flying our floaty gliders and DLG's (Rob - could be a chance for you to try out your new DLG).

If the wind is as light as they forecast than maybe we could go and try out some flat field flying as this could be the last opportunity this year.

Did anyone go and fly indoor yesterday with the Horsham club?

BMFA New Registration System

Hi All,
By now you should have found out that BMFA have got a new registration system called 'Go' (I have emailed all our members with details).
The 'Go' system has been populated with members' information from the previous BMFA website, so if your data was out of date it will still be out of date and it's up to you to correct it.

BMFA sent every member an email but many people won't ever get it because they have out of date email addresses on the BMFA system. If you didn't get the email inviting you to sign up to the new system, you have to call BMFA and ask them to correct your data for you and in future you will then get all communications.


The new system will allow members to renew annual insurance online for themselves, saving the club secretaries many hours of admin and postage - but to get a new membership card for BMFA, you will be sent a .pdf file for you to print.
Each member who renews will trigger a message to the club secretary to inform them that this member has renewed, thereby allowing the club to keep up to date records of members insurance.

Club subscriptions will still have to be paid in the normal way through the club bank account.

I will issue more information as time goes on, but in the meantime, please make sure you can access the 'Go' system via the following link (if you haven't already done so) -

https://bmfa.azolve.com 

Rob Stanley
Hon Sec

Slope Soaring Sussex - 300,000 page views

Our little old Slope Soaring Sussex blog has clocked up over 300,000 page views.
Thank you everyone for your continued support and long may it continue. As I have always said the blog is for everyone and not only club members. Anyone is welcome to contribute to the blog as long as its RC glider related. If you contact me then I can send you a link that will enable you to post on the blog.
Maybe you might be a newbie to the sport and you wish to share the learning journey with us all or you might be an experienced builder and want to create a build blog post and share the step by step build online. Really, the blog needs new blood to publish their experiences, thoughts and idea's.
So come guys, get in contact with me and get posting to our worldwide audience.
We have to date posted 996 posts using our blog and 1000 posts is just around the corner. Lets fill it up with interesting posts that will keep people returning to our soaring blog regularly.
My email address is paulhampshire2013@gmail.com.

Ditchling Beacon Sunday Oct 7th

Hi All,
Today was forecast as a good N blow, so we had decided to fly at Ditchling Beacon West side.
I had arranged to arrive early to meet a prospective new member Paul Everett and together we walked to the normal site, but there was very little wind. I explained the controls on the club Spectre to Paul and how the transmitter works and also explained that I had to 'trim' the model after its rebuild. However, no amount of trimming would get it to fly level - there was just too much nose weight and even adding some tail weight didn't help - it just got heavier !
Luckily by that time, Paul H, Ian and Tony C had arrived and Paul H and I tried in vain to trim the Spectre but it was decided to leave it.
Paul H had his Ascot and massive Graecalis, Ian had the M60 and Jedi and Tony has his Wildthing and Tim's old Phase 6 with flaps (almost unflown).

Tony's Phase 6

However, because of the light wind conditions it was proving a difficult job to get most models away - Tony's Wildthing wasn't co-operating at all but Tony got some hill climbing experience recovering it ! Paul launched his Ascot (the old Will Attfield model) and it flew well, but the conditions weren't perfect. Ian flew his M60 , but after a couple of very short excursions and hillside landings, he put it away in favour of the Jedi which was brilliant as the wind had increased a bit. Paul H decided the Graecalis would stay in it's carry case - very wise... and I left the Ninja and heavy Phase 6 in the car as the wind was not enough for them.

Lidl Robin's DLG

We were joined by Scott and Robin with various models and Rob P who had his trusty Erwin.
Scott had his Wildthing and Blade, Robin had the 'Lidl robin' and a lovely small DLG.
Robin flew the DLG a number of times and it seemed to be doing very well unless the wind got too strong in which case he had to land and fly the 'lidl robin' was did a great job.
Rob P flew his Erwin a number of times and had some good flights and great landings.
Later, Paul helped Tony fly the Phase 6 which seemed to gain amazing height and the flaps worked brilliantly on landing - I think Tony enjoyed his first flights with it.
Paul E,  Scott and I were unable to fly (Scott and I had heavy models), but Paul H let us all have a go on the Ascot and Paul E had his maiden flight on it !!  - Many thanks Paul H for your faith (or stupidity)..

Rob P's Erwin

Paul H flew the Ascot amazingly well and had some brilliant landings.
Ian by then had the Jedi in the air and it too was flying brilliantly - Ian even let me have a go (which I enjoyed very much) - thanks Ian.
Throughout the whole 3 hours Scott was taking some great shots with his new camera and 300mm lens, so I hope he'll load up some of them here.

In all there were 8 of us and we all had a flight of something even if it wasn't one of our own models.

Paul E and I left at 11:30 but the others were getting ready to come away (I think) ?

Thanks to everyone for a lovely morning.

Rob

A few shots of the models flying this morning.

Ian's Baudis Jed

My Ascott

As Rob said above pretty much everyone flew Paul's Ascot and it was having so much fun it gave a little wave as it came into land...

Should be a good session on Sunday with a good turnout forecast

Here is Sunday's weather forecast 'Ditchling Beacon'. You can see the wind is strongest early on.
I am hoping to be at Ditchling Beacon around 9.15 - 9.30am on Sunday morning. We all know the parking up there can be a nightmare so the early you get up there the better chance you will have of parking.
Remember the car park is run by the NT so get your ticket before yo go flying.
When you are ready walk up on to the path above the car park. Look out over the slope and then turn left up to and then through the gate. Wander up over the hill top and look over to your right and a few hundred yards up on the slope side you should find us flying.
A good landing area and the lift should be good.

Who's flying this weekend?

We are nearly at the weekend again and I am looking forward to flying the models off the slope. Looking at the weather forecast as it gets a little bit more accurate it looks like Saturday will be wet sometime during the day, so I'm aiming to fly on Sunday morning.
Its currently looks like a reasonable 10 - 12mph N - NNE (pinch of salt time!) so we could fly at various sites along the South Downs.

So who's up for it?

Instruction, advice and witty banter always on offer even if you don't want it......I'm hoping Ian will be out with us on Sunday so you will have two Instructors up on the slope. Have a think on what part of slope soaring you might struggle with or dig out that model that you may have been too scared to fly and bring it along or come and find us and discuss anything you want to improve on. Lets have a go at those landings and talk through the options. Maybe you are a new member or interested in joining our happy band of slope soarers, come along and see what its all about.

Keep an eye on the blog for timings and flying site (anyone got any preferences?)

Looking good for Sunday at the moment!

An epic wave day in Scotland yesterday

Hello all.
Yesterday proved to be a very good wave day in Scotland. Lots of high altitude cross country flights made up to a maximum of 20'856ft. With 3 flights over 700Kms and a flight of 878Kms. One flight which ended up with the pilot flying 1252Kms which included flying from Scotland to Ireland then back to Scotland at an average speed of  nearly 80mph. Here is the trace of the flight yesterday.

John Williams flight in his Antares glider 2nd October 2018

Here is a screenshot of the BGA Daily Scores of yesterdays flights.

BGA Daily Scores for the 2nd October 2018

I just find it amazing that a glider can fly so far, so fast and so high in this country.
If you would like to watch gliders (fitted with Flarm) fly on a nearly live basis then you can watch them here 'Spot the glider' zoom out and you can see gliders flying all over the world. Click on the yellow flag and you will see live stats of the flight. Of course you need to wait for a reasonable gliding day.
To view what glider flights have been flown and where by whom then take a look at the 'BGA Daily Scores'.
I spent the day down at the Southdown Gliding Club last Friday helping Ian rig his Slingsby Kestrel.

Ian's Slingsby Kestrel

Ian jumped into his 40 year old glider and flew the ridge from Parham to Eastbourne then to Butser Hill and back to Parham (175Kms) in just a couple of hours. Ian has previously flown his Kestrel all the way up into Wales from Parham then into the midlands and back home for a 600Km flight. Not bad for an old boy in an old glider.

Ian crossing the River Severn into Wales

And here what happens when you are gliding and the lift gives up on you - you end up in a road. This was from last Friday when Ian went on a glider retrieve from Newtimber.

A Libelle and a LS6 landed in a field

Sunday at The Long Man

Myself and Ian met up on Sunday morning and made the trek up to the N/NW slope up on The Long Man. The first time for both of us to fly this slope. The wind was stronger than anticipated at first then the thermals started pushing through and we finished with the wind coming from the west. The four Face Book videos below detail the different conditions as the morning went on. I will let the video clips do the rest ……….

If ever you have wondered why it called 'The Long Man'

 

 

 

I thought I would try loading my video's that were recorded live using 'Face Book Live'. If you have a FB account then search me out and join me as a friend then you will get live notifications when we are recording our flying and you get to see some more stuff that I publish on social media. CLICK HERE for my FB page.