Wolstonbury Hill Sunday 25th Nov

Hi All,
Today Paul and I decided to venture to Wolstonbury to see whether we could find some lift in the ENE - NE wind forecast.
We arrived at 10:00 and had messages from Nick G and John M that they would be there too. Luckily I had brought the club Spectre for just such an eventuality.
When Nick and John arrived we set off up the hill and Paul tried to fly from before the gate in the bowl there, but decided that beyond the gate would be better.
We set up just beyond the gate in a field of young bulls (bullocks I think), but they didn't bother us and we were soon joined by Robin A.
Paul brought his Highside and Ninja, I had my Ninja and Phase 6, Robin had his Lidl glider and home made wing, John M brought a 60" Wildthing and Nick had the club Spectre (he has a Wildthing waiting to be built).
We all started with the foamies except Paul who flew the Highside which was lovely to watch as it's so graceful. The foamies were all over the place weaving in and out of close proximity to each other - Paul joined in with his Ninja and we then had 4 foamies all in the same airspace at once - but no accidents. Robin flew the homemade wing with all these others and it was pretty busy as there was only a narrow area of lift today.
John and Nick were practicing their landings and doing very well and Rob set up the Phase 6 and Paul then flew it for a while - here's some video of Paul flying which I took.....

I then flew it for quite a long time but asked Paul to land it for me (chicken).

Our mate and fellow club member Bernie J turned up with his dog Harvey and stopped for a short chat. It was good to see Bernie again.

Everyone had a lot of flying and nothing got broken , so that's a result really !!

Weather was a bit cool and threatening at times, but as Paul said " It's winter !"

Rob

Elegant Simplicity

Back in 2016, in the quest for a simple lightweight and compact model, I built a West Wings Aurora. With a little ballast it flew very nicely and with my split-wing conversion it was very compact, the only drawback was its fragility; anything less than a perfect landing risked a session-ending fracture.
However, the Aurora proved the success of the overall concept, so this year I found a kit with a very similar specification but from a manufacturer with an established reputation for designing more rugged models. So after several months in the workshop I have some bare bones pictures of the Phoenix Model Products 'Snowy'.

1600mm span, approximately 870gms flying weight.

The wing design is in two halves with a steel rod and brass tubes included in the kit.

The structure is very traditional (and easily reparable) balsa, spruce and ply, although for ease of construction Stan Yeo (the designer) has stopped short of a full 'D' box leading edge, relying instead upon 10mm cap strips to maintain torsional stiffness.  

On the PMP website Stan describes this as a "slope trainer" and 40 years ago this kind of glider was what everyone learned to fly with. Generous dihedral offers innate stability and once it is aligned into the wind it will happily fly 'hands-off'. Of course the recommended slope trainer of today is made from carbon-fibre-reinforced foam and has the innate ability to bounce in the event of a hard landing. You pays your money and you takes your choice...

Happy landings
Russell H

View from the hill

This was the view from Wolstonbury Hill on Sunday morning. You can almost 'see' that wintery north easterly wind.
I was wearing my new padded overalls from Dickies which kept me toasty - highly recommended.
Later on I flew my Ridge Runt over on the right hand side. The first flight was fine, on the second outing it threw a wobbly and decided to start a new career as a fence post! After a 20 years of active service I have laid it to rest in the loft, but as a favourite go-to model I may have to invest in the short kit off Ebay and recycle the usable parts.

Happy landings
Russell

Bringing Model Making to School

Hi All,
Just thought I would update you on the BMFA education initiative in our area -
In the summer (5th Aug) Triker, me and Stuart Willis (BMFA SE chairman) ran a 1 day BMFA education event at Warden Park academy in Cuckfield. There was a write-up about this in the BMFA newsletter which I did at the time.
Following that day Stuart asked me if I would join him at Warden Park on a regular basis to help teach the ''Plane Club'' after school sessions. I agreed to help out and Stuart and I started quite a few weeks ago at the beginning of this term - Stuart has been running these for a few years, but on a sporadic basis as his time wasn't always available, but with the two of us, it's possible to teach the kids every week regularly.
We started where Stuart had left off last school year for those who returned and with new models for any new kids. Primarily we're making BMFA models at the moment but will move on to other things in future. The children are very good and they listen to what we tell them , their models are coming along well (they're all on the Gyminnie Cricket at the moment).
At the lesson just before the half term break , we took their gliders onto the school fields and flew them for the whole hour - the kids were amazed to see their own work actually flying (and very well too). It was very rewarding to see them so keen and happy.
During the half term Stuart and I were asked to undergo a DBS check (that's the new CRB check), so we could teach the kids without a teacher present and both of us are now full members of staff at the academy with our own passes and IDs.
We intend to introduce them to r/c at some point but for now we'll keep plugging away at getting them to build their BMFA models.
It's very rewarding and the academy has asked us to run two further one-day courses next summer for 20 kids each day !  We have once again asked Triker to help us and he has agreed, so it's going to be a busy couple of days on July 8th and 9th next year.
I will update you from time-to-time.....

Rob Stanley

General Catch Up

Hello all

I really enjoyed the sloping session up on Wolstonbury Hill yesterday. We had a great turn out with lots of good flying. The lift was good and strong but a little bumpy at times. For me Wolstonbury is a great place to land. Lots of area behind with nice air to drop your model in safely. We had a few new members up there with Martin and Rob W. Martin sharing some good stick time with Scott on the buddy box. Martin did really well. Rob P showed us some decent landing and James did really well in the 28mph blow. James could well be the future of our sport and his flying is coming along really well.
I flew my 'Highside 2' balsa built glider, which did really well in the strong winds. Its a bit of a brick but very stable to fly and to land. Scotty suggested the 'Highside 2' could make a good 'mass build'. Not my suggestion - blame Scotty!

So if you are Interested (already shared within our WhatsApp group) here are the details.
While building mine, I took a load of pictures and created my own build log - http://slopesoaringsussex.blogspot.com/p/highside-glider-build.html
The plan came from a free plan in the November 2016 RCM&E

You can buy the magazine here for £5.99 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153266606567?ViewItem=&item=153266606567
Now when it comes to the material needed to make the kit then SLEC offer a complete wood kit: http://www.slecuk.com/balsa-wood/Highside-Glider-CNC-Pack-PRC001.html for £49.87 plus P & P.

As I have said, the 'Highside 2' glider is not very efficient (a brick - 55'' 1397mm wing span) but I found it an easy build if you work through the build in stages, as per the RCM&E write up. I got a real sense of achievement from the build and its always something that I enjoy flying. You don't always need to hack around with a mouldy. Sometimes it nice to enjoy something different. Anyway, If you are going to follow Scotty & Martin who I understand have already ordered their plans then please let me know and we could start another 'Mass Build' page for everyone who is building one to post their progress.

WhatsApp Club Group
Just a quick note about the WhatsApp group as we now have 19 club members joined to the group. I understand there are some that just don't like to be part of online group chat things (and that's perfectly fine) but if you don't have a modern smart phone then you can still join the group via your PC. I think the WhatsApp group will become very popular and you will be kept up to date in live time. ''Who's doing what and when'' in real time. 19 group members out of 28 club members is a very good result.

New Members (update)

Hi All,
I am delighted to announce that we have just secured three new members for our club.
We have Nick Goodman who has flown power models before but not gliders and he and I had a flying session with the trainer a couple of weeks ago and Nick can fly very well, he says that he needs to learn landings.
We also have Rob Walker who joined us yesterday, Rob is a member of SRFC but I don't know his previous experience. He is interested in DLG (which a few us have experience in) and sloping generally.
Finally we have Martin Link (a pal of Scotty) who came to Mt Caburn two weeks ago and has now joined us. Martin hasn't flown fixed wing models but is a drone pilot and is undergoing his CAA exams for commercial drone work....

I know you will join me in welcoming these new members to our growing club (28 members to-date)

Rob Stanley
Hon Sec

'WhatsApp' - I have created a 'Slope Soaring Sussex' group to keep in touch.

How about 'What'sApp'. I know other clubs have a 'WhatsApp' group and we can keep in touch via this. If you have the app on your phone then we can keep in contact and if anyone posts in 'WhatsApp' you will see the communication if you are within the group but this is only any good if everyone is in the group. 

https://www.whatsapp.com/

'Whatsapp' is free and messages sent between the group are secure and encrypted. If you download the app on your phone then let Paul know and he can invite you to join the group.

Update: Our 'Slope Soaring Sussex' WhatsApp group is up and running. If you want to be part of this live messaging service on your smart phone then download the 'WhatsApp' app on your mobile phone. Text me or email me your mobile number. I can then save it in my contacts and we can then add you to the group. It's an easy process and it means we can have the ability to share chats within the group or to contact members of the group 'live' as long as your mobile is on and share what ever you want with the group. So far we have 5 members in the group but it would be good to get anyone who wants to fly regularly and wants to be kept in the loop. Its free and up to you if you want to join in. Just let me know if I can help!

Well I got that wrong then!

Sorry guys for the weekend weather cock up!
My forecast of rain turned out to be lovely blue sky - Dohhh!
Must try harder next time...……….
A big sorry to Robin as he made it all the way up onto Caburn  only to find we weren't up there or maybe you were. Let me know?
It is always a very good idea to make one final check of the blog before you head of to the arranged meeting place just in case the plans have changed.
If you do intend to come along flying then let me know the day before and again if anything changes then I will ley you know.
What would be handy for our regulars is that I have a mobile number so I can send around a text message to those who said they are flying that day.
I have most mobile numbers but there are a few new members such as you Robin I don't have a mobile.
You can email me your mobile numbers just in case I don't have them. (paulhampshire2013@gmail.com) and then I can keep in touch.

Anybody Want To Fly This Weekend?

Well it's that time of the week again and my forecast feelers are out and on the hunt for some decent weather.
Looking at the forecast its not the best weekend of weather but then again we are in November.
The Met Office are showing a possible window of opportunity around Saturday lunchtime.
Wind forecast SW - SSW 20mph + with the possibility of some sun and the possibility of a shower.
Sunday looks like a wash out at this point.
So who would be up for some Saturday lunchtime flying?
Where to go? I really enjoyed Mount Caburn last week but it was a bit of a trudge up the hill. Mill Hill could be a possibility in a SW but not if its SSW. The cliffs if its SSW but some of you are already clenching your butt cheeks at the thought!
Lets make a call tomorrow PM shall we.
So let me know if you want to go out and play around Saturday lunchtime and if you have any preference where you want to fly.
Ian's already said no more Stingray flying at Mount Caburn as its too bloody heavy to lug up there and I totally agree with him on that one!

Saturday's Mount Caburn Flying Video's

Here are a few video's from the live Face Book video during our flying at Mount Caburn

Storming lift up on Mount Caburn

A very good turn out today for the long slog up onto Mount Caburn. Ian, Scott, Rob, Tony, Robin, Graham ans Scott’s friend Martin.

We lugged a huge selection of models up there and was greeted by a strong wind that Scott’s wind machine said it was 33mph. There was a few others already up there flying when we arrived.

I do really like Caburn as the view is just amazing but don’t bother making the long walk unless it’s forecast to be a blow as this place is usually packed with Paragliders. 

For me the flying was immense! Having both my M60 and the Greacalis to fly and both loving the breezy conditions. Myself and Ian did some M60 racing or was it M60 chasing? Steaming along just above hill top height.

A huge thank you to Martin Link for the superb pictures he took (above). He came along with Scott to see what this slope soaring is all about.

 I was just waiting for the Big Bang as we got very close on several occasions.
Rob brought the club trainer and his Mini Vec which flew very well for a short while and then spiralled down to the ground. (Rob has since found that the right aileron detached from the wing in flight !!).The Mini Vec is now in the bin, but all the internals are ready for another model.
The club Spectre flew really well and Rob was able to hand it over to Scotty and Robin who both enjoyed it in the good lift. Martin had come to maybe have a go, but decided it was too gusty - maybe next time Martin ?? However, he did bring his lovely camera with him and got many hundreds of shots including video.
Graham had his large V-tail mouldie Calypso and it flew brilliantly, Graham was carving the sky up today performing every trick known !!
Tony flew his Wildthing and despite the rough and challenging conditions, he did extremely well and I know he enjoyed it immensely. Robin flew his own design flying wing, but it had a hard landing and it got badly broken. Robin is thinking of getting a Wildthing next......

I have lots of videos that need loading up but I need to be in work to do this, so I will do just a part post at the moment.

Mount Caburn Saturday 3rd Nov

Hi All,
As we don't often go to Caburn, here's a map for you to find it --

Caburn is a lovely smooth hill with easy landing areas and great views in all directions
See you tomorrow
Rob