Slope Soaring Sussex: Marginal lift at Itford Hill

Slope Soaring Sussex is a friendly group of RC glider flying enthusiasts based in Sussex, UK. We slope soar at various locations on the South Downs and have a field for thermal soaring. ‘Slope Soaring Sussex’ is a BMFA affiliated RC Glider-only flying club. We fly many types of RC gliders from conventional slope soarers to Scale, DLG, F3B, F3J, F5J, PSS and more. Our aim is to encourage and promote safe, responsible and enjoyable radio controlled model flying. New and experienced flyers welcome.

Monday, 6 May 2019

Marginal lift at Itford Hill

Robin and I met at the car park and we made our way up to the North West bowl taking the longer but easier route up the hill. Upon reaching the bowl we were greeted by excellent visibility, light and variable winds between 8-9 mph and warm sunshine. We both made exploratory short flights, my Wildthing struggled to maintain any height at all but Robin’s homemade wing fared much better in the calmer conditions and was the model of choice for today’s conditions. Lift was poor but a few thermals did come through allowing Robin to take full advantage and gain some considerable height. Despite the poor lift I managed to obtain some good low-level circuit and landing practice. By now the wind had moved to a more South Westerly direction and we move to our usual spot on the slope. Here the lift was much better and we both enjoyed some good quality flying. After around two hours on the slope and with the clouds building, we decided to return home.