Flat Field Flying 6th July 2019

Today we decided to get some flat field flying , so we took our DLGs and electric models to the North Field.
When I arrived I found that the field had been reduced in size by about 50% with the far North part fenced off. When Paul arrived just after me, we started with our DLGs and waited to see what others thought when they got there. Once everyone arrived we decided that we would just stick to DLGs and stay in the new boundaries of the field.
Today there was Paul, Robin, Tony, Scotty and John M (and me) and we all had DLGs except for Tony who is still working on his Blaster 3.5.
This was my chance to maiden fly my new Loola - although I've had it for many months I hadn't had a chance to fly it. Paul suggested just a simple hand launch to test glide for trim and C of G and that was wise advice as I found the ailerons were reversed !! After sorting that out, I threw it normally (DLG) and the glide was fantastic, after help from Paul with trim, set-up for 'launch mode' and stuff, we had it flying very well - I even managed to catch a thermal for couple of occasion, but only a short while.
Paul had his Fireblade DLG and after just 1 throw he managed to stay up for about 20 minutes in a thermal - why can't I do that ? Paul continued to catch thermals and we had trouble seeing the model at times because it was so high.
Robin brought a DLG (can't think of the name) and it flew very well, the launches seemed to result in almost a loop but it certainly gained height and was gliding very well.
John's HK Raven was gliding very well, but like my HK 1.5 mtr DLG, it won't seem to catch the thermals or gain much height. Paul spent a lot of time with John, but they didn't manage to 'get it away' on a thermal.
Scotty had his Libelle and with Tony's help it too was gliding very well, but again didn't want to catch a thermal. Later in the session I noticed that the Libelle wings had come apart a little, so it was retired.
Paul spent a lot of time helping all of us to trim and set up our models and we are all very grateful for his help and guidance.
I also had my HK DLG and Paul had his older Blaster 2, which we both flew later in the session.
By far the best performance was by Paul's Fireblade and I was able on 3 occasions to catch thermals, but I couldn't get the glider to slow enough to stay in the uplift. Later we decided that I need to reduce the nose weight slightly (which I have now done)…

Altogether a very enjoyable and successful session by the 6 of us.

Thanks to all for coming (didn't get any pictures I'm afraid)

Rob