Last Easters Flyings Fun

Last year during the Easter break I was flying in Wales with Ian A and Nick......

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Nearly seven years of friendship & flying fun

Hi all and a happy Easter to you. I hope you are all staying safe and well in these uncertain times.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Steve and I have the A470 Soaring blog and I'm from SE Wales where we have some of the finest sloping in this fair land. Well that's what I believe anyway, and I believe Paul Hampshire believes this too as he makes the trip to my neck of the woods quite regularly and brings a model or two with him.

Paul and I first met in October 2013 when he and a friend came to S Wales to fly at the area known as 'The Bwlch', (Bwlch in English means gap and is pronounced Bulk), which is situated between the valleys villages of Nant-Y-Moel and Treorci and consists of seven slopes which all have names and face all points of the compass, so there is always a slope to fly whatever wind direction.

Paul turned up in the morning and I met him on the Ice Cream slope which faces north westerly and we had a light breeze blowing into our faces. The sun was shining and it wasn't cold so it was looking like being a nice day. However, that light breeze was to set the scene for many further visits by Paul because it seemed that whenever he did plan a trip, the wind Gods would not be in our favour and we'd be cursed with having to scratch around for lift as you can see from this first video of our first flying session together. After lunch the wind had shifted direction, as the forecast had predicted and we had to move to the westerly facing slope called Mickeys.

Then in March 2015 I visited W Sussex for the first time and Paul took me to several slopes over the two days. Everyone there was really friendly and we all had a good time.

In the summer of 2016 Paul brought his family to S Wales for their holiday staying in a cottage at Rhossili, which was where he fell in love with what is most probably the best flying slope in the whole of the UK. This slope develops so much compression lift it's unbelievable. On this first trip we began with a light breeze of around 10 mph, but by the time Paul had to leave to rejoin his family I was chucking my models around in 30 mph.

The following August 2017 Paul was back at Rhossili and this time the wind Gods were truly with us and we measured wind speeds of 50 mph in the compression zone which made for some truly awesome flying. Apart from the usual glass models we had a great time racing man on man EPP60 models, Paul with his NCFM M60 and me with my Polecat made by Rocket Ron Broughton. I won of course lol 😂

  August 2018 and Paul and I headed off to the Bwlch for a flying session. The light breeze was coming from the north and so we flew from the VR98 slope for a hour or so before deciding to move on and take Paul to a slope I'd been keeping a secret and is probably my favourite north facing slope in S Wales at Hirwaun. When we got to Hirwaun we found that the wind here was north westerly. Not that this mattered as Hirwaun has a NW facing slope also and Paul absolutely loved this slope with its smooth air, long grassy landing zone and spectacular views of the Brecon Beacons.

 Our final flying session together was in April 2019 when once again Paul brought very light winds with him. We were at the Bwlch and began flying on the NW facing Wrecker slope before the wind direction changed to S/SE and a short walk over the hill brow to Back of Wrecker was needed.

So here we are, one year on. The weather took a turn for the worse from October 2019 and it seemed that if the weekends weren't raining, then we only had light winds of 5-6 mph and consequently I didn't get any flying in leading up to Christmas. The New Year was no better and in fact we had huge storms with flooding that actually washed away part of the road that passes through the Bwlch and had to be repaired. This also happened on another slope I fly regularly at Meio Common, just north of Cardiff. Fortunately there is another road that leads to this slope as my usual road hasn't yet been repaired and is too dangerous to attempt without a 4 x 4 vehicle. So I've only had two flying sessions this year, the first on Meio where we tried to fly between rain showers and the second which was just the weekend before lockdown occurred, and although Paul wasn't here for this session I'll include the video here for you to see as this is another slope we have access to and faces easterly at Manmoel Common, which overlooks Festival Park at Ebbw Vale.

So I hope you've enjoyed reading this and watching the videos, and I hope we are out of lockdown soon so that we can get back to some sense of normality and be able to get some flying in. My son lives in Cornwall and I'd like to do a camping trip down there, do some flying along the coastal cliffs at St Agnes and do a spot of fishing also. I'd also like to get away to W Sussex for some flying with Paul but we shall have to wait and see what happens with lockdown as there may not be enough time left of this year to cram everything in.

Stay safe guys and enjoy your flying once you can get back to the slopes again.

Who wants to fly the cliffs at Newhaven?

Today I want to take you soaring on the cliffs at Newhaven Fort in East Sussex. The flying site works well in a Southerly or SSE / SSW. Sometimes we are joined or rather we join the Paragliders who tend to rock up and inhabit the complete flying site.

Here is Ian's trusty old Euphoria. This model has been through a lot in its life and Ian never ceases to amaze me on how well he can fly this battered out heavy mouldy.

The wind was light with very soft lift and I was flying an heavy old mouldy (again my Valenta Dragon) at Newhaven Fort. It was a very memorable session this one as it took me a while to gain enough height to actually be able to land back on top of the slope.

Next we have some M60 racing with Ian again down at the cliffs at Newhaven Fort. Lots of smooth lift and a beautiful view over the sea and Newhaven Harbour.

And now a few landings at Newhaven Fort Cliffs

Well that's it from the sunny cliffs of Newhaven. I hope you are still enjoying the videos.

Any suggestions on what you would like to see next?

My favourite flying site in the UK - Rhossili

Well how are you coping with the lack of flying?
I dont think I have ever been so long with not flying ever. Well for todays offering I am taking you to Gower in South Wales. To be precise we are going off to fly at Rhossili. This is my favorite site I have had the pleasure to fly at. It sits right on the coast above the most beautiful of sandy beaches and offers the most amazing views above the beach and out to The Worms Head. Many of you may have already flown at Rhossili but if you haven't then don't bother as I don't want too many glider guiders knowing such an amazing flying site exists. Its just - WOW!
So here we go with my first Rhossili offering...…...

The first video I hope to entertain you with is with my F3F. I was joined my good friend Steve Houghton (of A470 fame!). This model was really shifting in what was virtually a gale. Steve was filming for me and he kept up well.

This second video isn't flying the main Rhossili ridge but flying along the headland heading out towards the Worms Head with my Merlin / Willow 2 crossbred F3F which I call a Merlot. The wind was spot onto the cliffs so I had to give it a go. From the car park we walked along almost to the end looking over to the Worms Head and I landed just along from the Coast Guard hut. Great lift with amazing views plus a gentle stroll - perfect.

This third video is my of my 4m Valenta Carbonara cruising in paradise in cracking lift and stunning weather. I was joined by my best buddy Ian A and Nick (who went tandem paragliding first before flying his model) The lift is silky smooth and the landing area is huge and covered in soft heather but the sink can still be very strong if you go too far back.

This penultimate video is of our M60's racing as close we could along the edge of the huge cliff top. Diving down towards the beach and sweeping up the slope side hugging the hill and soon re-appearing to go around again.

Here is Ian's Jart (with a freshly sharpened nose) cutting through the air with ease. Ian's flying as ever is spot on.

Can't wait to visit The Gower again soon. Meet up with my very good friends in Wales and have a blast above one of the most stunning vista's in the UK.

Here are some alternative videos that I hope you will enjoy

I've been scratching my head today to come up with something different for todays 'Looking Back' series. So I've come up with alternative videos that don't feature RC Gliders.

Back in the day when I was a member of the Mid Sussex Flying Club we used to hold regular Indoor flying sessions in a local school gym. The gym was small (just bigger than a basketball court) but we used to have loads of fun crashing into walls, other models in the air plus sometimes other pilots on the flight line. The models were super light and generally slow flyers. They tended to be feather light and would get damaged by just breathing on them of like the one in the video was foam and could take some impact especially mid airs. The props used to held on by a small O-ring and they easily dislodged on any sort of frontal impact which made them much safer than conventual power models.

Here was one of my favourite powered aircraft - The Habu. It was a ducted fan jet that flew on 3300mah 4S lipo and was easily hand launched but had a fast turn of speed but slowed down well to a gentle glide on landing. I did actually chuck mine of Ditchling Beacon (without any use of the motor) and I did use it as a slope soarer for a while.

Now here's something different - Its a RC Paraglider from Opale. The little guy had servos' in the arms which operated the guy ropes to make it turn left or right. If it was only that simple. The Paraglider does need to move forward to create lift from the chute. It took me ages to get it set up and this was probably the only time I got it to fly half decently.

and my final video is to do with gliding but not an RC one. Here is a DG1000 being flown from Lasham and doing a ridge run. It was lovely to watch such a graceful glider cruise past us at high speed. The pilot did get in touch with me and offered me a flight but as expected I never heard back from him again. That's a pity!

Some On-board Glider Footage

For todays 'looking back' series of posts I thought we could share some onboard footage from camara's fitted to various RC model gliders.
raUThe first one comes from my old Dreamflight Libelle DLG flying over The Ashdown Forest in July 2014. The camera was the old style keyring camera so the quality of video is not the best but it captures the feel of the flight. This model was launched by hand (DLG) and climbed away in thermals. I fairly sure Rob S and Graham U was with me on this visit to the forest. The model climbed away to a speck and did some spinning to get it back to me for a catch landing.

Please watch these in the highest quality available on YouTube.

Now here is one of my more memorable trips to the Isle of |Wight again with Rob and Jack. Here I was flying my old rudder / elevator 3m Algebra. We flew at Culver Down near Bembridge on the Isle of Wight. Its a little nerve racking chucking your model off a vertical chalk face over the sea. The lift was constant but light so the Algebra was the perfect model for gently cruising around while filming.

The next video I have chosen for you was taken from Ditchling Beacon (West) flying my old Valenta Dragon. The video features some on-board footage and some filming from my headcam. 

Today's last video was filmed at one of my favourite locations - The Bwlch in South Wales. It was filmed on a very pleasant New Years Day with light winds but crystal clear skies. The model is my Nan Ex-Pro which comes out to play in very light conditions. I was joined with Steve Houghton, and Ian A plus some other locals.

I hope you are enjoying looking back on some of my more memorable flying sessions using on-board camera footage?

Slope Soaring Is So Much Fun !

I've looked at the video library and the particularly the most watched video and here she is. I was flying my 48'' Zulu that has control surfaces on the front and rear of the wing. Here I am flying at Wolstonbury Hill in a very light ENE wind.

The Zulu is extremely manoeuvrable with good control even at very low flying speed. I think the video does really explain why I personally love slope soaring.

Looking Back - Day 2

We seem to get a great number of visitors sharing some old memories yesterday, so I have decided to continue with what I hope will be a daily post well that is until you guys get fed up with it!!

So we continue our look back to 2013 and we are flying foamies up at Itford Hill with it gusting 51mph. You can hear the wind howling but the lift is just mega.

Watch In HD for best viewing 

It looks like it was Rob S, Jack, David and me with two Ninja's and a Fusion. The Ninja's doing far better in the very windy conditions.

Moving onto November 2013 with Jack's SAS Wildthing flying at Wolstonbury in the snow. Boy I can still remember how cold that day was. Landing in thick snow and the model just disappearing under the white fluffy stuff. Jack was an good glider pilot but an excellent power pilot being able to undertake the most amazing aerobatics with his 50cc monster RC Plane.

Where to next?

How about Firle Beacon!

Here we are playing 'how low can you go' with the Fusions and Wildthing. Firle is a great site in a Northerly wind and the stronger the better to avoid the Paragliders. Loads of room behind for an easy approach and landing (hopefully).

In these difficult times - some relief.............

I know we are all stuck at home with no immediate hope of getting out flying any time soon, I thought I would look back on some of the many different flying sessions and sites we have flown at over the many years we have been going.
I thought I would upload a video or two each day and share a few memories with you all.

So going back to the very early days I have found these for you.

October 2013 - The Bwlch (South Wales)

I  was flying on the Ice Cream Slope by Jack. Here we are flying the Flying Wings Ninja. The Ninja is a 60'' foam wing with corrugated wingtips. I still have mine tucked away somewhere. Back then this was my 'go to' model as you could fly it in very light winds but also you could push on out in a 50mph wind. I know this because Rob Stanley did in fact fly his in a 50mph blow at Mill Hill.

The Ice Cream Slope faces NW and gets its name from the parked up Ice Cream van that is located beside the slope. This is where I first met up with Steve Houghton from A470 Soaring. Steve has been a great friend over the years and I usually meet up with him somewhere either in Wales or down here in the South. 

We did have a flying trip booked to go flying at The Bwlch this month but as with most things in life at the moment it got cancelled.

I'm a huge fan of The Bwlch as it has big slopes that give huge lift in a wide range of wind directions. I have flown a fair number of the slopes up there in all sorts of weather but it never really lets you down with amazing views over the Brecon Beacons or across the Bristol Channel.

The Ninja makes a great combat wing as it does keep on flying even after a good mid air. Have you ever tried combat? Its great fun but its extremely difficult to deliberately hit another model. Trying to chase a model and knock it out of the sky really does test your skill on the sticks. 

October 2013 - Phase 6 Ditchling Beacon

A really breezy session up on Ditchling Beacon. This is my fully glassed Phase 6 Sport that had no flaps but went really well. I think Rob S still has this and its still flyable. I love the Phase 6 as its a 'do everything' glider. Looks good and also flies well. Over the years I think I have had at least 5 Phase 6's. With my latest one having landing flaps which can be a big help. The wind direction for Ditchling Beacon in NE with a small car park near by which is run by the National Trust. 

When ever I fly I try and practice as many landings as possible as I need the practice. Most models that come to grief usually get broken during the landing phase of the flight, so for me the more I practice the easier it becomes. Not that I don't ever get it wrong because I do but the need for a black bin bag is getting less as the years progress.

Anyway. I hope to add more posts each day to try and beat the boredom. Feel free to add a comment at the bottom but please keep it clean!