Itford Hill Sunday 22nd August 2021

Today we decided to fly the NW bowl at Itford Hill. The wind was forecast as WNW so the NW bowl should work pretty well. On arrival the wind was straight onto the bowl but very light. It soon picked up and we were able to fly our models.

Today there was just Rob S, Kevin M and Gordon S.

Firstly Rob flew his Traceur - designed for light winds as a VTPR , it worked pretty well, but when the wind picked up it was a bit too blustery for the light model.

After that the wind was sufficient to try out Kevin's newly built Middle Phase. Rob took the transmitter and gave it a few short test flights which went very well, on the third test Rob decided to let the model go out into the bowl and it was away , flying very straight with good response to the controls. On landing we increased the throws on the ailerons to make them a bit more responsive for the next flight.

Then Rob gave some instruction to Gordon and Kevin in turns, Gordon is making good progress and he will soon be in a position to try some landing manoeuvers. Kevin then had a go and made 6 landings with the Wildthing , they weren't all perfect but pretty good and he will make quick progress next time I reckon.

I didn't take any pictures but will remember to do so next time.

A great day and all models survived intact...

Rob

MAX THRUST AGGRESSOR RIDGE BUILD AND REVIEW.

Mark J has kindly provided a short build log and a review of the Max Thrust Aggressor Ridge. Many thanks to Mark for his submission.

I was after a replacement for my Multiplex Blizzard after a machine ground interface event which left it being more PU glue than foam. I’ve a ST Model Blaze in the loft, but as I prefer a cross tail I decided to give the Max Thrust Aggressor Ridge a go. 

Overall the quality isn’t bad, the foam is smooth and hard with few injection mould marks. Though one of my wings looks to be a Friday afternoon job, the colour is slightly different, the stickers were not well applied and there was a bit of an upward curve to the trailing edge at the root. A bit of heat with the iron and bending got it straight. The servos are generic no name Chinese jobs with the all-moving  elevator being digital metal gear.

The rudder has a hidden servo linkage so no control horns sticking out the back. The wing is held on with M4 countersunk metal bolts which I replaced with nylon. There’s a 5mm carbon spar about 1 meter long to join the wings, with further carbon spars in each wing half, the wing is quite stiff. 

The linkage to the ailerons is a bit bendy so I put a small carbon tube over them to stiffen them up. I also moved the linkage down one hole to get more throws. I cut down the ballast tube from the Blizzard and printed up a rear mount for it and used  epoxy  to fit it in over the C of G. It takes a couple of slugs of ballast  - weights are  80,120,160,240 grams. There’s a lump of steel in the nose to replace the motor, I removed the foam nose cone and printed up TPU (soft and squidgy) replacement. If you have a 3D printer you may as well use it. I also printed a bracket to hold in the battery which, pushed to the front, gets the C of G about right.

The maiden was at Firle in not perfect conditions, the aileron response wasn’t brilliant so I got it down and made the changes above. Second flight at Itford in much better conditions was more successful. It flies well on a par with the Blizzard. Roll rate is now OK. Inverted required a touch of down. The stall is pretty benign and easy to recover. It can be made to fly quite fast and it has a faint whistle on fast passes. I put 80 gms of ballast in it which made it slightly faster, with no wing flex. I think, like the blizzard, it benefits from a bit of ballast when the wind picks up as the overall weight is about 1kg. I set the ailerons as spoilerons (both up) for landing, they have an effect and slow it down a bit, no elevator compensation was required.

So on the whole I’m pleased with it, build quality is OK, longevity of servos and airframe we will have to see. For about £110 it’s reasonable value. I think it would make a good step on from a Wildthing, without too much expense or time investment to get it in the air -  a halfway house to a mouldie? The changes I’ve made are not needed to get it in the air, I just like playing, but I think it benefits from the ballast.     

A Sunday Morning at Beeding Bowl

The Chairman decided yesterday evening to select Beeding Bowl as todays flying location as the weather forecasts earlier yesterday were somewhat changeable.

We met at the car park at 9AM and I for one had not flown at this bowl before, so I was very excited to attend however, due to model unserviceability I was unable to take any model to fly. This was quickly rectified by the Chairman offering me a session with the Club trainer.

Present today at the bowl was Rob S with the Club Wildthing and taking on the demanding role as Duty Instructor, Tony C, Kevin M who brought along his Wildthing and a modified Lidl’s chuck glider, Gordon S, Mark V with a Middle Phase and Robin S with his Aztec.

Beeding Bowl looking towards the sea

To start with the wind was very light but did increase as the morning wore on, visibility was excellent. Flying commenced. Gordon S continues to improve and managed a considerable amount of “Stick time” this morning flying the Club Wildthing while coping with challenging conditions with the lift just dropping off at times. This was all under the expert instruction of Rob S. Some of Gordon’s family came along to offer support. Mike had a trial flight, once again under the supervision of Rob S. Mike being a professional pilot was a natural flyer and took to it like a “Duck to Water”. Kevin M was doing well until his Lidl glider had a hard landing and ejected the ballast weight. He then continued to fly his Wildthing. Mark V also has a small issue with a broken control horn on his Middle Phase but did get some flying in before the broken horn. Mark then had a long flight with the club Wildthing. Robin S flew his Aztec expertly and had a very good flying session. I managed some flying with the Club’s trainer, this Wildthing 46 is slightly different to mine as it has a greater chord length but in my opinion flies very well.

Kevin M's Models

Gordon S in Control of the Wildthing

The rain then started, and I decided to call it a day so made my way back to the car. In the car park I met Rob and James P assembling a Ridge Runt. As it was raining by then, they decided to wait till it cleared and proceeded to Mill Hill where they had a good session of flying.

In summary, a very nice morning’s flying with excellent company as always.