Another Flying Session at Itford Hill

As I drove Eastwards along the A27 I could see that Firle Beacon was ensconced in low level cloud and looking towards Itford Hill, the top of the hill could only just be seen through the murk. Whilst walking to the top I was encouraged by the sound of the skylarks that could be heard but not seen and the brisk breeze that was moving the clouds along. At the top I met Rob S with the Club trainer in his position of instructor for the day. Along with him was Kevin M with his Wildthing and Let 13. We waited a while for the cloud cover to clear before flying the models.

The view when the clouds cleared

Kevin M experienced some difficulties with trimming his Wildthing as on Thursday he had added some weight to the rear of the fuselage. Today, the model could not be trimmed to fly correctly so he removed the previously added weight to good effect.

Kevin M's Wildthing and Let 13

Robin S arrived with his immaculately built and presented Chris Foss Phase 5. This aircraft flew well in today’s conditions.

Robin S's immaculate Phase 5

The Club’s newest member Martin J brought along his newly built SAS Wildthing for its maiden flight. Rob S gave Martin J some stick time on the Club trainer before he launched his own Wildthing and with all things considered he performed very well slope soaring as this being a new discipline to him but he is an accomplished power pilot.

Martin J's Wildthing ready for it's maiden flight

I too benefited from Rob S this morning as he provided me with one-to-one tuition with him teaching me to be more consistent with my landings. The good news is that I did not land in any bushes or trees today. My thanks go to Rob for his patience with me this morning, I do feel that I am slowly improving but I still need more practice.

My trusty trainer

We were all surprised by the number of independent flyers that turned up this morning, one flyer I spoke to used the internet site “SlopeHunter” to find an appropriate slope and decided to give Itford Hill a try.

We all were honored to see that the great slope soarer Alan Head had come to join us this morning and gave us all a display of how to land model gliders.