With a Northerly blow it must be Firle Beacon - Saturday 5th March 2022

A small number of sturdy, well wrapped up club members ventured out to Firle Beacon yesterday morning. With a Northerly wind in early March it comes with the chill, and I can confirm that it was very cold on top of the slope. 

I met Rob S and Gordon S who had arrived earlier and had already completed several training flights, Gordon S managed to get some good stick time yesterday in challenging weather conditions and he continues to improve and gain confidence in handling the Club SAS Wildthing. We all look forward to seeing him flying his own models soon. 

Also present was Kevin M who had brought along his Let 13 and Wildthing. The wind was a lot stronger than we had expected so it was not appropriate for his Let 13 or indeed my Dream Flight Ahi. I had also brought along my Wildthing to practice even more landings. 

One of the reasons for this morning’s outing was to meet several potential members who had contacted me recently expressing an interest in slope soaring. I am pleased to say that they made the effort to attend despite the very cold conditions, I did point out that flying off Firle Beacon on a summer’s day is one of the most pleasurable experiences to be had. Better weather to come. 

We were pleased to see Graham H again with his son on the slope yesterday and several other potential club members such as Paul H with his Chris Foss Middle Phase, unfortunately today’s weather conditions were not ideal for flight. 

Nick V had a Wildthing and a Middle Phase, as our instructor/club chair was busy with another potential club member I supervised Nick for his initial flight with his SAS Wildthing and as expected he was more than capable of handling an RC glider and was deemed to be able to fly solo. Later in the day he managed to park his Middle Phase into a rather nice bush on landing. 

Roger L brought along a flying wing which needs some attention, Rob S tried to trim the aircraft with some difficulty. However, it did get airborn and proved to be a real twitchy handful, so it needs more expo and the C of G moving forward. More work required before its next flight. 

Charlie, a friend of Nick V brought along a very nice glider however, during his pre-flight checks noticed a flutter of a control surface and rightly decided not to fly on safety grounds. 

I did manage to have several good landings; all credit goes to Rob S for his past instruction. 

Poor Kevin’s Wildthing experienced a loose fin once again but with extra tape was flyable, he will be reviewing the fixings before next flight. 

In summary, a very cold day but I would like to thank all club members for attending and I would also like to say a big thank you to all the potential club members who braved the cold and politely listened to me droning on about how the Club functions.