Light Winds at little Bopeep - 30 April 2022

Once I tried to get a parking spot in the car park, I realized that I had made a big mistake. Not only were there loads of paragliders, ramblers, horses and horse boxes, dog walkers and no parking spaces. I then understood that it was a Bank Holiday weekend, so everybody was out enjoying the nice weather.

Looking to the East I could see many paragliders already in the air. My rule of thumb is that if the paragliders are up my Wildthing would struggle.

I met Martin J, Kevin M and we walked Westwards and found a nice spot to launch from. Martin, being a more accomplished flyer than both of us launched first with his Wildthing and managed to keep it flying in marginal conditions. I tried to see if my Wildthing would fly from further up the slope but found it to be unresponsive. So, I decided to change models to my Ahi. Kevin had an attempt at flying his Wildthing but only managed to get it over the fence and down the slope it went, into the gorse.

Both Martin and Kev went to recover the model, no harm done. It was noticed that in excess of 24 paragliders were up at any one time but did not encroach anywhere near us. My Ahi for some reason did not fly well and probably needs looking at. Kevin did not have a go with his Lidles special glider, maybe next time. Nick V arrived at the slope after a session with the dentist. He brought along his Tiny Seagull an Eliminator Pylon Racer and the Whisper. He enjoyed some flying, but the conditions were challenging to say the least.

Martin launched his Carrera glider which flew very well. However, upon landing it suffered a significant crack along the top fuselage joint. Nothing a tube of glue and a clamp would not fix. In Summary, poor flying conditions for us slope soarers but some very good company.

Fabulous Firle Beacon - 2nd April 2022

Well, what a difference 48 hours makes. Today, the wind was light to start 8-12mph and was reasonably warm a total contrast to the weather we experienced last Thursday. On the slope today was me with my SAS Wildthing and Dream Flight Ahi, at the start of flying there was not enough wind to keep my Wildthing in the air, so I waited a while until the wind speed increased. As a rule of thumb if the Paragliders are flying my Wildthing will not. As the wind speed increased, I managed a few flights and was happy with my landings.

Kevin M had brought his SAS Wildthing and his Let 13 but had limited success with the Wildthing, he managed several flights but resulted in the wing detaching from the fuselage, so he had limited flying today.

Nick V presented with his Wildthing, Middle Phase and a very nice Whisper. Also, he is the proud owner of a brand new Spektrum NX10 transmitter. I am considering the purchase of this fine transmitter myself. Nick said that it is a bit of a challenge to understand the complexities of the programming, apparently it took him 2 weeks to be able to switch it on and a lot longer to be able to programme the “Crow Braking” system. However, he thoroughly enjoyed the flying today. One of Nicks work colleagues, Luke also came along to see what all the fuss was about.

Robin A arrived with his Mini Lunak and his recently built H101 Salto for it’s maiden flight. Robin informed me that a lot of adjustments were require on the Salto especially with regard to the “Crow Braking”.

It was great to see Paul H on the slope today, one of our newest club members with his Middle Phase, which he flew very well indeed. I did manage to have a chat with his wife while he was flying, and she informed me that she buys Paul radio-controlled models for his birthday presents. Maybe this is something that all club members should aspire to, I know my super wife has in the past bought me a Cambrian 100-inch Elan glider for a Christmas present.

In Summary, a really nice day with 5 club members attending and several other flyers on the slope. A day full with models, full size gliders and paragliders in the airspace. Once again, a very enjoyable day with likeminded individuals.