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.