A Chilly and Dull Morning at Devil’s Dyke

As you can see from the photograph below the metrological conditions this morning were not great but the flying was awesome with good lift. 

Devil's Dyke

Club members on the slope this morning were Martin J, Paul H and myself. Martin had brought along his Wildthing while Paul had a modified Lidl chuck glider and a very neat little Dammit S. Today saw the maiden flight of his converted Lidl glider and to be fair it flew very well, after some minor trimming. Martin enjoyed the day flying his Wildthing but commented that it was a bit cold which I had to agree with him. 

However, we did witness some blue sky above us but only briefly and we were also accompanied by a full-size gilder enjoying the conditions heading Eastwards. The wind speed was 17-20 mph from the North. I continued to practice my right hand circuits following on from tuition given by Nick V at the end of last year. 

As the conditions were a bit sharp Martin and I decided to return home leaving Paul to continue flying for 1 more go before heading home.  2 other slope soarers (Non-Club Members) were with us this morning who seemed to be enjoying the good flying at Devil’s Dyke.

Itford Hill on Monday 9/1/2023

I arrived at the the bottom around about 9am,to find Martin J had just arrived too so we started the walk up " seems quicker when with company".

I had brought along my Wildthing and my just finished  Starlet to test/try out,Martin J had his Wildthing 46  and 60 and his Aggressor but chose to try the Wildthing 60  and Aggressor.

When we got to the top there was plenty of wind for my Wildthing but Martin J struggled with his Wildthing 60, he later walked down and got his Wildthing 60 which was much better.

Around 10ish Mark arrived with his Wildthing and Magnus models, followed by Robin A and Robin S with their models Robin A with his scratch built small wing and Phase 6 and Robin S with a Phase 5 and phase 6 models.

The wind was blustery at times with some good lift but also some sink at times, but everyone had good stick time. A couple of non-members turned up - Jim was a friend of Mark's from his power model club (Horam) and the other, not sure of his name, was an ESSA member.

I did get to test my newly built Starlet which flew quite nicely but needs a few alterations, a big thanks to Mark J for landing it for me " I need more landing practice".

All In all a nice morning's flying and Mark J stayed on till 2pm with even better lift.

Thanks for your company and see you next time.

PS I forgot to say that early on I put my Wildthing in the bushes and while retrieving fell out flat on my back OUCH!!!.

 

Itford Hill on Blustery Friday 13th Jan '23

For me this was my first flying session of the year, I was starting to think that I should consider building boats instead of aircraft owing to the prevailing weather conditions, will it ever stop raining, I ask myself.

A suggestion was made by a club member to arrange a flying session at Itford Hill. Apparently, there was to be a break in the weather fronts moving across Sussex and blue skies and a fair breeze was forecast. To this end, I charged up the batteries and headed East and ascended the hill to find Rob S, Martin J and Mark J already there. Rob S and Martin J had been there a while and informed me that it was very blustery and cold but once the model was away from the slope flying conditions improved. 

Indeed we did enjoy blue skies, no rain and a good wind.

On display this morning were 3 SAS Wildthings and a Mirage F3F pylon racer belonging to Mark J. Mark also brought along a very modified Lidl glider for some test flying but all did not go too well.

The SAS Wildthings performed well in the 31mph winds, and the Mirage enjoyed its time up in the air. A good time was had by all and I for one am looking forward to our next flying session.

Models Flying Today

Well Wrapped up Club Members

Slope Soaring Sussex wishes all our readers a very Happy New Year.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our club members and our wider audience a very Happy New Year. As the Club has now completed its renewal process for 2023 a small number have decided not to rejoin this year. I can confirm we now have a total of 40 members including 39 seniors and 1 junior member. The Club is in a healthy position and is looking forward to a great flying season.

We will be encouraging our members to take their “A” certificates this year and holding practice sessions to improve our landings, which can be problematic for some members, including me.

I have been surprised by being contacted last year from some international model flyers from Germany, Greece and Australia who have contacted me via this Blog page.

I am looking forward to an exciting flying season and meeting more of our Club members on a local slope soon.

Best wishes and a Happy New Year to all our readers.

 

Slope Soaring Sussex

Secretary