21/6/23 Baffling Beeding

 Four members made the trip to Beeding bowl on Wednesday morning,Myself and Dave King arriving around 9am to be greeted by a fair breeze.

Dave armed with his Spirit,Wildthing and an unknown model he tried his Wildthing first despite a reasonable breeze it would not fly so launched his Spirit model which flew quite well despite the strange conditions the unknown model would not fly at all.

Meanwhile I tried my Lidl model which was one of four models I had brought along,the others being my Wildhing,Easy Trainer and Starlet.

The Lidl just would not go,so i tried the Easy Trainer which flew ok despite the strange conditions.

Next to arrive was Russell Hawke with an array of models the first two models tried were a Summer Breeze which fly well as did his Jubilee 1977 vintage.

Next to join us was Martin Jones armed with his Aggressor and Skyclimber a powered glider which flew well despite the strange conditions. Martin tried his Aggressor with no success.

Russell returned to his car to bring out two more models a Quicksilver and Hacker Tomahawk flying wing.

As conditions were improving I decided to try try my Starlet which was flying ok till the lift just went and it ended up at the bottom likewise Russell had the same problem with one of his models and had a long walk to collect his model. I must say Russell had some great looking models and it was great to meet him for the first time.

After I left Russel tried two more models.

A good morning despite conditions and some good stick time

Thanks for a great morning guys.

Hello from South Wales

 Its been a long while since I have have posted on our wonderful blog but here we go.....

Today I met up with Ian and we went down to Aberavon Beach for some soaring on the dunes. When we arrived the wind was just not playing ball and too soft to soar. Even the Seagulls where flapping. Within the hour the wind was just about enough to keep my Phase 6 airborne.

The video below is Ian flying his scratch built Chris Foss Phase 5. He said he watched Chris Foss fly his Phase 5 prototype over 40 years ago at Mill Hill and said he was going to build pone of them. It has only taken him 40 years plus but Ian has built a beauty and of course it flew wonderfully from the start in Ian's capable hands.

Maiden Flights from Wolstonbury Hill

In the last few weeks the weather has been consistently fair over my local slope on the South Downs, with a warm dry north-easterly breeze of variable strength. I have been making the most of this by visiting two or three times a week with planes in my panniers.

The regular ride up Clayton Hill has made my legs noticeably stronger and although it is still strenuous, I'm starting to feel less tired at the top. It's good for arthritis too, which is a bonus.

Readers may remember that I completed the Phoenix Model Products WingBAT 48 kit in October last year and here was my chance for a maiden flight...

...which proved to be easier said than done. It flies superbly but the launch is challenging. I'm used to shoving my models firmly into the wind and watching them float up into the lift. The WingBAT refused to cooperate and repeatedly fell a few feet in front of me. I adopted the recommended technique of grasping the fuselage in front of the leading edge with a forefinger under the wing, but rather than shoving into the wind I leaned back and tossed it into the sky like a javelin. With a little practice this worked fine requiring only quick reflexes to haul back on the elevator stick to keep it off the ground. Once it was up in the lift and flying fast it was a hoot, flitting about the sky like a, erm, bat!

My other maiden flight was with the Quicksilver which I completed in the summer of 2020 (you can view the build details on this blog by searching for 'Quicksilver').

I was a bit dubious about this design because of the highly unusual all-flying tailplane held on by a rubber band, which seems rather wobbly. I need not have worried, the model flew brilliantly and its crash-proof qualities are admirable - a hard landing may break a few wing bands or knock the tailplane off its cradle, but within a couple of minutes it's ready to fly again. Rudder and elevator control are quite sensitive, the ailerons are less so but still perfectly effective. It is a model which inspires confidence and was sufficiently stable to fly hands-off long enough for me to wipe the sweat off my palm.

Not quite a maiden flight but a model flown only once before is my Omega, built from plan in 2017:

The colour scheme looks like the Ukrainian flag, something I was unaware of at the time of covering, but which is now very evident. The Omega is a snazzy looker but sadly a reluctant flyer, it will get airborne and fly straight, but my attempts at manoeuvring usually result in its flopping around like a lanky, recalcitrant teenager who'd rather be on his/her Xbox than take to the skies. It is probably just my lack of skill at handling what was once a highly-regarded aerobatic machine back in the 1970s. I took some weight out of the nose which made it a bit more perky but it's still uninspiring. If you have any suggestions please let me know, thanks.

Happy landings

Russell H