Another Good Club Turn out at Beeding Bowl - 23 July 23

Due to the prevailing wind direction Beeding Bowl was selected as this morning's flying site. The weather forecast was not great with rain showers expected early on but getting brighter later in the morning. 

Beeding Bowl

By the time I arrived Rob S (Club Chair) was already out flying but quickly return to the comfort of his car as another rain shower came across the slope. Once this passed I joined Rob back out on the hill. Looking towards the west more heavy dark grey clouds were approaching. Rob was flying the Club trainer and I as usual brought along my Wildthing.

My Wildthing With the Mk2 Windsock

Mike G was next to arrive with his modified Wildthing and a rather natty camping chair due to the weather conditions he decided not to fly his model. Mike H brought his Venom but enjoyed some instruction from Rob using the Club trainer.

Mike G's Modified Wildthing.

Richard W produced a number of aircraft this morning including a rather nice Kulbutin, a Phase 6 and a Wildthing - they all have a gyro fitted. Robin S attended with his Aztec and also provided some instruction using a Wildthing.

Richard Just About to Launch.

Robin's Aztec

Just as the early arrivers were about to leave for lunch Paul H turned up. Apparently, a road he uses to get to Beeding Bowl was closed so he had to circumnavigate most of West Sussex to be able to join us, well done Paul for his perseverance. By the time we departed we had blue skies and the wind had settled to a steady 18-20mph.

Another reason for this morning was to meet up with a potential club member which then turned out to be 2 potential members, welcome to Robin and Ian.

In summary, 7 club members were out flying this morning. My thanks go to them all for their excellent company this morning and I am looking forward to getting out again soon.

Lost Model at Itford Hill

 Hi Everyone,
Today (Thurs 20th July) we heard that a member of the Horam Club has lost a 2.4 mtr Volantex Glider at Itford Hill somewhere to the North of the hill.

It was last seen heading towards the Mt. Caburn direction from the main hill at Itford. Please keep an eye out for it and let me or Tony C know if you find it. 

The Operator ID will also be displayed on the model, so you can contact the CAA to get the details of the owner.

We would be most grateful to get it back.

Thank you

Rob Stanley (Chair)

WOW!!! What An Awesome Club Turn Out at Beeding Bowl - 16 July 23

As I approached the car park I could see a number of club members already enjoying the flying. Who would have thought it that in the middle of July the weather would be so bad with very strong winds.

The View Across the Bowl

Apparently, it is due to the fact that the jet stream is now sitting south of the UK. Once parked I made my way to the huddle of members where I met Rob S the Club Chair. He informed me that one of our members, George K had already been and left. The reason for his premature departure was that the prevailing weather conditions were not right for him. Also, on the slope were Gordon S who brought along two traditionally built balsa gliders and rightly left them in the car as he did not want them to get damaged. It was great to see Gordon back out on the slope again. Congratulations go to him for becoming a Grandfather, well done Gordon. Scott T was there with his Me163 Komet and a SAS Wildthing.

Scott T with his Wildthing

 As I mentioned before Rob S was flying the Club trainer (SAS Wildthing) I also took along my SAS Wildthing. Kevin M attended with his SAS Wildthing, yes I hear you say there is a theme here regarding SAS Wildthings, today was an ideal day for this type of model. Martin J also had a SAS Wildthing. Paul H was next to arrive with his Dammit S which did struggle with the blustery conditions. I checked the wind speed and it was a constant 22-25 mph. It was also a good day to test out our latest acquisition for the Club, that being a windsock. I need to undertake a number of modifications before being in a position to issue each Committee Member with one.

A Club Windsock

This should provide a windsock each time the Club has an outing as usually one Committee Member is present. John I was next to arrive with, yes, another SAS Wildthing, and shortly followed by Mark V with his SAS Wildthing. Flying commenced at a pace with the downwind leg being very sporty. Many unconventional landings were observed. 

Martin J Enjoying the Day

Mark V experienced a broken control horn clevis and Rob S kindly allowed him to use the Club trainer.

Rob S with the Club Trainer

Launching from the hill was problematic but once away from the slope it was surprising calm and steady. Luckily behind us was a fence that caught a number of our models. Landing was difficult and once down the wind just picked them up and lifted them again into the fence. 

Kevin M about to Launch

In all we had a quarter of the Club membership out on the slope this morning, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for a great mornings flying in challenging conditions but best of all was the social aspect, having a number of like minded individuals talking about a subject they all enjoy. In summary great conditions for the SAS Wildthing and even better company.

The Gilder Park

Itford Hill Sat 1st July 2023

Today Scott and I met up at Itford Hill to try out the westerly that was being forecast.
In fact it was more like a WNW but that's fine at Itford.
On the way up the hill I noticed a lot of bright pink notices stating 'Bike Route' so I expected there to be some sort of cycling function going on and indeed there were hundreds of bikes coming along the South Downs Way on the 'Century' challenge - either 100k or 100 miles along the South Downs.

The bikes severely restricted our ability to fly and especially to land safely, so we kept our models to the North West face of the hill to avoid proximity to the bikes.
The weather was at times not enough to lift our light models and at other times too blustery to keep control, so although we both had quite a few flights, we felt a little hampered by the weather and the bikes. 
Scott flew his Ahi and I flew my Alula.

After 2.5 hours we retired to the cars, also beaten by the then wet and windy weather....

Rob