A Great Club Turn Out for a Spring Sunday Morning - 13th April 2025.

We as a club are so lucky to have the South Downs National Park on our doorstep. It has not gone un-noticed but for the past 2 weeks we have had exceptional weather with gin clear days and very warm during the day. However, the wind direction was not ideal for slope soaring. As soon as the wind direction changed it was decided to enjoy a morning out. The final decision was made late on Saturday evening confirming a sloping event. 

The South Downs Way.

The location was to be Beeding Bowl with an option for Mill Hill for those with expensive models which require a decent landing ground. Unusually, upon arrival the car park was busy but still enough spaces.

Whilst walking across the road towards the slope I noticed a newly erected sign post showing the South Downs Way, this is used by many such as ramblers, horse riders, cyclists, dog walkers and occasionally kite flyers. We as a club are extremely aware of the potential risks to all who use the path, and always ensures that any member that is actively flying their glider is fully aware of any individuals near by including animals which might walk past such as cattle.

The first member I met was Mike G who set himself up for the morning's flying with a very useful collapsible stool. He also brought along Coyote and a "Hawkish". The Hawkish is apparently a highly modified plan built glider that has a very sleek look about it.

Coyote and the "Hawkish".

I started the morning by launching my Wildthing, the weather conditions were not too bad but the initial lift was not good. Visibility and temperature were good. My first landing was not good as the glider only stopped due to the fence line but no damage caused. I then tried the concept of "How low can you fly" clearly not that low as I initially though as the model descended the rim of the bowl and then the wind reduced significantly. The result was "The walk of shame" down to the bottom of the bowl and back up with an undamaged model.

Walk of Shame.

Russell H was also present on the slope today with his collection of Stan Yeo models. Russell is a prolific builder of these models which are all finished to a high standard. On display and flying today was his Vagrant Mk2 and a WingBat 48.  

Russell's Models.

Martin J arrived with an SAS Wildthing and a Coyote. The Coyote does seem to be a very popular choice of model kit. Today, Martin was also our official club photographer and a number of photographs in this Blog are attribute to him, including the only professional flyer to display this morning was the Red Kite.

Martin's Models

A Club Gathering

Another club member, Nick W joined us flying his modified Lidls chuck glider and a Zagi. Despite the challenging conditions the Lidls glider performed really well until Nick lost some spatial awareness  and he thought the model was still in front of him above the ridge line but in actual fact it had gone over us heading behind at great speed. To shouts of "It's behind you" which gave us the feeling of being in a Christmas pantomime, the model came to an abrupt halt on the road behind. No damage caused.

Nick doing what he does best.

Lidls Modified Chuck Glider

Scotty, flew both his Dream Flight Ahi and a Mamba. He was doing really well until he started to perform some low level aerobatics with the Ahi when he had a nervous moment when he scared himself.

Scotty in action.

Last to arrive was Rob P with his recently repaired Ridge Runt which flew really well. In fact Rob gave us an awesome display of some low level flying when the model past us all at knee height before continuing over the slope. He later departed to Mill Hill to fly his other models.

Rob's first outing this year.

In summary, a very good day with some variable and gusty weather conditions. 7 club members turned up for today's flying with only some minor damage to our models. Good flying, good weather and good company.