Sunday 10th September 2023 - Flat Earth Society Meeting at the Flat Field.

Once again an amazing number of club members turned out at the flat field site this morning, in fact it was a 1/4 of the entire Club Membership. To be fair the weather was not great, it was very humid with no wind and only the occasional breeze coming through.

Car Park.

Glider Park.

On a personal note, I do not, as yet own an electrically powered thermal glider or a bungee equipped one and I was using this mornings flying as research to what types of gliders are available for a future purchase.

By the time I arrived at the field many of the members where in the process of building and assembling their aircraft. There was a large selection of gliders to look at.

The Club Chair, Rob S took on the role as the Field "Supervisor" for the morning. As an experienced flyer he was able to provide much guidance to the less experienced flyers amongst us, myself included. He was also in charge of bungee launching.

Robin S brought along his Friendly F5J 3.6 meter glider and also his Cirrus Prelude 1 (CPI) 3 meter glider. I consider Robin to be very knowledge regarding gliders and he provided me with some sage advice on the different aspects of powered gliders from thermal types to hot ships. I am now in a far better position to decide which type to choose. My only problem now is that there is too much choice.

Robin S in Full Launch Mode.

Scotty T, was there with his repaired Elektro Junior S glider. Apparently, the previous tail section damage was caused by a faulty servo which melted the foam. He was a little reluctant at first to fly it but with some strong encouragement from Club members he decided to give it a go, under the supervision of Nick V he had an enjoyable flight but erring on the side of caution allowed Nick to land the glider for him.

Scotty T.

Kevin M was flying his Arora with great aplomb until he unfortunately landed out in an adjacent field. However, recovery was not that easy as Kevin disappeared behind the hedge row. Rob S remained in mobile phone contact with him and soon Kevin reported that the first obstacle to negotiate was a rather large, water filled ditch with a barbed wire fence on the other side of the ditch, then mobile phone communication was lost. Rob was concerned that Kevin had come to some harm and asked if I would  try to find him. Fortunately for us, his model glider was still visible to us looking on, so we could guess which route he might have taken. I followed Kevin's route and came across the aforementioned ditch and walked a bit further along the path. At this point I noticed Kevin had managed to get himself on to the other side of the ditch. After a cheery wave I returned to the flying field and reported back to Rob that I had seen Kevin and all is well. Further phone calls and lots of arm waving to Kevin giving him directions resulted in him recovering his model. A couple of interesting points were noticed during this event, one was that his orange glider was easy to see and that Kevin was wearing a red club polo shirt which made him very visible to see when he was in the hedgerow.

Kevin M's Glider.

Mark V was flying his Maxa 4 and Joy 2.5 meter glider and was enjoying the day. 2 very distinctive gliders.

Mark V's Gliders.

By the time I arrived Nick V was in the process of assembling a rather nice ASW28 scale glider. He came prepared with a picnic table along with a model aircraft stand, quite the professional aeromodeller. In addition he also had a Twin glider. It was great to have the entire Committee attending the session. I think Nick was a little confused between flights as I saw him fishing. By the size of the reel I dread to think of the size of the fish that he was attempting to catch but I can say he needs "to get a bigger boat". Having said that he Nick was awarded "Fisherman of the day".

ASW28

"I Need a Bigger Boat"

Paul H was at the field before me and had brought along a Phoenix 2400 and an Omei 2000 EP. He too enjoyed the mornings flying. The Phoenix 2400 is on my short list of a possible purchase and it was great to have a look at Paul's, we as a club also have one of these for members to fly.

Phoenix 2400.

Robin Ad, a regular attendee both on the slope and at the field had his Thermik Dream and a nice Malibu Pro DLG. 

Robin Ad's Thermik Dream.

Robin At who is one of our newest members was warmly welcomed by all. Always great to have new members joining us for a mornings flying. He was flying a Radian 2.6 (XL) and a very nice scratch built glider.

Radian 2.6 (XL).

Keith M another new member brought along a Radian Pro, a Thrush 1.6 and an Avia. 

Keith M's Glider Collection.

In summary, a fantastic mornings flying with even better company. All members went home with their undamaged models. High points of the day were Kevin M's recovery of his glider and Nick V discovered a new hobby of fishing for river monsters. He commented to us that "You should have see the one that got away". Now Nick is in the market for a rather large fishing pole that his orange reel can be fitted to and a much bigger boat!! All of us are looking forward to the next Club meeting.

I can also confirm that all Committee members have a Club windsock for use on the slopes.

Our thanks go to Paul H for some video taken on Sunday morning. I believe it was taken by his Phoenix 2400 glider.

Here's a video from Paul's Phoenix

https://photos.onedrive.com/share/DFA8E6216E5B5A7F!7284?cid=DFA8E6216E5B5A7F&resId=DFA8E6216E5B5A7F!7284&authkey=!ABV1wZYXxq3VH-U&ithint=video

 

Club Committee Visit to Brighton City Airport - Air Traffic Services - Sunday 27th Aug 2023.

Nick V and Scott T at Shoreham Airport.

Long before the dreaded Covid -19 pandemic struck I have been trying to arrange for a Club Committee visit to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at Brighton City Airport formally known as Shoreham Airport. Fortunately, Nick V, Scotty T and I were able to have a tour around the tower and to meet the controllers yesterday afternoon. 

Tony C at Shoreham Airport.

We arrived early and took advantage of having a coffee on the patio of the Hummingbird Café. This gave us the chance to watch the departing light aircraft taking off and some others landing. At the pre determined time we made our way up the stairs to the access door to the tower. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both Bob and Leah who were our hosts for the visit and devoted time during a busy shift to show us around and explain their policies and procedures.

Obviously, one of the main reasons for the visit was to discuss model flying at Mill Hill which is within the Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) of the airport. Adhering to current legislation we must make contact with ATC and politely inform them of our intentions to fly model aircraft on the hill. They are unable to give us exact permission to do so as they do not own the real estate around Mill Hill and we must also inform them when we have finished flying for the day. Their telephone number is: 01273 467377.

The controllers are very happy with the way that this telephone system works and both sides see no reason to change the protocols currently in place. They did ask for our Club's contact details so if a issue does arise in the future they would be able to talk to someone.  It has been decided that both the Club Chair, Rob S and I as Club Secretary would become the Point of Contact (POC) for our Club.

View of Mill Hill.

It was explained to us how the process works once we have informed ATC of our presence at Mill Hill. They have a pre-prepared "Flight Strip" which they place on the desk in front of them. This is used as an aide-memoir to remind incoming aircraft that we are actively flying model aircraft on the hill. When we inform them that flying has ceased for the day the "Flight Strip" is taken off the desk and stored until it is next needed. Please see the photograph below.  

Flight Strip used in the tower.

The controllers with the use of binoculars have very good visibility of us on the hill. Leah mentioned that when the sun catches the wings of our bigger models this can be clearly seen from the tower. I attach a few photographs that I took from the tower yesterday. For us it was a strange experience looking at Mill Hill rather than looking at the airport. From this vantage point Mill Hill looks a lot closer than the Airport does the other way around.

View from the tower.

We asked a question regarding the circuit pattern used by aircraft arriving into the airport from the North and the East. It was explained that aircraft using runway 20 established on an instrument approach would follow the line of the valley from the North, consequently this keeps a good degree of separation from us on the hill. However, aircraft in the left hand visual circuit, again using runway 20 would follow the published pattern that takes them slightly North of the car park on finals to land. Please see the diagram below.

Circuit pattern for runway 20.

Another question that we asked was about the height that we are permitted to fly at Mill Hill. Again we were shown a National Air Traffic Service (NATS) document which is widely available to all aircrew and pilots who intend to fly into Brighton City Airport. It is basically a set of briefing notes to make the pilot aware of important factors before arriving in the circuit, such as noise abatement areas and restricted areas not to overfly. If you look at item (d) on the list below it warns the pilot that "Caution, model aircraft fly adjacent to Runway 20 approach on the hills at approximately 1 NM from the threshold up to 450FT AMSL". 

This means that full scale aircraft will be in the circuit above us. As a rule of thumb the Mill Hill car park is around 280 feet above sea level lets say for ease 300 feet. Lets take off another 50 feet for a margin of error for us modelers and we have only 100 feet or so above us before we could infringe this height limit that is set by ATC. If the direction from ATC is not to fly above the tree line, that is what we must adhere to so that we maintain flight safety at all times. If at any time you witness any model flyer contravening this height limit either being a Club member or not please do explain to them the regulations that are in place on the hill.

The bottom line is you must not fly above 450 feet above sea level.

Warnings for Brighton City Airport (see item d).

The visit lasted about an hour and I for one found it very informative and constructive and to further the relationship between our Club and the controllers at the airport. At no time did we get the impression that our presence on Mill Hill was a burden or a hindrance to the staff in the tower.

As an aside I have now also managed to hand out two further Club windsocks. This makes three Committee members who are in possession of such. Two further issues will be made as soon as I meet up with Rob S and Kevin M. This should cover most of our flying events. 

In summary, a great afternoon in the tower and we found it extremely informative and constructive.