A Spitfire over Firle Beacon - 31 March 2022

Arriving at the car park at Firle Beacon this morning I noticed that it was extremely cold and blustery. For those who use the W3W App the code for the car park is: Sounding,Party,Enough. My in-car temperature gauge showed only 2 degrees, what a difference from the nice weather experienced last Sunday at Wolstonbury Hill. I headed Eastwards to our usual launching spot and found Mark J, Scott T and Martin L already assembled and very cold. Mark had brought along his Cambrian Fun Fighter Spitfire which has been converted to PSS, more of the Spitfire later. He had also brought his Pzazz Mk2 glider for it’s maiden flight. Scotty had his trusty SAS Wildthing plus his Me163 Komet whilst Martin had come along to take photographs and get back into slope soaring after some time away. I of course had my SAS Wildthing.

Without doubt the star of the day was Mark’s Spitfire not only did it look amazing on the ground but it’s performance in the air was outstanding. Mark is our club’s 3D printing expert and so he had printed out a pilot and instrument panel along with realistic exhaust stacks.

Mark also flew the Pzazz but the conditions were not ideal as the air was extremely turbulent. Both Scotty and I managed to get our Wildthings away but we both had to really concentrate, and the landings were most challenging. The constant wind speed was about 21 mph plus gusts which caused me a major problem when trying to launch. After 3 failed attempts, which only resulted in the model flying backwards heading for the channel and France at a great rate of knots, I decided to call it a day. I think due to the cold and the high wind speed the others had the same thoughts. As we were packing up Robin A walked past. He was enjoying a walk and decided to come over and have a chat. Heading back to the car park we only just made it before the sleet and rain started. In Summary, a very cold and blustery morning but watching Mark’s Spitfire perform overhead warmed our hearts and we all had a good time. Hope for kinder weather for our next outing.

Sunday 27th March 2022 - Wolstonbury Hill Again due to the Wind Direction.

Upon leaving home yesterday for the slope it was a nice warm and sunny morning with clear skies, despite the clocks going forward. However, arriving at the Wolstonbury Hill lay-by it was a different story. Parking was tight as expected but it was also very cold, and the hill was covered in fog. I met Rob S, Martin J, and Kevin M and we started up the slope through the woods. For those who use the W3W App: Learns.Punctured.Tiger will get you to the lay-by. Initially, the wind was slight, Rob S confirmed this to be 13-14 mph, so just enough to keep Wildthings in the air. Models available for flying yesterday were: My Dream Flight Ahi and a Wildthing, Rob S brought along his Coyote, Martin J had his Eclipse, Kevin M his Wildthing and a Let 13.

As the morning progressed the sun finally came out and it ended up a very pleasant day, almost negating the need for a coat. I continued to practice my landings and comments were made by the group that I was doing more flying behind me rather than in front over the slope. Practice makes perfect, I do hope!! I did managed to detach the fin but stuck it back on to continue.

Once again for those who use W3W App: Banter.Asteroid.Comforted will take you to the top of the slope. We were joined by Scott T with his Wildthing and a Weasel, he has been very busy recently and it was very good to see him out on the slope again. After a few flights he was back in the swing and enjoying the day. He really enjoyed the morning’s flying without incident. Martin J experienced what he called a heavy launch, meaning straight after launching the model struck the ground and the wing detached from the fuselage. Minor damage was caused but the glider was unflyable.

Gordon S and Kevin B arrived on the slope. Gordon brought his own Wildthing and Kevin B had a drastically modified Middle Phase. Poor Kevin M suffered a loss of lift and his Wildthing disappeared out of sight down the slope. Getting closer to the edge of the slope the model could be seen on top of a tree surrounded by brambles and gorse. Off he went to recover his model with help from Rob and Kevin B,  some time later a rather bloodied Kevin re-appeared with his Wildthing. Luckily, he had some plasters with him to stop the bleeding to his fingers. Not many of us can say that they have bled for their hobby. Not long after I experienced the same fate as my Wildthing fell out of the sky. Down the slope I went and found my glider sitting on top of some brambles, this is the first time in a few years that I have had to recover a model from the bottom of a slope.

Up flying again with 4 Wildthings, Kevin M decided to crash into my glider, but no damage was done to either model. Gordon S was flying his own Wildthing rather than the Club Trainer this time under the supervision of Rob S. Conditions by now had greatly improved and Gordon was doing rather well. It is expected that Gordon S will only need a few more supervised sessions with Rob S before being assessed as fit to fly solo. Well done, Gordon, not long now before you will be flying on your own.

Kevin B had an exceptionally good flight, I say flight because his modified Middle Phase only flew once and landed on one of the many “Tussocks” and caused some damage to the tail feathers. The grassy knoll will always be known as “Kevin’s Tussock”.

In Summary, once again a great morning of model flying despite the gloomy start. 7 club members took part in the morning’s activities and as usual they were all great company.