A Chilly and Dull Morning at Devil’s Dyke

As you can see from the photograph below the metrological conditions this morning were not great but the flying was awesome with good lift. 

Devil's Dyke

Club members on the slope this morning were Martin J, Paul H and myself. Martin had brought along his Wildthing while Paul had a modified Lidl chuck glider and a very neat little Dammit S. Today saw the maiden flight of his converted Lidl glider and to be fair it flew very well, after some minor trimming. Martin enjoyed the day flying his Wildthing but commented that it was a bit cold which I had to agree with him. 

However, we did witness some blue sky above us but only briefly and we were also accompanied by a full-size gilder enjoying the conditions heading Eastwards. The wind speed was 17-20 mph from the North. I continued to practice my right hand circuits following on from tuition given by Nick V at the end of last year. 

As the conditions were a bit sharp Martin and I decided to return home leaving Paul to continue flying for 1 more go before heading home.  2 other slope soarers (Non-Club Members) were with us this morning who seemed to be enjoying the good flying at Devil’s Dyke.

Itford Hill on Monday 9/1/2023

I arrived at the the bottom around about 9am,to find Martin J had just arrived too so we started the walk up " seems quicker when with company".

I had brought along my Wildthing and my just finished  Starlet to test/try out,Martin J had his Wildthing 46  and 60 and his Aggressor but chose to try the Wildthing 60  and Aggressor.

When we got to the top there was plenty of wind for my Wildthing but Martin J struggled with his Wildthing 60, he later walked down and got his Wildthing 60 which was much better.

Around 10ish Mark arrived with his Wildthing and Magnus models, followed by Robin A and Robin S with their models Robin A with his scratch built small wing and Phase 6 and Robin S with a Phase 5 and phase 6 models.

The wind was blustery at times with some good lift but also some sink at times, but everyone had good stick time. A couple of non-members turned up - Jim was a friend of Mark's from his power model club (Horam) and the other, not sure of his name, was an ESSA member.

I did get to test my newly built Starlet which flew quite nicely but needs a few alterations, a big thanks to Mark J for landing it for me " I need more landing practice".

All In all a nice morning's flying and Mark J stayed on till 2pm with even better lift.

Thanks for your company and see you next time.

PS I forgot to say that early on I put my Wildthing in the bushes and while retrieving fell out flat on my back OUCH!!!.