Phil
New Pilot
Posts: 9 
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Post by Phil on Oct 18, 2014 8:02:39 GMT
What with the 20 mph South Westerly forecasted for Sunday here in glorious South Wales, it can only mean one thing...the heavy foamies having a thrashing they deserve up the Meio :-)![]()
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Post by JG on Oct 18, 2014 8:33:02 GMT
Sounds like your going to be having fun Phil  |
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Phil
New Pilot
Posts: 9
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Post by Phil on Oct 19, 2014 18:59:41 GMT
Absolutely cracking day today.
I met Mark & Clive at her bottom of the Meio this morning, we could see the wind was square on face so we knew we were in for a good day.
20 mins later we were at the top of the slope and a quick check of the wind speed showed 25 plus mph :-)
Perfect for the heavy foamies.
Mark launched his Ron Broughton Odyssey, Clive his Pole Cat and me, my PMP BAE Hawk.
Once we pushed out beyond the usual slope edge turbalance we found some fantastic lift and Mark did his usual climb until he specked out his model then put it into a dive followed by a screaming low pass....dam that model is fast...
Mark also flew his fully ballasted Race M mouldie.
Through out the day the wind increased to pushing 40 mph gusts which made for some interesting flying, we had a couple of light rain showers but this left us with cleaner air afterwards.
Looking forward to next week end.
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Post by Jef on Oct 19, 2014 23:27:41 GMT
Well Phil, I didn't really plan to go flying as such, but met some guys to do some model swapping, and had a great slope soarer (fully ballasted) in the car 'just in case'. As luck would have it, we met at Colley Hill near London village, and the huge slope was working a treat in the stiff WSW breeze. A nice chap called Gary (see www.Slopehunter.co.uk ) also attended and flew his Extreme F3F. Landing was tricky, as the landing zone is the slope... but neither of the mouldies were damaged, and we had a whole heap of fun. Attachments:
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Phil
New Pilot
Posts: 9
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Post by Phil on Oct 26, 2014 18:27:18 GMT
Another cracking day at the Meio today, lower wind speeds today, approx 20 mph, with good lift.
A total of 8 flying today with a good selection of both foam and mouldie models with the sky getting quite hectic with 7 foamies flying at one time :-)
My 17 yr old son flew with us today, his first time on this slope and only his 3rd on the slopes...he is flying my flyingwings Spook and today was launching and landing himself...well done Josh, you did well.
We were blessed with the company of Ron Broughton who brought along a couple of his new models which he flew to his usual high standard.
I've a few photos but all over the 1MB so I need to reduce them first.
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Post by Jef on Oct 26, 2014 22:55:59 GMT
Hi Phil. Good to read your exploits in Wales. In Essex today, there was a very strongly contested battle fought in the skies over a flat field at Little Bentley. Only ten of the entrants flew, and the conditions provided a very interesting scenario. The clouds were scooting along, and the models struggled to penetrate when at height, but at ground level the air was very, very much more gentle. There was a wind shear like I had never seen before with windspeed directly proportional to altitude. This meant lift, when rarely contacted at height, was soon way downwind, so it didn't attract too many takers to circle more than a few times, before cutting and running back for home! Those that missed the lift at height often contacted it lower down and made that pay. Those that elected to stay upwind, often (but not always), did well too. The tactic that worked well for me a few times, was to push forward as far forward as possible (edge of my vision range) then hold onto any sniffs of lift all the way back to the edge of my downwind comfort zone before cruising forward for a landing and taking any lift on the journey back as a bonus - staying in that for as long as possible too. Stooging around in the middle of the upwind field just didn't work for me, and I was unable to get into lift there, that others were climbing in. At the end of the day, my Explorer (see repairs thread) won the comp, with Shadows and Maxas being campaigned to good (but not quite good enough) effect! Attachments:
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Phil
New Pilot
Posts: 9
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Post by Phil on Nov 7, 2014 10:20:35 GMT
Looks like a weekend of no flying :-( what with heavy rain forcasted for Saturday here in South Wales and at the moment Sunday is showing less tha 5mph in the morning before the rain comes back in the afternoon.
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Post by Jef on Nov 7, 2014 18:11:41 GMT
No time for flying here in the South East  |
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Phil
New Pilot
Posts: 9
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Post by Phil on Nov 15, 2014 15:42:37 GMT
Heading for Fochriw tomorrow, a great park and fly slope...only one problem and that is with only 10 mph winds forecasted we have to share with the paragliders
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Post by Jef on Nov 29, 2014 23:49:25 GMT
Light Northerly winds mean a 160 mile round trip to the South Downs are in order.
Hope to maiden my FlyFly Fox, and fly with my son and his FlyFly Fox, at long last.
Fingers crossed!
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Post by Jef on Nov 30, 2014 22:29:27 GMT
Gary was at my house in Essex for a bacon sarnie before 7.30am. After a misty start, Kent and Sussex looked decidedly foggy! We could not park at Ditchling Beacon (Car Park out of action), so we went to Bo Peep. This picture was taken at Bo Peep after we had walked the models to where we thought we would be flying them.  We did fly there when the fog cleared at about 11.30am, but within an hour the wind had died away to nothing and Marc was in touch at Devil's Dyke - where the wind was OK and lift was good, so we went there. This was much better. Marc launched for both Gary and I, then we really enjoyed the conditions which enabled some scale-like manoeuvres. We were both getting cold, and when the landing zone was clear, first I, then Gary, made our landings. Both model's landings were lucky, the back of the slope pulling the models down much faster than expected, but neither coming to grief. The Achilles Heal on the FlyFly Fox is the rather weak main undercarriage. Following the first enforced landing at Bo Peep, mine needs modification now, in the same way as my son's has been done. |
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Post by Jef on Dec 2, 2014 18:43:43 GMT
As soon as the air was translucent enough to risk a maiden, Gary lobbed my 3m Fox into the murk... Attachments:
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Phil
New Pilot
Posts: 9
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Post by Phil on Dec 7, 2014 18:40:38 GMT
Well I managed to maiden my HP 60 today, only one word needed to describe it.... Awesome 
We at A470 Soaring met up at Abertwssyg, which is about 20 miles north of Cardiff, to fly this NW slope which is a perfect park and fly site.
Wind was approx 20 mph with at times fantastic lift.
I've tried to maiden this once before but had control linkage issues, but today all went well.
After the initial launch I was surprised how well it climbed in the available lift, followed by fast, low passes with fantastic speed retention as it climbed out into classic half pipes.....Defiantly one to put a smile on your face.
If you ever get a chance to fly a HP 60 or it's baby brother the 48, grab it.
Phil
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Post by Jef on Jan 23, 2015 22:05:20 GMT
North Westerlies tomorrow, so a pair of FlyFly Foxes are on charge.
A drive down to Devil's Dyke is looking likely.
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Post by Jef on Jan 24, 2015 20:35:08 GMT
Fabulous conditions - big lift and blue skies. A great day out at Devil's Dyke shared sensibly by the PGs and the model gliders.  |
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