Alex Leigh

Hi Andy, a few of us are up there in a Westerly. Last week, we were on North Hill (in Wales) which is a better slope for that direction. Same as Frank, drop me a PM and I'll let you next time we're up. Oh should have got a WT 48

I'm an uncovered but leading edge taped as our slope has spikey bracken. Just been flying mine and I love it. It's just a lot of fun to fly compared to - say - a wildthing.  

Pah. It's mostly fixed now. Although only because of the good advice of Frank and the rest of the wise slopers on our hill   Some pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexleigh/ although not very good ones!   I reckon I might spray the repair red to show where the damage was. Good to know I can fix (still needs an epoxy bandage) simple stuff on composite airframes. If it were something more serious tho, no idea where I'd start. @import url(/CuteEditor_Files/public_forums.css);

Quite like that ASW. My Junior T is pretty much shot now. Really shouldn't try landing it so close to the fence. Or - as proved to be the case - into the fence

He's right you know We were 27mhz and Acoms as well! Blue Crystal which was seriously compromised by large CB aerials on the big trucks in the valley below. The original capstan was held together by pva and habit. Can't believe my dad chucked away the remains without asking me..

 Did someone say Capstan? I liked the look of that Fauvette but too many models already. That one ^ is built from the "new" Cambrian kit. First model I ever had some *ahem* 30 years ago, so really had to buy this one.  Scale pilot as you might be able to see.... flies great, bit odd going back to R/E but it's positively stately and more aerobatic than you'd think.  

Michael I was there yesterday but flying I think when you were talking to Geoff or Tim. Agree with the Wildthing, that's what I bought when first flying at Garway. I warn you tho, it's a slippery slope to bigger things  If you drop a msg (via PM), I'll happily add you to our "slope" email that goes out most weeks discussing where and when we'll be flying (generally at Garway if it's a W/NW/WSW or further afield if not). Also a few of us have battered (blame Timbo, the combat king!) WT's, happy to let you have a fly if you're coming up.

Garway Hill - Cliff's K8 Maiden. Very nice.   Vigorous throw!   Three of mine. Fantastic day to be flying. Shame I couldn't bring the other 10 (TEN!) from home. Oops     Edited By Mark Web Tech on 29/07/2011 09:57:04

It was a great day I let Tim win after sending his Wildthing into "the spinning foamy of death" which nearly lacerated all of us as it scythed back into the slope. Last time i was at the Orme, it was 60+ plus and I was a sloping newbie. I left with some broken models and a love of sloping that's never left. It was great to go back and fly some nice gliders in that awesome lift. These guys are so spoilt! See it wasn't just me who was walking!  Few more here: Flickr  Thanks Tim, Paul, Steve and Ronnie for making us feel so welcome. I had a blast. Don't think my Bird-60 has ever flown that fast Edited By Tim Mackey - Administrator on 15/07/2011 22:27:15

Every cheap one I've seen Matthew has an eggshell fuz, that's where they tend to break - either behind the wing or on the tail. Obviously, h'experienced man like yourself will be fine.  If it were me, I'd be clearing off the slope with a spatula.

Nice vid that Lee. I have something to aspire too.

Thanks Mike. More good advice. I'll go back to a linear comp then and try to be a little less punchy on the stick.

I always assumed ailerons up was to prevent tip stall as well! Yes I've noticed how wooshy the mouldies are. Then I go and fly my old middle phase and it ends up miles away!

Thanks Tom/All. That's really useful advice. I shall go practice landing "on a spot". I did try that last week but was frustrated on how useless I was! I think the idea of bringing the crow in more gently and adjusting it gradually makes a lot of sense. I need to fly a squarer circuit as well. Because I'm always really rushed on landing. Final turn is a bit tight, then I'm flying towards myself so I'm just not getting a feel for distance, then - generally - it's all a bit of a panic. Funny now, flying isn't an issue mostly. I can feel myself improving. But all the time I'm thinking "got to land this thing soon" and it's a bit off-putting!  Practise then. Bird is a tough old *er* bird. Even so let's hope I learn fast eh?

Love crow brakes. Still not absolutely sure I've mastered their use tho. Because those who have seem to drop the model at their feet at walking pace, where I'm either out the back out of sight somewhere, back over the front or having to retrieve the model from an emergency bracken burial.  Okay it's not that bad, but I do have some questions 1) Is "optimal" crow when the model is pushing forward slightly but basically just coming straight down. 2) On the Bird, I need more down elevator (proportionally) for the first half of the crow than the second. So if I left it programmed as a standard mix from 0mm to 5mm comp for about 70 deg max of crow, it'll rear up until half way and then settle down. I've used a mix to tame it and checked all the movements, it just seems odd.3) Is it really as simple as "get it into wind, wind in the crow"? 4) I guess this is wind / slope dependendant, but is it better to start with less crow and build it up if you feel you're overshooting or dump the lot and modulate back from there? I find I get a bit "thumb confused" trying to fine tune lots of things in quite a short amount of time!  I still feel like most of the time I'm coming in too fast. I need to trust the crow will slow the model down but it won't tip stall (that's how I wrecked my Luna). Every landing is different, most of them are okay, some quite good and I've not wrecked a model for a while but I really want to be able to nail it everytime. So any advice useful. Happy to chuck/circuit/land for practice.

Reporting back as promised. Well I had a go this evening in not great conditions, but found something close to a sweet spot around 35% diff. Although that could all change as conditions do. But it was interesting trying different diffs, definitely tell the (ahem) difference. Also found with the diff dialled in, I now prefer to run the ailerons full length with the flaps (although only at about 30% of the movement). V-Tail rudders tho, that's for another day.. too much movement still I think.  I do love that bird tho. Born to Hoon.  I've now a question about Crow but shall start a new post, as I think there's much more to learn/research here.

Looks a stonker eh? One of my favourite days flying was in a very light southerly (which doesn't suit our slope at all) being taught how to find thermals way out in the valley. I did some walking that day, but it's quite a feeling "saving" it from landing out and climbing back up over the slope. I do like a big wind day, but there's definitely a space in my sloping for some more cerebral flying Edited By Alex Leigh on 22/06/2011 11:14:42

Whyte Wings... lack of coffee this morning:  BMFA Ads 1997 review

I think I still have something combat-y. It's been recently repaired so go easy on the poor old thing.. I don't want to have to wade out to sea to fetch it.

 I've been looking for a nice thermal sniffer for a while. Easy Glider works well and even my R/E Capstan could more than do the job I think, but sloping has fed my kleptomania. Apparently this ^^ used to win comps all the time back in the day. So even with my thumbs of ham, it should be a fantastic machine to learn the dark art of thermalling. And landing out  Two years ago I had a Wildthing and thought that'd do me. Now I have *runs out of fingers* 12 gliders. And that's after giving two away.  Anyone seen/had/flown one of these?

I'll be up in a couple of weeks to pick up (another) glider. Nice thermal machine for the summer. When it arrives. I hope Tim's been saving his pennies so he can get the sticky buns in

Yeah I read the whole thread now Steve I love Mickey's but that walk does take a while. Nice to have that as your local slope!

There are *many* slopes on the bwlch. Some that are a very easy walk, some more of a hike. Fantastic place to fly. Every sloper should get there at least once. There's a map of teh slopes on the web somewhere, I'll try and find it for you later.

Cheers again Mike. That's a really useful explanation. I shall experiment and report back.

Thanks Mike. Most of my theory comes from the full size and doesn't always translate. I really need to think more about my setup when I'm flying. Rather than just hooning about.  I'm going to set them to no diff at all then. And will try 1) Flying like that and watching the fuz 2) Then try with some diff dialled in3) then try it with the diff the "wrong way" just so I can see what that looks like 4) Then try full span At which point if my head hasn't exploded, I'll start working out the best way to use rudder as well. Although on a v-tail this also seems slightly counter-intuitive sometimes.