Andy Meade Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Nice! Are you going to go up Tim? I was tempted to push on to Rhosilli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 I confirm the above. The valleys are full of wet cotton wool. Harry and I have been forced to spend the afternoon at Afan Lodge, drinking beer and watching the mountain bikers some in caked in mud and rain. Shame. Would have been a good day to build the A4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 The clag has just about gone now, and it's brightened right up. Give it another half hour and I think flying is on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Really! It's still pissistantly pouring down in Newport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Nah not today mate stuck in work until late. May be up tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I'd like to thank everyone who attended this weekends event for coming, especially as Saturday turned into a non event due to the heavy rain and mist. There was a bigger turn out than last September, and a really good turn out from S Wales guys, a good few who I'd never met before and had heard about the event through my A470 Soaring blog, and also they had never flown at the Bwlch before. These guys have asked I keep them informed about future PSS events and also where the rest of us locals are flying on a weekly basis. But yesterday was good, even though we only had 10 or 12 mph on the slope, many PSS models managed to fly, and we even had some bomb dropping from Phils Sea Fury and my Typhoon. A testament to the quality of the lift available on the slopes here. There were a few incidents of landings out, partly caused by the variable wind speeds but also due the the huge patches of sink following the huge thermals that were coming in. Harry Twist commented that he'd never seen correx Impala's flying so high, just before he too got caught out in sink and had to land out. Fortunately, being an inland site, all models were retrieved and will live to fly another day. So hopefully we can organise another Bwlch event for next year and that it will grow in numbers as more people experience the amazing slopes and flying that are available in S Wales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 A couple of photos from me - I did most of my 'togging on Phil's camera, so hopefully there is something useful on that. Phil giving Pete's Vulcan the heave-ho : My BUFF with engines scattered behind it after another land out : The pits area after we de-camped and went to Mickey's West to chase the lift : A view out to sea : A view onto the Back of Wrecker : Can't wait for 3 week's time on the Orme, and getting the big toys out for a play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Yes, well done to all who attended in the face of a challenging forecast. It was a good days flying yesterday, and like you say Steve, impressive lift considering the limited wind speeds - I measured upto 16mph at one point but never any greater, yet the higher loaded models like the Tornado and Sea Fury (even with those draggy bombs!) flew well. There's loads of photos on my SD Card which now need editing and Ill put some up on here as soon as poss. Like you Steve, I would like to see our South Wales Bwlch adventure become an embedded annual event for the PSSA, many thanks again for you taking the lead on this. See you all in 3 weeks for more of the same on the Great Orme, it should be a well attended event particularly on the Sunday when the Clwyd Soaring Association join us for the Ray Jones Memorial Fly-In. Expect a lot of new models to be on show! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Here's a group shot photo taken yesterday afternoon at the Bwlch - a good bunch of lads enjoying the sun and lift on Mickeys slope. More to follow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Big thank you to all the Welsh lads for making us "English PSS Types" so welcome. It was really nice, so thank you very much. Just a shame it was a 4 hour drive as otherwise I would be there every week. Never seen such huge slopes, said the actress to the bishop, or rather vica versa. The one boast I took from the weekend was learning how to say Pontypridd without using the double d dipthong. Never seen so many consonants. And the home brewed beer from the Bunch of Grapes - the only pub without a sign outside? Must be a local thing. I have worked out how I managed to crash my JP - have explained on my blog - wrong programming not pilot error - phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 I have a suggestion as to next year's calendar. The Bwlch, the last couple of years has been an extra weekend slipped in between regular Orme slots. If we had one less Orme slot and the Bwlch instead we may get more people attending? Just a thought - If it isn't squeezed in, ignore me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Posted by Peter Garsden on 23/05/2016 23:15:10: Big thank you to all the Welsh lads for making us "English PSS Types" so welcome. It was really nice, so thank you very much. Just a shame it was a 4 hour drive as otherwise I would be there every week. Never seen such huge slopes, said the actress to the bishop, or rather vica versa. The one boast I took from the weekend was learning how to say Pontypridd without using the double d dipthong. Never seen so many consonants. And the home brewed beer from the Bunch of Grapes - the only pub without a sign outside? Must be a local thing. I have worked out how I managed to crash my JP - have explained on my blog - wrong programming not pilot error - phew! Glad you like our monster slopes Peter. Even the smaller slopes we fly away from the Bwlch are pretty big and awesome too. You have a blog Peter? Send me a link please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Posted by Peter Garsden on 24/05/2016 04:45:35: I have a suggestion as to next year's calendar. The Bwlch, the last couple of years has been an extra weekend slipped in between regular Orme slots. If we had one less Orme slot and the Bwlch instead we may get more people attending? Just a thought - If it isn't squeezed in, ignore me. I like your thinking Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Pete maintains the LMMGA website here ....thanks for the credit in the photos Pete - I was going to talk to my lawyer about your thievery! :D Edited By Andy Meade on 24/05/2016 08:36:07 Edited By Andy Meade on 24/05/2016 08:36:18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Oh, and Google made a nice panoramic pits picture for me overnight. Thanks Google : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Hey I tell you what Andy, I noticed that flying the Typhoon with the bombs attached certainly made the model nose heavy! I had to increase elevator down trim to compensate when flying level. Then when I came in on my bomb run, I was trying to push the nose down, and in fact I had to hold in down elevator as the damned thing kept wanting to pull out of the shallow dive. So when you see the video, you'll see it looks like it's porpoising slightly, which was me trying to hold the nose down. Something else I noticed on the video was when you were flying your Buff. When you watch it, watch the characteristics of the model as it flies but taking a note of the wind noise on the camera. As you launched the wind noise was quite loud, indicating to me an area of sink, which you launched straight into, and in fact the model doesn't look comfortable in the air and it slowly begins to lose height. Then as soon as the wind noise dies off, the Buff begins to rise, indicating you were in a thermal. Just my observation. With any luck the video will be uploaded to YouTube late this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Weird - I know Phil said his Fury was a bit more sluggish with the bombs on, but he didn't mention trim. Might be a drag thing I suppose? The BUFF had a mixture of problems to be honest - the worst of which was one elevator not being level with t'other. Poor preflight by me (again) that required me holding about half my up stick travel plus full up trim. It's because I turned an elevator servo over in order to gain a channel back on the RX for the bomb drop. You could almost use those whistles as stall indicators though Looking forward to the video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil May Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 It was a great days flying and nice to meet some new faces (to me) Quality of the models present were fantastic and I'm looking forward to owning my first proper pss models. Thank you Steve for organising this event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Steve/Andy - I can confirm the Sea Fury suffered no change in trim or balance as a result of the bombs being fitted - to be fair I did my best to mount them bang on the CoG with that in mind. They were however pretty draggy and having flown the model 'clean' now for 10 years I could definitely tell I was carrying them - they were noisy too - you could hear the drag as she swooped low and fast through the bombing corridor! Love it!! Glad to report that the little servo mount units survived the 2 landings I made in the tufty grass too. Ready to drop more havoc another day! I was quite surprised how little forward momentum the bombs retained following release - I didn't press the trigger until the last second but my bombs still fell short (and wide) of the target... 7 paces from the bullseye was my score, the best of the day was 3 paces by Mike Grey and the Mustang. Laser guidance anyone??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Mike's passes were really low - nap of the earth stuff, and great to see to be honest! Can't wait 'till your Tonka is bombed-up ready for some JP233 action Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Wait until you see the video, you will see how low Mike was when he dropped his bomb. I had to make my own release plate for my bombs which were stuck onto the bomb in exactly the same position as they would have been if I'd used the supplied mounting plate. And then mounted on the wing So although the release plate is on the COG, there is more bomb in front of the plate that behind it, and with two bombs fitted that would have contributed to the forward COG. So maybe I should remove the release plate and re glue slightly more rearward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McLaren Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 I would like to add my thanks to Steve for setting up the event. These things can't happen unless someone puts in a lot of personal effort to bring it all together. It must have been a bit stressful when the first day was washed out, but it all came good in the end. It was my first visit to the famous Bwlch, and I loved it. I was also very relieved that we didn't have to fly off the Wrecker! I will certainly be back for more. I think we left the slope just in time. Did you guys get that free car wash (as only Welsh rain can do!) as you drove back down the valley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Yup - had a good lightning show and torrential rain (I thin the Welsh call it "Summer" ) as I drove back down through Nantymoel. Didn't really stop till I got back near Tewkesbury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 You're very welcome Steve and all of you. Yes the Saturday was a little stressful. What do you do with a load of guys that have traveled 200 miles to fly and then can't. And the area isn't touristy so there isn't much to keep you occupied, other than the pub. And if any of you fancy a trip on your own, or as another group, just give me a shout and I'll happily act as your personal guide. The Wrecker is AWESOME Steve, it's just the landing zone that's a little awkward Thunder? Lightning? I didn't see any of that, only sunshine. I must have been lucky for a change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil May Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Me neither Steve. Maybe it was our visitors taking the rain back where it came from originally 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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