The joy of slope

[Tim Mackey]

Posted by Phil B on 25/05/2011 07:08:10:

would it be a good idea to have a motor on your first slope model to recover it or is that missing the point.

 

a few at our club have zagi's

 

Well it is really.... but then again, as suggested, somethink like the blaze, or radian pro can be used purely on the slope, with the motor not used, or flat field as well.

[Alan B]

Not a traditional build Myron but I purchased a Art Tech Diamond 2500. It is a very well finished foamie. All you need is a RX and 4 cell lipo and you are good to go. Its brilliant soarer with flight times of around 40 mins to an hour.

 

A lot of our club members (seasoned experienced flyers) have bought them as their first motorised glider as they have been so impressed by its looks and performance and its a lot of model for about £160. I have never been a fan of Art Tech stuff myself but they have raised their game with this one.

 

Al

[Tim Mackey]

Posted by Zaidy on 25/05/2011 09:17:12:

Posted by Tim Mackey - Administrator on 25/05/2011 09:10:55:

Posted by Phil B on 25/05/2011 07:10:44:

where can you buy a wildthing?

 

HERE and here only.

PS they are 46" not 48" as Marty said

Yes I got the last 60" yesterday

 

Ah good, bigger and slower than a 46" so easier to hit LOL

[RGPuk]

Ah good, bigger and slower than a 46" so easier to hit LOL

 

That would seem logical. However ........ having a WT60, plus a couple of pals that have tried to take chunks out of it with their respective 46 Wildthing and 46 Fusion, the size disparity makes relative distances surprisingly difficult to judge and contact is therefore frustratingly infrequent.

 

I like the 60 ok, she can be made to shift with some lead in a blow, flies really well in light conditions, and has been a gem as a first slope machine, but I'd have a 46 next time. Here's hoping Alan is still doing them when the time comes.

 

Ro.

[Zaidy]

Posted by RGPuk on 25/05/2011 09:56:24:

Ah good, bigger and slower than a 46" so easier to hit LOL

 

That would seem logical. However ........ having a WT60, plus a couple of pals that have tried to take chunks out of it with their respective 46 Wildthing and 46 Fusion, the size disparity makes relative distances surprisingly difficult to judge and contact is therefore frustratingly infrequent.

 

I like the 60 ok, she can be made to shift with some lead in a blow, flies really well in light conditions, and has been a gem as a first slope machine, but I'd have a 46 next time. Here's hoping Alan is still doing them when the time comes.

 

Ro.

you wish !!! I can fix the speed issue like you said with some lead LOL but that would be unfair !! Allan is still going strong, he only run out of the 60" as he was on holiday and didn't make enough stock. I will see how the 60 fly and might invest in a spare just in case ....

 

Zaidy

[Tim Mackey]

Oh your gonna need a spare Zaidy - you're gonna need a spare

I have also found that the 60" is slightly more prone to damage on bad arrivals, as the extra weight ans size makes it a bit more vulnerable.

Still, on the plus side, they do fly in lower windspeeds., and another + for you Zaidy..... they are a bit easier to see when you go looking for it down the slope

[RGPuk]

Posted by Zaidy on 25/05/2011 10:07:32:

you wish !!! I can fix the speed issue like you said with some lead LOL but that would be unfair !! Allan is still going strong, he only run out of the 60" as he was on holiday and didn't make enough stock. I will see how the 60 fly and might invest in a spare just in case ....

 

Zaidy

 

You won't be disappointed one bit with the 60.

 

Mine was a first machine intro back to flying toys after 20+ years away. She's withstood everything chucked at her (mostly the ground). The inevitable elephantine, crinkled nose has re-covered perfectly and fairly frequently, with the foam underneath remaining untouched. And she now serves beautifully as an indestructible confidence builder at a new flying site, or in suspect conditions, before I chuck a mouldie off the hill.

 

One thing, and one thing only, has ever broken - an elevon horn - and then only 12 months down the line. The plastic moulding cracked at the base - but only slowly, resulting in an arrival with full aileron trim one way, plus a good lean on the stick to keep her wings level.

 

In keeping with her bomb-proof character I now use these: Horns 

 

....... and she would no longer be in my possession, and have been long since eaten by a sheep, if I'd not fitted one of these: Alarm 

 

Home grown, good quality but cheap, and essential if you fly over something like the vast denseness of fern and bracken at Levisham or Horcum.

 

Ro.

 

Edited By RGPuk on 25/05/2011 10:55:41

[Tim Mackey]

[RGPuk]

Posted by Tim Mackey - Administrator on 25/05/2011 10:46:29:

 

Sorry Tim. I realised what I'd done as soon as I pressed the post button.

 

I'm too excited to be posting sensibly really - 'cos I'm just leaving for an hour or two at The Hole of Horcum with Luna, Flying Fish and Weasel.

 

Ro.

[Lee Smalley]

Sloping a good addition to your flying armoury, and TM is right when the winds to bad to fly power then its great still to be able to fly, but and heres my issues with it

 

Fuel is expensive these days and the cost of a drive to the Orme is horrendous, especially if you get the forecast wrong and it rains all day eh TIM!

TM is very fortunate and lives near the Orme and can fly any day, we are not all that fortunate

there is very little Etiquette on the slope (compared to a club) so if you are flying an expensive mouldie there is a very real chance someone will come through the back of the slope at high speed without saying a word of warning and take you out

 

but having said all that i really enjoy it and its a very valuable addition to your skills and experience and I Urge everyone to have a go, you can buy a glider for pennies these days ...so what you waiting for !!!

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

This thread should be outlawed, some of us don't live anywhere near a workable slope!

[Steve Houghton 1]

I'm just getting into the art of sloping. I bought a Flying Wings Hawk, took it to my nearest hump, (Twmbarlwm, S Wales) gave it a lob and 20 mins later had to bring it in due to cold hands and watery eyes. I've since learned to take along my thermal fingerless gloves and bought ski goggles.

 

Last weekend I went up to The Bwlch, undoubtedly one of the UK's premier slope sites, but couldn't fly as the Hawk was to light and it just got blown backwards but, today I took delivery of my Wildthing 46 which should mean I can fly in just about anything. Just hope I can have it finished by this weekend with the winds that are forecast.

 

I am now hooked on sloping, and why not when I have so many mountains to choose from, all offering flying from whichever direction the wind is blowing and all within an hours drive at most. Some are only 10 - 15 minutes away, i.e. Twmbarlwm and Machen.

 

So what are you waiting for, with some models costing less than £60, (Wildthing, Hawk, Stargazer) it won't break the bank, get one up.

 

 

[Frank Skilbeck]

Weather this weekend for power flying =

 

Weather this weekend for sloping =

 

As Billy Connelly once nearly said, there's no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate models. This weekend I'll probably be mostly flying my Mini Blade..........

[Steve Houghton 1]

They're forecasting 18mph on Sunday for my neck of the woods, gusting to 31 mph, so I'll be on the slopes as long as it doesn't rain.

[Romeo Whisky]

It isn't flying off the top of the hill that bothers me Tim. I used to do it in the Peak District where the roads ran up the hills so people could admire the views. Great fun, I agree.

But here in bonny Scotland the roads run through the glens! And it's having to climb up the hills carrying all the gear that's stopping me slope flying now!

[Peewhit]

So what's all this nonsense about slope soaring being addictive?

 

I started about four years ago and taught myself with a simulator and a wooden Middle Phase.

 

Initially, something would always break on the first landing and I spent much more time fixing than flying.

 

Yet I kept going back, and back, and back at least once a week as the flying bit was fantastic.

 

I now have three mouldies and, touch wood, have not broken anything in a while.

 

My favorite is the 2M RCRCM Typhoon which flies like a much bigger ship at about 100 mph, will take up to 24oz of ballast, and will perform virtually any aerobatic in the book.

 

I don't do F3F competition stuff, just fly for fun.

 

The Middle Phase is still flying in the hands of a less experienced colleague, and I am still going back to Horcum or Levisham at least once a week.

 

I have tried electric flat field stuff and DLG thermal and compared with sloping they are quite boring.

 

I will admit that slope soaring is great fun, and as soon as you are on the way home from one session, you want to go again.

 

But addictive, no way

 

So come on all you IC and Electric guys, give it a go.

 

I promise that you will not regret it.

 

[Myron Beaumont]

Never realised that so many people didn't like the lovely throaty sound of a proper engine .Why do us lot still buy them I wonder ? As if I didn't know !

Edited By Myron Beaumont on 27/05/2011 00:01:17

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Pass the barf-bag Myron...

 

BEB

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 27/05/2011 00:07:05

[Tim Mackey]

You sound more and more like a broken record every day Myron.

The point of this thread is nothing to do with liking /disliking noisy engines, quiet electric models, or any such issue - so please don't try to get the thread wandering off in any such direction.

The OP makes it quite clear - we all like to fly model aeroplanes , preferably as often as we can, and slope soaring is a way of increasing that time, for when its simply too windy to fly other types.

[RGPuk]

I have some reasonably interesting toys with noisy, spinny things on the front (and back). I enjoy them. They are fun. But .............

 

.......... for 8 days solidly now, the winds have blown to such an extent that flying any of those machines was inadvisable/impossible - to say the least.

 

On the other hand, I have flown Luna/Weasel/Wildthing from a slope of some sort, somewhere, every day of those eight days. Just a couple of hours a day fitting in between work commitments - great therapy.

 

The Joy of Slope.

 

Ro.

 

PS.  The met looks excellent for the weekend too - brisk 15's to 20's, or even more.  Nice!

Edited By RGPuk on 27/05/2011 10:11:18

[Frank Skilbeck]

Posted by Myron Beaumont on 27/05/2011 00:00:11:

Never realised that so many people didn't like the lovely throaty sound of a proper engine .Why do us lot still buy them I wonder ? As if I didn't know !

Edited By Myron Beaumont on 27/05/2011 00:01:17

Or the sound of tortured air from a mouldie at full chat

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[andy harrold]

Chris Foss Middle Phase, aileron version.

as for power- a 4.8v rx battery !!

ask someone to show you how to/ where to land and you will glad you chose one without a prop. it will thermal soar, it can loop and roll, it is a great design. and fairly rugged too.

or a weswings Orion.

you could even get a lekky version if you insist!

[Myron Beaumont]

Andy

Thanks .Will do some more research tomorrow .