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Now I've Got a Wildthing Too!


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Well I have just looked up ther location of The Great Orme and I have realised that I was there in about 1965. That said about six or seven years ago I did do some electrical design work on a holiday complex in Beaumaris which was a development of a golf course and hotel. Beaumaris appears to be opposite the Great Orme. My work included the production of the electrical site plan plus electrical building plans. The trouble was I did not get paid for most of it!

I don't think I will go back!

MJE

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Thanks for those comments guys!

Just added 30g of church roof in front of the battery to bring CoG to the right spot!

This is with a pair of Hitec servos a 1700mAh battery and an frsky reciever (which was a doddle to set up BTW!) No switch harness just an extention lead to plug/unplug giving an AUW of 750g

I'll just do some quick sums to work out the Wing Loading!

cool

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Thanks for that Ian, Yes I have joined the LMSA, just waiting on the postman but have spoken to the club sec. & I'm Okay to fly from the Mynd... however I wasn't aware of BARCS so I'll be having a good look at their site in a mo.

The LMMGA sites look as if they're within range to make a full day trip of it, about the same distance as the Orme from me!

Matt, I've put Hitec S311 in mine carefully selected as the Least Expensive Standard sized servo my (Very Much Trusted) LMS had in stock at the time at £7.99 so not a vast outlay!

Also if you do decide to take the plunge make sure you order at least 2 colours of tape from SAS as its hard to find on the high street and what he supplied is far superiour quality to what I managed to get elsewhere!

CB

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The Sun came out yesterday, the soothsayers weather forecasters predicted 10-15mph Easterly wind. The OS map was consulted, the car was loaded and my good lady wife accompanied me for the 20 minute drive to the Long Mynd, only to find the Burway, the road over the top of the hill was closed due to snow drifts.

Plan B. Park at the bottom and hike the mile or so up to the relevant slope after all its nice & warm in the sun! Slight map reading error on leaving the car parkblush. An Hour or so later(No Dear! We're not Lost, Look we're just there(points to map about 2 miles from the desired spot!)) we climb out of a gully with the wind on our backs & I thought that the Buzzards & Ravens seemed to doing okay without flapping so I'd just give an experimental chuck...

  • 1st attempt. About 15 Seconds of flight ended 10 yards away in a knee deep snow drift
  • 2nd attempt. Launched Okay but then was blown up & backwards over my head(just as Tim had predicted would happen!) & nose dived 20 yards away into a Thigh deep snow drift!
  • 3rd attempt. Launched by my Very Patient wife ended about 5 yards in front of us
  • 4th attempt. Once again with assistance, up she floats! Aviation occurs! Yeah, She flys. Oh the winds dropped! Another Virgin snow drift was assaulted, but a good 40 seconds of almost guided (I wouldn't say controlled) flight put a big smile on both our faces
  • by this time the sun had gone in & I noticed the voltage on my Tx was starting to drop (I suspect a duff cell) so several short flights(20-30seconds each) occured as we walked back down the snowy slope toward the car park

So, overall not a resounding success but nor a complete disaster,I started to get a feel for it, just need to be patient and get to one of the Proper slope sites when Sping arrives and find someone who can give me a few pointers.

Stil,l a Nice Walk in the Shropshire Hills!

CB

Edited By chris basson on 03/04/2013 10:19:25

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"2nd attempt. Launched Okay but then was blown up & backwards over my head(just as Tim had predicted would happen!) & nose dived 20 yards away into a Thigh deep snow drift!"

All the best slopers start by flying backwards first, makes it seem so much easier to learn when using a forward gear wink 2.

Well done Chris, your commentary suggests you are on the rocky road to addiction, stick with it teeth 2.

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  • 1 month later...

Saturday the wind was forecast at 12-16 mph from the West, straight onto the Pole Cottage slope on the Mynd. Finally after Weeks of waiting the conditions looked ideal...

Arriving at the slope edge I felt slightly ashamed of my little foamie, there were about 12 guys up there all with 2 & 3m F3F mouldies & Big scale jobbies! I confessed my shame and was told that they All had some foam somewhere and asked if I was just starting out, and did I need any help?

So Pete & Les a Big Thankyou! With Les's help to launch(he was amazed by the low weight of my 'Thing & predicted problems) my first flight ended 100yards behind me in the heather!

Back to the pits and Pete donated 90g of wheel weights applied to the nose and Les once more chucked it off the edge for me &...

Transformed! A Couple of clicks more down & 1 clickof left and she was flying hands off. What a Wonderfull Feeling, Riding the air currents! At one point I caught a Thermal almost "Specked out" then dropped down with some (very messy) Loops & Rolls and discovered it's a Very disconcerting feeling for an I/C flyer to look down onto the top of your 'plane, then after about 20 minutes Pete talked me through a landing which was achieved about 50 yards awaysmiley

 

After a quick Nicotine break Pete launched me again for another flight of about 25 minutes during which a Red Kite joined us on the ridge, what amazing flyers They are! Too Many Servos in Those Wings!

All in all I think the Bug has bitten, just can't wait to get out there again, just wondering what a good model is for glider number 2, don't mind doing a bit of building, so wondering about a Phase 6? any other suggestions? But Not an F3F Mouldie Thanks Leswink!

CB

Edited By chris basson on 06/05/2013 17:34:49

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Well done Chris, you'll soon get to grips with the WT.

I am surprised the plane went behind you on launching as a 12 - 16mph wind is nothing for a WT. Did you give it a test glide or 2 on the flat to check the trim?

I built mine as per the instructions and I had to add a little weight to the nose just to bring the CofG to where it was marked on the instructions. This was my 2nd foamie and its maiden was off the Wrecker at the Bwlch, an almost shear 500' cliff, so it was quite daunting lobbing it off there for the first time, but I needn't have worried, it just flew out straight and true.

Two years later and it's still going strong, its just looking a little tatty now so I shall be giving it some TLC very soon. I just need to come up with a striking colour scheme and may just cover it in a Solartex type covering. I'd be interested to hear what other WT fliers think about that one.

As for your next model? Well you said you don't mind building so, check out **LINK** to see Stan Yeo's new kits which I'm sure won't disappoint. I'm looking at getting the Carrera. 

Steve

A470Soaring.blogspot.com

Edited By Steve Houghton 1 on 06/05/2013 20:18:21

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I've got a Phase 6 and it's great. Mine's possibly a bit heavy though and needs a decent blow. I also have an old Middle Phase which goes really well although it's not as aerobatic, being without ailerons, but is still a pleasure to fly. If I had started with my Wild Thing and wanted to build something now I'd be very tempted by one of Stan Yeo's new laser cut kits available from Phoenix Model Products. They are updated traditional designs that seem to have a very good reputation.

John.

Ha! posted at the same time as Steve.

Edited By John Muir on 06/05/2013 20:21:21

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Hmm! Thanks for that Guys!
So next time out maybe I'll remove that weight a chunk at a time cos the CoG is WELL forward @ the moment & see how it goes!
Thanks for the info on Stan Yeo's kits John & Steve, it seems the Main difference in the kits toward the bottom of the list is the tail types, which bring on a whole new raft of questions!

Hmm! I can feel a new thread coming on!

Got to work now!

Cheers! CB.
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Couldn't resist the opportunity to get my 'Thing out again today!smile p

Conditions were Slightly more "sporting" with a steady 30-35mph gusting to 45!

FANTASTIC FUN!!!!

However, I noticed in a few of my more energetic manouvers that the wings started to flutter quite violently! I didn't think I was 'pushing the envelope' that hard!

Now I noticed even before the maiden that the crossweave tape had started to unstick from the foam underneath the packing tape and I can't seem to get it to stay stuck, is this likely to be the cause of the issue?

Do I need to strip it all off & recover ensuring better adhesion at each stage(possibly with 2 layers of crossweave as I now understand extra weight is Not a problem)

Or do I just need to not be quite such a hooligan & be a bit more gentle with my thumbs?smiley

CB

 

Edited By chris basson on 11/05/2013 18:58:30

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The tape should not be coming off, and be sure you havent broken the spar earlier. If you can launch 'em, the WTs will handle far more aggro than that - Ive flown mine in 80 MPH and the wings never flex.

Not sure why your tape is peeling - assuming its the genuine stuff that AH sells - its top quality tape, just be sure the surface its sticking too is really clean, and it should not need spray glue or anything.

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