Brrrrrr, winter's here, how much flying are you getting in?

[Stevo]

Nothing doing here in Dartford. Waterlogged patch and gales - almost non stop rain for two days.

[Paul Travis]

The only flying I'll be doing is if I step out of the door with this wind, I'll be in the sky.

so nothing for a few months now

[Handyman]

Same story here. I haven't been able to get any flying in since the back end of October when this weather pattern began to form. Although there have been a couple of flying opportunities with fairly decent weather and wind strength, they have always been when "Er Indoors" wanted to go and visit relatives or we have had unannounced and unexpected guests, but even so, our field is still waterlogged and access with motor vehicles is just impossible

I have been champing at the bit ever since, but on the bright side, I have managed to get some repairs done that were on the back burner and have almost completed a "Big Stik" for when the weather improves, (round about May time, so the weather forecasters say) Oh dear, have to get my fix on my Phoenix flight sim.

Tony B.

[Devcon1]

Erfolg,

Funnily enough, or not, I had a tour of the Met Office at Exeter last week and we couldn't visit the solar panel array on the roof of the building because of the high winds and rain.

In terms of flying.

In the tomes of the great James Alexander Gordon......

Flying Nil : Building One

Regards

John

[John Privett]

I guess I'm about 15 or 20 miles SW of Stevo in Dartford and last weekend was a complete non-event for flying. Wet and windy, windy and wet... Did I mention the wind and rain?

I almost thought about venturing out onto the slope at Colley Hill in a couple of the drier moments, but sanity prevailed as the wind blew in more rain.

I last flew on 2nd Feb, and it wasn't a bad day, as I mentioned a few posts above. This weekend looks like a possible "maybe". Saturday is looking a bit breezy, and in not quite the right direction for Colley Hill, Sunday might be ok with a bit of luck...

[ken anderson.]

horrible up here ...... sympathy for anyone involved in the carry on down the south end with the weather........awful scene's on the news channel's.....of the damage to homes etc..

ken Anderson ne...1 ........ winter weather dept.

[John Privett]

Posted by John Milne on 12/02/2014 19:33:34:

Funnily enough, or not, I had a tour of the Met Office at Exeter last week and we couldn't visit the solar panel array on the roof of the building because of the high winds and rain.

The Exeter Met Office appears at about 2:20 in the video on this news report with flagpoles behaving as if they're made of 1/16" balsa strip!

[Rich too]

Posted by David Ashby - RCME on 02/02/2014 19:25:04:

The rain has meant the river at the bottom of the patch has burst its banks again so the floats came out again today. Andy had floats on his H9 Super Cub for the first time.

His old house was burnt to the ground a few years ago and he lost all his models in the process but the floats were the only model flying items to survive. It was the first time they'd seen use.

It was a pussy cat to fly and, he reported, more stable with floats.

I flew the PZ Icon of course. It's not particularly exciting in the air but great fun just to skid across the water.

Adam flew his Acromaster with FunCub floats.

Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 02/02/2014 19:31:32

Excllent, something I would love to try.

No flying for me at all this year so far (nr Brands), and my son's Sunday football has been cancelled every weekend !!!

[Dave Bran]

Posted by David Ashby - RCME on 02/02/2014 19:25:04:

I flew the PZ Icon of course. It's not particularly exciting in the air but great fun just to skid across the water.

A club member had one, no water nearby then to see it on, but suitably "tuned", it managed quite a decent 3D repertoire including a passable prop hang.......and it looked hilarious inverted tail dragging the strip.......................you just ain't tryin..................

[Bill_B]

Had an excellent day up the slope today, 17 MPH wind, bright sunshine, the odd weak thermal and clear skies.

What more could a glider guider ask for in the middle of February!

[will -0]

Lovely day at the club today only marred by me planting my plane nose down in the mud after spinning it down from a great hight (counted 30 turns before trying to recover, but it didn't respond boo). Suspect a low battery may have been to blame, happily the damage is light - didn't even break the prop, just left it stood up there, tail in the air.

Boo

Still, it didn't rain.

[Shaunie]

Managed two flights with the Wot4 Foam-e and one with the micro stryker at the Caterham club field, sky was nice but the field was like walking on porridge!

Shaunie.

[GrumpyGnome]

Blooming windy all day Saturday; blooming windy Sunday until about 4 then the wind just magically disappeared ! Couple of flights of my Uberlites out of the front garden, and a couple on the Cypher 3D .......... yay !

GG

[Jack Banner]

Had an entertaining day yesterday. 3 flights with my boomerang 2 trainer, touch and go's along the strip with a steady 10mph crosswind. Managed to finally destroy my Vortex 400 EDF, but it has never flown well. Only thing I could salvage was the servo's! Also managed to put my hobbyking me-109 funfighter into the ground during low level manoeuvres, but that will fly again. In my defence I was being severely harassed by an entire squadron of spitfires at the time. Well, in my head anyway...

Edited By Jack Banner on 17/02/2014 08:34:08

[Terry Walters]

Finally had a fairly calm, mild and overcast day. I've been flying!

Bit rusty so took the trusty Boomer(IC) to blow the cobwebs out, My DB 58" Tiger Moth (electric) and my cheeky Phoenix Rainbow which I converted to IC last year.

Boomer was just what I needed to start off with and get the thumbs twiddling.

The TM has had a bit of work over the last week to sort out the 'funny noise' coming from the motor - turned out to be timing issue and also, with a bit of creative rigging cleaned up a warp in the lower port wing. A bit of trimming on site and a nicely behaved old Tiggie resulted. Two flights of 8 mins apiece crammed with take-offs and landings plus a few TM type aeros (well you have too - don't you!) A couple of the landings ended up on the nose but the majority were good. The last landing run out drifted off to the side and into the rough. One day I will replace the tail skid with a tail wheel! Anyway over she went and popped one of the cabane mounting points - all nice and clean so 10 min job.

The Rainbow which has a very sporty OS 26FS was the queen of the afternoon. In the calm conditions - relaxation personified! Two flights of over 10 mins each and about a 1/4 of a tank left each time! Howzat?

Came back smelling of Glow Fuel and slightly oily hands - Terry is happy!

Terry

[Stephen Grigg]

Sunday was a perfect day here and the only soft area was the pitts so we kept on the other side of the field.Where we were was a sun trap so it was actually warm and soon had our coats off.Had some excellant flying and a thoroughly enjoyable day

[John Privett]

Coats off, Stephen? Heck, that's taking things a bit far for February!

I must admit that Sunday was a nice day here too. Fairly gentle breeze, even if it was slightly in the "wrong" direction and a bit of sunshine - though the coats (and hats and gloves) stayed on!

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

flying tomorrow

got crocus flowering in garden and daffs in bud, cheers me up no end

been very mild today no rain, hope it lasts

[Erfolg]

My flying always starts in principle when I get up. Yesterday morning it started when raising the blinds, looking out, I could see that my wind sensor tree, was stationary. A Gale has it bending parallel to the ground. This strongly indicates zilch wind. There was no rain, grey sky.

Just like working folk, I have numerous tasks to do before I can go out to play. All so different from what was promised, that 10 years after retirement, you will not be expected to do any building or repair work, in fact it is banned. By lunchtime I had rushed round, after doing a whole lot of jobs that I no longer did. Grabbed a sandwich, loaded the car and set out to the field.

The lane to our field has really deteriorated, now not having ordinary pot holes, some are now rumoured to be bottomless, having more in common with the Somme than a lane. When I did arrive at the field, I was somewhat surprised to find many others were already parked up.

I took two models up to the patch, my electric and the club IC DB Mascot, somewhere in its life becoming a clipped wing version, having a 54" span.

My first take of, was a initially laboured affair, as the model rocketed across the field, being bucked about by the uneven surface and wet grass. When it finally leaped into the air, it did indeed leap, needing a lot of down, before climbing out gradually. Flying was unusually pleasant, no significant or gusting wind to fight, no low in the sky sun (apparently it has gone somewhere else at the moment). Landing was in most respects a none event, other than a slightly cross wind landing being required. Upon touch down the model rolled all of 2 feet then somersaulted. No damage done.

The second flight was with IC model. Take of being less of an event, the model just unsticking, with no change in attitude. The big difference with this model is flight duration, double the air time. Then there is the issue of handling, it is different, being less responsive to aileron, lacking some positive feel, yet the elevator, is also less predictive, being more speed sensitive. Yet in wind, it definitely just ploughs on, less bothered by wind, particularly gusts. The landing yet again a non event, as this model auto lands, then rolls out, making you look much better than you deserve.

It did strike me how different IC/Electric Power modellers are compared to gilder flyers. In general glider flyers are so very sensitive to wind changes, a degree or two is sensed straight away. Also any change in air temp and wind shift is analysed as potential thermal activity, either filling or gone. The biggest difference is probably how the environment is perceived, are those Gulls forming, where is the Buzzard I can hear, are the swallows flying high or low and so on. What is so different to my glider mind set, is going down wind is done with caution, have I enough height to get back, as coming back I will at best be going through static air, at worst sink. Power flyers look at you as you are stupid (as no doubt I am), your motor will bring you back, the momentum will get you back if the power fails.

Anyway it was a good afternoon, for all, I went home, excusing myself as the air temperature dropped. Negotiated the pot holes spying some cave divers appearing from some of the bigger lakes

[Erfolg]

When I came back home on Wednesday, I found a message on the answer phone, asking where I was, as I had not been seen at club No1 flying field for some time. I thought, well i had not been there for so long I could not remember when. Then I thought, Friday is the best time, there could be others there.

Looking out of the house today, the weather did not look half bad, that is compared to the last, oh my goodness, 2 or 3 months?

Loaded the car with my trusty Sagitta and set of, I had not travelled far when I encountered a sudden shower. Being a intrepid modeller I pressed on to the field, only to find that as I feared, the other members are wimps! I was surprised however how much the lanes to the field had even further declined during the last winter, or from I last went. For such well travelled roads, there were some large, prominent pot holes. Even more surprising was that part of the Hawthorn hedge that surrounds the field appears to have been torn down. I am sure that this is not intentional, as the land is owned by the National Trust.Probably lampers again.

Assembling my model took more time than I liked, as the wind tugged at my hat, wings and generally made life uncomfortable. In the field I measured the wind speed, it ranged from 9-15mph, with a max at 20mph. To be honest I was rather worried, as I had not flown a glider for some time, particularly in the breeze. Anyway, as you would expect, the model just climbed out vertically, with no issues, just needing a lot of leaning on the down, to stop going over the top to inverted.

The flying itself being a non event, although essentially pointing into wind, just traversing, in a ferry glide type manoeuvre, to where better air was perceived, or may be from areas of poorer air. It is in conditions like this I realise I should use more of the features of the TX. I constantly leaned on the stick, so that I did not have to adjust the trim from the best glide. I need to have a second fast glide trim set via the Tx options. As it was I found from time to time that the large figures of the timer were replaced with menu options. The first time filled me with fear, what is going on. A quick dab of the return button had the Timer back. At one point a large flock of Gulls went through going downwind, indicating the best air about.

After some +10 minutes, I decided to land. My hands had turned to blocks of ice, the wind speed had increased markedly. Now it is some time that I have landed in that sort of weather. Could I do it? A half circuit down wind had me some 100m from me. The model sat there, going nowhere, other than slowly down. Time to lean on the stick yet more and move forwards. As the model approached, I was tempted to land at my feet, glider style, in the end I went for IC type landing some 20 feet from me to the side. Well, that went remarkably well I thought. I must check the air speed. By the time I had unplugged the Lipo, switched of the Tx, got out the anemometer, the wind speed was at the breath taking 7-12 mph. most disappointing. However after a few minutes the wind picked up again, now fluctuating fro +15 mph to maxing out at 26 mph.

Getting back to the car was a task in itself, the wind tugging at the model. Getting the wings apart were an adventure, as the wind tried to rip them from my tenuous grasp. The good news, was the wing bags inflated like a wind sock, making placing them inside really easy.

On reflection, this field is special, the wide open vista, the hazard free flying, seeing more wild life than I ever see on the EA managed flying field. In summer there is nothing to compare, hares, buzzards, lapwings and many other birds, which \I have not got a clue what they are. The downside is the farmers will have the cows out on the pastures, once winter has gone.

[Nev]

The simple answer is no but I did get a little play with this at the weekend.

A bit windier than I would have liked but good fun.

[Ian Jones]

16/02/2014 The Gate, Staffs Moorlands

I arrived at 1.30pm and I was surprised by the number of cars present though I Iater found out some had already left as the wind had started to weaken. Anyway I found a recently vacated space in the line of cars, nipped through the gate and there I was in the pits. Not much of walk that and though there's marsh land around the flying site the pits and flight line were surprisingly firm underfoot.

 

SAS Fusion

Having noticed the wind speed dropping on the weather forecasts and being told I'd missed the best of the wind I quickly gave the SAS Fusion a heave out and off it went at the first attempt. I was quite pleased with that. Last time I'd flown it was about a month ago but that was into a turbulent 32/48mph wind - took several efforts to launch in entirely different conditions, prior to that it's months since I've flown a model of any description let alone chucked one of a hillside. The lift was still fairly good and I enjoyed about 15 minutes worth of experimenting with it to see how well it would hold up in loops, rolls & inverted and it was okay. So, having had my settling in flight I went back to the pits for a butty & coffee and was approached by Keith Rathbone (L&MMGA Membership Secretary) and welcomed to the club as this was the first time we'd actually met. That was nice, being newish in a club can be a bit isolating and it's good to have a welcome and a friendly handshake. A quick hello to a few others and another good flight was embarked on. The third flight was okay but the lift had decayed somewhat and it took a couple of launches to actually get airborne and at times it was quite obvious that the fusion was not getting as much lift as before. Further evidence of the decaying lift was that the vast majority of flyers were packing up. I checked the wind speed on my mobile phone anemometer (not wholly accurate but okay for what I currently need) and that showed the wind mostly between 6 and 15mph with a very occasional gust to 23mph, not really enough for my Fusion. With most people having departed that left me free to have another flight preceded by a lot of practice at launching and landing , however I did catch one of those stronger gusts and once a little altitude had been gained I was able to stay up for about ten minutes at which point I thought I'd try a lowish pass or two then rise on the same patch of lift. It worked twice, the third time was converted into a landing - the usable lift for me had gone.

 

Not today for the Secret Weapon

 

I had taken my Sail Planes International Secret Weapon sport glider with me too but neither I nor the decaying lift seemed to be in the best form to venture out with that.

That's about it. A very worthwhile trip out of about 25 miles each way, some good flying, lots of much needed practice and neither my boots nor the car was covered in mud. That's thing with this type of sloping, setting up, flying and packing up is the quickest and easiest possible, no messing about fitting batteries or starting engines, refitting fresh batteries or refuelling. Just get the model out of the car (check the battery of course) chuck it and fly as long as I like all day on the fitted NiMh pack. Then at home time chuck it in the back of car and the job's done.

Part 1/2

Edited By Ian Jones on 24/02/2014 16:48:17

[Ian Jones]

Part 2/2

22/02/2014 The Pool, Staffs Moorlands

A good blowy though slightly milder day but all the same standing exposed to the wind made it feel pretty cold. That's the nice thing about this site, the pits is in a hollow behind a bank which is so sheltered from the wind even wing bags don't get blown around. Nip up the bank for launch and landing and in the mean time carefully step down the bank to fly and shelter from the blow. Great, but don't fly too low or it's a search party job.

Actually some of the time I was able to have the sky to myself so I stayed on top of the bank to get in much needed practice. If anything I seemed to need it more than ever with what seemed like a very twitchy model on launch even with the lowest rate setting. It was only in conversation when packing up that it became apparent that my nose balance weights were missing . I'd put them there as a temporary measure months ago, liked the effect and planned to do the job properly at a later date... in the mean time forgot all about it and didn't notice the absence in my preflight check. Huh no wonder it was twitchy !

Anyway it had been another good day with lots of practice at flying a tail heavy wing in a strong wind, next time can only be better .

Ian

Edited By Ian Jones on 24/02/2014 16:50:27

Edited By Ian Jones on 24/02/2014 16:53:03

[Erfolg]

Nice to have a few slope experiences.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

been a nice week in Doncaster

garden full of daffs and crocus, ground dried out a lot, fields in good nick

forecast for Saturday is good, looks like a Pushy Cat test fly