russ d Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Having a read of the latest poll "does your club allow lone flying" on the main forum got me thinking ? I probably fly by myself 97% of the time, I do not belong to any clubs, I am a country member of the bmfa for insurance, I only fly slope gliders, (definitely no electric !) I do fly at odd times early morning/late evenings sometimes but since I returned to sloping 6 years ago I have never met a single sloper on some of the purbeck sites, now the two you can drive & fly from get a few pilots, but its like the Mary Celeste sometimes ! even the paragliders at Kimmeridge seem to have become less in the last couple of years. or is my flying that bad ............................ russ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerOC Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Russ you are not alone. I am a member of a club with quite a few slope members. Usually send out a group email advising that I intend going to a slope. Often end up on my own. Remember that many people have committed time so they may not be able to join in. We are wind/weather dependent. Whilst forecasts can be quite accurate they are not always correct. The forecast for today looked really good yesterday but today its not quite the wind speed I need so won't bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Hi Russ. I too am not a club member and fly mainly slope, with a little flat field thrown in, and I'm a totally silent flier, no electric motors. South Wales is particularly blessed with amazing, 1000ft high, big air slopes, and yet you rarely see anyone other than the usual half dozen people on it. In fact, we see more foreign visitors at The Bwlch than we do locals. I also want to get more into flat field soaring and I have a 100m hi start bungee, so I need a field of at least 200m to be able to stretch it out, but I can't find one at all unless I join a power flying club. Then would they be happy with me stretching out my hi start? And what about landing? I only get one chance and no opportunity to go around again, so I can see there being a problem there when you have one or two heli's performing 3D directly over the strip. Been there, done that! Steve A470soaring.blogspot.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Plains Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Heh, no Russ, it's not just you. You're not alone in flying alone. I mostly fly alone, and that's because most of the old boys that also fly at Little Haldon seem to mostly have homes to go to (SWMB nagging probably) and never stay to see the sun setting. I absolutely love that time of day, mostly because I fly after work and don't enjoy mid-day sun, even if I do get flippin cold at times! Jeez, it's been way to hot for me recently! Yay! Keep on flying alone guys! Er.. Together! .. Er . . mostly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I agree Chuck or should I say Pete Gilbert I love that time of evening and put-put-putter around with some lovely sounding 4 stroke... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Bertram Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I belong to a club which is pretty active and you need an 'A' to fly without a guardian, (which I don't have as yet and is a bit of a pain), but I do spend a lot of time in France in an area which is very rural and there I do my own thing. It's great, just have to pick whichever field suits the conditions and go fly whenever I fancy with no restrictions. I fly mainly eGliders and have yet to see anyone else flying RC. The thing I miss when flying in France, (the nearest clubs are a fair distance), is the social aspect, banter and such like which only a close knit club or group of companions can give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Plains Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Posted by Stevo on 28/07/2014 15:52:04: I agree Chuck or should I say Pete Gilbert I love that time of evening and put-put-putter around with some lovely sounding 4 stroke... Heyy! You have a Proxxon! And, no people, it's not the reason he flies alone. It's a mini hobby lathe. Are you 'stevo' on the model-engineering site too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Thanks Chuck.. yes thats me!!I do have Proxxons but not a Proxxon lathe... I gave up on that pile of poop. It burnt out... even when I wasnt turning anything...Now Sieg C1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Harrison 2 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Posted by Bob Bertram on 28/07/2014 20:12:27: .... I do spend a lot of time in France in an area which is very rural...... The thing I miss when flying in France, (the nearest clubs are a fair distance), is the social aspect, banter and such like which only a close knit club or group of companions can give. Bob, I wonder what part of France? I'm starting to spend more time there, since my wife & I bought a house in Gard, Eastern foothills of the Cevennes, and although I'm a beginner with r/c I'm hoping to fly there as well as in Devon. There's a club quite close by, just S of Alès, and eventually I'll make contact there. rgds Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Posted by Bob Bertram on 28/07/2014 20:12:27: I do spend a lot of time in France in an area which is very rural and there I do my own thing. The thing I miss when flying in France, (the nearest clubs are a fair distance), is the social aspect, banter and such like which only a close knit club or group of companions can give. I'm in much the same position. It's very convenient being able to walk out of the back door onto the patch but I look forward to Terry Walters coming up for the day, as he did last week, or me spending a day at his site. The good news is there's a chap who flies RC building a house along the lane - I've been mowing his strip for him this summer... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaunie Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Of my two flying careers totaling about fourteen years I have been a club member for about three of them. I still fly alone more than 50% of the time as I can fly just outside my workshop which I usually do by going electric, just to keep up my stick time. I joined the Caterham and district club last year mainly to get access to a mown strip and to be able to chat to like minded people about model flying. I am glad I joined. Shaunie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Just got back from Went Hill about an hour ago, not a soul there but then its not really a recognised slope soaring site. I like early morning sorties and today at 9am it was 15-20 straight up the hill. Nice clean lift, had a couple of scraps with a hawk of some kind, the only downer is that since I was last there the farmer has run a barbed-wire fence across the top of the ridge, right alongside the public footpath. Slope landings were always preferred but are now essential. So yes - I'm a PANDAS, SSA and MMSA member but another lone flyer most of the time, slope or power. Cheers Phil Edited By Phil Green on 20/10/2014 11:22:06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I'm lucky to have such good flying mates, I really couldn't imagine flying regularly as a lone pilot. To me the fun comes in sharing flying experiences, either in the air or chatting over a coffee and bun over the field. Takes all sorts I suppose, but when on very rare occasions I've found myself alone on the field, the whole experience is diminished, even when flying a favourite model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Dont get me wrong, I prefer company and banter, but more often than not I find I'm the only one there! Wrong aftershave maybe? Edited By Phil Green on 20/10/2014 19:07:50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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