Things to do on the slope

[Phil Cooke]

Bob,

As the event organiser I can assure you everyone involved in the bomb dropping activity will be briefed and that the event will be run in a safe and considered manner, a safe distance away from the main flying area on the slope, the car park and the pits area.

ANO Article 166 states;

'A person shall not cause or permit any article to be dropped from a small unmanned aircraft so as to endanger persons or property'

As Andy explained in his opening post, the event will be adequately marshalled with spotters to ensure the safety of both those taking part and any spectators or walkers who may be present at the time.

The events this year are proposed for the Great Orme, the Bwlch and on the Lleyn peninsula - all extremely remote flying sites, so the risk of breeching any safety rules with the marshalls in place and the participants briefed prior to the exercise will be fully mitigated in my opinion.

This is a Fly for Fun event, nothing more. Common sense will help us keep it that way.

[Tim Mackey]

Posted by Andy Meade on 25/03/2016 09:15:25:
Yes. It mustn't be thermonuclear :D

[Peter Garsden]

Only just seen this - wondered why Time Mackey was wittering about bombs at the Orme on Friday. Will have to give it some thought.

[Andy Meade]

Gents - anyone who bought the Quanum bomb release, might want to check the innards. Both of mine, upon testing a few releases, lost its ability to drop the bomb. The horn on the servo is basically done up half a turn on the servo - not good at all. It rises up then stops actuating the release latch. I'd also suggest removing the corner off the horn, as on release it will sit there and bind, as everything mechanically locks up.

You can also see the spring has moved off its mount! OK so a few things to sort on these, but they are still cheap and come with 500lb'ers

[Tim Mackey]

Andy, you beat me to it !!

Tried the system yesterday, and EXACTLY the same issues - even before it left the hangar.

I replaced the spring with a better one and tightened and adjusted the servo arm ( didnt smooth the corner yet ).

At the bombing range, a "friend" clipped the bomb on before I had hit the release toggle, and although it seemed fine, it would NOT then release. A few frustrating fiddles and I gave up on the crummy thing.

Ive now got it removed from the model AGAIN and will delve inside and look again. Have to say, I may end up fitting an entirely different internal release system with extended hooks that will sit almost flush with the belly of the Vulcan as I also fear that the original clips ( which due to the mounting pod protrude a lot from the belly ) will not be at all happy being slid along the ground one little bit. yes they are cheap, but they are also rubbish ;-(

[Tim Mackey]

Posted by Peter Garsden on 27/03/2016 22:21:41:

Only just seen this - wondered why Time Mackey was wittering about bombs at the Orme on Friday. Will have to give it some thought.

Tardis Tim

[Phil Cooke]

I did a number of trials on my pair before I glued them onto the Sea Fury and one of the two failed in this way after only half a dozen releases... like you both I've opened it up and tightened the servo horn. The spring works fine when in position but is a bit of a fiddle... I made sure it was fully engaged before closing the two halves of the housing back together. Its well trapped then.

Like an idiot I've only repaired the one that stopped working, so the other one is likely to fail I guess and now its glued to the airframe it will be a pain to fix.... should it need it.

[Mark Kettle 1]

Was thinking of using a servo arm as a simple bomb release mechanism.

The swing on the servo arm to move out of the way of slots in tabs.

The servo is up against the tabs in the wing.

To stop bomb swing I'll make the tab on the bomb long enough to shoulder up to the wing and between the wing tabs, I'll have to make sure the arc of servo arm moves across the three tabs slots. What does everyone think?

Edited By Mark Kettle 1 on 03/04/2016 19:29:37

[Steve Houghton 1]

I'm so glad I used my existing servo release mechanism instead of the supplied units

This is how my system works Mark. A centrally mounted servo with a double arm and a snake attached to each arm which fits along the length of the wing. There is then a slot in the wing for the bomb release bracket plate to fit into. This plate has a hole which the snake slides through. In the closed position the snake retains the bomb. When the servo is activated to open, the snake pulls free of the plate and the bombs drop.

[Mark Kettle 1]

Thanks for that Steve, keeping it simple helps with reliability.

[Andy Meade]

Because Phil was concerned that we needed some regulations for this fun event, I have drawn up some notes for everyone to take note of please.A

Bombing and practice sessions

At each meet, there will be a bombing session if the lift is deemed good enough for all to take part. There will be an early practice session where no scores are taken, and a competition session, where they are. If the lift or day is rapidly deteriorating, the sessions may be combined into one flying slot. If the Sunday for the event is deemed the better day, then the competition may be held then instead.

On each day (and maybe even each session), the chief marshal of bombing events (Phil) will decide on whether we should be fling left or right hand circuits to the bombing area.  This MUST be adhered to, as we need to ensure other flying traffic is safe too.

Scoring

You can drop as many bombs as you want in a run, but only one bomb will count towards your points. This is the pilot's choice as to which he chooses to use.

To start off with, a 5m diameter circle will be used as the target. A bomb in this circle is worth 1 point. A bomb within a second inner circle (dia 1m) will award the pilot 3 points.

If your bomb pops apart, the closest part to the centre will be the scoring item. If the bomb lands in the circle then lands out, there is no score, but it still counts as one of your runs.

Bomb runs

The pilot must call out to the spotters that he is entering the circuit to bomb. During the bombing session, a pilot may make two runs. Points are accumulated for these two runs. The pilot in charge of bombing must stand 25 metres away from the circle, preferably near the slope edge. This pilot box area will be pointed out by the marshals on the day.

Missing events

If you want to take part in the competition, don't miss any events. All points are accumulated and the winner will be presented with a trophy in October.

H&S

No filler is to be used in the bombs. Just drop empty bomb casings please gents.

Spotters will ensure the safety of the flight-line and passers-by in case we have a lot of foot traffic. Please always listen to the spotters in case of problems. Not all slopes and wind directions will be suitable for bombing, so please understand if the competition is called off for these reasons.

 

I hope this covers everything. Any questions, please ask. There will be a briefing on the day to ensure local slope rules are taken in by the pilots, so ask any questions then as well.

See you on the slopes.

Edited By Andy Meade on 11/04/2016 18:52:16

[Mark Kettle 1]

Nice I like it Andy.

[Harry Twist]

Good stuff Andy.

Clear and sensible.

[Phil Cooke]

Yeah thanks for pulling this together Andy, will be a big help at the event(s) having some basic format to adhere to. Bombs Away!!

[Tim Mackey]

Good stuff.

If there are two runs in each session and each run potentially accumulates a hit /score, then this gives an unfair advantage over those models that can only be fitted with one bomb?

[Mark Kettle 1]

Make it a big one !

[Phil Cooke]

Yes, indeed, although only the 'best' positioned bomb will be scored each pass. As its a comp running throughout the season we might see modellers fitting more and more bombs on a model - perhaps even BUILDING a model specifically for carpet bombing capability for the last events of the year... hehe

One's all you need Timbo if you put your model in the right part of the sky and press the button at the right time

[Andy Meade]

Did I mention the B24 can carry 8 SLEC bombs? The A10 could carry 12 of the quanum ones

[Steve Houghton 1]

And I guess the height at which you drop the bomb will have a significant difference to the accuracy. Keep it low is what I say, although too low and I guess there is a possibility of it bouncing out of the target area.

[Andy Meade]

That's why only bomb parts in the circle count - good luck if you go for the low pass - you will impart a lot of forward momentum to the bomb

Personally, the BUFF has crow brakes, so I will park her over the circle then hit release Phil says he is lobbing them in from 200 yards away, which is quite manly of him.

[Steve Houghton 1]

But if you drop from to high, the wind could blow the bombs backwards.

[Andy Meade]

And that's why its a fun thing to try on the slope Lot's of things for us pilots to juggle. Dave Gilder is creating an FPV bomb sight (or site) with a laser pointer too.

 

Or if he isn't, he should

Edited By Andy Meade on 12/04/2016 11:52:25

[Phil Cooke]

This is the way

**LINK**

[Andy Meade]

I think you should get an extra point for getting in the circle after that delivery!

Almost the right colour scheme too : 

Edited By Andy Meade on 12/04/2016 13:01:53

[Chris Barlow]

I'm going to build a PSS V1 and just land in the circle!