Erfolg Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 You guys seem to have better weather than we up north endure. All of the local golf courses are closed, totally water logged, that is excepting Royal Lytham. Yet even here, the primeval mechanical clank of the aerating machine could be heard, drawing my attention to its WW1 secret machine type appearance, as it slowly moved around each putting green. There has been nothing but continuous rain here today, yet more is expected tomorrow and probably the next day. I can hear my neighbour battering nails into wood, could it be, surly not, an Ark? One of the problems we will have is that when the rain stops, the field will be water logged for many weeks. The grass already long, together with the wet, will be a real issue for my type of small model to take off from. There will be no chance to cut the grass for probably months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Not a hope in hell this past couple of weeks. We’ve had so much rain the walls in Bodmin can’t take any more..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Quack, tis grim oop norf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glyn44 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Nope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 I had not been expecting a flying day after being conditioned to what seems like a month of high wind and heavy rain. Today however started with sunshine and clear skies so I got everything charged up and arranged to meet a flying buddy at the field at 1300. The wind was forecast as 7 gusting 14 and no rain until the early hours of Friday. thought the field might be on the deep side and it turned out to be almost waterlogged. Our two cars will probably be the last till it dries up. However the strip itself while squishy was just above water and my Riot XL made little of it and I was soon having fun in the sun with absolutely no wind in evidence. Thirty minutes later and the wind and gust arrived such that we packed in after 2 more flights. It felt good to be in the air again, who knows when the next flight will be. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Hand launch or flying boats then . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 only flown once since July, the worse weather I can imagine. Our field will be under water and only accessable by 4x4 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Ou flying field is on a slope near the top of a hill.Even after rain all saturday night the path across is only a little muddy. The car park gets a little slippery under the grass. but not the slightest bit boggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Posted by aidan mcatamney on 30/09/2018 12:39:22: ...and that's a really nice B17 Aidan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 I went flying this afternoon. The temperature was 9C and there was little wind and the early autumn colours of central France had produced a pleasing sfumato effect. For the next week the forecast suggests wind and rain which will put the mockers on any attempt to fly. So it was on with the fleece and orange miners' overalls and load some models into the van. Among the models was "La Rosse d'Hiver." This is the nearest I can get to a "Winter Hack" in French. Literally it means, "The Nag of the Winter." My Winter Hack is actually a WOT 4 Mark 3 powered by a Thunder Tiger 54 and covered in film off-cuts. Because the WOT 4 was intended for a 40 two-stroke the model has always been a little nose-heavy so I've added a wheel balancing weight to the tailplane to see what effect it would have. It actually had very little effect so I'll have to rig the model up accurately on my c of g jig and add more weight until the desired balance point is reached. Having had one brief test flight I landed the model, got my foamie trainer out practised landing approaches with it. While I was doing this I was aware of the call of those harbingers of winter in these parts, the Common Crane, on their annual migration south. Apparently they fly from Scandanavia and Russia and spend the winter in North Africa or Southern Spain. Lucky birds! I landed and watched them fly by. The first flock must have had a thousand birds in it. Behind it smaller numbers were striving to catch up with the leading group. When they caught up with the flock they merged with it increasing the length of the line, each bird benefitting from the bird in front and helping the bird behind penetrate the air. If only humans were so co-operative. One group broke away from the main group by appearing to slow down. In fact they had detected a current of rising air, they ascended with it and after a few minutes they were not only higher than the leading group they were in front of it. Right at the front the leading bird had the hardest task for there was no bird ahead of him or her to penetrate the air but after several minutes another bird would take over. I stood in admiration as sixteen flocks flew by. Some had only about fifty birds in them but the larger flocks... well, some of them must have contained thousands. It's a shame that I did not have my camera with me but here's a picture that I took in 2016 of the cranes in their annual migation. None of my clubmates turned up so I went home, lit the woodburner and settled down to coffee and cake. Incidentally this is a picture of the WOT 4, he's also called "Joseph" because of his coat of many colours! Oh well suit yourselves... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 David, did you work on the Cyclotron at Rev Dodgsons place. Looks like all the leafs have fallen of the bushes or trees. I tend to avoid fancy dress when I go flying, just in case any one thinks I need referring for medical treatment. Standing alone in a field, staring at the sky seems bizarre enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Posted by Erfolg on 08/11/2019 20:52:29: David, did you work on the Cyclotron at Rev Dodgsons place. Looks like all the leafs have fallen of the bushes or trees. I tend to avoid fancy dress when I go flying, just in case any one thinks I need referring for medical treatment. Standing alone in a field, staring at the sky seems bizarre enough. No Erfolg, I uset to work as a youth and community worker and later an adult careers adviser. I also worked as a painter and decorator when there was nothing more remunerative to be had. I doubt that my Physics and Maths O Levels would have qualified me to work in any scientific capacity. I even had to google "cyclotron" to find out what it was and "Rev Dodgson," wasn't he Lewis Carroll? He was a mathematician of some standing in his day but he died in 1898 and the cyclotron was not invented, according to Wikipedia, until 1929 so I don't get the connection. Secondly, I took that picture of cranes in 2016 as I said in the last sentence of my post. There are still plenty of leaves on the trees here though they are starting to change colour now. As for the orange overalls, my clubmates used to tease me about being an escapee from Guantanamo but I replied that I wear them to keep warm, that they're of excellent quality, that they were very cheap to buy because of their colour and that they're also fire resistant so that if ever we were caught in a fire I would be able to walk out of it and they'll all be dead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 The cyclotron (in this case known as the NSF) was or is on site at Daresbury, where Charles Dodgson lived in his youth. The rabbit hole is reported to be the remains of the quarry from where the stone for the church were obtained. The church now has Alice and Wonderland, rabbit stained glass windows. The actual house (vicarage) has been demolished, although the foundations are still visible. All of this was true when I worked there, then in the middle of nowhere with a certain David Davis. There is a ridge that I tried slope soaring from a good few years later, when it became a junction of the now built M56, with lots of new build office accommodation. Here the weather is now bitterly cold with a very strong southerly wind, how I envy those of you with some warmth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Flying very curtailed the last few weeks (even months?). My hands, particularly the right, don't take kindly to the cold despite numerous efforts with a variety of gloves and attempts at heating arrangements, so I call it a day when the temperature is in single figures. Funny really, as for many years I was a passionate motorcyclist and my only concession to winter was to fit a sidecar, handlebar muffs and ride on regardless. I even used to compete regularly in the MCC (Motor Cycling Club - oldest motor sport club in the world) Exeter Trial in early January which involved a couple of hundred miles riding, mostly through the night, and a few rough hills. Anyway, as anyone watching my Sopwith Pup build log can testify, I haven't abandoned toy aeroplanes altogether and progress has been, for me, rapid and even successful! So I spend my time here, in the workshop, with occasional flurries on the forum as I wait for glue to set or my mind to settle Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Geoff I really sympathies with your hand issue. Riding my push bike this morning (getting my newspaper), on the return journey, into the wind, my hands were so cold that it was painful. I was thinking what can I do to keep one hand warm, and so on. The cold decided me that it is time to stay at home, no flying today, time to sit by the PC, perhaps do some building, may be get on the flight simulator. Certainly I will not be going out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxfan Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Being noo, what does one do about batteries? I have 2 x700mAh Lipos and 2200 3s and a brand new set of Eneloops for the Rx. Not to mention dry cells in one Spektrum and a LiFe battery in the other. No idea what to do. I'd fly, but can't make the long walk down the muddy track carrying aircraft, TX case and flight box! Too far, iffy leg. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 In the past I found that my Lipos would preferentially die in the winter. They seem to prefer to hibernate in the coldest weather. When I fly in the winter now, I make sure that I keep the Lipos warm, or perhaps better described as not cold. On that basis I take very few with me to the flying field. I try and fly as immediately as is possible, to prevent them getting cold, drawing current seems to keep the temperature up. After flying straight back into the car, with them. If I think the car is becoming cold, I go straight home, relying on the heater to get us all warm. Some people that I know put a microwaved hand heater in the storage box. It will be interesting as to how electric car batteries stand up to long winter periods of freezing weather. I am now wondering is this part of my list of excuses as to why I fly less often in winter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Hammond Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Hi Foxfan, have you thought of motorised golf trolley ,they even have some that are radio controlled! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxfan Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Haha, I have enough trouble getting my aircraft and boxes in the car, much less a golf trolley! We need the local ME club to provide us with a raised electric railway from the lane to the flying field. AGM Tuesday, I'll suggest it! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxfan Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Erfolg, that seems like a lot of faff. My batteries are all in the indoors workshop which is heated as much as the other rooms. I was more wondering about so called storage voltages, etc. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 **LINK** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Foxfan, I keep my Lipos at house temperature. I seems that fully charged Lipos at house temperatures do not like the cold. They seem to like less being subjected to very cold temperatures. If you think I faff, golly, many see my treatment as reckless. I personally never bother with storage voltage, just try and keep the Lipos in store at the same temperature, what ever the season. I have just heard and seen the weather forecast, seems I am stuck indoors for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 I reckon that's it, our field is water logged, its raining every day, no chance of even driving on now. So doing more gym and fitness work, as at least you can run every day and do cardio/weights in any weather... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxfan Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 We seem to be lucky here. Our field's track is closed, but the field itself for them as wants a walk is fine. Today was chilly but sunny all day as is tomorrow forecast to be and a few more days too. The benefits of living in the East, driest part of Britain. Just nowhere to slope! We've had some overnight rain, but I've been outside spraying models daytime for several days M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Lovely flying conditions this morning but rain from lunchtime. Luckily I went this morning rather than my usual Saturday afternoon session but unluckily the club generator needed attention resulting in losing some flying time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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