extra slim Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 3 hours ago, Tom Gaskin 1 said: Wind-chill down to minus five didn't deter the SRFC Hanky-Panky formation dancing team this morning. Lovely and sunny but oh-so cold!! Tom And a fine assembly of Latin sequinned hipsters that is. Wooly hats and Cuban heels. Love it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I managed to get down to the patch this morning for the first time for a few weeks. As I am a bit ring-rusty I decided on flying my trusty GW Sbach 342 50cc electric. The conditions weren't ideal with it being dull and a 10 mph semi-crosswind, but beggars can't be choosers. The sun did try and show itself briefly but that was about it. Despite the conditions and a plane that can be a bit lively at times, I had a great time and it was good to blow the cobwebs away. PS. I must work a bit harder on the right roll as for some reason I get her to wobble a bit first session for a while. The left roll is perfect, however. . Cold fingers I imagine. 🥶 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I keep living in hope, our grass has not been cut in months, it cannot be a the field is absolutely sodden. Then there is the perennial issue, that it is always that bit winder here by the coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 This morning made the 4th time I've managed to get in 1/2 day's flying in January! That being said, the cloud base was low and marred by even lower clumps of cloud. I had wanted to check on the KE mix, it's no more than 1 to 3 clicks, and to sort out the KE loop mix so that I don't have to lean on the elevator or aileron stick to get a perfectly planar half loop. However, the cloud was sufficiently low to stop that little game but I did work out a tweak to two so that might have done it. The next thing was to work on the roll combination. That is 3 x 1/4 roll in the same direction. So a definite line between each element and then 3 x 1/4 rolls in the opposite direction. Between rolls in different directions the change of direction must be immediate - FAI Aerobatic rules. However, after the first flight, when I disappeared into cloud clumps occasionally, the cloud all seemed to get much lower so I sat for an hour waiting for an improvement. Eventually, one came and I got in 3 more flights before I ran out of time. Only 2 of the roll combinations were dead level with no variation in direction of travel so more practice needed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Going 'blind' again, the photos on the last two pages took ages to upload, so I gave up 'again', frisky here only 14°c so after 2 weeks of Helicopters my Saito 100 powered Seafire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futura57 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I had my first experience of slope soaring today. I was quite excited at the prospect when I set off. So many have told me how much I was missing. So, after driving for 45 minutes I arrived, at a scene best described as a polar bear in a snow storm. Others would call it pea soup, though I've never really understood that one. In the murk I did manage to climb a metal five bar gate affair and keep the crown jewels intact. Then I waded through mud and sheep poo for fifty yards to climax with the feel of the wind in my face rising up the south facing hill. Apparently the view is stupendous, when you can see your hand in front of your face. The whole experience end-to-end was thankfully over within a couple of hours. Time from my life clock I shall never get back, as well as a gallon and a half of petrol. Back home thumbing through the BMFA News surrounded by my three cats 😺😸😹 On the bright side those Hothands warmers secreted in my boots under my toes kept them nice and toasty. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 (edited) Lovely day today - though the car thermometer said 2 degrees C it didn't particularly feel cold - high overcast and an overall bright sky, but the sun never broke through. However there wasn't a breath of wind and that helped - not a bad turn out for a winter Monday morning, with half a dozen of us there. For some of us it was the first flights since before Christmas, such had been the state of the weather this year in the NE. My fifth outing in January, but I wasn't taking any chances with any of the long queue of models waiting for a maiden flight, so the old faithfuls were on parade. Super conditions, lots of blether but lots of flying too - 8 different models logged 14 flights and everyone else had at least 2-3 models each. The day wasn't marred by a couple of retract related mishaps - PZ Corsair twist and turn retract is playing up and leaving a leg dangling, which is a bit disconcerting and only got worse when it wouldn't function at all after retracting it to put the model back in the car. My larger Corsair also tore out a retract unit when I lost power - stretching out the flight to the limit (well beyond the limit) such that I lost power 10m short of the strip and landed in the rough, without time to put the wheels back up. Battery was down to 3.3v/cell when I checked it. A smear of epoxy on the retract mount and she'll be good as new- should have lopped a minute off the flight time to allow for the cold. Edited January 29 by leccyflyer 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Wall to wall rain here all day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDB Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 (edited) My local site has been waterlogged for a couple of months now making the strip unusable. 🥲 However slope soaring has been the answer to getting some airtime, Sunday another excellent day on the slopes and I got to fly a Wild Wing 60 picked up second hand which flew in the moderate to strong breeze very well and was a pleasure to fly. Edited January 29 by PDB 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Roger Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I've had this big plan for a while. We live next to a cracking West-facing ridge and I reckon it should be possible to fly along a 10 mile stretch of it with an RC glider. I've flown most sections of it before, but never continuously end to end. Last Friday looked really promising with a 15mph wind forecast, bang on slope, so I set off up the hill with high hopes... ...until I arrived at the top to be shaken by 30mph winds, gusting 45mph. Mmmm. What to do? Launch would be tricky, but once away from the slope, there should be masses of lift? Perfect for an attempt at the 10 miles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Roger Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) I should have known this was a bad plan when I was blown off my feet as I struggled to launch off the cliff edge, and I'm a heavy bloke. But I got it away in a lull between gusts and the glider went vertically up at a ridiculous rate. Edited January 30 by Jolly Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Roger Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Within a minute I had that "out-of-your-depth" feeling, with the glider disappearing upwards at an alarming rate. Even with brakes open it was still screaming higher and higher. I decided this was not a day for flying this model on this slope, so I had to get it down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Roger Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I walked way back from the slope edge to avoid the savage rotor generated by the cliff, but even so the 6kg glider was tossed around like a sock on spin cycle. I was more than a bit happy when it levelled out just before touchdown... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Roger Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I really enjoy having challenges in my modelling, but this one will have to wait for another day when it's a bit less breezy! 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futura57 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Sit in front of the fire with a large Brandy Roger. I'm glad it ended well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 1 hour ago, Jolly Roger said: I really enjoy having challenges in my modelling, but this one will have to wait for another day when it's a bit less breezy! 😉 As the old saying goes: "It's better to be down here wishing you were up there than being up there and wishing you were down here!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Roger Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 4 hours ago, Peter Jenkins said: As the old saying goes: "It's better to be down here wishing you were up there than being up there and wishing you were down here!" How true. It’s rare for a glider to have TOO MUCH lift! To be fair, it just needed a glider with more strength and more weight, and a pilot with more nerve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 3 hours ago, Jolly Roger said: How true. It’s rare for a glider to have TOO MUCH lift! To be fair, it just needed a glider with more strength and more weight, and a pilot with more nerve. Apart from that, perfect! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 13 hours ago, Jolly Roger said: It’s rare for a glider to have TOO MUCH lift! Tell that to my Filius it went up with it's Cox in around 1981, and it's still up there,,, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Slope side today. Nice to get out although very cold. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Roger Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 That’s a decent turnout for midweek 😇 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 The only times I've seen that many at our club were the BMFA record attempts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 11 hours ago, Jolly Roger said: That’s a decent turnout for midweek 😇 Yes I was surprised, not all oldies either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 A lovely day in Suffolk but sadly, I was the only one there this morning! Forgot to take a photo so you'll just have to image a blue sky and sun and about 10 mph at 40 degrees to the runway I was using. Got in a bit of cross wind landing practice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I had a lovely afternoon, just had second cataract done, had the usual ageist discussion with the dispensing optician, and after a comment you have better eyesite that me, got my very satisfactory new transition lens glasses. 15.5 °, I think there was a bit of wind here and there. Wall to wall sunshine. Good turnout. Rusty, flew an electric Tundra. 6 flights, 30 landings. Most satisfactory. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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