Matt Carlton Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 (edited) There are times when we take this hobby for granted. Times when it is deeply frustrating, aggravating or stressful. There are times when work, money, politics and everything else conspire to make everything difficult. Then there are beautiful, calm, summer evenings when the sun is just beginning to sink and the world turns golden. Your model is flying perfectly and as it flies past you at head height down the strip, the sun glinting off the covering, you just pause and think. "This is bloomin brilliant" And it is. Sometimes I think those of us who have been doing this for a while get a bit jaded. As much as I have always loved flying, tonight I felt that little bit closer to the 10yr old boy chasing models around the fields until his Father arrived with a stern face (and some trimming advice) before being marched home to fall asleep and dream of sunlight through tissue paper and the soft ppprrrrtttt of a rubber motor. Take some time to fall in love with the hobby all over again. Edited June 8, 2021 by Matt Carlton 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Had a day like that today, great bunch of old blokes, some lovely flying from a huge variety of models, warm, light winds, perfect. I personally inconvenienced the electrons in 15 battery packs and took home the same number of models in the same number of pieces that I arrived with. In my book that is a result. David 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Agreed, stayed while 9.30 pm today, all it lacked was someone going to the chippy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 It's great to hear those tales. Flying until the sunset on a calm summer evening is amongst my most cherished modelling memories, but it's many years since I've done that - I need to change that. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham R Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 My sentiments entirely. Had a great time at the field this evening glider flying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Brilliant day at the patch with 6 others. Lots of bants, lots of flying and lots of tea drinking. Perfect day with great friends. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 12 minutes ago, SIMON CRAGG said: Brilliant day at the patch with 6 others. Lots of bants, lots of flying and lots of tea drinking. Perfect day with great friends. You had tea ? Well that's just showing off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham R Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 For me I think that the banter is as enjoyable as the flying. Really missed it during the lockdown. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 10 hours ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said: You had tea ? Well that's just showing off. We were inveterate tea drinkers at Shropshire Model Flying Club. Now that I live in France it's beer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 A nice thread you've created here Matt, many thanks. The vast majority of my flying these days is Power Scale Slope soaring, something that's best achieved on coastal slopes which I have to plan and travel long distance to from my home in Derby as opposed to 'just nipping out' - and I think this additional complication only heightens the state of euphoric appreciation when everything does come together perfectly. The right weather and wind, with the right model on the right slope, with a great group of people equally enjoying the same moment in a common pursuit! It really doesn't get any better than that for me! Like you've stated - a wonderful hobby! 10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 (edited) Thanks Phil, and thankyou everyone for your responses. There is something quite special about 'belonging' to a community which seems quite important in these troubled and unpredictable times. Tea at the field seems like a wonderful idea, but it would have to be a flask for me, given the lack of facilities! It is too hot to go flying right now so I am watching youtube videos from past Cocklebarrow events, but everything is charging for this evening. I do miss slope soaring I have to say, and although there are plenty of cliff sites available, our coast here is rather unstable and gets a bit crowded. It is lovely to read all your experiences and feelings about what we do, so thank you again for all your contributions. Edited June 9, 2021 by Matt Carlton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Yes, wonderful. Just spent a beautiful 5 hours in the sun with gorgeous countryside and just various birds for company. I think I fly better than the Peewits but a very poor second to all the others.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 We get loads of Red Kites showing us how it should be done!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 On the Pembrokeshire coast there is a wide variety of birds to watch and agree the Peewits seem to do a lot of flapping for not a lot of progress. Things like Razorbills and Guillemots flap like the bejeebers but are at least motoring along. Gulls look to have fine proportions for aerobatics but do little, while members of the crow family like the Chough, Jackdaw and Rook are often seen doing aerobatics for fun. Even the mighty Gannet pulls a fine split S except for the fact they do not pull out at the bottom but plunge into the sea after their prey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham R Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Phil, What a great picture. It doesn't get better than that!!! The only time guys in our club go slope soaring is when it's cold and blowing a hooley. Your version looks much more enjoyable.!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Hells mouth by the look of, great s s site, national trust so "allowed", car parking close by and the slopes are "on" from various directions. Great site in winter too...sometimes you can taste the spray off the waves.... Who says you can't s s in windy weather, standing can sometimes be a problem ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Just a couple of buttercups in our field 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Last Sunday myself and clubmate, Rob, had the strip to ourselves for a couple of hours. The weather was blissful, the company excellent. We both flew diesel-powered vintage models. None were broken, and all performed beautifully. Rob had a single channel HalfTone (DC Merlin) and a Debutante (Mills .75), and I campaigned a 51" Zoomerang (ED MkII) and 50" Answer (Indian Mills 1.3) Tim 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 That Zoomerang is an interesting contraption. Looks a little later than the others maybe but has a sort of 'early airliner' look when open cockpits were the norm for the 'aerial chauffeur'. Looks like the perfect day for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 14 minutes ago, Matt Carlton said: That Zoomerang is an interesting contraption. It's a scale up of a 30" Keith Laumer design from the early 1960s. An excellent flier, and mildly aerobatic too! https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=833 Tim 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 (edited) Zoomerang pilot need a windscreen to keep the oil off his face. Nice aircraft. Edited June 9, 2021 by J D 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 On 09/06/2021 at 10:52, Phil Cooke said: A nice thread you've created here Matt, many thanks. The vast majority of my flying these days is Power Scale Slope soaring, something that's best achieved on coastal slopes which I have to plan and travel long distance to from my home in Derby as opposed to 'just nipping out' - and I think this additional complication only heightens the state of euphoric appreciation when everything does come together perfectly. The right weather and wind, with the right model on the right slope, with a great group of people equally enjoying the same moment in a common pursuit! It really doesn't get any better than that for me! Like you've stated - a wonderful hobby! That looks like a handsome young man enjoying himself there ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 If I was he, I'd look terrified being so close to the spinny bit ......... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 I would be more worried about what the caster oil did to my guts. Rub it in lads, too hot for me. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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