Spring is here again - who's been flying?

[leccyflyer]

4 hours ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

I'm going to be biased and say that I love the first shot of Murat's Fw190 climbing away into "tropical " skies .

That paint job really looks the part and is rarely done .  I still have a GWS 190 that I painted in the same scheme . 

Well done Murat . You've done me proud . 

BTW , is it possible that the "lumpy" winds are related to Scottish porridge ? 

Southerners buy thier's from Waitrose in little sachets , hence no lumps.

Just a thought . 

The lumpy winds are direction related. At first they were dead southerly winds, so come directly over the hill in front and are pretty smooth by the time they get to the strip. During the morning they switched a bit to more of a SSE=SE direction, which come across the flank of the big hill and encounters two small opposing slopes just a few hundred metres away, which sets up a bit of turbulence. The worst wind direction is from the NE, as that comes across the trees and can be very lumpy indeed if the windspeed is high enough.

[RICHARD WILLS]

Where I come from in Essex , there are no hills . So Scotland does look Lumpy . Lovely scenery though (Scotland not Essex ) . I remember flying at St Leonards on sea on the South Coast as a guest to the very active Hastings club . Although it was windy , it was very stable and no problem at all, as it came straight across the sea with no lumps or trees . 

 

[leccyflyer]

I wouldn't swap the hills for anything TBH and the hill there makes for a superb backdrop for photographing warbirds, I've collected some of my favourite pictures against that hill.

 

[Ron Gray]

On 10/05/2024 at 16:34, David Ashby - Moderator said:

Anyone got one? What do you do with yours? 

Missed your earlier post David. I have one, the XL, and only tend to fly it when it’s fairly calm. Having said that I do remove the wing extensions and fly it in more ‘testing’ weather. I usually fly to height (it’s electric powered) then just stooge around for about 20 minutes, it will sniff out thermals but you have to finesse stick inputs to not loose height. Best thing about the XL are the air brakes which are brilliant.

 

 

[GrumpyGnome]

Lovely backdrop to leccys pics.

 

I can attest to the benefits of smooth air - used to slope soar off Rhossili cliffs and the neatest land perpendicular to the slope was the US of A. Loads of slopes on the Gower Peninsular had glass smooth air.... we get bumps n lumps in Gods Own County

[David Ashby]

Thanks Ron, that pretty much confirms my thoughts. It was out again today at the Bickley glider fly-in. Warm but not quite as thermally as we wanted. 

[Geoff S]

12 hours ago, leccyflyer said:

I've been reliably informed on the t'internet that there's no such thing as mackerel skies, it's just a made up term and that what you are actually looking at is intense chemtrail activity. Seriously.

 

I think that saying  predates 'chemtrails' by a large margin.

 

We had a good day too, but watching motor cycle racing at Cadwell Park for the first time in 30 odd years (last time I was there, I was a travelling marshal).  My friend's son won all his 3 races with his BMW flat 4 sidecar outfit.  I knew him as a toddler and schoolboy but he's now 58!  It's sobering.  We were also treated to fly past of BoB flight's DC3 on its way to a display somewhere. I guess.

 

Glorious weather but now we're back home it's raining - again!

[leccyflyer]

39 minutes ago, Geoff S said:

 

I think that saying  predates 'chemtrails' by a large margin.

That was my entire point, that the "intense chemtrails" being shown were perfectly natural and were referred to as mackerel skies centuries before there were any aircraft to lay such chemtrails. That was met with flat denial, but you can't argue with such depths of ignorance.

 

No flying for me today, the day dawned a bit misty, but warmed up nicely and I had garden maintenance to take care of, so two days in a row was enough. Prospects for flying  during the coming week are pretty thin, so spent some time discharging the larger packs that I hadn't used yesterday down to storage voltage for next weekend.

[Murat Kece 1]

Thank Richard it is really a wonderful flier.. Thank you all for your feedback.. I am really pleased / chaffed with FW190, my first warbird. I took off from my dolly in the maiden.. The dolly worked ok but needs some foam to keep the tail centred as our field is a bit bumpy, causing the tail to move sideways at take off. 

 

I had a wee incident at the end (Slowed down too much as I was going downwind- which I should not have). Even that showed how robust the bird is. I am glad you put the spare cowling in Richard.

 

I will be flying it regularly once I get back from my holiday.

 

 

 

 

With that enthusiasm I started the Tempest with the doubles and the formers glued in.... 

 

 

[GrumpyGnome]

Real scorcher her on the coast in God's Own County. 

 

Bit of a mixed day though. Started off badly with an incident meaning we couldn't mow. As the grass is growing before our very eyes, this somewhat limited the models chosen to fly.

 

I flew my Spacewalker, but the engine sounded a bit off and I had a deadstick - so that sat on the grass watching. Too windy for my little SE5, so that sat on the grass watching. Runway too draggy for my Sea Fury, so that sat on the grass watching. After a number of flights, the trusty OS in my Double Trouble refused to start, so that too ended up watching! My little Arrows Hawk and baby FW190 allowed me to get my flying fix!

 

Kev brought his beautiful yellow Chippie, and Hurricane. The Chippie flew a few times, then the exhaust came loose, which needs major dismantling of the front end. It sat in the back of the car watching. The Hurricane came assuming the grass was going to be mown...... Kev resisted the temptation to fly for a good while, but eventually gave it a go.  A long take off was followed by a beautiful flight, but it nosed over immediately on landing, so it was decided not to fly it again.

 

Brian flew his Spacewalker - his second session of glow-powered flight. I'm not convinced he'll get any more I.c. models......

 

Visiting member John (who has now joined) threw his small, fast, Hobbyking powered glider about at great speed, coming wincingly close to some of our trees. As everyone seems to hit a tree at some point, we thought he was trying to get it out of the way early!

 

Lovely few hours of chat, flying, drinking coffee and enjoying the sunshine. Although I should have worn a Ron Gray style hat rather than my baseball cap!  Home to water the pots and make the undercarriage on my P47 work - with a nice cold beer at my side.

 

Great day but only a few members flying. Again....

[Ron Gray]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Ron Gray style hat

🤠

[leccyflyer]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said:

 

I flew my Spacewalker, but the engine sounded a bit off and I had a deadstick - so that sat on the grass watching. Too windy for my little SE5, so that sat on the grass watching. Runway too draggy for my Sea Fury, so that sat on the grass watching. After a number of flights, the trusty OS in my Double Trouble refused to start, so that too ended up watching! My little Arrows Hawk and baby FW190 allowed me to get my flying fix!

an excellent illustration of the benefits of taking multiple models to the field- there's always going to be something suitable to fly, whatever the conditions when you get there, or which develop during the day.

[Peter Jenkins]

6 minutes ago, leccyflyer said:

an excellent illustration of the benefits of taking multiple models to the field- there's always going to be something suitable to fly, whatever the conditions when you get there, or which develop during the day.

The interesting thing about flying in competition, at least F3A type flying with 2 m aircraft, is that you fly in almost any weather conditions that are flyable as that what happens in a competition!  So, best get used to it and learn how to cope with tricky cross wind landings.  Take offs are usually OK as you can just pour on the coals and get airborne in a few yards and have the required flying speed to cope with gusts.  You should always take some repair or replacement equipment for u/c s thought😒. 

 

That having been said, you do build up confidence to fly in windy weather especially as you are dealing with quite an expensive piece of kit!

 

But, I can see the attraction of flying when it's not a struggle!  It's so nice when that's the case!

[GrumpyGnome]

I don't mind flying in wind, but prefer to fly my ballistic Wotty to my kite-like SE5.... just because it is more enjoyable.

 

Sometimes, I just don't fancy a challenge..

 

 

[GrumpyGnome]

2 hours ago, leccyflyer said:

an excellent illustration of the benefits of taking multiple models to the field- there's always going to be something suitable to fly, whatever the conditions when you get there, or which develop during the day.

Yup. I always tell people to bring at least two models. It often falls on deaf ears though.

[Erfolg]

OMG, Every one and their dog is here, clogging the roads, and car parks. Praise the Lord that human beings are averse to walking, if they were not, outside my house would be stacked high with vehicles.

 

I went to the field on Saturday, word had got out, I was the only person present. No bad thing as I was able to fly three models in complete quite, confirming that in general all three no longer had any obvious issues. 

 

Flying a glider I was a little disappointed that not a single Buzzard was to be seen. I did work out that about 400 feet there were wide spread thermals that were transient. It was observing the flight patterns of Gulls that educated me. The thermals originated (that I could potentially use) in an adjacent field, where the farmer or his contractor, had killed of the central crop, now brown earth.

 

Returning on Sunday, it was a different story, all of the club must have thought, he will not fly two days consecutively, as the rest of the club were present. I only flew two models. There was a reason, the wind had shifted to the South and grown in strength. At our field I find that this causes problems, as wind shear at both ends generates   turbulence. For those models which have an abundance of power, it is of no issue, as they are airborne  within a yard or two whilst in the wind shadow (from trees at the rear). For my models with longer take of runs and some others, emerging into the turbulence and wind shear, causes much stirring of the sticks.

 

At present I have seen little visual evidence of wild life, returning after winter. Just the one, house or sand Martin. There is a resident Pheasant (now the farmer has banned the shooting club), that appears on the track.  At my previous club, there were hares, lapwings, foxes (that would trot passed, or even sit and watch). in addition to Buzzards, some bird of prey that would consistently sit on telegraph poles or low voltage power lines. I am hoping to see more, as the summer progresses.

 

How to get home was the next priority, as the few roads and lanes around here are packed at weekends with citizens who are abandoning their cities for the sea side. I made my decision, spending the most time inching my way home for the last mile.

 

It was a good day, chatting with other club members, observing their new models, although I do disapprove of those noisy smelly things that some fly.  Now the field has been cut twice in as many weeks, my wheeled models can once more be flown, rather than requiring a fling and a prayer. 

Edited May 13 by Erfolg

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

Wind 15 klm/h gusting 25, so out came my all-time favourite from 1984, Rossi .40 noisy exhaust and it' Graupner 10 x 6 prop screaming away,,,🥰

[Adrian Smith 1]

No flying for me today, as it was a sunny day but with a 15mph S crosswind I thought discretion being best part of valour I would leave it and cut the strip.

 

 

I can't believe after only 6 days I had to cut so much off it. Quite hard work but all good now, 😀

[leccyflyer]

1 hour ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

Wind 15 klm/h gusting 25, so out came my all-time favourite from 1984, Rossi .40 noisy exhaust and it' Graupner 10 x 6 prop screaming away,,,🥰

It's a Gnatty - nice one!

 

One day I will repair mine and electrify it, since it's brief sojourn in the sewage works thirty years ago.

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

1 hour ago, leccyflyer said:

It's a Gnatty - nice one!

 

One day I will repair mine and electrify it, since it's brief sojourn in the sewage works thirty years ago.

Oh come on, why on earth would you electrify it ?.🤢

[leccyflyer]

22 minutes ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

Oh come on, why on earth would you electrify it ?.🤢

Because I don't want to regress to use the noisy, smelly, oily OS 40 Max that I took out of it and it'll have a much tidier and streamlined front end without a cylinder head and exhaust sticking out. plus I wouldn't be able to fly it at my local electric only club.

[Eric Robson]

https://youtu.be/AEoPLsq7GVM?si=Af5BvTJxdhUBAm2L Maiden flight of my Hawker Hunter yesterday 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Very nice Eric.

[Eric Robson]

8 minutes ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said:

Very nice Eric.

Started painting today,  this is how it will look,  I hope. Yellow bands on the wings will help visibility in the grey skies of the North East. 

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

Sorry Leccy, I didn't realise that your club was only electric, the day it happens in our club I will give up model planes, and nice plane Eric.