THURSDAY!!!!!

Bit quiet around here... but never mind the trip to the Bwlch is looming! we have 4 confirmed SlopeJunkies going, would love to see more up there. We plan to meet some time around 0830 somewhere on the M4, should get to the Bwlch around 0930... then a full day of superb flying!! North Westerly puts on the Ice Cream Slope. See Kevin Newtons excellent page here on the slopes. I shall be taking a full quiver with me, and mobile charging should anybody need it. Martin still not coming, he called me to explain something about sailing a ship on to rocks or something, thankfully the phone signal cut out before i cut my own throat in desperate boredom!

Rob

We need to get to BIG hills..

This is Pierre Rondel putting his Rotmilan through its paces...
This is some speed, would love to get mine on a serious lifty slope... Dull easterlies all weekend, not sure ill get out, however if anybody wants a trip to the Bwlch next week I'm on for Thursday! So plenty of time to make excuses to work/partner. Contact me before may be able to share lift! The billy bonus is that Martin cant come! Rob

Spafftastic Sunday...

Well there was tears of laughter, tears of sadness... Sunday shaped up to be, and was a great day. The start of which was awful, as i was alone on the slope with Martin... I was a little on guard like a newbie in a prison, however we were joined by the masses and could distance myself. 

Lots happened today, notably Mark, maidened his willow.. Which was a bit of an anti climax really... i hoofed it off and it sailed away! (see vid) Mark kindly let me have a thrash and i have to say it felt great! Flew straight as an arrow, fairly neutral on the CofG of we reckon was 104mm, also edgy like it wanted to do something..  It certainly motored, with no ballast and had a great turn of speed when the nose was dropped. Rolls are crispy crisp, no shortage of elevator and happily coped with the half cocked wind bouncing along the slope. This glider is nicely thought out, enough room in the fuz for even Martins fat fingers, a good size fuz to hang on to for launching too. I would love to set one up myself (nudge nudge Ian Mason ;) and explore the flight envelope. It certainly felt more like my Rotmilan in terms of speed than my Viking2. Be good to see it in a blow with some weight in.... all for around £500, bargain of the year for a full competition speed machine!

 Nick turned up muttering something about a new sponsor... in his secretive way he would not tell us who it was! Incidentally did a great landing with a contrary flap servo. As a side note Nick organises dogging spots.

Petes fully ballasted strega had the shortest flight of the day (see vid) unfortunately some damage to fuz. You can see Martin trying to give advice about the intricacy's of fuz repair... "buy a new one"

Willow in background flew well. Martin will sell that Skorp to me one day..  He wont admit it, but it flies better than his Tanga!

As usual gents, get a beer, push that seat back, turn volume to maximum and watch.......

Rob.

Where will you be...

Thanks KOP, i can see there is gonna be a bit of time invested in scraping off that paint... Sooo dull. As Martin says MORE PICTURES or your banned from SJ's

Now on a serious note, abandon all activities with the misses tomorrow, put your chosen weapons in the car, and make your way to WESTBURY! I don't need Martins divine intervention to tell you its a NNE which means the long ridge is on! Ive had a chat with "Colin" and he will do his stuff if the Gay Dogging Paras get on our tits (advise bring umbrella and watch for SJ's signal) I will be there for 1300 hours, Martin said something about "sense of humour classes" and will try and make for 1 too if they don't over run....

I wont post a map, as we don't want a KFC built there over night!

ROB!

Ash 26 .. 1/3 scale 6metre update

19 May 2012



Mystery Poster .. Weird

Another post was received today from the mystery poster Kilo Oscar Papa. It arrived on a memory stick in unmarked brown envelope. It self destructed 15 seconds after uploading. This one has a few more pictures in it but we are hoping there will even more pictures in the next one rather than more verbal diarrhoea. Unfortunately we cannot ask him directly as we do not know who he is due to the secret nature of his  government job.

Anyway here goes......


 

ASH build Part 2

Having squeezed the model into the shed, It was time to think......Where do I start?  There were no instructions, I was on my own, building with my wits and living life on the edge. I thought...What would Martin do in this situation, actually Martin wouldn't be in this situation, he would be on his computer, dropping Scotch egg crumbs onto his keyboard looking at other F3F models.......thinking 'ooooh shall I have a pink one or another orange one.....or maybe a brown one'.......

Anyway I started by looking at a finished article.

.......that didn't really help; never having completed a build like this I started with a simple task.  I started drilling a hole for the tail wheel.  I was able to make a larger hole using files to shape it so the wheel would fit neatly, then I drilled a hole either side of the fuz for the spindle to go through, success....a neat fitting wheel. I won't be fitting a retract this season....I'll see how I get on with the model, I will be looking at a Fema unit, but at £150.00 It needs thinking about.....

Wheel fitted and easily removable for maintenance.

I then moved to the other end.........knowing that this model would only be flown off certain slopes due to it's size, I have convinced myself that I will only fly it a handful of times a year (if I even like it!).....but if I fit a tow release I can at least have more options to fly!! The nose was drilled out a little at a time to get the correct size, the tow release was fitted and lightly epox'd in, once dry it was again checked for alignment and epoxy was poured 1.5cm deep around it, this provided a very solid fitment.....It won't be like a Tanga with the nose falling off........

Neatly fitted tow Release.

As mentioned before the paint job is awful, who would spend over 1500 euros on a model, then spray it without doing any preparation? I am spending 10-15 mins a day scraping off the old paint with a sharp blade, I will get it back to the gel coat for the initial flight......and if all goes well I will spray it and add decals.............

Allie in the skies…

Have a look at the photo.. do not under estimate the power of this inconsequential looking chap, this slight of frame fellow who looks like he’s fiddling with something has a very interesting habit… We met “Colin” as I will call him up Westbury this evening whilst dodging the angry looking super cells. He is a Hang glider pilot with similar views to Para gliders as our selves, but unlike Martin who shouts at them then expects me to deal with any physical stuff, “Colin” is a little more pro-active.. He delights in climbing to height above them, and then proceeds to get the old “Mini Colin” out and give them the proverbial golden shower….. I was stunned and shocked, Martin did not look surprised as if it’s a regular occurrence for him.

I have blacked out “Colins” face to protect him…

Rob

…… oh wait Colins face, SHEEET!

Tuesday 15th May...Guest Post

This is for you scale boys out there. I am in the process of building a 1/3 scale Ash 26 . Unfortunately due to the secretive nature of my job, ( I am deep undercover for the government) I have only supplied a picture of a scale man. He was modelled on myself and is a very good likeness possibly a bit more handsome and with a better dress sense. I will send build logs to Martin to Post for me. He will cut and paste into blog.....I am code name Charlie Oscar Papa

ASH Build Part 1

Yes moulded 'V' tail models go fast, do anything....(within reason) and are easy to transport........but there is something beautiful about a scale model, I know the only thing Martin finds beautiful is pork pies and scotch eggs........and Rob.......well that blue coat of his of course...But come on.....Scale models are a great change from the 'V' tail F1 machines.

My real love affair for Scalies came when I bought Mark Wickhams Valenta ASW 20 (see a you tube clip to see what I mean http://youtu.be/aCLuQ4V9bSM) If the link doesn't work just type 'Valenta ASW 20'........A scale model has purpose, and looks......well, real.

Anyhow, I found a secondhand Vario on the Scale Soaring Site, which I would later use in the ASW 20, following a short phone call to the seller I decided I would buy it.......

The seller then told me that he was  selling some models too.......we all know how it went from there, we've all been there.

On the way back from our Scotland holiday we 'popped' into Lancaster and picked up a part built 6 meter Rosenthal ASH 26 (http://rosenthal-flugmodelle.com/segelflugzeugmodelle/ash-reihe/ash-26/index.php) and a unbuilt Rodel ASK 21 4.2 meter ( www.roedelmodell.de)

The wife was overcome with joy having to sit in the car on a four hour jorney with a wing between us........

The ASH 26..

I decided to buy the ASH as I felt it was a good opportunity to own a 1/3 scale model, it had very little done to it, the fuz had been sprayed...but the plonker who sprayed it forgot to rub the surface down first, so its got flaking paint, and the wings have been glassed, and sprayed. I must say the wings have been glassed well, the spray job is ok, but it will need a bit more 2000 grit rub down and polish! The wiring was in for the wing servos and that was about it.

Martin has ok'd me writing a few bits on the build of this machine, then hopefully in June we can maiden it.......and either video it crashing or convince Martin that Scale gliders are better for him than pork pies.......more to follow.....

Charlie Oscar Papa

pp Martin

Another Great day at Westbury

Saturday 12th May

As promised I had arranged sunshine, a modest northerly breeze and plenty of lift. I got to the North ridge at Westbury white horse just after noon to find Robert and Graham already slopeside. I took an armoury of models with me as I knew I would be there for a long time.

As the day went on quite a gathering formed. Graham Luna (see above) came up dressed as a fisherman, Rob contemplated stamping (see above) on the Rot milan after more technical problems and some appalling landings.

There were alot of para gliders about but we did a decent job of keeping them up one end with only a small amount of verbal and hand signal abuse...

The Rotmilan is launched. Rotmilan is actually Italian for 'Red kite' as in the bird of prey. Rot milan in Spanish is ''my owners a tosser''..

This is me launching Richard Robbs Acacia. This actual glider used to belong to me and even now when I see it I have a certain amount of regret selling it. It is in stunning condition, built fantastically well and moves like you know what of a shovel

Robert fiddling with the electrics again on the Rotmilan. This weeks technical hitch was something to do with the starboard flap, another intermittent fault

Tanga and F3B being launched in Tandem

Now for a small video compilation of the days events. As ever full screen, full volume and make sure you set to HD....

Martin

Friday 11th May

Tomorrow .......

The sun is out, the sky is blue and if were lucky there will be no paragliders to spoil the view!! Combine this with the perfect wind direction.

There is only one place to be and this is it.........

 Westbury white horse and the North Slope. My advice get there early doors and make the most of some stronger winds. As the day goes on and the wind drops I am in a position to tell you I have had a word with him up in the sky, and I can  guarantee you some monumental thermals and massive lift.

The cherry on top of the cake is that Robert will not be available until the afternoon, something about ''English lessons for adults'' at the local college


Martin

Thursday 10th May

New Glider Ordered

The last couple of weeks I have been looking around for a new F3F glider. The list of decent new gliders is quite long and to be honest I wasn't sure what to get. I narrowed it down to 5.....

• Freestyler 4
• VV Stinger
• Baudis Fosa
• Pike Precision
• Needle 124

All of these gliders are fantastic and are proven competition winners ( not that this will make any difference to my flying) however I have plumped for one, I will keep the one I have ordered quiet for a while but it should be here late July / early August. Note I didn't include the Rotmilan , primarily because although Rob talks this glider up, it is from the same manufacturer as the scorpion I have , it is just a slightly newer design. I remember there was a whole load of police academy films back in the 80's but from memory although they made newer and newer ones, really they were all the same!

Below is the colour scheme I have designed and am incredibly nervous about. This will either look awful or fantastic,  don't think it will be average

Martin

Overlander... overnight!

I don't care what anybody says, this is the greatest battery in the world! 4 little sticks of rocket fuel for my greedy servos! These eneloops are mutz nutz, come pre-charged... hold there charge... and there black with a silver cross on them, why would you not have them? Overlander are superb, ordered Monday, gets here Tuesday, that's faster than time itself. Slightly better put together than my own....

Rob

Finally no rain!!!

The last week has been classic rain.. not that normal rain, but serious stuff which gets you wet! However This afternoon proved to be the gem. A good Southerly meant Alton Barnes was locked and loaded, Martin thankfully declined saying it would rain. Only a couple of pics I'm afraid and no vid..

Geoff staggers to the top and gets a cuddle from John.. Luna in the foreground with full ballast cut through the air like a knife through butter.. not seen anything better that sort of size apart from the Needle.

Over 3 meter wingspan Pilatus flew like the proverbial.. 25 mph winds on the top was not any probs for this slope machine.. Nick fiddles with something before launch..

Geoff prepares the Trinity, first time with full ballast (1.4kg's) Flew very well, unfortunately did not go home in the same condition it arrived. All that weight altered the c of g, so when breaks were deployed it ballooned big time, it ended up with the nose buried 7 inches, and a broken fuz around the wing..

Geoff adds all the lead he can in the wing... including the car keys!

             Another good day on the slope. A southerly produces epic lift, good end to a grotty weekend.

I started with a mini disaster... thanks to my shoddy soldering my battery was playing up (not the magnetic switch Martin) Thankfully Nick came to the rescue with a spare batt he had lying around... LEGEND! Full ballast in the Rotty, 100ft Square loops and endless loops, love this glider! Now going to Overlander for a decent battery....

Rob

Martin is DULL..

For those of you who have flown at Westbury you might recognise the subject in the vid below. I did this Yesterday, and almost soiled myself doing it! Not glider related, but as its slow around here... Rob