Sunday 9 October 2016

Big Turnout for Ditchling 9/10/16

Hi All,
We had a bumper turnout this morning at Ditchling Beacon to take advantage of the great NE wind.
Paul, Ian A, Will and I all met at 08:30 and walked East across the road and along the ridge until we got to the second bowl where we felt the lift was working better.
We were soon joined by Bob P who also showed the way for a potential new member Ray Lamb.
Next to arrive was Graham U followed by our old friend from Mid Sussex Fliers Peter Norton.
I cannot remember all the details of who flew which models, there was a lot going on , but here is what I saw happening -
Paul and Ian flew their M60s and I flew my Moth, we found that the lift was minimal close to the hill, but further out it was working really well.
Paul let Will fly his trusty Ninja and we were all impressed with Will's skill, despite a year off ! His landings were getting very good towards the end.
I set up my Impulse 2 and after a check-out I launched for Paul to fly / trim. I then took over and loved it but asked Paul to land for me despite it being programmed by Tim for crow braking, etc... I just didn't feel on top of my game. Thanks Paul, next time I will do it all on my own (I hope).
Paul launched his enormous scale K18 which flew with great authority - it looked so majestic up where it belongs. On landing, one of the air brakes got stuck up, so it was tending to rotate a little, but Paul managed to get it down safely. Subsequent flights proved to be trouble free.
Graham launched his yellow carbon-fibre mouldie (name has gone for now), but he quickly shouted 'no signal' and with that, the model was turned into more pieces than he came with. On collecting it, Graham tested the rx and all worked fine !!! I don't know if it will be repaired. Graham then reverted to flying his HK Ridge Ryder - great fun for £30.
Ian A launched his big mouldie that he acquired from Will and it looked truly brilliant in the hands of an expert. I hope to be able to fly that well some day.
Peter Norton brought 2 models that he said hadn't flown for many years, but they looked immaculate (as all his models do) and they flew really well. Peter hadn't flown sloping for many years but he got it all right on the day, except for one hard landing which left the v-tail model needing the tail to be secured a bit better.
Bob P flew his Wildthing and from what I saw he was doing a great job of it. I don't remember if he had any other models today (sorry Bob).
As we were almost stopping for the day, we were joined by new member Rob P with his son James. They flew a Wildthing for James on the buddy lead and a beautiful black carbon-fibre 'rocket' for Rob (again I can't remember the name, but it looked fantastic).

Sorry if I forgot anyone or anything, but there was so much going on that I'm sure I missed loads.
If anyone wants to add their own additions to this, please feel free.
Paul will upload some video later today / tomorrow I think.

Many thanks to all of you for making this a day to remember - great fun..

Rob

3 comments:

  1. Had a good time today with the Wildthing flying as good as ever. Thanks to Paul for letting me fly his battered Ninja, flys much better than mine so I will see if a fresh recovering will improve its performance.
    So sorry to see Graham's Shadow hit the ground, not a nice sight or sound but I'm sure he will have it back in the air soon.

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  2. After bench testing, it turns out to be faulty battery, which caused the no signal after launch... Will have it flying again.

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  3. Hi G, That's great news - how do you repair carbon-fibre ?

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