Today, the model aircraft rescue boat was called into action for the first time!
After a distress call from Adrian`s Catalina the rescue boat was quickly deployed and sent on it`s way.
We have just received amateur footage from a distressed on looker who used a mobile phone to capture some dramatic video which shows the moment the rescue boat returned to shore after completing it`s successful mission, (pity about the giant finger but I did use the term amateur).
Another on the spot story, brought to you by our on the spot reporter.
We thought it would be nice to visit Haresfield Beacon last Sunday, the forecast said the wind would be 16 to 24 mph and southerly so off we went.
Well it was a bit windier than predicted, Barry looked at the data from the weather station at Cleeve Hill which is just a few miles to the north and that said it was blowing 40+ mph.
Here is a short video of Barry braving the wind.
We found a small hollow which offered some protection from the wind
Mr Warrow arrives at the hill,
The day ended well though, we decided to go for a pint down in the village.
For a while now I have been looking for something to use to hold parts in place during a build.
I have used old batteries, baked bean tins etc in the past, but now I have found these.
They are cast iron each 1lb in weight, they can be stacked if more pressure is needed to hold something.
The cost was £0.30 each, but delivery was over £5.00, so I would suggest that if you want to buy some of these then try and find someone to share the delivery cost, I think you can buy quite a few of them before this cost goes up.
The wind direction was SSW and the speed was moderate, I`m guessing 15-20 mph.
When flying from here there is some turbulence which you do not get when flying from a coastal site such as the Great Orme, you can see the difference if you watch my last video.
I would like some advice please, you will notice that when the model is inverted it starts to nod, I don`t understand why this is so, C of G is correct. Your thoughts on this are welcome.
A few club members visited the Great Orme last week, the winds were from a south easterly direction so we flew from the Ski Slope site which was new to us, here is a short video.
A few of us went to Llandudno for 3 or 4 days to do some slope soaring on the Great Orme.
We had to take pot luck with the weather it is one thing there is no control over, I arrived on Sunday afternoon to find that conditions where just right (for me anyway), and the short video was filmed then.
Monday started off quite well the wind had moved to SW so we had to move to a new site, just up the hill not far, I got a flight in early on, but the wind soon picked up and became quite strong making launching difficult. However Robert and Adrian enjoyed the conditions and a few flights.
Tuesday was the opposite of the previous day, being calm with little wind, however the sun shone making it a nice day. Fortunately we had brought along some power gliders which were flown in these light conditions.
The last day that I was there, Wednesday, the wind had picked up again, very strong first thing again making a launch difficult, my Wild Thing suffered damage due to a bad launch and now needs a dose of looking at. After an hour or so the wind speed dropped, but it had moved to the SW again so it was back up the hill, launching now was quite easy but the wind speed quickly increased but as I was already flying this wasn’t a problem, that is until I let my plane get behind me. I was flying my Weasel now which is quite light and would not penetrate the strong wind making it very difficult to get back to the cliff edge and so the lift. I had to land it and had a long walk to pick it up.
This is how not to land a glider, my first approach is to high and as I loose height the models speed increases and I overshoot the landing area, so I decided to abort and go around again.
The second attempt is no better, still to high, this time I try to loose height to close to the landing area I also briefly loose sight as the model goes behind me, the result is a crappy landing.
No damage was done to property or model while filming this video :-).
