I read that there was to be a meeting of the Power Slope Soaring Association (PSSA) in April so Adrian and myself decided to go and have a look and hopefully get some slope soaring in ourselves, this is a short report on what we found.
The meeting was held over the weekend 12/13th April, we arrived Saturday afternoon the sky was overcast and the wind very strong, a westerly. I felt a little disappointed at first because I thought the conditions to be unfavourable for flying, this was true for me but it didn’t stop the PSS guys.
Two things impressed me on this first day, firstly the quality of the model build, most of the PSS models are scratch build from a plan and are made using balsa, ply wood which are then covered with Solarfilm or just painted, the attention to detail was exceptional and many hours spent on the finish. The other thing that impressed me was the flying skills of these guys, the landings in particular were nice to watch.
The weather on Sunday was the same as the day before, although the wind was not so strong at first, so I decided to give it a go, Adrian launch my Wild Thing, it took three attempts before I got it right, there was a strong rotor at the top of the slope which I found difficult to cope with, but once through it and into the lift the flying was good despite the strong winds. The landing was ok with no damage done, this gave me a bit of encouragement. However as the day went on the wind speed increased again, they were measuring 57 mph at the edge of the slope, so I chickened out.
We stayed on till the Monday where we had the slope to ourselves, although we were joined by a local model flyer, the wind had eased off but had moved around to the north, the local guy showed us the best place to fly from. Now for me this was the best day, the sun was shining and the wind not so strong, if a little chilly. We both got several flights in, the wind speed got less as the day passed but this enabled me to switch models and fly my Weasel.
I have posted some photos, these are mostly of the PSS models, the others were taken on the last day.
Some fantastic looking models there Mel, were they actual EDFs or slope soarers?
Glad to hear you both got some flying in, sounds like good fun 🙂
No edf or props, all the models are pure slope gliders, the larger ones are quite heavy.
Who’s that strange bloke in the brown bobble hat?
Those planes are great. Where can I get one? Maureen
Hi Maureen,
Most of the planes are purchased from kits, local model shops, internet shops such as hobbyking, hobbystores, sussex model shop, etc. There are lots of shops out there. The models are then normally customised, in this case because these are slope soarers the engine is removed (or never installed), and the radios and servos installed. Your local model shop is the best place to go for advice on specific models, if you like a particular plane they will probably be able to get a kit or built model for you, then provide the power system. They will probably even be able to build or recommend a place that can completely build you a model if you prefer.