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SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE THE COMPUTER
KEYBOARD ALONE
Is there a connection in the breathtaking rise of usage and popularity
of special interest forums (Facebook and RC Groups) and the meteoric
plunge in the actual partaking of model flying? I would venture to
promote my belief that a large proportion of “model flyers” would rather
converse with each other through the ether about Aeromodelling than take
part in it. Perversely, taken the level of computer ownership and the
ease and speed with which information may be distributed the
contributions to the RAFMAA web site are appallingly low. As a point of
hopeful interest please find below the results of what happens when two
old crinkly Honorary members set out to do what they are best at and get
some fresh air into their lungs.
Colin Waite lives in Lancashire and I live in Lincolnshire. Midway
between these two locations are some of the best slope soaring sites
that the country has to offer. Colin and I, therefore, arrange to meet
at some of these sites just to partake in some relaxed flying as often
as possible. Hopefully then, the following will be of some interest to
the other members of RAFMAA.
 In
the second week of August we found ourselves at Pole Cott on top of the
Long Mynd. At the start of the day the weather whilst flyable was a
little damp and cold. However, by midday we were enjoying warm westerly
winds with blue skies and endless streets of clouds. We had both brought
our Jart models and the level of wind was just enough to provide some
lively flying. Upon my arrival the evening before I had discovered that
I had left my Jart canopy at home. Necessity being the mother of
invention a discarded plastic drinks bottle was adapted to fit and
prevented the odd bout of rainfall upsetting the electrics. These Jarts
including the Epoxy resin fuselages, were built as a joint effort
between Colin and myself. Unfortunately both models initially displayed
a rather alarming and unsettling trait in that they would flick roll
upon application of varying degrees of elevator. Was this a result of
tip stall, elevator stall or the blanketing of the tailplane by the
wing. By trial and error this trait was mainly eliminated by the
ailerons being used as flaperons and mixed with the elevator in the
manner of a Control Line stunter. I made full use of Colin’s expertise
and understanding of
the programming of JR transmitters
and he kindly corrected some of the gremlins which I had no doubt
introduced. With
  the TX sorted I then flew my version of the Dude, a
flying wing design of Colin’s with which we ultimately hope to attempt
some Dynamic Soaring. My version is slightly larger than Colin’s (I’m
not bragging….) and is equipped with a four servo wing which permits
several modes of aileron and elevator mixing and the ability to use
“Crow Airbrakes”, a novelty on a wing design. The fin shape is I
consider the nearest you will get to an airborne orgasm.
At long last the moment for which the entire day had been planned for
could be delayed no
longer, namely the test flight of Colin’s new scale
model, a Pilatus B4. Whilst the B4 is not fully accurate scale wise, in
the air you cannot spot the scale deviations. You can however, not fail
to spot that the occupant is not the usual suitably dressed pilot figure
but none other than Eeyore the donkey. I have yet to complete my B4 but a
suitably attired Pooh bear is on standby as part of the recently formed
Hundred Acre Wood Gliding Club (HAWGC). Possibly it should be the Ninety
Nine Acre as many will think that we are both an acre short of a full
wood. The test flight was a complete success with the full flight
envelope of the full size posing no problems.
 My scale offering was a semi-scale Fox aerobatic glider. This I have
been using with various degrees of success for the last nine years, but
I have always thought that its performance could be better. Several
modifications have been trialled until the penny finally dropped that
the thing was just too light. The addition of a pound and a half of lead
has made the world of difference.
Thus the flying and enjoyment continued throughout the day and we
finally decided that the
battery level in the TX’s was trying to tell us something and we
returned to our B & B and a meal out in Church Stretton with our
partners. The next day was somewhat of a bonus as after only ten minutes
of feverish grovelling and pleading our partners allowed us a couple of
extra hours on the hill. The wind was very light and with a touch too
much southerly so the lightweights came out to play. Both Colin and I
have a glider called the Mini-Milan made by Multiplex, sadly no longer
available. These models are a great choice when the lift is light as
they both soar and penetrate well. I was fortunate enough to only have
to make one landing (whilst on route back to the car). Colin however,
felt that his approach technique was a bit rough so he prevailed to get
as much landing practise as possible. All good things must come to an
end but not before the mandatory visit to the Hollybush Café where
during our refreshments a minutes silence was observed for closing of
the neighbouring outdoors activities shop and the absence of the very
charming and delectable young lady who worked in it. Who will we buy our
socks from now?
Colin departed northwards whilst Sue and I headed south in order to
attend at the wedding of a fellow RAFMAA members daughter which most
conveniently was within a very short distance of a well known landmark
called Butser Hill. This hill in common with the Long Mynd has a road to
the top and will cater for nearly all wind directions. I, therefore,
introduced myself to the local flyers and was pleased to spend a couple
of enjoyable hours with them. Due to the light winds and somewhat
challenging conditions the Mini-Milan was the glider of choice.
August has been an extremely hectic month as the third weekend saw Colin
and I attending the Leek and Moorland Model Club’s scale glider day.
This is a new venture and location for the both of us so we agreed to
meet and the Mermaid Pub just off the A53 past Thorncliffe. Fortune was
with both of us as we arrived without problem and within five minutes of
each other. This event was being held over two days but we were only
able to attend on the Sunday. All persons concerned were somewhat
puzzled by the unexplained appearance of a porta-loo next to where we
were flying. Nevertheless we made full use of this facility, what the
true hirers must have made of it on the Monday who knows. Whilst this
was a very popular event with a large array of gliders on display there
was plenty of flying time available. Colin was flying his Pilatus B4
once again with Eeyore.
 Having relaxed somewhat with this model Colin
proceeded to stretch the flight envelope. At one stage Eeyore was evicted
and an onboard video camera installed in his place. This resulted a many
minutes of footage of the view according to Eeyore. I had pushed the boat
out and had brought the entire scale fleet. This consists of the
previously mentioned Fox, a quarter scale Standard Libelle and a new and
unflown quarter scale SHK. Whilst these quarter scale models are in the
region of four metres wingspan they were dwarfed by some of the fully
moulded models on display. The most impressive was certainly a third
scale ASH 26 coming in at about seven metres wingspan and being very
competently flown by Simon Cocker.
 The wind direction was slightly off
the slope we were using but this downside was more than compensated by
the excellent landing area.
In the middle of the afternoon even though the conditions could have
been better the un flown SHK was committed to the skies. This glider is
unusual in that it is equipped with an all flying “V” tail and sure
enough the incidence angles were not quite right. Due to the lift which
had helpfully chosen this moment to go AWOL and the need for full up
trim and slight back pressure on the elevator a few knee trembling
moments passed. Thankfully the model was found to be extremely pleasant
to fly and I was able to settle down for a reasonable amount of time
before the lift died and I was required to make a cross wind landing on
the slope. Next time, once the incidences have been adjusted, I too will
be able to “push the envelope”.
As you can see both Colin and I took turns on the camera with some quite
good results. Some excellent results can be viewed on the
Leek and Moorlands
Model Gliding Association web site along with a video
of some screaming passes by the large ASH 26. Try not to get to involved
with them as you always need time available to actually stick some bits
of Balsa together.
Neil Tricker
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