Author Topic: Sloping on the Mourne Mountains  (Read 10613 times)

Richard Boyd

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Sloping on the Mourne Mountains
« on: April 11, 2011, 09:57:26 AM »
Sunday 10th April, John,Bill,Steve and myself meet up on the Mourne Mountains to slope with the Banbridge club members.
We meet up at Spelga Dam and then made the hike up the slope to the top of the mountain, I was shattered!!! but with Steve ahead of us, I had to keep my chin up and soldier on.. Steve is 84 years young !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I flew my Fox and the Bidie DS , John flew his extreme and bill flew his Zagi.
Only 2 members of Banbridge club turned up as the other members were engaged else were.
Although the winds seemed ok at 15mph, the lift was lite and it was hard work at times.
Matthew and Shaun flew their faithfull Phase 6 models, it seems that the phase 6 does not like a Birdy DS. Needless to say , " the Phase 6 came off the worse and the Birdie remains unscaved   :lol:
We all had a fantastic day and a big thanks to Matthew and Shaun for the invite to fly with them.
I took only a few photos as I seemed to fly alot !
I hope Bill can upload a few.

SPELGA DAM




John preparing his Extreme


The slope we had to walk up !!!!!!!


Battered Fox and Phase 6 slayer  :D


John and Shaun


Bill and his faithful Zagi


Richard
Richard Boyd
A bad days flying is better than a good days work.

Happy Days

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« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2011, 14:41:56 PM »
Not too sure about the reference to Phase 6’s being damaged by a Birdy,…….perhaps you’d care to explain Richard. :shock:

Oh, the faithful Zagi. Lovely little flyer, and soooo resilient. Good choice Bill. (Can’t remember whatever happened to mine.) :?:

And John just loves his Xtreem doesn’t he. Wherever he goes, it doesn’t seem to be far behind. :wink:

Anyway, glad you guys had a memorable time yesterday with Shaun and Mathew. :D

 Down here yesterday the temperature went to over 20C. With warm sun and virtually no wind  “she” & I went for a spin on one of our motorcycles. Met a few other bikers along the way and enjoyed the first really warm day of the year so far.

Today, the temp. has been much lower, and the wind much stronger! :D  :D  I spent the morning up on the Big L. Wind speed at the ridge was blowing me backwards so I’d estimate the gusts must have been 100K plus at times. :clap:  Full ballast was needed which produced some very fast flying. GREAT FUN :P .

The Whisper (2mtr mouldy) was keeping me very much on my toes as it screeched about the sky. However when bring it into land the second time I think I forgot that it weighed 170% of it’s un-ballasted weight and slowed it too much,………it stalled and fell to earth. Ouch! :!:  

The Phase 6, also ballasted to nearly double it’s normal AUW, always puts a large smile on my face when flying in strong winds. The trouble is I get a bit over ambitious sometimes. :roll:
 Today I made it perform a double roll while flying close in and low, so I thought I’d try a triple roll.
I sent her out into the lift, high in the sky, swooped in low and fast over the landing area and pushed the stick hard over. Unfortunately she only made two and a half rolls before running out of momentum,….. and gravity did the rest!

Oh well, I enjoyed myself and I’ve got plenty of glue in the workshop………….


Phase 6


Whisper

K.
Try not to run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas....... all at the same time.

Richard Boyd

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« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2011, 16:15:07 PM »
ooops Mr. Keith that looks painfull  :(
I have a vector that looks very similar to your phase 6

Keith my  Birdy was being attcked by a large peditor ! A PHASE 6 !!!!!
Bill may have a photo of how the Phase 6 looks after the mid air.
My wee pocket rocket was undamaged  :D
Sorry Matthew!
Size doesn't matter

 I was up on Slieve Gallion this morning for a quick flight.
Winds are gusting up to 40mph which is well under Mt L's 100 kmph.

I flew the Birdy again today but kept it in close to the slope as I had a few frightening moments  yesterday with signal loss.
I am using a micro park flyer RX.
I was sure the tale feathers would have exploded today but they held up well in the strong North Westerly winds.
If we get these sort of winds at the weekend, fun will be had by all, except the faint hearted.

Richard
Richard Boyd
A bad days flying is better than a good days work.

andrew wallace

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Sloping on the Mourne Mountains
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2011, 16:32:22 PM »
looks like a good day  :D
i was scoring brownie points  :lol: so i'll be able to get away this weekend  :clap:

i have the big cub fixed after an unexpected gust of wing through it over when landing and i just broke the wing tip so i was lucky  :clap:

hope the wind stays westerly in this part of the country  :)
i\'m an ordinary man nothing special nothing grand

Happy Days

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« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2011, 16:41:58 PM »
So your Birdy was attacked by a predatory Phase 6.…..Well what did you expect Richard? That’s what Phase 6’s “Do”  :lol: ! I shall look forward to seeing Bills’ photo of the injured predator.

And as for flying a slope soarer, in high winds, with only a low gain rx in it :shock: …..all I can say is you’re a braver man than me Richard! :clap:

(If the forecasts for this weekend are for 40Mph winds, west/north/east with no rain, I’ll pop up and join you.)
(Provided my models are airworthy by then!!! :roll: )

Keith
Try not to run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas....... all at the same time.

Richard Boyd

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« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2011, 18:58:55 PM »
The forcast for Saturday is 10mph Northerly winds and sunshine !!!!!!!
Sunday is 12mph south westerly !!!! and sunshine.
These are some of the best slopes even in light lift.
As John,Bill and young Andrew will confirm, it usually blows alot more.
I certainly pray it does.
I have my EPP Fox stripped as it is neglected and needs some new tape.
I made a few changes to the RX position on the birdy.
Rock n Roll

I got to look at Johns Fox yesterday and it looks so sweet, this weekend should see it ready for her maiden.

BBQ is sorted as is the coffee tea.

John is sorting the signs to help you get to the summit,
if anyone needs a place to crash, then if they donot mind sleeping with my planes a bed awaits them.
John and Bill have also offered a place to crash to cut down costs,
Other than that we just need the weather and of course abit of craic from our friends.

Richard
Richard Boyd
A bad days flying is better than a good days work.

billscottni

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A few more pics
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2011, 21:30:33 PM »

JohnPearson

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« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2011, 22:10:16 PM »
Get days flying, usually I would be covered up on the slope, however, flying in a polo shirt, just great. Richard's little birdie is a 'vicious predator' that phase 6 never had a chance. Bill flew well also, he is starting to get the feel of the sticks back  :lol: . The lift was not great, however we managed to put in some good air time and I nearly flew the glider down the mountain to the car park, walking behind it as we came down the path.

Looking forward to next weekend, the weather is improving everyday, if we can get onto the north slope then we will be in for some fantastic flying.

keith, get them planes fixed and back on the slope, three rolls ??? go for it sir!

Happy Days

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« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2011, 23:16:20 PM »
Richards little Birdy is a vicious predator, that Phase 6 never had a chance.” :shock:  !!!!! …RUBBISH (I blame the pilot,…..whoever he was) :lol:

I keep looking at the forecasts, and seeing either rain and or SW or S winds for Londonderry this weekend…..I’ll keep looking. (I do hope Richard wont be wearing his sexy shorts again. Lets be honest lads …..it’s not a pretty sight is it! :(  ) :D

The fuse of my Phase 6 had actually broken in two today, it was only the covering that was keeping it together. Spent quite a bit of time on her this evening, now waiting for the epoxy to cure over night. Just hope the fuse is straight when I check it in the morning.
The Whisper might be a write off.  Sooooo many cracks and brakes in the nose and fuse. I’ll look at it tomorrow. Or I might see if I can buy a replacement fuse.

Nice pictures by the way Bill :clap:

K.
Try not to run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas....... all at the same time.

Richard Boyd

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« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2011, 05:26:06 AM »
I am not going to name the Phase 6 pilot, just put it this way, he is the best aerobatic pilot in the UK !!!!!!!!!
OK, Keith I chopped of the Phase 6 elevator, I was not happy at wrecking some ones plane but it was an accident. lol

OK I see the forecast details have changed slightly, winds are dropping  :!:

http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/lough_fea

Richard
Richard Boyd
A bad days flying is better than a good days work.

Happy Days

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« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2011, 07:32:50 AM »
Reminds me of the time of a glide-in at Mt.L couple of years ago. I accidentally downed one of Bills planes, and felt very embarrassed about it. :oops:
But then to add insult to injury, an hour latter I did the self  same thing to another plane,……also one of Bill’s. :oops:  :oops:  :oops:

 I rather wished the ground would have open up and swallow me! :roll:
Try not to run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas....... all at the same time.

billscottni

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Sloping on the Mourne Mountains
« Reply #11 on: April 12, 2011, 07:57:50 AM »
Funnily enough Keith we were standing on the hill on Sat after Richard downed the phase 6 and I said to JP that I knew there'd been something missing at Mt Leinster.

I'd managed two days flying without being hit by Keith!!! :wink:  :wink:

It's part of the fun of slope flying Keith, at least all my planes were just chucked again and flew on. The Phase 6 wasn't so lucky!

Richard Boyd

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« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2011, 08:11:49 AM »
And then there was poor EDs mid air with one wing Fred !
This was my second ever mid air, first one was with Harry Reid and he lost a £40 lipo out of his unicorn wing, my unicorn wing flew on.
I seem to be lucky/ unlucky.
Any hows, I had better get back to taping up this Fox.
Sun is shinning and I might get a flight this evening.

Richard
Richard Boyd
A bad days flying is better than a good days work.

JohnPearson

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« Reply #13 on: April 12, 2011, 17:29:24 PM »
Hi you lot, less talk more work!!! get them models fixed! :lol:  :lol:

Happy Days

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« Reply #14 on: April 12, 2011, 18:49:15 PM »
Yes Sir!….Very good My Lord,…… Your Worship,…….Your Honour…..(Whatever  :roll: )

One Phase 6 fuse, fully repaired, restored and ready for the use of....! :D

K.

Try not to run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas....... all at the same time.