Last Sunday was windy, in fact it was more than just windy, it was very windy, some might say 'extremely' windy. Whatever you want to call it, it was not a day for fainthearted flyers. So myself, my namesake, and friend Stephen, (aka stephen.shannon.) ventured forth to do battle with the elements on the Big L. :twisted:
Keith, (Big Keith not me) had just finished building a Zagi which his good lady had bought him for xmas.
It can be seen in the following picture. Keith had covered the top of the combat wing to match his jacket and scarf. (He’s very fashion conscious you know. :roll: )
The second picture shows the bottom of the wing,…….and Keith getting a bit stuck in the mud. :oops:
We had tried to fly off of the south slope, unfortunately the wind was tangential to the slope and although there were was lift the winds were too strong to allow penetration. I tried with my Skua but it would not go forward into the lift. I had ballast back at the car park but didn’t fancy the long walk back to the car and up the hill again.
Instead we came off the south slope and moved to the west slope. The wind was tangential to that slope as well but not quite so strong there. Following basic pre flight checks the virgin Zagi was taken to the top of the west slope and launched into the air stream.
To Keith’s amazement, and Stephen & my delight, out flew the Zagi into the lift. Up, up and away until she was just a dot in the heavy skies over Mount Lienster, and then back again to land on the heather. :clap:
The Zagi will need some small adjustments to refine here performance but she flew.
So now Big Keith, (or “Mountain Man” as I thing his name should be! :lol: )with his own radio gear, models and experience, is now a fully fledged member of ISR. Welcome to the Party Keith!
:clap:
K.
