I said to my misses that as the wind was west-ish I might take myself off to the mountain for a flight this afternoon. Big Keith couldn’t make it today but I got a call from David Wilson aka “Angry_Muppet” and we agreed to meet up on the Big L at 1pm.
It was quite chilly on the west slope when I arrived and the wind was slightly south of west. Knowing that David was brining his powered combat wing I took my Skua to fly.
David set about fitting a pusher prop to his wing………
It was a good job his wing had a bit of thrust as it would have been too light to fly in the very gusty winds that were strong enough to push me backwards sometimes. Once out into the lift however the motor could be completely shut off as David enjoyed the delights of glider flight.
Not to be outdone I added some ballast to my Skua and she too took off out over the valley.
All was great until David seemed to become caught in a bit of turbulence and his wing spiralled into the ground. When he hadn’t returned for what seemed quite a while I landed my model and walked off down the slope to join the hunt for his elusive wing. We both walked, and walked,…and walked. Up, down and sideways all around that slope but couldn’t find it. (Do you remember that feeling Big K?) Finally, by operating the Tx controls and listening hard David caught sound of the wing and followed his ears. Bingo!
By now we had become a little weary, walking up / down the slope in all our wind proof gear, so we decided to retire to the parking area for refreshments. David produced cups, hot water, tea bags and milk. But had forgotten the sugar, nor had he brought any spoons. He’s got a lot to learn about slope soaring that lad! Dipping your figures into nearly boiling water to remove a tea bag is so uncouth!…to say nothing of painful!! :shock:
While David was fiddling about trying to recharge his Li-Po I sat down by the car. All that searching for the model had quite worn me out. The sun started to shine and it felt warm in all my gear. My eyes felt heavy,…..and heavier …..and heavier………. So David, the cruel bastard that he is, snapped this rather unflattering shot of me. I was only resting my eyes!
After being roused from what had been a very pleasant afternoon doze, we enjoyed some more flying. The wind was getting lighter and turning more to the south.
Not content with all the searching he had done earlier, David again seemed to loose control of his model and again had to retrieve it. Here he is going off on another “walk of shame.”. Don’t worry Dave, we’ve all done it many, many, many times. It goes with the territory.
Eventually the motor mount on David’s wing started to come loose and it was decided to call it a day as the wind was going further towards the south and producing an ever narrower corridor of lift. We packed our gear away and bid each other farewell.
It had been a pleasant afternoons flying. A good start to the new season.
Little Keith........(Zzzzzzzzzzzzz)
