Topics

31

Humour / First Time Flying

« on: October 28, 2014, 22:53:33 PM »

A blond woman is in the middle of her very first flying lesson and her instructor suddenly has a heart attack and dies.

Blondie calls out over the radio, “Mayday! Mayday!”

A very calm Air Traffic Controller answers her distress call and asks the nature of her emergency.

Blondie; “I’m in the middle of my first flying lesson and my instructor has just died.”

A.T.C. “Oh that’s okay, don’t worry, I’ve been fully trained to be able to talk you down. Everything will be fine. The first thing to remember is not to panic. Now, just tell me your height and exact position."

Blondie, “I’m five foot seven inches tall and I’m sitting in the front of the plane in the right hand seat.”

After a short pause,

A.T.C. “I see, in that case repeat after me. Our Father who art in heaven…………. “ :lol:  :lol:

32

Slope Soaring / I might just have to get one of these

« on: October 26, 2014, 17:02:54 PM »

Just been scrolling through the internet, (as you do on a non-flying day) looking for nothing in particular.

Eyed Ebay and found this being sold from some of our German friends;




“Horizon ParkZone Radian Pro PNP”

Selling at €156 +€16 for shipping. I thought the spec wasn’t bad considering it has a full power train included and full a house wing. …………

Specifications:
Wingspan 2000mm (78.5 in)
Length 1140mm (45.0 in)
Weight 980 g (34.6 oz)
Speed control E-Flite PRO 30A ESC (installed)
Motor 480 BL 960 KV Outrunner (installed)
Servo PKZ SV 80 sport servos (6 installed)
Receiver AR600 DSM2 (installed in BNF ONLY - This listing is a PNP version)

The PNP version offers a saving saving over the BNF version can be made for those with existing batteries and chargers as the plug-N-play versions comes as plane only. Everything is installed and connected ready to go in the plane, all that’s needed is to fit and connect up a receiver of choice.

PNP Features
Ready to fly in minutes
5-channel control – throttle, aileron, elevator, rudder and flaps
Powerful 480-size 960Kv brushless outrunner motor installed
E-flite™ Pro 30A brushless ESC installed
Durable, lightweight and repairable Z-Foam™ construction
Requires a 5-channel full range transmitter, receiver, battery and charger (sold separately)

So I thought I’d enquirer a little further just to see if I could better the price. Came up with Steve Webb selling them for £105 + £17 shipping.

I might have to get myself one :wink: , just for a laugh on those windless Glide-Ins. :roll:

"Mandy,....are we maxed out on the credit card yet?" :lol:

L. Keith

33

Slope Soaring / Martin the Magnificent

« on: October 01, 2014, 14:37:05 PM »

So this guy (Martin) turns up, out of the blue, at last weeks Glide-In. He says he’s done a bit of powered flight and is interested in slope soaring. He has a brief flight with a polyhedral for a few minutes and declares that he enjoyed the experience.

He and I turn up on the north slope of Big L this morning. I’ve brought three models for him to try with my buddy box.
He jumps straight in and asks to fly my Phase 6 first. :shock:   (Not exactly a pylon racer but something with reasonable aerobatic abilities.) He takes it out into the lift and flys up and down the ridge for a couple of minutes then turns out of the lift, dives and levels out at about thirty feet above our heads and puts the bird into a 360 degree roll! :clap:
I’m tellin’ you lads, …..I like this man.  He’s got guts. Martin the Magnificent I’ll be calling him in future.

I didn’t bother with a buddy box after that little display. He flew all the models in the picture ending up with the Purple Riser as the lift got lighter. By the smile on his face when we parted, I’d say he’s bitten!

Well done Martin. :clap:

34

Slope Soaring / A Tale of two Keiths'

« on: August 03, 2014, 23:29:09 PM »

So, with no one else contributing much to the forum at the moment, here’s a tail of two “Keiths’ “   :lol:

The west slope of Big L was very gusty today. Although the wind was originally coming straight on to the slope at around 30 - 60 Kph it backed to south westerly by early afternoon.

My trusty Skua bounced around the skies as the first model airborne followed by Big Keith’s Mijet. The Mijet seemed to be having trouble penetrating out into the smoother lift so B. Keith landed it, and instead, flew his Zagi. All went well for a while until the Skua suddenly went into a downward spiral,…..and disappeared from view.  I couldn’t understand why she had so suddenly become uncontrollable?

Off I trekked through the heather and down the slope. I looked around but couldn’t find the poor old thing. I’d left the Tx back at the top of the slope so I decided that I’d have a better chance of finding the model by returning to the top of the slope, grabing the Tx and returning to the search area armed with the tx so I could operate the servos in the hope of hearing where the model was lying amongst the thick, and deep, heather. Must admit my idea was severely floored because of the noise of the wind which was likely to have drowned out the sound of the servos, but it was the best idea I could think of in terms of recovering my much beloved, and much abused, Skua.
When I got back to the top of the slope Big Keith said he thought I’d been looking in the wrong place :shock:  and insisted he knew where it was. :roll:  Enthusiastically he walked off down the hill while I regained my breath, confident that he was wrong in his assumption. :wink:  
Less than a couple of minutes later I heard a loud whistle. I looked down the slope, and there was my Skua being held aloft in the hands of the “Big Fella” What more can I say?! :oops:  :oops:

Nothing was found to be wrong with her (the Skua, not the big fella) so back up into the air she went, this time with B. Keith at the helm while I flew his Zagi. For a time we both tried a wee bit of combat but to no avail. Suddenly the Zagi I was flying spiralled into the hillside. A few minutes later The Skua that B.K. was flying did the same thing! We each retrieved the respective models to establish the cause of their sudden inability to continue flying. Well, my Skua had developed a “twitchy” servo, even with the Tx turned off. :?  B.K.’s Zagi had one servo that only worked when it felt like it. Strange how both combat wings had developed a fault at much the same time! :?:

But fear not dear reader, our flying was not curtailed by these unfortunate mishaps. We each had alternative (secondary) models. For B.K. it was to be his Mijet, but this time with a sizable lump of roofing lead stuck to the underside of the fuse around the CoG,…..and for me the proverbial Phase 6! (What else?)

Armed with these planes we spent the remaining time available flying and chatting together on the top of the slope. (Well, it wasn’t so much ‘chatting’, as shouting at each other above the sound of the wind.)

Don’t have any pictures I’m afraid, neither of us thought to take any. But that’s the story…..

So what have YOU been up to?

Little Keith

35

Humour / Women! does anyone understand them?

« on: June 25, 2014, 15:29:27 PM »

Well, it made me chuckle :lol:

Little Keith

36

Slope Soaring / Never take your eyes off the model!

« on: April 08, 2014, 14:37:40 PM »

With a westerly wind and a clear sky what better way is there than to spend a few hours than flying off the slope of Big L?

I parked up at the entrance to the forestry lane of the west slope and started assembling the Alpina. It had been ages since this bird had felt the wind under her wings, and I do enjoy flying her. After a moment a large empty articulated lumber carrying lorry turned into the forest lane. It stopped and the driver got down out of his cab and came over to talk to me.
He asked all the usual questions. “How far does it fly? How fast does it fly? How much does it cost?” You know yourselves the types of questions that get asked. He seemed a nice enough guy so we chatted for a few minutes. I told him about the up coming glide-in at the weekend. He said he might drop by to have a look.
He shook my hand and climbed back into his cab and drove off up the lane, into the forest and out of sight.

I think I must have been a little out of practice at launching a large model. Although the Alpina made it out into the lift she almost stalled just after launch. Away up into the clouds she flew, a Split S manoeuvre brought her speeding back towards me followed by a steep climb, stall turn and out into the lift again. Oh, I do so love that plane.

After twenty or so minutes it was time to land her. I switched the Tx to ‘Low Rate’. Down wind she came. 90degree right turn, followed by another 90 degree right turn bought her into wind over the landing zone. A little bit of crown braking caused her to start slowing up, a little forward pressure on the elevator to stop her ‘ballooning’ meant she was just skimming over the grass. A wee bit more crow and she came to an almost complete stop just dropping onto the grass and sliding three or four feet to a complete stop. How satisfying was that!

I’ve assembled the Phase 6 so many times I’m sure I could do it blindfolded. I launched her out across the valley and watched as she bounced around on the quite strong lift. Much more agile that the big Alpina, she needs a slightly different flying technique.
I’d been flying the P6 for a few minutes when I heard the sound of lorry airbrakes followed a moment later by a couple of quick ’hoots’ on a loud air horn. I assumed my friend had returned with a full load of downed trees and wanted to turn out of the forestry land, and that my car was stopping him.
I turned around to briefly face behind me and waved to acknowledge that he needed me to move my car. I noticed some movement in the lorry cab, though I couldn’t see exactly what. I turned back to face out over the valley intending to bring the model into land……and couldn’t see the Phase 6!!! F++K :shock: …. God I hate that feeling. Mouth does instantly dry, and my stomach feels as though it’s risen up into my chest. I scanned the skyline, then the cloud base, couldn’t see the dammed thing. Then, from the lower corner of my peripheral vision I caught a glimpse of it. She was flying very low, maybe two or perhaps three feet off the ground in a nose down attitude!
I think she hit the ground even before I had started to pull back on the elevator stick. :cry:
If that wasn’t sickening enough what really pissed me off today was, that when I turned around to point out my misfortune to the friendly lorry driver, he had completed his turn and was driving off down the road!

They say, “Life’s a Bitch”…….the gods certainly weren’t smiling on me today, that’s for sure!

Little Keith. (Feling Exceptionally little today :cry: )

37

Slope Soaring / 12th & 13th April 2014 Glide-In at Big L.

« on: April 05, 2014, 13:55:14 PM »

Only a week to go lads until the next Glide-In. Who’s going to be there to enjoy the ambience?

The weather reports so far look promising with only the chance of showers forecast.  The wind seems set to be from the west’ish direction although only around 10 - 15 Kmh. Looks like there won’t be any combat flying :evil: , more of a  gentle ‘floating’ type weekend.  I suspect that polyhedral / or large wingspan models will fly best if the forecasts are correct.

I may well toddle up to the Big L for an hour or two, just to annoy everyone. But will there be anyone there for me to annoy???  :!:

Little Keith

38

Slope Soaring / 8 - 9th March 2014 (PSS)

« on: March 04, 2014, 16:32:21 PM »

Okay, so who’s up for a spot of PSS and sport gliding on the Big L this weekend???  :?:

Come along, don’t be shy, surely everyone must be suffering with withdrawal symptoms after this horrendous winter.

Looks like there will be a good blow on the south slope on Saturday, and then a more gentle ’Floating’ kinda day on the west slope on Sunday. Something for everyone over the weekend

I’ll be there from about 11.00 on Saturday. Who else will I meet there???

Little Keith

39

Slope Soaring / Wake up lads, it's nearly Spring Time.

« on: February 20, 2014, 15:30:57 PM »

Here’s a little tale to wake you slope soarers up from you hibernation.

A couple of weeks ago, Big Keith and myself  made our way to the big L. Unfortunately, when I got there , while I was going my pre flight checks I noticed that the right tail plane was broken away from the fuse’. I don’t know when it had happened. Maybe I’d had a rough landing the previous time out, or maybe it was “Hanger Rash”. Whatever the cause I wasn’t going to flying the Phase 6 that day.


When I got home I repaired it. A couple of days ago I flew the model and it was fine.

Today, once again on my favourite slope, the weather was very gusty. I brought the P6 in to land. The winds were gusting quite strongly. Suddenly her nose pitched up. She gained some height and started blowing backwards towards the trees. I pushed the elevator forward in an attempt to get her nose down and allow her to make some headway into the strong wind. Well, she pitched down all right but didn’t loose much height or progress forward much and ended up,…..in the BLOODY TREES !!! ( I haven’t had that happen for a good few years.)

Fortunately she wasn’t too high in the branches, but in the process of getting her down,……I broke the left tail plane! Oh Bugger!




There! That’s put a little smile on your faces hasn’t it. So start considering getting those modes out of the hanger and checking them over. After all, it’s only a couple of weekends away from the first Glide-In of the year. Ypieeeee. (That should read ‘Yipeeeee’)( I thought I’d just point that out in case Mr. Buckley picks me up on it. )

Little Keith

40

How to... / Soldering Deans type connectors.

« on: February 09, 2014, 15:10:38 PM »

When you come to solder a battery / ESC leads to a Deans socket & plug assembly it’s often found to be a little difficult for a couple of reasons.

1/ How to hold the plug or socket in place while soldering the leads,…and

2/ Sometimes the plastic that forms the bulk of the plug / socket goes a bit soft due to the heat being used to solder the wires to relatively large connector pins. (You have to get the pins up to a reasonable temperature to allow the solder to ‘take’ to them.) This softening of the plastic can allow the pin / socket to move out of alignment so when you try to fit the plugs together again, after you’ve attached the cables, the dam things wont fit together!!! :!:

The solution that I use is:-

a/ To hold the deans plug in a pair of pliers or grips with a elastic band around the handle to maintain grip on the plugs. (as shown)

b/ To stop the  connector pins / sockets from moving out of alignment due to the plastic getting soft…..Fit the male and female plug parts together before you start soldering. That way they will always remain aligned.
Whether you get the problem of the pins not aligning, after you’ve soldered the cables, really depends upon your soldering skills. Speed is the key, but being able to make a good joint quickly is easier said than done! So keeping the male and female parts together helps to alleviate the problem of possible miss-alignment.



K.

41

Slope Soaring / Solange...it's new to me!

« on: October 20, 2013, 09:47:42 AM »

Just by chance I came across a kit model last night that I’ve never heard of before.  Made by the company “Cloud” the model is called a Solange. (Sounds French to me)

1.7 mtr span, swept back shoulder wing with a V tail, all wood construction.

Has anyone ever heard of them or flown one??? :?:

42

Slope Soaring / It's getting crowded on Big L.

« on: October 12, 2013, 15:29:25 PM »

So Big  Keith and myself were flying our combat wings together on Big L today and suddenly we were accosted by a man who said he wanted to have a go at gliding aero models.

So we let him have a go, fully expecting him to crash and have a long walk to collect the model,……but he didn’t! :shock:  :shock:  In fact he flew rather well for a first timer.

So the man in question is Patrick O’Brien. (Pat) He  was so in enthralled with the experience that when he got home he phoned me to say that he’s ordered a Zagi plus all the radio gear! (Is this guy serious or what!!! )(We like " serious flyers" on this forum  )

So we now have yet another Big L local flyer to join our merry crew.
(I can remember a time when I would be the only person flying off the Big L apart from at glide-in’s. At this rate it’s gonna start getting crowded up there.)

So welcome to the party, Pat……Log into the forum and say ‘hello’.

Here's a picture from today. (I thought I'd put their names in, in case they forgot who they were :roll: )

43

Slope Soaring / Mini Gathering on the Big L. (7th Sept)

« on: September 10, 2013, 22:17:11 PM »

Well, not to be outdone by all this gliding activity, we lads in the Sunny South East spent a eventful Saturday afternoon last weekend.

The venue of course was the Big L with winds of around 20 gusting 35Kph coming pretty much straight on to the West slope, (13.00h) although they backed to South West from about 15.00h

Stephen, his son Tom, Big Keith & myself arrived at the slope to be met by rain. :cry:  In fact the rain hardly stopped for the afternoon but most of the time it was just a few drops of water. But we Liensterites (If there is such a noun :?  ) are a hardy bunch. We ignored the moisture and flew anyway!

Here’s Stephen, myself and young Tom off to the slope. The cameraman had been on the drink the previous night so he was a bit slow off the mark. He only got the shots of our backs.



Here is Stephen wearing an almost ear-to-ear grin while brandishing his newly completed Skua. He was looking forward to maidening it.



Er,……that’s when things started to go wrong. After first launch, or should I say ‘first throw’ this is how the Skua looked.



However, once it got airborne it put in a stonking performance! Completely out flying Big Keith’s Zagi and my Skua. How disingenuous can a person be? I’d spent ages during the past couple of months answering emails and phone calls, advising Stephen on how best to assemble this wing, and then he goes and produces a model with such outrageous performance!

(Big Keith & I have decided that in future, if Stephen shows up on the slope while we are there, we’ll move off to a different part of the slope!) (But we haven’t told Stephen that yet)

Here’s a couple of snaps of Big Keith’s Zagi





Although there aren’t any pictures of him, Young Tom (10 years old) was so excited by all that was going on that he asked to have a go.  Fortunately a buddy box was found and he certainly enjoyed putting us ‘old-erns’ to shame  by showing us how quickly he could learn.  Having never flown an aero model before he was flying my Skua for up to two minutes without any input from me by his third attempt. :clap:
(That’s the trouble with ‘Youth',…..It’s so wasted on the young! :evil: )

After tea and refreshments, kindly donated by Big Keith, I assembled my P6 and Big Keith assembled his MiJet. Alas, the numpty hadn’t checked the battery before launching the model and………………..Yup! You guessed it,…..the MiJet ended up in the trees! (Where else?) :roll:





We managed to get it down by Stephen very courageously climbing up the tree, all-be-it that he fell the last three feet when descending the tree. Much to our delight, (he ended up on his arse) and his dismay.

Finally to round off this little tale, here’s a couple of pictures of an old friend. Do you recognize it Fred?



YES! you cleaver man,..it's your old "Flat V tail Thingy!" :wink:  Now in the ownership of Big Keith. It gets around that plane doesn't it! :lol:

Keith (Little)

44

For Sale / Vintage Bipe Kit

« on: September 03, 2013, 19:21:57 PM »

I've been asked by Big keith to post the following. (I think has asked me to post it because he's too bloody lazy to resize the pictures :roll: )

[i]"For sale very rare bi-plane kit

Reason for sale ..im into gliders not powered planes

€150 ono or will swap for right glider"[/i]









If any of you are interested, contact Big Keith.

45

Misceleanous / A Sunday's gentle combat (11th August 2013)

« on: August 11, 2013, 23:26:32 PM »

With westerly winds and a relatively clear sky three of us put in a show at the Big L on Sunday.
Big Keith, Stephen and myself intended to exploit the gentle lift of the 15 gusting 25kph breezes.

B. Keith flew his new Quark two or three times and was just getting it in trim, having landed a few times to make clevis adjustments, when the model went into an uncontrollable spin and nosed into the bottom of the valley.
When Keith returned with the model it could be seen to be repairable, but it’ll take some time. :cry:

Next up, Stephen flew his powered easy glider. Again he was flying it very well, out in the lift. I didn’t see exactly what happened but he too ended up taking the walk of shame.  Again his model is repairable, but it too needs a fair bit of work. :cry:

So the lads decided to return to the ‘old faithfulls’ of combat wings. (Much more resilient) At one stage they did actually manage contact  with Keith’s Zagi removing one of Stephens’ Skua’s fins. Unfortunately I didn’t have the camera rolling at that moment! :!:

Here’s three minutes of Combat Crazyness.

[youtube]http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=72154733[/youtube]

Little Keith