SLOPING OFF...
...the Newsletter of Christchurch and District Model Flying Club for...September 2024
Something for nothing… Where did the wind go?!
By David Bicker
After an indoor session at Broadstone on the 3rd June, the weather looked favourable for a go at Win Green in the afternoon on the NW bowl. So in anticipation I packed 3 sloping models as well as the indoor kit.
The forecast was 8-9mph on the NW bowl, so I took light wind models. Even so, when I arrived around 2pm the wind had dropped away to 4-6mph with very occasional thermals coming through. I could see from the angle that the Kestrel was hovering at above the slope that it was a little west of the ideal NW direction.
I decided to eat lunch first and hope that the wind picked up a bit. – It didn’t. So I decided that the only model that I had brought that would be suitable was my super light V-tailed pre-DLG-era glider.
When I was given it by a WSRFC member, he said that he hadn’t flown it in about 10 years & couldn’t remember what model it was. To date, nobody has come forward with any suggestions as to whose design & build it is. It has a carbon/fibreglass fuz and a super slim veneered balsa built-up wing section that’s about 10mm at its thickest and thin-enough to shave yourself on the trailing edge!
On the first launch it headed out into the bowl….. and started to slowly sink. I managed to fly it round in an arc until it was back on the slope, but about 20ft lower down than I was. I was glad that I hadn’t had to walk for it! About 5 minutes later the wind picked up just a little bit (6-7mph) & I launched again. After a lot of scratching about it gradually gained height. It really was trying to get something out of nothing. The grass was almost still on the slope, but there was just enough lift out away from the slope to keep it airborne.
Over the following 41 minutes flight it was a joy to defy the odds, chasing any tiny opportunity to gain height and the odd thermal that came through. Smooth flying was the order of the day. Quite early on during the flight the wind dropped away even more, so I knew that if I landed, it wasn’t going to be flown again that day.
At best I got it up to probably 300-400 feet up, 4 or 5 times. There just wasn’t quite enough lift to be able to mess around doing some aeros, but it was an enjoyable challenge keeping it in the air as long as possible.
There were times when at height that I was able to get lift under some clouds, but often it would gradually start losing height, so coursing back and forth across the whole width of the NW bowl plus the slope towards the headland on the north side of the bowl often showed up an area where lift could be found. The odd small thermal helped too but were a challenge to stay inside as they were small and transient in nature. Here one second, gone the next.
I was glad that I had decided to fly the V-tail. Anything else would have resulted in a walk to the bottom of the hill! An enjoyable challenge to stay airborne.