I have to share this with you.
Today my slope was working very well (W facing, just behind our house in
the Lake district).

Took my current bird (an RM design from the '70s, a Pecker II) up the slope
and had slope and thermal lift which swept it up the fell grand style.

Flight was over an hour, with loops, bunts, rolls, slope skimmig runs where
the thing whistled to me, and then the bonus; a couple of kestrels, playing
with it, flying in formation, making swoops past it etc: this lasted for
about 8 minutes before they got bored and shot off across the valley.
All this with a sunset to die for.

Lorton show in the morning (in the rain), this flight, and then a great
curry at Cagneys in Penrith.

My cup runneth over...

J.

"J."  wrote in message 
news:cl7md31ohqj94qocq0jka6pjlvoemgpneu@4ax.com...
>I have to share this with you.
> Today my slope was working very well (W facing, just behind our house in
> the Lake district).
>
> Took my current bird (an RM design from the '70s, a Pecker II) up the 
> slope
> and had slope and thermal lift which swept it up the fell grand style.
>
> Flight was over an hour, with loops, bunts, rolls, slope skimmig runs 
> where
> the thing whistled to me, and then the bonus; a couple of kestrels, 
> playing
> with it, flying in formation, making swoops past it etc: this lasted for
> about 8 minutes before they got bored and shot off across the valley.
> All this with a sunset to die for.
>
> Lorton show in the morning (in the rain), this flight, and then a great
> curry at Cagneys in Penrith.
>
> My cup runneth over...
>
> J.

Days like that are rare indeed, and they stay in the memory for ever.  Great 
stuff.

-- 
Dave (Sgt. Pepper)       Epsom, England
     My photo galleries at  http://www.pbase.com/davecq
    "I will not tolerate intolerance ... Doh!!"

Sounds good to me, but I prefer Indiagate and their Naga Massala!
Dave :^)
p.s. just putting gear in a "ASSAGAI" 10ft soarer.

> Sounds good to me, but I prefer Indiagate and their Naga Massala!

>

Naga chillis are my fave,splendid flavour, bloody hot though!

On 2007-09-02, J  wrote:
> I have to share this with you.
> Today my slope was working very well (W facing, just behind our house in
> the Lake district).
>
> Took my current bird (an RM design from the '70s, a Pecker II) up the slope
> and had slope and thermal lift which swept it up the fell grand style.
>
> Flight was over an hour, with loops, bunts, rolls, slope skimmig runs where
> the thing whistled to me, and then the bonus; a couple of kestrels, playing
> with it, flying in formation, making swoops past it etc: this lasted for
> about 8 minutes before they got bored and shot off across the valley.

It was obviously a forerunner for my session today.
A bit further south than you, same county, but on the coast.
A very nice west to north west wind on my favourite slope and plenty of
clouds interspersed with blue sky..... looked promising.

Arrived on the slope I could see, way down below, that the tide had just
left the estuary and the sand was drying off nicely, that should
generate a bit of lift.

First off was a 100" Flair Albatross that has been a favourite companion
for a few years now. Straight out into good lift, a bit of flying around
and the first thermal came along and it was waaaaaaay up there time >:-)

After 1/2 hour I sat down in the heather as this was obviously going to
be a brilliant day's flying. Thermal after thermal came through and
there was never any sign that the glider was going to come down unless I
brought it down. After exactly 1 hour I decided to stand up and do
something about getting it down and landing it. I would have carried on
but I had been that keen to get flying that I hadn't put my windproof
jacket on and I was starting to get a bit cold !

Jacket on and time for the next model. This was a Simplex that had
the plan in RCM&E fairly recently. I originally built it as per plan and
stuck a Thunder Tiger 07 on the front. I didn't reckon a lot to it so...
I made a new wing based on a freehand drawing of my idea of a Clark Y
airfoil, I also made it a thick airfoil to give plenty of lift and it
has a nice rounded leading edge... none of your sharp leading edge
profile here. I also scrapped the original tailplane, fin and rudder and
made different ones. I now call it "Not A Simplex"     >:-))

The Simplex wanabee has been flown a couple of times before and proved
itself, fast, stable, and damned near impossible to get into trouble
with. I can do all sorts of silly antics and the thing shows no signs of
wanting to fall out of the sky. A couple of flights with this put a big
grin on my face and it was time to head back to the car.

I had a similar session last week and feel as though I am on a roll
after the miserable summer. Flying just doesn't get any better than
this. The atmosphere was very clear and visibility was brilliant, the
Isle of Man was visible as well as Morecambe Bay, Blackpool and the
Fylde coast.

Reg

On 3 Sep 2007 18:27:05 +0100, tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net wrote:

(snip)

Nice one Reg! Northerly breeze still on. My slope works best with W, WNW
breezes.

Just dashed out to see a Typhoon going up the valley... BELOW us!! and
heading your way.

J.

J. wrote:
> On 3 Sep 2007 18:27:05 +0100, tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net wrote:
> 
> (snip)
> 
> Nice one Reg! Northerly breeze still on. My slope works best with W, WNW
> breezes.
> 
> Just dashed out to see a Typhoon going up the valley... BELOW us!! and
> heading your way.
> 
> J.
is there a way of contacting active slope soarer's in a particular area 
as I have always wanted to give it ago but I have no idea what slopes 
work with what direction wind ETC, I can fly most models and have a 
couple of electric gliders that I could try with
Kevin


PS I am in Reading so not many slopes that work  here

Kevin wrote:
> J. wrote:
>> On 3 Sep 2007 18:27:05 +0100, tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net wrote:
>>
>> (snip)
>>
>> Nice one Reg! Northerly breeze still on. My slope works best with W, WNW
>> breezes.
>>
>> Just dashed out to see a Typhoon going up the valley... BELOW us!! and
>> heading your way.
>>
>> J.
> is there a way of contacting active slope soarer's in a particular area 
> as I have always wanted to give it ago but I have no idea what slopes 
> work with what direction wind ETC, I can fly most models and have a 
> couple of electric gliders that I could try with
> Kevin
> 
> 
> PS I am in Reading so not many slopes that work  here

  Ive seen slopers up on the chilterns.. Something beacon..

On 2007-09-05, Kevin  wrote:

> is there a way of contacting active slope soarer's in a particular area 
> as I have always wanted to give it ago but I have no idea what slopes 
> work with what direction wind ETC, I can fly most models and have a 
> couple of electric gliders that I could try with
> Kevin
>
>
> PS I am in Reading so not many slopes that work  here

There are some slope soaring clubs and a Google or BMFA search may well 
turn up some. I can't help there as I fly alone, that way I only get to
argue with myself !

If all else fails... have a look at a map of the area where you intend
flying. Look at the wind direction that would be required to put the
wind square on to the face of any slope you fancy trying.

Be aware that some clubs have arrangements with local landowners which
allow them to fly off particular slopes but ONLY gliders... no power
models of any kind - including electric.

It's quite likely that any decent slopes in your area will already be
being used by some club or other. I am fortunate as it is far less
populated up here and I can find places where I see nobody all day long.

The elctrickery would be a nice safety measure until you get used to
slope soaring and the best conditions, as above though.... if slopes are
used by soaring clubs then there will probably be a ban on any sort of
power.

Good luck,
Reg

Following on from Reg's post, try to chose a slope which has a nice flat 
area on top with no obstructions ( for landing) and, preferably, no trees 
below which can cause turbulence. Look at the distribution of the contour 
lines on an OS map. A "bowl" facing into the prevailing wind can generate 
much more lift than a straight slope.

Avoid round hills as the area of lift is very narrow and a model can easily 
be blown round one of the sides - a similar effect can happen if you get too 
close to the end of a ridge . Try to avoid hills which have other hills a 
short distance upwind, and also try to avoid shear cliffs as these can also 
cause problems with "curl over" at the lip.

Generally speaking a slope will create a band of lift which extends outwards 
from the slope and can often greatly exceed the height of the slope above 
the country in front of it.

Where Reg flies he has a very flat area in front of the slope - namely the 
Irish sea and this is very desirable.

HTH

Malcolm

More thoughts on slope soaring.

The wind doesn't have to be exactly at right angles to the slope to generate 
lift, but it is important to launch a model directly into the wind if it is 
coming at an angle other than ninety degrees to the ridge.

"Malcolm Fisher"  writes:

> Following on from Reg's post, try to chose a slope which has a nice flat 
> area on top with no obstructions ( for landing) and, [...]

That's the one thing I have serious problems with...  What's a good
approach to a landing on top of the slope? The (few) times I've tried,
I've either bailed out (and landed some way down the slope), or been
unable to hold the model against the wind, thus coming down way back
behind the top of the slope, in heavy turbulence.  Haven't damaged my
slope soarer yet, but there's been a couple of close calls... :)

-tih
-- 
Computers are useless.  They can only give you answers.  --Pablo Picasso

"Malcolm Fisher"  wrote in message 
news:46e19cb0$0$763$4c56ba96@master.news.zetnet.net...
> Following on from Reg's post, try to chose a slope which has a nice flat 
> area on top with no obstructions ( for landing) and, preferably, no trees 
> below which can cause turbulence. Look at the distribution of the contour 
> lines on an OS map. A "bowl" facing into the prevailing wind can generate 
> much more lift than a straight slope.

Best slope soaring I ever experienced was down in Cornwall.  I would always 
put a glider in the car when we went for our annual break at Mevagissey. 
Just along the coast from there is a National Trust car park and from there 
you can walk along the top of the long cliff over Vault Beach.  There are 
some nice fields over the back for landing the bigger floaters safely.

I really can't recall any greater pleasure than standing on that beautifully 
rounded cliff on a warm summer's day, with the salty sea air playing gently 
in your face, and watching your glider soar effortlessly along the cliff. 
Quite often the seagulls would form a line off each wing in a delta pattern 
like the red arrows, and it was always a hoot to suddenly perform a tight 
loop and watch the pandemonium break out as they tried to get back in 
formation again.

The only hazard I recall was that there was a herd of young bullocks who had 
free range of the hill top.  On their own they're no trouble, but once you 
get a small herd of them together they get very bold and very mischievous. 
On more than one occasion I found that during my concentration on flying, 
they had crept up behind me and were about to make a little charge at me, 
usually just when I wanted to land.  All good fun.
-- 
Dave (Sgt. Pepper)       Epsom, England
     My photo galleries at  http://www.pbase.com/davecq
    "I will not tolerate intolerance ... Doh!!"