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Post by Echostorm on Mar 24, 2009 11:14:57 GMT 10
Hey guys, Great forum. First off let me just say I have found my new love! After working in the aviation industry, I thought I lost my passion for my first calling of flying however my first flight changed this forever. My fist flight was off the point between First and Second bay in Coolum. Let me tell you, I was literally shaking with nerves. The guy at Toyworld in Kawana said that I would never be able to fly it without lessons ect ect... so this added to my anxiety. After throwing it off, confusing right to left and left to right a few times, I was up and away. Like a baby bird taking its first flight. I managed to keep it level and kept the nose into the wind, however I was faced with one massive problem COMING BACK! My new found love, after hours of construction was heading out to sea. After a few moments of panic I managed to do a very slow orbit (the downwind part wasnt slow!!) and come back to the cliffs and climb about 50ft in the process. To top it off an eagle flew right up next to me, had a good look and then cruised on, perfectly magestic. That was it... hooked. I have had a few sessions since, and feel pretty comfortable with flying (and more importantly landing) so I am going to start regularly going to Mt Coolum after reading a few of the guys here have been flying off it. Living just down the road I feel this will be my perfect local. Has anyone tried Ninderry, Mount Eewah Vale, Emu Mountain, Coory Mountain or Mount Kin Kin? I would be keen to hook up with other fellow locals and fly dogfights, so if anyone is in the area is looking for another wheel please email me info@abovephotography.com.au. p.s. what the hec does DSing mean???  Cheers Mike |
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Post by sean on Mar 24, 2009 12:41:25 GMT 10
Hey Mike, Glad to hear you're getting into it! As you might have sussed out by now the safest way to slope soar when you're learning is to fly figure 8s - fly left to right parallel to the slope face, turn into the wind and fly back the other way, etc. It's always much safer to turn into the wind. It's easy to get blown behind the slope in a downwind turn. Once you're comfortable flying turn whichever way you want! I've had a look at the saddle at Ninderry, but it was more than year ago. It was very overgrown back then, too overgrown to be any fun really. It's probably worth another look, it might have been cleared back in which case it'd probably be quite good. I've flown Emu Mt a few times but it's always been really turbulent and patchy. I think I just haven't been there on the right day because I'm told it can be good. The terrain is rocky and the bushes are spikey so it can play havoc on the covering of your foamy. I haven't flown the others you mention. If you're looking for a good slope on the coast Pt Cartwright is a great site - it works in an SE which tend to the strongest onshore winds in our area. Lots of space, easy to land, good lift on the right day and it's the only site on the coast where I tend to meet other flyers (without arranging a meeting). My favourite coastal site in our area is Moffat Beach (Queen of Colonies Pde). Works in a northerly and IMO has the strongest, cleanest lift. DSing stands for 'dynamic soaring'. It's a technique where you dive into still air (usually on the back of a sharp ridge), then fly back out into the moving air on the front of the slope, and constantly repeat this pattern flying tight circles mostly on the back side of the ridge. It can produce tremendous speed (world record currently stands at 392mph and tends to go up severl times a year). It's the most fun you can have with an RC sailplane, IMO, incredibly addictive. Here's a video of the curent DS WR: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaQB16ZaNI4Keep in mind the plane being flown has a 2.5M span!!! T Give us a yell if you're keen for a fly sometime. Sean. |
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Post by sean on Mar 24, 2009 13:00:02 GMT 10
Here's a good explanation of how dynamic soaring works: www.billpattersonart.com/dszone.swfClick on the glider icon at the bottom left of screen to see the explanation. It's fairly old now - it mentions the WR as 215mph! You can hear the Kinetic in the video I linked to in my previous post cross the shear layer - as it's flying up from the back of the hill and is just about to cross the top of the ridge you can hear a BARRRUMPH sound. The sound in real life is much louder than it ever sounds in videos, even at the much more modest speeds we get over here. |
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Post by combatnoosa on Mar 24, 2009 18:38:07 GMT 10
Hi Mike, I live at Noosa but work in Marcus beach and i headed to Pt. Perry today to meet up with Rod and it was OK there, the lift is only in a small area and peters out quickly, but it is fun and I hit an old guy today, he took it ok and even asked to have a photo taken with me with the plane. seem to be hitting a few people lately. it was an accident i was landing and hit a crosswind and it picked up and hit him in the belly, he was leaning on a tree and knocked him off balance and fell over, I thought I had Killed the poor old chap, but he got up laughing, I was panicking so much! If you want to go flying let me know, this week is going to be great despite my comment to Nick the other day saying the wind was not going to be that good but there is a Cyclone off the coast which is going to increase the speed of wind! Jay PS. Unless you have legs that can handle the climb up Mt. Coolum I would suggest flying along the coastline until you really fit  |
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Post by combatnoosa on Mar 24, 2009 23:22:14 GMT 10
Oh and also Rob has brought it to my attention that I forgot part of the afternoon.
I was launching the glider and my thumb turned off the power to the receiver.
the plane went straight up and backflipped into a veranda with people on it, lucky it didn't hit a window, however the owner did make a joke and said she wished I did hit a window so she could claim on insurance...
Overall I had a good day knocked an elderly man off his feet and hit a house, the glider sustained extreme damage as the wing was ripped from the fuse, a bit of filament tape and off she went! got to love foamies.
Jay
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Post by combatnoosa on Mar 24, 2009 23:28:06 GMT 10
Oh also in regard to Emu Mountain, make sure you wear long pants and hiking shoes if you plan on ditching your plane in the shrub, the bushes stratch the bageezes out of your legs!
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Post by oldnewbie on Mar 25, 2009 0:02:07 GMT 10
I would to thank Jay for the avo gliding on the SC. We had a lot of fun and a few laughs.
Rob
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Post by combatnoosa on Mar 25, 2009 23:00:08 GMT 10
No Worries Rob, it was a pleasure, oh and something strange, Rob and I share the same last name, freaky... Moulton that is.
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Post by Echostorm on Mar 28, 2009 10:16:59 GMT 10
Man that Dsing is INSANE!!!! It looks like it is in fast fowards lol. Thanks heaps for your replies guys, combatnoosa I was cracking up your post about crashing into an old dude.
I have been going up Mount Coolum heaps since I first posted. I had a spectacular crash landing on Thursday, where I flew too far down wind of the mountain, and got caught in a downdraft. I tried flying back around the mountain but the wind was too strong so I was forced to fly away and crash land about 2kms away at the Hyatt Golf Course. I didnt get a hole in one, but I did land right next to the green lol.
It was really hard trying to judge how high I was in relation to the trees at the fairway so I did really tight circuits up and down the fairway with little dives whenever I went over the green until it finally hit the ground. Some nice lady let us in after we pressed the buzzer of about 4 houses trying to get through the gate, and when we picked it up, seeing where we were when standing on mount coolum and where the plane had landed, it is truley quite remarkable. Its amazing how far these things travel, and how fast you can get there!
So it is official I am hooked, and with the future of Dsing, things are looking bright. I look forward to many a hike up vast remote mountain ranges to fly now. Its great cause it gives you a reason to go on a massive climb, not just climbing up going, oh isnt that sweet, then climbing down.
Look forward to catchin up guys....
peace.
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Post by combatnoosa on Mar 28, 2009 11:06:05 GMT 10
hey Echostorm,
Send me a PM next time you want to do Coolum, I will come up for a fly.
Today would be great but I have to help my girl with work, she is a wedding decorator which sucks for me cause most weddings are on the weekend "anything to survive tho..."
Jay
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