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Post by ezza on Jun 8, 2008 23:16:14 GMT 10
Vanders,
Certainly a nice bowl shape on the front. What happens over the 'other side'? Does it drop away? Do you have to walk up?
Eric
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Post by Vanders on Jun 8, 2008 23:54:39 GMT 10
Eric,
No mate you can drive right to the top, the other side & top is fat & inconsistant, but hey what I know about whats req'd for a good ds spot is not worth talking about. Theres a few possible better spots along this ridgeline that may be ok, let me know if you ever want to check them out mate, more than happy to show you around.
Eric I've sent you an email to the iprimus address.
Mark
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Post by sean on Jun 9, 2008 9:24:17 GMT 10
Sounds like a fun weekend! I was very disappointed that I couldn't make it.
Thanks for posting the video Mark!
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Post by skyboyken on Jun 9, 2008 11:12:00 GMT 10
Andrew and Ezza did really really well,
for Andrew it was a huge amount to take in and learn while trying to perform at the same time and get a good result.
I watched his flying get better each flight, and his landings were incredibly good right from the start. It's a really tough job to put a 3m glider within 1m of a spot after exactly 10 min and zero seconds of thermal flight. In fact thermal comps are a great (as in exciting and fun as well as tough) challenge for any pilot. You're being challenged the whole flight, and there's other guys who may be doing better than you, or maybe you're doing better than them, and it may be back and forth the whole flight. It's a guaranteed buzz when you catch and ride a thermal or nail a landing. Andrew did seriously great.
Ezza had flown thermal once before and it showed. His flying also improved as he got better at working lift and he scored a couple of really good results - beating guys with way more experience.
I'm definitely getting a mouldie and going to play again myself - I used to do thermal comps 15 years ago and I got a real buzz out of it too.
Ken.
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Post by Pij on Jun 9, 2008 12:34:51 GMT 10
That does sound like an addictive challenge. Does everybody launch at the same moment, or in turn. Equally, does each person have their own 10min0sec deadline, or does everybody have the same moment to land? I went out to EH again this morning. Winds were much lighter when we arrived than I've been flying in lately, so after 2 brief flights I took off some lead. Just 1 piece, which I think is about 8g, but it made a huge difference, and I had to get used to the lightweight feel all over again. Eventually I got it trimmed and I got my habits sorted out, kept my airspeed up better, thought I was doing OK, so tried some loops. Just wasn't working out for me. Scraped some clay off the wing and kept trying. Kept failing too, until the wind picked up and I was able to gain some height. Things went better then. But I tried inverted once, and ended up on the edge of the salt water. Youngest son retrieved as quickly as he could, Duck didn't get dunked. Had really good height with the ballast lowered and winds picking up. Tried to practice circles rather than my usual figure-8's, but not much success. Somewhere in all that lot I bounced off some she-oak branches a few times. Damaged one balsa elevon on the inner end, but just squeezed back into shape. Something to fix properly on the next rebuild. Looks like it took some stress at the usual spot too, at the Duck-tail junction.
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Post by Hamburglar on Jun 10, 2008 10:23:01 GMT 10
Good morning guys, Hope everyone is doing well. I had a really good weekend flying down here in ACT. The little yellow Wasp is going brilliantly. I just realised I put my elevons on the wrong way around It still flies great so I don't know if I can be bothered fixing them. Here are some pics from the weekend. Saturday on Mt Arawang- Looking north over the city The SE slope Sunday at Lake George- Facing north looking back towards the carpark Looking south from just above the carpark Just ordered some servos and stuff for a new plane. Still haven't decided what I want. Leaning towards a Moth or HP from NCFM. Regards, Jordan
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Post by Pij on Jun 10, 2008 12:51:14 GMT 10
What beautiful scenery, and lovely smooth slopes.
[envy]
I wish I had a hill...
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Post by Pij on Jun 13, 2008 19:40:02 GMT 10
No wind. No good for sloping. BUT, as my youngest son pointed out, PERFECT weather for buddy-cord flights on the Electrafuns. So we did. one good flight (one battery) each for sons 2 and 3 with buddy cord, oldest son flew one battery out on his own, and I had a bit of a fly of my Sapac Phoenix after the sun dipped. Nothing broken, all good flights from the boys, can't complain. Well, actually I can complain. If only the strong winds tomorrow would swing more to the east Who has a southerly slope? Anybody?
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Post by Pij on Jun 14, 2008 19:07:34 GMT 10
Went to the inlet at Elliott heads today with my youngest son, specially to give him some experience with the Duck. The little dune, 2m or so, provided some lift, but mostly I had him practising straight forwards flights out onto the sand. I did get him to try, a few times, a flight ALONG the dune instead, but they always ended behind us. The wind had picked up a bit, of course.
I was able to hover and fly a little on the dune, particularly where it lifted further over a few trees. One launch on the S-facing little rock cliff wasn't worth repeating.
I had 2 chucks at my regular SE site at EH, but the wind was too low and too far S. I don't know what happened to the wind, but it was certainly a lot weaker than predicted.
Did anybody find some lift today?
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Post by Hamburglar on Jun 14, 2008 20:09:16 GMT 10
Did anybody find some lift today? We had a good day down here. Flew on Mt Arawang today. Southerly wind 20ish km/h gusts to 30+. Crashed the Wasp and tore the pod from the wing. Fixed it with strapping tape at it was fine. I ended up adding 2 x 50c and 2 x 20c as ballast and it flew great. Wish I had more coins in the wallet!
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Post by Pij on Jun 14, 2008 20:16:58 GMT 10
Sounds like you had the right slope today. All to yourself? There must be somebody else down there who likes this stuff.
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Post by Hamburglar on Jun 14, 2008 20:34:57 GMT 10
Yeah all to myself again. I've talked to a couple of people in hobby stores that fly too. Just haven't seen anyone on the slopes. It is quite cold down here at the moment. It was 9-10 degrees (less if you factor in wind chill!) while I was flying today. It's worth putting up with the cold for some decent lift though.
Hope tomorrow is better for you guys!
Jordan
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Post by thevon on Jun 15, 2008 11:39:26 GMT 10
Yesterday's highs and lows (flying at Mt Mee, private property on west side): LOW: The much-forecasted 20 - 30 kt SW didn't eventuate and the wind was dangerously light and flicking around. HIGH: Putting the Fazer up and flying it for about 45mins, just beautiful, climbing in thermals, aerobatics, and walking way up along the ridge and trying DSing different spots. LOW: Deciding to bungee launch the new Bat for its maiden, and having it crash spectacularly about 5 times as we progressively added huge amounts more weight to the nose. I should add it to the Klutz stories thread - I dunno how I stuffed it up by I had checked the CG and thought it was close, but on checking it again last night I found it was way out. I have CG dyslexia. So it's no wonder it went berzerk. HIGH: Meeting Steve (Drcuzo) and seeing and flying his new Duck. LOW: Having the wind suddenly drop out totally with the Fazer close to the trees, emergency downwind landing over the lantana, didn't nose it down hard enough to land in the lantana-tops so ended up with a rough landing and a bit more repair work to do. But I love that plane!
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Post by skyboyken on Jun 16, 2008 17:44:05 GMT 10
Hi Andrew, the wind was funny yesterday. At Bald Knob it was moderate SW until about 3pm when it died away to very light like someone flipped a switch. I'm sure the mighty Fazer will look and fly just as well after its repairs . How's the Bat? I watched Paul Newell fly his yesterday and I was blown away again. Not only does the plane fly well in the breeze but there were times when Ducks were falling out of the sky and the Bat was carrying its energy and floating around without even a hint of misbehaviour. I really didn't think they'd do that . Shane maidened his new Reaper - beautifully built. His has a wooden fuse and nylon wing bolts, Burrly covering that looks like glass and carbon bagged flaperons. He asked me to have a look at it and after moving the CG back the plane really came to life! Unfortunately just then the wind was turned off so he'll have to wait to finish tuning it. I think it's going to be awesome when he does! Ken.
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Post by Pij on Jun 16, 2008 20:53:58 GMT 10
Ken, that's interesting about the Bat. Is that a standard build? I've seen builds of heavy, beefed-up Bats, and thought to myself that they needed bigger air than I have nearby. But I've wondered whether a standard Bat build might have the right characteristics for small flying sites in small conditions, with enough potential to show their stuff when conditions pick up. Do you think a Bat might be a good move after a Duck, when small coastal slopes are the local sites?
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