Post by thevon on Aug 25, 2009 20:10:08 GMT 10
Sean and I sussed out a DS site in the country today. I was pretty excited because it’s a spectacular high spot which has a great looking bowl to scoop up westerly air, and a saddle with a good backside as well. And for a change there was actually plenty of wind! All too often our planned DS adventures end up with us sitting on a ridge watching butterflies floating around over the grass. Today there was a decent NW wind forecast – the big unknown was … would it work!
I guess we still don’t really know. Today the air was pretty messed up and the results were mixed to say the least. Looking at Seabreeze the wind was very north, so perhaps that affected it. But we had a great time and I was treated to an amazing display of DS skill by Sean, reaching 132mph with his new home brew Brutale foamy in a really gnarly spot with really swirly air, so I hereby declare the day a success. Don't you reckon this photo captures the essence of flying - it's all about standing on a ridge flying and smiling - and notice the moon just above the plane?
Initially we tried the “main” spot and it either didn’t work, or worked a bit and was very dodgy. It’s amazing how you can find a site which appears to have everything going for it, but it just doesn’t work!
Despite the great looking slope the lift was really mixed. The sort where you sink, then get flipped by a big updraft. Sean tried with the Brutale and ended up yelling “hopeless!” repeatedly as it barely made it over the lip. I had trouble keeping the 1.7kg JW60 aloft so I tried the Reaper and it flew so much better. I put a couple of slugs in it and a couple of laps looked OK so I kept going and it got sucked in for a big hard cartwheel, which established that the tape and ply mount system worked really well. The fin needs patching up but the wing separated neatly from the fuse.
(this photo shows the ply mount on the JW before taping)
Not such good luck with the Ditza. It flew so well on the front, making much more efficient use of the washing-machine air. I should have listened to Sean’s comment that keeping on trying to DS was just going to destroy a plane. I couldn’t help myself and dived in, and the Ditza responded with some nice acceleration so I persisted, with the same result as the Reaper. Full elevator and sucked down. It cracked the top skin on both sides, over the flap servo. Bummer. Not happy Andrew. I thought I’d grown up enough not to risk good planes in dodgy conditions, but obviously not. Hmm.
We went for a walk over the knoll to check out the rest of the ridge, and found a couple more potential spots. Not as clear as the main area, but with good dead air on the back. Up near the forest there was a really dead back area so Sean took a risk and launched out between trees, had to work hard to get the height, and finally dived in with just enough speed and hooked a mushy groove. He worked it for quite a while, maxing at 88mph before the Brutale ran out of puff into the soft grass.
There was one more spot further back which looked good except for the big dead trees sticking up on the back! I wasn’t keen but Sean braved it, dived in over trees and arced up again between the dead trees! For the first time today we heard a decent rumble as the plane carved overhead. Sean and I learnt to DS together and I’ve watched him a lot, but it was amazing to see him start to really nail this precarious line and after 10 laps or so he was in the 90’s then 100, and I thought that had to be the best effort. But he went wider and deeper and fair dinkum the speeds kept going up by about 2mph to reach 122, then bigger jumps to 125, 127, 129 and the day’s record of 132! Man it was really good to watch. I took a bit of crappy video. Didn’t realize the wind noise was so bad.
www.vimeo.com/6261370
Sean spent a good 30 or 40 minutes solid DSing without a pause, and only stopped when he lightly clipped through some leaves of a tree on the bottom turn and neatly took the fin off! He flew it back over the front fin-less and did a perfect approach and landing! And ... we found the fin! (which was a minor miracle).
I tried having a go with my JW and didn’t really even come close. Couldn’t seem to get anything right today, but what the heck it was great fun. Still keen to try that spot again in a better wind direction. Never give up.
I guess we still don’t really know. Today the air was pretty messed up and the results were mixed to say the least. Looking at Seabreeze the wind was very north, so perhaps that affected it. But we had a great time and I was treated to an amazing display of DS skill by Sean, reaching 132mph with his new home brew Brutale foamy in a really gnarly spot with really swirly air, so I hereby declare the day a success. Don't you reckon this photo captures the essence of flying - it's all about standing on a ridge flying and smiling - and notice the moon just above the plane?
Initially we tried the “main” spot and it either didn’t work, or worked a bit and was very dodgy. It’s amazing how you can find a site which appears to have everything going for it, but it just doesn’t work!
Despite the great looking slope the lift was really mixed. The sort where you sink, then get flipped by a big updraft. Sean tried with the Brutale and ended up yelling “hopeless!” repeatedly as it barely made it over the lip. I had trouble keeping the 1.7kg JW60 aloft so I tried the Reaper and it flew so much better. I put a couple of slugs in it and a couple of laps looked OK so I kept going and it got sucked in for a big hard cartwheel, which established that the tape and ply mount system worked really well. The fin needs patching up but the wing separated neatly from the fuse.
(this photo shows the ply mount on the JW before taping)
Not such good luck with the Ditza. It flew so well on the front, making much more efficient use of the washing-machine air. I should have listened to Sean’s comment that keeping on trying to DS was just going to destroy a plane. I couldn’t help myself and dived in, and the Ditza responded with some nice acceleration so I persisted, with the same result as the Reaper. Full elevator and sucked down. It cracked the top skin on both sides, over the flap servo. Bummer. Not happy Andrew. I thought I’d grown up enough not to risk good planes in dodgy conditions, but obviously not. Hmm.
We went for a walk over the knoll to check out the rest of the ridge, and found a couple more potential spots. Not as clear as the main area, but with good dead air on the back. Up near the forest there was a really dead back area so Sean took a risk and launched out between trees, had to work hard to get the height, and finally dived in with just enough speed and hooked a mushy groove. He worked it for quite a while, maxing at 88mph before the Brutale ran out of puff into the soft grass.
There was one more spot further back which looked good except for the big dead trees sticking up on the back! I wasn’t keen but Sean braved it, dived in over trees and arced up again between the dead trees! For the first time today we heard a decent rumble as the plane carved overhead. Sean and I learnt to DS together and I’ve watched him a lot, but it was amazing to see him start to really nail this precarious line and after 10 laps or so he was in the 90’s then 100, and I thought that had to be the best effort. But he went wider and deeper and fair dinkum the speeds kept going up by about 2mph to reach 122, then bigger jumps to 125, 127, 129 and the day’s record of 132! Man it was really good to watch. I took a bit of crappy video. Didn’t realize the wind noise was so bad.
www.vimeo.com/6261370
Sean spent a good 30 or 40 minutes solid DSing without a pause, and only stopped when he lightly clipped through some leaves of a tree on the bottom turn and neatly took the fin off! He flew it back over the front fin-less and did a perfect approach and landing! And ... we found the fin! (which was a minor miracle).
I tried having a go with my JW and didn’t really even come close. Couldn’t seem to get anything right today, but what the heck it was great fun. Still keen to try that spot again in a better wind direction. Never give up.
That photo is incredible. Perfect timing. The groove looked really smooth for a westerly spot. Need to push some of those dead trees over. The wind was really north today so I bet you have more fun out there when the wind has more west in it. One of the best things about the winter season is all the new and different sites the west winds open up. Great work guys!! Lets keep discovering...
