Meeting up on the road

  It was great to see my old friend Andy Ellison for a couple of days of flying and catching up.

  Day 1 was perfect timing- a day’s playing on Whitesheet and a chance to trim out the new Merlin- my favourite ‘sports model and racer’.  I should have the hang of the Merlin by now.  The only change with the other models is the new lighter stiffer boom construction and the internal controls on the wing.  The Merlin went straight from my hand and ate up the sky in it’s usual way.  It really reminds me of my much loved wizard Compacts and had replaced them very well in the fleet.

  Thanks for the picture Andy!

  I’ll down load some more pictures later but it was great to see 8 modellers at Whitesheet on a Monday- I think everyone in Wiltshire must have been on part time working.  I know Andy and Daniel’s Freestyler and Willow would go well and be pushed but I was impressed with the way that Dan threw Vagabond about.

  One toy that came from the back of Andy’s car was a D130, I’ve been around a number of gliders of this span but nothing quite like this.  38lbs of ballistic missile that Andy had rescued and was showing around the country.  The D130 wasn’t flown- we did have a who can hold it up contest!

Little grommit and his D60?

  Day 2 and Andy took Dan to fly my local ‘Wiz cliff’ in Exmouth- They flew off the promenade next to the car and on the  path on the way up- you have to have some fun!

  Fish chips and great to see some good friends!

Parts for Welsh Open repairs

  It's a happy day (as well as Friday).  After my damage at the Welsh Open I resisted my usual temptation to bodge up a quick repair on my Willow 2.  Instead I've waited for some new parts and a new fuselage to make a Jig out of.

  I've just collected a car filling box from Parcelforce and so howpfully next week I'll be getting down to some repairs.  It also means that as well as some Willow 2 models I have a spare joiner to fill with lead.  The plan is that as the Willow 2 so rarely flys un ballasted I might as well fill the joiner with 300g of lead.  This should help to get the maximim ballast capacity up (although I rarely use it all) and make life that little bit easier on the slope.

  If the repiar doesn't look too ugly I may post some pics.

Welsh Open 2014

  After a couple of days to catch up on my sleep it still has me smiling and wincing to think of the race.  Racing on all 3 days was just good fun.  Racing the Willow 2 each day felt great- this model really is up there with the best of the euro models!  Day 2 showed the hugely variable air but when the air came my way the Willow took off and took the lead in the round (thanks Knewt).

  Some less than perfect flying by me at the end of day 2 saw me slip down into the 20’s but this was as much to do with the further rise in flying standards.  Particularly from places 10-25, the number of pilots now who can rip up a round win keeps on growning.

  Mid way through and it's worth mentioning the first GBSRA AGM, well doen to Martin et al for setting up the organisation and chairing the AGM.  An Ideal forum for all slopers to drive OUR sport forwards.

  Day 3 was by far the brightest and on round 2 when I launched into some big air it had me doing the ‘don’t mess it up chant’ and team mate standing up at base A to make sure he got it right- unfortunately this pulled the cable out and I had to scrub.  On the Wrecker this is a long old walk and my air was gone by the time I got back.  Lack of sleep or focus and landing the re-flight damaged the Willow and I was on the spare.

  2 rounds later and a strange decision from the buzzer men to swap over in the middle of another run again pulled the cable out- was the air fast? The next pilot went sub 40!  It’s tough to knock guys helping out buzzing but perhaps only change over between pilots?  I’ve never had this happen before and to have it happen twice in one day was a test.

  With the usual suspects flying incredible smooth courses, the 40 pilots does give you a chance to look at the other models flying.  Andy B and his Radical looked elegant all weekend with his reversals.  The Spanish Viper model looks stunning but I was a huge fan of the way Daniel flew his Cross over.

  Generally a great weekend, with an element of what could have been but knowing that I can.  Stephan’s win was a tribute to his ability not to let the bad air drag him down as much as using the good air- a Class act.  Exactly how and why the buzzer supremo on the last day managed to relive himself of his duties in order to take pictures is ultimately only know to Mr Evans.  To all those who helped and AJ who dedicated his weekend to CDing all I can say is thank you!

  Can't remember what Martin Flew

Scott Took on Bridgend and lost- he just can't remeber how!

We all mucked in- the Dark Lord even cleanig his own model

Tony Livingston was only a suprise 3rd place to those who haddn't seen him at Whitesheet over the past 18 months.

A night on the Beer

A night on the Beer.

  I wouldn’t like to call it ‘training’ for the Welsh Open but the recent easterlies have given me the chance to re-maiden my Willow 2 over the cliffs at Beer.  The new Willow 2 wings and their internal horns looks pretty stunning to my very biased eyes.

  Launching a model off a cliff in light air is always a bit of a nervous one for the first flight but she went so well I was grinning away.  The sea lift was as smooth as ever so I could try out a few different turns and putting the willow back in the compression as I wanted to.- I really need the practise

  With the light fading for the last flight my camera didn’t do the sun setting over the cliffs justice, but you can’t knock the slope!

Fame and a review

  Thannks to Andy Ellison and the RCM&E for the Willow 2 review and comparrision to the original.

We've certainly come a long long way together over the past 5 years!

  I have 2 models in stock- perfect timing!

Merlin F3F for sale

  I'm not sure what happened to the  last post about this but the Merlin F3F is still here and for sale.

New in Box and in the Red/white/blue scheme for £425 shipped in the UK

Fitting the new Willow 2 wing

  A wet weekend so it’s given me time to post a couple of pictures of my new Willow 2 wing fit out.  A change with all the models now are the glass horns.  Really didn’t take any sanding or fitting to fit the push rods.  I fitted everything out side the wing to make life easier.

  I glued the horns into the wing so the top of the clevis were just proud of the wipers.  It just needed 5 minutes with a needle file to make sure the controls moved freely.  The wing looks stunning with everything internal- and absolutely no slop.

  The W2 wing is deep enough for the airtronics servos I like.  With the clevis using the inner hole on the servo arm the flat servo cover fits perfectly, giving a smooth finish to the wing top and bottom.