The last few weeks have seen me spending much more time on the slopes than usual. The Wyvern showed just how competitive it was at the Welsh open, especially on those days when the times are in the 40-50 second ranges. Faster than this and my thumbs let me down.
Today was on the VR98 slope, beautiful sunshine out with the slopedogs- what's not to like. The lighter weight wings on the Wyvern has allowed me to reduce the aileron to flap mix and maintain roll rate.
I seem to have made a
habit of catching the good lift on the day before comps this year. With 2 weeks to go to the Welsh open, the
chance of a day on the Crest was just too good to resist. My first model to launch was the original
Wyvern, I had intended to switch to the Saker once I had some help launching. I started off without much ballast in the Wyvern
but as my confidence in the air increased I added more weight.
The Wyvern felt so
stable and consistent in the air. I
found myself coming closer and closer to the edge into the compression and
hearing the wing come through the strongest lift as the energy built. It really should not have been so easy to be
ripping up the slope like this! It felt a simple process to keep on carving all
day.
Les and Andy were
flying their new MambaS models and were having just as much fun, as was Mike
Evans and his freestyler but it was the carving style of the Mamba that really
caught my eye!
Great day and good to
know that the models can go that fast before my thumbs become my downfall on
race day!
The hole of horcum race is a great excuse for me to spend a weekend in Yorkshire.
Today's light thermally conditions and a day on the slope at least means I can experience some thermal assistance on one day of the weekend!
A beautiful place to be!
The opportunity came up to spend this afternoon on the back of the Wrecker. Getting to Wales can be tricky just because of the time but the slopes are so worth it so often. Getting the dogs in the car meant I could only fit a couple of Wyverns in the car.
It was light conditions but with some pumping to get started the Wyverns seemed to keep hitting the lift and carry their speed so easily. As always the thermals pushed things on, the turns opened up so nicely- I wish I could do this when there's a race on.
A strange element of the day was the appearance of 2 paragliders coming over from Mickie's. I can only take it as a compliment that the Wyvern was making the lift logo good. But when you pump up off course to the height of a parraglider you didn't know was there it's quite a shock!
Loved the flying and the dogs loved it.
It's a fantastic problem to have but with Emma at a pre competition camp I just couldn't make it to the euro tour race at the H of H. I did still have the opportunity to spend the day on the Mynd flying the Saker and Falcon.
Flying is much more than racing so the chance to have 2 days flying was so much fun. The Saker was as much fun and as fast as I expected. Waiting for the thermals before you start ripping about males F3F runs so easy. Practicing my thermalling between runs was the variation that keeps UK racing fun.
The Falcon was a massive blast from the past. I've been flying the wyverns for the past couple of years but this doesn't make the Falcon less fun. I just love this model when it gets on 'step'. Everything clicks, the controls sharpen and she goes so nicely.
Whitesheet has always
been a slope where I enjoy sports flying, you can fly for a week and no 2
flights ae the same. When we all arrived
at Sunday’s race we all hoped that we would be the one that got the elusive
thermal and leave the sink to the next guy.
This week I was that next guy!
F3F models look very
different in different air it’s easy to overlook the effect of this and blame
your model or set up, despite those 2 elements combining so well in the weeks
leading up to the race. My only chance
of good air was dashed as the race was paused for 10 minutes whilst the thermal
moved through the course in front of me- sometimes its just not going to be
your day.
Seeing John flying his
Saker and Wyvern into 3rd place does help to remind me of the models
performance and success. It gives me a
huge amount of pleasure to see my design going so well. It also helped to stop me from messing with
my own set up.
Mark Redsell is in a
different league this year and even in these conditions he delivered round
after round. Well flown Mark- that’s the
way to do it!
The longer evenings have given slope dog and me a chance to enjoy some smooth air flying with Saker and Wyvern.
Definitely good for the blood pressure! I've said before how relaxing the predictable behaviour of the Saker is. But it doesn't stop me enjoying myself!
