August 2008 Blog

Sunday 31st A dull grey afternoon with a bit of drizzle and the wind reducing to just a slight drift. Mark put on an impressive Heli display and Jim did an F3A routine with his Shadow
	Steve flying his Electric T-Rex 450 SE

Saturday 30th A nice summer's evening Clive was flying in the dark, his Oldtimer was playing it's usual game of dodge the transatlantic traffic Phil

Darren hand launching his X-Ray	Stan's Edge 540

Ken's Super 60 had a few good flights	Derrick with Bill or Ben
	My 3mm depron Shocky at sunset, a bit of slow flying is a nice way to finish the day details
Phil's indoor model enjoying the calm air at sunset

Friday 29th

Paul checking the power on Darren's Edge540, only 569watts. Paul thinks it needs a larger prop and an extra cell.

Wednesday 27th What a nice night to fly, no wind, a little overcast but no rain. The usual suspects enjoying a quiet field. Ken was flying a Junior 60 with a homemade petrol engine powering it, what a fantastic sound this was making. Stan and myself were flying our Edge 540 ,trying a bit of formation flying and failing miserably!!! Clive had a mishap with his P-38.Jon had a mishap with his Twinstar and Stan had 2 mishaps. Phil, Ken and myself went home happy!!!! Darren Darren. Sunday 24th A big turnout and a nice day with the wind easing later in the afternoon, Paul's Mirage had problems, this was impossible to fly with the C of G too far back and then refused to leave the ground when it was adjusted forward. Paul G heli coped OK with the breeze. Mark put on a good display of 3D flying with his heli Three Panic bi-planes were flown in the usual enthusiastic manor.

Adrian's Hiboy	Paul's Mirage

Darren's Edge 40	Paul's Sundowner

A big turnout with all the car park used

Saturday 23rd The day was warm overcast and no rain until early evening. During the afternoon a group of members made good a road way to access the car park and pits. This may well need building up with more chippings as it compacts over the next few weeks. Please drive through gap and not out onto the field as it is far to wet. Star model of the day was Ken's Super 60. Rather special engine that he built himself using only a cast casing and piston. It is a vintage "sparky" petrol engine, despite having no silencer it is very quite as it is very slow revving. Ken still has to fine tune and find just the right prop, but it seems absolutly perfect in the Super 60.

A small party of members tackle the pile of chippings to make good entrance, chairman having trouble understanding the basic technique of using a rake.

Two very different petrol engined models from very different eras, although things are not what they seem as just which is the oldest model?	Paul G. seems to be getting on well with his new little carbon heli, I suppose it will all end in tears once we start flying indoors.

	Ken checks the rpm before maiden flight, first flight lasted about 5 minuytes as the engine ran sick then stopped. The second flight lasted over ten minutes and landed on the strip with the motor still running. Superb noise and remarkably quiet despite lack of exhaust. Short video

Friday 22nd Arrived at the field to see Stan flying his Extra 300 and CB sitting in his long suffering chair!!!!!. Later in the evening Stan also flew his big purple Mustang. CB flew his Funtana 90,which runs on 10 cells. Jon turned up with his Twinstar and immediately had problems, I must add that his next problem was a tad more serious, he crashed ripping off the nose and ejecting the battery across the strip. We tried to show a bit of sympathy, but that got boring!!!!!. I flew my edge 540 which has lost its Venom motor and received a much perkier Perkins one, fantastic performance 385 watts and 37.5 amps. Phil turned up and flew his X-ray in the failing light. Paul G was at the field earlier in the day and maidened his new X-ray.........He can put it in his workshop with all the other broken ones!!!! If your going to the field tomorrow CB is asking people to take a shovel, the farmer has given us a few tons of gravel so we can fill the holes in. He (CB) will be supervising!!!!! Darren Sunday 17th There were a lot of threatening looking clouds, but it stayed dry for the afternoon with a shower at 6.00PM. We all watched Jim do an aerobatic display, giving him good marks for technical ability, but marking him down for artistic impression for not keeping in time with the music. It was later found there was no music, just our Chairman's stomach telling him it had missed a meal Stan's new Mustang had under carriage problems even before one of Stan's landings. An hour of hard work and some help from Jim got the retracts fixed and it flew OK. Paul's Mirage refused to go in a straight line for take off, his Mustang looked and flew well. Both my Acromaster and Formosa had a bad air day , loops were oval, rolls barreled and verticals slanted. Phil

Stan's Mustang	CB helping David with his Twister

Jim's Shadow	Marley's Formosa
Friday 15th

Paul fixing a battery into Darren's Extra, if you go for walk in the corn field keep an eye out for a wheel

Thursday 14th The usual crowd turned up at the field. Paul B flew his Mustang and Sundowner. Stan flew his X-Claim and threatened to get the Rainbow out but couldn't lower his standards with an electric model !!. I flew my X-R ray and Paul G test flew the Edge. Clive came down and treated us to a freshly mown strip. CB was missing tonight due to a problem with his plumbing!!!!!!!!!!!! Darren Friday 8th A better evening but not for Bob whose heli engine refused to start; two words come to mind Patience & Perseverance see video We helped Jonathon get his Twinstar in the air, I charged the batteries, Stan set up the DX7 and Paul trimmed it out, Jonathon had no trouble flying it. This makes a good trainer as it will land in the long grass as there is no under carriage Stan's Texan looked and sounded good and surprised us all by landing without loosing the undercarriage. Paul now has all the bits for his X-Ray and will no longer need to torture Darren's, a high power low turn motor on 4 cells, huge control movements should give it a short but exciting life. Phil

Jonathon's Twinstar	Stan's Texan, 70 four stroke upfront

Thursday 7th A few spots of rain and a little dark in the evening. Paul didn't manage to break Darren's Seagull, we are wondering what happened to Paul's Seagull. perhaps it's safer if he keeps it in the box. Only three models flown

Phil's X-Ray

Paul's Hanger 9 Sundowner formula 1 Racer, wingspan, 80 " MVVS 26GT Petrol engine 18X6 Biela prop spinning at 7500 rpm

Wednesday 6th A very dark evening with some rain, Brian struggled with new twin engined model. I took a short movie with a camcorder taped to my X-Ray click here 30 meg in Windows WMV Stan's Alley Cat went a lot better with a new engine, Jim did some F3A practice with his Aspera and Clive was flying in the dark with his Stryker Phil

Darren's Edge	Brian's Cessna 310
Jim's Sunset photo
Monday 4th Just a few vehicles left from the grass track meeting, which was a success. They had rolled out the tyre marks for us and now that Clive has cut the grass, the strip is in good condition. I flew Colin's Trainer after CB repaired it and it went fine, Colin decided to fly it another evening when things were a little quieter. Jim looked very steady learning to hover his Raptor 30 with a training hoop fitted. Clive was last in the air with his Stryker at 9.30PM he must eat a lot of carrots The red stuff on the field is my blood, the brown stuff is not please avoid it Phil
Me and Darren flew our Seagull X-Rays, My cheap and cheerful Chinese motor pulled 33 amps on a nearly flat battery, suggesting 350 to 400 watts on fresh one. This is an insane amount of power for a very light model

1st - 3rd No flying due to the grass track racing

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Gloucester Model Flying Club