June 08 blog

June 30th The breeze dropped to give a perfect evening apart from the two mishaps. Jonathan failed to keep his trainer into wind on take off and crashed damaging the front and Gordon launched his glider with the transmitter set to the wrong model and wrote it off. My Acromaster was having another bad air day, refusing to do the the maneuvers I wanted. Flying took place till 10.00PM, make the most of it before the nights start drawing in. Phil
	Clive's GWS Formosa, looked and flew great, very aerobatic with a long duration. At only £30 this may be a good second model and good introduction to aerobatics. Clive is flying this model with caution, not pushing the envelope. Unlike some of us who push too far and have to pick up the pieces.


Adrian with a home brew park flier	Gordon's Coyote, powered by a brushed 400

Sunday 29th The wind still hasn't eased up and today was gusting to 35mph. Six members who need to get a life turned up and braved the elements. The flight line was mainly made up of helicopters. John (the hairdresser) was waiting to take his newly SC engined tree trainer up for a flight, unfortunately the wind didn't die down.

Phil got his Acormaster up in the air, then struggled to do any thing with it!!. The pits were buzzing with people hoping he would take it down wind and then not get it back!	Paul G brought his Morley Maverick up to test fly. Picture the scene- Paul being in charge of a rather large ic heli-you guessed it we ran away.

Darren was flying with his "on the ground posing shell" on his Raptor. Where has his training cart gone?	Paul was seen to be practicing looping his Raptor 50, as well as setting up Paul G's heli.


Thursday 26th The strong wind made flying difficult at the field, so was our leader there to offer help, no he had sloped off to the top of Frocester hill to do some flying. The lift was great at this beauty spot and our Chairman's JW DSing wing suited the strong lift Phil tried flying it and got a one roll rolling circle very wrong, loosing a lot height and only managed it with two rolls. As usual all the excuses came out, not enough lift, no rudder, no fuselage for knife edging and the sun was in the wrong place. The only thing that was wrong was the nut on the end of the transmitter stick.

Wednesday 25th Bit of a windy day, decided to try and improve the club notice board. For those that have not seen it it's attached to the side of the grey cabin and is always so full of condensation that it has proved impossible to read what's displayed beneath. Repainting the board light grey has seemed to cure the problem, and make it stand out better, please do not park in front it then it will be seen. Not much flying due to the wind, Darren did his first circuit with his Raptor unintentionally. Marley Jnr. had quite a few flights with his small electric heli which coped with the wind quite well.
Tuesday 24th Nearly full cloud cover meant no problems with sun, a light southerly westerly gave for a very good evenings flying and with the outline grass cut and collected conditions were perfect for "bashing" the circuit. Only myself and Darren took advantage. To say my "Buzz lightning" isn't going well is a bit of an over statement, on Monday it had flown, a little aft on the C of G perhaps, but it did manage flight! A session with the graph paper and pencil recalculated the C of G as needing to come forward a tadge. This did not improve things as all the model did now was to flick onto it's back and fly away inverted! On rolling it upright it immediately head for the ground. Various things were tried all to no avail, the story to be continued!
Monday 23rd If only it had been Sunday, a glorious day little or no wind sunny warm with superb soaring conditions. The grass outfield has finally been cut and will probably have been bailed by the time you read this. I arrived mid afternoon, Phil was flying his "Easy Pigeon" (electric launched glider), he complained that it didn't thermal well and handed me the transmitter, despite having no sunglasses ten minutes later I had soared to a couple of thousand feet, (who said I had lost it)? At this point Phil said he couldn't see so I gave him the transmitter back, two minutes later he was still soaring in the thermal, now inverted whilst holding a conversation on how to fix a micro wave on his mobile! If there was little flying done on Sunday, members made up for it on Monday. I'll let the pictures tell the story. On a down note we had an incident of a member of public flying in the adjacent field. I think he was flying an "e.bay special" because if it came from a local model shop then somebody needs a good kicking. After a few choice words from yours truly it was established that he was using 27 mhz. He was invited to join us and spent some time talking to members who hopefully set him on the right path. Sadly we are at a time when these models are becoming more and more prevalent, at this time most although not all are on 27 mhz which is why we have to limit the use of 27 mhz. Just be very vigilant. If you are approached by somebody wanting to fly these sort of models then it is better they fly with us than just go into another field. Remember they are another potential modeller/club member, left to there own devices they will only crash the model they have and probably give up. With proper guidance they are the flyers of tomorrow. Chris B.

Darren's Air Surfer, suffered a wipe out while our chairman was at the controls, not easy to fly as it would roll when elevator was applied

Mini Leader	Foam model, a flexible friend until it speeds up

Chairman's "Blast", NOT!!	Adrian's tri-plane, interesting handling

Phil's Bee, had a mind of its own	Stan's Texan

Steve's home brew foam model	Chairman's EDF Wing, not so good

Ian's Yak, flew as good as it looked

Sunday 22nd (Midsummer Barbeque). Weather as predicted day before by my good self (smarty pants). Warm, dry and sunny, but sadly a tad on the breezy side. A steady 12-15 mph all day with frequent gust of 20 - 25 mph. If the flying was somewhat curtailed, then the turnout wasn't, I'm not sure how many came but Phil counted 25 cars at one point during the afternoon and many others passed through during the day. The morning started in a leisurely manner with a small group assembling the new club barbeque, this went amazingly well with no cursing and no bits left over thanks to Keith reading the instructions. The gas stove was lit and the kettle boiling by mid morning, a steady supply of tea and coffee was brewed all day. Thanks to Darren, Jonathan, Stan and others. The new Barbee was loaded and fired up mid afternoon, with Tracy and Paul doing the cooking food was ready on time. My sausage/burger to bun ratio was a bit out as the buns ran out leaving some sausages for another day! Phil B. probably did the most flying with his two heli's, brave man to risk his Raptor E550 as he has it up for sale. (See for sale pages). The Vice Chairman flew his old pylon racer after some minor servicing, I had a quick flight with my "Candoit" flew ok but not enjoyable in the conditions. Mark H. turned up mid afternoon and put on the usual fine display with his T.rex 600 (electric) helicopter though with respect to the conditions he didn't come as low as normal whilst inverted. Despite the wind a very successful day, many thanks to all who worked hard to make it so, we will do it again before the "summers" over, we already have a "celebrity" chef lined up to do the cooking. Chris B.


Catering HQ, Marks van used as a windbreak, worked well and it didn't get burnt.

Our Chairman flies his canard, Darren thinks he can't cope with the strong wind and stands by with a black bag to put the bits in


Phil's Electric Raptor copes with the wind	Phil can't understand why his Acromaster goes fast one way and slow the other

Clive's striker braves the strong wind, the nose fell off in the long grass and it took half the club to find it	Tracy and Paul did the cooking, loads of very tasty butchers sausages, Darren and Jonathon kept the tea going in the spotlessly clean galley
Friday 20th & Saturday 21st. I'm getting that feeling of "deja vu", didn't I do this last year, took to weeks hols for mid summer and spent it in the workshop building models. Peering out occasional to see whether the rain had stopped and the trees weren't bent over quite so far. Got all the grub together for the club midsummer barbeque, Sundays weather forecast to be dry (please don't hold me to it) but windy. Still there's plenty of food and drink so please turn up even if you don't fly. Thursday 19th. Breezy day with the odd short shower. A small group of regulars out in evening, not much flying done as most of evening spent trying to persuade Darren he need to buy a MR2. Also informed that they had flown on Tuesday night? Right! Must have been "rubber powered" models! (Clue; What do you do to rubber models?)
Wednesday 18th Wet and windy in morning, windy and wet in afternoon evening just windy.
Tuesday 17th Windy, visited field at 7.00 pm, deserted!
Monday 16th Another great day, we are having a summer? All the usual suspects out in the evening. Darren's Phantom met with sudden death when he managed to stand on it! Fortunately he took delivery of a replacement on Saturday. Lot's of last minute flights (around 10.00pm) Phil trying to get that perfect sunset shot. Not a bad couple of efforts below.


Sunday 15th What a cracking day, warm sunny light winds calm a lot of the time. A lot of members put in an appearance during the day. Lots of different models flying, nothing spectacular new, sadly a few mishaps some due to carelessness, bit more discipline needed guys. A few members having technical problems with electric models, please do not be afraid to ask advice or for help, I have a range of test equipment with a large collection of adaptor leads, a quick test with the watt meter can easily save a speed controller. Chris B

Late afternoon in the pits	A line up of trainers new, old and v.old.

Ideal conditions for an electric Kiel Kraft Gipsy.	"Cookie" repairs mini Junior 60 after midair.

Is it "Bill" or is it "Ben"?	Electric Super 60 glides in.

Paul Butchers electric P51 Mustang.	Paul's other model?

Paul G's little Spud Gun flashes by.	Mark Burns looks on as his Flying Wings V-Trainer floats past.

Saturday 14th Bit of a strange day, the morning and early afternoon warm, sunshine and little or no wind. Spent morning fettling models and then the family shop. Drove to field just after 4.00pm the M5 was completely dry but as soon as one drove onto the slip road everything was wet with quite large puddles on the road side. A few members had been flying but had departed due the rain. The wind had increased to give a quite cool and gusty south-westerly, fortunately this died of just after seven to give another good evenings flying. Got new member Jonathan airborne on the buddy box with his Tiger Trainer. Very good trainer this, sensibly powered and just the right handling characteristics for an I/C trainer. The need for speed continued. One of my 4 cell battery packs went astray only to turn up inside Darren's Phantom, a bench test with a watt meter showed a staggering 450 watts at over 30 amps, with the most expensive part of the whole model being my battery he did at least ask me to test fly the set up. Fast, yes very fast, or was as the hard pressed speed controller decided it had had enough. Superb sunset, best artistic shot yet, see below. Chris B.

Three "X-spurts", instruct two members on the setting up of a buddy box system?	Jonathan's Tiger Trainer on a go around.

Phil's AcroMaster at sunset.	Chairman's Byp-Yak, Paul G. flying. This picture has not been "photo shopped" it is for real. The model is lit by the flash against superb sky.
Friday 13th No sign of paraskavedekatriaphobia among the fliers, our chairman flew his Blade with a little caution due to a bit of jetlag. Gordon flew his Coyote and electric glider very smoothly. The wind dropped to zero, ideal for CB's park fliers if he had remembered to bring a TX crystal

Dan's heli	Gordon's Coyote
Thursday 12th Usual suspects plus an appearance by Team England. Ade was flying his newly repaired T-Rex 450 and Derek some sort of stick. Stan was attempting to break the sound barrier with his re-engined Exclaim, he was also flying his scale Texan. Stan had to leave early due to mechanical/pilot errors that occurred to both planes. Darren was attempting to gain hooligan status with his Fantom. Phil (I'm old and slow!) 'The Fridge' laid his demons to rest by flying the Fantom with speed and style!!!!!!!
Adrian's T-Rex 450 SE Darren's Phantom


Wednesday 11th The usual Crowd plus John a new member with a brand new Tiger trainer . There was a huge amount of activity round this model. TX and RX batteries were charged, push rods adjusted aerial uncoiled, prop fitted, a tank of fuel run through the 42 and the Futaba 6 programmed. Paul took it up and it is a good trainer, I had a go, it flies real slow and steady and gently unwinds from turns on its own. It rolls nicely for a high wing and loops easily and should be easy to land when the throttle cut is adjusted
Helicopters seem to have disappeared, Darren and Stan have both got into fixed wing, the need for speed is the current theme Phil
Tuesday 10th The breeze made it feel a little cold and did not lessen this evening. Most models struggled with the turbulence except Stan's high powered Exclaim, this belted round the sky and is no high wing trainer, more like a Wot 4. Stan's Exclaim

Clive's Newtimer at sunset	A helpful club member guides Phil's Acromaster to a safe landing in the poor light

Monday 9th A very pleasant evening when the breeze stopped. Stan's Texan by Seagull looked really good in the evening sun and flew well but may be slightly tail heavy. The cheap Chinese Emax motor was well up to the job, plenty of power and long flight times. Clive's PT 19 was hard to launch and had a problem with the batteries moving. Darren's Phantom lost some its nose when it hit some hard ground after an orientation problem, Bob's Iccarus heli damaged the boom while trying to cope with the breeze early evening. I left after 10.00 PM and Clive was still flying, late evening is often the best part of the day for model flying Phil

Clive's PT19	Stan's Texan 2nd photo

Bob	Darren's Sunset photo
Sunday 8th A very warm day without a great deal of flying. David had pit crew problems, his new Phantom's engine coughed every time it was launched, Paul thought the fuel feed may be from the front of the tank. Our Chairman thermalled the underpowered Cessna to a great height. I flew Darren's EDF phantom a great flier, but too fast for me. Phil
Star of the day was Clive's Lightening flew and looked great. I tried full rudder, throttle, ailerons and elevator at the same time on my Acromaster. the port wing came out 3 inches, but it landed OK photo Ken's Raptor

Stan's Cub	Rear end view, Phantom 2nd photo

Darren's Phantom 2nd photo	Clive's Lightening 2nd photo

The little Cessna struggled to climb	CB's Blade and Adrian's park flier
Saturday 6th Another warm, sunny, calm day with a slight northerly breeze picking up late afternoon. Looking like a great soaring day decided to fly a glider (electric). Wasn't going to let the lack of receiver stop me, fitted Rx on field with the help of the usual "experts". Well worth it though. Phil had a "bit" of a mishap with his U-can-do 3D. Sadly it won't be "doing" any more. An inquest was held by said "experts" but there findings are being withheld to protect those of a sensitive nature. Darren announced the retirement of his "Buzz" however attempts to lay this much abused airframe quietly to rest faded when the owner of a white taxi appeared and announced that it needed to be taken into care. (To be continued). However Darren has replaced the Buzz with a Ripmax Fantom EP. What a great replacement, performance brilliant. Flies on rails and is pretty fast. I don't think it will take the abuse suffered by the Buzz being only expanded polystyrene. Darren also flew his Seagull trainer for the first time and managed to shoot some pretty passable circuits including a touch and go on the strip.

Friday 5th Following a calm day the evening produced a northerly breeze. This had no effect on my flying what so ever, forgetting "ALL" my flight batteries did effect my flying and for all it mattered it could have been snowing with a force nine hurricane surging across the field. The usual cast of characters was present. Stan flew his I/C Piper Cub in a none to scale like fashion. Then Paul arrived with "Mega" in hand. The scheme was to fit this to Darren's much abused Buzz, a few minutes work a couple of tie wraps, some plastic tape and we were go. From the comfort of my chair the model did not appear any faster, nosier, certainly. Case of constant speed variable noise, Paul's yellow flexi prop I don't think did the set up justice. Sadly/fortunately I had nothing smaller than a 8 X 6 APC in the box, so further developments were put on hold. My "Buzz Lightning" (faster version of Buzz) has just arrived, we will see just how fast we can push a slab of EPP. Sadly forgetting my battery box rather curtailed flying for the evening as nobody was able to borrow batteries for any subsequent flights. Weather looks great for weekend so hope to see a few more faces down the field. CB.

Phil flying the Buzz pre-Mega	Paul flying with the Mega motor fitted

Darren's Seagull trainer 2nd photo	The mega fitted, 6 x 4 prop, 18 amps
Thursday 4th Again the same fliers, when I arrived there was a large sheet of lead on the ground, this was being cut up and added to the front of Darren's Buzz to balance the rear mounted motor. The new motor did not produce the same power as the mid mounted bell motor. Phil

Wednesday 4th
	The usual suspects present, where are all our members? Paul helped Stan with his Cub, getting the engine running nice and taming the rudder by cutting down the throws Photo Stan's Cub
Tuesday 3rd
The rain stopped and the evening was quite pleasant apart from the smell, me and Darren were giving each other strange looks until we saw the farmer spraying We ran a watt meter on Darren's Buzz, it hit 305 watts static and the motor smoked, the 8 X 6 prop must unload during flight. Darren got 15 minutes out of it with 1500 ma lipos. photo:- don't try this at home
Monday 2nd A wet day , Darren set up a new members Helicopter, but was unable to fly it due to a damaged fly bar. Somebody tried to show off with an Acromaster and crashed while doing an inverted pass,. name withheld, look out for a canopy with the paint missing. Sunday 1st A good turnout on a dull afternoon with plenty of models flown. The afternoon would of passed without incident if Paul had not flown his semi ballistic Spudgun 6 inches off the the ground in foot high grass. Adrian and Derrick flew a new fun fly, a larger version of Bill or Ben, this had plenty of power and would fly at walking pace. Stan's Rainbow was going well doing a bit aerobatics, another couple of weeks and we might see an inverted pass. Our chairman turned up with a part built Junior 60, perhaps he wants to recreate his early flying experiences from between the wars when the pace was slower Rain stopped play at 6.00PM

David getting help with his new model	Paul's Spudgun, going too fast for me to get a good picture

"Happy" George's home brew	Adrian with another England team creation

John (Cookie) 'nice beaver'	Brian's home brew Scrapbox looking immaculate

June 08

Gloucester Model Flying Club