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This
annual get-together for both power and gliding enthusiasts
took place in September on sites near to Abersoch, North
Wales. This year the P.S.S.A. decided, with the
co-operation of the Lleyn MAC event organizers, to hold our
own Northern Trophy Competition during part of the weekend.
Alan
Hulme reports from this successful event... (all
photos by Rez Manzoori)
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Overview of the
slope site 'Anne's Place' on the Lleyn Peninsula. |
PSS
models were flown throughout the three days alongside many
other types of soarers. This took place using a pegboard
slot allocation of 20-minute flights. On both the
Saturday and Sunday a one-hour slot for flying solely PSS
models was allocated to us.
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All three days were blessed
with superb flying conditions with blue skies, fine weather
and a 20-24 mph wind blowing directly onto the slope all
day. Flying commenced around 10 am and went on until
around 6 pm.
On the Friday,
when only around half the total number of visitors had
arrived, the airspace was used by about 20 models.
The slope used was facing north-west on Cilan Head,
overlooking Hell’s Mouth. Steve Griffiths and
Mike Briggs were soon airborne with a flock of their
lightweight models including the Tucano, N.A. P-51D
Mustang, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and North American FJ-4B
Fury. Don Brown showed off his Mirage jet., and
Barry Crossland had an excellent flight with his large
foam Mustang. |
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PSS
Event organisers Alan Hulme (left) and Don Brown |
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Steve
Griffiths' squadron of lightweight models! |
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Having flown regularly
three o/d WW2 fighters over the past four or five years
I decided to ring the changes this year and took along
several models built by other PSS members and acquired
over the past two years.
I had a first flight on
the Friday with a Jim Strain-designed H.P. Victor bomber
built by Barry Crossland, and one with the original,
lightweight, 4-1/2 lb Gates Learjet, designed and built
by Derek Price some 17 years ago. Both flew
magnificently as did my o/d D.H.88 Comet Racer. |
For
Saturday and Sunday the wind veered a little to the
West-North-West, necessitating a move to an adjacent
slope. Unfortunately there was a steep drop into the sea
ahead of the launching point that made retrieval unsafe from a
landing in this area. In spite of this many flew.
There was a high proportion of foam delta aircraft airborne
most of the day, particularly Zagis. On some occasions
there were as many as 10 or more of this type in the air at
once as well as half a dozen or so scale, non-scale and PSS
models.
| Steve
Griffiths, Mike Briggs, Rez Manzoori, Tony Eden and Phil Cooke
all managed to put in further flights. Phil demonstrated
his Fouga Magister and for the first time treated us to a
polished flying display with his new T-33 jet of which he had
only completed construction the day before. This EPP
foam model was built from a kit produced by Wade Kloos in
America. Rez took some excellent photos with his digital
camera of this aircraft in flight. I also enjoyed
further flights with the Comet Racer, Victor bomber and a
Dewoitine 520 designed and built by Paul Janssens. |
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Phil
Cooke's EPP T-33 enjoying the abundant lift |
On
the Saturday evening Peter Ferguson, one of the organizers of
this three-day event, invited PSSA members and others to an
evening barbecue in his garden. This was most enjoyable
and Rez Manzoori put on a film show of photos taken by him at
the Woodvale Show and at this meeting including the T-33
flight using his laptop.
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Phantom
heads out on another CAP mission... |
...and
quickly engages the ever present foamies! |
In
all I counted 24 different PSS models, most of which were
flown, and belonging to 12 pilots. Apart from the
aircraft already mentioned there were also examples of the BAe
Hawk, A-10, Phantom, Me262, Me163, D.H. Mosquito and AerMacchi
339. Nine
PSSA members attended and they voted for the best models in
each of four sections as well as for the Northern Region
Trophy. Results were as follows;
| Best
piston aircraft; static |
Shorts
Tucano T1 |
Mike Briggs
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| Best
jet aircraft; static |
N.A. FJ-4B
Fury |
Steve
Griffiths |
| Best
piston aircraft; flying
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Curtiss P-40
Kittyhawk
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Steve Griffiths
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| Best
jet aircraft; flying |
Fouga
Magister |
Phil
Cooke |
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PSSA
Northern Region Trophy, 2004 |
Fouga Magister |
Phil
Cooke |
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Prize
Winners at the 2004 Lleyn PSSA Event
(L
to R)
Phil Cooke, Steve Griffiths and Mike Briggs. |
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Apart
from prizes of the Trophy and bottles of wine, Don Brown, PSSA
member and hardworking member of the Lleyn MAC, had produced
some delightful mementos of the meeting in coloured acrylic
and slate that were awarded to the winners.
All
our members who took part seemed to enjoy their visit.
The one possible drawback through combining our annual Lleyn
PSSA meeting with this “Bring and Fly “ event was that
airspace was somewhat congested, particularly on the Saturday
and Sunday, though there was certainly plenty of opportunity
to fly on all three days. A few members however may have
been reluctant to fly at times.
This will obviously be
taken into consideration when we plan future meetings.
Our thanks go to the Lleyn MAC members who worked hard on the
slope throughout the three days, supported on occasions by
several of our own members.
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Alan
Hulme provides up to the minute weather reports up on the
peninsula! 20mph+ all weekend! |
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Barry
Crossland's P-51 and A-10 are recovered at the end of
another busy days flying... |
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