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Steve
Kemp's L-39 Albatross intercepts the mighty B-52 of
Simon Cocker out over the Irish Sea.
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It was raining quite heavily at 10am when
I arrived at the agreed meeting point in Llanbedrog on the
Saturday morning. This was forecast to dry up by lunch
and leave us with a weekend well suited to our needs with
sunny spells and a dominant South Westerly wind. Simon
Cocker, Martin Middleton and Alan Hulme soon arrived and we
stood undercover outside the Londis supermarket having
bought our snacks for the slope, discussing the prospects of
a good weekends flying ahead.
The rain did indeed stop by 11am, and by
midday, following a coffee in Abersoch where we met up with
Nigel Moule & family we were grouped at Dorothy's Farm, the
preferred SW slope according to the Lleyn MAC website.
Although a superb slope with a generous
landing zone of 'sheep mown' grass, the walk from the car
out to the coastal cliff tops does limit the amount of
models one can carry and fly here, yet despite this between
the 5 flyers present we rigged and transported a total of 9 models
to the slope.
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Simon Cocker was first to get airborne
with his trusty Aermacchi,
(Top Left) built from the Dragon Models
kit and finished in an Italian airforce scheme. It was
immediately clear from the way he was racing aerobatically
about the sky that the lift was plentiful.
Martin joined him with his recently
refurbished Reno Racer P-51 'Strega',
(Bottom Left)
66" span, 6.5lb AUW all EPP construction built from the
Durable Aircraft Models kit.
Having captured a few photos upon arrival
I commenced my days flying with my EPP Sea Fury. Of
similar scale to the Mustang, the Sea Fury and P-51 'Strega'
together in the sky was very reminiscent of the full sized
Reno races and certain banked passes along the slope looked
most convincing!
It was good to see Nigel Moule back on
the slope at a PSSA event after a years absence.
Nigel's family sat huddled on the hill and watched him put
his EPP Mustang through its paces on numerous occasions
throughout the afternoon. Not to be left out, Alan
Hulme flew his Fairey Fulmar to good effect in the perfect
conditions.
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Simon Cocker flew his 108" span O/D
Boeing B-52 on a number of lengthy low level bombing
missions and I attempted to keep up with him with my Conway
BAe Hawk, but the B-52 had too much energy and despite my
best efforts, prolonged formation flying proved impossible with
the 2
models having such different flying characteristics.
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The B-52
(right) is a
versatile machine, it can be flown smoothly in a very
realistic manner, a little flap slowing things up to a nice
scale cruise speed. But when the wings are cleaned and
the nose is dropped this model can be flown very
aggressively too, 90+ degree banked turns, loops and rolls
are all easily performed (and were here) in the strong sea
lift! With its air whistles producing a convincing jet
like sound the B-52 stops the show wherever it is flown!
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We flew on until 6:15
pm on the Saturday, although overcast the weather stayed
kind and the conditions were perfect for PSS flying
throughout the afternoon. We packed up and walked back to
the cars, with all models intact and all pilots in need of
a good meal and a couple of pints at the end of a successful
first days flying. The group met up at The Ship Inn, Llanbedrog, where we enjoyed a warm meal in good company,
everyone left looking forward to another good days flying
the following day.
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Nigel Moule arrives at the slope with his Lear Jet |
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Sundays
forecast was again proven correct, with 20mph winds
from the WSW and glorious sunny spells rolling in
off the sea.
We made the
decision to move to Cim Farm, another well proven
slope in this direction with a good landing zone and
easy access from the cars.
Steve Kemp and
Dave Dobson had joined us from Lancashire and by
10:30 we had nearly 20 models rigged and on the
slope. |
Having missed out on
Saturdays flying, Steve Kemp was first to fly on Sunday with
his ModelTech P-51D Mustang, 50" span all built up
construction. Steve was soon joined by Simon Cocker,
this time with his EPP T-33 Shooting Star, both models were
flying very nicely and looked superb in the sunlight against
a clear sky!
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N.A. P-51D Mustang by Steve Kemp |
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Simon Cocker's EPP T-33 captured in a perfect sky |
Steve swapped his P-51 for an Aero L-39
Albatross, 60" span and began to formate nicely on Simons
T-33 up and down the ridge. I joined them quickly with
my T-33 and soon we were having close 3 ship flypasts with
these similar models! They looked great nipping up and
down the slope with only a few feet (sometimes inches!)
between them.
Steve also flew his Cambrian Spitfire to
good effect, and was joined by Alan Hulme who flew his model
of the same type, converted to PSS from the Ripmax electric
kit. Both models performed well and again a number of
neat consecutive diving passes were performed - good stuff
chaps!
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Alan Hulme dives his Spitfire onto the target... |
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...closely backed up by Steve Kemp - "Tally Ho!" |
Everyone was enjoying the conditions and
the relatively uncluttered skies - flying off the peg with
only 6 flyers present. Nigel Moule enjoyed a lengthy
mission with his Handley Page Victor, 82" span built from
the Jim Strain plan. This was the first outing for
this model in some time, and a number of ground checks were
deemed necessary before launch, but Nigel needn't have
worried - it performed flawlessly and looked stunning with
its anti-flash white paint scheme gleaming in the sun.
Another flight worthy of note was that performed by Simon
Cocker and Steve Kemp, flying their B-52 and L-39 in good
formation. The Russian L-39 looked like it was
intercepting the invading B-52 in a Cold War re-enactment -
(See Title photo)
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Nigel Moule patrols the coast with the Victor bomber |
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L-39 Albatross flown by Steve Kemp |
By 4pm the votes had been submitted and
counted and the models still flying were landed for the
short prize giving presentation - the results as follows;
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Best Static Piston
Aircraft |
Grumman Tigercat |
Nigel
Moule |
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Best Static Jet
Aircraft |
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress |
Simon
Cocker |
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Best Flown Piston
Aircraft |
Hawker Sea Fury |
Phil Cooke |
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Best Flown Jet
Aircraft |
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress |
Simon
Cocker |
The modellers who
travelled to the Lleyn Peninsula were treated once again
to perfect flying conditions off superb coastal slopes,
flying off the peg as and when they pleased. Our
thanks go to Alan Hulme for arranging the event and
indeed to the Lleyn MAC members for allowing us to stage
our Fly-In on their slopes.
A larger selection of photos taken at the event can be
found here;
PHOTOS FROM LLEYN PSS AUGUST 2009
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