Lleyn MAC PSSA Fly-In – 15/16th August 2009

Report and photos by Phil Cooke

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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)

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;