The Lleyn MAC PSSA Fly-In – 10th/11th August 2013

Phil Cooke reports from a memorable weekends flying off Mynydd Cilan.

All photos by the author unless credited.

It was the first time I’d flown PSS in almost 10 months, so I was eagerly awaiting this weekend on the Lleyn peninsula, especially so with the forecast looking so promising on the final run up to the event.  I travelled with fellow PSSA members Rez Manzoori and Matt Jones and we arrived in Llanbedrog on the Friday night ahead of the event, having enjoyed some full-size low level jet photography in the Machynlleth Loop for two days prior.

After a hearty breakfast we met up with a few travelling flyers and spectators at the Llanbedrog ‘Londis’ car park and a slope decision was taken based on the mornings conditions – SW winds on the Saturday which saw us drive in convoy down to the end of Cilan to ‘Dorothy’s Farm’.  This is a well proven slope, ideal for PSS with a huge landing area, marred only by the 15 minute walk from the car to the flying site.  By 10:45am we had rigged all the models we could carry in one trip and had made our way through the farm and over the 2 fields to the launch point.  We amassed seven flyers in total on the Saturday with an estimated 18 models between us on site.  The conditions upon arrival were very pleasant, sunny skies and a 15-20mph wind blowing squarely onto the SW slope.

A few ‘tried and tested’ models were flown initially to build confidence in the slope, which was working nicely – but the day will be remembered for no less than 3 successful maiden flights, an impressive number when you consider the unforgiving nature of this slope with its sheer cliff face down to the crashing waves below!

At the recent Orme meet, Roger Turner had attended with two own design models, in the shape of a Harrier II and a Tornado.  This time he had travelled with his latest O/D model, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner modelled from the early artists impression of the concept airliner, known then as the ‘7E7’. (pictured right)

Controls were checked and a gentle test glide rear of the slope was conducted to get a feel for the balance point.  This suggested the model was slightly tail heavy, and a couple of ounces of lead where strapped to the underside of the nose before she was purposefully launched out over the cliffs.  I had been asked to conduct the maiden flight on Roger’s behalf, and I’m glad to report she climbed away very nicely from the launch.  The model sat nicely in the air but proved fairly sluggish in roll with the short span, inset ailerons, and was over sensitive in pitch.  But she was very flyable, and after a few slope circuits we had her tamed sufficiently to consider some low passes for the camera.

It’s true that we’ve seen the Windrider kitted version of the production Boeing 787 on the slope but this 7E7 concept version was quite different in shape with its shark like swept fin and nose profiles.  Congratulations must go to Roger in completing this O/D model so successfully, some minor improvements will be made now to aid with trim and responsiveness but we look forward to seeing this model in action again later in the season.

Simon Cocker was on site with his brand new Lockheed TR-1 (below left) – built from the German PAF EDF/GT kit and finished in a very attractive white NASA scheme, as operated by the Dryden Flight Research Centre.  One of a pair of Lockheed U-2/TR-1 designs flown by Simon this weekend, this previously untested PSS machine has a fibreglass fuselage and veneered foam wing and tail.  It spans 3.5m and has an AUW of around 12lb.  Again to mitigate as much risk as possible, the model was subjected to a test glide way behind the launch point to confirm the CoG – this proved a non-event and the model was immediately taken to the slope for its maiden flight out over the sea.  There was little doubt this was going to be a complete success, and Simon was soon flying the TR-1 in his usual confident manner, the model clearly behaving flawlessly throughout the flight – the flapped landing approach was most impressive – a very safe ‘walking pace’ landing was achieved – which will prove handy on smaller slopes.

Later in the day, as the wind grew in strength to 25mph+, Rez Manzoori test flew his new BAe Hawk T1 (above right) – built by Matt Jones (converted from a IC power kit) the model looked stunning in its patriotic RAF display scheme colours.  Rez has finished this model in a very scale manner, a complex paint job beautifully applied with plenty of scale detail right down to even the smallest of warning decals all over the airframe!  Again, with an unproven CoG position, Rez was encouraged to test glide the new  model further up the hill away from the slope edge.  This test launch saw the model glide very nicely needing little or no inputs on pitch, and as it crept forwards Rez was able to extend the glide for it to slip out over the edge and into the buoyant lift.   The Hawk was away and performing well!  Rez clearly enjoyed the Hawks first flight, performing smart rolls and loops in the strong lift and finishing his maiden with a well polished approach and landing!

We all enjoyed the conditions which improved throughout the day with regard to windspeed, however the sun did hide behind an overcast sky at times when it quickly became quite chilly in the now 30mph blow.

There was the usual mass tail chase which is always a huge amount of fun, and Simon and I enjoyed a few close formation sorties with the two EPP T-33s, (left – Sue Lee photo) regularly chased down my Matt Jones’ Hawk and John Hey’s Mustang, great fun flying, great for the cameras too!!

We were joined on Saturday afternoon by Austin Massey – the LMAC club secretary, and having watched us fly and in talking with us for an hour or so he went away with a good feel for what it was like to fly PSS flying on his local slopes.  He even promised to have a go at building a model of his own so he can join us next year!  We would gladly welcome more involvement from the LMAC club during our events, so I was pleased Austin had attended and was so taken by our demonstration.

We flew on until just after 6pm on Saturday when we made the walk back to the car and de-rigged.  It had been a good days flying for sure, with all models flown and no attrition or incident of note.  In the evening we all met up in the Glyn y Weddw pub for a good warm meal, a few pints and a few stories of old, whether they related to modelling, full size flying or indeed anything else – always a good opportunity to learn more about our PSSA members when we socialise away from the slope!

Sunday morning dawned and as forecast the wind started out a little stronger than on Saturday and it had moved round slightly to the West.  We were joined at the meet point by a couple more flyers – PSSA member Dave Gilder and his wife Jessica, LMMGA member Peter Garsden (who was holidaying local in Wales) plus a few local spectators.   Westerlies saw us on Cilan once again, but this time our most preferred site at ‘Anne’s place’ – a beautiful slope with magnificent views out over Hells Mouth bay and with very easy access to the cars – it even offers rest room facilities with running water!  Does slope flying get any better??  The weather was really playing ball too, blue skies with high level fluffy white clouds generated near perfect photography conditions throughout most of the day, and the 25-30mph wind enabled all model types to be flown from the outset.

In addition to those aircraft flown on the Saturday, the following models were worthy of note;

Matt Jones flew his ever impressive 72″ span Avro Vulcan (top left) which looked stunning in its Anti-Radiation Flash white scheme.  Peter Garsden joined him with his rendition of the type, built from the popular Ian Benson plan, and a number of formation passes were completed with the 2 V-Bombers which looked really good in the sunlight at the time.

Having flown his new TR-1 the day before, Simon Cocker treated us to an impressive flight with his bulkier Lockheed U-2 (middle left) – built from the larger PAF GT kit this fully moulded model has a 3.5m span and weighs in at 20lb.  The model is fitted with a nose mounted electric powertrain and folding prop, very neat – allowing flat field flying or thermal hunting from the slope when the wind speeds are too low for conventional PSS flight, and the BrainCube lighting system with 6 strobes in the wingtips, tail and fuselage spines finished the model off most realistically!

Roger Turner offered me the chance to fly his neat little AV-8B Harrier II (bottom left) in perfect conditions, and after a successful 15 minute flight I came away most impressed with the models ability to replicate the full-size machine – not only in low and fast conventional flight mode, but also when purposefully slowed up towards something approaching a hover into wind the model still looks totally convincing!

It has been quietly declared within our circle of PSS flyers that Matt Jones and I intend to design and build a bigger scale version of the Harrier for the slope at some point in the near future, and this hands-on test flight certainly did well to proving the concept in our minds and fuelling our drive to make this happen.

Paul Jubb test flew his impressive N.A P-51D Mustang built for PSS from the YT International power kit, the model showed great potential during a lengthy maiden flight and Paul will now complete the model with the USAF decals and scale detailing it deserves at this scale – we look forward to seeing this large P-51 again, fully finished at later meets!  Dave Gilder flew his OV-10 Bronco, (below left) now resplendent in a scale, high visibility Fire Recce scheme, and his Dutch display F-16 which enjoyed a very nippy and nimble flight.  John Hey flew his Supermarine Attacker (designed and built by Stewart Redfern) and his gorgeous BAC Jet Provost, (below right) built from the Andy Blackburn PSS plan.  Unfortunately a poorly bound Rx led to some crash damage on the Attacker, a clean fuselage break and thankfully nothing that can’t be repaired.  The JP flew beautifully, the red and white scheme looking great in the conditions.

In summary, I’m glad to be able to report this was a very successful event.  Despite the relatively few number of pilots in attendance, there was a huge amount of PSS flying done over the 2 days in ideal conditions for our sport.  Everything flew from the 3.5m span, 20lb Lockheed U-2 right down to the 14″ span Flitzer.  The diverse range of models and good company with friends both old and new made this a memorable event for all the right reasons, and with the weather being so kind we’ve generated a massive amount of new photos and video as included within the write up and further linked HERE.  My thanks go to all those who travelled and made this event such a success, and of course to the committee of the LMAC club for allowing us to stage our event on their fantastic slopes.  We look forward to returning in 2014.

Our focus now turns back to Llandudno, for our final weekend event of the year, to be held upon the Great Orme 12^th and 13^th October.  I hope to see you there!