Great Orme PSSA Fly for Fun – 11th & 12th July 2020

To say that this was an eagerly awaited and much needed weekends flying would be a gross understatement!

Following the relaxation in lockdown laws, 11/12^th July was the first weekend we were legally allowed to travel into Wales and our first event of the season having previously cancelled planned meetings in April, May and June due to Covid.  That’s not to say everything was back to normal.  There were no hotels or B&Bs open in Wales, and unless you’d found self-contained accommodation, weekenders would have to travel back into England for their overnight stay.  On the slope there were some key changes required too.  We focussed on maintaining our 1m+ social distancing, there was no pilots box in use or traditional group photo and the provision of single use gloves and hand sanitiser enabled us to handle models without the risks brought about with enforced self launching.  They’d also be no social gathering in the evening with a planned meal – but that was all ok!  We were going flying again on the Great Orme, finally!  And the forecast on the run up looked very promising with NW winds for the Saturday turning West on the Sunday.

I arrived nice and early at 07:30 and was soon joined by Andy Meade.  Although we would be flying down at the NW Café slope we parked up top and once we’d enjoyed a brew and rigged a small model each we walked back down the tank track for a quick fly of the Hawk and JP before anyone else was on site.  The lift was a bit ‘mushy’ first thing but we enjoyed a short 15 minute float around before landing out and heading back to the car park as others began to arrive.  Before 10am we ran a short pilots brief covering some of the important changes with our approach to launching each others models and soon after we’d established quite a healthy pit area with the slope active from that point on in the usual, relaxed Fly-for-fun format.

I counted 18 pilots in total on the Saturday, so a smaller group than we often attract but perhaps a perfectly sized attendance for our first socially distanced event.  What was immediately evident was the number of new and untested models on site, a result of the many months of building and the completion of projects over the combined winter and lockdown periods.  I guess every cloud has its silver lining!

Jez Billington test flew both his new Hawker Sea Fury in Royal Navy colours (left) and his 1/8^th scale Jet Provost having recently completed the build from the new Andy Blackburn 150% plans.  The JP was quickly found to be tail heavy and Jez clearly had his hands full in flying the model smoothly.  Having lost a lot of height from launch Jez remained cool and collected enough to minimise his inputs and crab the Jet Provost back up to a height were he could perform a wide arcing circuit and plop the model safely back on top.  A great recovery on a tricky slope with a sick model – Jez can now tweak the balance and the throws accordingly ready for the next attempt which should then be totally successful I’m sure.

Chris Collis had joined us and brought with him 3 of his O/D WWII bombers from PSS days gone by – his superb Lancaster (title image) his Wellington and his Junkers Ju-88.  All were flown on the Saturday once Chris had been convinced by Simon Cocker that landing a model of this sort of size (they each span ~100”) was perfectly possible with the wall bounded limitations of the field we were flying from.  Great to see these big bombers flying again at a PSSA event after a number of years absence.  Some of these airframes are 30 years old and still going strong!  Simon Cocker was flying a recently acquired large scale DH Venom, which went really well in the conditions and Simon put on his usual display of low level passes and circuits around the back of the pits which was great to watch.  Landing this vintage fighter proved more testing than I think Simon initially expected, there was clearly plenty of lift being generated between the slope face and the perimeter road behind, yet perhaps not quite enough wind to help slow the model up on finals, and a number of attempts were made before the entry height and reduction of energy in the turns were perfectly combined to drop the model in onto the short grass!   Many other pilots also struggled with the tight landing circuit in a similar manner and throughout the morning I saw various approaches being tried with left hand circuits, right hand circuits and cross slope landings all attempted with a full range of results.  Peter Garsden even managed to perch his BAC Canberra onto the concrete gun inplacement just behind the pits!  Controlled circuit and landing of the day had to go to Andy Meade with his ever impressive Lockheed U-2.  At 108” span and with an AUW of over 10lb this is no small model, but the combination of heavily drooped flaps and raised ailerons for crow enabled Andy to very smartly drop the model in from height – the aircraft descending nose down at a mere walking pace along the required vector and eased smoothly and gracefully into the landing zone.  Brilliant stuff!

Steve Kemp flew his new MD Phantom II – rebuilt and ‘up-cycled’ from an old second hand Howard Metcalfe kit.  In fact a few of the PSSA regulars have recently acquired similar projects from E-bay for renovation, a behind the scenes mass build if you will – so expect to see more diminutive PSS Phantoms on our slopes very soon!  Steve had finished his in the classic all gloss black colourscheme of VX-4 the ‘Black Bunnies’ using a superb decal set from Callie Graphics.  I launched the model for Steve into the now more than ample lift and it flew well from the off, requiring no trim or alteration whatsoever it appeared!  Testament to the HM design stable – these were very popular models back in the late 80s and early 90s when PSS was still relatively infantile – clearly their ABS fuselage and foam wing construction is built for a long life!  Steve’s glossy Phantom looked awesome in the sun and against the blue skies we were experiencing.

There were a number of Island Models Fouga Magisters on site, Andy Meade and Jez Billington both successfully flew their examples of the type but the new stand-out model was that brought out to the slope by Bob Jennings.  Bob has once again tested his superb airbrush skills to the limit and recreated a fantastically intricate Tiger Squadron scheme from the French Airforce which looked superb through the camera lens in the sunshine.  Bob elected not to test fly the model from this particular NW slope and I eagerly look forward to our next event at the Lleyn where hopefully we will see this stunning model in action!

Having enjoyed quite a superb morning and lunchtime session, by mid afternoon the lift gradually dropped away and we saw less and less conventional PSS models being flown, with only the lightest loaded models able to sustain flight.  By 5pm the wind appeared to be swinging more West and as some folk packed up and retired at the end of their day, others ventured up to the main SW slope in the hope we would be rewarded with some golden hour flying.  Sadly, this did not materialise, we seemed to be High Pressure dominated suddenly and by 7pm we had all pulled stumps and left the hill in the hope that Sunday would bring better flyable conditions.  We all left the Orme with sunburn and windburn after a fruitful days flying – great to be back!

Sunday dawned and we met up after breakfast to find the high pressure system was still in place, as per the forecast which showed light Westerly winds until mid afternoon when they were supposed to increase in strength from the SW.  We pootled around with DLGs and little foamies, sat chatting in our camp chairs and took a laid-back brunch, then lunch – as we awaited the promised conditions.  I think more than a few of us were doubting what was about to happen.  At 2pm, as if a switch had been thrown by the weather gods, the air temperature noticeably dropped and the wind very quickly picked up from the 6-8mph we’d had all morning to a solid 20mph SW wind.   It was quite remarkable how fast the conditions changed for the good, I’ve never before experienced such a rapid delta.  Sandwiches were thrown down and transmitters were picked up, and we were once again flying, this time on our most favoured SW slope!

The lift was superb from that point on, plentiful from left to right yet lovely and smooth still at these sort of wind speeds – no real risk at launch or landing due to turbulence or rotor – it really was superb conditions!

Andy Meade successfully test flew his new DH88 Comet converted to PSS from a power model of unknown origins.  Supporting an ABS fuselage, the model is fairly lightly loaded at this scale, and it flew away very smartly from my launch.  Andy did have to be mindful of a tip stall characteristic which I think this type is well renowned for – and on more than one occasion she did bite a little, albeit at a safe height enabling a quick recovery.  Andy went on to enjoy a fairly lengthy flight as he got to know the airframe and was soon performing circuits and overshoots (even a couple of touch and goes on those under-hanging engine pods) which looked great in the camera!  In keeping the speed up and not over using the elevator in the circuit Andy eventually brought the big red Comet safely home.

With the conditions so good even the heaviest loaded models were rigged and given a good airing throughout the afternoon session.  There was a number of Mass Build Hurricanes in action, Steve McLaren, Steve Kemp, Peter Garsden and myself all got some good airtime in with them, and for once I brought mine home without having lost any of the magnetically attached guns or tailwheel assemblies!  I recall flights from Andy Meade’s Sea Hawk, Steve McLaren’s Gnat and Al Gorham’s Kawasaki Ki-61 – all going great guns!  Mass build A-4s and Jet Provosts were also well represented and flying well, but it was Steve Kemp with his new 150% Jet Provost who I think really stole the show with a superb maiden and then multiple follow on flights throughout the afternoon.

Steve took the learning from Jez’s maiden flight the day before and with help from Peter Garsden (also a fully qualified JP150% pilot) made some additional CoG adjustments prior to the first flight by adding another 40g of nose weight.  This clearly paid off, as the maiden flight launch went without a hitch, the model very smoothly climbing out and penetrating well into the wind which was by now almost 30mph in strength.  The look on Steve’s face was suggesting he was extremely happy with his newest creation, and he was soon enjoying the models robust sit and stability in a series of low level circuits and overshoots.  It was all very smooth and refined – impressive for a maiden – but just what we expected from this bigger version of the popular Andy Blackburn MB plan.  I’m sure the demonstration given by Steve will influence the 10 or so other modellers who bought this plan pack to promote their builds sometime soon!

There were many other models flown throughout the remainder of the afternoon, all revelling in the superb conditions and as a group we flew on until nearly 7pm.  It was a fantastic end to the day and to the weekend.  More photos from the weekends flying can be viewed HERE.

Our next meet, assuming there are no further changes to restrictions on travel or outdoor activities, is our revised annual trip to fly with the Lleyn MAC on the coastal slopes around Abersoch, 8th and 9th August.

The weekends flying at the Orme has certainly kickstarted our 2020 season, and I know there’s a big group of flyers now eager to meet again at the Lleyn – see you all there!