A wealth of new models at The Orme in April
Phil Cooke reports from the opening event of the 2022 season…
Saturday 9th April saw us successfully stage the first event of our 2022 season upon the Great Orme in Llandudno. The days forecast was most promising with clear skies and good strength NW winds which saw us flying from the lower café slope – not everyone’s cup of tea! Great for lift, but not ideally suited for all our models due to the tight landing zone that is characteristic of this particular site. In contrast the weather forecast for Sunday was for very light winds varying in direction throughout the day – so with this in mind, we eagerly focussed on making the most of the opportunity which Saturday provided!
I arrived early after a great run from home and with the site all set up and the slope lift tested by Andy Meade’s trusty little Hawker Tempest, we held our usual pilots brief at 10:30am before getting the days events formally underway. 15 or so pilots were present, with participants travelling as usual from all over the UK. We were extremely grateful to have been joined by Dirk Tinck and his wife Diana who once again had travelled all the way over from Belgium to fly with us at The Orme for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic.
As is normal for the first event after the winter break, there were a number of brand new and untested models on show. This was heightened at this particular meeting by some of the models completed as part of our recent 48 hour ‘One Sheet’ build challenge which we’d run as a group event back in March. The Zoom call at the start of that project saw a dozen or so builders designing their own ‘fast make’ foam models and knocking them together over the selected 48 hour build window. The weekend proved a lot of fun and despite a few models not quite being finished in full – there were 4 fully completed designs at the slope, all new and bespoke, each type never seen before as a PSS model, all in need of a test flight! Despite the models simple all foam based construction, I think the builders involved all learnt a few lessons with respect to design, rapid assembly and prototyping which I think will pay dividends in the hobby going forward. As an example, I can personally see huge benefits now in knocking up a quick, cheap foam model, perhaps to test a concept and get a feel for a model in the air which you might want to build at a bigger scale using more conventional materials with the associated investment in time and money. It was great to see these models develop so quickly in parallel over just a couple of days and good to see more of our members putting pen to paper and designing their own models from scratch!
The group photo shows the 4 new own designs completed in time – On the back row (L to R) – Dave Gilder with his 62” span Shorts Skyvan, Dirk Tinck with his McDonnell F2H Banshee at 53” span and at the front (L to R) – Harry Twist with his 42” span Bristol M.1 Bullet and myself with the Yakovlev Yak-21 – 38” span. All 4 models are built entirely from blue or pink foam with balsa reinforcement where needed. The Banshee and Bullet are both finished in glass cloth and paint. The Skyvan utilises self adhesive vinyl applied over the foam, and the Yak has been treated all over with 2 coats of ‘Foam Armour’ prior to painting. With the photos in the can, one by one, the models were readied for their test flights. It became apparent that the thin wings of Dave’s Skyvan model would require some stiffening with a carbon spar before flight was attempted, and sadly it remained grounded awaiting this simple mod back at home. Dirk’s initial test glide on the Banshee proved a rearward balance point needed some additional ballast, but once sorted this and the other 2 new models all flew successfully, very well indeed in fact, and they were all flown extensively throughout the rest of the session! A great result and we look forward to seeing the other designs built as part of this 48 hour Build Challenge project arriving at the slopes soon – there are some great ‘never seen before’ types still to be finished!
Bob Jennings had brought with him his impressive new Nimrod MRA4 and fully rigged it at the slope for the first time. Bob’s been working this project this past few years from his own drawings, the model is built to 1/15th scale and spans an impressive 102”. Yet to be test flown, the model weighs in at 22lb giving it a wing loading of 28oz/sqft. Despite the winds being suitable, the model was never going to be test flown from our position on the NW Café slope, there is very little ‘get out’ opportunity if you have a balance issue here and Bob very wisely waited for a better day on the more forgiving SW slope. But having rigged the Nimrod we took the opportunity to capture some photos of the model in good light and with the backdrop of the sea. And for the first time we combined the large Nimrod with the RAF C-17 Globemaster III designed and built by Andy Meade, again ready to fly for the first time and rigged for us to marvel at in the pits! Both of these models are built to the same scale, and I for one cannot wait to see them soaring together when we next fly at a more suitable slope.
Gordon Studley’s modelling work was on show once again, firstly in the form of a new Jet Provost 150, built by Gordon for Tim Mackey who was the proud new owner. This new model was superbly finished in a bespoke red, white and green Welsh Dragon scheme complete with the Mackey family crest adorning the fin! Good to see another example of the bigger Andy Blackburn JP being finished – these models fly so well with real presence in the air at this scale. Moving away from true scale models, Gordon also produced his ‘Egg shaped’ P-40 Warhawk – built for PSS from the German Scale-ParkFlyer plans, who also produced the over-size vac formed canopy. This fun little model is made completely from Depron sheeting, it spans just 32” and will have a flying weight of ~600g – the model wasn’t yet fitted with a flight battery so the AUW is estimated. As with all of Gordon’s models, the finish is superb despite the paint being applied in this case to depron and not the usual glass surface – the ‘Fatty Curtiss P-40’ as it’s known will surely look the part when it’s scooting low level up and down the slopes!
One other new model worthy of mention was the 2020 Mass Build NA F-86 Sabre built by Dirk Tinck, seen for the first time and again still unflown due to the pandemic. We’ve been waiting to view this one for some time, Dirk’s level of finish is stunning – and looking beyond the quality paintwork the model is bristling with working scale features including airbrakes, lights and even a pilot ejection system! A superb rendition of the Sabre – again not test flown from the high risk NW Café slope but a real treat to see this model up close.
Flying worked well in the ideal conditions throughout the entire day – the skies were always busy mainly with our smaller models better suited to the challenging landing zone. That said, a few mid scale models like the T-33 and the Airbus A380s were put through their paces. Andy Meade bravely flew his superb Gloster Meteor with a plan in mind ahead of launch to walk with the model and land out on top of the main slope, something we proved possible last season with the big Lancasters owned by Chris Collis. Andy put in a superb flight with the Meteor, the first time I’ve seen it fly in sunny conditions, and after 30 minutes or so Bob Jennings guided Andy safely over the Marine Drive perimeter road and up the slope face to the top where he performed a scale like landing in the huge open space available to the pilot after the short cross country exercise. A good tip and skill to learn when flying from this slope – but only suited really to the bigger models due to the distance one has to be from your model in flight out over the slope when climbing towards the alternate landing zone.
We flew on until 18:00 in glorious conditions, only finishing then to allow sufficient time to get back into town, check into our B&Bs and get back out for the planned meal at The Cottage Loaf. 14 of us around the table – another memorable night – good food, good beer and great company! What a great start to the new season!
More photos from this days flying can be viewed in the Flickr album HERE.