Slope 2 Event 9 -11 Mar 07
Boscombe Down
Slope 2 was held at Boscombe Down over the weekend 9-11 March . My beginners luck was still strong as the weather for that weekend was looking good.
On the way to Boscombe a few of us from Marham stopped at Ivinghoe Beacon. We grabbed a zaggi each and started our way up the hill. Once we got there the wind had dropped off to nothing and some locals had their discus launch gliders in the air. At this point I was severely kicking myself for not charging the Blaster, the night before I was thinking a zaggi would be enough for a quick stop to test out the thumbs. Given half an hour the wind
did
pick up enough for a little flight. We even managed to maiden the Stigs
Stargazer 3ch Glider before finishing off the journey to Boscombe.
On
Friday the wind was westerly so we headed to the usual venue of Roundway.
Unfortunately Colin Waite and Phil Morgan could not make it and Martin
Gay was in a meeting so all
competitions were put on hold until Martin finished. He and Fiona didn’t
pitch up till half three, by then most of us had had enough but the wind
was good so we stayed for some off the peg flying.
During
the first round the lift was great all around the hill so the running
was more influential on the result than the flying. This was proven as
Martin Paffett easily made it all the way
around the course with a Zaggi. It was irritating to be overtaken by one
of the dinosaurs of slope soaring who showed a higher level of fitness
than some of our
younger fliers (Bernie AKA the Stig).
The course stayed the same for the second round with a few more turns
and passes at each flag. The wind shifted at this time giving the
more experienced glider pilots a chance
to show their skills. This gave them a chance to gain on the “racing
snakes”. At the end of the second round all were exhausted, not only the
competitors but the time keepers who in some cases couldn’t keep up.
We
finished the day with a bit of combat. There were plenty of kills
including Martin P’s red and
green zaggi, ash’s X-it (kamikaze) and my Red Bull zaggi took a pounding
from most people
loosing more than one servo horn. It
even became perfectly stuck to the bottom of the Stigs X-it
and they continued flying one on top of the other.
On the Sunday we didn’t have Colin or Phil in our company so we kept it simple with one round of fun fly. (This will keep Martin “RAF Waddington” Paffett happy with earning another station point.
Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed the event and we are all looking forward to the next slope comp.
I
would like to thank Martin for his help with getting the accommodation
sorted with
access to showers, and for the very useful printouts of directions to
slopes and with
wind directions they take. Much appreciated!
Lee Wilson
Lee Wilson
RAFMAA Gliding Compsec
email: rafmaa-gliding@rafmaa.co.uk
