Wetlands F5J 7th or 8th September

[Alex Maxfield]

Hi All, please let me know if you wish to join our event.

decision on what day will be made on or before Friday 6th September.

All welcome, £10 on the day, insults and banter are free.

[Alex Maxfield]

After following a variable weather forecast all week we decided to fly on Saturday. At 08:00 there was a 30m cloud ceiling and spots of rain with light wind. The weather improved gradually and by 11:00 we started R1G1. A brief lunch break was welcomed by all as the 2 slot competition is pretty hectic work for all.

Low cloud plagued us all day, there were a few high launches (above 200m) but many flights started with a 100-170m launch into a sky with poor visibility. In some cases the low cloud came in patches which made for some very entertaining forced height loss so the model became visible once more. All slots had some sort of lift with most flying out until the end.

My last flight was entertaining: I launched my Explorer Q4 to 105m into low cloud, I found light lift and went down wind - I walked some 75m from my landing slot in the direction of the model so I could see it better. Every time I climbed up to 100m the model disappeared into the cloud - on one occasion I completely lost sight of it for 20-30 seconds. Flap brakes out I waited until it reappeared at half the original height - I managed to find some more light lift again, made it back to the field, and flew the slot out, I ran back to the landing circle to try and land but was short of the circle. I was lucky, Alex Jeffery lost his model in the cloud completely and it was badly damaged unfortunately.

After 5 rounds we ended the competition - I think everyone had enough of the conditions, although the Wetlands crew were in good spirits and overall we enjoyed a good but challenging days flying.

Congrats to Steve Haley for the win (Explorer BF).

F5J North 07-09-24.pdf