Bill, you buy Wildthings direct from the designer and maker, Alan Head.

Here's his site:  Soar Ahead Sailplanes

Yep, just spoke with Alan earlier today actually ( had to order a replacement fus after the last battle last Sunday )

He is no longer doing the 50" by the way - but the 60 and the 46" are still going strong. I mentioned again about the ballast thing...and he remains adamant that you should NOT ballast them  - his reasoning being

1) The physics laws involved dictate that doubling the weight will result in only a 40% increase in speed so obviously a mere 12 oz of lead or whatever will have very little effect. Better to add an ounce or two to the nose.

2)  - and his main reason actually  - adding ballast increases the energy imparted on impact - to the point that it will actually be dangerous if someone gets hit ( as they often do in some conditions ) and the extra inertia upon arrival in a less than perfect attitude will likely result in the model suffering damge.

I can confirm this, as mine had approx 14oz of lead on the COG point last weekend in 55MPH winds - following a mid air in combat, she landed way inland and on recovery.... the fus had broken.

She had "crashed" in far worse scenarios many times before in its 8 month life, including the wife trying to learn how to launch in a gale which resulted in the model SLAMMING very hard into bare rock at high speed - and never suffered at all apart from a little tearing of the coloured tape here and there.

I will not be adding ballast after the rebuild.

Hi Sloper,  Many thanks for that, I have just been on the phone to Alan and hopefully a Mk3  46" Wildthing will be winging its way over the water to Whiting bay  Southern Ireland  tomorrow.

Will clear the workbench tomorrow .

Any tips for flying will be greatly appreciated,  I am new to this Game." What no engine"

Find a hill - make sure there is a good wind blowing in your face as you look over the edge - chuck the model forward and pointing slightly DOWN - be ready to feed in down elevator.

One big difference with slopers is that you will be using down elevator pitch MUCH more than on powered flight. The ONLY way to get forward motion is to allow the model to lose height, and when into wind this means down el.

Across the ridge and toward you it will level off and speed will stay or increase.

It can be quite draggy in the turns, so again be ready with the down elevator to avoid losing all the energy you just built up in the circuit. Be very careful when turning downwind as speed increases quickly. As with all flying, the landing is the tricky bit. Depending on windspeed and how much turbulence there may be on the particular slope turn back toward yourself, let her come in reasonably high and behind you. Then turn again into wind, travelling toward you, and let her lose height - pushing down elevator again to maintain penetration and airspeed, so that you dont have to walk too far ! If you overshoot....no sweat, just go out and around again.

You will soon be doing touch and goes

Remember the model is designed to take punishment, so dont worry if you get the landing wrong, they literally bounce and tumble with no damage at all. Have fun...its addictive!!

I count the days mate to when we can get a few guys along and have guaranteed fun at the Rock. Just love it.

I am in for that folks

Looking forward to it

Lee

wink wink say no more

F3F racing tomorrow  1st of the midland winter league

Lee

Wildthing - I think I love you!

I have just christened my first sloper with an hour's chucking and scrambling up and down scree slopes on the Titterstone Clee - what fun! Nobody told me sloping would be such a physical activity. I need to put ski goggles on my Christmas list - tears streaming from your eyes don't half get in the way of your flying!

I think I need to find a better slope (I'm sure this is not a new excuse), because the spoil heaps on the Clee have 'returns' where the wind blows straight through rather than up a slope - when I launched off the top of my particular slope the model shot straight up in dollops of lift, but either side of me I struggled to attain lift if I turned at the wrong spot, resulting in another scramble down the slope to retrieve the model.

All in all - immense fun, a new challenge and an ambition realised. Next stop - the Long Mynd!

I have just been out AGAIN! I think I would right in saying that the weather this week is particularly good - am I right? I have also discovered an excellent slope midway between me and the Mynd - gobs of lift and a nice long ridge to zoom along. Flying with the sunset in front of you is just sublime, and I have noticed that I am missing something that flying has brought me everytime to date - a criked neck! Spending most of your time looking out ahead of you or even below is far easier on the neck than I had even considered.

So - so far so good, Wildthing still in one piece, confidence high, and an excellent site on the doorstep. Now, which model next? I still like the idea of EPP - nice and forgiving - but should I yearn for a 60 inch racer, an aerobat or what?

Shame your not a proper mode tim or I would let ya fly mine to see if ya like it lol

Lee

Oh yes - those mouldies are exquisite - but seriously, I think they are a bit further down the line for me. Having read that PMP will cease production of their EPP models I am thinking I'd better buy a couple off him pronto. Having zero experience of other slopers I am at a loss as to what I should be looking at - a Wannabee? A Rico-She? Another SAS model?

Whereas there is a clear progression with powered models - high wing/low wing/scale or aerobat etc, what is the progression with slope models? I was amazed that the WT was suggested as a first sloper, but I can see now why it works so well, but I expected suggestions along the lines of Middle Phase/Easy Glider etc as a good place to start. Given that someday I might be throwing a few hundred quids worth of glass and carbon of a hill, what comes after a WT?

Lee - what are you flying right now? 

Timbo - forum moderator wrote (see)

I use a couple of velcro dots to hold mine - I charge in situ ( LiPo too !!v ) via a jack socket which also acts as the on/off switch

See what you've done Timbo........You've got me trawling through old posts about Wildthings now..........Give me half an hour and I'll get through the rest.

How have you wired the jack socket as an on/off switch?..........I know about switched sockets but do you carry a dummy jack and plug it in to switch on or off at the field?

Phil.