Steve Houghton 1

For those interested, there is an informal vintage model glider meet happening at The Bwlch, (between Nant y Moel & Treorchi), in S Wales on the weekend of the 16th & 17th July. This is just a fun event for flying and banter.

I've just received my X20 yesterday so I was of course playing around with it last night. I copied and pasted the Amber Sound pack into the Audio file, and if I open up the File Manager in Ethos, I can see the files there. However, when I click on one of the WAV files, it doesn't play and the the screen changes to go back to the top of the list again, unlike the original Ethos files which will play. I saw this on the RC Groups page you linked and now think that I should have put it in audio/(user sound files), instead of /audio/en/system (system sound files), but I don't recall seeing a user files section. I added a Play Track in special functions, linked to a switch and tried to add a sound file, but only got the three dots ... and nothing else. SD Card (drive letter)/audio/ (user sound files)SD Card (drive letter)/audio/en/system (system sound files)

Ooops ☺️ 4th & 5th that should be

Here is my video when the PSSA visited The Bwlch in S Wales at the weekend and took part in the record attempt.

Look out for the video next Monday afternoon on YouTube.

Oh I know of one mid air that happened about 1 minute before noon between a A4 Skyhawk and I think it was a Fouga Magister. I didn't capture the collision on video but the retrieval of the Skyhawk I did, and that was a feat of human endurance in itself from the bottom of a very steep & rugged cliff.

Thanks Matty - I can't say I've ever heard of MPM! It's a shame we can't just walk into a local model shop, pick up a TX and see how it feels. Looking at both the X18 & X20, the X18 does look like it would feel nicer in the hand than the X20 but, I prefer the look of the sliders on the X20 and the larger touch screen which, being long sighted would hopefully mean that I could read screen details during flight easier, if I needed to. I may have to see if I can find both to look at and hold before making a decision. Fortunately I'm in no rush.

Thanks Matty. I'm considering changing my radio soon as my Hitec A9, (although still being a brilliant system), won't last forever, and tech is moving on. So I'm considering purchasing a Horus X10, which will cover all my glider needs from foamie wings to full house pure gliders and F5J types with all the mixes.

Matt - I have an Eclipse 7 at home which is just gathering dust and hasn't been used in years. I guess it must still work but I'd have to charge it up to find out.

That's interesting! So I have a FrySky QX7 on ACCESS protocol on opentx, can I bind my Hitec compatible RX's to that? (Somehow I think I already know the answer to that).

On the 6th & 7th June, (the Queens platinum jubilee weekend), an informal vintage glider meet is taking place at the Bwlch, (between Nant-y-Moel & Treorchi) in S Wales. So many of us are busy prepping our old model gliders ready for this event. I'll be taking a Dynaflite Bird of Time and a model I have recently acquired especially for this event, the Robbe Verso. I picked this up from a guy in Warwickshire who hadn't flown it since the 1980's. There is a video below showing me flying it for the 1st time below. So if you are a glider guider with nothing better to do over that bank holiday weekend, come along to the Bwlch and join in the flying and banter with the others.

Wow, that's in great condition!

I've passed on the info that MattyB provided and apparently a meeting is being arranged. Hopefully this can be resolved quickly.

Well done MattyB

I don't think Natural England have done any research whatsoever into the impact of model flying, hang gliding or para gliding. The time on the ground is minimal and we tend to just stay in one spot whilst we are on the ground. At St Agnes the pits are usually right by a path or car park, and if anyone from Natural England had visited the site whilst model flyers were there, then they would know this. My own experience is that birds are more inquisitive of model aircraft, rather that putting them off breeding. I've had gulls, buzzards & red kites follow my models in the air, just watching as if they were thinking, "what kind of strange bird is this"? One time I was flying off Rame Head in Cornwall and on this occasion I did have 2 Peregrine Falcons trying to chase my model away. I did think that they must have had chicks in a nest on the cliffs.

There are miles of trail paths along that stretch of coastline with many dogs being let off the lead,

I think getting into the hobby is easier with models that only take a few minutes to assemble, and with built in stabilisation at the flick of a switch, there is much less risk of going home with a bag of bits after your first flight. So this makes it easier to fly and a pilots interest to grow and expand into more complex models. The learning curve never stops though! I have flown using Hi-Tec radios for years now, but with the demise of Hi-Tec radios I have had to look elsewhere for a new radio system, so I opted for the cheap and cheerful Frysky Taranis QX7. Thank God for YouTube is all I can say, otherwise I'd still be scratching my head and the programming of my first full house powered glider is almost complete with only speed reflex & thermal camber across ailerons & flaps to complete this evening. This has been challenging to say the least but at least I'm getting to grips with the programming and may purchase a more complex model later on.

I don't see how these groups can have any more affect on the wildlife than the hundreds of thousands of walkers that walk from the coastguard hut at St Agnes down to the Wheal Coates tin mine, letting their dogs off the lead and then chasing the wildlife.

As someone who flies non motorised gliders from St Agnes, Cornwall several times each year, I received a forwarded email written by Steve Sudworth who is the lead ranger at Godrevy to St Agnes. The National Trust have been liaising with Natural England about various SSSI issues in this area and in doing so they have informed the NT that they can no longer issue licenses to organisations or individuals that might affect the SSSI without 1st applying for consent. This will affect hang gliders, para gliders, non powered model aircraft and rock climbers. Natural England have concerns about the impact flying may have on the breeding bird assemblage, which is a key feature of the SSSI designation. They have informed the NT that, in their opinion, hang gliders, para gliders and model aircraft landing & taking off from this site during the breeding season, from March through to September, would affect the breeding birds and as such it is unlikely that they would provide SSSI consent for these activities. They have also informed the NT that it is an offence to disturb nesting birds under the Wildlife & Countryside Act. Natural England have said that they would consider an application to fly outside of the bird breeding season from October to February inclusive, on the advice that they consider the potential impact of the activity on the Grey Seal population, which is also a notified feature of the SSSI. Natural England have also requested that the NT put together a monitoring program in place to assess disturbance impacts and the condition of the breeding bird assemblages to do due diligence in their responsibility in managing the SSSI. So, as of the 7th February 2022, we are no longer allowed to fly within the Godrevy to St Agnes SSSI! Anyone flying here will be in breach of Natural England's SSSI regulations which can amount to a criminal offence and a fine under the Wildlife & Countryside Act.

You took the words right out of my mouth Frank!

I've never had a problem with mine but a friend bought a new A9 just under a year ago, (old stock) and a couple of months ago had a fault losing signal. It turned out to be the module was faulty. He managed to get a replacement FOC under warranty and it's working fine now.

When I tip stalled my MPX Heron into the ground, it completely broke the whole nose off. I used Gorilla glue, the brown stuff that activates with a little moisture and foams up. This gave me the time I needed to accurately fit it back together before the glue dried. Now because it foams up it can push parts apart so I pinned it all together to hold it in place, and the expanding foam also fills in any little holes there may be in the foam too. Three years later and it's still flying lovely. I rarely use cyano on foam, preferring to use either the Gorilla glue or UHU POR, which is also brilliant for any kind of foam.

Loved the video Steve. I do think you need to get some help with this Lidl glider obsession you have though ?

I haven't seen a Dogan in ages. One of my flying buddies used to have one. I can't help you I'm afraid, you may have to come up with your own solution.