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Flying patch repair?


SIMON CRAGG
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In the spring, we are thinking about purchasing a "Whacker Plate" to help flattening some areas of our flying patch.

 

We had a big problem with moles, and although they have now gone (and with lots of raking and seeding), we are still left with a rather bumpy / uneven area (15m x 15m).

 

We have hired a sit on roller in the past, but its awkward judging the weather etc. etc. and expensive.

 

Has any other club gone down this road in the past?.

 

Any views appreciated.

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  Last winter Mr Brock turfed over a section of our strip looking for grubs and worms I recon.

It was not in the main flight strip so left it until spring when things dried up some. After replacing most of the turf/divots where they came from I just drove my car [ ford focus ] back and fore over the area until it was well flat.

  Thought you were contemplating a serious version of that old game " Whack a Mole."?   Cheers John

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Whacker Plates are more readily available and can be collected at short notice. I would hire one and give it a go just on a trial basis. Check out you local hire shops for availability and costs, some have a deal where you can collect on a Friday afternoon and return before Monday 09:00 for a single days charge. Mind you it was a long time ago when I was involved in this kind of work. 

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1 hour ago, SIMON CRAGG said:

In the spring, we are thinking about purchasing a "Whacker Plate" to help flattening some areas of our flying patch.

 

We had a big problem with moles, and although they have now gone (and with lots of raking and seeding), we are still left with a rather bumpy / uneven area (15m x 15m).

 

We have hired a sit on roller in the past, but its awkward judging the weather etc. etc. and expensive.

 

Has any other club gone down this road in the past?.

 

Any views appreciated.

The club field is the centre of club activities so sometimes does have to be invested in rather than done improperly on the cheap. Charge the members an appropriate amount to keep your patch how you'd like it without hard graft by the few and  breaking your backs. Club fees are tiny compared to most modelling expenditure. Both of my clubs each with around 90 members have proper rollers bought for the job and the fields are always prepared to a very high standard. Both fields do get a bit soggy in the winter but with the correct equipment and the experience gained over the years we have near bowling green conditions in the summer.

Edited by Cuban8
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We use a hired Bomag roller with considerable success on our strip which is marginal, wet land shared with Flossie.   I suspect timing is all, moist enough to flatten out the bumps but not too soft.   I think we’ve done it twice in the last four years and whilst the same Gang of Four seem to have their hands up first, not including me because I still have a day job, recent work and improvements (verge trimming, tree reduction, pv panel and lights, flued heater) have been shared out reasonably democratically.   The hard core of a dozen or so shoulder most of the burden.

 

Nobody whinges.

 

I sense that this issue varies enormously between clubs.

 

BTC

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Wacker plates are compaction, not levelling  devices. Compacted soil will not drain properly causing problems later. If the subsoil and topsoil are not level, compacting with a roller, plate etc will only create hard poorly draining patches. Liberal,  regular use of a larger light roller stands a better chance of achieving a "smooth" surface. Have you ever seen a Bomag type roller used on a Football, Rugby or playing field? There's a good reason.

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17 hours ago, EarlyBird said:

Yes we hired two Bomag 120s and they did a good job. Plenty of help to have a go on the big boys toys ?

Ok, so we're not trying to create a super flat sports field, but I would still be wary of (over) using vibrating rollers etc. Over compacted areas may not drain properly and cause more problems. Just meant as a word of caution.

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As Simon only needs to repair a small area the hire of a roller would be ott, the whacker would be fine and its vibrations would likely persuade Mr Mole to depart if still around below.

      When it comes to the use of rollers a lot depends on the type of ground you are on, a heavy vibrating type on a clay base would not be good for example.  Even on my small farm I have 3 different rollers for varying conditions/needs.  

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3 hours ago, J D 8 said:

As Simon only needs to repair a small area the hire of a roller would be ott, the whacker would be fine and its vibrations would likely persuade Mr Mole to depart if still around below.

      When it comes to the use of rollers a lot depends on the type of ground you are on, a heavy vibrating type on a clay base would not be good for example.  Even on my small farm I have 3 different rollers for varying conditions/needs.  

Exactly right. We are going to give the wacker a trial first, no point in spending club members money unless we really have to. 

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When the ground conditions are right (not wet, just firm enough to deform), we drive up and down our patch with our cars.  3 seems optimum, else you get in each others' way.  Takes about 20 minutes to work from the centreline out. We save it for the end of the day when a low sun helps you see where you've been ?.  As with most other Club activities, the same few mugs end up burning their petrol...

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16 hours ago, Mike T said:

When the ground conditions are right (not wet, just firm enough to deform), we drive up and down our patch with our cars.  3 seems optimum, else you get in each others' way.  Takes about 20 minutes to work from the centreline out. We save it for the end of the day when a low sun helps you see where you've been ?.  As with most other Club activities, the same few mugs end up burning their petrol...

 

Interesting, I guess you need to be really careful not to leave tyre tracks / furrows....... 

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15 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

 

Interesting, I guess you need to be really careful not to leave tyre tracks / furrows....... 

Indeed - but its easy to tell from driving on other parts of the field when the ground is at the right degree of plastic deformity for our specialist treatment! ?

 

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3 hours ago, Mike T said:

Indeed - but its easy to tell from driving on other parts of the field when the ground is at the right degree of plastic deformity for our specialist treatment! ?

 

We tried this as well, along with driving our ride on mower up and down the damaged area. Limited success!. We are getting excited about trying the wacker plate idea, if it works, it could be the answer to repairing small bumpy areas. Sounds like we are not alone in having only a handful of members who are keen to get the site up to speed. Rest of them not remotely interested really!. I could rant on about the topic, but its not worth the effort.

 

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On 31/12/2021 at 19:49, Bruce Collinson said:

Do you not find that recently trained and soloed members tend to repay their debt to the club and the trainer(s) by mucking in?

BTC

Yes, they do Bruce. But when the initial enthusiasm wains its back to the usual few to do virtually everything. However, its not all doom and gloom as a few years ago we instigated specific jobs for each committee member: Grounds / mowing, caravan maint, club shop, BMFA, Club comps, club web site,  as well as the club sec. etc. So far the division of responsibility has worked really well. I just get a bit miffed with it when, we organise a works party which will benefit all members, and just the above bods turn up. We have even had the odd member turn up whilst we are beavering away and heard comments like "I joined the club to fly.....not to work". At that point I have to really bite my tongue!.

Edited by Martin Harris - Moderator
xxxs replaced by a suitable word - please remember the forum rules!
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Think we’re very lucky as I remain convinced that it is quite club-specific.   In my short returned modelling career I have belonged to three clubs and the esprit de corps has varied enormously between the three.   The first one, as a relative novice, I never flew a plane in several months.   The second one taught me to fly but then lost its strip.   The third, current one, had a slightly odd clique-ish character on joining but we soon improved that to the point where I would say the standard of craik and leg-pulling is close to what I relished in Round Table 25 years ago.   Consequently there are usually enough volunteers but I would concede that the usual two to four suspects are always the catalyst, but they attract helpers and maybe not coincidentally do much of the training too.

 

here’s a thing, too, I am a long way away from training anyone else but my occupation takes me close to the LMS fairly frequently and we have a custom that anyone calling in messages the others to see if they need anything.   Kills several birds with one stone, not the least of which is supporting the LMS, another of which is that if someone has done a favour, found a widget in 3.75mm reverse thread, donated a tankful of fuel, converted an Osama bin Liner of matchsticks into an F3A etc, there are boundless opportunities to balance the books.   Even the catering becomes collaborative, one member having a particularly fine pie shop on his doorstep and another with access to Fat Rascals for pudding (southerners, look it up) and it all builds towards a very happy flight line.

 

Just saying.

 

Happy New Year.

BTC

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