I last flew RC gliders in 1982, In those days I flew competitive Thermal Duration and F3B, I remembered how much fun competitions were so I wanted to get competitive again.
Before I committed myself I did a lot of reading and decided I would like to concentrate on competitive F5J flying as it seemed that it would allow me to practice on my own when I have spare time with no need for a clumsy winch or bungee.
The first thing I had to do was to find out if I could still fly or if I had to start from scratch! I had a look around and the quickest way to get into the air was with a Hobby King Phoenix 2600 foam glider. This is a 2.6m full house glider, maybe not the best way to start as it would be more difficult to fly than a RES plane but it was available.
The Phoenix 2600 ready for it's first flight.
I must admit that I was rather worried about the first flight so I went out early one morning to a local field so that I would have no spectators! As it turned out I had a few issues when I arrived with one aileron servo that did not work, the problem was a bad extension cable that I could sort out at the field.
A few hand launches showed that the controls were centered and that the CoG was close. The next flight I switched on the motor and climbed to about 50m to check the plane. It was a bit slow in responding but flying well. The best news after the first landing was that I realized I could still fly and that flying towards myself presented no problems! I was REALLY happy!
The next flight turned out even better, from about 50m I managed to find a thermal and had a 45 minute flight, I was hooked!
Over the next few weekends I flew the Phoenix as often as I could, I also made a few mods like taping the leading edges with fiber re-enforced tape. The wing tips were painted a different color as well as the bottom of the plane to help with visibility issues. I was having fun!
During this time I also joined two local gliding clubs, Silverton Gliding club (SGC) and GEMS. I was really surprised to see a few names I knew at SGC from way back, guys like Gordon Browne and Jan Sime whom I flew with in the late 70's and early 80's.
The Phoenix with a bit of color added ready for flight at SGC
My first visit to SGC was really great, lots of friendly faces and even a few I knew. Flying with other like minded people does make it more fun and there is always something to learn.
When I first visited GEMS the experience was also great, I did not know anyone but guys like Wolf made me feel right at home and I was soon enjoying the stunning GEMS flying field. My flying pattern became Saturday afternoons at GEMS and Sunday mornings at SGC. The only little problem was the wind, for some reason the first few months after I returned to gliding the wind was mostly very strong and the poor foamy suffered!
At least I have managed to keep it in once piece so far.
At least I have managed to keep it in once piece so far.
It is time to upgrade the plane.....
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