club scene

SANDHAYS SCALE GLIDING ASSOCIATION

AERO TOW WEEKEND 18/19 AUGUST 2001

Sandhays SGA as a model flying club has been in existence for almost a year now and the 14-acre grass flying field is sufficiently established to have made a perfect surface from which to fly. The central 4 acres is a rye-free grass mixture and close mown so that even modestly powered electric aircraft can easily take off. The field is owned by a couple of guys who thought that it would make a very nice weekend if a successful aero tow event could be staged and so the invitations went out in June and July.

No one could have known what a success the event would become! On Friday evening a couple of pilots had arrived with their families, including children, and a youthful pilot called James Rogers who entertained us throughout the weekend zapping his Twinstar and Twinjet around the site. In fact, the family atmosphere added a great deal to the event with children happily playing cricket in a corner of the field.

The organisers were wondering if this would be it, of course, but Saturday morning rapidly dispelled any fears of a poor turnout. Pilots came from as far afield as Worksop in the South to Bridlington in the North. One guy even turned up from Wolverhampton for Sunday’s flying I am told. There were eventually about 20 pilots with more than 30 models to fly.

The weather on both days was perfect for these large, scale gliders with about force 3 or 4 winds and much sunshine. The wind freshened late on Saturday afternoon when flying stopped and the camping routines of barbecue and yarning took over. Sunday’s flying was completed just as a batch of heavy showers arrived with thunder.

The pictures show at No. 1, Peter Russell putting the final touches to his beautifully prepared Jayracer so as to kick off the Saturday towing. The climb angle of this tug was astonishing even towing these large payloads. Cast-off altitude must have been attained in little more than 30 to 40 seconds and we are talking about 1,000 feet here - confirmed by Peter Russell’s Vario gear which transmits data from the aircraft back to an ear piece in Peter’s ear ’ole. (In case you are wondering, the event had formal CAA clearance defining the permissible altitude and range).

No. 2 has Bob Wilson setting up his Lo 100 prior to its first flight.

No. 3 is a nice aerial shot of John Lilley’s DG300

No. 4 shows Tony Ward with his beautiful Minimoa - there were two or three of these models. The Minimoa has been a popular scale model subject for forty or more years to my knowledge.

Nos. 5 and 7 are of a very pretty PSS Learjet. The owner generously offered a flight or two to Bob Wilson who demonstrated that it could stay aloft very well without any slope!

No. 6 catches Ray Rogers' Titan - a tug for men - on finals. Ray knocked off the undercarriage on Saturday, but after a foray into the local town and a dose of glass therapy, he was back on the line for Sunday's task.

Without exception, this aero tow event attained the highest standards. The flying of the tug pilots was an absorbing thing to watch as they hauled the 30-odd gliders relentlessly aloft. Everyone enjoyed themselves and expressed delight with the superb flying site, swearing to return and, in some cases, to join the Association. All aircraft were finished to a very high standard too.

Further events are already being considered but the aero tow will doubtless take place more than just once a year after this.

If you would like to see more pictures taken at this meeting then visit the web site at the URL below.

Geoff Graham

http://www.scaleglidingnlincs.org/