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No FES, no fuss

Anything to do with gliders & gliding.
Jolly Roger
Posts: 573
Joined: 30 May 2015, 20:35
Location: Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire

No FES, no fuss

Post by Jolly Roger »

When flying off the slope with big or precious models I’m a huge fan (literally :D ) of any kind of back-up propulsive system. If the lift fails, you can avoid an expensive or potentially dangerous end to your day. I’ve fitted cheap FES systems to almost all my 5kg+ models.

However, with smaller lighter and cheaper models, there’s nothing quite like the adrenalin rush of standing on the edge of a hill and pitting yourself against the elements, with no safety net. It creates that little bit of jeopardy, a sense of challenge, that I find is needed to sustain interest in an activity.

And so it was that I stood for a full 10 minutes this evening, holding aloft my 2.7m Simprop Solution, and wondering whether it was a really stupid idea to launch it off this Cornish cliff with only the flimsiest waft of wind to save it from the Atlantic Ocean 300 feet below. With an FES, I’d have smugly lobbed it off without a second thought, knowing that free height gain was only a switch-flick away. But instead I had to weigh up every factor... was there a patch of hillside I could still reach if the model found only sink? Would the cliff generate any thermal lift? Did it matter that all the seagulls were flapping? Would I cry if it ditched in the sea and I never saw it again?

With a deep breath and an Olympic effort I thrust the Solution over the edge to watch it swoop downwards out over the sea....and then, to my utter relief, rise steadily upwards.

Despite the gentlest of breezes, the model soared ever upwards in that silky smooth lift you only get over an ocean. I walked a mile along the coastal path to Boscastle, the Solution happily skipping ahead of me and then back like a loyal puppy, covering 10 times my distance as it explored every corner of the slope. Reaching the lookout tower on the headland, I circled it meaningfully, and then returned back to my launch point, dropping the Solution at my feet in the pasture just back from the cliff edge.

All in all a thoroughly satisfying hour, the more so because of the frisson of fear that I had no FES safety net, and the knowledge that I had to read every curve of the hill and the changing conditions every step of the way. Slope soaring, pure and simple.

Sorry, no in-flight photos but a heap of happy memories.

Rog
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RobbieB
Posts: 547
Joined: 07 Mar 2015, 22:22
Location: North West

Re: No FES, no fuss

Post by RobbieB »

Thanks Rog,
That certainly lifted the mood on a bad news day - a Cornish sea cliff, a zephyr of lift, doesn't get much better than that. Well done.
Richard Onslow
Posts: 21
Joined: 15 Oct 2016, 13:58
Location: Carmarthenshire, Wales

Re: No FES, no fuss

Post by Richard Onslow »

That's a great post Roger.

The whole FES issue is a constant source of anguish to me (and others, I'm sure). The satisfaction one gains from successfully launching, flying and landing a pure (non FES) glider off the slope is utterly undeniable, and is definitely enhanced by the frisson of risk it involves. I plan to shortly take that risk with a new 5m model.

It is easy to buy insurance with FES, and no doubt that does make a load of sense. But I find myself leaning towards the purist side. Maybe I will change my mind depending on future results. No doubt the debate will rage for a good while yet!
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