The first on the side of a mountain overlooking the valley of Dodoni, the ancient site of the oracle of Zeus. The theatre is over 2500 years old. The site was good in that respect but the flying was average, not enough west in the wind. Zeus was not on my side that day.

Yesterday I found a good beach on a peninsula near Ignoumenitsa, looking out at Corfu. The breeze was good and I had a good session. 

The wing roots on the alula are quite weak. Both have needed gluing but I brought the white gorilla glue along with a few other things to keep it airborne.

Rather than my usual 'upload everything and forget', i've created a couple of clips with the highlights of what was great afternoon.  With all the combat we had it was a miracle that no one had a hard climb down the bank.  My Eraser's tail fin took a hiding but other than that there was no damage.  But there was plenty of contact...

First up we had our fusions up for some fun..

And then I put up my 68" fusion against the two Bees:

I've got more but getting the hang of the video editor is taking some time

With *much* help from Jono I had just finished my zEPPer, and we maidened it yesterday with a (minor) hiccup on the first flight thanks to me copying another model's settings over it and not checking the direction of the servos.  It took off, banked, rolled more as I tried to correct, and then did a nice big bounce.  After that it flew beautifully.

Today was lighter wind.  About 28kph NNW.  My first flight was fantastic.  Simon was up with his Bee and and a camera strapped on top and we mucked about.  I launched my also recently completed Halfbad - and tried to get some footage of it from the Bee.  Then we put the camera on the zEPPer.  I was conscious that planks are more sensitive to correct CoG and it was a bit forward of CoG.  Chucked it off, and the plane dived, recovering enough to get it back on top for a light crash.  I took of the camera, thinking it was the blame, and repeated the same sequence with the same result....   jeez!  Scratching my head, wondering what could have changed.

Next, I got Simon to launch it while I held a bit of up elevator.  This time got it.  We were away again.  Camera rolling.  For the next 6 mins everything was great.  The wind had dropped and we both commented on noticeably less lift.  About half a second later the zEPPer was spiralling out of the sky, and thankfully not into the sea or the rocks, but into bush/scrub about 10m in from the rocks.

I took the track down and walked around and found it in one piece, and without a mark on it!    The remainder of the evening I just flew the halfbad and Simon flew his ever trusty beevolution, and I came away having confronted my greatest fear - losing a plane down the frontside of Whitireia!

Here's the footage (you'll want to up the quality from the default 320p to 720p or 1080p in the clip settings):

0:00 - 5:00 take-off, crash, take-off, muck about
5.00 - 6.32 trailing Si's Beevolution
6.33 - 6.53 trouble

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn9jDKPqyN8

spin, launch, *#!@ it's heading for the ground (anyone who has flown an elf will know how bizarre that is), up stick - oh $%#@& (bother) once again - it's a full flying stab, and travels are set to slam the nose level at the top of the climb (I often do an inverted finish on a turn and burn, and then remember I don't have ailerons on this model to neatly roll back upright!!) + lots of speed = loop into the ground.

cracked the CF fuse in front of the front wingbolt. I have tried wrapping the boom in some CF and epoxy. fortunately all ahead of the centre of balance.

lessons

1. it wasn't my clumsy fingers, the battery had somehow moved and stuffed up the whole centre of balance. If something is usually easy and is now difficult, something may have moved.


2. always do a gentle hand toss after control check & before discus launch.


3. once happy with the centre of balance, really secure heavy weight items like batteries in (eg goop, not a little bit of tape)

The other half wandered into the garage while I was assessing the damage this evening and comment "there's a lot of heartache attached to this hobby isn't there?"

couldn't do much but silently nod.

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I showed up around 4pm ish, to a hive of activity, although I am not sure exactly what was getting built. I liked the look of Dave’s shed from the first glance. There was Dave and Stefan drinking beer, an RC soaring DVD on the TV and a good discussion under way.

I got my hoards of crap out of the car and keenly presented my night flying machine kit to the team. The night flier is a Hobby King AXN Floater jet and the plan was to put strips of stick on LED’s onto it, so as it could be flown in the dark at Manilla.

Like a well oiled machine, the team set to work on the dozed beer that I brought, and set to work on the night flier. The plane it self had preinstalled servos, pushrods, motor and speed controller. All we had to do was install the lights, battery, wiring and hook up the pushrods and clevises.

Gareth showed up to supply us with much advice about the build and tell us about the great days flying he had up country and soon we knocked off for a BBQ and some more beer.

The one thing that Dave and Stefan both told me was to watch out for the soldering iron as it was easy to put down part of the plane on the iron and melt it. It appears that they might have had some experience in this area . It took a couple of hours before I finally managed to put down the fuselage and melt a hole in it. Stefan laughed so much that he had tears coming out of his eyes.

After some hours, one of the smoothest building projects that I have ever seen came to completion. It was about 10pm and pitch black out side and we decided a maiden flight was required. We quickly decided that we were over the limit for driving so we enlisted Dave’s brother in-law to drive us to the park.

It was pitch back and about 0 degrees with frost already on the grass when Dave threw the night flier into the air. On the first attempt I did not give it enough herbs but on the 2nd launch, away it went. Soon Dave and Stefan were roaring about the park as well and I will have to say that it looked totally awesome. We flew until our hands went numb and then landed. Its pretty weird flying some patterns of light about and not seeing an actual plane but lots more fun than I thought, and it is impossible describe.

Jono

Dave maidened his Zipper which looks a very promising DS ship, I will have to get one of them.

Pete (taurineman) showed up after a windy morning at the soaring champs up the road a bit- and had the Batt specked out and in the clouds in no time.

While waiting for Dave who had a flat battery in the truck, I padded up my phone and taped it to my sawtooth to see how the gps goes with recording speeds. Seemed pretty accurate I cruised around for a couple of minutes, and went 5km distance- and somehow managed to get 159km/h !

Maidened the new bee from Jono, all I can say is what an awesome plane. Had plenty of speed and such precise handling. Will be a great model to take to oz in twenty odd weeks.

More stories to come I'm sure, but I have to get ready for work in Napier, might have to check the weather for Te mata

On arrival the car park was full of tour buses (due to a cruise ship being in Napier ) and people were everywhere. We launched foamie’s and proceeded to answer the same questions, how far does the remote control signal go, how much do they cost, what is making them fly etc etc, at about 10 second intervals for some period of time. The flying was great but after a while we decided to go to Ocean Beach for some peace and quiet.

Ocean Beach was AWESOME. We did combat for ½ an hour or so and then got the composites out. I started with the Destiny and then put the Ellipse on charge while watching Gareth tear up the sky with his Typhoon. The Typhoon was sooooo good that when I got back to Dave’s in a fit of enthusiasm I hit the buy now and ordered one for myself. I flew the Ellipse for a couple of flights and Dave showed us just how good a Mini Vec could fly as well. At about 6pm after some more combat and general Tom foolerly we packed up and Gareth drove us back to Dave’s while deviously conspiring a plan to make the next day appear to be a picnic for wives and children while really flying at the wind farm, not far from Dave’s place .

Snapped a few pics of Daves swift cruising around. Love the tearing a worm hole noise.

Cheers, see ya next weekend

Paul arrived at the same time as me and the breeze felt a bit more than 9kph so he tested the air with his Erazer but after ½ a circuit he landed, declaring that there was not enough lift. I launched the Fusion and could fly it but just, so Paul flew his Spirit and I flew the Bird of Time.

An hour or so later there was enough breeze for the Fusion so I flew that for a bit until I was happy that the Ellipse would fly. The Ellipse flew ok but I thought I would muck around with the CG moving it back 5mm or so. Then the Ellipse flew great and I flew it for half an hour or so. The breeze picked up a bit more and Colin (had just showed up) launched the Minivec for me on it’s first New Zealand flight. In spite of the light lift the Minivec roared around the sky, so much more nimble that the bigger Ellipse and very quick. I flew the Minivec for 20 minutes until the lift started dropping again so I bought it in for a nice slow gentle landing. The flaps work great and really take the pressure off on the landings.

Jason, his son and Graham showed up and soon there were gliders galore. I left about 2.30 after having a great day of flying

Jono

Gave the Fusion a chuck and wow, the lift was amazing! Tore around for a while, not even a seagull joined me. Wind was steady and worthy of a flight with the Fluteboy.

Put the fluteboy up for a while, still gives me a chuckle that it is a $15 sheet of corflute held together with hot glue. Opened up the wing tip again on landing, not sure how to make this stronger but any kind of knock will open it up. Will take longer for the hot glue gun to heat up than what it will to repair so nothing lost.

Fusion for a few more flights, had to land once as a looming rain cloud drove on in but luckily the southerly swing pushed it along out of the way.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mALBDPHcSPY

Was finally joined by another Fusion before we both packed up ready to head off.... I couldn't resist, I thought the wind was a little heavy for the speedo as I have only really flown it a couple of times, but thought what the hell and set it off.

The speedo is great, and it gets better every time I fly it. With a lot more lift I wasn't worried about loosing height and this thing can roll! Over and over and over again! Have given it 35% differential and it rolls pretty straight, might have a play with this to see if it can get better. Was a bit nervous about landing the thing after 20mins of flight so ran it well back into the paddock behind the gully, LOL, a little to far and had a wee walk to retrieve, but down in one piece (well, three actually but using light tape to hold the wings together) and ready to fly another day.

Good couple of hours on the sticks.

Along the back of the property is a small ridge, mainly suited for a westerly, but to the south (on the neighbours) is a little SW slope 150m or so long.

Wind was little (5-7knts) and dropped off every now and then, but was worth a shot.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXjYTdleupw

Was on the lower limits for the fusion but i think with a but more wind it would be a great place, you could see the plane gain 10-20ft very quickly along different sections of the ridge.

next time that SW is howling i will be out there to see what it's like! the ridge droppes off the NE side so might be a good DS spot....

Was good fun and the first time been able to fly it so slowly and clip the grass with the wingtip!

video's to follow from Gareth and stefan.

It was a cold day but the ladies joined us for the day, which made a nice lunch break in the trees before braving the wind again. Garath finally maidened his Typhoon, what a nice machine.

The lift was epic with huge pumps for sawtooths and glass ships, the only down side is the LZ, lots of room but massive and I mean MASSIVE rotors, Garath did well to get his Typhoon down in one peice. Sawtooth were all over the place trying to cut through and get down. The Rattie did its normal thing and came in like a javlen I thinks i should change the name to shovel, as every landing needs a shovel to get it out, just as well as the fuse is 2mm thick chop mat glass (good cricket bat). The swift (Destiny) was not as well off with a ground loop resulting in a wing bolt pulled out and the V tail ripped off, but not much to repair and I always wanted to make the V tail removable for Manilla. But the flight was worth it as she was ballasted and really motoring, huge pumps, snappy rolls loops up the face and pylon crank it turns.

Well i should leave some space for others.

What a great spot for southerlies, I am still pumped.

Flew my 2m electric glider similar to a spirit successfully without having to use power. Managed a near perfect landing right at my feet first attempt I couldn't believe it. The wind was getting up a bit though so I put the flycat up for a quick fly and had an absolute blast with it. Really pleased with this little bargain it is a lot of fun to fly.

Took some inboard film- will upload when I get back home to broadband lol.

Next stop papamoa. Looking forward to some more lazy flying if weather permits.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJGAxcL0-mE

I arrived early to good conditions and put in half a dozen flights with only the seagulls for company....no risk of a midair at least!

Simon, Daryl, Aunty and Len turned up a bit later and were soon all tearing up the sky.

Wind was 22 to 26 knots straight on but a bit turbulent in close, only a couple of skiffs of rain....bloody wet underfoot though.

Mega lift so all models were screaming around the sky........a manhole cover would have had a satisfactory airfoil for these conditions!!

A heart stopping moment, Simon and myself were chinwagging at the back of my van when "CABOOM" , we were blindsided by len's fluteboy destroying itself on the van tailgate and dropping to the ground between our feet! Talk about nearly needing to change my daks!

He appeared to have lost total radio for unknown reasons. Woke us up though

Daryl attempted a maiden with a Halfpipe but just got blown back over his head a couple of times so will leave it till another day.

Aunty chucked a small foam ducted fan jet off the slope to see what would happen and bugger me it flew like a dream unpowered as a slopey. Maybe this could be a cheap and easy way to get into PSS?

Good day had by all and went home with a big smile

I called Paul and gathered up the Cricket Bat (Windrider Bat) and headed out for a sneaky bit of pre work flying.

I got there before Paul and heaved the 1.5kg Bat over the edge and watched it hop on the wind elevator and head for the stratosphere. Awesome!!

After 10 minutes of flying an old guy came and timidly asked if it was safe to approach. I lied and told him that all was safe and he came and told me that he had seen me walk from my car with what appeared to be a skate board. He was totally impressed that a skate board could fly at all, let alone with out a motor.

Paul showed up with his Erazer and flew that but after a while he broke an aileron with out even touching the ground. I heard it go and thought that he must have done a rough touch and go but no, it just plain broke while flying . Go figure.

After an hour of huge loops, half pipes and general clowning about, work finally pressured me too much so I packed up and headed off. It was one of the biggest lift days that I have ever flown in (WNW creates the best lift here) and I could have stayed and played all day

Jono

Wow the patrol was rocking parked near the fence, first up was the swift (destiny)

It was sizzling well but a short flight as a rain shower was coming in.

Then Jart time, apon switching it on crap no flaps working so the next 1/2 hrs was spend in the back of the patrol with a full re-program of the radio having to be done.

now time to rock and roll, the hardest bit was holding onto it to launch, wind was a good 40 kts. A quick pickup and shove off the edge. She went straight out but nose heavy so a fair but of up trim was needed. Some aileron trim was also required then put the nose down and see what she will do, wow great speed and retension of energy. Pumps are awesome with the Jart climbing neally out of sight, the roll rate was a bit slow but the aileron throw was keeped down for test flight.

After a great flight it was time to think about landing first pass miles to fast, second pass to high and even faster, third pass line not bad but to quick pulled flap and she slowed but 3m from the ground, 4th circuit I extended lower and bigger, looking good but on final approach (across dead air) woops 2.5kg plane going to slow so put the nose down and turn away from the hill too last and she fell down out of sight. once retrieved noticed the wing was flexi with a crack at the centre join. So its back to the bench, the model did not have a spar installed so it is going to now get one also I am going to move the wing back 20mm to try and get some of the weight out other wise I can see one flight repair again and again.

It was a shame that I could not get some video or pics as I was the only one on the hill, so it will have to be next time after the mods.

At the end of the day with the last flight of Mikes sawtooth over its was placed on the ground, minutes later wow theres smoke which melted the battery wire and cooked the flight pack. I turn out that those cheap charlie plugs from jaycar are fine if pluged in tight, this one time the plug was pulled out a bit which shorts out the battery wires and then FIRE. Seams the only way to go is to soilder one side direct and have the other side either plus or minus switched, not sure what that does to the receiver though. this would seperate the + - on the pin which means that when charging one side would be conected to the receiver all the time.

We spent some time looking for the best spot and settled on trying a steep and unforgiving rocky buff covered in bush and flax on the last corner down from the car park. After some serious procrastination i heaved the Eraser out to find the lift strong and smooth and once my nerves settled down i flew out far from the face and along the mountain bike track - ridge line. It was great to fly for the first time in a different location, as i have only flown at Titahi Bay where i live. Literally

The flying attracted a few tourists equipped with telescopic lenses, so i put on a bit of a demonstration of aerobatic manoeuvre's. I landed on a small grass patch in front of the face and on the road itself with my brother stopping the traffic on one occasion. I also flew the F20. We were about to go when i decided i couldn't resist one more fly which ended up badly when i screwed up my judgment and flew inverted into the Anzac tree getting hung up at the top about 20mtrs up, (a memorial to the great men off NZ who lost their lives at Galipoli). I climbed halfway up the tree to a point where it looked impossible to go further and i asked my bro if he could find something i could throw at the glider. While was head down searching for a suitable projectile he clotheslined himself on a low branch and nearly knocked himself out.

By the time he stood up, I was on the ground prepared to call an ambulance. He spat out the bark and said nah bro i'm alright with blood pouring from forehead. Man i felt bad..

I climbed back up the tree and after some time wondering how the heck i was going to get up there, i risked all and slid around the main trunk by bear hugging it and feeling for the branch on the opposite side with feet. Then going up was easy but the climb down was pretty scary. I'm pleased i got the glider back as the Rx is worth bit on its own. The glider was ok, but my brother was scratched, bruised and worse for wear. Next time i will remember to pack a chainsaw.

Today i flew at Sugarloaf in Taradale in a light NE. It look a bit of tweaking of the transmitter to get the trim right, but once dialed in i managed to keep it up ok.

The wind picked up a little later on and I was surprised how far out the lift extended out at the same time i inadvertently flew into a thermal and specked out the eraser

All in all a great trip.

The sign at the bottom said it was a 4.4km walk to the top. I strapped the Fusion to my day pack, threw in a coke and Powerade (blue) and headed up in the searing heat.

About ¾ of the way up we found a little gully and threw out my Fusion and Paul’s Eraser and had a bit of a fly in patchy conditions. We continued up to the top and then down the other side a bit to what looked to be a great spot with the wind coming straight on to a slope; however the lift was worse than the previous place. We headed back stopping at possible spots however the terrain was covered in ridges and gullies causing interrupted air.

We walked the good bit of 10kms in the hot sun and the first gully we tried was the best spot that we found all day and was not good flying by any stretch of the imagination.

Conclusion:

Colonial Knob is great for exercise and has spectacular views but the flying is crap in a southerly

I've only flown there in light winds before and today there is more of a moderate wind so I wondered if it might be too much. Got to the slope and it was about 30 to 40 k - just perfect. The lift was dead smooth, and as high as you want to go.

Previously when I'd flown there I'd landed in the gully behind the slope, complete with bushes and rocks. But now having flown at Shannon with Dave I realise it's perfectly ok to land on the slope . There's a nice big area to the left of the launch point that's real easy to land on, and covered with nice soft long grass and bushes - no gorse

I still think you would be fairly brave to land your big crunchy there, although if you can land at Shannon you would have no trouble here.

I also had a good look at the slope in front of the launch area, and although there is a bit of a lip that looks like there might be a drop off, in fact its only a wrinkle, and it's pretty much an even slope all the way to the coastal walkway. That would account for how smooth the lift is. I think there would be no trouble retrieving from anywhere down there.

Of course there are big cliffs either side from which a retrieve would be impossible, but there's really no need to fly over them - there's plenty of space elsewhere.

You do have to be careful not to get behind the slope as it gets pretty rough, and there are trees eagerly waiting to grab your plane. I dropped in there once today, but an easy rescue - just a shake of the tree and the plane fell down.

All in all a good little fly. I can recommend this site to anyone, if you don't mind a short walk through the bush to get there.

Jason

I arrived at the slope at 3 ish and launched the Fusion into huge lift from the 60kph ish northerly . Kyle arrived and soon we had his Erazor and F20 flying as well. I gave the Carbon Destiny a go but it was too windy for it and no fun at all. The landing was dodgy but with no damage .

I then flew the Bat and Reaper, trying to decide on witch is the faster model. The 2 models handled and flew very differently. My conclusions were that the Bat was faster but the Reaper turned faster and I am thinking that the Reaper would still be quicker in a F3F race. The Bat however, was awesome in half pipes and I was able to get massive height at either end. It was worth flying the Bat just for the half pipes .

The lift smoothed out during the afternoon and Paul showed up just after 5 but only to watch and Graham showed up at about 6, however I had just packed up. Last thing that I saw, was Graham flying his bat in the evening sunshine, who knows for how long.

Jono