Forecasting Slope Conditions / Slope Instruction

[rhyneheimer]

wind wise, afternoons are usually the best sloping hours, often until dark. SW winds are the best for slope soaring at lawrencetown, but between S and W are still ok.

watch for SW prevailing winds. prevailing SW winds tend to be bumpier as they build up turbulence over a distance over the ocean, and will also pull the fog in to shore, but are great fun in which to fly especially up around 30 or 40 knots!

watch for warm sunny sea breeze days. cumulus clouds building inland and clear blue skies over the ocean are good signs. the SW sea breeze tends to have much smoother air presumably because it circulates by a convective process and therefore has less ground/ocean contact, plus it's drier and brings in less fog. sea breezes can form in calm conditions, plus a light NW prevailing wind can actually enhance a SW sea breeze particularly at lawrencetown.

Vic is an experienced sloper and has the trainer cord, and John O' has great experience with sailplanes both sloping and thermaling. i've been sloping for 22 years (yikes!) and especially like the aerobatics. for the price of a lift out to the hill, i'm available on most afternoons for some slope flying and/or instruction. i'm in halifax on agricola st, near the macdonald bridge, and don't need to bring a lot of gear. 431-7062

[Dirt Torpedo]

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[JohnOSullivan]

7 oz /sq.ft is very light for 10-15 kt winds so don't be shy on the ballast - at least to 10 oz/q ft.- it should go well.
I was up in the Wicklow mountains (1500ft+) south of Dublin this afternoon and came across a couple of my old flying buddies waiting in their wind rocked car, for the 60 kph winds to die down. With a threatened increase in winds to 100-130 kph this was futile so my 22 ounce 1.8m Pulsar stayed in the car.
Heading for Cork on the south coast tomorrow, where I have a nice large flying field behind my sisters house.
John

[RocketManRC]

The Mugi needs a lot of wind to fly decently on the slope. You will likely be walking down the hill a few times if the wind is too light.

http://vimeo.com/22301222

[Dirt Torpedo]

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[rhyneheimer]

jeff, it sounds like you're on the right track. mugi's i've seen are pretty sharp on the leading edge, so it should help it penetrate nicely. as a sloper my FUGI (foam mugi) was less than 10 oz and quite rounded on the leading edge, and i don't recall ever adding weight since flying wings are generally slippery. i sloped it at around 12 oz this year and it still flew fine. start light, but sometimes, when trimming fwd (down) on the elevator isn't enuff to penetrate, you can start slapping on weight near the CG to get good penetration and carry-thru in strong winds (big dives and climbs, and big loops). best thing is to just try it. hillside landings aren't the worst thing in the world... fly sideways across the hill and bank it to pancake land flat on the grass, but not slamming it into the hill by flying downwind or anything like that.

i'm guessing my FUGI would fly well as heavy as 16 oz in a 15+ knot wind. i'm gonna hazard a guess that the strikers that i've seen could start slope soaring in ... hmm... 24+ knot wind, hard to say, would love to try. just holding a trimmed plane up by the nose with a light hand at the crest, and feeling if "it wants to fly" can tell you a lot.

low altitude right at the crest is where the max lift is, so generally we fly to the left along the crest to help gain altitude and speed for launches during marginal lift conditions, rather than flying "straight out to sea". the steeper hill on the left helps increase lift too, plus it slopes down to the left from the center to give more room vertically to do a turn at the end.

we're hoping to get out tomorrow afternoon to the hill, can't wait... i bet today was pretty good, but great looking forecast tomorrow, warmer than today.

[Dirt Torpedo]

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[Dirt Torpedo]

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[rhyneheimer]

... took the fugi out monday to the slope, along with the usual planes, just to see how it handles some wind "as is" with just the prop removed at around 13 oz.... was very fun for some close in flying, it did great - inverted flight, loops, very fast rolls. could have, but didn't really have to ballast in 15mph to 25 mph winds. almost perfect day with nonturbulent prevailing SW winds while we were there for about 4 hours.

was amazed to see rick's kf airfoil "Revert" plank wing penetrate and do all the same moves, weighing in at 6 oz., so it means a lot to have an aerodynamic craft to be able to penetrate. was like flying a piece of tissue paper with elevons.

i remember sloping what we called the "behemoth", a 16' wingspan Minimax traditional polyhedral glider, weighing in at only 3.5 lbs. it was a floater for sure, and John O' called it a "floating gas bag", hehee. however i remember the wind kept picking up and i ended up flying it in 20 knot winds, was quite amazed it penetrated