PatPux

Thanks, Alan, you're always encouraging. Don't worry I am DEFINITELY enjoying it.

Now, in America, you might want some decent insurance for that!

Day 35 Flight 17 17th May 2014 http://vimeo.com/95673525 So the plan this weekend was to finally fly out of ( as opposed to into) the field I have permission to fly at in Pangbourne, but that was going to need a nice south westerley breeze to reverse launch into I am still far to sketchy on nil wind forward launches and especially as i would be doing it completely solo. So when I looked at the forecast and it said next to nil wind, I knew I was on for another trip to Membury if I wanted to fly. As I arrived .....what was that ?...... Simon Westmore flying his quad! Newly legal having passed his NPPL, there he was indeed skimming over the trees at the west end of the field as I turned off the motorway. With the increasing activity at Membury, getting in there now is turning into a bit of a mare with all the gates and the fencing, but , to be fair with all the siteseers for the wing walking displays someone was going to be picking a small child out of a prop or a rotor unless something had been done. There was next to no wind and what there was was all over the place, so it was no surprise that when I tried a couple of forwards I couldn't get the wing to come up straight. Col who was spotting me, reckoned I was always stepping off to the right, but I couldn't get it, so I stopped, had a chill and waited for the breeze to pick up a little. Cheating really, I know, because at some stage I have got to master these nil wind forwards, if I don't want to severely limit an already narrow window of flying opportunity. Ross was back taking delivery of a brand new Minari Parajet Macro, which was all very well, but he had to get it into a Fiat 500....... I thought I was taking the piss trying to get a Macro in the wife's Boxster! Eventually got up with a reverse, even that was a little sketchy. I was still not quite fast enough in the run before easing in some brake, I did unstick, but had to ease off a bit to gain some forward speed, before re-applying a bit of brake to convert speed to lift. It was an interesting technique learned. I took off with aslightly sketchy reverse. I was still not quite fast enough in the run before easing in some brake, I did unstick, but had to ease off a bit to gain some forward speed, before re-applying a bit of brake to convert speed to lift. It was an interesting technique learned. But off I headed on my long planned out and back to Savernake . What with having to work my way round a few grey bottomed clouds I had to turn back a bit early. Even trying to avoid the active stuff, I found on one occasion, I was sinking at 400fpm on full power with the trims out, and even when I pulled them into neutral I was still going down , of course a few minutes later the opposite was happening. Got back to the field with a couple of litres to spare, got one approach a bit long , so went round again, the next one was spot on for trajectory, but still ended with what has now become known as a " Typical Patrick landing"! - that is a quick skid with the heels followed by sitting down! It's becoming a bit of a habit. Problem is I find it quite comfortable and can't seem to break it! Todays conditions were definitely the most active I had flown in, and I was being bounced around quite a bit. I was told the conditions were thermic but not aggressively so, being typified by flat clouds not tall ones and fairly smooth transitions between lift and sink. I certainly never felt unsafe and the wing seemed rock solid. From hearing what other pilots found uncomfortable, having flown in the same conditions, I think I'm quite tolerant of being thrown around, I think its like sea sickness-it gets you or it doesnt. I'm hoping that it isnt just the ignorance of the uninitiated The route took me over some spectacular properties of one sort or another, including the property magnate, Harry Hyams place, Ramsbury Manor, once recorded as the most expensive property in the UK, the Duchess of Somerset's Almshouses in Froxfield and Littlecote House Hotel.

Well, that'll be it then

Yes, give it a try. FB could have had a metric/imperial muddle up. Clearly you will get a bigger spark with a bigger gap, and the plug manufacturer says their plug will support that size gap. But, then again maybe FB have a specific reason for under specifying the gap.

The NGK Blurb says .039" which equals 1mm, that would be normal for that sort of plug http://ngk-sparkplugs.com/b8hs10-p-1776.html

No......04" or 1mm

Or maybe .04" http://ngk-sparkplugs.com/b8hs10-p-1776.html

Really...4mm, that's a huge gap isn't it? 0.4mm?

Hi, Paul, I thought I was lucky living only 25mins from Membury......at 10mins away you really should be able to take advantage of any available weather window. Look forward to meeting you.

Interesting stuff.....never heard of it before. Simplistically silicone cut with talc!

I'm sure you're right, but it's good entertainment

I love this guy! ........................"and I've seen some crazy shit, as always have nice day"

Here's a random question! What have you done to your netting? Dabs of silicone to keep the spacing even?

Whoa! Nice shot

Parajet Macro V2 with XT172

That's pretty good going isn't it? It's only 2 weeks since you did it isn't it?

Thanks, Morgy. That is a lot lower, isn't it. I really don't find mine getting in the way, so will probably stick with it as it was set up.

Andy Yes, Runway HD ,as Simon said. As luck would have it, the demo air charts in the free version are centred on our area, so you can try it out before purchasing to see if you like it. All my flights have been in the demo area so far! You can customise it to your cruise speed and fuel consumption . I use it for planning only, ie input my route and use it to estimate my flying times and fuel load. The only thing I wish it did, is to allow you to input a wind speed and direction, rather than use the real time wind data. Whilst I realise that you need to run it just before flying to get the real data, you can't really plan in advance. Ie to see which routes might be flyable in certain conditions. You should get it and have a play

This is what doing them all would look like!

Sorry to hear about the prop. Difficult to say without seeing, but it does look pretty superficial, you may need to do no more than build it back up with a bit of resin, sand it back, and spray a bit of paint if that leaves the balance out.

Blimey, Andy! I've just googled White Horses of Wiltshire and there's at least 15 entries.........I think I'm going to need a bigger tank or air to air refuelling http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/

Sounds like I did the right thing NOT staying for another flight. Defo for the next home run, though. Although Andy Bexx is planning an XC to take in all the different White Horses in the area......I like the sound of that!

Thanks, Alan. About the pictures....I can't see the screen on the back of the camera, it's just not bright enough. I just point it in what I think is the right direction, hope and take lots. What does everyone else do? I can't believe people like Gordon, who takes some great shots manages like that. On the Boxster...if you think you're man enough to come and suggest that, drop by..........but I'm not!