Thermals in the Mist

Saturday was a washout but the Met Office were suggesting Sunday morning would be dry with light winds on the east slope at Kilspindie and so it was. Peter had been planning to head to Eastbourne for a BMFA league event but it was cancelled so we were able to meet up and equipped with a DLG and F3F model each we headed over to the slope. When we got there we found low cloud forming on the slope edge and blowing back over the hill. Moist air condensing in the compression area?



Peter keeping a close eye on his Blaster DLG

We flew our DLGs for a while and they were scooting back and forward close to the slope very well. The cloud tended to thicken at times and we had to keep the models close but it would then blow through and almost clear. It was apparent that overhead and out in front were clear, just the slope and top of the hill in cloud.

We put our F3F models together anticipating it would clear enough to let us have a fly and so it did.  

Peter about to launch his FS4



FS4 in action

Peter had brought along his recently acquired FS4 and it looks very nice in its blue colour scheme; very different from his usual choice. The model certainly looked fast and smooth in the air.

I flew my Pike Precision and it was going well and I am more than happy with the settings Pierre Rondel sent me.

It was interesting to see that occasionally when the wind rose and the lift picked up and the models were fair belting along the slope edge the cloud also seemed to thicken. Almost like Thermals in the Mist!! The reverse of this phenomena almost caught Peter out when the wind died, the cloud disappeared and the lift died completely and it looked like his FS4 was heading for a landout at the bottom of the hill. However over the to the left of the slope, where there was still some cloud, there was still some lift and the FS4 was soon high enough for a hasty landing on top. Good save, phewJ