Tales (the long and the short and the tall) of flying in UK Weather.

[FDS]

Given that we live on a windy little rock where summer is just (2018 excepted) warmer rain, I thought you might all have fun stories or tips to share about trying to fly foam and cardboard creations in less than ideal conditions.
I haven’t been doing this long so can only kick off with a few small points.
This week I have-

• Been in the middle of flying, in my aviators (looking badass obviously,) in low sun, then had to land and run for my van from pouring rain all within a minute or two. I had to quickly ditch the shades as they were fogged and it was suddenly dark!
• Soaked several pairs of shoes walking all over a soggy field.
• Flown almost in the dark because that’s when the wind was lowest
• Sat inside waiting in vain for the wind to die down
• Flown in way too high winds. This is interesting in the Sport Cub S as it’s very light. This has resulted in two personal firsts- first full loop, the wind just blew it over the top in a stall, plus first inverted where it pushed the wing right over in a bank. Both were saved from full crashes partly by luck (invert) and the panic mode.

 

[Userofmuchtape&glue]

I tried flying in 60km winds here in australia... doubled the cruising amps on my quad

 

[d8veh]

Keep going. If you can fly in those conditions, you'll become a good pilot and remember that Summer is only 24 weeks away.
I've discovered that the foam-board with white paper on is no good for wet winter flying, but the waterproof FT stuff is OK. I need to get some new gloves for flying now that the temperature has gone right down. I used to use normal gloves with the tops of the thumbs cut off.

 

[FDS]

I paint and lacquer everything, perks of a fully equipped vehicle shop, I hope that with the edges sealed and a good coat of paint I can fly in damp.
My TT is a kit, I found the FT stuff was awful at taking paint.

 

[Mode 1]

Welcome!
Well.. you can't have good weather AND have a football club on every corner
Are you a football fan? If so, who do you follow down in that region of the country? I live in the States but bleed the Red and Blue of Crystal Palace.

As mentioned above, flying in the rubbish weather will improve your skills so on those 6 nice days a year you can fully enjoy them.

We've been flying in the cold for the last few weeks. The long Michigan winter is about to settle in and it's dark by 5:30 so flying after work is no longer an option. Today it's going to get up to 45 so we are going head out this afternoon and enjoy the brief heat wave. All of my planes are scratch built so i'm may need to treat a few of them to give them some level of protection against the wet.

At some point this weekend I'd like to fly off a bluff above Lake Michigan. I know a few places with high tourist overlooks and launching a wing from that and flying over the lake sounds fun.

 

[FDS]

Sorry, not a football person!
Great Lakes always looks very pretty but you guys get some interesting weather and a real serious winter there?
So I am onto my second open fuselage surgery on the Cub in one day since the wind broke the motor mount loose again. On the plus side it was so windy I could fly in one spot as long as I got the throttle almost maxed and the wind stayed fairly constant. I have decided no more flying today. Monday looks better, the wind is set to be single figures.

 

[Mode 1]

Yes. Our winters can be long and brutal, not as bad as some but bad enough.

Consider a flying wing as they cut through the wind with ease. I love the Mini Arrow.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Personally I hate winter time. It is too cold and miserable for me. It is almost summer here now but I remember the winter just ended, (all 7 days of it ). My first experience with snow was when I was in York in England in 1994, (in October). Loved the place and people but hated the weather and the cold!

Long and cold winters are terrible especially if they last longer than a week! Mind you when it comes to summer here if you leave your plane in the direct sunlight it can warp and blister in an hour especially if dark in colour.

have fun!

 

[d8veh]

I went flying today. The wind wasn't too strong and the temperature wasn't too low (about 8 deg C), but the air was sort of misty, so it had a lot of moisture content. When it has a lot of moisture in it like that, it has a much higher thermal capacity so it sucks the heat out of you as it flows past. My planes (mini Scout and Sportster) both flew beautifully, but it wasn't very comfortable shivering all the time and with cold hands.

The worst thing was just after take-off on one flight, as I turned to walk back behind the fence, my breath went on my glasses and misted them up so I couldn't see my Sportster anymore. Luckily, that plane is very well trimmed, so it flew straight for long enough until my glasses cleared. I thought I was going to lose my favourite plane, so I was very pleased when I was able to see it again to bring it back.I think next time, I'll try some anti-mist spray on them.

 

[FDS]

7:1 Johnson’s baby shampoo and water sprayed on then wiped into a film apparently works better than many dedicated sprays. I have used that method on safety goggles whilst angle grinding, it works but you have to do it just before you want the anti mist and leave it slightly damp on the lenses. Divers trick apparently.
Monday still looks like being OK here, I will fly on my way between meetings.

 

[d8veh]

7:1 Johnson’s baby shampoo and water sprayed on then wiped into a film apparently works better than many dedicated sprays. I have used that method on safety goggles whilst angle grinding, it works but you have to do it just before you want the anti mist and leave it slightly damp on the lenses. Divers trick apparently.
Monday still looks like being OK here, I will fly on my way between meetings.

Soap definitely works. I used to use Fairy Liquid on my motorcycle visors: Put a small drop on a cloth and rub it all over, then keep rubbing until it's gone. It doesn't last long, and needs doing each journey.

 

[CarolineTyler]

Flew today too. Crashed one on takeoff, looped over to the right and plowed into the ground. Minor damage but totally broke the prop.
Two terrific flights on my rainbow wing until I couldn't feel my fingers anymore

 

[Mode 1]

Personally I hate winter time. It is too cold and miserable for me. It is almost summer here now but I remember the winter just ended, (all 7 days of it ). My first experience with snow was when I was in York in England in 1994, (in October). Loved the place and people but hated the weather and the cold!

Long and cold winters are terrible especially if they last longer than a week! Mind you when it comes to summer here if you leave your plane in the direct sunlight it can warp and blister in an hour especially if dark in colour.

have fun!

 

[Mode 1]

I flew as well. Was going to fly some combat with my son until I launched, climbed to altitude and then the plane got all goofy, Got back to the ground somewhat safely to find my firewall separated from 2 of the three contact areas on the pod. That was redone with epoxy.

 

[FDS]

It looks like Santa has given many parts of the UK a three day weather window to fly over Xmas. I am hoping to get out later, it’s a little foggy here right now, I will try and get some video too.

 

[IanSR]

I dare not fly, the Police are still running round in packs here hunting for the first enthusiasts they can find to pin the Gatwick fiasco on, shame as its great weather and I got a nice race quad for Xmas.

 

[FDS]

You are not breaking any laws if you are away from the airport.. Let them know we are out there.
Besides if they can’t find a DJI or a large commercial multi rotor, even with military grade equipment you could probably fly safely right outside the police station!

 

[IanSR]

I probably could yes, I'm just playing it safe over the Christmas period as I have a kid and a wife and I don't want my kid to end up in care over Christman because me and his mum have been arrested for daring to fly a drone in the local field, or less still, just having an interest in a drone.

You may say "don't be dramatic" but this is exactly what happened to the couple in Crawley when a neighbour called the police and literally said "my neighbour has a drone, maybe it was him" and PC Incompetent from Sussex rolled up and arrested them.

I'm afraid "not breaking any laws" won't be a considering factor for a while, the Police are running round like headless chicken stopping anybody with a rucksack at the moment, I'm not exhaagerating either, if you think "not breaking any laws" will help you, I can point to you to a few parks in the area that are great for FPV but bear in mind drones are public enemy #1 in this area of Surrey/Sussex at mo.

 

[FDS]

Well that was fun. Nothing like some homicidal farmer blazing away with his shotgun in the next field to concentrate your model RC flying.
He was about 100-150 yards away from the sports field I fly on, I usually cross that field boundary when flying figure eights, half the time today I couldn’t. Didn’t want to test his agricultural sense of humour.
The upshot was I crashed the scout pretty hard! Trying to trim a new plane, stay out the field and keep right way up all at once was interesting. Damage is totally repairable but it was a shame as she was looking really nice.
Angle the scout ended up at illustrated below. Bulkhead broke on the TT but I have 6 more ready.

It’s a slightly Fokked Fokker.....

 

[IanSR]

Ah a bit of hot glue and tape and it'll be right as rain.

I'm going out tomorrow with my Xmas present, we're 6km from Gatwick, but if you hear of any new arrests, it'll probably be me being nicked by some over zealous incompetent PC who can't tell the difference between a 220 and an Indistrial size drone.