That’s pretty good! Just from the video, it seems possible to setup a course and perhaps it wouldn’t suffer from the rotors that are so prevalent at Thornton. It’s worth an exploratory trip
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Slope MOMs Racing - Lets get this going!
- Thread starter Wayne
- Start date
jure
Very Strong User
let's organize to do this one of these weekends. Maybe this coming Saturday ?That’s pretty good! Just from the video, it seems possible to setup a course and perhaps it wouldn’t suffer from the rotors that are so prevalent at Thornton. It’s worth an exploratory trip
Sounds good. We should check the forecast a day or two before. Hopefully more will join.
What do you know about the ease of landing? Is there a large rotor behind the cliff? How is recovery from crash? Is it possible to go down the hill/cliff?
jure
Very Strong User
there is a relatively flat area, with sand, bushes and iceplants.
they have restricted the parking on Palmetto Ave recently,
so there is an additional 100 yard walk (level) from the car to the site.
there are stairs for beach access at Oceanaire.
google_map_link
they have restricted the parking on Palmetto Ave recently,
so there is an additional 100 yard walk (level) from the car to the site.
there are stairs for beach access at Oceanaire.
google_map_link
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We'll have to check it out next weekend. A little walk is no problem--though there was a little grumbling about the hike to reach the slope at Thornton. Access to the beach will be key so that model recovery is possible after the (all too frequent) mishaps that happen during racing.
The slope at Thornton Beach offers very smooth, plentiful lift and a large enough straight section on which to setup a race course. The biggest problem it suffers from is a less than ideal landing area and significant turbulence behind the hill. Just step back from the edge of the cliff a few meters and the wind direction is blowing back toward the edge of the slope
. It makes for some exciting times 
.Can we checkout the site around 2 pm on Saturday? Anybody else who might be interested is welcome to join us. Looking forward to it. Ollie
Roberto Zillante
New User
Most likely I’ll join you guys
Andy Lincoff
New User
Flew my Slingshot yesterday at Berkeley. Winds were 15 to 20 and I was having a great time doing huge pumps when my elevator servo clevis popped off again, even though I’d put a silicone band around it. I almost landed but rolled over from about 15 feet making a 3D explosion. I would seriously consider replacing at least the elevator clevis with higher quality.
Did the clevis come off the rod or did it unclip. I have fuel line on mine and without breaking there is no way it's coming off. The screws that hold the clevis on however, that's a different matter. Those things suck and in fact, I have one of mine ca'd on as the screw stripped. I may opt for the double z bend on the one I am rigging now.
Andy Lincoff
New User
I think I know what happened. The flexible glue on the hinges hardens up and needs to be worked to soften up the movement. I didn’t do that before flying, and the hinge was pretty hard after the crash. I think the servo just pulled the arm off the clevis. I think the flexible hinges on the 3D seagull are much better
smirkracing2024
Strong User
I am game for either day. Whichever has better wind forecast.
We're going to hold event on Saturday 8/15 in order to accommodate someone coming from SoCal.
- Start time: 12 noon
- Hopefully we can do at least four full rounds as we did last time
- We may not be able to accommodate pilots who arrive late (yeah, I'm talking about you, Wayne!)
- Location: Thornton Beach, the same spot as last month's event
- Anyone needing to do any test flights, please take care of them before the start of the event. The wind usually blows strong enough to allow flights before midday
Ollie
¡Gracias, Jure! Thanks for sharing the site with Roberto and me. In many ways, I think it is better than Thornton Beach, but landings are still a bit tricky. There’s plenty of turbulence behind the slope. That said, I can easily see setting up a race course at the site. I’d like to suggest that others try the slope and give their opinions on its suitability for racing. Perhaps we could use it for an event in September?
Ollie
Here's a quick video and a couple of pix of the site we flew at yesterday. It's perhaps half a mile south of Mussel Rock on Palmetto Ave, right befoe the turnoff.
The Pluses:
":
Ollie
The Pluses:
- Easy access and good parking on Palmetto Ave. It's perhaps a 100 foot walk from the sidewalk to where we flew
- Lift was excellent with the slightly WSW wind that we had yesterday
- It would be relatively straightforward to setup a course on the slope that would be at least as long as what we flew last month at Thornton Beach
- Landing zone is similar to Thornton with ice plant and sand
":- Turbulence is different but not much improved compared to Thornton Beach. While the wind direction does not reverse completely a few feet behind the edge of the slope (as it often does at Thornton), the rotor perhaps 25 feet behind the slope is wicked. It threw my Slingshot to the ground during one landing and broke the stab. It was nothing catastrophic but a definite warning. In the few flights I made, I didn't find a landing pattern that worked well for me. Jure was flying much lighter models and could make a shorter approach. That seemed to work ok.
- Recovery from a crash could be a challenge. Parts of the slope are nearly vertical If a plane goes down and gets stuck there, recovery will be unlikely. There is access to the beach and the cliff below can probably be climbed in most cases.
- Paragliders were frequent visitors--not much different than Thornton
Ollie
jure
Very Strong User
sadly , I can't watch your video
here is my landing procedure , if I was not clear .
it is suggested not to break out of the dead air bubble into the moving air,
the model will suddenly get a lot of lift ( having little airspeed ) and potentially stall
here , in black , a bad landing attempt is shown , with high risk of stalling the model.
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