Phase 5 by Chris Foss

Chris73 wrote: Gromet's alive !!!!! Where have you been??

:lol: I very nearly fell off my chair with surprise

Chris001 wrote: I needed a prod and some motivation

I think you need more than a prod!

Chris001 wrote: Is the camera attached to your cap visor?

Yes

Chris001 wrote: and what sort of wind speed was the Phase 5 flying in, and what are your impressions now that you've had a good number of flights on it?

It was about 20mph gusting to 30mph - but this is just a guess since I don't own an anemometer.

It flies very nicely and comes alive in stronger winds, so no surprise there. It doesn't appear to have any really nasty habits which makes it relatively easy to fly. Usual slope rules apply...keep it pointed into wind and keep the speed up by pointing the nose down. Manoeuvres that lose speed need to be done with enough height.

Another great days flying with the Phase 5. I even managed a rolling circuit!

Another visit to Chapman's Pool. The lift was even better than the other day. This was with 5oz of ballast and you can see how strong the lift is from the height gained in just the first few seconds.

Looks like a beautiful place to spend some time, with or without a plane, but that looked like a lot of fun, and thanks for including the landing, it seems like a dark art in my limited experience.

5 oz is 140g for us youngsters is that a lot for this size of plane?

have you played with snap flaps? or at the flaps just mirroring the ailerons but with less throw?

Most enjoyable, lovely scenery and a masterclass in landing on a slope. Magic! Thanks Mike.
It was good to see proper units for the ballast too. 5oz would have been the margarine ration for a family of four during WW2.

Chris001 wrote: Looks like a beautiful place to spend some time, with or without a plane, but that looked like a lot of fun, and thanks for including the landing, it seems like a dark art in my limited experience.

Landing slopeside is always a little tricky. Crow helps a lot. Being able to land on flatter ground behind the slope helps even more, but doing this at Chapman's Pool is not really an option.

Chris001 wrote: 5 oz is 140g for us youngsters is that a lot for this size of plane?

I weighed it in imperial for RCGroups which is mostly american. My model weighs 1.36kg without ballast and was flying at 1.5kg with ballast. This is not a massive change but it is as much ballast as I've added to date. A modern aerofoil section would definitely take a lot more ballast than the Phase 5 can, but where the limit is I've yet to find out.

Chris001 wrote: have you played with snap flaps? or at the flaps just mirroring the ailerons but with less throw?

For snapflap I've got ailerons and flaps moving up/down with elevator the same amount, about 2mm. This really helps with looping manoeuvres in calmer conditions. At Chapman's Pool in these strong winds I could probably have removed snapflap and not noticed the difference.

Coming soon...

www.westlondonmodels.com/product/ripmax-...port-glider-a-cf011/

On no, I feel money may have to change hands. Although I would not plan to fit a motor, slope only. My concern is though is the build quality. If I wait to see how other users fair and it is good, it will go out of stock very quickly. Should I sit on the fence?

If you really want to sit on the fence Phil, use a cushion, best way to prevent splinters making things uncomfortable.
Go on! Buy one! You know you want to.