Maiden Flight of the PSS SU-27 Flanker

Hi all

Well  yesterday there were a whole load of us on the Ice Cream slope at the Bwlch, in fact I don't think I've seen that many locals out for a fun days flying.

When I arrived, the wind speed was topping out at about 15 mph, but was slowly increasing. The Ice Cream slope is fairly consistent and you can usually guarantee a good days flying on it, however yesterday was different, the lift kept coming and going, was swinging from north westerly to westerly, big thermals coming through with equally big patches of sink following.

As the wind speed increased to 18 mph, Andy Meade decided it was time to give his newly built PSS SU-27 Flanker it's maiden flight.

Initially from the launch it looked very promising, however seconds after the launch, the wind direction shifted and he also ended up in a big sink patch.

Andy kept his head and although the model was losing height, he persisted with traversing the slope until eventually he regained enough height to land. Phew.

Almost immediately he relaunched but this time he was not so lucky and he had to land out, maybe 100m below the ridge line, but he did make a perfect landing and no damage was sustained to the aircraft.