About A470 Soaring


This is the blog for a few guys who spend their time flying radio controlled gliders, or slope soarer's, from the many and varied slopes around SE Wales.

This usually begins at the northern end of Cardiff, driving north up the A470 up to the Heads of the Valley's and the southern fringe of the Brecon Beacons. But the A470 road continues its windy way all the way to N Wales.

There are many slopes available for most wind directions, the most famous being the area between Nant-y-Moel and Treorchi known as The Bwlch, which has some of the best slopes and flying in Europe with many F3F competitions being held there each year and visited by many fliers from Europe and around the world. At 1500 feet (450m) above sea level, there is usually more wind than not, and certainly more than at sea level.

If you require any further information, are new to slope soaring or are visiting the area, please contact Steve at steve.houghton59@gmail.com . I look forward to hearing from you.

Take a look at Page 2 (look below and to the left here) for Google maps of our most popular Flying Sites.


Friday 29 September 2017

Weekend Flying Forecast

Here is your forecast for the weekend. Don't bother! 😞☂

Saturday - Showers with a SW 10 mph wind. So if you do fancy braving the rain then Mickey's or Meio will be the place to fly. However, Mickey's could be shrouded in clag, so Meio may be the better bet, and you can make a hastier exit off the slope there too.

Sunday - Prolonged rain with a 15 mph SW wind, however I have seen reports of 25 mph wind speeds. Your slope choice is as per Saturday, but personally I wouldn't bother.

So instead, why not come along to the centre of Cardiff and watch me and 25,000 others running in the Cardiff half marathon, in the wind and rain. Yuck 😞

Whatever you decide to do this weekend, I hope it is a good one for you.

Wednesday 27 September 2017

Featured Post

Hey guys - I've changed the Featured Post which goes back to the end of October 2014, when Phil took some video whilst we were flying on Meio Common.

Enjoy

Friday 15 September 2017

Weekend Flying Forecast 16th/17th September

Hi all.

This weekends weather forecast is a bit of a mixed bag, as indeed it has been for the last two or three weeks.

Saturday - Showers or more persistent rain with a 7 mph north easterly wind. Your slope choices, (should you wish to chance the rain and possible low cloud), will be Fochriw or Meio.

Sunday - A cloudy but dry day with a 10 mph north easterly wind. Your slope choices will be the same as for Saturday.

Of course there should be a bit more wind on the slopes than the forecast shows.

You may have noticed that I haven't included the Bwlch in the slope choices. This is because the Bwlch is hosting the Eurotour Welsh Open F3F competition, with about 50 competitors from all over the world taking part. If the wind is north easterly then they will take up the whole of the Wrecker.

I am hoping to fly at Fochriw on Sunday, as long as that NE wind forecast remains true, so hopefully I will see a few of you up there. Which reminds me, I need to fix a flap control ball link on the L213 this evening so I can fly that.

You may remember that last year the Zagi Bash Slope Combat weekend was held at the Bwlch, in December I think it was. Well Zagi Bash will be back again this year, to be held on the 19th November. Watch this blog for details as they emerge and get building your EPP combat wings.

You may also have noticed that I haven't done a lot with this blog for a few weeks. This is because I had a lovely holiday, and then last weekend I was up in Newcastle upon Tyne to take part in the Great North Run, the biggest half marathon in the world with 57,000 runners taking part. You can read the full story and watch the video of that at my other blog by clicking HERE.

Until next time, happy flying.