Event Reviews

With the forecast still dominated by the lasting effects of storm ‘Kathleen’, strong South Westerly winds and blustery conditions were expected for at least the first half of our season opening event at The Great Orme 13th/14th April. Saturday was particularly challenging at times, with 65mph SW winds measured on the edge and some aggressive…

The East Sussex Soaring Association have successfully run their first PSS event at The Long Man site near Wilmington on Sunday 1st October. Event organiser Raymond Tribe has been in touch with some photos to explain there were 6 pilots and 10 models present to enjoy the conditions on the day. PSSA member Martin Pope…

Al Gorham reports from our second trip to the Lleyn this season – 29th/30th July. Because of the rural nature of the Lleyn Peninsula, this event always has a relaxed, holiday feel to it which makes it a highlight of the PSSA calendar.  A small party of us camped up on the Cilan headland which…

Phil Cooke reports from a blustery Llandudno… July 1st / 2nd saw us meet at the Great Orme in Llandudno for our third PSSA Fly for Fun event of the 2023 season – we enjoyed a large turnout of models and pilots with the Westerly winds finally returning to the UK shores following an unprecedented…

A brief report from Llandudno on our ‘Dambusters’ event by Phil Cooke As our 2023 season continues to unfold, the weekend of 20th/21st May saw PSSA members gather at the Great Orme for our second planned Fly for Fun event of the year.  This was an Avro Lancaster themed event timed to commemorate the 80th…

The weekend 15th – 16th April saw us launch our 2023 flying season with the first of two planned trips to the magnificent Lleyn Peninsula, our PSSA group flying as guests of the Lleyn MAC. A number of keen flyers made the most of the weekend and arrived early enough on Friday afternoon to consider…

Having deferred our plans by 24 hrs in an attempt to avoid some heavy persistent rain, we met at The Orme’s tank track car park on Thursday 29th December for what proved to be a memorable and fun days flying – no competition, no organised element, just a relaxed meet (if you can call flying…

Al Gorham reports from the Bwlch as the PSSA enjoy the annual trip to fly with the SWSA – 14/15th May 2022. The promise of some good flying weather, along with the chance to help set a new world record was sufficient to motivate a good few PSSA members to travel down to South Wales…

Phil Cooke reports from the opening event of the 2022 season… Saturday 9th April saw us successfully stage the first event of our 2022 season upon the Great Orme in Llandudno.  The days forecast was most promising with clear skies and good strength NW winds which saw us flying from the lower café slope –…

Phil Cooke travels to Llandudno and reports from the final event of the season 9th / 10th October. Despite a recent procession of events as we played ‘catch up’ following the deferred start to our flying season, energies were still high within the group for this – our final planned flying meet of the year.…

The weekend of the 21st / 22nd of August saw us travelling south to Wiltshire as an Association for the first time – Andy Meade reports from the historic Westbury White Horse slopes. This meet had a great significance to me as I’d flown these hills all of my gliding career, going up them with…

Phil Cooke reports from the PSSA’s meeting at the Great Orme, Llandudno – 7th & 8th August 2021 It’s been some time since we’ve run a PSSA Fly-for-Fun event where such a vast array of models – old and new – have been flown over the course of a single weekend.  Blessed both days with…

Phil Cooke reports in from the Bwlch, South Wales where on 24th July the PSSA flew in challenging conditions at ‘The Wrecker’… This years SWSA meet at The Bwlch fell hot on the heels of our recent Lleyn MAC visit with us having lost the originally set date to Covid travel limitations in May.  That…

The weekend of 11th/12th of July 2021 saw the PSSA make its annual pilgrimage to the beautiful coastal soaring sites of the Lleyn peninsula in North Wales as guests of the Lleyn MAC.  The following report covering the 2 day event has been compiled by Al Gorham and Harry Twist.   Saturday, by Alan Gorham…

Phil Cooke & Al Gorham report from the PSSA’s first slope event of the year – May 2021 It is very clear the spirit of the PSSA community has not been eroded one bit by the COVID lockdown.  The lengthy enforced grounding we all had to endure due to travel restrictions in the UK meant…

2020 has been a very odd ‘stop/start’ sort of season with no planned flying events running at all until July due to the Covid-19 situation.  We’ve since run a couple of quite low-key events – with some good PSS flying achieved at the Orme but very little at the Lleyn due to high pressure conditions…

This won’t be a write up in the usual format – truth be told the amount of PSS flying we achieved over the two days was very limited due to the local conditions.  With huge thanks to the LMAC committee we had rescheduled our annual visit to the Lleyn peninsula to 8th/9th August to defer…

To say that this was an eagerly awaited and much needed weekends flying would be a gross understatement! Following the relaxation in lockdown laws, 11/12th July was the first weekend we were legally allowed to travel into Wales and our first event of the season having previously cancelled planned meetings in April, May and June…

“It’s such a perfect day, I’m so glad I spent it with you” Lou Reed, 1972, Transformer Album, produced by David Bowie.  I was 15 and impressionable, how old were you?  If you answer “older” then you may have attended day one of the Orme Fly-In on the weekend of 12th and 13th October 2019. …

This was an eagerly anticipated Fly-In with us sadly having had to cancel our previous planned event in August due to heavy rain!  As the weekend approached a high pressure weather system was creeping in and settling over the UK, which meant sunshine and blue skies but also the associated risk of lower wind speeds. …

Andy Meade reports from the Lleyn Peninsula event 29th/30th June 2019 As I write this nearly one week later, the redness from the weekends sun-and-wind burn is nearly gone from my face!  In the week leading up to the event, XCWeather seemed to settle upon a great forecast, with Saturday looking the lighter of the…

Andy Meade reports from The Bwlch… On Saturday I was a bit tardy, and got to the ice cream car park about 20 minutes late, where I met Phil Cooke rigging his models. I could see some fliers in the distance making use of the conditions with sport wings, so I was hopeful of air…

As always at the start of any new season, there was a degree of excitement within our ranks ahead of this, our first planned event of 2019, even though the Easterly dominated forecast had put a few folk off travelling. I arrived at 9am to find the Orme bathed in sunshine and having parked at…

Report by Phil Cooke – All photos by the author unless credited. The Hawker Hurricane dominates a well attended Great Orme ‘Fly for Fun’ event as we stage our 2018 Mass Build event and celebrate the RAF100 Anniversary. Group photo of PSSA members and their new Hurricanes – every model flew on the day! –…

Report and photos by Phil Cooke Our annual visit to the Lleyn sees us flying overlooking Hells Mouth Bay Our annual Lleyn MAC PSS event, held upon the magnificent coastal slopes around Abersoch, was timed this year during a sustained period of glorious High Pressure conditions – ideal for domestic holiday makers but not so…

Mickey’s Slope once again sets the scene for our annual SWSA event!  Phil Cooke reports – All photos by the author. With a commitment at home on the Saturday I would miss the first days flying of this, now annual 2 day SWSA event.  It was 6pm before I arrived in Pontypridd – just in time…

A superb days flying on a high octane Saturday before the calm on Sunday!  Phil Cooke reports from Llandudno – All photos by the author. It seemed an awful long time since we had last flown on the Great Orme when I arrived early on the Saturday morning.  Indeed, with the slight shake up in…

‘Anne’s place’ sets the scene for a fantastic weekends soaring on the Lleyn Peninsula. Report by Andy Meade – Photos by Phil Cooke The lead up to this event produced the usual roller coaster of emotions linked to the changing forecast, but I thought I’d make the most of what ever flying time we were…

We return once again for our 2-day Fly-In on the slopes of South Wales! Phil Cooke reports – All photos by the author. Now in its third consecutive year, our annual meet in the Southern half of Wales ran once again in May, orchestrated by local flyer and PSSA member Steve Houghton. The event was…

The seasons opening event brings out a host of new models! A report from a well attended Llandudno Fly for Fun – words and photos by Phil Cooke. Our first planned event for 2017 saw us back upon the Great Orme in Llandudno.  As always it was an eagerly awaited meet following the long winter…

  The 2016 PSSA Mass Build event sees a Skyhawk dominated meeting on the Orme! Report by Phil Cooke – All photos by the author unless credited.   Sunday September 11th 2016 saw us stage our Mass Build Fly-In at The Great Orme in Llandudno, the penultimate meeting of our busy 30th Anniversary season.  The…

  ‘Anne’s place’ on Mynydd Cilan stages our 30th Anniversary visit to the Lleyn Peninsula. Phil Cooke reports – All photos by the author unless credited.   The weekend of 13/14th August 2016 saw us run our annual PSS Fly-In with the Lleyn MAC on the magnificent coastal slopes of the Lleyn Peninsula, North Wales. …

The PSSA return to ‘Mickey’s’ slope at the mighty Bwlch, South Wales. Report by Phil Cooke – Photos by the author, Andy Meade & Shona Meade.   This was the PSSA’s second visit to the impressive inland slopes of The Bwlch, the levels of attendance and enthusiasm for this meet in the Southern half of…

Changing winds, cycle races and clear blue skies! A report from a well attended Llandudno Fly for Fun – words and photos by Phil Cooke & Matt Jones.   Our 30th Anniversary season has commenced with 2 days of PSS flying in glorious weather on the Great Orme, Llandudno over the weekend of 16th &…

A fantastic weekends flying clutched from the jaws of cancellation! Phil Cooke’s report rounds off the 2015 season – Photos by Phil Cooke & Matt Jones. This event was very nearly cancelled on the final run up due to the forecast suggesting low strength South Easterly winds.  The day before a ‘go/no go’ decision was…

The PSSA hold their first event at this renowned South Wales soaring site. Andy Meade reports – All photos by Phil Cooke. The run up to the inaugural PSSA meet at the Bwlch, South Wales, saw some mixed weather forecasts switching between bad and amazing, but as the weekend approached the forecast for High Pressure…

Mynydd Cilan provides the stage for our annual pilgrimage to the Lleyn Peninsula. Andy Meade & Phil Cooke report – All photos by the authors. It was a glorious August morning as we assembled for 10am in Llanbedrog on the Saturday.  Clear blue skies with a light SW wind which was forecast to grow in…

Strong winds, clear blue skies and a host of maiden flights! A report from a well attended Llandudno Fly for Fun – words and photos by Phil Cooke.   Our first planned event for 2015 saw us back up on the Great Orme with the prospect of an array of new PSS models being aired…

Phil Cooke reports from another superb weekends flying off Mynydd Cilan. All photos by the author unless credited. The forecast on the run up to our annual visit to the Lleyn peninsula was dominated by the back end of hurricane ‘Bertha’ with high winds and rain shown likely for the Sunday at least.  Regardless, the…

Matt Jones reports from a sunny Llandudno as we stage our second event of the season! The weekend of the 31st May / 1st June saw the PSSA host their second ‘Fly for Fun’ event of the year on the Great Orme in Llandudno, North Wales.  Over the years it has earned the nick name…

It’s a ‘big air’ high energy weekend that gets the 2014 PSSA season underway! A report from the first Llandudno Fly for Fun – words and photos by Phil Cooke. Our first event of the year will be one remembered for high winds!  The forecast throughout the week prior to the meet looked almost too…

The Easterly ‘Ski Slope’ site sets the scene for the end of season bash in Llandudno. Report by Phil Cooke – all photos by the author unless credited. It was a bleak, grey and blustery Orme that greeted us upon arrival early on the Saturday morning.  The Easterly winds which had been dominant on the…

Phil Cooke reports from a memorable weekends flying off Mynydd Cilan. All photos by the author unless credited. It was the first time I’d flown PSS in almost 10 months, so I was eagerly awaiting this weekend on the Lleyn peninsula, especially so with the forecast looking so promising on the final run up to…

Our second meet of the year on the Big Rock! A round up of events by Dave Gilder – all photos as credited. It had become a tradition of PSSA events that a number of modellers always seem to end up meeting somewhere along the A55 and arriving atop the Gt. Orme together…  Well not…

The 2013 PSSA season gets off to a flying start with a host of new models on show! Sue Lee reports from the Llandudno Fly for Fun – All photos by the author. As Phil Cooke is away on maternity leave, he has passed on the reporting reins to me, a first I think for…

The seasons final event produces a good turnout with a host of new models. Phil Cooke reports from the Llandudno Fly for Fun – Photos by author, Sue Lee and Matt Jones. The weather forecast was fairly promising for the weekend, and with confirmed attendance in advance from many of our regular event-goers, not forgetting…

A weekend of mixed fortunes upon Mynydd Cilan. Photos by Phil Cooke, Matt Jones and Rez Manzoori. South Easterly winds had dominated the weather forecast and having amassed a group of 6 flyers at the Llanbedrog meet point on Saturday morning, we made the short drive through Abersoch to Dorothy’s Farm on Mynydd Cilan.  Once…

Phil Cooke reports from Llandudno – photos by Rez Manzoori & Phil Cooke This really was a weekend of 2 halves dictated heavily by the weather, resulting in only a partially successful event with PSS flying limited to the Saturday only.  The conditions had been dominated by a huge cyclonic wind storm out in the…

Phil Cooke reports from Llandudno – photos by Sue Lee & Phil Cooke The weather was wet when we arrived in Llandudno on the Saturday morning and the conditions looked worse than forecast as we met up in the ‘Tank Track’ car park.  This was the first meet of the season, and with a good…

The final event of the year generates some new models and trophies… Phil Cooke reports from a ‘stop-start’ days flying at Llandudno – Photos by author and Rez Manzoori. As the general public revelled in what was admittedly, a fantastic weeks weather (including the hottest October day ever recorded in England!) your scribe was scratching…

The PSSA return to the magnificent Lleyn Peninsula & are blessed with fantastic soaring conditions throughout the 2 day event. Phil Cooke reports from Mynydd Cilan.  All photos by Rez Manzoori. It made a refreshing change as event organiser to see a stable, favourable forecast on the run up to this weekend Fly-In.  We had…

Flying the Big Rock and braving the weather forecast… Simon Cocker reports on an eventful days flying at Llandudno – all photos by Sue Lee. One of the great phenomena about the Great Orme is its ability to confound weather forecasts. Over many years of flying on the mammoth rock we have learned that invariably…

Phil Cooke reports from Llandudno – photos by Sue Lee & Phil Cooke There were some minor complications to deal with on the run up to this event, but we were blessed with fine weather and strong Easterly winds which inevitably led to a huge amount of ‘high performance’ PSS flying hours and a weekend…

A good turnout with flyable conditions on the Saturday brings the 2010 PSSA season to a close. Phil Cooke reports from Llandudno – all photos by Rez Manzoori. Having only finished covering my refurbished T-33 at 3am on the Saturday morning, we left Derby for North Wales a little later than planned but despite my…

A reasonable turn-out and some good flying despite the forecast! – report by Phil Cooke. North Easterly winds were dominating the forecast on the run-up to this event and it was ‘touch and go’ right up to noon on Friday whether we would be flying at all.  The decision to meet on Saturday proved the right…

A good turnout & flyable conditions get the 2010 PSSA season underway – Report by Tim Mackey. Wording reproduced by kind permission – All photos as credited. Things didn’t get off to the best of starts with the surprise announcement by the local council that the Orme would be all but closed completely on the Saturday…

Another successful event in Llandudno rounds off the PSSA season – Report by Phil Cooke. The forecast looked marginal for the Saturday with XC Weather showing Westerly winds of only 5 to 7mph.  Sunday looked improved, with stronger winds on the most favoured SW slope and with no rain forecast either day we loaded up…

Report and photos by Phil Cooke It was raining quite heavily at 10am when I arrived at the agreed meeting point in Llanbedrog on the Saturday morning.  This was forecast to dry up by lunch and leave us with a weekend well suited to our needs with sunny spells and a dominant South Westerly wind. …

Phil Cooke reports from a well attended event held in perfect soaring conditions. This was the first weekend event of 2 planned for the 2009 PSSA season upon the Great Orme, Llandudno – a favoured coastal site with good slopes and landing zones available to us for nearly all wind directions. The forecast was dry…

Report by Phil Cooke – All photos by Rez Manzoori / Phil Cooke This was the PSSA’s first scheduled event for 2009, and thankfully the forecast looked promising with 20-30mph winds from the South East bringing with it sunny spells and showers throughout the weekend.  I travelled over first thing on Saturday morning with Rez…

Report by Phil Cooke This was the second 2-day event planned by the PSSA at Llandudno’s Great Orme site this year.  The first meeting, back in June, had fallen foul to the weather.  Not that the weather was foul – far from it!  The forecast was dominated by high pressure and there was little or…

Report by Phil Cooke The forecast was again ‘marginal’ with respect to wind speed on the run up to this, our second planned event for 2008 upon the magnificent Lleyn peninsula, North Wales.  Having studied the range of web-based forecasts, it looked like Saturday was expected to bring 8mph winds from the NW, increasing in…

Report by Steve Kemp – all photos courtesy of the RVMSA club With a total of 5 events planned throughout the year, the 1st RVMSA PSS event of 2008 went ahead on Sunday 23rd March!  It was touch and go for a while – after the heavy downfall of snow the night before, so we…

Report by Alan Hulme This was the second event held during 2007 at this magnificent cliff top venue in North Wales.  It was planned as a 2 day meeting but over the 4 days prior to the “fly in” I had been monitoring 2 of the web weather stations for this area and found that…

Report by Phil Cooke This was the first of 2 weekend events planned by the PSSA for 2007 on the Lleyn Peninsula.  The meeting was organised by Alan Hulme, as ever with Lleyn MAC member Don Brown providing the support and local knowledge vital for success on the array of proven coastal sites available to…

Report by Steve Griffiths Almost the middle of July and I hadn’t been to a single PSS meeting since late 2005 – most had been cancelled due to adverse weather – generally lack of wind – but at last there was a glimmering of hope!  For the first time this year the weather forecast for…

Report by Alan Hulme This annual event was blessed with fine weather but there was a rather low cloud base hanging about 100 feet above the launch point for most of the first day.  Attendance was disappointingly low this year, with only 7 modellers turning up over the weekend.  In spite of this, some twenty…

Report by Phil Cooke The weather on the run-up to this event had been mixed to say the least.  Even the forecast had varied grossly from Easterly to South Westerly winds over just a few days.  This event was a re-run, put back from September when a poor forecast had forced the SSA committee to…

Report by Phil Cooke With the Peak District blessed with so many slopes for all wind directions, the decision was made to use the PSSA website and last minute weather forecast to specify our meet point for the Sunday morning.  This would avoid the ‘backtracking’ and wasted travel time which affected a number of modellers…

Report by Terry Lidstone This year at Crook Peak the PSS event was the best ever – ten aircraft were entered in total by nine participants.  The wind was westerly, ideal for our best slope which overlooks the M5 out towards the Bristol Channel where sea breezes augment the prevailing wind, and it proved to…

Report by Peter Hitchborne Having organised an event I always feel somehow responsible for the weather on the day and anxiously check the forecasts from the Met Office, the BBC and the local Peak forecasters.  The forecast had changed over the two days prior to the event and I emailed Steve Griffiths the very latest…

Report by Alan Hulme.  All photos by Rez Manzoori This event was held in brilliant sunshine with wind speeds varying between 10 and 20mph.  Several participants arrived on the Friday staying at hotels and guest houses of which there are many in this area.  Although the attendance level was rather low, with eight PSSA members…

Report by Steve Griffiths I finished my last report from this venue hoping for a fifth consecutive successful meeting, and we got it!  Another good North-Westerly wind, Pendle’s best direction, and it stayed dry.  Bliss!  Plenty of other pilots turned up, and there were about 21 models on the slope. Jean-Luc Belon brought his Me-110…

Report by Steve Griffiths It was almost too good to be true – three consecutive dry and flyable meetings on Pendle Hill!  The meeting time had been put back to 11am because of the forecast of mist and light wind, and upon arriving just before 11am I found I was the first there and that…

Alan Hulme reports from this successful event… (all photos by Rez Manzoori) This annual get-together for both power and gliding enthusiasts took place in September on sites near to Abersoch, North Wales.  This year the P.S.S.A. decided, with the co-operation of the Lleyn MAC event organizers, to hold our own Northern Trophy Competition during part of the weekend.…

Event report by Graham Tolhurst This event was originally scheduled to be run on the 16th May, but was rescheduled for 18th July due to a very poor wind forecast.  The morning of the event was forecast for light winds, which may have put some people off, but local knowledge led me to believe that…

Event review by Phil Cooke Having carefully loaded up a van full of models, we arrived Friday night and set up camp…setting up the tent was a challenge in itself due to the 25mph winds but eventually we had a home to rest in for the night and we settled in, with a couple of…

Report by Mike Briggs After our drive over from Baildon, we were greeted by Simon upon our arrival at the Nick, with good news of a westerly wind in the region of 12-15 mph.  We therefore assembled our models and made our way up to the slope followed by other PSS and sport fliers.  The…

Report by Peter Hitchborne Given the vagaries of the English climate, planning a fly-in five months in advance seems a little imprudent, but it is the fate of event hosts to come up with dates well ahead to fit into a tight calendar.  So tight in fact that the SSA later moved the Callow Bank…

Report and photos by Phil Cooke Following the success of the first Peak District event run in May 03, a repeat arrangement was set up at short notice, using our website and magazine as media to advertise our plans.  As before, we met up for breakfast at McDonalds in Congleton, on the edge of the…

23rd/24th August – Abersoch, North Wales Steve Griffiths reports from Abersoch, a meeting blessed with fantastic sunny weather, a good collection of models – but unfortunately not enough wind! (all photos by Rez Manzoori) This meeting is an excuse for a long weekend holiday, Friday to Monday.  This makes the long drive less time-critical, and…

The Peak District Fly-In was organised for Sunday May 25th, the wind direction and strength dictating our site on top of ‘Bosley Cloud’ near Congleton, Cheshire.  The following words by Steve Griffiths are taken with permission from the PSSA magazine issue 63. The weather was suspiciously good when we set off across the Pennines to…

Held at ‘Thrunton Woods’ on Sunday May 11th, Steve Griffiths reports from this, the fourth organised event in the PSSA’s 2003 diary.  Words taken from Issue 63 of the PSSA magazine with permission. After an early start and a 133-mile drive, we arrived at the meeting point with several minutes to spare.  We had driven…

This event was held on Sunday 13th April 2003 at ‘The Hole of Horcum’ on the North Yorkshire Moors.  Steve Griffiths and Mike Briggs made their usual trip from West Yorkshire to take part and the following words, by Steve, are taken from the Spring ’03 PSSA magazine issue 62 The day started badly: I fell…

This event was held on Sunday 13th October 2002 at The Hole of Horcum on the North Yorkshire Moors, and was sadly effected by poor weather.  Attendance was limited due to the dismal forecast, however a dedicated Alan Hulme made his way over from Cheshire and brings us this report. There is little to say…

Held on the 20th and 21st of July 2002, this was the third annual PSS event organised by the Lleyn M.A.C. in conjunction with the PSSA, and gladly, was blessed with fine weather.  This report is compiled from words by Alan Hulme and Steve Griffiths, who both attended this event. This now annual 2 day…

Held on the 11th and 12th of August, 2001, this was the second year running in which the PSSA, in conjunction with the Lleyn M.A.C. had organised a weekend PSS Fly In. A total of 12 PSSA members met on the Saturday morning at the pre-arranged car park outside Abersoch.  This allowed the exchange of…