| Name | Wind | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Barmekin Hill, Echt, Aberdeenshire | All | Excellent
site in a reasonable wind from any direction. Walk to top takes 10
- 15 mins along overgrown track. Have flown here many times and the
buzzards are very friendly! Very quiet
spot never met anyone else here.
Information provided by Ken Fraser |
| Beacon Hill, Berkshire | SW, SE and N | Probably the longest and hardest walk of any hill I've been to, including Crook Peak, and not really worth the effort. |
| Bishopstone
Cliff, Kent
Not flown here |
N | According to Malcolm Corbin, the cliff is a sea facing and flying North. 6 knots good for Mini Ellipse 20 good for 2V. Once it goes past 30 it gets shitty, not good lift and a bad rotor. Approx 2 miles East of Herne Bay on the way to Reculver. |
| Butser Hill, Hampshire | details | Only flown here once years ago. Pay to park very near the slope. |
| Butts Lane, Eastbourne, Sussex | NW - N - NE - E | Mega site with 2 massive bowls. |
| Cairn O'Mount between Laurencekirk and Strachan, Kincardine and Deeside | S | Site at
the roadside or if you prefer a wee walk 5 mins. Flies best in southerly
winds of any description. I enjoy this site when feeling lazy - again
never a problem getting a slot on the frequency board - not met anyone
else flying here despite the nearest model shop being 10 mins away! Can be
busy with tourists - usually yanks with bigger and faster planes back
home!
Information provided by Ken Fraser |
| Callow Bank, Hathersage, Derbyshire | WSW | http://www.ssaclub.com/ Martyn Johnson 0114 296 2648 Very High slope with excellent access. |
| Cherhill
White Horse, Calne, Wiltshire
Not flown here yet! |
N | Comments
from http://www.phoenixmp.com/info/west-slope.htm The Cherril White horse is a northerly facing chalk bowl rising above the A4 east of Calne in Wiltshire. There is small hurricane savaged beech coppice on the easterly end and a potentially model grabbing obelisk on the western end. Parking is by the roadside with a 2-300 yard walk to the top that performs a 'Redex' style decoke to the arteries. Not coronary inducing but sufficient to say 'I should take more exercise'! Flying, when the wind is blowing due north straight into the bowl, is excellent good. The site still works when the wind is 15 to 20 degrees off to the east or west but due to the lack of 'funnelling' the lift is obviously not so good. Landing once again is best when the wind is due north as there is more than ample room behind the slope. The main obstacles when landing is the occasional grazing animal and the undulation of the terrain. It is very easy to land in a small gulley and dislodge a wing or tailplane. Summary: a good club site for northerly winds and one that leaves feeling a little smug after climbing the hill. Well worth stopping for if you happen to be passing with a model in the car and the wind just happens to be in the right direction! |
| Charmouth, Dorset | SE - S - SW | Beautiful place to fly with good access. |
| Cleeve Common | W | Flew here once years ago, but can't remember much about it |
| Clench Common, Wiltshire | SE - E | Lovely
site with a bit of walk to the main easterly slope. Good landing area
behind.
Can also fly south near to the car park, but landing is limited to slope-side. |
| Colley Hill, Surrey | S | Information from Jon Hill
It is National Trust land, is reached M25, A217, Margery Ln (I park by the last house on the right as I've had my car broken into in the car park at the end of the Ln - means 3 minutes extra walk) it is 10 min walk to the slope over the M25 (which wasn't there when I started and it was lovely and quite too!) the slope is good for SW-S from the main face and flyable round to SE from the other side of the bowl. landing is challenging though with crow braking less so. I've never seen 1/4 scale and wouldn't recommend it. If the breeze is on any of the slopes the lift varies from Ok to 'elevator' like, even in less than 10 knots and picking off passing thermals as they approach from the weald is great fun (look for the sand Martins catching flys) Colley will not fly in anything west of SW because the west spur interupts the breeze. Additiional good news is that many of the hawthorns that used to line the edge of the bowl have been cleared but the highland cattle that graze the downs leave b***** big pats to be avoided on arrival! Some hate Colley, but those are the ones who can't apply themselves to a disciplined landing approach. |
| Crook Peak | most | See the West Mendip Website |
| Curbar Edge, Derbyshire | WSW - W | Very sharp edge, and a long way down! |
| Dassett Country Park | SW, give or take 15 to 20 degrees, best in winds of around 15 mph +/- 5 mph | It's a nice site
because you can park on top, but it isn't a powerful hill, more what you would call a
sport/training hill. But it will take up to quarter scale reasonably well. Find Gaydon on the map it's about 2 miles east and is known as the Dassett Hills Country Park. It's on the other side of the M40 from the army camp. Contact: Brett Sirrell and/or see the Web site |
| Dinas Head, Pembrokeshire | NE - SW | Walking the cliff path either way from Pwllgwaelod, there are several flyable sites. Advise chucking a Zagi or something cheap first before committing your moulded favorite to the sea! |
| Ditchling Beacon, Sussex | N - NE | Not flown here yet |
| Edge Hill (Sunrising) | NW | Lovely site, a short, flat walk from the car. Large flat landing area behind. Contact: Brett Sirrell and/or see the Web site |
| Firle Beacon, Sussex | N | Flown here once a few years back, nice slope. |
| Folkestone, Crete Road West | SW - S | (Above the Channel Tunnel terminal). Works best SW but through to South is fine. Mega lift in all but the lightest wind speeds. Landing is good with no rota but is in lift so brakes are a big help in strong winds. Limited parking in lay-by within 30 yards of the launch area! |
| Fovant Down/Badges | NW - N ? | Not flown here, might be an SSS site |
| Haresfield Beacon | S | Flown here once, quite a small hill with a small landing area. |
| Ivinghoe Beacon, Buckinghamshire | N - NE - E - SE- S - SW (crap) - W - NW | My local slope. |
| Kimmeridge, Dorset | SW | Never actually flown here, but I've had a look. Looks good. |
| Knock Hill, Morayshire | Ian
Dewar says.... This ones a bit of a long shot, but maybe worth a mention for any 'tourers'. Aberdeenshire....Knock Hill.....Between Keith and Elgin (Morayshire)...fantastic all around but a very steep walk (to be polite!!)...bit of a long drive too! |
|
| Ladle Hill, Berkshire | W | I'm told this is a long walk, never tried it. |
| The Lleyn Peninsula, N Wales | NW, SW, W | See Donald Browns WEB site. Flew here in 2001. Coastal sites are stunning, but no thermals! Best site is the NW overlooking Hells Mouth Bay, seems to get a bit of thermal. Rhiw Mountain not up to much. |
| The Long Man, Eastbourne, Sussex | SW - W, N | Good Westerly, not so good SW bowl. Nice place to spend the day. Must have BMFA membership. |
| The Long Mynd, Shropshire | SE, SW, W, N | Good for Scale. Flown
here a few times, Weather always seems a bit dodgy. Main Westerly site is at Pole Cott North Slope at Darnford which I think is here SE slope here SW slope here. Limited to certain dates due to Birds nesting. National Trust agreement requires BMFA insurance, although this is at odds with ISAs agreement. |
| Malvern Hill | W - NW - N - NE - E | Malvern Soaring Association Web Page Fairly hard walk up, but huge hill with great views. |
| Mill Hill, Shoreham, West Sussex | SW | Information
provided by Julian Van Woenssel
I believe there are height restrictions here because of the nearby airport. Also very popular with Foamies. |
| Newhaven, Sussex | S | Cliff soaring, landing area no good for scale. Park at Fort on West side of river and walk up to cliffs. Alternative is a new development of glorified Caravans which straddles a footpath heading to the cliffs, park here and walk up steps to cliffs. |
| North Hill, Minehead, Somerset | Ian
Dewar says....
Slopes southerly through west onto north east. Fantastic SW/W/NW slope overlooks the Bristol Channel, good NE overlooking the channel. Southerly OK but close to power fliers site. Very few local fliers but some hang and para-gliders. |
|
| Pegsdon, Hertfordshire | NW ONLY | Nice local hill, must be spot on NW. |
| Pewsey Downs (Nap or Milk Hill), Wiltshire | S and SW | Lovely hill. S is on
the E side of the road and is a long ridge that is walkable for about 2 miles. I'm told
that it is now used by Paragliders towards the E, but still causes no problems. The hill
on the W side of the road is more of a walk and not so good.
Feb 2005: Beware: English Nature are trying to ban flying here. |
| Pilsdon Pen, Dorset | Anything with south in it | Fantastic views all the way to the coast. |
| Purbeck | Various mainly S | see map |
| Roundway Hill, Wiltshire | NW - W - SW - S | Also known as Oliver's Castle. Short walk from car-park. Nice place to spend some time. |
| Sharpenhoe Clappers | E | Hang and Para gliders go here. Good for cold winter Easterlies if you're desparate as you can shelter behind a hedge. |
| South Wales | See South Wales Soaring Association WEB site for details. Not flown on any of these. | |
| Swyre Head, Dorset | SE, SW | Another great site, but a bit of a walk. |
| Uffington. Oxfordshire | NW, N, NE | Only flown here one in a an ENE, so can't comment too much, but I've had several good reports. |
| Watership Down, Berkshire | NE - N - NW | Flown here a couple of times. Flies NW from the Eastern side of the road, actually called White Hill and NE and N from the Western side of the road. Landings not brilliant on either as you have to land anything big in crops or gallops behind. Contact Terry Antell |
| Westbury White Horse | NW - N | Flown here once in next to no wind. Looks good though. |
| White Sheet, Mere | SW - W - NW | Lovely spot. Can be a bit of a problem for West as there is always an arguement about which of the 2 bowls to fly from. Rough track, so watch your exhaust. Club Web Site |
| Win Green | NW, NE? | Mega hill, with the best ever access. Friendly/crazy locals. see club website and map |
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