Loch Rannoch

February 2015 we were in Scotland at Loch Rannock. Our timing couldn't have been better as there was enough snow to be picturesque but not enough to cause any travel problems. Some days were really sunny and one day was really wet but whatever the weather sent we were able to enjoy ourselves.

We were able to abandon the car on the better days and go for walks. Having had a dodgy knee for quite some time it was a bit of a concern and not entirely painless but I was lucky. My brother, his wife and my wife were all on this holiday and went down with heavy colds. Somehow I didn't; I'm guessing it was somekind of flu and having had my flu jab last October I was protected.

Other days we travelled by car to tour the area and on one day, the rainy day, we went to Fort William by train from Rannock station. The weather for journey was good, but we got soaked while we were there, just the excuse we needed to spend an hour in front of an open fire in a pub to dry off.

As well as getting around we had a whisky tasting, a painting session and a haggis supper. The Haggis supper was at Kynachan Hall, an annual fund raising event for the local community hall. We were made very welcome even though the majority of people there were locals and it was the most enjoyable evening out of the holiday.

 

Blanik L-13 Glider

I wanted a scale glider of a reasonable size but they are expensive and my slope skills don't yet extend to getting landings right most of the time, especially at sites like the Great Orme which is merciless if the model gets caught up in the 'rotor' effect on a good windy day. I needed something to practice with that wouldn't cost hundreds of pounds to buy or to repair. After quite some searching and hesitation I ended up buying a HobbyKing Blanik L-13 glider which has a very off scale electric motor in the nose but I'll come to that in a moment.

The thing is that it has a 7' wing span and is supplied with everything either fitted or just some minor assembly required and claims to have a good aerobatic performance. All this for a few pence over £85; was this too cheap or a bargain I wondered?

Well the maiden flight has taken place and several more since. A few niggles in the assembly and the shedding of the folding propeller are, I suppose, what you get with a cheap model but it flys well and it looks good too, though silver isn't the best colour against grey clouds! On the whole I would say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the handling and I look forward to trying out as a slope soarer before too long. As for robustness and providing a means for me to get my practice is, only time will tell.

After a few months I reviewed the model and published that on the 7th April 2016. You can it here.

Quarry Bank - Industrial Heritage Site

Happy new year everyone, may it be a healthy one too. We've got off to a good start with a visit to Quarry Bank, Styal, Cheshire. There's a lot to do and see and we didn't have time for them all but we did have a short walk by the River Bollin and a tour of the mill where all the water driven machines are not just displayed, they still work. Fascinated by the machinery this where I spent most of my time.

There's a lot more to see next time, the Apprentice House (home to the children who worked at the mill) and nearby Styal village will be first on my list.

In the mean time here's a photo gallery of visit and a very brief video of one of the weaving machines running.

A Pygmy Hedgehog, Eagle Owl and Meerkats, It's Zoo2U

Tor with Jelani

A surprise present from my wife by Zoo2U, a family run business which aims at educating children and adults about wildlife. The animals were presented by Tor in a warm, knowledgeable and friendly manner. She was a great at answering all of our questions.

It seems my that my wife booked this visit some time ago and at the time of the booking she was allowed a selection of three animals to be brought to our home.

Pygmy Hedgehog - Thistle

First to put in an appearance was "Thistle" the pygmy hedgehog and it can't be denied that for a hedgehog she's pretty cute. Tor explained that Thistle was actually a cross between  a four toed hedgehog and an African hedgehog. A calm creature that we all took it in turns to hold.

African Eagle Owl - Jelani

"Jelani", an Eagle Owl from central Africa was next, Somewhat smaller than the Eurasian Eagle Owl it is none the less quite big, weighing at just over 1.5Lbs. We were surprised that Tor said he would fly in our living room and wondered if Jelani would be distracted by our Christmas tree, however he behaved impeccably apart from being rather besotted with his own reflection in our window. His wing span was impressive as he silently flew across the room then flared for landing. It's quite noticeable that as with other Eagle Owls he has a brightly coloured yellowish/orange iris, indicating that he mostly diurnal (daytime hunter) and that much of his time is spent perching and waiting for something tasty to come along. By the way owls with dark irises, such as our barn owl are mostly nocturnal and their preferred hunting method is completely different as the fly low over rough grassland searching out their prey.

Meerkat - Kato or is it Leo?

Finally it was time for a pair of meerkats, "Kato" and "Leo", to make a lively showing. Meerkats belong to the mongoose family and also come from Africa (not Russia!).They did have an attraction to one of pot plants and the Christmas tree but could could be quickly brought to order with the rattle of a container of dried meal worms. That was something we learned - meerkats have huge appetites. They had already had two meals that day but soon very quickly gobbled up more meal worms from our hands.

All too soon the visit was over; it was quite an experince having the animals so close and being able talk to their keeper in such a pleasant and informal way. Tor obviously loves to be with the animals and show them off at their best. There's a few more photos in a Zoo2U Facebook Posting and to round things off there's some video below.

SS Great Britain Re-Visited

Back in December 2014 we visited SS Great Britain which is now a museum ship in the harbour at Bristol. It was fascinating, full of detail, even atmospheric smells and we ran out of time to explore it fully. Fortunately the ticket has a one year lifespan so we were able to re-visit just before it expired.

Although it appears to be floating, it is not and on the previous visit we had not really appreciated that this meant we could go underneath it and have a look at the hull.

Standing next to the huge propeller at the back gave an idea of the great thrust it must have provided. SS Great Britain was one of the first to have a screw propeller as opposed to to  paddles which she was originally intended to have.

SS Great Britain was a huge ship by the standards of the day and as well as it's revelutionary propeller it was made of iron.

Inside, the ship is a travel back in time, it seems like it must have just docked and as everyone had disemabrked then vistors were allowed on board. The dockside hasn't been neglected either with packing cases, barrels & building all lending to add to the realism and atmosphere. The entry fee isn't cheap but it's comparable to many attractions these days and worth every penny.

Prior to our visit we visited the nearby Orchard Inn to try out some local cider which was very good, somehow a very tasty pie found it's way to our table too.

It was dark afterward we finally left so that the staff could go home and we enjoyed a stroll along the harbour, the dockyard cranes which were prepared for Christmas making an interesting landmarks amongst the other lights surrounding the area.

Home Fires Series 2 Completed

Last year it was reported that Hilary and Ian had done some “extra” work in the first series of “Home Fires”. This came about as a result of responding to a leaflet drop in Bunbury which was transformed into Great Paxford in the series. The concept was loosely based on the book Jambusters by Julie Summers. Hilary and Ian only intended to take part for the novelty of it as a one-off, however by the time filming finished there was already talk of a 2nd series and also "Boss" the agency they had signed up to was offering extra, extra work.

So Hilary and Ian have been “Support Artists” in a number of productions starting off early in the year with “Close to the Enemy” which will be screened on BBC sometime soon. In May Ian was involved in two night shoots at Chester Cathedral for “Midwinter of the Spirit”, though you would need to have a very keen eye to spot him. That has already been shown on ITV but is about to be repeated on ITVbe.

Since early Autumn the 2nd series of Home Fires has been in production. With Hilary being busy in so may other ways she was only available for one day as a member of Great Paxford Women’s Institute. At 7 days, one more than last year, Ian managed take on several roles as a villager and a wedding guest. Filming has now been completed but since it’s not been shown yet no more can be reported. Rumours of a third series and the possibility of being called for other extra work means it looks like there will be more of the same in 2016.

Back On A Slope At Last

My good friend Martyn Kinder wanted to design and build an aerobatic slope soarer which has the appearance of a modern moulded plastic missile but is actually constructed using traditional balsa/spruce and perhaps some glass cloth. 

Recent interest generated in Slope Soaring at our local club (South Cheshire RCS) helped fuel desire. And though not on our doorstep we are nicely located between the Peak District and the mountains of Snowdonia and of course the Great Orme. Our nearest slope is Bosley Cloud on the edge of the Peak District so that is where the Maiden flight took place. There's blog for the build of this model at http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=106263

Not having been on the slopes for some months and knowing there's afew rocks up on the top of Bosley Cloud I decided to play safe and take a coupkle of tough models, my SAS Fusion and HK Wicked Wing. I was particularly keen to fly the Wicked Wing because I have had a lot of trouble with the servos coming loose, which made for some pretty "interesting" flying. I have now glued the servos in with UHU Por contact adhesive and that seems to have done the job. So here's a video briefly covering our day:

New Web Sites Launched

As the needs of various organisations vary so do the reasons for having a website and the purposes of those websites.  Although IPJnet Web Developments is my business I sometimes find that organisations that have small budgets need a website creating but cannot afford to pay a commercial fee for one. Of course I don't just knock out free websites as soon as someone asks but where friends and associates are in need I do have a look at what can done.

Seven years ago I created a website for the Middlewich Clean Team and it has served well but the technology behind it was ageing and it could only be updated by me. Reviewing the type of update that were being made to their website it became apparent that most were either news items or photo gallery items - the sort of material commonly associated with with blogs. So the new website would amount to setting up a blog with some extra features. The choice of blog application to use was straight forward as it had to one that could easily be handed over to less experienced users to maintain and Google's "Blogger" fitted the bill nicely. I set up the blogger earlier this year and launched it in March, initially just with links to the old site for content then gradually the content from the old site has been moved into the blog. The same web address www.middlewichcleanteam.co.uk continues to be used so there is no disruption to existing links.

Soon after the completion of the Middlewich Clean Team website a friend asked for help to create a website for the Middlewich Handbell Ringers and it soon became apparent that once again a blog would do the job nicely. Once the details needed for the more or less static pages had been worked out the rest of the setup was straight foward so in June this year www.middlewichhandbells.co.uk was launched.

Finally, this Autumn an idea a friend had about making a publicly available database for researching problems with Radio Control aircraft was launched. This database is still in it's early days so far as content is concerned and we are keen to build up an editorial base of experienced Radio Control modellers. The JOOMLA powered site is growing nicely; it hasn't been cost free as I have had to add some extensions and I'm paying for the hosting so I will probably have to add a "Please Donate" button at some point just to make sure it pays for itself. Since it's about radio control, aircraft and it's a database the website name combines those features and is called RC Aerobase, the address being http://rcaerobase.ipjdev.co.uk/   

An update to my own website is long overdue, wonder when I'll get around to that!

Airbus Visit

On 5th September my model flying club (South Cheshire Radio Control Society) was invited to make a static display of models at the Airbus factory employees open day at Broughton, Nr Chester.

As a reward we were allowed access to the factory and follow the process of how the wings are manufactured. This is where all of the Airbus wings are made including those for the massive A380 series of aeroplane. The wings skins are held on a series of jigs as they are drilled and riveted by machines and huge cranes move them from one part of the factory to another.

 

Most wings are flown out on a Beluga aeroplane but the A380 wings are too big and are floated down the River Dee on a barge to Mostyn where they are transferred to a ship for France. Incidently a friend of mine is involved in the manufacture of some of the jigs and cranes, my brother was an apprentice here in the 1960s and my Grandfather was a toolmaker, so I have quite an interest in the site.

We were provided with a good sized fenced of display area and the eight of us set up our models just around the inside of the fence so that they could be easily viewed. We were pleasantly surprised by the interest shown and of course we were only too glad to talk about our favaourite subject. Although the day started off quite cold, once the sun came out it was quite barable and there was good humoured banter thoughout. A break for something to eat provided the opportunity for a quick photo of the team and I think I can speak for all of us when I thank Airbus for the opportunity to attend. I hope they'll have us back another time.

We were also fortunate that some full size aeroplanes present for static display too. Most had already irrived but we were thrilled to see the arrival and departure of the Spitfire PR9 and the Hurricane IIB.

Pictures below from top to bottom are: deHavilland Venom, Hawker Hurricane IIB, Supermarine Spitfire PR9.

Update from 1056 feet high

On holiday in Scotland on top of Maxwellston Hill. It's pretty windy up here.

The view is good though!