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Surrey Oaks Downland Soarers, Slope Soaring! OK the local slopes are not much to write home about some need just the right wind direction and strength, the best one is out Dorking way it works well in a southerly.

2nd - 5th FEB	SODS	Brighton, Book Individually
April 9th ->	SODS	Hunters Moon, Contact Tom for information.
May 5th - 7th	SODS	POPHAM (Robin)
June 17-18th	SODS	Weston Park Model Show (Brian)
July 20 - 23rd	SODS	POPHAM (Robin)
August B.Holiday	SODS	POPHAM (Robin)
Sept 16-17th	SODS	Sothern Model Show in Kent (Tom)
November 9-12	SODS	Southsea (John)

Many of us have Caravans, Tents, Motor caravans, and we spend several weekends! (some very long weekends!!) away during the year, not just in the summer either, we regularly visit Dorset and Brighton for slope soaring.

Silly S.O.D.S OH..! Jims not in this one.. Why isn't anyone flying....? S.O.D.S. Dorset

The Shuttleworth sunset flying at Old Warden,is a favorite, the New Forest flying at Beaulieu, even a cycling weekend, oh yes and we all have model boats, oh you get the idea, yes I know its not all model flying, but we always have those favorite flying stories that come out over a drink at the barbeque in the evening.

Oh yes then there is the silly sod of the year award we don’t have any serious competitive events we don’t want to get that serious, so silly sod of the year is awarded to the unfortunate soul who gave us most entertainment, amongst the past recipients, is the chap who snapped the elastic in his underpants following one particularly energetic launch, another parked his model in a tree whilst watching an unfortunate husband/boyfriend getting belted over the head by his other half, she meant it to!!. The model that dug a rabbit hole after getting lost in low cloud….about ten feet cloud base!!, one of our younger members recovering a model from down the slope ”DON’T RUN!!” too late his C of G overtook his center of pressure or something like that, and of he went tail over apex, for all the world like a bundle of old clothes from Oxfam, still no damage done, oh OK I own up to one as well after flying in a howling gale, and being particularly pleased not to have broken the model, I promptly fell on it on my way back to the car park, my two companions said they had not heard me swear before they ****** did then....!

Some of us have even gone on to fly really big models that you sit in, but that’s another story.