Hi,

I am currently in Dubai and summer month is coming. Hopefully great for some thermalling.

Anyone who's into RC sailplane/glider in Dubai/UAE, please feel free to drop me an email. Perhaps could go soaring together and share some tips and knowledge.

Cheers

Hello Kingfifi

How did you get on with your glider flying in Dubai? I am thinking about taking a new job there early next year and since i'm into RC gliders i'm keen to find out if many people fly there and where?

Do you know if anyone goes to the mountains for big air and i'd be especially keen to know if anyone dynamic soars.

All the best

Any success guys? Im into rc gliders aswell and want to know if there´s anywhere to fly.

Thanks

I think the answer seems clear: "Ma-fee, R.C.!" (please forgive my spelling)

No hills, but I would think the thermals must be quite something!. The nearest hills, if my memory (from the early '80's), serves me right, are in Ras al Khaimeh (?) a couple of hours south of Dubai.

Good luck and enjoy 50º in the shade with 99% humidity, a bit later in the season

I had a good look on Google Maps, Terrain view (with contours). About 2h drive NE of Dubai you hit the Al Hajar Mountains. The tallest of these is over 10,000ft above sea level. There are some big ridges among these.

About 1h20min drive E or ESE of Dubai, towards Oman, or possibly just inside Oman, there are loads of smaller hills and ridges that rise between 500 to 1,000ft above the surrounding terrain. Plenty enough for soaring and hopefully good ridges for DS. Just need to add wind. Once I am settled there, I will be sure to explore these and report back. Give me a good 6 months. I only hope my planes ship there without damage.

If you look up a guy called Speedster Den on youtube you will see that you can easily DS cruise sand dunes. He does this at his local beaches in Denmark. I plan to have a go at dune DS in the desert - so long as the wind doesn't get so strong that it sand blasts me...

Just an update on this topic, I took said job and am now resident in Dubai, since early Feb. I have been very busy settling in to my new job, plus new country etc, however my quiver of mainly DS gliders, plus a couple of soarers and one light weight thermal/slope soarer, made it intact. I have yet to buy myself some wheels (4x4 off road) so I can get out there and find some good sites.

It might be a while before I report back with flying stories but I will eventually.

There are a couple of Aussie serious thermal/F3B/DLG fliers in Dubai. PM me and I'll see if I can find an email adress for them.

Hey Neal cant wait to here about the Dune DS. it sure would be neat seein a Howler rippin it up above the sand

Rob D

Hi Kingfifi

Am in the same neck of the woods as you..currently finishing a couple of gliders.. a small sloper for flying on the dunes, and a DLG optimised for windy conditions, as it always seems to be blowing here! Whilst camping out in the desert recently, I took my paraglider and did some handling and a few short hops off the dunes, so looks like a small sloper will be quite at home there..

A while back I bumped into a couple of guys at the Nad Al Sheba site, who were doing a first flight of an electrified F3B type model, they mentioned that they flew off the coastal bluffs in Oman, so it seems there are quite a few guys interested too, so I look forward to hearing how you fare. Once I have explored more or found out a bit more, will post.. cheers for now