Dream Flight Weasel Trek Slope Soaring and Peregrine Falcon Slope Combat

This is footage begins with maiden flights of my Weasel Trek slope glider in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. Halfway into making the video, I decided that I needed some footage from the coast. Within a minute of capturing that footage, this video’s theme went in a completely different direction.
I have been flying in a spot near Del Mar for years and, while I’ve seen Peregrine falcons nesting at Torrey Pines State reserve about 2 miles away, I have never ever had them attack my planes. Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on the planet and I was simply blown away to see that speed first hand. The bird in this video was a freaking feathered missile!!! It could move through the air, up and down wind, with ease. There is one particular sequence of it in the video at 2:09 where it rockets down on the Weasel so fast I would not be surprised if it was doing well over 100mph.
It was super fun to try and avoid the bird. It was like slope combat against the supreme grand master.
Watch for the bird landing on the train tracks. I would like to think that my whistling at it was the reason it flew off, but you gotta figure that the train bearing down on it was a bit more alarming.
The Weasel is an incredible and super fun plane that is well thought out, simple to build, and rewarding to fly. I bought the Dream Flight battery and servo pack to go with it. I’m using an Orange R615X receiver. To my pleasant surprise, it balanced perfectly with ZERO extra weight required. So far, I am flying it at the more modest throws and rates that are recommended. If you are looking to improve your aerobatic skills, this is the easiest plane to fly upside-down that I have ever flown and it is helping me evolve into more challenging flying skills.
Initial music track is by Tom Longbottom - D Hip Hop (surf guitar) and the second and third tracks are from the band - The Atlantics.

[@AndrewNewton]

Brilliant Richard. That's a feisty sloper, and an even feistier falcon. Thrilling.

[@MrDazedOne]

Fantastic! Both the plane and the peregrine encounter, what an experience!

[@swede5209]

That was awesome. Especially the formation flying. I’ve had turkey vultures chase my Parkzone Corsair and immediately regret it.

[@docwunder1628]

How cool is that?😲 Information flight with pelicans. Wow. And than the dogfight with the falcon.great. One of the best slope soaring videos ever. Thangs. 👍👍👍😁

[@carmoldu]

That was really cool! I love your channel, greatings from Barcelona! :)

[@mickcarson8504]

LOL. This is just so funny to watch. Those birds are like persistent daredevils.

[@28th_St_Air]

I just watch the video after not seeing it for sometime and am reminded again about how insanely fast these birds are. The video doesn’t do them justice. They move as if there is no friction in the air on them.

[@mickcarson8504]

@@28th_St_Air Like sky torpedoes, you mean? LOL.

[@wordreet]

WoW!!! The possibility of interaction like this is one of the reasons I started RC gliding in the first place. :¬)

[@j.jasonwentworth723]

As several flyers of the Alula-TREK (Dream-Flight's 'jack-of-all-trades' tailless, bird-inspired thermal *and* slope soaring companion glider to the Weasel-TREK, see: www.dream-flight.com/products/alula-trek [it'll be back in stock this fall or winter!]) have discovered, decorating the Alula-TREK to look like a real bird has attracted the attention of birds of prey, who have downed a few (then abandoned them in puzzlement after tasting their foam "meat" :-) ). There are several videos of bird-decorated Alula-TREK/hawk and eagle encounters here on KZbin; the gliders' owners used colored magic markers, foam-safe paint, or self-adhesive colored plastic decal material to simulate feathers. It would be interesting to see if a bird-decorated Weasel-TREK might also attract stronger attention from birds of prey.

[@Valkyry5]

I just love it! Excellent juunk moves....

[@7demo7review]

Great video! I've been drooling over one of these!

[@28th_St_Air]

7demo7 so many things to fly for you, so little time :) It needs a bit more wind than a Libelle but, when there's strong wind like the kind we've had in the past few months, it's a blast and super maneuverable. It's a must have for sloping.

[@julianhumphrey4843]

That is a superb video, and i think this has made up my mind to get a Wiesel

[@RcAircraft]

Wow love it , I am only 3 years late on this video. great stuff.

[@28th_St_Air]

Stephen Jones coincidentally, just last week, i just had my second encounter with what is probably the same bird. the little bugger is very persistent

[@bekorabello1847]

Wow....fantastic

[@trumpetmano]

I love these videos. .... "Dude, I just wanted to fly my glider".... But "NO! said the Falcon, I'm gonna F*^k your shit up"....

[@RcAviation]

Nice sloper

[@mwpicard]

Born pilot. Come and help me remember the wheels...! I am sure we can arrange for you to fly the Cessna via R/C

[@calanmoss]

Ha Ha , I get the same problem with Magpie's in Australia dude.

[@Hlwofsaw]

Super

[@RWHITT]

Wicked :)

[@i4nic256]

Great flying, really enjoyed the video. Love the color scheme of the Weasel too, is it painted on or vinyl stickers?

[@28th_St_Air]

Thanks. I used colored packing tape for the hexagons. It was tedious but I cut them out using a template made from an old credit card. the rest was done in heat shrink film.

[@i4nic256]

They turned out great, the weasel looks sharp.

[@i4nic256]

Thanks for the tip, I might give the tape a try before I use any kind of paint on the EPO foam.

[@_D3adB0y_]

Awesome soaring mate! Where were you flying in the first part of the video if you don't mind me asking? Lopez Park? I work at Playstation in Sorrento valley and have been looking around for a place to try my thermal glider. :)

[@28th_St_Air]

TheKesslerEffect glad you recognize the spot. i scouted all over north county for places that had northwest facing slopes and soft landing zones. this is one of the more ideal spots i could find. it is on the south side of sorrento valley blvd up against the hill off telesis ct. it's probably not a good spot to fly during the weekdays when people are in the office buildings, but after work hours or on the weekends it's deserted. was just there a couple weeks back and the hillside is very overgrown but still doable. have fun

[@_D3adB0y_]

Awesome! Thanks for tips and area! I will have to check it out after I finish 3d printing a new fuselage for my Bulero sailplane. Looking forward to more videos! Cheers

[@stevenstern156]

I want one with feathers painted on my wings. gliderfighter

[@profrat]

Sharpies work well: goo.gl/photos/qTJK1AqwC798Kxzp7

[@GMcC-ow4wg]

What was the wind speed that day please?

[@28th_St_Air]

G. McC in the 15mph range

[@NObody-kp2su]

annoying music is too loud spend some time learn audio

[@28th_St_Air]

N. Obody I’m not a professional videographer but I do make an effort to edit my videos more than most who post slope soaring videos. If the volume was to loud when you listened to it sorry, but you can always turn the volume down.