Slope Tour1

Use this tour of the Manx slopes, originally written by Chas Gardiner, to get a feel for the range of slope sites available on the Island.

There are slopes for any wind direction and the usual Manx preferences on use are that they should be able to get out of the car and launch the model - and why not? Most slope soarers would love a list of every one else's slopes. Well here are a few to be going on with;

Slieau Maggle (4) works well up to 30 deg either side of 275 deg and it is possible to wave soar the adjacent hills of Sartfell and Bailahimmin. Access is through a gate west of Brandywell Cottage on the B10. Drive up the track, you will see where to park. Smaller models are often landed on the slope just in front of the launch point but with anything big, a short walk further along the track finds a heather covered flat area.
Injebreck (5) is from 240deg to 175deg depending which side of the head of the valley you fly. Pull off the B10 and walk down to the chosen launch point. The landing areas are excellent.
Stone Bridge (6). Further along the B10 from Injebreck are a number of points where the apparently shallow slope to the North belies the lift available. Either launch and fly from the road in anything from 320deg to 040deg or amble back a short way up to the crest of the hill. The lift is smooth and there is no problem landing actually on the slope, especially with air brakes.
Beine-y-Phott (7). Park on the B10 Brandywell road just inside the cattle grid off the TT course. Duck under or step over the wooden barrier and walk to the edge overlooking the Baldwin valley with views down to Douglas and the South of the island. This works well from 225deg to 150deg and the landing area that you have just walked over will present no problems. Long stubbly grass, a soft soil and no rocks here either.
Veranda (8) is the name of the stretch of road which runs northwards along the reverse of the TT course from the point where the Snaefell Mountain railway crosses the A18. Park off the road here along from the Les Graham memorial and launch off over the Agneash valley which runs down to Laxey. You will need to step over the fence and land in front of yourself here since the hill behind you rises right up to the top of Snaefell at 2036 feet. You may choose either end of this section but expect it to work from 090deg to 140deg.
East Mountain Gate (9) is further along towards Ramsey. Not a popular site due to parking limitations but slopes for west and north east are available here. There are other sites, which are easier to use, a typical Manx problem.

Further along is Guthrie's Memorial (10), which commands magnificent views towards Scotland and Northern Ireland and has the magnificent North Barrule (11) to the back. If you get chance, walk this to the end overlooking Maughold and look across the thirty five miles to Cumberland flown in 1987 by the Copeland Model Flyers. Take a soarer and a drink but no other clutter if the wind is Northwest or Southeast - you could never explain the lift here.

The Maps used on this page are produced from the Ordnance Survey Get a Map service. Images reproduced with the kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Multi Media Mapping