New Slope Site in Southeast Wisconsin
Joe Beshar | [email protected]
Thanks to the positive support of Jack Dowden, Waste Management’s Group Director of Closed Landfills, the Omega Hills landfill in Germantown, Wisconsin, is operational as stated by Greg Smith, president of the AstroWings of Wisconsin.
Midwest slope pilots: the long wait is over. Things turned out slightly differently than we’d originally planned, but our friends and fellow club members of AstroWings of Wisconsin helped us finally gain access to one of our local slope spots. Thanks to AstroWings and especially Roger Zahn, as well as the people at Waste Management, including Jack Dowden, for this opportunity.
Site history and development
Several local slope pilots — including Mirko Bodul, Russ Whitford, Tim Hoff, and Greg Smith — have worked on access to the closed portion of Waste Management’s Omega Hills landfill in Germantown for roughly five years. It took persistence and hard work from the beginning, but things really started to click earlier this year with the help of Jack at Waste Management and AMA’s Joe Beshar.
Earlier this spring Mirko and Greg met with Jack and the president of the Germantown trustees for a demonstration flight at the site and received the town’s blessing.
Mirko and Greg obtained a couple of agreements from successful landfill slope sites in New Jersey and Florida and, with the help of Waste Management’s legal counsel, drafted a three-year agreement for the nonexclusive use of the Omega Hills site for the purpose of slope flying non-motorized model aircraft, which was executed in early October 2007.
Early flying activity
On Saturday, October 6, Mirko, Greg, and Tracy Brown made a preliminary venture to the Omega Hills site for some test flying of what promises to be a great venue for slope-soaring action in southeast Wisconsin. On that day the southwesterly wind was from almost the worst possible direction, yet we still had many flights of 10–15 minutes. Greg had one flight of at least 20 minutes — and remember, this was with the least favorable wind direction.
On Sunday, October 21, approximately 30 pilots and potential pilots met at Omega Hills and were given an orientation by Jack Dowden outlining the few site rules that pilots needed to be aware of. After that the group was free to fly.
Site access and membership
To fly at this site you must:
- Be an AMA member.
- Be a member of AstroWings of Wisconsin.
- Go with a member who has previously been to the site and can show you the ropes.
Your best bet is to contact Greg Smith at [email protected] for the latest news and to arrange a time to go with an active site pilot.
Because this has been more than five years in the making, the AstroWings club is seriously committed to making this relationship work. Your help as responsible pilots and community members will be greatly appreciated.
Flying Site Observations
It occurred to me that it would be helpful if I periodically share ideas, observations, and practices at the flying site. Here is one I believe is useful and interesting.
We all sometimes need to repair our models at the flying field. Having a Dremel Stylus rotary tool available at the field is useful during repairs because it is versatile and portable, designed for precision and control. Small and well balanced, it accepts a variety of accessories including abrasive wheels, drill bits, wire brushes, polishers, and engraving cutters. Best of all it is cordless and employs a Li‑Ion battery that maintains its charge far longer than Ni‑Cd batteries.
I particularly like to use it with a Rotozip bit that can rout, notch, carve, and drill as desired. Using it with a drum sander and cyanoacrylate adhesive, most field repairs are possible. With the Rotozip bit installed in the Dremel Stylus, notching out a contour in plywood sheet for a field repair is easy.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
