Midwest Slope Challenge
by Dave Garwood
The 2011 Midwest Slope Challenge (MWSC) was one of the best in its 18-year history. Held annually since 1994, the MWSC breaks some stereotypes about flatland slope flying. It provides a destination vacation, and each year a terrific group of glider fliers from across the country—and even overseas—return.
If you never thought about flying slope in the Great Plains, remember that it’s windy there—really windy. The area has been called “The Saudi Arabia of Wind Energy,” and each year we see more wind turbines spinning and generating electricity: clean energy and a view of the future on the Kansas prairie.
Because the prairie is naturally treeless, the trees you see were planted in valleys by settlers. The rolling hills of central Kansas feature ridgelines with grass, leaving no trees to block an RC pilot’s view of the sky or restrict places to land an RC sailplane. This is remarkable to slope fliers from forested regions and creates many slope-flying sites—always with strict attention to land ownership and permission to be on a ridgeline.
The MWSC event location, Wilson Lake in Russell County, provides five or more prime flying sites overlooking water and supporting ridge lift in multiple wind directions. Public land sites are accessible thanks to the support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local ranchers generously allow use of private land, sometimes even working pastures.
The 18th Midwest Slope Challenge was held May 12–15, 2011, by the Wings Over Wilson (WOW) Soaring Club, based in Lucas, Kansas. The four-day schedule includes a practice day and pilot registration on Thursday. Four competitive slope events are scheduled for Friday and Saturday when wind conditions permit; Sunday is held in reserve if wind delays are necessary.
We flew Thursday in 20-mph southwesterly winds at the German Caves flying site, west of Wilson Lake. We tried a new restaurant—a New York–type Irish pub in nearby Luray—and completed event registration in the evening in a barn on the Kent and Anne Palmer cattle ranch while greeting arriving flying buddies.
Friday dawned with heavy overcast skies and light rain that stopped by 10 a.m. With overcast conditions, lower-50s temperatures, and a gusty 20-mph north wind, we headed to Jim and Marge Lawson’s pasture for the first day of competition flying.
Eighteen years of Slope Soaring in Kansas
All four MWSC events, including the Foam Combat match, were flown in Jim Lawson’s pasture. In Foam Combat, pilots fly “bounceable” foam sailplanes and try to knock opponents out of the air.
One Design Race
The WOW crew set up the markers while pilots tested the lift. The One Design Race (ODR) is exciting to watch and heart-pounding to fly. There are four airplanes in each heat.
The One Design class, with specifications developed by the Torrey Pines Gulls Soaring Club, provides a lower-cost class for slope racing. The specification seeks to keep aircraft performance equalized, inexpensive to build, and suitable for a variety of wind conditions.
Key ODR details:
- Two servos controlling ailerons and elevator
- 60-inch wingspan
- See the MWSC website for full class specifications and suppliers of kits that meet the rules
A course is set up along the ridge with turn points at each end. Turn markers are sighting devices that define a plane perpendicular to the length of the race course; to complete a lap, the nose of the aircraft must “cross the plane” at both ends. Far turns are called by a group of four turn judges or “flaggers.” Near turns are self-called and verified by near-turn judges, who also keep the official lap count.
Each pilot has a caller who launches the airplane, watches for traffic, and notifies the pilot of far-turn flag signals. At the start, callers hold up the sailplanes individually to identify them to the far-turn judges. After launch and a short climb, an audible signal releases the four airplanes onto the course. Five laps are flown per heat, and points are awarded according to finishing order; race winners are determined by the final round standings.
For many years the Charlie Richardson Fun-1 was the racer to beat, but in 2011 no Fun-1s finished in the top three. Top-placing ODR aircraft were Magnum Models Bad Voodoos and an Edge RC Tornado. The top three pilots were:
- Andrew Williams (Denver)
- Erik Eaton (Hays, Kansas)
- Darren Ammon (Lucas, Kansas), age 10
ODR pilot ages ranged from 10 to 62.
Unlimited Race
The Unlimited race ran on the same course. The sailplanes are similar in configuration to ODR airplanes but are bigger, heavier, and faster. Heats were flown with two airplanes each in a double-elimination format. This event features the six-servo “full house” models that also fit F3B/F3F race profiles—exciting to watch as they streak the straights and pull through turns.
Top Unlimited class pilots in 2011:
- Thane Kirchoff (Lincoln, Nebraska) — Trinity
- Chance Cooper (McPherson, Kansas) — Tragi
- Justin Ammon (Lucas, Kansas) — DS Tool
Event management opened the remainder of the afternoon and evening to fun flying (frequency board in use).
Foam Combat Match
Saturday started mostly cloudy, becoming mostly sunny, with gusts up to 25 mph and temperatures in the upper 50s. For a second day we flew in the Lawson Farm pasture. At 10 a.m. the Foam Combat Match began.
Foam Combat is full-contact air combat flown with specialized “bounceable” sailplanes made from tough EPP foam that resiliently returns to shape after strikes or crashes. Usually you can crash a combat foamie, pick it up, relaunch, and it will fly fine.
Combat scoring:
- A combatant scores on an opponent by striking an opposing aircraft hard enough to cause it to “depart from controlled flight.”
- The attacker must then perform a loop or roll to demonstrate continued control.
- Sometimes aircraft become entangled and go down; generally no serious damage occurs and planes are relaunched.
- The pilot with the most “kills” wins the heat.
Contest director Andrew Williams (Denver) ran the match using the “Colorado format”: one long match where victorious pilots keep track of their own kills and get their scorecards signed by the “killed” pilot. This reduces management tasks associated with starting and stopping heats, though some tallying is required at the end. Matches can last from two hours to two days.
Top Foam Combat pilots at MWSC-2011:
- David Day (Houston) — Combat Gliders Cyclone
- Greg Hine (Boulder, Colorado) — Predator Bee
- Fred Maier (Akron, New York) — Windrider Bee
Foam Warbird Race
The Foam Warbird Race used the same course as the Friday races with two gliders per heat. MWSC Warbird racer specifications require models of combat aircraft produced or in service between 1935 and 1955. Rules include:
- Maximum wingspan: 60 inches (no minimum)
- Airframes must be constructed of plastic foam material except for control surfaces
This is a must-see event for many—the airplanes look great battling for the lead. Early entries were often 48-inch span World War II prop planes from Dave's Aircraft Works; these have given way to 60-inch prop fighters and slope jets from Leading Edge Gliders.
Top Warbird race finishers in 2011:
- Joe Chovan (North Syracuse, New York) — Leading Edge Gliders 60-inch P-80 Shooting Star
- Erik Eaton (Hays, Kansas) — Leading Edge Gliders 60-inch P-80 Shooting Star
- Mike Bailey (Wichita, Kansas) — Leading Edge Gliders 60-inch P-80 Shooting Star
We ended the afternoon with more fun flying. At 7 p.m. the awards banquet began with a memorable catered meal, trophy presentations, and a raffle. We enjoyed generous door-prize support from sponsors; each registered pilot won a prize. Please support the sponsors who supported us.
At the banquet and throughout the event we had opportunities to meet and swap stories with designers and representatives from sponsoring companies.
For photos and more detailed information about this year's MWSC and the 2012 event when announced, see the official website.
Sources
- Midwest Slope Challenge — www.midwestslopechallenge.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
