RADIO CONTROL SLOPE SOARING
One of the terrific things to do on the slope with your buddies is fly in close formation. You may have heard about "Slope Scale Parties": the informal term for flying two to 10 heavy, high-performance fiberglass warbirds in a half‑pipe pattern, tearing across the slope with high stall turns on each end of the circuit. Not many things in slope soaring provide as much adrenaline and camaraderie — and as many laughs — as formation flying.
I saw my first Slope Scale Party at Soar Utah '95 and have been flying in them every chance I get since then. Once you get hooked, you start to think about matched sailplanes so that the maneuvers can be tighter, closer, and more precise. Joe Chovan and I approached this goal through an "I'll build two; you build two" project so we could have gliders that matched as closely as possible. Each of us built a matched pair of sailplanes: Joe constructed two Slope Scale Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars and I built two Slope Scale Mitsubishi A6M Zeros. We're quite happy with the results. Watch for the "Building With Speed and Efficiency" how-to article in next month's MA if this strategy appeals to you.
There's some risk in flying fast airplanes in close proximity, but we minimize it by sticking with the half‑pipe pattern and keeping the models flying in the same direction. I've flown with as many as nine sailplanes in the pattern, and most contacts resulted in nothing more than swapping a little paint. There is still a risk of models getting entangled and both going down, but hey — "No guts, no glory!" Repairing airplanes is part of soaring—at least part of extreme soaring.
"You know what I like about this kind of flying?" asked Mike Wofford of the Inland Slope Rebels. "You don't know for sure if you will return from the mission. Just like the real thing."
Old flying buddy Greg Smith (www.slopeflyer.com) reminded me how much of a thrill formation flying is—especially for those who are new to it—when he wrote in an email: "I love these Slope Scale sailplanes! I've had several great flights with the CSD [Composite Systems Development] F-20 here in Milwaukee, in South Dakota, and now in Kansas. While all were fun, flying close formation with matched airplanes is what really jazzes me. Todd Martin and I had a blast!"
Not everyone is ready to start turning and burning in close formation with 20‑ounce‑per‑square‑inch wing‑loading sailplanes, but not to worry. Flying longer‑wing, lighter wing‑loading gliders is just as much fun and generates hoots, hollers, and laughs to the same degree, but with less self‑induced terror.
We spent several excellent hours flying as many as six Dave's Aircraft Works (DAW) 2‑meter Schweizer 1‑26s in the days following the Midwest Slope Challenge this year. Another suitable sailplane for this kind of flying is the 3‑meter DAW Schleicher Ka6. Two or three of them flying together is impressive, and we also flew them at Wilson Lake. When the wind came up, we flew four of Jack Cooper's EPP‑foam P‑40 Warhawks made by Leading Edge Gliders, our trusty Slope Scale warbirds, and our slope jets.
If you're new to formation flying, consider starting with light‑lift sailplanes; the speeds will be lower and any collisions will incur less damage. The DAW 2‑meter 1‑26 is ideal for this; it handles well, flies in a wide variety of lift conditions (say, from 5–25 mph), and looks good doing it.
Of course, you can join the fun with any foam flying wing or foam warbird, depending on available lift. Most people start with bounceable foam gliders, and plenty of those kits are available from several makers and suppliers. The warbirds and slope jets look superb flying together, and the scale sailplanes have a beauty and majesty all their own that makes formation flying look sublime.
After you get some experience, you may move on to faster and heavier models. Fast formation flying is even more impressive than basic formation flying.
To initiate the formation‑flying session, one pilot calls the pattern and others join in. It often works well to have the least‑experienced pilot fly the best figure‑eight pattern he or she can, and have the others form up on the rookie; higher‑time pilots can more easily track a lead sailplane and maintain suitable separation between the aircraft.
It's an accomplishment to maintain a tight formation through the classic figure‑eight slope pattern, fly through stall turns together, or even kick off a little informal racing using bushes or other markers as the turn points. Flying aerobatic maneuvers together is fabulous—an air show in miniature.
Alack and Alas!
You may have heard that DAW has stopped producing kits. That's true, but Ed Harris ([email protected]) holds the rights to the designs and will be producing the fine line of Dave Sanders–designed EPP‑foam kits — some as early as September 2004. More information is available on the SkyKing RC Products website: www.skykingproducts.com, or call Ed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at (612) 605‑1128.
The Slope Scale line of fiberglass warbirds and slope jets is produced from new molds by Robert Cavazos ([email protected]) at Composite Systems Development in Moreno Valley, California. The CSD website is www.rcglider.com and the telephone number is (909) 485‑0674.
Additional suppliers of suitable EPP‑foam slope sailplanes that I have flown and seen flown are:
- California Sailplanes
Website: www.californiasailplanes.com Contact: Steve Greenfield — [email protected]
- Leading Edge Gliders
Website: www.leadingedgegliders.com Contact: Jack Cooper — [email protected]
- Magnum Models
Website: www.magnum-models.com Contact: Larry Blevins — [email protected]
- Midwest Slope
Website: www.midwestslope.com Contact: Mike Bailey — [email protected]
- Mountain Toys
Website: www.mnttoys.com Contact: Tom Henscheid — [email protected]
- Patton Aircraft
Website: http://home.earthlink.net/~pattonacft Contact: Steve Patton — [email protected]
- Soaring Specialties
Website: www.soaringspecialties.com Contact: George Voss — [email protected]
I have two more websites to mention. Greg Smith maintains one of the most extensive slope soaring pages in the country at www.slopeflyer.com. RC Soaring Digest — the last pure RC soaring magazine — has transitioned from print to PDF. The current issue and dozens of back issues are available online at www.b2streamlines.com/RCSD.html.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
