100 MODEL AVIATION
THREE SLOPE SOARING events for 2005 have been
announced as of this writing just before the winter solstice. The
contact information for each follows, as do updates on two
project airplanes mentioned in previous columns. Last, I have a
list of sources for Slope Soaring kits and sailplanes in case you
need a model or two for spring flying.
Dave Garwood, 5 Birch Ln., Scotia NY 12302; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SLOPE SOARING
Thane Kirchoff photographed Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk—one of
the seven “warhawks over Wilson” flown at MWSC 2004.
Another of Thane Kirchoff’s shots of Dave’s Warhawk. Thane has
loads of talent. Hopefully we’ll see him at events in 2005.
Dave Garwood’s, Alden Shipp’s, and Rich Loud’s Ka-6Es.
SkyKing RC Products is producing the kit. Greg Smith photo.
Dave’s 48-inch-span DAW Kawasaki Ki-61. This kit is no longer
made, but warbirds from listed suppliers will serve as well.
The Tri-Slope Six-Pack will be run for the second year at Eagle,
Kiona, and Chandler Buttes in central Washington, May 21-22.
This is an event for high-end composite and wood sailplanes;
foamies are banned. For photos of the 2004 event and information
about this year’s event, go to the ShredAir Web site at www.shred
air.com.
The eighth Southern California Spring PSS Festival is scheduled
for May 27-29—Memorial Day weekend—at Cajon Summit,
California, in the San Bernardino National Forest. This event is
capably staged by the Inland Slope Rebels. For information, go to
the club’s Web site at www.inlandsloperebels.com.
The Midwest Slope Challenge (MWSC) was the longest-running
Slope Racing series in the country, but it came to an end in 2004
after 11 seasons. The Lincoln Area Soaring Society (Nebraska) did
a wonderful job of running this event throughout the years.
The event’s venue—Wilson Lake—is too good of a Slope
Soaring site to ignore, so the tradition and excitement is under
new management and has been renamed “Wings Over Wilson.”
The first WOW event will be held at Wilson Lake in Russell
County, Kansas, June 9-12. For detailed information, go to the
slopeflyer.com Web site at www.slopeflyer.com/mwsc.
P-40 Warhawk Update: My Leading Edge Gliders (LEG) P-40
was finished, painted, and flying in time for MWSC 2004, where
there were seven of Jack Cooper’s excellent design. I mentioned
this warbird in the August 2004 column as an example of today’s
trend to fatten the fuselages and slim the wing chords to make
bounceable EPP-foam models look more scale.
Jack has a gift for designing airplanes that look wonderful and
Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk, mentioned in August column, flew
great at MWSC. Painted finish was sprayed from Tamiya rattle
cans.
Dave’s removable-wing DAW Ki-61, mentioned in April column,
has iron-on-covering scheme copying Dennis Duncan’s design.
fly great. He has worked out methods to bury the control-surface
mechanisms inside the airframe, further contributing to the scale
looks.
This Warhawk received a painted finish, mainly to get the
featheredge between the camouflage colors looking right and for
accurate color matching. Four New York Slope Dogs painted their
P-40s alike and were pleased with the performance of the new
aircraft colors of Tamiya lacquer paint, supplied in rattle cans.
This is good paint.
The best part is how well these 60-inch-span warbirds flew:
stable yet maneuverable. Everyone I talked to was impressed with
the LEG Slope Soarers’ flight performance.
Jack makes the P-40 and other warbird kits in 48-, 60-, and 72-
inch-span versions for foam combat, foam warbird racing, and
general sport flying. Foam is looking
better and better on the slope these days.
My second LEG 60-inch-span warbird
racer—a P-63 Kingcobra—is already on
my workbench. See this and his other
sailplanes at www.leadingedgegliders.com.
Kawasaki Ki-61 Update: My removablewing
Dave’s Aircraft Works (DAW) Ki-
61, which I mentioned in the April 2004
column, was completed, and it flies fine.
The three-bolt wing-attaching modification
works as expected, and the dismountable
wing makes transportation and shipping
easier and makes storage more convenient.
The DAW 48-inch EPP-foam warbird
kits are no longer in production. If you’re
looking for a similar glider, check with the
companies listed near the end of the
column.
The Ki-61 has an iron-on-covering
warbird-decoration scheme. Mine was
modeled after a design by West Coast OFB
(old flying buddy) Dennis Duncan. I’ve
seen matte-finish MonoKote in military
colors advertised, but I have yet to try it.
Reducing the gloss on the iron-on covering
will improve a military camouflage
finish’s scale appearance.
Slope Sailplane Makers and Importers:
Have you decided on a new glider to fly
this year? Clear off your workbench and
make some time available in your winter
building schedule for one of more than 200
offerings from the following makers,
suppliers, and importers. Note the two
reference Web sites at the end of the list.
High-performance composite Tempest and
Cyclone:
Acme Flying Machines
www.acmeflyingmachines.net
F4U Corsair foamie, F-15 Eagle foam
slope jet, HoseMonster bungees:
Aerofoam Radio Control
www.aerofoam.com
Steve’s RC Gull is a one-of-a-kind Slope
Soarer, and I love my Zipper.
The Birdworks
www.harborside.com/%7Ebirdworks/bwho
me.htm
The original EPP foamie (Roughneck)
became the Comanche—one of my current
favorites.
Bowman’s Hobbies
www.bowmanshobbies.com
I’ve flown Steve’s own Giant EPP F-20
Tigershark, and it really looks the part.
California Sailplanes
www.californiasailplanes.com
Highly developed slope combat wings:
Combat Wings
www.combatwings.com
Large number of high-performance molded
F3B, F3F, racing, and sport sailplanes:
Composite Specialties
www.f3x.com
Legendary line of Slope Scale fiberglass
warbirds and slope jets made from new
molds:
Composite Systems Development
www.rcglider.com
Scale sailplane designs in EPP foam:
Falcon Air RC
www.falconairrc.com
Scale Slope Soarers and specialty
materials. I use a lot of Iron-On Carbon
Fiber tape.
Hobby Lobby
www.hobby-lobby.com
An increasing number of sailplanes from
Canada:
ICARE Sailplanes
www.icare-rc.com
Red Herring compact traveling Slope
Soarer:
Liftworx
www.liftworx.com
Joe Cormier’s custom-built, fast,
composite Mach 1 Slope Racer:
Mach 1
www.mach1performance.com
Well-known source for advanced designs
and quality gliders. See especially the
Image and Icon.
Maple Leaf Design
www.mapleleafdesign.com
Brian McClean Extreme—a 249 mph
Dynamic Soaring (DS) sailplane:
MC Composites
www.mccomposites.com
EPP-foam gliders, cutting and vacuumforming
services:
MM Glider Tech
www.mmglidertech.com
Large Scale Fox seen at Wilson Lake:
Mike’s Models
www.midwestslope.com
Beech 17 Staggerwing—one of few slope
biplanes—and Gentle Foamy for
beginners:
Mountain Toys
www.mtntoys.com
Check out the Viper. Kurt has just taken
over the Dream Catcher line of kits.
Niagara Frontier Models
www.nfmodels.com
EPP Slope Soarers, including Moth and
Bluto:
North County Flying Machines
www.northcountyflyingmachines.com
Mike Baker’s exceedingly cool sidearmlaunch
Saber DLG works as well on the
slope.
North East Extreme R/C
www.stocker.rchomepage.com
Fast EPP slope warbirds, including a P-51,
P-39, Ta 152, and Me 262.
Patton Aircraft
www.pattonaircraft.com
Andreas Merger does advanced CNC foam
cutting for his kits. I saw his Hurricane at the
Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology Fair.
Plane Insane Models
www.planeinsanemodels.com
Unusual sailplanes, including eight flying
dinosaurs:
R&R Model Aircraft
www.randrmodelaircraft.com/Pterotec.htm
Small EPP wings—Weasel-pro,
miniWeasel, Alula:
Richter
www.dream-flight.com
Importer of ultra-high-performance slope
and DS sailplanes:
ShredAir
www.shredair.com
Ed Berris produces DAW designs,
including the 1-26 and Ka-6E scale
foamies.
SkyKing RC Products
www.skykingrcproducts.com
Sells several imported composite
sailplanes. I’ve flown Greg Smith’s own
pivot-wing Pixel, and I like it.
slopeflyer.com
www.slopeflyer.com
Sells legendary high-performance Power
Scale Soaring (PSS) models. I have four of
them with receivers mounted.
Slope Scale
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slo
pe_scale
New home for the venerable Doug
Buchanan BAe Hawk:
Soaring Specialties
www.soaringspecialties.com
Has many high-performance Slope
Soarers; check out the Crazy Banana.
Soaring USA
www.soaringusa.com
Gulp DS and Gulp SR EPP-foam wings:
Steve Drake Models
www.stevedrake.com
Performance EPP-foam Slope Soaring and
DS designs—wings and warbirds:
Tuff Planes
www.tuffplanes.com
Light- to medium-lift Slope Soarers, some
tip-launched:
Up Slope Sailplanes
www.upslopesailplanes.com
Jeff Fukushima has introduced a new
fiberglass warbird or slope jet each year
for the last 11 years.
Vortech Models
www.geocities.com/vortechmodels
WW II PSS fighters, and even a C-47
Skytrain, designed for extreme lift at Point
Fermin CA:
Warbird Slopers
www.warbirdslopers.com
The EPP-foam Bee is a solid, versatile
combat wing. It has won combat events at
Wilson Lake.
Windrider Aviation
www.windrider.com.hk/index.cfm
Raider combat wing:
Wing Warrior
www.wingwarrior.com
Comprehensive list of Slope Soaring kit
links:
Fatlion
www.fatlion.com/sailplanes/slope.html
Wide-ranging roster of Slope Soaring kit
reviews:
La Sierra Slope Soarers
www.lsss.homestead.com/ReviewIndex.ht
ml
As I complete these lists of events and
suppliers, a Beach Boys song keeps
running through my head. It goes, “Well, I
been thinkin’ ’bout all the places we
surfed and danced, and all the faces we
missed, so let’s get back together and do it
again.”
Order a kit, get it built, and see you on
the slope in the spring. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/03
Page Numbers: 100,102,104,106
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/03
Page Numbers: 100,102,104,106
100 MODEL AVIATION
THREE SLOPE SOARING events for 2005 have been
announced as of this writing just before the winter solstice. The
contact information for each follows, as do updates on two
project airplanes mentioned in previous columns. Last, I have a
list of sources for Slope Soaring kits and sailplanes in case you
need a model or two for spring flying.
Dave Garwood, 5 Birch Ln., Scotia NY 12302; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SLOPE SOARING
Thane Kirchoff photographed Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk—one of
the seven “warhawks over Wilson” flown at MWSC 2004.
Another of Thane Kirchoff’s shots of Dave’s Warhawk. Thane has
loads of talent. Hopefully we’ll see him at events in 2005.
Dave Garwood’s, Alden Shipp’s, and Rich Loud’s Ka-6Es.
SkyKing RC Products is producing the kit. Greg Smith photo.
Dave’s 48-inch-span DAW Kawasaki Ki-61. This kit is no longer
made, but warbirds from listed suppliers will serve as well.
The Tri-Slope Six-Pack will be run for the second year at Eagle,
Kiona, and Chandler Buttes in central Washington, May 21-22.
This is an event for high-end composite and wood sailplanes;
foamies are banned. For photos of the 2004 event and information
about this year’s event, go to the ShredAir Web site at www.shred
air.com.
The eighth Southern California Spring PSS Festival is scheduled
for May 27-29—Memorial Day weekend—at Cajon Summit,
California, in the San Bernardino National Forest. This event is
capably staged by the Inland Slope Rebels. For information, go to
the club’s Web site at www.inlandsloperebels.com.
The Midwest Slope Challenge (MWSC) was the longest-running
Slope Racing series in the country, but it came to an end in 2004
after 11 seasons. The Lincoln Area Soaring Society (Nebraska) did
a wonderful job of running this event throughout the years.
The event’s venue—Wilson Lake—is too good of a Slope
Soaring site to ignore, so the tradition and excitement is under
new management and has been renamed “Wings Over Wilson.”
The first WOW event will be held at Wilson Lake in Russell
County, Kansas, June 9-12. For detailed information, go to the
slopeflyer.com Web site at www.slopeflyer.com/mwsc.
P-40 Warhawk Update: My Leading Edge Gliders (LEG) P-40
was finished, painted, and flying in time for MWSC 2004, where
there were seven of Jack Cooper’s excellent design. I mentioned
this warbird in the August 2004 column as an example of today’s
trend to fatten the fuselages and slim the wing chords to make
bounceable EPP-foam models look more scale.
Jack has a gift for designing airplanes that look wonderful and
Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk, mentioned in August column, flew
great at MWSC. Painted finish was sprayed from Tamiya rattle
cans.
Dave’s removable-wing DAW Ki-61, mentioned in April column,
has iron-on-covering scheme copying Dennis Duncan’s design.
fly great. He has worked out methods to bury the control-surface
mechanisms inside the airframe, further contributing to the scale
looks.
This Warhawk received a painted finish, mainly to get the
featheredge between the camouflage colors looking right and for
accurate color matching. Four New York Slope Dogs painted their
P-40s alike and were pleased with the performance of the new
aircraft colors of Tamiya lacquer paint, supplied in rattle cans.
This is good paint.
The best part is how well these 60-inch-span warbirds flew:
stable yet maneuverable. Everyone I talked to was impressed with
the LEG Slope Soarers’ flight performance.
Jack makes the P-40 and other warbird kits in 48-, 60-, and 72-
inch-span versions for foam combat, foam warbird racing, and
general sport flying. Foam is looking
better and better on the slope these days.
My second LEG 60-inch-span warbird
racer—a P-63 Kingcobra—is already on
my workbench. See this and his other
sailplanes at www.leadingedgegliders.com.
Kawasaki Ki-61 Update: My removablewing
Dave’s Aircraft Works (DAW) Ki-
61, which I mentioned in the April 2004
column, was completed, and it flies fine.
The three-bolt wing-attaching modification
works as expected, and the dismountable
wing makes transportation and shipping
easier and makes storage more convenient.
The DAW 48-inch EPP-foam warbird
kits are no longer in production. If you’re
looking for a similar glider, check with the
companies listed near the end of the
column.
The Ki-61 has an iron-on-covering
warbird-decoration scheme. Mine was
modeled after a design by West Coast OFB
(old flying buddy) Dennis Duncan. I’ve
seen matte-finish MonoKote in military
colors advertised, but I have yet to try it.
Reducing the gloss on the iron-on covering
will improve a military camouflage
finish’s scale appearance.
Slope Sailplane Makers and Importers:
Have you decided on a new glider to fly
this year? Clear off your workbench and
make some time available in your winter
building schedule for one of more than 200
offerings from the following makers,
suppliers, and importers. Note the two
reference Web sites at the end of the list.
High-performance composite Tempest and
Cyclone:
Acme Flying Machines
www.acmeflyingmachines.net
F4U Corsair foamie, F-15 Eagle foam
slope jet, HoseMonster bungees:
Aerofoam Radio Control
www.aerofoam.com
Steve’s RC Gull is a one-of-a-kind Slope
Soarer, and I love my Zipper.
The Birdworks
www.harborside.com/%7Ebirdworks/bwho
me.htm
The original EPP foamie (Roughneck)
became the Comanche—one of my current
favorites.
Bowman’s Hobbies
www.bowmanshobbies.com
I’ve flown Steve’s own Giant EPP F-20
Tigershark, and it really looks the part.
California Sailplanes
www.californiasailplanes.com
Highly developed slope combat wings:
Combat Wings
www.combatwings.com
Large number of high-performance molded
F3B, F3F, racing, and sport sailplanes:
Composite Specialties
www.f3x.com
Legendary line of Slope Scale fiberglass
warbirds and slope jets made from new
molds:
Composite Systems Development
www.rcglider.com
Scale sailplane designs in EPP foam:
Falcon Air RC
www.falconairrc.com
Scale Slope Soarers and specialty
materials. I use a lot of Iron-On Carbon
Fiber tape.
Hobby Lobby
www.hobby-lobby.com
An increasing number of sailplanes from
Canada:
ICARE Sailplanes
www.icare-rc.com
Red Herring compact traveling Slope
Soarer:
Liftworx
www.liftworx.com
Joe Cormier’s custom-built, fast,
composite Mach 1 Slope Racer:
Mach 1
www.mach1performance.com
Well-known source for advanced designs
and quality gliders. See especially the
Image and Icon.
Maple Leaf Design
www.mapleleafdesign.com
Brian McClean Extreme—a 249 mph
Dynamic Soaring (DS) sailplane:
MC Composites
www.mccomposites.com
EPP-foam gliders, cutting and vacuumforming
services:
MM Glider Tech
www.mmglidertech.com
Large Scale Fox seen at Wilson Lake:
Mike’s Models
www.midwestslope.com
Beech 17 Staggerwing—one of few slope
biplanes—and Gentle Foamy for
beginners:
Mountain Toys
www.mtntoys.com
Check out the Viper. Kurt has just taken
over the Dream Catcher line of kits.
Niagara Frontier Models
www.nfmodels.com
EPP Slope Soarers, including Moth and
Bluto:
North County Flying Machines
www.northcountyflyingmachines.com
Mike Baker’s exceedingly cool sidearmlaunch
Saber DLG works as well on the
slope.
North East Extreme R/C
www.stocker.rchomepage.com
Fast EPP slope warbirds, including a P-51,
P-39, Ta 152, and Me 262.
Patton Aircraft
www.pattonaircraft.com
Andreas Merger does advanced CNC foam
cutting for his kits. I saw his Hurricane at the
Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology Fair.
Plane Insane Models
www.planeinsanemodels.com
Unusual sailplanes, including eight flying
dinosaurs:
R&R Model Aircraft
www.randrmodelaircraft.com/Pterotec.htm
Small EPP wings—Weasel-pro,
miniWeasel, Alula:
Richter
www.dream-flight.com
Importer of ultra-high-performance slope
and DS sailplanes:
ShredAir
www.shredair.com
Ed Berris produces DAW designs,
including the 1-26 and Ka-6E scale
foamies.
SkyKing RC Products
www.skykingrcproducts.com
Sells several imported composite
sailplanes. I’ve flown Greg Smith’s own
pivot-wing Pixel, and I like it.
slopeflyer.com
www.slopeflyer.com
Sells legendary high-performance Power
Scale Soaring (PSS) models. I have four of
them with receivers mounted.
Slope Scale
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slo
pe_scale
New home for the venerable Doug
Buchanan BAe Hawk:
Soaring Specialties
www.soaringspecialties.com
Has many high-performance Slope
Soarers; check out the Crazy Banana.
Soaring USA
www.soaringusa.com
Gulp DS and Gulp SR EPP-foam wings:
Steve Drake Models
www.stevedrake.com
Performance EPP-foam Slope Soaring and
DS designs—wings and warbirds:
Tuff Planes
www.tuffplanes.com
Light- to medium-lift Slope Soarers, some
tip-launched:
Up Slope Sailplanes
www.upslopesailplanes.com
Jeff Fukushima has introduced a new
fiberglass warbird or slope jet each year
for the last 11 years.
Vortech Models
www.geocities.com/vortechmodels
WW II PSS fighters, and even a C-47
Skytrain, designed for extreme lift at Point
Fermin CA:
Warbird Slopers
www.warbirdslopers.com
The EPP-foam Bee is a solid, versatile
combat wing. It has won combat events at
Wilson Lake.
Windrider Aviation
www.windrider.com.hk/index.cfm
Raider combat wing:
Wing Warrior
www.wingwarrior.com
Comprehensive list of Slope Soaring kit
links:
Fatlion
www.fatlion.com/sailplanes/slope.html
Wide-ranging roster of Slope Soaring kit
reviews:
La Sierra Slope Soarers
www.lsss.homestead.com/ReviewIndex.ht
ml
As I complete these lists of events and
suppliers, a Beach Boys song keeps
running through my head. It goes, “Well, I
been thinkin’ ’bout all the places we
surfed and danced, and all the faces we
missed, so let’s get back together and do it
again.”
Order a kit, get it built, and see you on
the slope in the spring. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/03
Page Numbers: 100,102,104,106
100 MODEL AVIATION
THREE SLOPE SOARING events for 2005 have been
announced as of this writing just before the winter solstice. The
contact information for each follows, as do updates on two
project airplanes mentioned in previous columns. Last, I have a
list of sources for Slope Soaring kits and sailplanes in case you
need a model or two for spring flying.
Dave Garwood, 5 Birch Ln., Scotia NY 12302; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SLOPE SOARING
Thane Kirchoff photographed Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk—one of
the seven “warhawks over Wilson” flown at MWSC 2004.
Another of Thane Kirchoff’s shots of Dave’s Warhawk. Thane has
loads of talent. Hopefully we’ll see him at events in 2005.
Dave Garwood’s, Alden Shipp’s, and Rich Loud’s Ka-6Es.
SkyKing RC Products is producing the kit. Greg Smith photo.
Dave’s 48-inch-span DAW Kawasaki Ki-61. This kit is no longer
made, but warbirds from listed suppliers will serve as well.
The Tri-Slope Six-Pack will be run for the second year at Eagle,
Kiona, and Chandler Buttes in central Washington, May 21-22.
This is an event for high-end composite and wood sailplanes;
foamies are banned. For photos of the 2004 event and information
about this year’s event, go to the ShredAir Web site at www.shred
air.com.
The eighth Southern California Spring PSS Festival is scheduled
for May 27-29—Memorial Day weekend—at Cajon Summit,
California, in the San Bernardino National Forest. This event is
capably staged by the Inland Slope Rebels. For information, go to
the club’s Web site at www.inlandsloperebels.com.
The Midwest Slope Challenge (MWSC) was the longest-running
Slope Racing series in the country, but it came to an end in 2004
after 11 seasons. The Lincoln Area Soaring Society (Nebraska) did
a wonderful job of running this event throughout the years.
The event’s venue—Wilson Lake—is too good of a Slope
Soaring site to ignore, so the tradition and excitement is under
new management and has been renamed “Wings Over Wilson.”
The first WOW event will be held at Wilson Lake in Russell
County, Kansas, June 9-12. For detailed information, go to the
slopeflyer.com Web site at www.slopeflyer.com/mwsc.
P-40 Warhawk Update: My Leading Edge Gliders (LEG) P-40
was finished, painted, and flying in time for MWSC 2004, where
there were seven of Jack Cooper’s excellent design. I mentioned
this warbird in the August 2004 column as an example of today’s
trend to fatten the fuselages and slim the wing chords to make
bounceable EPP-foam models look more scale.
Jack has a gift for designing airplanes that look wonderful and
Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk, mentioned in August column, flew
great at MWSC. Painted finish was sprayed from Tamiya rattle
cans.
Dave’s removable-wing DAW Ki-61, mentioned in April column,
has iron-on-covering scheme copying Dennis Duncan’s design.
fly great. He has worked out methods to bury the control-surface
mechanisms inside the airframe, further contributing to the scale
looks.
This Warhawk received a painted finish, mainly to get the
featheredge between the camouflage colors looking right and for
accurate color matching. Four New York Slope Dogs painted their
P-40s alike and were pleased with the performance of the new
aircraft colors of Tamiya lacquer paint, supplied in rattle cans.
This is good paint.
The best part is how well these 60-inch-span warbirds flew:
stable yet maneuverable. Everyone I talked to was impressed with
the LEG Slope Soarers’ flight performance.
Jack makes the P-40 and other warbird kits in 48-, 60-, and 72-
inch-span versions for foam combat, foam warbird racing, and
general sport flying. Foam is looking
better and better on the slope these days.
My second LEG 60-inch-span warbird
racer—a P-63 Kingcobra—is already on
my workbench. See this and his other
sailplanes at www.leadingedgegliders.com.
Kawasaki Ki-61 Update: My removablewing
Dave’s Aircraft Works (DAW) Ki-
61, which I mentioned in the April 2004
column, was completed, and it flies fine.
The three-bolt wing-attaching modification
works as expected, and the dismountable
wing makes transportation and shipping
easier and makes storage more convenient.
The DAW 48-inch EPP-foam warbird
kits are no longer in production. If you’re
looking for a similar glider, check with the
companies listed near the end of the
column.
The Ki-61 has an iron-on-covering
warbird-decoration scheme. Mine was
modeled after a design by West Coast OFB
(old flying buddy) Dennis Duncan. I’ve
seen matte-finish MonoKote in military
colors advertised, but I have yet to try it.
Reducing the gloss on the iron-on covering
will improve a military camouflage
finish’s scale appearance.
Slope Sailplane Makers and Importers:
Have you decided on a new glider to fly
this year? Clear off your workbench and
make some time available in your winter
building schedule for one of more than 200
offerings from the following makers,
suppliers, and importers. Note the two
reference Web sites at the end of the list.
High-performance composite Tempest and
Cyclone:
Acme Flying Machines
www.acmeflyingmachines.net
F4U Corsair foamie, F-15 Eagle foam
slope jet, HoseMonster bungees:
Aerofoam Radio Control
www.aerofoam.com
Steve’s RC Gull is a one-of-a-kind Slope
Soarer, and I love my Zipper.
The Birdworks
www.harborside.com/%7Ebirdworks/bwho
me.htm
The original EPP foamie (Roughneck)
became the Comanche—one of my current
favorites.
Bowman’s Hobbies
www.bowmanshobbies.com
I’ve flown Steve’s own Giant EPP F-20
Tigershark, and it really looks the part.
California Sailplanes
www.californiasailplanes.com
Highly developed slope combat wings:
Combat Wings
www.combatwings.com
Large number of high-performance molded
F3B, F3F, racing, and sport sailplanes:
Composite Specialties
www.f3x.com
Legendary line of Slope Scale fiberglass
warbirds and slope jets made from new
molds:
Composite Systems Development
www.rcglider.com
Scale sailplane designs in EPP foam:
Falcon Air RC
www.falconairrc.com
Scale Slope Soarers and specialty
materials. I use a lot of Iron-On Carbon
Fiber tape.
Hobby Lobby
www.hobby-lobby.com
An increasing number of sailplanes from
Canada:
ICARE Sailplanes
www.icare-rc.com
Red Herring compact traveling Slope
Soarer:
Liftworx
www.liftworx.com
Joe Cormier’s custom-built, fast,
composite Mach 1 Slope Racer:
Mach 1
www.mach1performance.com
Well-known source for advanced designs
and quality gliders. See especially the
Image and Icon.
Maple Leaf Design
www.mapleleafdesign.com
Brian McClean Extreme—a 249 mph
Dynamic Soaring (DS) sailplane:
MC Composites
www.mccomposites.com
EPP-foam gliders, cutting and vacuumforming
services:
MM Glider Tech
www.mmglidertech.com
Large Scale Fox seen at Wilson Lake:
Mike’s Models
www.midwestslope.com
Beech 17 Staggerwing—one of few slope
biplanes—and Gentle Foamy for
beginners:
Mountain Toys
www.mtntoys.com
Check out the Viper. Kurt has just taken
over the Dream Catcher line of kits.
Niagara Frontier Models
www.nfmodels.com
EPP Slope Soarers, including Moth and
Bluto:
North County Flying Machines
www.northcountyflyingmachines.com
Mike Baker’s exceedingly cool sidearmlaunch
Saber DLG works as well on the
slope.
North East Extreme R/C
www.stocker.rchomepage.com
Fast EPP slope warbirds, including a P-51,
P-39, Ta 152, and Me 262.
Patton Aircraft
www.pattonaircraft.com
Andreas Merger does advanced CNC foam
cutting for his kits. I saw his Hurricane at the
Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology Fair.
Plane Insane Models
www.planeinsanemodels.com
Unusual sailplanes, including eight flying
dinosaurs:
R&R Model Aircraft
www.randrmodelaircraft.com/Pterotec.htm
Small EPP wings—Weasel-pro,
miniWeasel, Alula:
Richter
www.dream-flight.com
Importer of ultra-high-performance slope
and DS sailplanes:
ShredAir
www.shredair.com
Ed Berris produces DAW designs,
including the 1-26 and Ka-6E scale
foamies.
SkyKing RC Products
www.skykingrcproducts.com
Sells several imported composite
sailplanes. I’ve flown Greg Smith’s own
pivot-wing Pixel, and I like it.
slopeflyer.com
www.slopeflyer.com
Sells legendary high-performance Power
Scale Soaring (PSS) models. I have four of
them with receivers mounted.
Slope Scale
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slo
pe_scale
New home for the venerable Doug
Buchanan BAe Hawk:
Soaring Specialties
www.soaringspecialties.com
Has many high-performance Slope
Soarers; check out the Crazy Banana.
Soaring USA
www.soaringusa.com
Gulp DS and Gulp SR EPP-foam wings:
Steve Drake Models
www.stevedrake.com
Performance EPP-foam Slope Soaring and
DS designs—wings and warbirds:
Tuff Planes
www.tuffplanes.com
Light- to medium-lift Slope Soarers, some
tip-launched:
Up Slope Sailplanes
www.upslopesailplanes.com
Jeff Fukushima has introduced a new
fiberglass warbird or slope jet each year
for the last 11 years.
Vortech Models
www.geocities.com/vortechmodels
WW II PSS fighters, and even a C-47
Skytrain, designed for extreme lift at Point
Fermin CA:
Warbird Slopers
www.warbirdslopers.com
The EPP-foam Bee is a solid, versatile
combat wing. It has won combat events at
Wilson Lake.
Windrider Aviation
www.windrider.com.hk/index.cfm
Raider combat wing:
Wing Warrior
www.wingwarrior.com
Comprehensive list of Slope Soaring kit
links:
Fatlion
www.fatlion.com/sailplanes/slope.html
Wide-ranging roster of Slope Soaring kit
reviews:
La Sierra Slope Soarers
www.lsss.homestead.com/ReviewIndex.ht
ml
As I complete these lists of events and
suppliers, a Beach Boys song keeps
running through my head. It goes, “Well, I
been thinkin’ ’bout all the places we
surfed and danced, and all the faces we
missed, so let’s get back together and do it
again.”
Order a kit, get it built, and see you on
the slope in the spring. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/03
Page Numbers: 100,102,104,106
100 MODEL AVIATION
THREE SLOPE SOARING events for 2005 have been
announced as of this writing just before the winter solstice. The
contact information for each follows, as do updates on two
project airplanes mentioned in previous columns. Last, I have a
list of sources for Slope Soaring kits and sailplanes in case you
need a model or two for spring flying.
Dave Garwood, 5 Birch Ln., Scotia NY 12302; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SLOPE SOARING
Thane Kirchoff photographed Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk—one of
the seven “warhawks over Wilson” flown at MWSC 2004.
Another of Thane Kirchoff’s shots of Dave’s Warhawk. Thane has
loads of talent. Hopefully we’ll see him at events in 2005.
Dave Garwood’s, Alden Shipp’s, and Rich Loud’s Ka-6Es.
SkyKing RC Products is producing the kit. Greg Smith photo.
Dave’s 48-inch-span DAW Kawasaki Ki-61. This kit is no longer
made, but warbirds from listed suppliers will serve as well.
The Tri-Slope Six-Pack will be run for the second year at Eagle,
Kiona, and Chandler Buttes in central Washington, May 21-22.
This is an event for high-end composite and wood sailplanes;
foamies are banned. For photos of the 2004 event and information
about this year’s event, go to the ShredAir Web site at www.shred
air.com.
The eighth Southern California Spring PSS Festival is scheduled
for May 27-29—Memorial Day weekend—at Cajon Summit,
California, in the San Bernardino National Forest. This event is
capably staged by the Inland Slope Rebels. For information, go to
the club’s Web site at www.inlandsloperebels.com.
The Midwest Slope Challenge (MWSC) was the longest-running
Slope Racing series in the country, but it came to an end in 2004
after 11 seasons. The Lincoln Area Soaring Society (Nebraska) did
a wonderful job of running this event throughout the years.
The event’s venue—Wilson Lake—is too good of a Slope
Soaring site to ignore, so the tradition and excitement is under
new management and has been renamed “Wings Over Wilson.”
The first WOW event will be held at Wilson Lake in Russell
County, Kansas, June 9-12. For detailed information, go to the
slopeflyer.com Web site at www.slopeflyer.com/mwsc.
P-40 Warhawk Update: My Leading Edge Gliders (LEG) P-40
was finished, painted, and flying in time for MWSC 2004, where
there were seven of Jack Cooper’s excellent design. I mentioned
this warbird in the August 2004 column as an example of today’s
trend to fatten the fuselages and slim the wing chords to make
bounceable EPP-foam models look more scale.
Jack has a gift for designing airplanes that look wonderful and
Dave’s LEG P-40 Warhawk, mentioned in August column, flew
great at MWSC. Painted finish was sprayed from Tamiya rattle
cans.
Dave’s removable-wing DAW Ki-61, mentioned in April column,
has iron-on-covering scheme copying Dennis Duncan’s design.
fly great. He has worked out methods to bury the control-surface
mechanisms inside the airframe, further contributing to the scale
looks.
This Warhawk received a painted finish, mainly to get the
featheredge between the camouflage colors looking right and for
accurate color matching. Four New York Slope Dogs painted their
P-40s alike and were pleased with the performance of the new
aircraft colors of Tamiya lacquer paint, supplied in rattle cans.
This is good paint.
The best part is how well these 60-inch-span warbirds flew:
stable yet maneuverable. Everyone I talked to was impressed with
the LEG Slope Soarers’ flight performance.
Jack makes the P-40 and other warbird kits in 48-, 60-, and 72-
inch-span versions for foam combat, foam warbird racing, and
general sport flying. Foam is looking
better and better on the slope these days.
My second LEG 60-inch-span warbird
racer—a P-63 Kingcobra—is already on
my workbench. See this and his other
sailplanes at www.leadingedgegliders.com.
Kawasaki Ki-61 Update: My removablewing
Dave’s Aircraft Works (DAW) Ki-
61, which I mentioned in the April 2004
column, was completed, and it flies fine.
The three-bolt wing-attaching modification
works as expected, and the dismountable
wing makes transportation and shipping
easier and makes storage more convenient.
The DAW 48-inch EPP-foam warbird
kits are no longer in production. If you’re
looking for a similar glider, check with the
companies listed near the end of the
column.
The Ki-61 has an iron-on-covering
warbird-decoration scheme. Mine was
modeled after a design by West Coast OFB
(old flying buddy) Dennis Duncan. I’ve
seen matte-finish MonoKote in military
colors advertised, but I have yet to try it.
Reducing the gloss on the iron-on covering
will improve a military camouflage
finish’s scale appearance.
Slope Sailplane Makers and Importers:
Have you decided on a new glider to fly
this year? Clear off your workbench and
make some time available in your winter
building schedule for one of more than 200
offerings from the following makers,
suppliers, and importers. Note the two
reference Web sites at the end of the list.
High-performance composite Tempest and
Cyclone:
Acme Flying Machines
www.acmeflyingmachines.net
F4U Corsair foamie, F-15 Eagle foam
slope jet, HoseMonster bungees:
Aerofoam Radio Control
www.aerofoam.com
Steve’s RC Gull is a one-of-a-kind Slope
Soarer, and I love my Zipper.
The Birdworks
www.harborside.com/%7Ebirdworks/bwho
me.htm
The original EPP foamie (Roughneck)
became the Comanche—one of my current
favorites.
Bowman’s Hobbies
www.bowmanshobbies.com
I’ve flown Steve’s own Giant EPP F-20
Tigershark, and it really looks the part.
California Sailplanes
www.californiasailplanes.com
Highly developed slope combat wings:
Combat Wings
www.combatwings.com
Large number of high-performance molded
F3B, F3F, racing, and sport sailplanes:
Composite Specialties
www.f3x.com
Legendary line of Slope Scale fiberglass
warbirds and slope jets made from new
molds:
Composite Systems Development
www.rcglider.com
Scale sailplane designs in EPP foam:
Falcon Air RC
www.falconairrc.com
Scale Slope Soarers and specialty
materials. I use a lot of Iron-On Carbon
Fiber tape.
Hobby Lobby
www.hobby-lobby.com
An increasing number of sailplanes from
Canada:
ICARE Sailplanes
www.icare-rc.com
Red Herring compact traveling Slope
Soarer:
Liftworx
www.liftworx.com
Joe Cormier’s custom-built, fast,
composite Mach 1 Slope Racer:
Mach 1
www.mach1performance.com
Well-known source for advanced designs
and quality gliders. See especially the
Image and Icon.
Maple Leaf Design
www.mapleleafdesign.com
Brian McClean Extreme—a 249 mph
Dynamic Soaring (DS) sailplane:
MC Composites
www.mccomposites.com
EPP-foam gliders, cutting and vacuumforming
services:
MM Glider Tech
www.mmglidertech.com
Large Scale Fox seen at Wilson Lake:
Mike’s Models
www.midwestslope.com
Beech 17 Staggerwing—one of few slope
biplanes—and Gentle Foamy for
beginners:
Mountain Toys
www.mtntoys.com
Check out the Viper. Kurt has just taken
over the Dream Catcher line of kits.
Niagara Frontier Models
www.nfmodels.com
EPP Slope Soarers, including Moth and
Bluto:
North County Flying Machines
www.northcountyflyingmachines.com
Mike Baker’s exceedingly cool sidearmlaunch
Saber DLG works as well on the
slope.
North East Extreme R/C
www.stocker.rchomepage.com
Fast EPP slope warbirds, including a P-51,
P-39, Ta 152, and Me 262.
Patton Aircraft
www.pattonaircraft.com
Andreas Merger does advanced CNC foam
cutting for his kits. I saw his Hurricane at the
Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology Fair.
Plane Insane Models
www.planeinsanemodels.com
Unusual sailplanes, including eight flying
dinosaurs:
R&R Model Aircraft
www.randrmodelaircraft.com/Pterotec.htm
Small EPP wings—Weasel-pro,
miniWeasel, Alula:
Richter
www.dream-flight.com
Importer of ultra-high-performance slope
and DS sailplanes:
ShredAir
www.shredair.com
Ed Berris produces DAW designs,
including the 1-26 and Ka-6E scale
foamies.
SkyKing RC Products
www.skykingrcproducts.com
Sells several imported composite
sailplanes. I’ve flown Greg Smith’s own
pivot-wing Pixel, and I like it.
slopeflyer.com
www.slopeflyer.com
Sells legendary high-performance Power
Scale Soaring (PSS) models. I have four of
them with receivers mounted.
Slope Scale
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slo
pe_scale
New home for the venerable Doug
Buchanan BAe Hawk:
Soaring Specialties
www.soaringspecialties.com
Has many high-performance Slope
Soarers; check out the Crazy Banana.
Soaring USA
www.soaringusa.com
Gulp DS and Gulp SR EPP-foam wings:
Steve Drake Models
www.stevedrake.com
Performance EPP-foam Slope Soaring and
DS designs—wings and warbirds:
Tuff Planes
www.tuffplanes.com
Light- to medium-lift Slope Soarers, some
tip-launched:
Up Slope Sailplanes
www.upslopesailplanes.com
Jeff Fukushima has introduced a new
fiberglass warbird or slope jet each year
for the last 11 years.
Vortech Models
www.geocities.com/vortechmodels
WW II PSS fighters, and even a C-47
Skytrain, designed for extreme lift at Point
Fermin CA:
Warbird Slopers
www.warbirdslopers.com
The EPP-foam Bee is a solid, versatile
combat wing. It has won combat events at
Wilson Lake.
Windrider Aviation
www.windrider.com.hk/index.cfm
Raider combat wing:
Wing Warrior
www.wingwarrior.com
Comprehensive list of Slope Soaring kit
links:
Fatlion
www.fatlion.com/sailplanes/slope.html
Wide-ranging roster of Slope Soaring kit
reviews:
La Sierra Slope Soarers
www.lsss.homestead.com/ReviewIndex.ht
ml
As I complete these lists of events and
suppliers, a Beach Boys song keeps
running through my head. It goes, “Well, I
been thinkin’ ’bout all the places we
surfed and danced, and all the faces we
missed, so let’s get back together and do it
again.”
Order a kit, get it built, and see you on
the slope in the spring. MA