Author: Dave Garwood
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/10
Page Numbers: 118,119,120
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Radio Control Slope Soaring

Dave Garwood [email protected]

Slope flying in Florida

Florida is our fourth most populous state, has the favorable weather, and is packed full of model builders and fliers. All that's missing for our particular brand of RC fun and fury is hills. Or that's what I thought during my first 20 years of slope soaring.

There was one spot. According to an article on TampaBay.com, "It's known simply as Mount Trashmore, the only high ground in flat south Florida. It's where Miami's garbage ends up—millions of tons of it."

In the 1990s, I had heard about and seen photos of people flying from the trash pile, but the conventional wisdom was that there was nowhere else in Florida to fly slope.

Well, "The Times They Are A-Changin'," as Bob Dylan told us in the song by that title.

Contributors to the SlopeFlyer.com website have listed an increasing number of slope flying site descriptions in recent years. In July, the roster documented sites in Clermont, Lake Okeechobee, Merritt Island, and Pompano Beach in Florida.

The Pompano Hill Flyers website reads:

"For the past 15 years, we have worked with Waste Management Corporation in maintaining a safe and successful flying site. We wish to thank Waste Management for their support and continue to pledge our support to the safe operations of their landfill site."

AMA Flying Site Assistance Coordinator Joe Beshar and slope-safari man Greg Smith have been working on our behalf to secure slope flying sites at closed landfills. This is a trend to watch, not only in Florida, but in any state with a landfill. They tend to be near populated areas, meaning you generally don't have to drive far to get to them.

According to an article on SlopeFlyer.com, the Vista View Slope Soaring Society is working on securing, for RC flying, a 150-foot hill facing into the prevailing east wind in a park in Broward County, Florida.

Flying from small hills has its charms. I last wrote about it in the February 2008 slope column, which had the subhead "Small hills and base flying—more places for slope than you might think." Following is a question from David Trapp.

"I am an experienced giant scale modeler, but no sloping. I winter in Miami Beach and it has bothered me for years why no one has attempted slope soaring around the causeways.

"Usually the wind is constant 10 plus mph and you can tie a kite down and leave it up for days. I also watch sea birds going up and down the causeways at 100 ft. plus altitude and never flap their wings.

"My question, can you suggest a slope sailplane that might succeed in these conditions?"

Dave, following is a list of sailplanes I recommend for small hills and steady winds.

  1. Any hand-launched glider; many companies make them. I'm very happy with the flight performance of the PoleCat Aeroplane Works XP-5.
  2. The DAW (Dave's Aircraft Works) Schweizer 1-26 is extremely versatile, including in light air. It's available from SkyKing RC Products. I like the 2-meter-span version.
  3. For a riotously fun aerobat, try the Weasel from Dream-Flight. There is a new molded version, which builds quickly and packs small.

The rudder-only slope-flight challenge I presented in the June 2009 column struck a responsive chord among readers. I heard from five pilots who had flown rudder-only sailplanes on the slope "way back when," including Walt Smeton, Peter Carr, Bill Deli, and Frank Colver. Frank Gallagher sent a great idea: try rudder-only slope flying on a simulator.

Walt wrote:

"My friend Tom was slope flying a Zaic Thermic 72-inch glider using Wen-Mac single-channel equipment in the late 1950s. I copied him using a 6-foot Graupner Amigo A1-class free flight glider (silk and butyrate dope finish) converted to rudder-only RC.

"Rudder-only was all that was available back then. [See the photo included in this column.] If you look closely you can see the pin in the rear of the rudder that transferred the power from the 1/8-inch single strand of rubber that powered the escapement.

"Also included is a picture of the transistor receiver powered with two zinc-carbon pen cells and transmitter made by Wen-Mac Co. on 27.255 MHz (before band assignments). It still works today on my indoor rubber-powered RC Helios airplane.

"I logged several hundred flights of about 20 minutes each on the cliffs near the Pacific in Westchester near LAX, and in Malibu, California, where I lived for 30 years. Both sites had soft landing areas so no damage to gliders on landing. I flew it in late afternoon 1–6 mph winds.

"When proportional radio came along I installed a 72 MHz AM Orbit system with servos and added elevator control and made several hundred more flights. I could put the old equipment in it and try single channel again. Keep up the great column on slope soaring."

Pete Carr wrote:

"I returned from service in 1963 and wanted to resume model building. I decided to build a kit of a glider that resembled some of the full size sailplanes with T-tails. I chose the Midwest Little T sailplane which was about two meters in span. I built the kit and covered it with silk and painted it with butyrate dope as was common practice in the day.

"I was able to buy a used single-channel rig consisting of a World Engines Controlaire Mule transmitter on 27.195 MHz and companion transistor receiver with relay. The servo was a motorized unit that gave right turn on one pulse, left turn with two pulses and either high, medium or low throttle if used with an engine.

"I found a small hillside in a local cow pasture and practiced gliding down the slope as I changed nose weight and such. I also had to learn about steering reversal when the ship came back toward me. That was an unexpected experience."

These fliers were not afraid to throw a one-channel-control airplane off of a hill, because that's all they had at the time. Today we think we can't maneuver without ailerons and can't get back home without an elevator, but these guys proved that it's possible.

I'd like to be able to report on someone who is willing to launch and fly a slope glider with a single working control surface—the rudder—and who succeeds at landing it back on the top of the hill, under control. There are no restrictions on glider selection. It can be old or new, but I'll bet it will have a polyhedral wing.

It does not have to have an antique radio. A modern radio set is fine, as long as only one servo is plugged into the receiver: the rudder servo.

When the weather is right to launch for your rudder-only flight attempt, get a friend to take photos and serve as your witness. Perhaps get a static photo showing the sailplane, an in-flight shot, and maybe one that shows the view from the top of the hill from which you flew.

Then write a short description of how you prepared the model and how you performed the testing, the flying, and the landing.

The prize? The Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame. For the first pilot to pull this off in the new century, I'll publish the report of your flight and photos of your sailplane in the MA Slope Soaring column.

New Products

Check out the Wind Meter for iPhone. It's an application (app) that derives wind speed from volume on the microphone.

Published by goingApps, the Wind Meter is available from the Apple iTunes "App Store"; search for "Wind Meter." This app is designed for 3G and 3GS iPhones and displays wind speeds of 3–28 mph.

The How High SP and the Battery Board are now available. The How High is an altitude recording device. The How High SP is an enhancement that improves this tiny portable altimeter. It combines the altimeter with a battery and switch, self-contained, with no connectors or wires. With nothing to plug in or attach, it's easy to move from model to model. MA

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.