112 MODEL AVIATION
I HAVE MORE for you about a favorite
building project: a fiberglass-fuselage and
sheeted-foam-wing short kit. Once you’ve
learned a few construction tips, tricks, and
techniques, you will have a wide variety of
sailplanes available and you will fly with
the satisfaction of having built them
yourself.
The April 2010 Slope Soaring column
gave an overview of building the short kit,
and this column covers one component of
that construction project: preparing a
smooth finish on the fuselage and getting it
ready to paint. The objective is to prepare
the model’s surface to accept spray paint.
Fiberglass takes a painted finish well,
and that is one of the main reasons I like
molded-fiberglass fuselages. The ability to
model beautiful, curved shapes and a high
strength-to-weight ratio are the other main
reasons.
Most of painting is preparation, and most of the preparation is
sanding. Paint will not cover scratches, pinholes, and other
imperfections nearly as well as you might hope it will. If you don’t
sand down that bump or fill that pinhole, the imperfection will show
in the final product.
Remember also that when you’re done, a painted model looks
fabulous—better than any iron-on “’cote” finish ever looked to me,
whether it’s on a scale or sport sailplane. Prepare for a little pain and
strain, but the result will be worth the effort
Following are the steps
to prepare a fiberglass
fuselage for a paint finish.
1) Wash the fuselage.
Wash your fuselage
thoroughly with warm
water and detergent.
Remove all traces of wax
or mold-release agent that
will interfere with paint
adhesion. Lightly sand the
surface to break the glaze.
Flatten any protruding
seam joints with a blade or
sandpaper block.
2) Initial sanding. As
shiny and beautiful as the
molded fuselage looks out
of the box, you do have to
sand it to knock off the
glaze before you can paint it. The wet-sanding technique is your
friend. The water clears the sandpaper and allows it to cut much
longer. I sand in a sink with running water, using both handheld
sandpaper and a rubber auto bodywork sanding block.
Make your sanding go faster and easier by having plenty of fresh
sandpaper on hand, so you can change it as soon as it stops cutting
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Slope Soaring Dave Garwood
Recipe for finishing a fiberglass fuselage
Also included in this column:
• A sampling of RCGroups
humor
Above: The author used 3M Bondo
Glazing & Spot Putty to fill pinholes;
there are many other commercial
products available.
Above: After wet-sanding, nearly all of the primer paint and
pinhole filler compound have been sanded off. This process may
need to be repeated.
Above: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
fiberglass fuselage after its initial
sanding and first primer coat.
Bell P-39 Airacobra has a “conglomerate” scheme, combining a WW II Russian winter
squadron, the MiG-3 Moscow scheme, and a modern Soviet Bort number.
06sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 4/22/10 11:01 AM Page 112
June 2010 113
Two 48-inch-span warbirds built from short kits include the P-39
from a Slope Scale kit and a P-40 Warhawk molded by Marty Hill
(Malad ID). The P-40 is ready for the color coat. Bench time:
approximately 20 hours.
P-40 fuselage before and after first primer, filler, and wet-sanding.
Some filled pinholes are from bubbles in the mold; some are
where fiberglass fabric could have used more resin.
effectively. Start with 100 or 120 grit, and then go to 240 or 320,
followed by finer grit according to your personal craftsmanship
standards.
3) Primer paint. Allow the fuselage to dry thoroughly either
outside in sunny or windy weather, or inside overnight. The next
day, spray with sandable primer from a rattle can. I’ve used both
Krylon and Rust-Oleum brands.
Set the fuselage aside to dry and then examine it under strong
light. As shiny and perfect as the fuselage looked out of the box, you
will not know the surface quality until you examine it after it has
been primer-painted.
4) Fill pinholes. We have a large number of choices for pinhole
filler material. Ask your building buddies, pose a question online, or
ask at an auto supply store or automotive paint store. I use Bondo
glazing compound, which comes in a tube and is applied with a
spreader or even fingertips. Wear disposable gloves for easy
cleanup.
(Editor’s note: Glazing putty sticks to primer much better than it
does to the epoxy or polyester resin bonding the fiberglass. Dave
tells us to prime first for that reason and because the pinholes are
easier to see after a prime coat. Thin applications of putty are
recommended.)
Apply the pinhole filler and let it dry or cure, depending on the
material, and wet-sand the fuselage again. Most of the primer paint
and almost all of the pinhole filler will be sanded off. Remaining
will be tiny amounts of the filler actually in the pinholes themselves.
Lather, rinse, repeat. You’ll go through several rounds of
priming, pinhole filling, sanding, letting it dry, and priming it again.
You can stop when the fuselage is smooth enough according to
your standards and level of craftsmanship. Don’t be too hard on
yourself. If you can’t see it in the air, it doesn’t matter.
5) Final primer. When you’re satisfied with the smoothness of
the surface, apply a final light coat of primer and do the last sanding
pass with very light pressure. This is where the 400- and 600-grit
paper will make a difference.
When it’s dry, spray on a light mist of primer to prepare for your
finish color coat. On models that will have a light-colored final coat,
I use white sandable primer made by Krylon and Rust-Oleum,
which keeps the final weight down by minimizing the amount of
color coat that must be applied.
Following are a few humorous insights about our sport/hobby from
RCGroups. You know you’re a sloper when …
“ … you wake up and look outside to see the wind blowing, and
say, WOOHOOO!!!!!”
—Xpress
“ … the only weather that matters is wind speed and direction.”
—Macgyver24
“ … every time you see a movie with some mountainous scene
you’re thinking, I’d slope that.”
—Alex.Schweig
“ … you would rather buy a couple more slopers to add to your
unbuilt fleet than buy a Hi-Def TV.”
—DWA
“ … all your hats have chin straps.”
—MCarlton
“ … you think a good landing is one you can find.”
—rbush
“ … your car has dents in it from landings.”
—Xpress
“ … your car always has a slope plane in it.”
—trees
“ … you consider a pretty good landing to be one that requires
less than 15 minutes of repair work.”
—Cory
“ … you start to like the smell of the local landfill.”
—Rockitglider
“ … you know a 24-hour Walgreens that carries Goop or Shoe
Goo.”
—slopemeno
“ … you are at the flat field and the only one flying because it’s
too windy for others.”
—skyzking
“ … you spend the day at the beach but your feet never touch
sand.”
—KurtMc
“ … your wife tells you to go flying so you can come back with a
better attitude.”
—flyonline
“ … you see a bird sloping the side of a building and think I
should get an alula so I can fly at lunch.”
—IHAVAWDY
“ … you take your son to college and after moving him into the
dorms, test the local slope with the wing and radio you had packed
in your trunk.”
—chip.greely
“ … you’re windswept, frozen, soaked, and picking up shattered
pieces of carbon and glass, and you think it was a day well spent.”
—flyonline
“ … you have a dozen slopers, even the $1,000 kind, and don’t
live within 500 miles of a decent slope site.”
—Evan D
“ … after 37 years of slope-side action you still feel sorry for the
millions who just don’t get it or even know about it, but sorta glad
they don’t.”
—Antonsoarer
“ … you can’t get to your furnace to work on it because it is
surrounded by unbuilt slope kits.”
—rcairnut
“ … you arrive at the slope with perfect wind conditions and ask
yourself why no one else is flying.”
—Hawk I
06sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 4/22/10 11:01 AM Page 113
“ … you look over planes at the power field
and think, That would have been an OK plane if
he had at least used a half way decent airfoil.”
—theBOZman
“ … you know that there is a far better use
for lead than wheel weights. Who needs a
balanced tire anyway?”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you have actually gone to a tire store
and asked if you can have the old weights
they pull off.”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you get genuinely bummed when it’s
a nice sunny and calm day.”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you know you are a Hard Core
Sloper when scratches on the bottom of a
$1,600 plane mean nothing to you.”
—BillDelHagen
“ … you demolish a racer in some
rocks, but save the V-tail and ballast tubes
simply because they are not broken.
—BillDelHagen
“ … you reach the understanding that if
your plane is climbing, you have too little
ballast.”
—BillDelHagen
“ … determining where you might live
depends on slope opportunities.”
—FSD
“ … a world-class 3-D heli flight just
looks like a five-minute-long radio glitch.”
—Norjon
“ … the sound of a jet turbine is cool,
but nothing like the sound of a slope plane
shredding the air! Now that really gives
you the chills!”
—rcairnut
“ … you spend most of your mind’s free
time on slope designs or daydreaming how
to make that perfect turn on a man-on-man
slope race.”
—Edwinzea
“ … you had a dream about sloping.”
—Xpres
I also enjoyed the RCGroups thread
titled, “You know you’re a scratch builder
if … ” One was “ … you’ve gone through
soooo many hobby knife blades that you
have actually taken to resharpening by hand
and now know how to get that perfect cut.”
—snrek
In my next column I plan to cover painting
and panel lines to finish a fiberglass-fuselage
model. Then I’d like to explore what is
available for ARF, RTF, and possibly even
bind-and-fly for Slope Soaring. MA
Sources:
RCGroups.com Slope thread:
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.ph
p?t=1192161
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/06
Page Numbers: 112,113,114
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/06
Page Numbers: 112,113,114
112 MODEL AVIATION
I HAVE MORE for you about a favorite
building project: a fiberglass-fuselage and
sheeted-foam-wing short kit. Once you’ve
learned a few construction tips, tricks, and
techniques, you will have a wide variety of
sailplanes available and you will fly with
the satisfaction of having built them
yourself.
The April 2010 Slope Soaring column
gave an overview of building the short kit,
and this column covers one component of
that construction project: preparing a
smooth finish on the fuselage and getting it
ready to paint. The objective is to prepare
the model’s surface to accept spray paint.
Fiberglass takes a painted finish well,
and that is one of the main reasons I like
molded-fiberglass fuselages. The ability to
model beautiful, curved shapes and a high
strength-to-weight ratio are the other main
reasons.
Most of painting is preparation, and most of the preparation is
sanding. Paint will not cover scratches, pinholes, and other
imperfections nearly as well as you might hope it will. If you don’t
sand down that bump or fill that pinhole, the imperfection will show
in the final product.
Remember also that when you’re done, a painted model looks
fabulous—better than any iron-on “’cote” finish ever looked to me,
whether it’s on a scale or sport sailplane. Prepare for a little pain and
strain, but the result will be worth the effort
Following are the steps
to prepare a fiberglass
fuselage for a paint finish.
1) Wash the fuselage.
Wash your fuselage
thoroughly with warm
water and detergent.
Remove all traces of wax
or mold-release agent that
will interfere with paint
adhesion. Lightly sand the
surface to break the glaze.
Flatten any protruding
seam joints with a blade or
sandpaper block.
2) Initial sanding. As
shiny and beautiful as the
molded fuselage looks out
of the box, you do have to
sand it to knock off the
glaze before you can paint it. The wet-sanding technique is your
friend. The water clears the sandpaper and allows it to cut much
longer. I sand in a sink with running water, using both handheld
sandpaper and a rubber auto bodywork sanding block.
Make your sanding go faster and easier by having plenty of fresh
sandpaper on hand, so you can change it as soon as it stops cutting
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Slope Soaring Dave Garwood
Recipe for finishing a fiberglass fuselage
Also included in this column:
• A sampling of RCGroups
humor
Above: The author used 3M Bondo
Glazing & Spot Putty to fill pinholes;
there are many other commercial
products available.
Above: After wet-sanding, nearly all of the primer paint and
pinhole filler compound have been sanded off. This process may
need to be repeated.
Above: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
fiberglass fuselage after its initial
sanding and first primer coat.
Bell P-39 Airacobra has a “conglomerate” scheme, combining a WW II Russian winter
squadron, the MiG-3 Moscow scheme, and a modern Soviet Bort number.
06sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 4/22/10 11:01 AM Page 112
June 2010 113
Two 48-inch-span warbirds built from short kits include the P-39
from a Slope Scale kit and a P-40 Warhawk molded by Marty Hill
(Malad ID). The P-40 is ready for the color coat. Bench time:
approximately 20 hours.
P-40 fuselage before and after first primer, filler, and wet-sanding.
Some filled pinholes are from bubbles in the mold; some are
where fiberglass fabric could have used more resin.
effectively. Start with 100 or 120 grit, and then go to 240 or 320,
followed by finer grit according to your personal craftsmanship
standards.
3) Primer paint. Allow the fuselage to dry thoroughly either
outside in sunny or windy weather, or inside overnight. The next
day, spray with sandable primer from a rattle can. I’ve used both
Krylon and Rust-Oleum brands.
Set the fuselage aside to dry and then examine it under strong
light. As shiny and perfect as the fuselage looked out of the box, you
will not know the surface quality until you examine it after it has
been primer-painted.
4) Fill pinholes. We have a large number of choices for pinhole
filler material. Ask your building buddies, pose a question online, or
ask at an auto supply store or automotive paint store. I use Bondo
glazing compound, which comes in a tube and is applied with a
spreader or even fingertips. Wear disposable gloves for easy
cleanup.
(Editor’s note: Glazing putty sticks to primer much better than it
does to the epoxy or polyester resin bonding the fiberglass. Dave
tells us to prime first for that reason and because the pinholes are
easier to see after a prime coat. Thin applications of putty are
recommended.)
Apply the pinhole filler and let it dry or cure, depending on the
material, and wet-sand the fuselage again. Most of the primer paint
and almost all of the pinhole filler will be sanded off. Remaining
will be tiny amounts of the filler actually in the pinholes themselves.
Lather, rinse, repeat. You’ll go through several rounds of
priming, pinhole filling, sanding, letting it dry, and priming it again.
You can stop when the fuselage is smooth enough according to
your standards and level of craftsmanship. Don’t be too hard on
yourself. If you can’t see it in the air, it doesn’t matter.
5) Final primer. When you’re satisfied with the smoothness of
the surface, apply a final light coat of primer and do the last sanding
pass with very light pressure. This is where the 400- and 600-grit
paper will make a difference.
When it’s dry, spray on a light mist of primer to prepare for your
finish color coat. On models that will have a light-colored final coat,
I use white sandable primer made by Krylon and Rust-Oleum,
which keeps the final weight down by minimizing the amount of
color coat that must be applied.
Following are a few humorous insights about our sport/hobby from
RCGroups. You know you’re a sloper when …
“ … you wake up and look outside to see the wind blowing, and
say, WOOHOOO!!!!!”
—Xpress
“ … the only weather that matters is wind speed and direction.”
—Macgyver24
“ … every time you see a movie with some mountainous scene
you’re thinking, I’d slope that.”
—Alex.Schweig
“ … you would rather buy a couple more slopers to add to your
unbuilt fleet than buy a Hi-Def TV.”
—DWA
“ … all your hats have chin straps.”
—MCarlton
“ … you think a good landing is one you can find.”
—rbush
“ … your car has dents in it from landings.”
—Xpress
“ … your car always has a slope plane in it.”
—trees
“ … you consider a pretty good landing to be one that requires
less than 15 minutes of repair work.”
—Cory
“ … you start to like the smell of the local landfill.”
—Rockitglider
“ … you know a 24-hour Walgreens that carries Goop or Shoe
Goo.”
—slopemeno
“ … you are at the flat field and the only one flying because it’s
too windy for others.”
—skyzking
“ … you spend the day at the beach but your feet never touch
sand.”
—KurtMc
“ … your wife tells you to go flying so you can come back with a
better attitude.”
—flyonline
“ … you see a bird sloping the side of a building and think I
should get an alula so I can fly at lunch.”
—IHAVAWDY
“ … you take your son to college and after moving him into the
dorms, test the local slope with the wing and radio you had packed
in your trunk.”
—chip.greely
“ … you’re windswept, frozen, soaked, and picking up shattered
pieces of carbon and glass, and you think it was a day well spent.”
—flyonline
“ … you have a dozen slopers, even the $1,000 kind, and don’t
live within 500 miles of a decent slope site.”
—Evan D
“ … after 37 years of slope-side action you still feel sorry for the
millions who just don’t get it or even know about it, but sorta glad
they don’t.”
—Antonsoarer
“ … you can’t get to your furnace to work on it because it is
surrounded by unbuilt slope kits.”
—rcairnut
“ … you arrive at the slope with perfect wind conditions and ask
yourself why no one else is flying.”
—Hawk I
06sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 4/22/10 11:01 AM Page 113
“ … you look over planes at the power field
and think, That would have been an OK plane if
he had at least used a half way decent airfoil.”
—theBOZman
“ … you know that there is a far better use
for lead than wheel weights. Who needs a
balanced tire anyway?”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you have actually gone to a tire store
and asked if you can have the old weights
they pull off.”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you get genuinely bummed when it’s
a nice sunny and calm day.”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you know you are a Hard Core
Sloper when scratches on the bottom of a
$1,600 plane mean nothing to you.”
—BillDelHagen
“ … you demolish a racer in some
rocks, but save the V-tail and ballast tubes
simply because they are not broken.
—BillDelHagen
“ … you reach the understanding that if
your plane is climbing, you have too little
ballast.”
—BillDelHagen
“ … determining where you might live
depends on slope opportunities.”
—FSD
“ … a world-class 3-D heli flight just
looks like a five-minute-long radio glitch.”
—Norjon
“ … the sound of a jet turbine is cool,
but nothing like the sound of a slope plane
shredding the air! Now that really gives
you the chills!”
—rcairnut
“ … you spend most of your mind’s free
time on slope designs or daydreaming how
to make that perfect turn on a man-on-man
slope race.”
—Edwinzea
“ … you had a dream about sloping.”
—Xpres
I also enjoyed the RCGroups thread
titled, “You know you’re a scratch builder
if … ” One was “ … you’ve gone through
soooo many hobby knife blades that you
have actually taken to resharpening by hand
and now know how to get that perfect cut.”
—snrek
In my next column I plan to cover painting
and panel lines to finish a fiberglass-fuselage
model. Then I’d like to explore what is
available for ARF, RTF, and possibly even
bind-and-fly for Slope Soaring. MA
Sources:
RCGroups.com Slope thread:
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.ph
p?t=1192161
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/06
Page Numbers: 112,113,114
112 MODEL AVIATION
I HAVE MORE for you about a favorite
building project: a fiberglass-fuselage and
sheeted-foam-wing short kit. Once you’ve
learned a few construction tips, tricks, and
techniques, you will have a wide variety of
sailplanes available and you will fly with
the satisfaction of having built them
yourself.
The April 2010 Slope Soaring column
gave an overview of building the short kit,
and this column covers one component of
that construction project: preparing a
smooth finish on the fuselage and getting it
ready to paint. The objective is to prepare
the model’s surface to accept spray paint.
Fiberglass takes a painted finish well,
and that is one of the main reasons I like
molded-fiberglass fuselages. The ability to
model beautiful, curved shapes and a high
strength-to-weight ratio are the other main
reasons.
Most of painting is preparation, and most of the preparation is
sanding. Paint will not cover scratches, pinholes, and other
imperfections nearly as well as you might hope it will. If you don’t
sand down that bump or fill that pinhole, the imperfection will show
in the final product.
Remember also that when you’re done, a painted model looks
fabulous—better than any iron-on “’cote” finish ever looked to me,
whether it’s on a scale or sport sailplane. Prepare for a little pain and
strain, but the result will be worth the effort
Following are the steps
to prepare a fiberglass
fuselage for a paint finish.
1) Wash the fuselage.
Wash your fuselage
thoroughly with warm
water and detergent.
Remove all traces of wax
or mold-release agent that
will interfere with paint
adhesion. Lightly sand the
surface to break the glaze.
Flatten any protruding
seam joints with a blade or
sandpaper block.
2) Initial sanding. As
shiny and beautiful as the
molded fuselage looks out
of the box, you do have to
sand it to knock off the
glaze before you can paint it. The wet-sanding technique is your
friend. The water clears the sandpaper and allows it to cut much
longer. I sand in a sink with running water, using both handheld
sandpaper and a rubber auto bodywork sanding block.
Make your sanding go faster and easier by having plenty of fresh
sandpaper on hand, so you can change it as soon as it stops cutting
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Slope Soaring Dave Garwood
Recipe for finishing a fiberglass fuselage
Also included in this column:
• A sampling of RCGroups
humor
Above: The author used 3M Bondo
Glazing & Spot Putty to fill pinholes;
there are many other commercial
products available.
Above: After wet-sanding, nearly all of the primer paint and
pinhole filler compound have been sanded off. This process may
need to be repeated.
Above: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
fiberglass fuselage after its initial
sanding and first primer coat.
Bell P-39 Airacobra has a “conglomerate” scheme, combining a WW II Russian winter
squadron, the MiG-3 Moscow scheme, and a modern Soviet Bort number.
06sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 4/22/10 11:01 AM Page 112
June 2010 113
Two 48-inch-span warbirds built from short kits include the P-39
from a Slope Scale kit and a P-40 Warhawk molded by Marty Hill
(Malad ID). The P-40 is ready for the color coat. Bench time:
approximately 20 hours.
P-40 fuselage before and after first primer, filler, and wet-sanding.
Some filled pinholes are from bubbles in the mold; some are
where fiberglass fabric could have used more resin.
effectively. Start with 100 or 120 grit, and then go to 240 or 320,
followed by finer grit according to your personal craftsmanship
standards.
3) Primer paint. Allow the fuselage to dry thoroughly either
outside in sunny or windy weather, or inside overnight. The next
day, spray with sandable primer from a rattle can. I’ve used both
Krylon and Rust-Oleum brands.
Set the fuselage aside to dry and then examine it under strong
light. As shiny and perfect as the fuselage looked out of the box, you
will not know the surface quality until you examine it after it has
been primer-painted.
4) Fill pinholes. We have a large number of choices for pinhole
filler material. Ask your building buddies, pose a question online, or
ask at an auto supply store or automotive paint store. I use Bondo
glazing compound, which comes in a tube and is applied with a
spreader or even fingertips. Wear disposable gloves for easy
cleanup.
(Editor’s note: Glazing putty sticks to primer much better than it
does to the epoxy or polyester resin bonding the fiberglass. Dave
tells us to prime first for that reason and because the pinholes are
easier to see after a prime coat. Thin applications of putty are
recommended.)
Apply the pinhole filler and let it dry or cure, depending on the
material, and wet-sand the fuselage again. Most of the primer paint
and almost all of the pinhole filler will be sanded off. Remaining
will be tiny amounts of the filler actually in the pinholes themselves.
Lather, rinse, repeat. You’ll go through several rounds of
priming, pinhole filling, sanding, letting it dry, and priming it again.
You can stop when the fuselage is smooth enough according to
your standards and level of craftsmanship. Don’t be too hard on
yourself. If you can’t see it in the air, it doesn’t matter.
5) Final primer. When you’re satisfied with the smoothness of
the surface, apply a final light coat of primer and do the last sanding
pass with very light pressure. This is where the 400- and 600-grit
paper will make a difference.
When it’s dry, spray on a light mist of primer to prepare for your
finish color coat. On models that will have a light-colored final coat,
I use white sandable primer made by Krylon and Rust-Oleum,
which keeps the final weight down by minimizing the amount of
color coat that must be applied.
Following are a few humorous insights about our sport/hobby from
RCGroups. You know you’re a sloper when …
“ … you wake up and look outside to see the wind blowing, and
say, WOOHOOO!!!!!”
—Xpress
“ … the only weather that matters is wind speed and direction.”
—Macgyver24
“ … every time you see a movie with some mountainous scene
you’re thinking, I’d slope that.”
—Alex.Schweig
“ … you would rather buy a couple more slopers to add to your
unbuilt fleet than buy a Hi-Def TV.”
—DWA
“ … all your hats have chin straps.”
—MCarlton
“ … you think a good landing is one you can find.”
—rbush
“ … your car has dents in it from landings.”
—Xpress
“ … your car always has a slope plane in it.”
—trees
“ … you consider a pretty good landing to be one that requires
less than 15 minutes of repair work.”
—Cory
“ … you start to like the smell of the local landfill.”
—Rockitglider
“ … you know a 24-hour Walgreens that carries Goop or Shoe
Goo.”
—slopemeno
“ … you are at the flat field and the only one flying because it’s
too windy for others.”
—skyzking
“ … you spend the day at the beach but your feet never touch
sand.”
—KurtMc
“ … your wife tells you to go flying so you can come back with a
better attitude.”
—flyonline
“ … you see a bird sloping the side of a building and think I
should get an alula so I can fly at lunch.”
—IHAVAWDY
“ … you take your son to college and after moving him into the
dorms, test the local slope with the wing and radio you had packed
in your trunk.”
—chip.greely
“ … you’re windswept, frozen, soaked, and picking up shattered
pieces of carbon and glass, and you think it was a day well spent.”
—flyonline
“ … you have a dozen slopers, even the $1,000 kind, and don’t
live within 500 miles of a decent slope site.”
—Evan D
“ … after 37 years of slope-side action you still feel sorry for the
millions who just don’t get it or even know about it, but sorta glad
they don’t.”
—Antonsoarer
“ … you can’t get to your furnace to work on it because it is
surrounded by unbuilt slope kits.”
—rcairnut
“ … you arrive at the slope with perfect wind conditions and ask
yourself why no one else is flying.”
—Hawk I
06sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 4/22/10 11:01 AM Page 113
“ … you look over planes at the power field
and think, That would have been an OK plane if
he had at least used a half way decent airfoil.”
—theBOZman
“ … you know that there is a far better use
for lead than wheel weights. Who needs a
balanced tire anyway?”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you have actually gone to a tire store
and asked if you can have the old weights
they pull off.”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you get genuinely bummed when it’s
a nice sunny and calm day.”
—1-26 Flyer
“ … you know you are a Hard Core
Sloper when scratches on the bottom of a
$1,600 plane mean nothing to you.”
—BillDelHagen
“ … you demolish a racer in some
rocks, but save the V-tail and ballast tubes
simply because they are not broken.
—BillDelHagen
“ … you reach the understanding that if
your plane is climbing, you have too little
ballast.”
—BillDelHagen
“ … determining where you might live
depends on slope opportunities.”
—FSD
“ … a world-class 3-D heli flight just
looks like a five-minute-long radio glitch.”
—Norjon
“ … the sound of a jet turbine is cool,
but nothing like the sound of a slope plane
shredding the air! Now that really gives
you the chills!”
—rcairnut
“ … you spend most of your mind’s free
time on slope designs or daydreaming how
to make that perfect turn on a man-on-man
slope race.”
—Edwinzea
“ … you had a dream about sloping.”
—Xpres
I also enjoyed the RCGroups thread
titled, “You know you’re a scratch builder
if … ” One was “ … you’ve gone through
soooo many hobby knife blades that you
have actually taken to resharpening by hand
and now know how to get that perfect cut.”
—snrek
In my next column I plan to cover painting
and panel lines to finish a fiberglass-fuselage
model. Then I’d like to explore what is
available for ARF, RTF, and possibly even
bind-and-fly for Slope Soaring. MA
Sources:
RCGroups.com Slope thread:
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.ph
p?t=1192161
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
