Author: Dave Garwood
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/04
Page Numbers: 105,106,107,108
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Radio Control Slope Soaring - 2011/04

Dave Garwood [[email protected]]

F3F Slope Racing on Google Earth

SATELLITE CAMERAS used by the Google Earth Web site caught a British Model Flying Association (BMFA) F3F race. Mike Shellim, a BMFA luminary, wrote the following on his Web site.

“An isolated slope in South Wales may be safe from the gaze of urban CCTV cameras, but not, it seems, from the all seeing eye of Google Earth.

“Fellow F3F pilot Mark Abbotts was idly looking at Google Earth one day when he spotted what looked like a bunch of cars in the car park at the Bwlch. Further scrolling around revealed what looked like a bunch of models, and the shadows of their pilots.

“After reading Mark’s post on the F3F list, a detailed look through my photo archive revealed some highly promising matches—the photos appear to have been taken during the BMFA League 4 F3F competition on 11th July 2005! The date has been confirmed by others who have managed to identify their cars by their location and colour.

“These Google Earth screen captures tell the whole rather strange story here: www.rc-soar.com/events/gearth/earth.htm.” Mike presents an excellent modelsailplane digital-photography tutorial on his site. The address is in the “Sources” listing.

I am interested to know if other Soaring events can be found on Google Earth.

Marty Hill P-40 Warhawk group build — finishes and techniques

In the October 2010 issue I mentioned a group-build project, where five Slope Soaring pilots built Marty Hill P-40 Warhawks from short kits. The column shows photos of my model with and without panel lines and weathering. This month I’m presenting the fine work of three of my co-builders: Jan Carstangen, Rich Loud, and Wayne Rigby. Each contributed information about his finishing techniques.

From Jan Carstangen:

“Camouflage applications in the field were often applied under adverse conditions, and in the case of the whitewash, with a brush. After a period of time operating from unimproved fields this daubed on white often flaked off or wore through.

“To replicate this I first painted the P-40 in its original coloring of dark green top and gray bottom. A liquid masking film (Hobbico Master Mask) was applied to the areas which were to remain solid green or gray. A light spray application of white allowed a hint of the undersurface color to show through.

“Although not necessary, a light spray of water was used to assist in the removal of the liquid masking material from around the cockpit and leading edges. Light wet sanding with 300 and 600 sandpaper enhanced other areas of wear.”

From Rich Loud:

“As modelers we have many tricks to get just the right look on a paint job, often looking past the real reason for a color scheme or the way it was really applied.

“The Russian P-40 in the winter scheme was applied by daubing white paint over top of the typical dark green camouflage. The result was a grayish white appearance that was really a combination of white and olive green. I wanted to see if I could use a similar technique to get the same effect on my model.

“Working with the wings and fuselage separately, the entire airframe was first coated with Valspar Grey Primer (65055). Since the underside was going to be neutral gray anyway, choosing light grey primer allowed me to save a little bit of weight by leaving the bottom primed and unpainted.

“Krylon Satin Italian Olive (53522) was then sprayed over the top and sides allowing it to feather into the grey primer on the bottom. It took only two light coats and the P-40 was dressed in a smooth green camouflage.

“The rear windows were masked before applying the white coat to allow the green fuselage to ‘show through the rear windows.’ Krylon Flat White (51502) was then lightly sprayed over the green from a distance of about two feet rather than the typical six to eight inches.

“The wider dispersion at two feet results in a very light and almost cloudy appearance. This works out well since the idea is to apply just enough white to make it look ‘not green’ but not enough to make it look white.

“Multiple light coats of white were applied until the desired look was achieved. Slight variations were achieved by varying the sweep speed while spraying the white. After the final coat had completely dried, the canopy was masked and painted with Valspar Gloss Royal Blue (65031).”

From Wayne Rigby:

“To mimic canopy glass, I airbrushed a light mist of Testors Gloss Silver enamel over a base coat of Flat Blue enamel. Several light coats of Krylon Gloss Clear acrylic were sprayed over this. The first coat dissolved the grain in the silver mist layer giving a lovely sheen over the blue; the remaining coats added gloss. (Spray lightly and let each coat dry thoroughly, or the acrylic will dissolve the blue base coat.)

“I masked the glass canopy panels with frisket film, then sprayed olive drab green over the entire top of the aircraft. After painting the fuselage numbers, I covered the green with a solid coat of white except around the canopy and the fuselage numbers.

“The red insignia stars were masked and painted, then panel lines drawn using the techniques Dave has described in earlier articles. The exhaust stacks are styrene tube shaped using a heat gun, then painted.

“Now for the fun part. I sanded the entire airframe to reveal some of the green undercoat under the white paint layer, especially in high wear areas like wing walks, leading edges, and panel boundaries. Remember the winter camouflage was applied in the field and not intended to last past the terrible Russian winter.

“A final tip: Ask Callie Graphics about cutting vinyl stencils for you. If you discard the decal part of a vinyl sheet, you’re left with a stencil. Callie Graphics can supply a thicker, low tack adhesive vinyl, and leave more border around the decal pattern. This eliminates lots of time cutting masks in frisket!”

2011 Slope Soaring events

Seven Slope Soaring events for 2011 have been announced at the time of this writing in early January. Sorry if there are events that I did not mention.

If your Slope Soaring organization is scheduling an event for 2012—one that is expected to appeal to a wide audience—let me know about it in December 2011; I’ll plan to mention it in next April’s column.

  1. Los Banos Scale sailplane event, April 16-17, Los Banos, California:
  • Hosted by the South Bay Soaring Society, this gathering combines aerotowing with slope flying for Scale RC gliders at Los Banos in Central California. It has taken place for nearly 20 years.
  • The steep, grassy slopes of the Los Banos Creek Reservoir provide lift in several wind directions. This is a major gathering of large-scale sailplanes of both modern and vintage design.
  1. Midwest Slope Challenge, May 12-15, Lucas, Kansas:
  • A relaxed flying and vacation experience featuring four competition classes: Foam Combat, Foam Warbird race, One Design Race (ODR), and Unlimited Class race.
  • Travelers can usually count on plenty of sport-flying opportunities, because hills around Wilson Lake allow flying in several wind directions.
  1. Southern California PSS Festival, May 28-29, Cajon Summit, California:
  • The largest gathering of Power Scale Soaring (PSS) gliders in the country; it alternates years with Soar Utah.
  • The Inland Slope Rebels club has run the PSS Festival for 13 years, turning Cajon Summit into a PSS mecca. The flying site is a mile-long ridge that is 1,800 feet above the Cajon Pass in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Pilots may enter their models in a judged contest and compete for awards in four groups: best jet, best propeller airplane, best civilian airplane, and best foam airplane.

  1. Cape Blanco Slope Fest, August 6-10, Port Orford, Oregon:
  • Hosted by the Southern Oregon Slopiens.
  • “This is an informal five-day event, held near the campground of the Cape Blanco State Park. It includes hours of non-competitive flying, a barbeque, and camaraderie among like-minded pilots. The ridge is flyable in both north and south winds, and its shape presents an opportunity for dynamic soaring.”
  1. Alpine Soaring Adventure, June 30–July 3, Joseph, Oregon:
  • The event focuses on Alpine soaring, and includes aero-tow and electric-power flying in an alpine setting with spectacular scenery.

What is "Alpine soaring"? The best answer I have gotten to that question is from old flying buddy Jim Porter.

He and I have competed in thermals at the AMA Nats in Muncie, Indiana, and competed in slope lift at the Midwest Slope Challenge. After Jim returned from a three-year residence in Germany, he explained to me that:

"Alpine soaring is driving up a mountain and throwing your sailplane off into the top of the thermal (you hope), rather than launching from the flatland into the bottom of it."

Slope pilots I've spoken to said that they had a great time at the Wallowa Lake event.

  1. Leading Edge Gliders Fun Fly, Labor Day weekend, Lucas, Kansas:
  • Jack Cooper, chief honcho at Leading Edge Gliders, throws a party to remember, on alternate years from Soar Utah, that is designed to gather slope pilots from across the country for some late-summer flying at Wilson Lake and surrounding inland hills.
  • There are no scheduled events at this event; fly what you bring. Electric-power flying and winch launching are at the ready, in case of wind failure.
  1. Cumberland Soar for Fun, November 5-6, Cumberland, Maryland:
  • Fly from a mountaintop in slope lift generated by the Appalachian Mountains. Some long-standing full-scale soaring distance records have been set on the west side of the Appalachian range, and when the lift there is good, it tends to be great.
  • This will be the 45th annual Soar for Fun. I do not know of a longer-running Soaring event. Host members of the Capital Area Soaring Association must be doing something right.

Dynamic Soaring Record

On February 2, 2011, at Norco, California, Spencer Lisenby flew his own-design model to a world record. An RCGroups thread chronicles his achievement; the Web site address is in the "Sources" listing.

Sources

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