Interview with the First Soaring World Champion
Radio Control Soaring
Lee Estingoy [[email protected]]
Hi. My name is Lee. Welcome to another meeting of Glider Hoarders Anonymous. I'm sorry to admit that I fell off the wagon and bought a few more really cool pieces of fiberglass.
I had abstained for nearly six months. I was privileged to spend some time with Soaring Guru Skip Miller, doing research for this column, of course, and I was powerless over my need to take home some of his exotica.
RC soaring as an art, science, and sport has come a long way in the last 30 years, and Skip has been there for most of it. He was the first World Champion of our sport, winning Gold at Pretoria, South Africa, in 1977.
He has been on six US teams, including the first US Gold Medal team in F3B (FAI Multi-Task Thermal Soaring) and the first US Gold Medal team in F3J (FAI RC Thermal Duration). He was the first pilot to complete the Great Race Course, approximately 76 kilometers, in one launch—something that had eluded the country's best for more than seven years.
Skip has won numerous national championship titles in many of soaring's independent venues and the overall AMA National Championships. He was also the prestigious LSF (League of Silent Flight) Grand Champion and overall winner.
His World Championships–winning Airtronics Aquila was on display for years at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Perhaps an even better measure of Skip's skills is his ability to teach. My short hi-start routine is a 45-second drill: if I don't hit within a second or two of the time and within a foot of the spot, I reset until I hit five in a row. Sometimes I can go out and nail it, and other times I have to reset and shoot a lot of landings. Then I switch and force myself to thermal out from the 75-foot launch and get five minutes. I also know when I am wasting time; some days the "putts" just don't drop. Pick it up another day.
Skip was kind to sit still long enough to answer a few questions for me.
Interview
LE: How did you learn the art of RC soaring? Did you have a mentor?
SM: I never really had a mentor, but my dad certainly encouraged me in the aviation/engineering direction. I was being groomed to be an aeronautical engineer, and he and his close friend from American Airlines were building scratch-built radios and trying to get models to successfully fly—escapement Live Wire trainers, etc. I was the official "chaser" of the models. They were kind of free flight with intermittent success of radio control.
I was building simple balsa-and-tissue models with limited success. I started very young—4 years old—but by 7 I was flying my U-Control Firecat in the schoolyard by myself. That really got my dad's attention.
After I graduated high school, I attended Northrop Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. I had so many models that I had built I couldn't move in our basement. Yet I still never had a successful radio-controlled model. I think I had a Goldberg Falcon that I still couldn't get the radio to work right.
Then, fast-forward: I saw a Hobie Hawk in the local hobby shop. All that pent-up, no-success RC stuff surfaced, I bought it, taught myself how to fly it, and at the same time hooked up with a club being formed in Denver—the Rocky Mountain Soaring Association. I then came across an Aquila kit and a coach. The rest was history. I never looked back! I was very fortunate to make the USA team and have the success I've had.
I was quite fortunate to become close personal friends with the genius designer Lee Renaud, founder of Airtronics, and his very good friend Dan Pruss. Those two were the closest I came to true mentors. It was more like Lee picking my brain for info, then saying, "Skip, here is the model I designed for you, the Sagitta; it will fit your style. Go fly it." And boy did I! What a breakthrough model and what an honor for me.
Dan was the most excited person ever on any new model technology. We were right in the middle of a huge amount of technology growth then. It was so fitting that I won the Worlds with Lee's Aquila and the Sanwa/Airtronics radio, and that Dan was the US team manager that brought home the Gold for the USA. What a proud moment in soaring history, both personally and for USA soaring!
LE: How have you maintained your intensity for RC soaring over three decades?
SM: I have always been very fascinated by flight. I share in the magic and amazement of it all, and I think that is what has kept my interest keen for such a long time.
Back in 1977, I wrote an article titled "The Long, Long Trail," which documented my rise to World Champion status. Little did I know that my trail had just begun.
Now, as I look back more than 30 years, immersing myself in the high-level competition environment, I am amazed that I still have held my competitive edge for such a period. I have always approached RC soaring as a sport, and this approach has kept me excited.
LE: I've spent enough time with you fliers to know that you fly at a level that many of us can only dream of attaining. What does it take to get to your level? How much is equipment and how much is simply skill?
SM: That's a pretty deep question with a somewhat complex answer. And there are no duffers in our sport; we all enjoy the same thing!
In the simplest form, those that prepare most always seem to get "luckier" than those that don't. Certainly, training is a big factor, and when I head out to practice, I have a fairly specific agenda. I try to stick to a regimen.
Typical practice routine:
- Shoot five landings from a short hi-start in a 45-second drill. If I don't hit within a second or two of the time and within a foot of the spot, I reset until I hit five in a row.
- Switch and thermal out from the 75-foot launch and get five minutes.
- Know when you're wasting time—some days the "putts" just don't drop; pick it up another day.
LE: You are an excellent coach. What are your top three suggestions for being a competitive soaring pilot?
SM:
- Find a good competitive model: something that does everything well and suits your style. Don't worry about what's hip or the latest and greatest. Find the one you like (not what your buddy likes) and stick with it.
- Develop a relationship with a friend/caller and build communication that lets you fly your style in the air. Talk through what you want, and after the flight talk about what you didn't like. This takes work but is extremely rewarding.
- Do cross-training: fly hand launch, aerobatics, indoor, cross-country, aerotow, etc. Try other physical sports to keep your mind and body in shape. It really helps in the competition environment.
LE: What are the three biggest traps for pilots in Thermal Duration / F3J contests?
SM:
- Not having a plan before you step up to the launch line. Observe what's going on in the air all around. The plan may change while on tow—that's okay—but have it before you hook up.
- Field distractions for you or your caller: pop-offs, line breaks, disturbances, conversations with competitors in the launch line. Stay centered and stick to your predetermined plan.
- Forgetting you're competing against yourself. Focus on reading the air, getting your time, and hitting your landing—not on who is in your flight group.
(Check out Paul Naton's Soaring Master Class 2 video. Cody Remington and I go through this exact situation at the Southwest Classic—live!)
LE: You are an ardent competitor in FAI F3J events. Could you briefly explain F3J and why you love it?
SM: F3J is basically high-performance thermal flying—something most competition soaring pilots have the skill for. I personally like the broad base of pilots you can draw from because everyone is a potential team player. The pilots are responsible for their launch equipment, and the hand tow is the essence of simplicity—150 meters of monofilament line and off you go!
F3B is more refined: you must have the right models, equipment, team, etc. I love F3B, but its complexity makes it more difficult for the average competitor to gain success. F3J is an easy transition—show up with your thermal airplane and have fun.
It has also become very precise with fast tow times and pushing the clock at the end of working time. I don't like that as much—it's like a downhill ski racer half a second off and not even in the hunt. I must be getting too old. Ha! Ha!
LE: What airplane do you take out when you just want to have fun? What are you flying in contests these days? Do you fly anything besides sailplanes?
SM: If I had to pick one sailplane to do it all, it would be the Espada R by Jaro Muller. You can fly thermal, slope, light DS (Dynamic Soaring), sport F3B—ballast it, etc. Jaro is the master of technology, and it shows. Its flying weight is 61 ounces and it's super strong.
For a true soaring experience, I like my 6.3-meter Nimbus 4. It feels like flying a full-size glider. I also enjoy flying aerobatics with fuel and electric models up to my 35% Yak. I enjoy state-of-the-art indoor foamies, too—they're impressive in the perfect, windless environment of a gym!
In competition, I fly the Samba Perfect—arguably the most popular model currently produced, and for good reason. It does everything well and is designed by my good friend Philip Kolb, another master I have come to know.
LE: What, in your mind, was the biggest leap in the evolution of RC sailplanes over the past 40 years?
SM: I've seen the transition from Ambroid, balsa, and dope to MonoKote, then to various bagged techniques, to molded bagged, to molded, to CNC molded technology.
Ralf Decker and Dieter Pfefferkorn played a large part, having molded models at the World Championships in 1977. The Sitar brothers shocked the world in 1979 with the Dassel and Phile and a 229 mph world record that was never officially recognized.
Pagliano of Italy pushed the envelope with his noseless, fully molded Allure. Airtronics introduced a line of radios with computer technology that could actually control all these high-zoot models. Those advances changed the sport.
LE: You've also started a sailplane boutique, so to speak. What made you cross that line and how are things going?
SM: I started Skip Miller Models when I realized I had strong worldwide relationships with friends developing, engineering, and selling competition sailplanes. I had a major career change when my company Wood Logic was forced out of business by overseas knockoffs after 20 years.
Skip Miller Models was born. I focus on state-of-the-art sailplanes, equipment, tow planes, scale sailplanes, and foamie indoor models. I do this for the love of the sport. You can actually call us and get a model shipped the same day; ordering from a European distributor might take a year and cost more.
There are a number of good retailers out there, but we stock only the best products available. This is proven time and again in competition.
LE: Do you have any suggestions on how we can attract new and younger participants to the sport?
SM: It's our responsibility to keep an eye out for any youth who has even the slightest interest in model aircraft. Encourage them to visit your club and go flying with you. I met Cody on the slope, flying Combat. He was 12 and had to deal with jeering from slope peers to go and see what the thermal pilots were doing.
Joseph Newcomb learned to fly on a Boomerang wing on a short hi-start in the park. He made the USA Junior team with Cody from our area.
Grab those young ones, be creative, and fan the flame! My oldest, Dusty, is 26 and became a formidable competition pilot. I also have three children under 9. I visit their school annually for a flying demonstration that really gets them excited. Nothing beats an electric foamie hovering in the parking lot in front of 60 screaming 5- to 8-year-olds, and then to have it "blast off!" They go crazy; they, too, love flight.
LE: What is your favorite sailplane of all time—your Rosebud?
SM: It would have to be the Aquila with the "Miller Mod." I won everything with it—even did my Level V goal and return in 1977 with my little 100-inch model. We were hooked up—kinda like Cody and his Espada RL.
Thanks so much for asking me to do this—I love this sport! See you at a competition somewhere!
Sources
- League of Silent Flight: www.silentflight.org
- Skip Miller Models: (303) 442-6454, www.skipmillermodels.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
