The 2013 North Coast Glider Games was a roaring success
by Dave Garwood
Dave.Garwood.518@<REDACTED>
The North Coast Soaring Association (NCSA) held its first North Coast Glider Games (NCGG) Slope Soaring event April 18-21, 2013, near Cleveland. Participants flew all four days on three slopes, including two flying sites overlooking Lake Erie.
The Great Lakes region is sometimes called the “North Coast” or “America’s Fourth Seacoast” because of the shipping commerce and access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Local fliers point out that there are “no sharks in North Coast waters.”
Salt or fresh, we like water in front of our Slope Soaring sites because the freedom from ground objects makes for smooth air flowing into the slope face.
Cleveland is not new to the US aviation history scene. So many of the National Air Races that took place between World War I and World War II were held at the Cleveland airport that the 25-year series was often called the Cleveland Air Races.
We love the long-running annual Slope Soaring events, but the new baby in the family attracts the most attention. When the NCSA announced its 2013 North Coast Glider Games, the gathering became the newest attraction in Slope Soaring.
Mike Gantner and the NCSA published a list of seven Slope Soaring sites in northern Ohio. This list includes topography, wind conditions, maps, and suggested dates for Slope fliers to come and fly. This contribution to Slope Soaring is much appreciated.
One worry for Slope Soaring event organizers is how to entertain the pilots during inclement weather, and the NCSA met the challenge with fly-fishing excursions, shooting-range visits, Thermal Sailplane flying, and indoor electric flying.
The club did a first-rate job of communicating with the fliers—sending out overnight emails
RC Slope Soaring
Dave Garwood
summarizing weather forecasts and naming the flying site for the following day. NCSA Communications Director Don King answered his cellphone on the first ring countless times to give travelers and fliers current information.
Here are highlights of the four-day event:
Thursday Travelers arrived in Garfield Heights, a Cleveland suburb, to find local pilots flying until 8 p.m. at City View Center, a shopping center built on a closed landfill. There, fliers can park at the top of the slope, walk to a grocery store, or drive a half-mile to Starbucks, Steak ’n Shake, or Applebee’s.
The group met at Applebee’s after sunset to eat, drink, and recount the day’s flying.
Friday Fliers met at Steak ’n Shake to wait for scattered showers to clear and enjoy the strong southwest winds that typically accompany cold fronts. At roughly noon, we began flying at the City View plaza slope—a mile-long ridge with a view of the Cuyahoga Valley and downtown
Cleveland on the north horizon.
Temperatures were in the 50s and winds in the 20 mph range, so it was chilly at the edge of the slopes. It wasn’t a huge inconvenience because fliers could get out of the wind and warm up in their cars parked 100 feet away.
Models flown included the Slope Slayer Formula One Racer, a flying
RC Slope Soaring
By Dave Garwood
dragon, KnifeEdge Wing, Magnum Models MiG 3, Leading Edge Gliders EPP P-80 Shooting Star, a Dave’s Aircraft Works Foam 51D, and a Scale Slope Soaring A-10 Warthog.
Flying with us were three designers and kit makers: Larry Blevins from Magnum Models, Joe Chovan from TuffFlight, and Mike Gantner from Slope Slayer. It’s cool to be able to fly with your airplane’s designer and discuss what new kits might be in the pipeline.
Saturday Flying was at Perry Park, overlooking Lake Erie. Northwest winds sustained 60-inch foam warbirds in formation stall turns. The clouds cleared, allowing the sun to warm us.
Dinner was in town at The Peppermill restaurant, with live music.
Sunday Northeast winds summoned the group to Edgewater Park in Cleveland, which overlooks Lake Erie and has a coastal view of the Cleveland skyline.
This pleasant flying site is a public park with parking at the top of a nearby hill.
The 2013 North Coast Glider Games was a roaring success. We flew for four days at three cool Slope sites. See more photos and video highlights on the Slope Slayer website.
I hope we see another NCGG on next year’s list of premiere Slope Soaring events.
SOURCES:
2013 NCGG event highlights video www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4oR_oUeMJ4
Slope Slayer www.slopeslayer.com
Magnum Models www.magnumrcmodels.com
TuffFlight <REDACTED> www.tufflight.com
Leading Edge Gliders <REDACTED> www.leadingedgegliders.com
League of Silent Flight www.silentflight.org
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
