You only hurt the ones you love. If a botched landing results in damaged gears on an elevator servo, chances are that it’ll be in an airplane that you really like. Weeping and gnashing of teeth may accompany contemplation of how to extract the servo to repair it.
In most Slope foamies, the elevator servo is buried deep in foam, surrounded by filament tape, and covered in material such as UltraCote and MonoKote which becomes stickier with spray glue.
During the winter building season I had the time to think about this problem and came up with a solution. My fix includes moving the wing-mounted aileron servo behind the spar to clear some room in the front of the wing-saddle area.
Place the elevator servo in the fuselage where it can be seen, and secure it with Goop glue on the long sides. Now it can be removed without disturbing filament tape or the covering by running a knife blade along the servo sides. String looped around the servo arm helps to remove it.
Install the receiver in a bay where it can be seen and easily reached. Provide a place for the short 2.4 GHz antennas by inserting suitable plastic tubes into the foam. Point them in different directions and separate their ends as much as possible.
What if the battery pack or the power switch goes bad? My solution is to provide a space for a four-cell AA pack that can be plugged into the receiver if either the original pack or the switch goes bad. The airplane will be slightly heavier, and some additional nose weight will be needed to rebalance it, but you’ll be flying that favorite airplane again.
Do we really need a full-size, 42-ounce/inch servo for the elevator in a 48-inch or 60-inch foam warbird? We used to take comfort in having big, tough gears. In recent builds, I’ve been happy with the performance of the Hitec HS-225BB Mighty Mini for elevator control with 54 ounces/inches of torque. Because I now mount them accessibly, I’m not worried that I might need to change a gear set.
2013 Slope Soaring Events
In January, the dates of 11 regional and national Slope Soaring events were announced. Be sure to check the events’ websites for current information.
• Cumberland Spring Soar for Fun, March 21-25, 2013, Cumberland, Maryland. Launch by aerotow, DLG, or winch, and fly from a mountaintop in big lift on the western face of the Appalachian Mountains.
• North Coast Glider Games, April 19-20, 2013, Cleveland. Slope Combat and Slope Pylon Racing on five hills, Altitude Limited Electric Soaring (ALES), and winch-launched Soaring if the winds are not favorable. Steelhead fishing and fly fishing lessons are available.
• 20th Los Banos Scale Sailplane Event, April 20-21, 2013 (tentative), Los Banos, California. Slope flying and aerotowing of large-scale sailplane models, both modern and vintage. The steep, grassy slopes of the Los Banos Creek Reservoir provide lift in several wind directions.
• 20th Midwest Slope Challenge, May 16-19, 2013, Lucas, Kansas. Foam Combat match, Foam Warbird race, One-Design Race (ODR), and Unlimited Class race. Special events to be announced.
• Davenport International Slope Race, May 18-19, 2013, Davenport, California. This will be the 39th annual running of this event.
• Inland Slope Rebels (ISR) Spring Power Scale Soaring (PSS) Festival, May 25-26, 2013, Cajon Summit, California. This is the largest gathering of PSS gliders in the country. Contests for best jet, best propeller airplane, best civilian airplane, and best foam airplane. The SoCal PSS Festival alternates years with Soar Utah.
• Third Annual Katie Martin Tribute Fly-In, June 1, 2013, Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California. Bob Martin will be there, so bring your Bob Martin RC and Hobie Hawks models.
• Alpine Soaring Adventure, July 4-7, 2013, Joseph, Oregon. Alpine Soaring, aerotow, and electric-power flying in an alpine setting with spectacular scenery.
• Cape Blanco Slopefest, August 5-12, 2013, Port Orford, Oregon. An informal weeklong event, it is held near the Cape Blanco State Park campground. The ridge is flyable in north and south winds, and it supports Dynamic Soaring.
• Leading Edge Gliders Slope Festival, August 30-September 2, 2013, Lucas, Kansas. Enjoy uninhibited, late-summer Slope Soaring at Wilson Lake in Lucas, Kansas.
• 47th Cumberland Fall Soar for Fun, November 7-11, 2013, Cumberland, Maryland. It’s an annual event that has been held for 47 years. They must be doing something right! Expect Alpine Soaring, aerotow, big slope lift, and electric-power launching. Be there or be square.
