Radio Control: Soaring
THE MODI 900 is from Greco Technologies. You're probably asking, "What's a Modi 900 and who or what is Greco Technologies?" To be honest, all I can pass on about either one of them at this time is material gleaned from a press release and a phone conversation with the glider's principal designer, Greg Chun. Greg works for Greco Engineering, a division of Greco Technologies. He told me that the company is new to model manufacturing but wants to enter the business as an adjunct to their engineering and consulting work.
Mid-Columbia Slope Races
SPONSORED by the Tri-Cities Soarers club (TRICS), the inaugural Mid-Columbia Cup Slope Races was held May 24-25, 1991 on famous Eagle Butte, a hill just west of Richland in Washington State. With a $2,000 cash purse, this was bigtime racing. The winds blew so briskly on lofty Eagle Butte that the 12 rounds of racing, planned for three days, were completed on Friday and Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.
1991 RC Soaring World Championship
At TERLET, the Netherlands, in the last week of August 1991, U.S. fliers Joe Wurts and Daryl Perkins broke 10 years of European dominance in F3B competition. Joe became the World Champion for 1991 and Daryl placed second in the Individual standings. Larry Jolly finished 26th. The U.S. team placed third in a field of 22-23, if Finland's one-man team is counted. This ranks as the biggest sports upset since the U.S. Olympic hockey team won the Lake Placid meet. The FAI-recognized class of RC Soaring known as F3B is more popular in Germany, Austria, Britain, and Holland than in the U.S., and the Europeans had grown used to outclassing our fliers at the biennial World Championships. This year's contest will go down as a turning point.
Radio Control: Soaring
THE GROB 103 ACRO monster scale ship built by Dan Troxell has to grab your attention! Everybody loves big gliders and this 1:2.4 scale Grob is about as large a one as you'll ever see. Dan, from Laguna Hills, California, is known for favoring these big scale jobs and kindly sent a description of the project: "The odyssey of the monstrous Grob 103 Acro began in September 1990 with a visit to my brother in Brussels, Belgium. After a day visiting, he and I headed south to explore the legendary flying sites of Germany and search for those outrageous models. We were not disappointed.
Radio Control: Soaring
LOTS OF VARIED and interesting news to pass on this month! Let's start with Robin Lehman's report on scale flying in Switzerland. All Soaring enthusiasts love seeing big scale gliders, but in Europe they seem to build them bigger and fly them more actively than we do. Robin, a Big Apple dweller, will have an extensive article in an upcoming Model Aviation. This is a preview: "There is a group of enthusiasts who meet twice a year in Switzerland. They call themselves, `Interessengemeinschaft Grossegler' (Those interested in large gliders). I just happened to be in Switzerland when the IGG had one of their get-togethers at an airport in Belp, just south of Bern. They spent two solid days airtowing gliders.
