Radio Control: Soaring
MARCS SAILPLANE SYMPOSIUM. Who hasn't been at a weekend contest and gotten into a discussion over building techniques, radios, or any other related modeling matter only to be called to fly or time or sandbag? There never seems to be enough time for both-flying and talking, I mean. One club found a solution, though. A few months back, a group called the Madison Area Radio Control Society took off on the idea of a Sailplane symposium. This wasn't the first idea of its kind, but it was a good one. Having no idea of what kind of turnout could be expected, the MARCS-as they are called-were more than pleased when Sailplane enthusiasts from five states showed up for a Soaring activity where a protest couldn't even be filed!
Radio Control: Soaring
SHOW TIME. Just in between the end of the flying season and the beginning of the building season-for Midwesterners anyway-a group of Chicagoland RC clubs sponsors its annual "Expo." Originally formed with the idea of coordinating their common interest-radio controlled models-over a dozen clubs organized what is now called the Greater Chicago Radio Control Association. Among its contributions to the sport and the community, the organization has provided one outstanding service that any other large city (with more than one hobby shop and one club) should copy. Using a blow-up map of the city and surrounding suburban area, locations of all flying fields, boat ponds, and race car tracks are shown. These maps are then posted in hobby shops and are also distributed to the clubs.
Radio Control: Soaring
BACK when I was a kid, one could take his latest rubber-powered pride and joy to the grocery store and have the butcher weigh it for him. That was when there seemed to be a market on every street corner and the butcher acted like one of the family. Walking into a supermarket today with a 12-ft. Sailplane might get you as far as the soup and pickles aisle. If you did manage to get as far as the counter with all of the precut and preweighed, prepackaged meats, your only contact with a butcher would probably be through an intercom and a plate glass wall. Forget about his scale. But that's OK, because David Munson (Saint Louis, MO), has come up with a gadget that he calls the "Weight Stick." It's simply a length of aluminum bar, calibrated from the middle outward in pounds and ounces.
in the Swiss Alps
Most people can imagine what a Swiss ski resort is like even if they've never been to one. But can you imagine that same lodge, in the summertime, being taken over by RC Sailplane fliers and their families? Our contributing editor for RC Sailplanes enjoyed a day's visit to such a place last summer and brought back some spectacular pictures and an interesting story.
Radio Control: Soaring
HERE are a couple of birds this month that are relatively new to the soaring scene. Actually, there are three of them; two are just of the same basic design. Those two are Savage and Son of Savage. The handiwork of Mark Rebeck (San Juan Capistrano, CA), the Savage was primarily designed for slope flying. Wingspan is 70 in.; flying weight is two pounds, and the 650-sq.-in. wing puts the wing loading at 7-8 oz. per sq. ft. Control functions are only ailerons and elevator. If you have never flown an aileron-equipped Sailplane before, you may want to consider the Savage as a starter. The one-piece wing makes for simple construction, and the linkage for the flying stab is a system with which you're probably already familiar.
