Radio Control: Soaring
YOU'LL want a pencil and a calendar while you read this month's column, especially if the cross-country bug has been drawing your interests. And judging from the mail in just a month's time, this type of event has a bite on several clubs. As for the scale photos, don't let them throw you a curve because there's some big news on that front, also. If travel to these events is an inconvenience, one club has remedied that situation. More about that one later. Here are the contests in chronological order: May 24-26, 1986. The Sugarloaf Classic sponsored by the Capital Area Soaring Association (CASA). The course covers 31.5 miles in rolling hills and open fields just south of Frederick, MD. Entry fee is $40. For further information contact Charles Wells, CD, 1-B Westway, Greenbelt, MD 20770.
Radio Control: Soaring
NEW PRODUCTS. A couple of new items have hit the market that ought to make life more fun on the workbench. The first comes from George Sparr, and his line includes Carbon Fiber Tape and Carbon Fiber Ribbon. The tape is 7/8-inch wide, and the ribbon is 1/8-inch wide. There is also Kevlar tape and fiberglass tape. One-half ounce per square yard glass cloth rounds out the line. For full particulars, including prices, write to Aerospace Composite Products, 28 Crosswood Rd., Farmington, CT 06032. From the Hobbypoxy folks comes a new Fast Fill Grain Filler. This is a one-part (no mixing of parts A and B), and it does just what it says it does: fills grain fast. It's white in color, is the consistency of milk, and it brushes on smoothly and easily. It also air dries quickly and is easy to sand. MonoKote sticks to it as if it were designed for just that application. For the latest on model building techniques, send a SASE to Hobbypoxy Products, Pettit Paint Co., Inc., 36 Pine St., Rockaway, NJ 07866.
Radio Control: Soaring
ONE of the most popular large (and by "large" I mean larger than most other kits) Sailplanes was the Sagitta-XC. This 174-in. model with its four-piece wing was a builder's delight. In the best tradition of Airtronics and the late Lee Renaud, most of the parts were machine-cut and fit with nearly zero tolerances. Unfortunately, only 500 of these kits were produced and were quickly bought up by modelers interested in cross-country flying. Over the seven years that this model graced the skies, modelers-being modelers-tried different modifications to improve the original version. Some were successful; some were not. One who did make changes worthy of note was Warren Plohr (Ohio), recently past-president of the League of Silent Flight.
Radio Control: Soaring
AS many of you in our Soaring community have heard, Dan Pruss has been hospitalized with a serious illness. Our hopes and prayers are for his quick return. He's too important to our great hobby/sport to be out of action long. Dan is not one to toot his own horn, so many probably don't appreciate the many years of constructive work Dan has put into Soaring-especially in the F3B area. MA Publisher/Editor Carl Wheeley asked me to fill in as Soaring columnist while Dan is recovering. By way of introduction, I'm Byron Blakeslee, have been flying RC for 26 years and Sailplanes exclusively for the past 12 years. I live just south of Denver, CO and belong to the area's AMA-chartered Soaring club, the Rocky Mountain Soaring Association.
