Radio Control: Soaring
WINTER SOARING in Southern California: Joe Chovan and I got a chance to escape the ice and snow in the Northeast and spend a week in Los Angeles and San Diego flying sailplanes in T-shirts and sandals. In addition to sampling some famous Slope Soaring sites, trip highlights included a hand-launch practice session with two Torrey Pines Gulls members and flying in an Inland Soaring Society monthly contest. Hand Launch Lesson: Joe and I spent a morning with a couple of Torrey Pines Gulls-Rick Shelby practicing with his Ron Vann/Ed Slegers Prism, and Charlie Richardson flying a prototype of a new HLG variation, the Climmax PF (Polyhedral, Flapped). Joe flew his four-servo flat-wing WACO Mosquito and I flew a two-servo polyhedral Climmax.
Radio Control: Soaring
PACKABLE SAILPLANES: Vacation season means travel for many people and some of us take sailplanes to our vacation destinations. Without planning and preparation, our models can present some handling problems, both on the airlines and in a family vehicle. I like to fit my sailplanes into individual boxes or carrying cases. Not only are they easier to carry and ship, but they are also protected from handling damage getting them in and out of the car, and even in and out of the house. The basic requirements for packable sailplanes are a two-piece wing and a removable horizontal stabilizer. These features generally result in the fuselage being the longest part, and the built model can often fit back into its original kit box, or into a specialized case from the sporting good store.
Radio Control: Soaring
What we need is a good-performing Two-Meter-class sailplane. Even if you don't compete, you may be interested in a medium-size thermal sailplane that goes both fast and slow, penetrates wind, slows down for coring a thermal, and hits a landing spot. We get a sailplane to do that by loading it up with six servos. With this setup the wing's entire trailing edge can be reflexed up to go fast, drooped to increase lift on launch, and can give ailerons up and flaps down to slow down for landing. Many soaring pilots start with balsa two-servo, two-meter-wingspan sailplanes, and most of those designs fly great. Also, it's no trick to find a good Unlimited-class competition sailplane. Nobody complains about 1.5-meter-span handlaunch gliders. Ten manufacturers supply two- or four-servo HLGs that deliver terrific performance. But put six servos into a Two-Meter sailplane and it often falls out of the sky.
Radio Control: Soaring
THE LEAGUE OF SILENT FLIGHT (LSF) has been named the Soaring Special Interest Group (SIG) by the AMA. In this role LSF will represent the interests of RC Soaring pilots at AMA, and will shoulder much of the work involved with staging the AMA/LSF National Championships. The LSF Soaring Achievement Program has helped me become a more proficient pilot; this was especially true when I was starting out in RC Soaring. The five-step LSF program begins with basic sailplane piloting skills; these include making an accurate landing inside a 10-foot circle, a five-minute thermal flight, and a 15-minute slope flight at Level One.
Radio Control: Soaring
DARYL PERKINS INTERVIEW: I met Daryl Perkins at the 1992 AMA Nationals at Westover AFB, Massachusetts and I was mighty impressed with his skill and ability. The United States F3B team won the World Soaring Championships in Brasov, Romania in July 1995, and Daryl outflew and outscored all the others, making him demonstrably the best RC Soaring pilot in the world. For this interview I wanted to ask questions that would provide practical information to help the rest of us fly RC sailplanes better.
