Radio Control: Soaring
THE PEOPLE CAME from California and New Jersey, from Minnesota and Texas, from Washington and Florida to fly in the 1996 Soaring Nats. We had an outstanding competition because of the caliber of pilots, the dedication of the LSF volunteer workers, the favorable weather, and the quality of the AMA national flying site. We ordinary mortals got to fly for eight days with 1993 World Soaring Champion Joe Wurts, and with current World Soaring Champion Daryl Perkins. Watching these guys hand-launch their Unlimited models and circle them back for a hand catch makes you stare in amazement, as do their rolling circles on the way back to the landing zone near the end of a thermal-duration time slot. Watching Jim Thomas clip the bottle cap cleanly in the HL Golf "skins" match on his second flight with a borrowed airplane was impressive.
Radio Control: Soaring
TECH TIPS from the '96 Nats: Big contests tend to bring out the best in fliers and flying techniques; they are also a place to see the latest in equipment and accessories. Here are some of the things I saw in Muncie: Removable landing skegs: Skegs stop the airplane from sliding, which results in increased landing accuracy and improved ground safety. While they may be molded into a fuselage or attached with bolts, mounting with tape makes it easy to move them for fine-tuning, and makes them removable in case you want to fly the same airplane in an event where skegs are not allowed (like F3B).
Radio Control: Soaring
Scale Sailplanes: Nothing in RC Soaring looks quite as good as a Scale sailplane on the wing. The graceful lines of a high-aspect-ratio wing and the clear canopy of the Scale model quickly and easily bring to mind the flight of the full-scale glass slippers. The pleasing visual appearance of these models makes them delightful to build and fly. Although I've flown at three Scale Soaring events during the last two years, observed the Scale competition at the Nats for three years, built a Scale sailplane (and flew two), I'm a neophyte at this branch of Soaring. I'll rely on the experience of others for this report. Asking Scale pilots what attracted them to this branch of RC soaring, I learned:
Visalia Soaring Festival
VISALIA! The name of this small desert town conjures up images of the most fantastic RC Thermal Soaring event of them all. Visalia is more than a Soaring contest; with all the sailplane people you ever wanted to meet, it is a social event. It's more than a social event; with dozens of designers, makers, and sellers, it is a trade show. It's more than a trade show; with the thermal contest, the fliers, the vendors, the barbecue, the Bluegrass band, the twin Beech flyby, the mega-raffle, and the wacky-task handlaunch contest, it is a happening.
Radio Control: Soaring
A soaring time capsule: A reader proposed this month's futuristic topic: crystal-ball gazing into the prospects for RC Soaring. Andrew Westreich suggested polling sailplane designers, builders, and fliers to "ask them where they think the sport is going in the next ten years. It'll be fun to see how wrong they all are. It might also be fun to speculate on what evolutionary changes may be in the offing for the hobby." So here goes. For the last year I've asked sailplane people what they think we'll see in RC Soaring in five years and in ten years, and I presented the responses below. In 2002 and 2007 we can reread this column and laugh (or cry).
