Radio Control: Slope Soaring
Foamies! I promised I'd talk about 'em. You love 'em, you hate 'em, etc. They are real, and they'll be around until something comes along to replace them. This is evolution, the laws of nature, an irresistible force; an airplane that, for all practical purposes, is unbreakable! It's an amazing thing - something once thought by many to be an impossibility. It's understandable why they're so popular. Although spawned from the rigors of full-contact Combat flying, foamies have found their way into many niches across the spectrum of the Radio Control (RC) Soaring community in the form of 1.5- to 2-meter-size and larger Thermal models. True, foamie airplanes have been around for some time, but the revolution that created today's foamie was in materials. The foam slopers of the '80s and early '90s, made of ordinary Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), aka StyrofoamTM, included the Anabat Combat and the Whirlwind. They were tough, but dented and degraded quickly, had low heat- and solvent-resistance, and were somewhat brittle.
Radio Control: Slope Soaring
In recent years, One Design (OD) classes have seen expanding participation in many forms of competition, including full-scale aerobatic aircraft. For instance, the much-modeled DR-107 OD is being used by the International Aerobatic Club for entry level competition. This comparatively inexpensive kit aircraft can be constructed by home-builders utilizing midpriced power plants. Now there are OD examples in the modeling world-specifically in Radio Control (RC) Soaring. The Nostalgia class Thermal Duration (TD) events are born of many modelers' desires to create a more-level playing field in TD by specifying fixed designs from yesteryear that are inexpensive to build, because of largely wood-framed construction.
Radio Control: Slope Soaring
I'm an optimist, so I know that any day spent at the slope is a good day - even when the wind stinks! A fun way to challenge yourself and your machines on such a day is by finding and utilizing unconventional forms of lift. Three primary factors are involved in having a good time on light-lift days: atmospheric/geographic analysis; airframe selection; and flying technique. Many of my most rewarding (if not necessarily thrilling) sessions are on these days. (If you're at an event or on vacation, you may have to take what you can get.) Following are some things to ponder about the above factors for your next light-lift slope-flying experience.
Midwest Slope
"You're going where?" "Kansas, man." "There's no slopes in Kansas. It's flat as a pool table, Dave!" "They say there's slopes...and wind. I gotta see for myself, dude."
And so it went. I was indeed going to attend the fifth annual Midwest Slope Challenge - sponsored by the Lincoln (NE) Area Soring Society - on the weekend of May 16-17, and enjoy a refreshing cultural awakening.
Radio Control: Slope Soaring
There aren't a great deal of competitive opportunities for the typical slope flier; you've basically got Racing, Combat, or Scale. There is one other little-mentioned score card, though: the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) record book. On May 10, two intrepid slope-flying colleagues, Rex Coffman and Dean Thomas, both from Eureka, California, set out to take a stab at the AMA Class A Slope Duration record. Armed with good batteries and some time to kill, each made 11-hour-plus flights. Rex took top honors with a flight of 11 hours and 43 minutes, besting Dean's time by 22 minutes. For any of you who have tried duration flying, you know that this is a long, long time to be standing on the hill pushing the sticks!
