Radio Control: Slope Soaring
Wil Byers
3540 Eastlake Dr., West Richland, WA 99352 Email: wilbyers@aol.com
I formed a company about a year-and-a-half ago to produce a quarterly U.S. magazine dedicated to RC soaring. The concept was to produce a 16-page black-and-white newsletter for the scale, slope, and FAI enthusiast. However, before Volume 1, Number 1 went to press it had grown into a 48-page color and B&W magazine. The initial volume was titled Scale Slope and FAI.
A lot has changed since that first issue. The magazine has now grown to 112 pages. It is no longer titled Scale Slope and FAI because we broadened its scope and coverage to include all facets of soaring and electrics. Therefore, we now market the magazine under the name Sailplane & Electric Modeler (see our ad in this issue).
Sailplane & Electric Modeler is showing signs of success and continues to grow. Consequently, the time I find myself spending to edit and conduct the business of publishing a special-interest magazine has grown immensely. Furthermore, my work and family need my attention as well.
As a result, I must now admit I no longer have the time to contribute quality material to Model Aviation. Therefore, it is with a great deal of respect for the hobby of RC soaring and the readers of MA that I say goodbye.
I have learned a lot about the hobby and the people involved in it over these past years. You have shared a great deal of information with me, which I hope I have been able to give back. Further, I want to continue to share my love of the hobby with you via the pages of Sailplane & Electric Modeler. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day and I now want to give my attention to the magazine.
Subscription and contact: Sailplane & Electric Modeler, Box 4267, W. Richland, WA 99353-0024. The cost is $22 third-class mail and $27 first-class. Internet: www.sailplanemodeler.com.
My involvement in the hobby really broadened when I acted as a Fun Fly director for a slope event in 1980. The event was hosted in Washington state at a site located at Vantage. Only about 30 people showed up. We flew gliders with no real purpose other than to be together as a group. It was a ball, and we all went away with a feeling of camaraderie.
As 1997 approaches, I look back over those 17 years. I cannot help being struck with awe at the changes in the hobby. So much has changed! Nevertheless, the one thing that has not changed is the desire of modelers to assemble in a group for the sheer enjoyment of the hobby.
1997 Slope Jamboree and Scale Contest
The Mid-Columbia Soarers (in conjunction with Sailplane & Electric Modeler) invite you to participate in the 1997 Slope Jamboree and Scale Contest at Richland, Washington. The event is scheduled for June 14–22 and is all about fun!
Event format and activities
The format is pretty simple and focuses on fun. It will, however, offer participants a chance at slope fun-flying for both scale and non-scale aircraft, plus organized events:
- Slope fun-flying (Scale and Non-Scale)
- Long-course slope race (1,320-foot course)
- Altitude flying
- Speed course
- Combat
Entrants will be able to join a midweek caravan to Wallowa Lake, a beautiful recreation area buried in the Wallowa National Forest in northeastern Oregon. It is also known as “The Little Alps.” Caravaners will take a 4,000-foot gondola ride to reach 8,350-foot meadows, where they will have a chance to soar their models from a most beautiful setting.
Wallowa Lake is an absolutely superb vacation spot for the whole family. It offers excellent camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and some wonderful museums for the art enthusiast. Bringing your family would certainly add to the fun and festivities.
Beyond Wallowa Lake, we will try to caravan to Hat Point. Hat Point is a Forest Service area with a lookout tower. It also has a runway large enough to fly aircraft in and out during fire season. Moreover, it looks over Snake River Canyon—the deepest canyon in North America. The flying should be outstandingly beautiful and unusual. There are slope sites all along the route for all soarers to explore.
Scale contest
A scale contest will close out the week back in Richland. The format is simple and promises entrants a load of fun and enjoyment. The scale task is for the pilot to fly a man-on-man slot time, attempting to gain as much airtime as possible in the slot. Classes will be broken out by scale sizes and vintage:
- 1/25-scale and smaller (vintage or modern)
- 1/8-scale to 1/5-scale (vintage or modern)
- 1/3-scale to 1/2-scale (vintage or modern)
Launches will be accomplished by winch or tug. A percentage of perfect score is awarded the pilot who can keep his scale model in the air the longest time. Models that are landed outside the simulated runway will be penalized 25 points.
We hope many soaring enthusiasts will come join in the fun. It will be a great way to take a break from the contest circuit.
Closing
It has been a whole lot of enjoyment writing for this magazine. It was, to some extent, good for the ego and spirit. More importantly, it was a super way for me to meet many very nice people and truly share in their hobby. This time at MA has definitely made me realize why I participate in the hobby. It helped me realize that RC soaring is an art form—something you can never be 100 percent perfect at, either in flying or in the building of models. Each flight and each airplane have some minor imperfection. When you think you have mastered one, there is always another airplane to build or another day's lift to fly.
— Wil Byers
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
