Radio Control: Soaring
Dan Pruss
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. 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—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:
Contest Schedule
- May 24–26, 1986 — The Sugarloaf Classic, sponsored by the Capital Area Soaring Association (CASA).
Course: 31.5 miles in rolling hills and open fields just south of Frederick, MD. Entry fee: $40. Further information: Charles Wells, Contest Director, 1-B Westway, Greenbelt, MD 20770.
- June 7–8, 1986 — Santa Maria Soaring Society's Sixth Annual Cross-Country Race.
Course: Triangular — 25 miles long. Further information: Larry Turner, 323 Nougera Pl., Arroyo Grande, CA 93420. Telephone: (805) 489-8000.
- June 19–21, 1986 — SOAR's Great Race X.
This 76 km classic has had sailplanes perform tasks that were only a dream 10 years ago. Site: flat open farmland and country roads about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. An added event this year will be Scale using AMA's Sport Scale rules. Teams may enter a Scale ship on their regular assigned frequency. Further information: contact the author at the address at the end of this column.
- July 12–13, 1986 — Fourth Annual Western Great Race. Sponsored by Thousand Oaks Soaring Society (TOSS).
Location: Taft, California. Course: approximately 20 miles; supervised turnaround. Special feature: Special LSF Level V course; special award. Contest Director: Chuck Griswold, 1646 La Jolla Dr., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. Phone: (805) 495-1409.
- July 19–20, 1986 — Dash-For-Cash, sponsored by Central Ontario Glider Group (COGG), sixth annual event.
Further information: Jack Nunn, RR1, Midhurst, Ontario L0L 1X0, Canada.
Now, we would like to make up teams; local clubs' aces can fly cross-country events over their own favorite courses. The San Fernando Valley Silent Flyers are organizing such an event; it will be a postal-type contest open to teams all over the world. As Jerry Krainock, one of the organizers, stated, the event idea is maximum participation, minimum expense. Entry fee is only five dollars.
The SFVSF press release states the concept is very simple: any flier, in any location in the world, can enter. Anytime during the month of August 1986 a flier can make attempts at desired flying locations entirely of his or her own choosing. The result — the best attempt — is forwarded to the organizers in the USA to arrive no later than September 30, 1986. Winners will be announced shortly thereafter. The task is a straight-line goal distance of 30 kilometers.
Further information: SFVSF Postal Contest, Mr. Ed Slobod, 9626 Jellico Ave., Northridge, CA 91325, USA.
Advantages of the above event include:
- Low cost.
- Choice of weather.
- Shorter travel time to cross-country sites.
- Exposure of such flying to other members of the local club.
Now you can't find an excuse not to fly.
Scale News
The word out is that there is a 99.9% chance that Scale will be flown along with the regular events at the 1986 AMA Nationals in Lake Charles, LA. That means it won't be flown as a separate event after the regular events have been held and the awards are presented for those events. Jeff Troy will again serve as Contest Director for the Nationals.
More Scale News — SOAR Scale-Only Contest (1987)
SOAR, a Midwest club, has announced that in 1987 they will sponsor a scale-only contest to be run over a three-day period. What will make this undertaking especially interesting is that the contest will be no-holds-barred as to the number of categories. That means each type of sailplane or glider entered will fly only against others of that type.
What this really means is that the Horsa troop-carrier won't have to compete against a Minimoa, and the Schulgleiter (trainer) models won't have to jockey around the skies with an ASW-22—not competitively, anyway.
Rules would be AMA and tasks likewise. However, depending on the number of entries and weather, some added tasks not in the standard event could be included. The main idea behind this event is to give maximum exposure to Scale through a low-key, fun-flying get-together.
Categories being considered and suggested include:
- Pre-1946
- Primary/hand gliders
- Military (combat)
- Flying wings
- Standard (15 meters and under)
- Open (over 15 meters)
- Post-1946: same as above
Special awards are already being considered for:
- Oldest subject
- Largest model
- Smallest model
- Best scratch-built
- Best model from a kit
- Best presentation of documentation
- Contestant's choice for Best of Meet
- Best technical achievement in realism
- Best photograph of the model in a realistic setting
Although this will be a sport-scale event, recognition will be given in the foregoing categories. The year 1987 was purposely selected to give those interested enough lead time to build a winner. Specific dates are being worked out so as not to conflict with other major events.
To get on the mailing list, send a postcard with your name and address printed clearly and include the category you would be interested in. This is in no way a pre-registration commitment to enter or to fly in the category listed.
Send the postcard to: Steve Moskal, 30 S. Kensington Ave., La Grange, IL 60525.
This is the best excuse to fly Scale that has come along in a long time. So, clear out the rafters and resurrect that world-beater that has been collecting dust—or clear the workbench and get that dream ship going. You have over a year to show your stuff.
Good lift.
Dan Pruss 131 E. Pennington Ln. Plainfield, IL 60544
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
