Radio Control: Soaring
Dan Pruss
Records
RECORDS. Maybe it was the long winter that set five fliers in motion when the good weather finally came. Cabin fever can make one do weird things. Long sailplane flights, while not necessarily in the same category as wind, do, however, seem to be more common shortly after the snow blower gets mothballed for the summer. Check out these flights:
- On May 2, Dean Landreth and Bob Champine tested their planes for the record trials taking place over the upcoming weekend. Bob had a practice flight that lasted nearly six hours and landed just after sunset.
- On Friday, May 3, Dennis Everett tried a new Eppler 211 wing on an Oly II fuselage and tail. Eight hours, six minutes, and 43 seconds later he landed, setting new records for Standard Class and Modified Standard Class sailplanes.
- On Saturday, Dean Landreth launched his Midwest Soarer for an attempt at a Two‑Meter Slope record. Nearly 10 hours later he landed, setting a new record of 9:59:02.
Ask any of the past 33 LSF Level V achievers, and they'll all tell you the eight‑hour Slope flight is by far the most grueling of the LSF tasks. Ask any of them how much time they spent in the air after the witnesses called the eight‑hour mark, and to a person they'll probably tell you just long enough to double‑check the time, find the landing spot, and ask where the nearest big tree is.
Bob Champine needed only an eight‑hour Slope flight to become the 34th LSF Level V.
Bob Champine
This was not only the final requirement for his LSF Level V, but also a new Unlimited Slope record of 9:53:10!
A side note on Bob Champine: Bob recently retired as a NASA test pilot, and I don't know of a modeler who enjoys the sport of sailplaning more than he does. Quiet, and with an "aw shucks, it weren't nothin'" attitude when you do get him to talk about his flying days, you find out he has over 200 different airplanes listed in his log book, many of those with an "X" prefix.
Here's wishing you can log at least 200 sailplanes in your retirement log, Bob.
Memorial Day Cross‑Country Attempts
While the foregoing flights were made on the West Coast, a couple of Midwest gents were making plans for Memorial Day weekend attempts on cross‑country records for the different classes.
Jack Hiner, who fell short of his Declared Distance goal over Memorial Day weekend in 1983, set out again on May 26 this year. Last year, after covering 47 miles, the ground crew made a wrong turn and the plane flew off course. By the time this was realized, a too‑strong wind prevented recovery back to the course. The plan worked much better this year.
For those who lean toward these types of record‑setting flights, it's worth passing on what—and how—the experts plan. Obviously, the weather is the biggest factor—just behind safety. Late spring and early summer seem to provide the best odds for good lift conditions. To outsmart fickle winds, Jack and company set up four basic courses: one for each direction—north, east, south, and west. More directions would be planned, but the grid pattern of farmland and country roads doesn't include many courses in other directions. Farm roads with very little traffic were selected for safety; besides low traffic, the roads sidestep towns.
The planning was near perfect for May 26; however, the wind direction could have been better. Winds out of the northwest from 10 to 24 knots produced a quartering tailwind that required more course corrections than hoped for, since the lift was light throughout the flight. No long runs were made between thermals, and with a course that required fourteen 90° turns, this flight was hard work.
This being a Declared Distance attempt meant the landing had to take place within 300 meters of the spot for an AMA record and within 500 meters for an FAI record.
Starting at 11:00 a.m. and landing at 4:41 p.m., the 5:41:00 flight covered 91.47 miles (147.29 kilometers) for a new AMA record and a tentative FAI record. The AMA record breaks Dale Folkening's 42.82 miles set in October 1982. Dale was the Contest Director for Jack's flight.
The plane used was a Pegasus (plan No. 307, Model Aviation, August 1980), a copy of the one that holds the current Open Distance record of 104.12 miles and the Altitude record of 6,025 feet, which now hangs in the AMA museum. The flight ran from Braidwood, IL to south of Urbana, IL to Villa Grove.
Then, on May 27, young Brian Isenhour flew a stock Aquila (using a Miller airfoil modification) for 12.6 miles to set a new record in the Junior category. Still feeling good about that, on June 3 Brian set a Standard‑class Altitude record of 3,000 feet. The plane had a specially designed fuselage capable of carrying a Replogle barograph. Photos will appear in next month's column.
(For reference to all AMA model airplane records as of March 1984, see the June 1984 issue of Model Aviation, page 119. Me? I'm finally going to put the snow shovels away.)
Postal Contest
Back in the April 1984 column, results were given for the Pinellas Soaring Association's postal contest. An invitation was also offered to any interested clubs to compete in a second postal meet.
Six clubs from six countries competed in this one—a contest with a different twist. Tasks for this contest included six‑minute Duration with a spot landing and four‑lap F3B Speed. The kicker was that both tasks were flown at the same weight during the same round.
Results:
- Southern Soaring Club — South Africa — 26,156 points
- Brisbane — Australia — 25,134 points
- Pinellas — U.S.A. — 23,457 points
- White Sheet — England — 20,253 points
- VSF Vermold — Germany — 19,262 points
- Wellington — New Zealand — 9,732 points
Each club (team) scored its best five fliers. Best Speed time was 24.0 seconds by John Lightfoot of South Africa. John also had the best individual score for four rounds with 6,127 points.
The team from Germany flew only flying wings. Bad weather plagued their contest, and only two maxes were recorded; their best Speed time was 39 seconds.
Incidentally, Sean Walbank, the top British flier in the contest, edits and publishes a fine magazine called The White Sheet. It's quarterly, and the Spring 1984 issue is crammed with over 40 pages on soaring. It's well worth the four‑pound subscription. Send subscription requests to: Sean Walbank, Editor 29 The Gardens, Acreman St. Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3PD England
If you're interested in the next postal contest, write to: Kale Harden 3184 Brunswick Circle Palm Harbor, FL 33563 U.S.A.
Good lift.
Dan Pruss 131 E. Pennington Ln. Plainfield, IL 60544
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
