Feb Newsletter

My first hands-on experience with R/C aircraft was slope soaring. This was long ago when I was in the Army stationed in Germany. Since then I've flown on slopes in southern Idaho, on the Washington coast and in the Palouse region. I've found slope soaring to be fun, exciting and a great way to none my flying skills.

The plane

Your first slope soarer should be sturdy and inexpensive. Select a glider in the size range sixty inches to two meter with either rudder/elevator or aileron/elevator for controls.

Good rudder/elevator candidates are the GP "Spirit" 2-meter, Dynaflite "Daydream", Sig "Riser", or CG "Gentle Lady". A very good aileron/elevator glider is the Sig "Ninja". The Dynaflite "Talon" is a 50 inch span aileron/elevator kit.

Since you can expect to make some hard landings/crashes on the slope, the EPP foam gliders are good candidates. M.A.D makes the "Highlander" rudder/elevator kit as well as scale "P-40" and "ME-P111" (flying wing) slope soarers. MM Glider Tech makes a "P-80", "Mig 15" and "F-86". Trick R/C makes the "Zagi" flying wing and the "Floater".

If you'd like to try small slopes, a small handlaunch glider would be best. These include the Dynaflite "Skeeter" and the M.M.G.T. "Illusion". These require a mini receiver, micro servos and mini battery pack.

Tower Hobby and Hobby People are good sources for slope soaring gliders, but Northeast Sailplanes (www.nesail.com) has the widest selection I've seen. They also have an excellent printed catalog with LOTS of good glider information. I'm sure there are other sources, but these should give you a large number of slope soaring gliders to select from.

If you can, it is a good idea to take two gliders, one for light wind conditions, such as a hand launch glider, and one for strong wind conditions, such as the Sig "Ninja". Another option is one plane with two wings. That way the long drive to the slope will result in some stick time, no matter what the wind strength.

The slope

The ideal slope should face the prevailing wind and be high enough to provide good slope lift and wide enough to give you lots of elbow room. Elbow room is especially important when several gliders are in the air at once. Small slopes can be used with small, maneuverable, light gliders, but these sites require more skill and are very sensitive to wind direction and strength.

Steptoe Butte is probably the best slope soaring site in the immediate vicinity. Steptoe Butte is located just off highway 195 north of Colfax, Washington. The butte is large and cone shaped, giving lots of room to fly and allowing flying when the wind is from most directions. Access is through Steptoe Butte State Park (a small picnic area at the base of the butte). The road to the top spirals around the butte, making three full turns. The road is narrow and has no guard rails until you get to the top. The only parking available is on the lower slopes and at the top.

The top of Steptoe Butte has lots of obstructions including a forest of receiving and transmitting antennas for various means of communication, lots of guard rails, and lots of car and pedestrian traffic. I've flown from the top, but can't recommend it to beginners. Landing is tricky at best and there is the possiblity of radio interference from the many transmitters.

The best wind directions at Steptoe Butte are west, south, and east, and all point between. The west facing slopes provide good lift conditions and good landing sites. South facing slopes offer good lift, but less favorable landing conditions (lots of shrubs and rocks). The east face has steep slopes for very good lift, but also has the most challenging landing sites.

Winds from the north and northeast will work, but there is no parking on the north slope once you get above the trees. To fly the north or northeast slopes, you must park and walk, or try flying from the top.

The northwest slopes have lots of brush on the lower slopes and no parking on the upper part of the butte. You might be able to fly on the northwest slopes by parking at the top and walking down.

The basic technique

For your first attempt, pick a day with a steady wind from the west or southwest.

Once you've arrive on the hill, the first step is to determine the wind direction. The wind should be blowing directly into the slope. This is sometimes difficult to determine and the wind direction may shift.

Assemble your glider and check that your controls work and are moving in the right direction. Launch into the wind with the nose slightly down. Your glider should fly away from you picking up speed and then climb gently in the lift. Be ready to push the nose down in case the glider zooms into a steep climb. Adjust your elevator trim to maintain a fast glide and constant altitude. This can be difficult in very light or very strong winds.

Turn to fly parallel with the slope. Fly in a figure eight pattern aligned parallel to the slope, always turning away from the slope at each end of the figure eight. Don't fly too far away. Once you've gained some experience, you can gain altitude and try loops, rolls and other aerobatic maneuvers. Practice, practice, practice.

Landing

Inevitably, you'll have to land. Either the wind will die, your battery will run out of juice, or you'll get tired of flying. I've found that the best landing method in moderate to light wind conditions is to fly diagonally up the slope, very close to the ground. Just before the glider stalls, turn back down the slope. If done perfectly, the plane will nearly stop as it turns back into the wind. If your are low enough, the plane will land. If not, the plane will fly down the slope, gaining speed and altitude. Try again at a lower altitude.

In light wind conditions, the smaller gliders can be flown to the pilot and caught in the hand. This is best done as a variation of the up-slope/turn method. Be careful of other pilots, and turbulence over the road and near obstacles.

If winds are strong, the up-slope/turn method may work. However, more drastic measures including landing in a shrub may be necessary. A method I've used is to fly to where the wind is blowing parallel to the slope and land on the road. This can be very tricky. More than one glider has been blown around the butte and lost from view trying this landing technique. It's often necessary to walk to a part of the slope away from the main flying activity where you can better judge your landing.

The EPP flying wings seem to be most tolerant of landing abuse. Flaps and spoilers make landings slower and more controllable.

Advantages

There are many advantages to slope soaring. These include no noise, no fuel residue, no engine to start, and the small amount of support equipment required (basic tools, rubber bands for the wing, and CA glue).

On a good day you can fly as long as your radio batteries last. I've flown over two hours in one flight.

A big advantage for beginners is that you can fly close, but still over two mistakes high. You can actually see what the plane is doing. Flying at or slightly above eye level is common.

Flying without power gives you experience in judging the stall speed and managing the momentum of your plane. This will make you a better power flier.

Many slope soaring gliders are inexpensive, easy and quick to build.

So, what are you waiting for? Get yourself a slope soarer and LET'S GO FLYING!

The weather was overcast and cold, but winds were very light. There was about a foot of snow with a crust on top and a half inch or so of new snow on top of the crust. The cloud ceiling was high enough that most pilots never noticed it. The even lighting made landings interesting. The featureless snow runway was nearly invisible until a plane came in low enough to cast a faint shadow. That shadow was enough to make judging landings fairly easy.

Expect for a few balky engines, everyone had good luck flying. Bob Boettcher had to nearly rebuild the engine (his oldest R/C engine) on his Butterfly. He got it running, but couldn't get it to transition consistently from low to high throttle without stopping. He asked my to give it a test flight. It ended up with its nose stuck in snow after I stalled it on a rather exciting landing approach when the engine died again.

A little lighter fluid or WD-40 helped get engines started in some cases. Twelve pilots signed in, but there were also several spectators, including Larry Bobisud and Pat Gates. The pilots who signed in were:

Jeff Nelson "Fun Fly Hots" Don Hart "Fun Fly Hots" and "Libel" Howard Hosick "Fazer" Bob Boettcher "Butterfly" Randy Reeder "Super Sportster 40" Chris Reeder Brian Wisdon CG "Eagle" John Sawyer "Seahawk" (on floats) Ben Troka "Raptor" helicopter Dave Walker CG "Falcon" (on floats) Randy Sexton ARF trainer Mel Colvin

If I remember right, we had frequency conflicts on only one channel, so freqency coordination was not a problem.

I arrived around 11am. A few pilots were there, but the serious flying began about noon and continued until it was nearly dark. There were usually several planes in the air all day.

Ben Troka put in some impressive flights with his "Raptor" helicopter. He was trying some new maneuvers including loops.

Most planes had skis, though a couple flew with floats. Most pilots had no problems with their landing gear equipment or the snow conditions. Dodging the footprints on the runway was challenging, but usually only an inconvenience. I had new skis on my Fun Fly Hots. These skis came out rather small for the plane, but they worked very well on the crusty snow. If the snow had been soft I would have been in trouble.

The turnout was great and the food was excellent and plentiful - soup, chili, chips & dips, cookies and desserts. Another great winter fun fly put on by Jeff and Tawny Nelson - congratulations!

The Palouse Ridge Runners spring mall show is scheduled for March 2, 3, and 4. Setup will be Thursday night, March 1. Howard Hosick will donate a plane as a prize. (Plane is a .20 sized Elder, a 3-channel monoplane.) Joe Bolden will donate a kit. We'll also try to set up a swap meet as part of the mall show. There will be prizes for the "Best in Show", but we're still coordinating acquiring them. There's also a possibility we'll be able to set up a 'glider building' clinic for the kids (we need materials and volunteers). Everyone, please check what you have available for video's we can run during the show.

It was noted the Spokane swap meet is scheduled for the same weekend. This could make it tight for finding volunteers to work the show. We'll need all the help from club members we can find.

There was a general discussion about events for the upcoming year. Items discussed were:

Jeff and Tawny Nelson Fun Fly - this was scheduled for January 27th, probably after you read this. A special flyer was send around with the announcement (see article in this newsletter).

Target the Spring Picnic for June.

Target the Fall Picnic around Dave Walker's hunting trip!

Possible consideration for a competition fun fly and a fun scale event (details to come later).

Bob Boettcher would like to have a float fly at his dock on Lake Couer d'Alene this summer (date to be determined). Fliers should take rought water into account due to boat traffic. Model power boats are also welcome.

Sloping events: This seemed to be pretty popular, and a 'mail list' will be created to get announcements out, etc. Howard Hosick, Bob Boettcher, Jeff Nelson, Jeff Snook, Mel Colvin, Pat Gates, Bruce Bumgarner, Les Grammer, Eric Horn and Don Hart expressed interest. Slope soaring is often a last-minute notification depending on weather conditions. Let a club officer know if you would like to be included.

We also discussed setting up Sundays as a 'get together to fly' time. Will be further discussion about whether this will be each Sunday, or particular Sundays of each month. Periodic breakfast get-togethers were also suggested (for the bad weather days?).

Club web site: Eric Horn would like club members who have First Step accounts to donate space for the club web site. The current content has been moved to Don Hart's account http://users.colfax.com/dhart/prr.

It was noted that it's about time to renew the club charter. Les Grammer will be checking into it as part of the Treasurer responsibilities.

Check out the mailing label on this copy of your newsletter. If your name is printed enclosed in $$, then the Treasurer does not have you recorded as paying your club dues. You will receive one more newsletter, but after that you will be dropped from the mailing list. Please get your dues paid up soon! (The sooner, the better!)

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