Radio Control: Soaring
HOW MANY OF US, through the course of our model flying, have had the occasion to help the new flier in our group with his, or her, first flight? We probably each have our own "talking through" techniques for the neophyte-and most of these procedures, no doubt, have been successful. Yet, how many of these new fliers really learned anything from those first flights? It has been this scribe's observation that the normal "talk through" conversations, which range from "a little right"-"push the nose over"-"a little up"-to "Harvey, I think we better run for cover!" have left the new flier with not necessarily the same confidence it takes to run a sailplane on a slalom course through a string of telephone poles.
Radio Control: Soaring
FAI Team Selection for 1977 OFFICIAL WORD on the First R/C Sailplane World Championships to be held in South Africa should be available by the time you read this. Lead time doesn't permit that announcement in this column, but hopefully South Africa will be hosting the event in April, 1977. In the meantime, we, the U.S.A., have all of 1976 to select the best three fliers to represent our country. A proposal which was drafted by Otto Heithecker was adopted last July by the N.S.S. Board of Directors. This proposal, in essence, says that Quarter-Finals are to be run anywhere in the country during the month of May. Semi-Finals would be conducted during the July 4th weekend in six areas of the country. The finals would be held in September over the three day, Labor Day, weekend.
Radio Control: Soaring
SINCE THIS column began almost a year ago, numerous readers' requests have been received with regards to nearly every aspect of RC sailplanes. These included requests for airfoil designs and specific coordinates-where to find them and how to plot them. The League of Silent Flight office also gets many requests as does that of the National Soaring Society. "How-to" questions include slope and thermal soaring, launching techniques, linkages for various controls, and building techniques. Over the years a few books were published that dealt with sailplane designs. Some of these have become "bibles" to some and justifiably so. Currently, other books are on the market and in most respects have kept pace with the state of the art and in some ways have illustrated ideas how that state could be advanced.
Radio Control: Soaring
THE GREAT Bi-Centennial RC Sailplane race! Open to the first 17 AMA chartered clubs that pre-register (one club for each frequency). The task will be a cross-country goal and return race-total distance of 76 kilometers (got it? 1776). Scheduled for July 17, in conjunction with the Seventh S.O.A.R. Nationals, the race will have the following restrictions: 1. Open only to AMA chartered clubs. 2. One entry per club. 3. No restrictions as to sailplane functions, but sailplane must be within AMA size and weight criteria. 4. Sailplane must have a red, white, and blue color scheme and carry a patriotic slogan or theme (press on lettering works good for this).
Radio Control: Soaring
The Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Society Snow Fly BACK IN FEBRUARY 1971 the G.D.S.&H.S., a stalwart group of diehards, announced a sailplane contest. In Michigan? In February? No other name would be more appropriate than "Snow Fly." That first contest had a modest entry of ten fliers. February, no doubt, had some effect on such a low attendance and the zero temperature kept all of the fair weather fliers close to the fire. The records show that the contest was a mild success. Fliers worked when radios didn't and vice versa. Contestants came from as far away as Chicago, which doesn't necessarily make a contest successful.
