RC Soaring

Author: Gordon Buckland

People posing with a model sailplane and donated toys at a Toys for Tots event.

RC SOARING

TOYS
FOR TOTS
SOARING AND
MORE

By Gordon Buckland | gordon@gatorf3b.com

THE TOYS FOR TOTS SOARING EVENT at the Orlando Buzzards field in Christmas, Florida, held December 12-13, 2020, was the best-attended event for the Florida Soaring Society in many years. Twenty-one pilots came out to enjoy warm, overcast conditions and support a worthy charity. Each pilot donated one or more toys up to a $15 value and 121 toys were collected for underprivileged kids throughout the weekend.

The event also marked the end of an era for Florida Soaring and the Orlando Buzzards, with Jody Miller flying in a Florida Soaring event as a local resident probably for the last time. He is moving north to pursue his dream of becoming a UAV test pilot with NASA.

Saturday saw the triumphant return of Dillon Graves, who prevailed over Jody in soaring conditions that were so good that it was a landing shootout between the best pilots.

Sunday’s event was completed in sunnier conditions, with the lead going back and forth until Jody and Junior pilot Brayden Chamberlain finished in a tie for first place. On a countback, Jody was awarded first place. The win also clinched his position as overall winner of the 2020 Masters class in the Florida Soaring Series. It was a fitting last season for a pilot who has contributed much to Soaring in Florida. The full scores can be found on the RCGroups thread listed in “Sources.”

Harley Michaelis

I am saddened to report the recent passing of Harley Michaelis, the prolific sailplane designer who was the focus of my September 2020 column. Harley’s passion and enthusiasm will be greatly missed by the RC Soaring community. Sincere condolences go to his family.

Two 18650 batteries wired together as a Li-Ion flight pack. — Here is an example of the Li-Ion flight pack wiring layout for the plug and balance ports, utilizing two 18650 cells. The tabs for wiring the cells were spot-welded to the battery end terminals by Nike Gardner. Wires can be directly soldered to the battery terminal if done quickly using a hot soldering iron. Weslager photo.

Pilots and spectators gathered at a soaring event field. — Twenty-one pilots attended the eighth annual Toys for Tots Soaring event at the Orlando Buzzards field. Raed explained the rules for this mixed-launch contest (both winch-launched and electric models were allowed) at the pilots’ meeting. Weslager photo.

A pilot launches an electric sailplane while another person watches. — John Kennedy launches his electric sailplane while being watched carefully by winch master Doug Chamberlain. Electric models launched to 150 meters used the Altitude Limited Electric Sailplane (ALES) cam device. Flight times start when the electric model motor switches off. Weslager photo.

A Note on Receiver Batteries

As sailplane fuselages have become smaller and battery chemistry has evolved, a simple, low-cost flight pack has been developed that is easy to make, lightweight, and can fit nearly anywhere.

Using two 18650 Li-Ion batteries (3.7 volts each) in series is an excellent solution and inexpensive at $2 to $3 each for 1,800 mAh. They are readily available online up to 3,500 mAh if you wish to pay more.

Update on the LSF

The League of Silent Flight (LSF) has a new secretary. Jody has taken on the responsibility of recording your Soaring accomplishments and providing new level sheets, etc.

It was recently discovered that some completed sheets might have been lost in transit to or from the AMA. If you submitted any LSF accomplishment forms by mail and did not receive acknowledgement or a reply, please send a copy of your lost form to Jody via the email address listed in “Sources.”

Sailplane flying beneath a bird in a cloudy sky. — A local thermal assistant helps this Xplorer pilot center a thermal. The feathered buzzards were out in big numbers for the Toys for Tots event, as were their ground-based namesakes. Weslager photo.

Pilot launching an electric sailplane in a field. — Rusty Carver returned in 2020 to fly with the Orlando Buzzards after a long absence. Rusty always performed well in the past as a Thermal Duration pilot. He is seen here launching his electric model in the mixed-launch Thermal contest. Weslager photo.

That’s all for this month, but a quick reminder to buy tickets in the giant Team USA F3J raffle before it’s over. The team needs your support, and four beautiful F3J/F5J models are available for you to win. Go downwind and soar!