TRIPLE TREE AERODROME HOSTS THE MIDSOUTH
By Gordon Buckland | gordon@gatonf3b.com
WITH THE FORCED CANCELLATION of many contests in 2020 as the pandemic raged, it is exciting to see events return in 2021. Jeff Carr must be applauded for once again organizing a great Soaring contest with the Midsouth Soaring Championships at the pristine Triple Tree Aerodrome venue near Woodruff, South Carolina. If you haven’t been to the Triple Tree Aerodrome, you’re missing a legendary aviation experience. It boasts the longest grass runway in the world. It is the scene of the famous Joe Nall event, and has an excellent museum hangar as well.
Mike Gardner, of Gainesville, Florida, is an enthusiastic Soaring pilot and a regular at the Midsouth event. He kindly chronicled his experience at this year’s contest.
Throughout the past year, I’ve often heard the phrase “COVID ruined that.” It has come up when talking with family, at work, and, of course, in RC. Many of us can relate to the fact that some of our most beloved contests and gatherings were canceled or postponed.
That’s exactly what happened with the 2020 Midsouth Soaring Championships—it was canceled. Many Soaring pilots from throughout the South were heartbroken that we were unable to continue the tradition.
In 2021, Contest Director Jeff Carr worked hard to host the event again at the beautiful Triple Tree venue. The Midsouth was my first real outing away from home after being vaccinated. I had been wanting to get out and enjoy the outdoors and needed some of the peace and quiet that I had missed during the last year while being in a house with three girls!
When I arrived on Wednesday afternoon, Jeff was heading out for errands, leaving me free to explore the grounds. Whether it’s your first visit to Triple Tree or your 100th, you must go to the hangar museum and look around. I found that several aircraft had been taken out of the hangar, and after wandering around, I was greeted by Ben Templeton and Triple Tree founder Pat Hartness.
We talked about Ben’s upcoming adventure of flying to all 48 continental states. After helping ensure that Ben’s Piper J-3 Cub was safely navigated back into the restoration hangar, I was then taken on a tour. It was amazing to see an 85% RC J-3 Cub modeled after the one that Ben was flying. I was thrilled that Pat took the time to show me around!
Friday was the first day of competition, with both F5J and Altitude Limited Electric Soaring (ALES) taking place concurrently. I flew okay for the most part and did have two memorable rounds. In the first group of round one, I made an initial read and was pretty sure the competition had the same read as well. With only a few seconds before the buzzer, I spotted birds on the opposite side of the field. I reached the lift, but I was concerned about being too aggressive. In F5J, consistency and not trying to be the hero is what gets you a high score. I got my max, a 45 landing, and a 61-meter launch altitude, hurting many other contestants’ chances with my first flight.
Later in the day, the wind really came up. In my group was another top competitor. We both read lift downwind and soon after launch, we were the only two in the air. My competitor was a known landing machine, so I hoped that I could pull off a good landing.
Unfortunately, I left a couple of seconds on the clock and got a 40. I was further dismayed to find that I went to a 201-meter launch height and figured that would knock me out of the top 10. I was surprised to learn that the other pilot launched to 274 meters, giving me the 1,000 for the round. I finished F5J in sixth place.
Saturday’s and Sunday’s contests were mixed launch, where traditional winch-launched models compete alongside electric-powered models. The electric models mimic a winch launch by leaving the competitor’s hand and flying down the field similar to what a winch-launched sailplane would do. The altitude cutoff was set to 150 meters.
Saturday’s contest saw a lot of wind. I flew my 4-meter X3 Xplorer with 270 grams of ballast and this felt as though it was a little light. My most memorable flight was later in the day. The sky was overcast and there was steady wind with some gusts, as small thermal bubbles lifted off. I didn’t have a read before launch, so I took a heading 45° from the headwind to see if I could hit any lift coming through.
Unfortunately, the flight went sour pretty fast. I decided to go to the upwind side of the closest tree line and spent the next 7 minutes working the tree slope lift. I kept it going up until there was approximately a minute left for the flight and I headed in for a landing.
Coming in, I pushed the nose over just a bit too early. Although I don’t think I won the round, it was a great flight, and getting a compliment from my caller, Jody Miller, on my flying skills really sent me to the moon!
Sunday was the last contest of the weekend. The heat wore everyone down, and then the wind turned 180°, putting landing approaches up the slope of the runway. This meant that you had to adjust your altitude for the slope. Pilots fought with this factor the whole day and it took its toll on me—I only made two scoring landings. The air was also a bit crazy at times, as pilots making their downwind leg and turning to base would see their models pushed to the ground by the incredible sink flowing through. As always, some pilots were able to rise above it all, and two of them achieved a perfect score.
With the Midsouth being postponed last year, all of the pilots were so glad to be back. Jeff, his dedicated family, and a group of volunteers ran the contest with as much gusto as ever, and with Triple Tree being the home for aviation enthusiasts, it was good to be home.
Many thanks to Mike for taking the time to share his experience at the Midsouth event. I hope he has inspired you to attend next year on Memorial Day weekend. A thread on the contest, including results, can be found on RCGroups, listed in “Sources.”
Until next time, go downwind and soar!
SOURCES:
Triple Tree Aerodrome
info@tta.aero
www.tripletreeaerodrome.com
RCGroups
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3809475
Team USA F3J
www.TeamUSAF3J.com
League of Silent Flight (LSF)
www.silentflight.org
