DREAMS AND
THE ALULA
By Greg Schutte | gshooty@yahoo.com
LAST SUMMER, I had the opportunity to go on a 50-mile hike with my son and his Scout troop. The hike was in the Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness, located in Idaho. I completed this same hike with my father when I was in Scouts at 15 years old. My son is currently that same age.
I remember, when I was a kid, that there was a lot of walking and always being hungry. The fishing was excellent. You could see forever in any direction when standing on the top of those high peaks and mountain passes. The wind and sun on my face were refreshing as I watched the birds soar when we took breaks. Those memories have been forever etched into my brain.
After getting into Slope Soaring, I dreamed of flying those same mountains. That view, while flying, is what I would call perfect. That dream is one of the driving forces behind my obsession with having a highly portable flying machine, which is, of course, my Sparrow project.
Upon committing to go on the 50-miler, I instantly set a goal of Slope flying on that trip. My Sparrow is small, but it wouldn’t last the seven-day hiking trip being strapped onto the outside of my backpack. They call it the River of No Return Wilderness for a reason. There are no roads—only hiking and horses are allowed.
I wanted something that would fold up and fit into a 3- to 4-inch diameter, hard-plastic tube. My Spektrum DX6 controller was way too bulky, and weight was also going to be an issue. The small RadioLink T8S radio system that I covered in my October 2023 column solved the bulky radio problem.
For many years, I have been working on a folding wing design, but making parts that are lightweight and strong is sometimes harder than it looks. With my 3D printer, this became a lot easier. I finally had all of the tools that I needed to make a folding wing.
I ended up building multiple prototypes, all of which failed in one way, shape, or form. With my failure weighing down and taking up the space in my backpack instead of a Slope wing, I went on the 50-miler and sat on those peaks with my son.
We made some awesome memories, just like I did years ago with my dad. My son, unfortunately, had to listen to me talk about flying while we sat there. He is also an RC Slope Soaring pilot, so he did feel my pain. He even pointed out some soaring birds every once in a while. The fishing was as good as I remember. If I can’t fly, catching native cutthroat and rainbow trout on a fly rod is a nice substitute. Overall, the hike was a priceless set of memories.
So, where do I go from here? Enter the Alula-TREK by Dream-Flight. With my Sparrow obsession, I had forgotten about
that little beauty. A friend of mine had the original Alula design many years ago. He flew it all the time and ended up giving it to me when he moved. When I first designed the Sparrow concept, it looked a lot like the Alula. That forward-swept wing design is nothing but good looking. I still have
that Alula in my garage. It hangs out with all of the other airplanes “that I’ll get to one of these days.”
I was mesmerized the first time that I saw the video online of a guy in bib coveralls flying his Alula in front of his house. He hand-launched it, thermaled
it up, soared a tree line, and then hand-caught it after the flight. I so wanted to do that. After that video, I scoured the interwebs for more videos of that little magic bird. I remember seeing the Alula soaring little 5-foot sand dunes at the beach as well as ripping holes in the sky on large mountains. The birds seemed to look at it as though it was one of their own. It did it all.
I have kept up with the evolution of the Alula. The version that is offered today is a nice, little unit. It can now be broken down and packed into the small box that it is shipped in. The airplane can be assembled quickly and easily. The wing is held in place with some strong rare earth magnets. The whole airplane is injection-molded using EPO foam—there is no more crude foam and tape construction. This makes for a lightweight and easy-to-build flying machine.
When I ordered mine, I also got the servo/battery package. The servos and battery fit nicely into their designated spots on the airframe. The overall size of the Alula is smaller than my Sparrow and, for what it is, it flies just as well. It’s probably better than my Sparrow in some conditions.
Now, I’m a builder as much as a flier, so I’m kind of a snob when it comes to ARFs or, in this case, an Almost Ready to Glide (ARG). It is nice, however, to be able to put an airplane together in a couple of hours and go fly. My day job requires that I travel and spend lots of time in a hotel. My Sparrow can be kind of awkward to store and move around in this situation. It likes to fall off of my travel cart going to and from the hotel. I built my Alula while staying in a hotel room. It wasn’t hard to build, even without access to my standard tools at home. That says something about the Alula design.
Mine was built to factory specifications and it flies just beautifully. The T8S radio system makes the overall package lightweight and small. Being able to break it down and put it in a small box has also made it easy to store and transport in and out of the hotel or vehicle.
I still have the dream of flying those high peaks. There are also some new ideas about a folding wing floating in my brain that will be explored. Flying my Sparrow is still as enjoyable as ever, but the Alula is going to be in my truck as well when I go flying. There might be a set of bib coveralls in my future, and I might even take it hiking.
Fly safely!
SOURCES:
League of Silent Flight (LSF)
www.silentflight.org
Dream-Flight
(805) 845-1803
www.dream-flight.com
RadioLink
sales@radiolink.com.cn
www.radiolink.com.cn/doce
USDA Forest Service
Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness
www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nezperceclearwater/recarea/?recid=16476
U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management
Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness
www.blm.gov/visit/frank-church-river-no-return-wilderness
