RC Soaring

Author: Gordon Buckland

Edition: Model Aviation - 2024/09
Page Numbers: 72, 73, 74

Pilot group with radio-controlled gliders at the MidSouth Soaring Championships

EAST COAST
F5J ROUNDUP

By Gordon Buckland | gordon@gatorf3b.com

THE USA F5J TOUR includes stops at many locations around the country, providing an awesome opportunity for Soaring enthusiasts to travel a little and meet a bunch of like-minded fliers for a few days of Soaring goodness.

With that in mind, I decided to make the trek from Orlando, Florida, to an obscure place in North Carolina called Farmville for the East Coast Spring F5J Festival. The best thing about our hobby is the great folks that we have. Fortunately, my friend, John Kennedy, was able to transport my models and gear from Florida, and Jeff DuVal kindly collected me from the Raleigh, North Carolina, airport. The contest director, Oleg Golividov, and Brady Baggs did a fine job of preparing their tiny field beside the road, with tree lines in abundance and a briar patch right down one side.

With a cold front having passed through earlier, the contest began on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. A gentle breeze soon increased to 14 mph, with gusts at times being 18 mph or more. It wasn’t just windy—it was really cold at times. The warmest temperature did not come until after 5 p.m., which made for a lot of very interesting action all day and many good pilots taking zeros for restarting to save their models from the clutches of the briar patch.

Both Jeff and I were humbled by the big lift/big sink conditions, where we specked out downwind in awesome lift at 4 minutes in, but we could not escape the huge piece of sink that followed and had to restart to save the model.

The pilots who flew more conservatively took the day. Brady, Jesper Frickmann, and Dave Malkin showed us how it was done in the wind.

John, as my F5J model chauffeur, also flew very well and sat in fourth overnight.

Sunday’s forecast for milder conditions with less wind—and so it was. Even then, many pilots who were flying light found that the air was tough to read and either landed out or restarted for more zeros. It was definitely a zero-ballast day, and some low starts in the 40-meter range yielded Jeff four 1,000s, but the pilots who were most consistent prevailed. Brady won by scoring every flight, with his worst score and drop as 913. Dave also flew an amazing contest after posting a 650 in the first round, but he didn’t miss a beat the following 10 rounds to place second. Both pilots were great examples of how important it is in a contest to post a score every round.

Jesper did drop a late round on Sunday but hung on to third place ahead of Joe Bradley in fourth. Josh Glaab made up the top five pilots, who each took home a very nice, wooden plaque.

The conditions for the contest were definitely difficult, but that is what really makes Soaring so much fun. The Spring Festival was an awesome experience, and any time that I can spend three days on a flying field somewhere in the world with a bunch of flying mates, I thank the gods. There is nothing better.

MidSouth Soaring Championships

For readers who haven’t been to this event, you absolutely must add Triple Tree Aerodrome’s MidSouth Soaring Championships at the end of May to your bucket list. It is a spectacular venue in Woodruff, South Carolina, and it’s an event that is awesomely organized by Jeff Carr and his crew. Camping and aviation goodness, combined with great friends and the biggest contest on the East Coast, make it a gem.

Friday saw five rounds of F3 Rudder-Elevator-Spoiler (F3RES) with an inclusive twist that allowed electric starts launching to 100 meters. Despite what looked like a height advantage for the electrics, Gavin Trussell prevailed for the win with great downwind forays and flying his string-launched Medina.

The F5J contest that started Saturday was flown in variable conditions, with very few pilots risking low launches from the first round until the final one of the day, where some successful sub-40-meter launches were recorded. It was a successful day again for Gavin, who took the lead, with Brady and Jeff in hot pursuit.

Sunday dawned with less clouds. As the day progressed, it became a Soaring pilot’s dream, with good reads that lead to low launches and more risk-taking. With risk-taking also came the inevitable tears because pilots didn’t find enough up-air and had to restart for zeros.

It seemed that Brady had almost surely won the contest going into the last round. Earlier, he made an incredible save from an approximate 3-meter altitude ever-so-close to the tree line, but he somehow willed his model up and over to gradually get away and get his max. He took a bit too much risk in the last round, which finally caused him to restart, and the zero dropped him into second place. Gavin moved to third with two final round scores in the 970s, while Jeff took two 1,000s at the end to jump into first place.

This contest was the best MidSouth ever. The biggest takeaway for me was the memorable BBQ dinner that was put on by Jeff’s crew on Saturday night. Don’t miss this contest next year!

Florida Soaring Society Summer F5J Heater

It gets very warm in Florida from June through August, and a lot of folks don’t want to stand out looking up at the sky when the temperatures are in the mid- to high-90s. Despite that, Mike Gardner organized an excellent contest on June 8 called the Florida Soaring Society Summer F5J Heater. With an array of great sandwiches supplied for lunch, three coolers of iced water, and a big fan to stand in front of, 14

Five pilots holding awards at the East Coast Spring F5J Festival — The East Coast Spring F5J Festival awards were very colorful. (L-R): Josh Glaab, fifth place; Joe Bradley, fourth place; Jesper Frickmann, third place; Dave Malkin, second place; and Brady Baggs, first place.

Four pilots holding awards at the Florida Soaring Society Summer F5J Heater — Awards at the Florida Soaring Society Summer F5J Heater. (L-R): Rusty Carver; Mickey Nowell, third place; Gordon Buckland, first place; Jeff DuVal, second place.

of us gathered at the Flying Gators RC Club’s excellent facility in Archer, Florida, to do battle.

Conditions started out very calm and extremely hot, which produced easy Soaring conditions early each day but quickly developed into big lift/big sink conditions during the afternoon, with some gusts up to 15 mph.

Every pilot maxed the first three rounds, but by round four, the down air between the thermal cycles was bringing some flights to an early ending. With great precision, Jeff executed his launch heights and 50-point landings on the first day to finish on top with six straight 1,000s. I was 17 points in arrears, carrying a 966 drop, with Mike in third place 19 points further back and carrying a zero drop. This allowed Jeff and I to exercise a little more risk on Sunday while everyone else was already carrying a substantially low score that required them to take more caution.

The temperature reached 99° on Sunday, and as the prevailing wind set in from the west and combined with big sink, many pilots misjudged the cycle or failed to run deep enough downwind to reach the lift, which resulted in very short flights.

I executed an extremely memorable flight in round nine, where, after scratching unsuccessfully for 3-1/2 minutes, I returned upwind to the launch area at a low 8 meters with no air. With the windsock showing a shift, Jeff called me to the right, and as I crossed the runway, I felt a puff and wrapped it up to save the flight. My model traveled perilously close to the trees as I worked the air downwind and finished up extremely deep with little chance of returning because I wasn’t buying my ride home. With patience, I kept pushing deeper downwind in the thermal to finally have it develop sufficiently to begin a return home from a ridiculous distance, with a miraculous ride back in reflex and scraping into the landing zone for a memorable 1,000 points.

It was a close tussle throughout the day, with Jeff hitting the 50 points every round, but a motor restart was required after a long return failed to make it back, giving him his first zero and me the lead. Although I took a zero and tangled with power lines twice in an aerobatic dance during a restart in round 11, the win was mine. Jeff was just 17 points behind, and Mickey Nowell was in third place. It was a great contest with friends and some beautiful awards made by Mike that are pieces of art.

Check out the F5J Tour calendar, listed in “Sources.” Choose a flying location that you haven’t been to before, make the effort to go fly F5J with your mates, and enjoy an amazing Soaring experience.

Go downwind and soar!