RC SLOPE SOARING
OLD SOUL,
NEW AIR
By Greg Schutte | gshooty@yahoo.com
IN MY LAST COLUMN, I shared some building techniques for an old-school F-86 Sabre jet kit that I received from a friend. I have since covered it with grey UltraCote and some simple graphics using basic trim sheet. Of course, the day before I could go to fly, I got called to work, so I packed my things and headed to Wyoming. Plan B was now in effect.
On my days off this past summer, I explored Northeastern Colorado and Southeastern Wyoming. I have flown multiple small ridges with my Alula. None of these ridges seemed big enough to fly a regular-size Slope Soaring sailplane. One of the immediate factors, of course, was that I didn’t have any larger sailplanes to fly. My A-10 still had a broken elevator, my Consendo needed some love, and my son reworked my Sparrow when he hit the side of a hill. The wind was 40-plus mph and it was his first time flying in high wind. It got away from him and had a solid impact—nothing but pieces came back to the truck.
One ridge that I thought had potential is located at Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. This small town is located 30 minutes east of Cheyenne, right on the border of Wyoming and Nebraska. This part of Wyoming is flat like Nebraska. Nebraska is so flat that I’ve heard that you can watch your dog run away for three days—five if you stand on the bumper of your car. Now, I don’t know if this is true, but it must be similar to Idaho. Idaho only has sagebrush, rattlesnakes, and lava rocks.
The ridge at Pine Bluffs is located just south of Interstate 80. The 200-foot-high, 500-foot-wide ridge faces west. It is in the Pine Bluffs Recreation Area. The area is open from sunrise to sundown. If you have a 4 x 4 vehicle with
all. It was cool to see it fly; some of those old memories of me daydreaming about owning this model were fulfilled. I flew all of my airplanes on this trip, and they all landed with ease on top. I only found the tree once with my F-86. Taking pictures with one hand and flying with the other can get a little tricky.
I’m confident that I’ve found my go-to flying site for when I’m working in Southeastern Wyoming. This site checks off all of the boxes for me to have a good
time. If you’re ever in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, I recommend stopping at the rest area, taking some time to walk the trail, and flying some of the air.
I’d like to thank Roc for the F-86 kit, and thank you to my friend and fellow RC aviator, Wild Bill. You have been influential in my RC flying career, and I always look forward to our conversations. I hope you have many more years of flying to look forward to.
Fly safely!
SOURCES:
League of Silent Flight (LSF)
www.silentflight.org
Pine Bluffs Recreation Area
www.pinebluff wy.gov/recreation/page/pine-bluffs-recreation-area
www.facebook.com/pinebluffs.recreation
