Author: Greg Schutte

Edition: Model Aviation - 2025/10
Page Numbers: 74, 75, 76
Group of slope-soaring pilots gathered in a grassy field

RC SLOPE SOARING

WINGS OVER WILSON
By Greg Schutte | gshooty@yahoo.com

Group of slope-soaring pilots gathered in a grassy field
Erik Eaton gave a preflight speech of: “The sky is up, the ground is down, gravity always works, do not eat anything you pick up off the ground, and, for God’s sake, do not pet the local wildlife.”

THIS PAST MAY, I decided to make the trip to the Wings Over Wilson Midwest Slope Challenge in Kansas. This event has been held for close to 30 years, and I have been trying to get to it for a couple of years. One of the local pilots I fly with learned to slope soar there and said that it is a really nice place to fly.

I arrived in Lucas, Kansas, at close to 2 a.m. and was nothing but tired. I parked at the local truck stop, climbed into the back of my truck for some sleep, and was awakened by the sun. Feeling refreshed, I jumped into the driver’s seat and headed to the Wilson Lake Dam area. I had the contact information for a local pilot and got directions to where everybody was meeting.

Crossing the dam, I did see a couple of promising places to fly. I drove to the main hill and parked where there was a group of guys who, I assumed, were there to fly. They all looked pretty sketchy with a crazy look in their eye.

There I met Mark Dennis and Erik Eaton, the event coordinators and part-time cat wranglers. They gave the group the weather report and let us know where we would be flying for the day. The wind started to pick up as they ended the meeting.

The wind was blowing into the hill at approximately 20 mph when we arrived. There were quite a few vehicles lined up with pilots ready to do some flying. The previous day had been Combat, but on this day, there was going to be a One-Design race (ODR) and Unlimited class racing. I had not signed up for either of these events. As they set up the course, a few miscellaneous sailplanes took to the air. I was asked to be a flagger, so I grabbed

Pilot raising a flag beside a slope-soaring course
The flag of your assigned sailplane is raised as it passes by the course flag. This is ODR at its best.

my water bottle and collapsible chair and went to the far side of the course. I was given a flag and some instructions on what to do. “When your assigned sailplane passes the pole, you raise your flag.” I could do that.

ODR was cool to watch. Flying airplanes between two poles is harder than it looks. There was a lot of good racing, sweet flying, and, of course, a little carnage.

Two people preparing to launch a large red sailplane
(L-R): Duane Jenkins gets ready to launch an Unlimited class model for pilot Ty Mayo. Ty’s anniversary was the next day, and he was so excited that he could not stop smiling. Happy anniversary to Ty and his better half!

The next race was Unlimited. These airplanes are a lot larger and way faster. The flying was impressive to watch. I ended the day flying my F-86, Zagi, and Sparrow.

The next day, we met at the main hill and went to another spot, where warbird and Dream-Flight racing were on the schedule. The wind was not really all that strong, so the Dream-Flight racing was first.

This category was conceived from previous years when there was little to no wind during the fly-in. The rules are simple: If the sailplane started as a Dream-Flight product, you can race it. This was one of the categories that I had signed up for.

I had my Alula and was nervous. The day before, I could tell from those two classes that it was a serious deal. The Dream-Flight class did not have that feeling though, and I soon felt comfortable racing. This was the first time that I had ever flown in a race—flying Combat had been the closest thing I had done to racing. While I did not place, it was an enjoyable time.

The mass launch after the racing was very impressive. It was a lot of airplanes

Pilot launching an Unlimited class model aircraft on a grassy slope
Larry Blevins, from Magnum Models Performance Aircraft, expertly launches an Unlimited class “rocket ship” with perfect form.
Aric and Caliber Brandt standing in a grassy field with a white flying wing
(L-R): Aric and Caliber Brandt drove from Nebraska to fly. It was nice meeting and talking to both of them. Caliber made the wing from plans that he found on the internet. It was cool to see it fly.

flying in a small space. The wind, however, never got strong enough to race the warbirds, so the day closed out with dinner, a raffle, and awards at the local restaurant.

The final standings are as follows:

ODR

  1. Andrew Kirchhoff
  2. Todd Martin
  3. Joe Chovan

Unlimited

  1. Joe Chovan
  2. Duane Jenkins
  3. Todd Martin

Combat

  1. Mike Bailey
  2. Duane Jenkins
  3. Andrew Williams

Dream-Flight

  1. Todd Martin
  2. Andrew Williams
  3. Mike Bailey

Things That Really Stood Out to Me

The first and biggest thing that stood out to me was the demographic of pilots who attended. This fly-in was held in the central part of the country, and there were pilots from all over the US. The second was that there were actual kit manufacturers there and they were flying and competing. Lastly was the true scarcity of rocks to hit upon landing. The rocks that I found had actual fossils in them.

The yearly Midwest Slope Challenge fly-in is now something I look forward to attending again. Mark and Erik, you guys throw a fun time for being cat wranglers!

Fly safe!

The mass launch of the Dream-Flight air power exhibition. It was crazy to watch them do five laps all at once. Check out the RCGroups thread, listed in “Sources,” to see the video—it was chaos!

Pilots launching and flying multiple sailplanes over a grassy hill
The mass launch of the Dream-Flight air power exhibition. It was crazy to watch them do five laps all at once. Check out the RCGroups thread, listed in “Sources,” to see the video—it was chaos!

SOURCES:

League of Silent Flight (LSF)
www.silentflight.org

Wings Over Wilson/Midwest Slope Challenge
www.midwestslopechallenge.com

Midwest Slope Challenge 2025
RCGroups
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4697105-Midwest-Slope-Challenge-2025

Dream-Flight
(805) 845-1803
www.dream-flight.com

Fancy Foam
https://fancyfoam-com.3dcartstores.com

Magnum Models Performance Aircraft
larryblevins@magnumrcmodels.com
www.facebook.com/magnumrcmodels

Canuck Engineering (One-Design racers)
(970) 518-7492
www.canuckengineering.com