Previews of the Leading Edge Gliders – slopeflyer.com Foamy Warbird Construction Video

If you’ve got QuickTime here are a couple of links to teasers for the upcoming movie Jack Cooper and I are making about the building of an LEG Warbird slope soaring plane.

http://www.slopeflyer.com/videos/LEG-2.mov

http://www.slopeflyer.com/videos/LEG-5.mov

This project has been in the works for close to a year and the light at the end of the tunnel, if not blinding, is at least visible.

Overdose on Soaring – 2006

I’m down at my friend Jim’s with a dozen or more avid rc sailplane pilots having a mid-winter get together. We are even getting some flying in! Dave and I have been to the Saylorville Dam a couple of times for some slope soaring and the flying was good but pretty cold. Especially today with 33-degree temps and 40-plus winds! Look for a report on slopeflyer.com soon.

Dave took this shot that shows how windy it was!

See My Article in Model Aviation Magazine

Thanks to Dave Garwood for turning over the “Soaring” column to me for a month so I could do a report and publish some pix from the Slope Safari Jack Cooper and I took Spring of 2005. Most of the coverage is about the journey and the Tri-Slope Six-Pack in Washington. There is a bit about the Spring PSS Fest but Dave did a story on that so I didn’t hit it too hard.

My article is in the December issue. Yep, I took most of those pretty pix for the column as well!

Model Aviation is published by the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) and has a circulation of over 150,000 and a readership of close to 400,000. Very cool!

slopeflyer podcast #5 posted at slopeflyer.com

This is a podcast about radio control slope soaring. Second one from the home studio but also with a slope side report. Got some feedback that recorded at the slope sounds would be interesting.

I’m still looking for a microphone that is compatible with the new 60gig iPod. It will attach to the docking port on the bottom. Let me know if you hear of one. Looking for better sound quality from the live slope reports.

There is a direct link at: http://www.slopeflyer.com/podcast/ as well as feed subscription information there.

Slopeflyer Podcast #4 Posted

This is a podcast about radio control slope soaring. First one from the home studio using the good gear. I worked on an intro and am starting to get a format down. Improvement will come!

There is a direct link at: http://www.slopeflyer.com/podcast/ as well as feed subscription information there.

Back From the Final South Dakota Slope Trip of the Year

We had a good Friday and a rainy but fun Saturday. The guys who showed up earlier had some good flying as well. I am working on the photos and will have a post at slopeflyer.com soon.

Mini SR Build Thread Continues

I added several updates to the build thread about the SkyKing RC Products Mini SR at RC Groups today. The thread is at:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=410209

Seems to take almost as long to write and format the photos as to build the plane!

On Using My Nikon 995

I’ve been documenting the building of a SkyKing Mark Grand Mini SR slope sailplane at the shop recently and have been using my aging Nikon 995. This is a great use for this camera! I have the D100 now for action shots but I love the size of the 995 for quick stuff at the shop, that and if I got a bit of epoxy or something on it I wouldn’t be as upset as if I trashed the D100!

Mini SR Build Thread on RCgroups

I am doing a build thread on the Mini SR from SkyKing RC on RCGroups. FYI a build thread follows the construction progress of the plane from the kit to the finished, flying plane.

The Mini SR is a 42 inch span slope plane that looks like a jet. Should be fast and it sure looks cool!

The thread address is:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=410209

It will look similar to the photo but with a different color scheme. I am thinking Orange and purple right now.

Back From the August F3F Event in Kansas

I rolled into town a couple of hours ago and am trying to get caught up.

We didn’t get the kind of conditions we wanted but we did get in a 4 round event.

Here is how they finished.

Results for 08-20-05

1 – 3846.31 – Todd Martin – Flash
2 – 3826.80 – Mike Bailey – Nemesis
3 – 3783.97 – Greg Smith – Viper/Passion
4 – 3486.39 – Jack Cooper – Mini Charisma/2.5 Meter Discus 2B
5 – 3438.21 – Erik Eaton – Banana
6 – 3360.46 – Ian – Sting
7 – 3131.99 – Merrell Anderson – Banana
8 – 2570.57 – Chance Cooper – Vortex
9 – 1980.30 – Andrew – Lumberjack/2.5-Meter Discus 2B

For more coverage see:

http://www.slopeflyer.com/artman/publish/kansas_f3f_august_2005.shtml

[composed and posted with ecto]

Kansas F3F Event set for August 20th

More racing action at Wilson Lake, KS.

Pilots meeting will be at the main south hill at 10 am. We will try for 10 rounds again. The last event went real well and we had good participation. Hope to see you there.

There will be fun flying on Friday and probably more racing on Sunday if we get at least 6 pilots staying on Sunday. One thing we will likely do will help beginning racers time their turns better so if you want some help tightening your line Sunday will be your day.

Kansas F3F Event Coverage

We had a great turnout for the July F3F race in Kansas. We ran heats at both the German Caves and at the main slope at Wilson Lake. 10 rounds of racing action and some really close heats. Check out more coverage on slopeflyer.com.

[composed and posted with ecto]