Torrey Pines Gulls Radio Control Soaring Society July 2005

Transcription

1 Gull Wings Torrey Pines Gulls Radio Control Soaring Society July 2005 Above: The top-ten finishers from the IHLGF 2005 in Poway. See story for details. Photo courtesy Charles Frey cc/photos/view.php Right: Bruce Davidson and Joe Wurtz speak during the IHLGF 2005 DSL Clinic. Photo courtesy Peter Jensen diff.net/media/ July Fun Fly President s Cup Challenge July 17th Garth Warner, President Plan on spending the day at the field on Sunday, July 17th. This will be our annual President s Cup Challenge, followed by a fun fly and pot luck. What s all this you ask? Just this. Every year the club Prez is obligated to run an RES contest against any members that wants to fly against him. This is not competition against any other member. The object of the exercise is to beat the Prez using an RES ship. If you can beat the Prez you get free Pizza. If the Prez beats you he gets bragging rights through the end of the year. Entry is FREE. Tasks will be announced at the Pilots Meeting at 08:30. The Prez gets to design the contest. I ll take pity and make it something quick & easy... Twisted, but easy. After the foolishness is over, I run over to the Pizza place and bring back food for the winners, (if you beat me). After that, you are all invited to a Fun-Fly, fly what ya brung on the Poway field. Anybody that wants to organize a quick HL contest, (like a three throw limit, all up, last down, etc), is welcome to have a go. Anybody who wants to demo F3B, F3J, F5J LMR electric, XC, Electric 3D, etc is welcome to give us a show. Drop me an to coordinate. gwarner@cox.net I will bring an EZ-Up and an ice chest full of soft drinks. If somebody will bring a BBQ we can have hot dogs or burgers. All club members are invited. Entry is FREE, FREE, FREE! The gauntlet has been thrown... IHLGF 2005 Wrap-Up Garth Warner, President Day 0: The Clinic About two thirds of the contestants showed up Friday for practice and for the DSL Clinic in the afternoon. The clinic was a big hit and ran from noon to 3:00 PM. The first half was a ground school with some top pilots talking about such mundane things as setup, launching, reading ground signs, ballast, landing and strategy. The second half of the P.O. Box San Diego, CA Next General Meeting Tuesday July 12, 7:00pm At the San Diego Aerospace Museum, Balboa Park

2 International Hand Launch Glider Festival 2005 Sponsors Host Sponsor Gold Sponsors Composite Structures Technology FMA Direct Hitec/RCD Hobby Club JR Radios Kennedy Composites Maple Leaf Design Peak Electronics R/C Direct Without the support of these fine companies, the success of the IHLGF would not be possible. When you are thinking of buying a hobbyrelated item, please consider these outstanding companies first. 2 Gull Wings

3 Continued from previous page ground school consisted of the field breaking up into four groups with the top pilots conducting demonstrations and a little personal tutoring for participants that brought their toys. With about 40+ aircraft all up at the same time it got a little crowded and put everybody s RX s to the supreme test. A few failed the test and we had some minor carnage. Lots of smiles on the field. Typical June Poway day. Overcast with light wind until about 11:00 AM. Clearing with a sea breeze about 8 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Lots of thermals moving fast downwind in the afternoon. Priceless Moment of the Day: Joe Wurts explaining percentages on being able to call air accurately while directing the demo pilot, into sink after explaining to the clinic the ground signs that pointed to that area as potential lift. Got a few chuckles... Then he was right three times in a row. Oh well... Day 1: Competition Begins Saturday proved to be another typical fine Poway day. Marine influence overcast in the morning with light air. Burned off by 10:30 to 11:00 AM with outrageous lift until about 1:00 PM. After that the wind was a big factor and most pilots found the thermals somewhat more elusive. Watching the strategies develop in the rounds that had time to burn was way entertaining. Ballast became a factor for some. Outrageously high launch s in the wind were common. We had a few mid-airs and in-flight airframe failures. There were quite a few walks of shame for pilots that couldn t make it back to the field boundaries. A pilot that got back to the field by inches got cheers from the gallery. Groans were more common. Landing short of the boundary on top of someone else s backup plane, staged just outside the line, was considered poor form... The contest ran a little long today due to some equipment problems. In the later rounds it came down to not how bad was the air but instead, did I suck less than everybody else. Above: The pilot's meeting on Saturday morning. The heavy marine layer is visible over the eastern hills. Left: Two pilots launch simultaneously in the early rounds of competition. Month RES / TD Hand Launch Slope Racing (SC)2 Thermal Other General Meeting Jul Soaring 12 NATS Muncie Aug TOSS 9 Sep ISS 13 Oct TPG 1-2 Visalia Fall Fest 11 Nov 06 Rain Makeup 8 Dec 18 party July

4 President Garth Warner (760) Vice President Mike Smith (619) Past President Ron Brown (858) Secretary Adam Smith (858) Treasurer Ron Scharck (619) Membership Al Bendett (858) Newsletter Editor Brad Willoughby (619) Winchmaster Peter Leduc (760) HLG Coordinator Thermal Coordinator/ (SC)2 Rep. Aaron Valdes (760) RES Coordinator Garth Warner (760) Training Coordinator Slope Coordinator Bill Crabb (858) Webmaster Steve Hurd (760) Raffle Chairman IHLGF Registrar Ron Scharck (619) Torrey Pines Soaring Council Rep. (TPG) John Davies Torrey Pines Soaring Council Rep. (AMA) Larry Fogel Historian Gary Fogel 2005 TPG Officers Continued from previous page The usual suspects continued to do well. Rounds 7 through 10 will be flown Sunday. After the 10th round there will be a fly-off with the top 10 pilots. Admission is free for spectators. Watching the top 10 in the fly-off is priceless... Day 2: Fly-offs The good stuff first. In order below find, 1st through 10th, with the total points after 10 open rounds, (over two days), and 3 flyoff rounds, (Sunday afternoon). Look for the complete list at Open Class 1st Phil Barnes 11, nd Paul Anderson 11, (TPG Member) 3rd Joe Wurts 11, th Michael Smith 11, (TPG Member) 5th Bruce Davidson 11, th Mark Drela 11, th Adam Weston 11, th Tim Johnson 11, th John Erikson 11, th Thomas Kiesling 11, Eagle Class 1st Martyn Cowley 7, nd Bryan Jonathan 7, rd Dave Leedom 7, Junior Class 1st Allen McGowan 7, nd Chris Adamczyk 6, rd Nick Tasto 5, The Day: Let me start by saying the conditions today were much more challenging than on Friday or Saturday. The Marine influence was very heavy overnight and throughout the early morning hours with light drizzle in some areas. Early rounds found very light lift Gull Wings Info: - All submissions to the editor by the 15th of the preceding month - Classified entries are free for all members

5 Continued from previous page in heavy wet air. It never completely burned off during the day. Conditions improved by about 10:30 as the June Gloom thinned enough to allow radiant heating to provide a more predictable cycle on the field. It didn t last long. Conditions became downright brutal by late mid-day into early afternoon. The wind picked up again and reliable lift disappeared. The conditions began to separate the men from the boys. (I had to retire briefly behind the impound tent don my knickers...) We were running 10 to 15 contestants each heat. If somebody launched and circled more than once, he immediately had 14 new close friends. Mid-airs became more common as the lift areas were small and moving fast downwind. Insanely high launches and screaming downwind runs to disappearing thermals were common. Many, many Walks of Shame were seen as contestants that squeaked back to the line by inches on Saturday, fell prey to making just one more turn in bottomless air down wind... Very entertaining to The Torrey Pines Gulls Radio Control Soaring Society A non-profit society whose primary purpose is to support and encourage the activities of its members engaged in radio controlled sailplane flying watch, but a real pucker factor if it was you. In the end there were ten survivors. 80 something battered contestants got to watch the top ten flyers in the closing three fly-off rounds. By this time in the afternoon conditions truly sucked. The heat of the day was gone and the wind was blowing. The Mylar indicator tapes around the field pretty much all pointed downwind with nary a bobble. People in the pits started putting on jackets. It was just ugly... From my notes, this is what was flown in the fly-off. Round 11 was identified as Five longest flights, two minute max time per flight, with a twenty second penalty awarded for each throw after five throws, in a 10 minute window. Round 12 was Three longest flights, three minute max time per flight, with a 30 second penalty for each throw after three throws, in a ten minute window. Round 13 was a One minute, Two minute, Three minute, and a Four minute flight, (in any order), in a ten minute window. Things got a little tense, things got a little exciting. Since the air was pretty bad, and there was no working time in Rounds 11 & 13, everybody got to give it their best guess and launch at once. Since these guys are no slouches, the launches were just awesome. Ten strong pilots with high performance DLG s, launching with maximum force, in the wind, makes an very impressive sound. Call it a POP!-Thruuuuummm-Swisssssh times ten. Since all of these guys are more or less reading the same air, success or failure of their decisions became quickly evident. Do you go with the group to avoid getting buried, or do you see something that nobody else Left: Marion Nogueira Luz from the Brazilian team doesn't hold back on his launch. Photo courtesy Charles Frey cc/photos/view.php July

6 Above: A pilot steers his hand-launch glider with generous amounts of "body-english" to help stay in the Poway thermals. Below: A volunteer quickly readies transmitters in the impound between rounds. See story. Photo courtesy Peter Jensen diff.net/media/ 6 Gull Wings Continued from previous page sees? If you went with the group late, you sometimes missed the bottom of the bubble and fell out. If You went early and fell out, then everybody else got to learn from your mistake and look elsewhere with their remaining altitude. If you struck out on your own, or fell out of sequence with the group, you could be a hero or a zero. Your fate was in your own hands... You could hear the gears upstairs clicking from across the field. In round 12 there was one minute of working time allowing you to watch the conditions and the other pilots. If you launched early then you were a target or a goat, depending on how accurate your assessment of the air was. If you launched late then you risked pinching off or running out of flight time. All of the top ten and their timers had their eyes open and their heads up along with the whole gallery. I ve never heard a contest as quiet a this was during the flyoff rounds, as casual gallery conversations dropped off, with everybody watching the action. In the end, the guys that made the least mistakes, the best decisions, and were most consistent, finished well. Congratulations to Phil Barnes, the IHLGF winner for He fought off 92 other registered pilots to finish in first place after two days, for what turned out to be very challenging conditions in Socal. On behalf of the Torrey Pines Gulls, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the contestants who participated in this years event. We hope your had a good time. Without your continued support and attendance, we would not be able to continue the tradition of the IHLGF. We are looking forward to seeing all of you again next year. Notes from an IHLGF Volunteer Eric Hoffman, TPG Member Three years ago I was invited by a TPG member to come watch the IHLGF competition. I had no idea what a DLG was, but I was interested in RC flying so I went. That event pushed me over the edge and got me started on my RC flying path. Well, since I don t have a real DLG, I thought I d help out this year. I cleared the weekend with my family and was ready to volunteer for whatever job was needed. I ended up in the impound tent and had a fabulous time. Don t get me wrong, it was work, but it was still fun. I arrived each day at about 7:30AM and stayed till about 6:30PM. During that time, I had the opportunity to meet many RC pilots and was able to watch them fly. I still cannot get over how high some of the launches are. Since I m still a rookie at this flying hobby, I was very interested in seeing what I could learn by just observing and asking questions from this group of flyers. They were great and very helpful when I asked questions. My favorite moments were when the crowd (mostly the other flyers) would route for a contestant who was flying low and trying to make it back inbounds against the wind. The encouragement and cheers of a successful job was just as exciting as the lighthearted ribbing of the unfortunate short landings. These guys know how to make both outcomes fun for the contestant. The social aspect of this large event appeared to be as much fun as the actual flying. I could not have imagined a better way to spend my weekend. I m still amazed at how few club members actually help out on this event though. It is our major fundraiser and allows us to keep our club dues low. I would recommend volunteering next year if you

7 Continued from previous page can. The time spent was well worth the effort. I know I will volunteer again. June TD Contest Report Garth Warner, President It was a tired group of contestants that showed up for our first TD contest following the IHLGF in this month of June. Thirteen locals and one out of town guest gathered to stand bleary eyed at the 9:00 AM pilots meeting. Out of respect for the hard work of the previous weekend, the CD designed an easy contest that was intended to be biased towards landing, rather than extended airtime. Easy of course is a relative word, meaning different things to different people. Apparently, it didn t mean anything to the weather, which refused to cooperate. Conditions were June Gloom which faded into clearing with spotty lift for some, and sink for others. Some members of Club Sharon, (and others), had some difficulty keeping it up for the required five, five-minute rounds. Low level saves were possible for those that paid attention to the ground signs. In the end, the contest was decided by one sloppy landing that fell the right way, or the wrong way, depending on how you look at it... Remember to watch our website, and this newsletter, for details on the next TD contest, as well as the President s Cup Challenge / Fun Fly event in July. Master Garth Warner 1000 Michael Smith Aaron Valdes Rick Shelby Don Van Gundy Terry Throop Arthur Markiewicz Richard Gilman Expert Cliff Hunter Don Richmond Tom Watson (visitor) Peter LeDuc Al Bendett Sportsman Eric Hoffman RES Don Richmond June Practice HLG Contest Report Andrew Arnett, 'un-official' CD [Editor's Note: Drew will hold another HLG contest in July. Watch the tpgulls@yahoogroups.com list for details] After the international, many felt TPG should be having regular HLG events. So, we decided to have an unofficial practice contest. To avoid having too many people show up, an announcement was made only a few days ahead of time. Despite the best efforts to keep the number of participants low, six showed up. The start was delayed a bit to allow Parvis to work on setting up his plane. However, he had to scratch out. Nice guy that he is, he helped out as a timer, which was much appreciated. The contest was held on the side of the field south of the imaginary (and not so imaginary) line drawn by the power lines. The Sunday tasks from the world renowned TPG IHLGF were announced. A fifth secret bonus round not counting for the contest score was promised. Round 1 Task: Increasing Sequence. The most number of flights in the following sequence: :15, :30, :45, 1:00, 1:15, 1:30, 1:45, 2: minute window. Round 2 Task: Five Longest. Five longest flights, two minute maximum per flight. Ten second penalty for each throw after 5 throws. 10 minute window. When we started, with forecast 14mph westerly wind and sunny skies, the conditions were moderate prevailing winds and fast moving dust devil type thermals. Everyone got amped up flying these tasks. One wingtip ground strike occured during a launch. Don flew a couple of flights with a disconnected and deflected rudder, just to show how easy he thought it all was. He fixed his pushrod during the task and continued to shame the rest of us. The ladder was a very popular task and is sure to be featured in future contests. We had another break while Don assisted another modeller with his aircraft. After Round 2, Don had to take off. We decided to scrap the planned third and forth rounds. The standings at this point were: place points pilot tie between Brad and Adam Steve Don Drew In lieu of rounds three and four, we flew the secret bo- July

8 Above: Adam Smith models the latest in HLG competition fashion. 8 Gull Wings Continued from previous page nus round twice for rounds five and six. I also decided to apply the additional scoring to break the tie. So, what was the task for the secret bonus round? Round 5 and 6 Task: All Up Last Down Elimination, a.k.a Deathmatch. All up at once, first one down is eliminated, all up again, until last man standing. If 3 minutes are met with no elimination, everyone down to launch again into new air. Inexplicably, during the start of Round 5, Brad was out early. On the next flight Steve was eliminated. In the final, Adam was spec ing out when I grounded. During Round 6, I didn t get so lucky reading air, and was eliminated. On the next flight, Steve fell out. In the final, Brad finished Adam by not circling too close to a eucalyptus tree. So, Adam placed first and Brad second in a tough field including the likes of Mike, Gordon, and Joe, who were practicing for the world F3B while our HLG contest was going on. Special thanks to the F3B guys, and several other flyers, for sharing the field and allowing us to fly without frequency conflicts. p.s. Adam s Blaster took the tree encounter very well. The stab mount popped loose and will be easily fixed. His wing just had a bit of crumple on the leading edge and shouldn t require too much to get a very good, light repair. Aircraft Flown Drew DL50, Mountain Models Don Blaster w/ molded wing and built up tail Brad Taboo XT Steve Salsa XL Adam Blaster w/ molded wing and molded tail View From The Top Garth Warner, President The Dog Days of summer are rapidly approaching, so I will resort to general rambling this month. First off elsewhere in this issue you will see an announcement for a Fun Fly coming up at the Poway Field on the 17th. Don t let the President s Cup Challenge scare you off. This is more for fun than anything else. After the un-contest we will be doing some fun flying and socializing. If anybody brings a BBQ we can have some food and lots of general fun. You don t need to be a contest pilot to attend. Being a little crazy helps too. Under Old Business, Eagle Tree Systems is finally releasing their new Sea Gull Glide downlink system for sailplanes. This is reported to be quite a piece of hardware with a wide variety of features such as real-time variometer, altimeter, airspeed indicator, and recorder combined. I have one coming and will do a complete review in a later issue. In the mean time if you see me out at the field muttering to myself, it may not be me speaking... See I finally got over the depression of losing my Tempest and joined club Sharon, I will be putting one together over the next month or so. If there is anything unique I will post a brief article in a later issue of the newsletter. The target is to get it trimmed and get some stick time before the Fall Fest in October. Depending on the size of the Eagle Tree gear it may find a test bed home in my Sharon. New this month, Tim McCann of is still offering winch kits for the do it yourself crowd. Pete Leduc is using one out at the Poway Field. This is a very clean setup and really Yellow. I had been on his list for some time when he finally contacted me to tell me it was my turn. The frame and drum showed up on my doorstep just this week. This is a really nice piece of work. Tim s website has instructions on how to wire it up and what is needed to compete the setup. You can buy components locally or order a complete package from Tom Bianchi at Injoy Lure Coursing. Injoy even sells new manufactured starter motors and braided line. Finally and most importantly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of the volunteers that helped with the recent IHLGF. Many contestants do not realize how much setup work is required in the months before the contest, AND, how much physical labor is involved in setting up on the field and running the contest on the days of the event. You all did a hell of a job. Thank you

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