Tawg
Mar 05, 2004, 07:00 PM
Sunday, September 21, 2003 the La Sierra Soaring Society (LSSS) held its second semi-annual “Slam Festival” at their club field in Riverside. The event officially started at noon, but unfortunately the wind decided it would not blow until 2:00. During those two hours of waiting pilots tried to find shade and stay hydrated to fight off the heat. The parking was arranged so that club members were allowed to park on top and others had to haul their stuff up a 300-yard long dusty road in triple digit heat. By 1:00 there were approximately 30 pilots wondering if the wind was ever going to pick up. During this period every plane was individually inspected and weighed by the CD and then identified as “legal” by a sticker placed on the plane.
@905871:Pilots from Combatwings and Flyingfoam brought out their electric wings to start the flying off.
The Combatwings new twin motored electric wing looked as if it had plenty of power to spare with the two separate pusher props on the rear, but high-speed fly bys showed signs of major flutter that I am sure once Weston Zellmer gets fixed it will be a hot seller now that slope season is ending. The folks at Flyingfoam brought out their giant electric wing that looked real graceful and seemed to fly smoothly. Both planes started the combat event off with a mid-air that grounded the Combatwing but with no damage to either plane.
@905872:Pilots Meeting
@905873:Waiting for the Wind
@905874
@905875
When the wind did pick up, John Boudreau, the CD, held a quick pilots meeting and the event was off with 33 registered pilots flying in two rounds with two heats, and the top six places with combined scores from both rounds having a fly off. There were 16 pilots in the first heat and with the wind blowing a constant 20 mph there was a lot of action right off the start. The start of each round was not a flying start but rather at the sound of a whistle, 16 planes were launched all at once and the kills started within the first three seconds of the whistle!
In between the first and second heat there was a break where Jack Cooper (Leading Edge Gliders) and myself took the liberty of showing off the PSS style planes, but this club’s sight was unable to produce the 300’ high half pipe turns these planes like. There was enough wind to get these planes to float around but high-speed passes were out of the question.
After the heats, there was a generous raffle in which several foam kits from manufacturers such as Combatwings, Tuff planes, Canterbury Sailplanes, and Leading Edge Gliders. A new wing company from the local high desert called King Wing donated a kit. Carver is resurrecting the once popular mini BD-5 and he donated one kit also. There were also hats, lost model alarms, digital mixers, gift certificates, and a bag of balsa donated from other various companies such as California Sailplanes, Soaring U.S.A., LSSS, and I am sure I missed some others.
@905876:Steve Greenfield, the president of LSSS and the owner of California Sailplanes, stands by the raffle table with a few of the raffle items.
When the raffle was over they announced who would be in the final round and the flying quickly resumed. There were seven pilots in the final due to a tie for sixth place. There isn’t as much action in a ten minute round with only a half dozen planes in it but when it finished there was a tie for 1st and 2nd as well as 3rd and 4th. Two more rounds were held with the sudden death rule in effect and the end result was:
<b>1st Fred Frogue<br>
2nd Mike Cary<br>
3rd Weston Zellmer<br>
4th Jeff Melon</b>
@905877:The winner of Slam Fest II, Fred Frogue, holding his winning Combatwings Cyclone.
It will be interesting to see what next years event will bring and if it is possible for these wing manufactures to tweak a wing to make it different in any other way. I cannot complain too much about the parking, although I am not a member of LSSS Steve Greenfield allowed me to park at the top because of knee surgery, but I parked at the end where I was able to see every person who had to walk up to the slope in the heat and winced every time I saw somebody walk by. Next year it would be nice to see more area on top used for parking and make it a first come first serve. Overall the event ran smooth, John Boudreau did a good job as CD, although there where some people with outrageous claims for kills, in a lot of opinions. The weather was hot but the wind was there and the company was great. I am sure the little kinks will get worked out and this event will become an enjoyable regular event.
@905871:Pilots from Combatwings and Flyingfoam brought out their electric wings to start the flying off.
The Combatwings new twin motored electric wing looked as if it had plenty of power to spare with the two separate pusher props on the rear, but high-speed fly bys showed signs of major flutter that I am sure once Weston Zellmer gets fixed it will be a hot seller now that slope season is ending. The folks at Flyingfoam brought out their giant electric wing that looked real graceful and seemed to fly smoothly. Both planes started the combat event off with a mid-air that grounded the Combatwing but with no damage to either plane.
@905872:Pilots Meeting
@905873:Waiting for the Wind
@905874
@905875
When the wind did pick up, John Boudreau, the CD, held a quick pilots meeting and the event was off with 33 registered pilots flying in two rounds with two heats, and the top six places with combined scores from both rounds having a fly off. There were 16 pilots in the first heat and with the wind blowing a constant 20 mph there was a lot of action right off the start. The start of each round was not a flying start but rather at the sound of a whistle, 16 planes were launched all at once and the kills started within the first three seconds of the whistle!
In between the first and second heat there was a break where Jack Cooper (Leading Edge Gliders) and myself took the liberty of showing off the PSS style planes, but this club’s sight was unable to produce the 300’ high half pipe turns these planes like. There was enough wind to get these planes to float around but high-speed passes were out of the question.
After the heats, there was a generous raffle in which several foam kits from manufacturers such as Combatwings, Tuff planes, Canterbury Sailplanes, and Leading Edge Gliders. A new wing company from the local high desert called King Wing donated a kit. Carver is resurrecting the once popular mini BD-5 and he donated one kit also. There were also hats, lost model alarms, digital mixers, gift certificates, and a bag of balsa donated from other various companies such as California Sailplanes, Soaring U.S.A., LSSS, and I am sure I missed some others.
@905876:Steve Greenfield, the president of LSSS and the owner of California Sailplanes, stands by the raffle table with a few of the raffle items.
When the raffle was over they announced who would be in the final round and the flying quickly resumed. There were seven pilots in the final due to a tie for sixth place. There isn’t as much action in a ten minute round with only a half dozen planes in it but when it finished there was a tie for 1st and 2nd as well as 3rd and 4th. Two more rounds were held with the sudden death rule in effect and the end result was:
<b>1st Fred Frogue<br>
2nd Mike Cary<br>
3rd Weston Zellmer<br>
4th Jeff Melon</b>
@905877:The winner of Slam Fest II, Fred Frogue, holding his winning Combatwings Cyclone.
It will be interesting to see what next years event will bring and if it is possible for these wing manufactures to tweak a wing to make it different in any other way. I cannot complain too much about the parking, although I am not a member of LSSS Steve Greenfield allowed me to park at the top because of knee surgery, but I parked at the end where I was able to see every person who had to walk up to the slope in the heat and winced every time I saw somebody walk by. Next year it would be nice to see more area on top used for parking and make it a first come first serve. Overall the event ran smooth, John Boudreau did a good job as CD, although there where some people with outrageous claims for kills, in a lot of opinions. The weather was hot but the wind was there and the company was great. I am sure the little kinks will get worked out and this event will become an enjoyable regular event.