Anyone doing winch launches for molded planes in Wisconsin?

[hbielich]

I just moved to Madison a couple of weeks ago from East Bay California and am looking for a group or club that launches > 2meter molded planes with a winch. I have a Spider 2.5 and a 3 meter F3B Cobra Calypso.
I also have planes for sloping.
I haven't seen much activity on the web since 2006 for some reason. Maybe because of all the flooding and snow.
I am going through sailplane flying withdrawal and need to feed my addiction!
Please help.

[Mark Miller]

Hi,

I just moved from Madison to St. Louis last summer and it is certainly more active here but there is still fun to be had. There is a small glider group in Madison within the MARCS (www.marcswi.org) club which is mostly power. The problem is that they do not currently have a place to fly. There is also a group in Appleton within the Valley Aeromodelers club (www.flyvam). A good friend Bob Johnson (BobJ here) is part of the Appleton group. Look him up and he will give you your fix. The SOAR group in Chicago (www.soarchicago.net) has a field near Rockford as well as one down south and is very active and famous group. You might also want to contact Steve Meyer in Racine. steve@stevemeyer.net.

Akso, http://soarmilwaukee.com/
Tell them Mark Miller sent you.
Mark Miller
Isthmus Models

[StevenatorLTFO]

As Mark said, the north field (Hampshire IL) would be about an hour fortyfive for you (depending on where in Madison) Bit much for casual flying, but if you looking to make a day out of it.....

Steve

[Mark Miller]

Right now Hamshire is the closest. Appleton is about 2 hours away. We used to have a field in Madison that was about 5 minutes from my house. The land was sold and the new owner never answered our inquiries. The Madison club still has two contests a year. One TD and one DLG at a sod farm that they get to use 2 days a year. But for regular fun flying it is not easy. Used to get to all those fields plus driving up to Minneapolis a lot. I used to live there and they have two nice sites. They have turned to mostly slope these days though.

Mark

[StevenatorLTFO]

Mark,

I didn't know Madison does contests. When are they typically? Wouldn't be hard to organize a raiding party, if it was on the proper weekend :D

Steve

[Mark Miller]

Steve,

I think it is usually in late July. Steve Meyer is on the email list. Appleton also has 2 contests a year in Appleton.

Mark

[sekollera]

snip. Used to get to all those fields plus driving up to Minneapolis a lot. I used to live there and they have two nice sites. They have turned to mostly slope these days though.

Mark

Hi Mark,

There is a dedicated crew up here flying TD most every weekend and at least one day during the week. I think that sloping generates more chatter especially wrt the big safaris. If you look who is actually flying locally, it is probably 50-50.

/Adam

[Mark Miller]

Adam,

I have not been up yet this year but hope to before the snow flies. Back when I was in Madison I would rather drive up to Minnesota than go to Appleton just to see my old buddies.

Mark

[hbielich]

I really prefer slope soaring to TD, but there doesn't look like there's much action nearby(Madison or Milwaukee area). The "soarmilwaukee" site hasn't been updated since 2007. Even "Slopeflyer.com" has been inactive for a year. Where are all the Wisconsin flyers? Are they all out looking at the now-cheap realestate in California?
I guess I'll have to get back into electric sailplanes and find a field somewhere to use for a launch and LZ.

[little flyer]

Just a thought....

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=824287

[Mark Miller]

I thought with your thread title you wanted more thermal flying ideas.

For slope try www.slopeflyer.com. Greg Smith is based in Milwaukee he knows all the sites around and is a great guy to boot. The site may not seem to change as he has documented about all the sites already. Greg and Mirko fly a lot in the area. Try the Big M in Platteville, WI. it is a nice slope to fly from. Been there many times.

The Minneapolis guys do a lot of slope as I mentioned and do a few trips a year to South Dakota for a long weekend of all the sloping you can take.

It may be flat around Madison but there is sloping. You have to work at it though. We do not have the numbers you may be familiar with in CA.

Mark Miller

[hbielich]

I like both types of flying, but thought there might be more TD here in Wisconsin than slope. I do prefer slope though so I will try to contact Greg and see what's up.