Sloping Off - December 2004
The Joys of Slope Soaring
by Terry Sullivan
As many of you will know, I am a novice in this flying lark. It is still less than six months since Trevor Hewson uttered the words "You have control" in my ear. I did make the correct response, but I am almost certain that the wind had more control than I did. So why is it I am writing articles about something that I obviously know so little about!
The way I look at things is that as a novice, I have an outlook that is free from preconceptions and prejudice. I see things that seem so obvious as to be not worth mentioning to you experts as significant. And as someone who is still climbing the learning curve with the aid of a rope, I see the things that are significant factors in my learning to fly that may well not have been available or cost effective when you learned. So I try to put forward a fresh view, and hopefully entertain you as I try to remind you of the things you may have forgotten or simply not have thought of.
The subject of this article is to put forward an alternative method of learning to fly. When I started, I was told that the recommended method was to use an electric glider. I was told that a used basic Tx and a new glider were the way to go (although Trevor assures me he did mention slope soaring! I do not remember, but I was busy with other things at the time). When I did the sums, a new glider and the items needed to operate it were out of my price range, so I bought a glider on Ebay. After an initial problem (The only one I have had in nearly twenty Ebay transactions) was resolved I had a usable plane, and the equipment to fly it. Since that time, I have flown the glider on perhaps a dozen occasions, mainly due to the weather.
But at the AGM, I met Terry Antell. We got on well, and one day he invited me down to the cliff top at Barton on sea to watch another form of flying. This was Slope Soaring, and it immediately appealed to me. Terry and a friend were flying Zagis and the closeness of the action, the manoeuvrability and speed of the models appealed to me, but I was awed by the apparent skill of the two flyers. They swooped and soared, twisted and turned in ways that would break my glider in half!
So you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Terry's friend was self taught and had been flying for only a few months! When Terry let me try his Zagi on the buddy leads, I was amazed at how easy it was to do things that I had thought would take me months to learn. And when I screwed up and crashed, it was not a case of picking up the pieces, but of picking it up and throwing it again! I therefore did a little research, and decided that an Epp slope soarer was not expensive. But to minimise costs, I again used Ebay, and was able to secure an un-built kit Wild Thing Mk 2. The story of the building was in "Sloping Off" last time.
I have been flying the WT ever since, and have recently added a Zagi to my collection. I have also succeeded in getting a club Competence Certificate, and have flown in winds of 40+mph. I have learned to do loops, rolls (although my rolls do come equipped with a large barrel) and have managed a reverse landing or two. My flying skills are now considerably higher than they would have been if I had only flown the electric glider.
There are several reasons for this. The main one must be the time I have spent in the air. I have flown whenever I could, and, as I do not work due to incapacity, that is quite often. And as slope soaring is not dependent on a flight battery, flight duration is greatly improved. It is rare for my electric glider to still be in the air after twenty minutes, it is equally rare for my WT or Zagi to be in the air for less. I have often flown for an hour at a time, and only landed because I wanted a break! So for every hour I have spent with the electric glider, I must have spent twenty or thirty hours on the slope.
Another major advantage of the Epp slope soarer as a way of learning is the cost. For electric flight, one needs a model costing £70 and several batteries at about £20 each. You need at least 2 batteries and a means of charging them at the field. For flying on the slope, an X-it (See Terry Antell's example, parked upside down below) can be bought for £40 and the battery needed is an ordinary Rx battery costing £8 or so. This battery is good for several hours flying, so it can be charged at home, eliminating the need for heavy batteries and chargers in the flight box.
The durability of the model is another important advantage. As long as there is no risk to the public, a trainee can be permitted to land and do other manoeuvres. So the learning programme is accelerated because a bad landing will not destroy the model. (And a wing for an electric glider will cost the same as the X-it.) You can try things that are beyond the capacity of a rudder-elevator model, and learn from them, without fear of breaking your plane if you get it wrong. I did not see it as I was flying, but a Zagi was crashed recently at the cliff top coming in vertically from 50ft. I have seen an electric glider do something similar, and sustain major damage. The Zagi was still flyable. This durability also opens up sites that are impractical for a built up model. You can fly in places where the turbulence makes landing very unpredictable, or there is insufficient space for a decent approach, or the terrain is too rough. So I can drive 8 miles instead of 30 for a flight.
There is another less tangible advantage to this type of flying, and that is the excitement factor. As a novice, the challenge of flying an electric glider still excites me. But I can imagine that this time next year, it will not. And a climb, glide a few circuits and a landing are not exactly exhilarating when you have done it a few dozen times. And I know people who for one reason or another are still at that stage after three years. But the average novice can very quickly do a loop with a Zagi. This is important in that it maintains the enthusiasm, particularly amongst the young. We have one young flyer of 12 at the cliff top, I do not know whether he can fly straight and level, but he certainly can fly aerobatics! I cannot imagine that flying a few circuits would hold him for long. And we need the youngsters. What is the average age of members of the club? And how many teenagers do we have? How many of those will continue after discovering girls, going to college or university and the financial problems of leaving home?
I also like the fact that you need to carry so little gear from the car to the field. In fact with a Zagi, all you actually need to take out of the car is your plane and your Transmitter. You do not need to dismantle the Zagi if you have a small car, I drive a Micra and my glider needs to be dismantled, but both the Zagi and Wild Thing fit in easily. I need to take a tool box, transmitter case, batteries and my glider to the flightline when flying the glider, not easy when you have arthritis from head to foot! The other day I carried both the slope soarers and my transmitter case to the top of St Catherine's Hill to fly there.
But there are disadvantages, too. Safe flying requires discipline, and the Epp models do not encourage this. In fact a part of the appeal is the freedom from having to fly any particular way. But when one goes into other forms of flying, discipline is vital. So it is important that this is not neglected and formal training is the best way to do this. So one cannot expect to learn to fly exclusively with a Zagi, it must be part of a long term plan that includes the electric glider. Certainly one could start with a Zagi and then buy an ep glider, probably even go straight to an aileron model and bypass the rudder /elevator type. But you cannot expect to progress to bigger and better models if you learn purely with an Epp model that will survive a crash. After all, anyone can quite legally buy an Electrafun for under £100 and fly it with absolutely no training, club membership or insurance whatever. I call these RTF models ARTB planes. Almost Ready To Bin. And with them goes someone who with a little help could have been enjoying our hobby with us for years.
So there you have it. My thoughts on what must surely be the most fun per £ in RC model flying. With care, a good new model can be in the air for well under £120, that's buying the plane, Rx, servos and battery, and a used Tx. Must be worth it!
Thanks to Brian Brockway and Trevor Hewson for their editorial comment.
(And thanks to Terry for an excellent article. I learned to fly on the slopes round Aldershot and the cliffs in Cornwall and yes, it's the easiest and most satisfying way to go. Ed)
