The Glide Fast Journal

International Vintage Sailplane Meet This Summer!

The International Vintage Sailplane Meet (IVSM) will take place at historic Harris Hill near Elmira, NY, June 30 – July 7, 2012. This is a full-scale event, however, it looks like there will also be r/c aerotowing friday and saturday as well. Harris Hill is a must visit location for all glider geeks, a small historical gliderport perched on a hill overlooking deep valleys. The US Soaring Museum is also located at this location, and is not to be missed! I hope to be there shooting HD video of all the planes. For info on the aerotowing meet and pics of the Harris Hill site, go to the rcaerotowing site at this link:

R/C Soaring Film/DVD Price Slash

I've cut the prices for my 12 entertainment R/C soaring films, making these classic movies more affordable. These films include Just Want To Fly, the Endless Lift series, and the Best of Scale Soaring. Last year, most DVDs were $24.95, but now I have discount packs at two for $28.95, three for $39.95, or the best deal, five for $59.00! That's only $11.80 a DVD! That's almost the Wal Mart price for crappy Hollywood films. Check out the entire collection at this link.

See The Invisible To Glide Longer

The real key to soaring is seeing and feeling the moving air mass around you. You have your senses to monitor the local weather, and you have your glider as an instrument, flying through air that is ever changing velocity and direction. Those who also learn to imagine, predict and calculate where air is going up and fly in that air, will always stay up longer. We all know guys who seem to always find lift. Air either goes up and down with convective currents, or by mechanical means, pushed up or down by wind over objects, terrain, and wind shear. Learn to read the air around you, and feel the air through your glider. You only learn these skills through many flight hours and having the courage and imagination to explore lift and follow your hunches, always taking the chance you won't land close by. Those who do not try to fly a bit past the comfort zone will never get any better. The folowing photos show air in motion, mechanical lift over man-made terrain. These striking photos were shot in Florida by a tour heli pilot.

Aviation History Photo Archive On Flickr

My favorite air geek spot, the San Diego Air & Space Museum has published an extensive photo archive on Flickr. I've been into San Diego aviation history since I was a lad, and this photo collection covers California aviation from the start until the present. There are photos from every facet of aviation, and many of these images have never been public. Waste a few hours browsing this unique aviation image archive. Totally worth it, totally unique. San Diego Flickr stream:   I found this photo of a PSA Lockheed Electra, the first plane I ever flew in, around 1965. Still remember that experience!

Cafe Foundation- True Cutting Edge Electric Flight Technology Blog

I found the Cafe Foundation blog while researching for another project. Electric power is hot right now in the private aviation market and technology we will be using in the near future will come from the testing and development e-flight engineers are doing in full-scale aircraft. More info and links after the jump.

Sailplane Clinic DVD Deleted Scenes

Here are a few HD clips that had to be cut from the Electric Sailplane Clinic due to time contraints. These clips cover A123 LiFe cells and Lipo storage charger settings.  Imagine what's on the 2 hour DVD!

Electric Sailplane Clinic Trailer

Just finished the preview trailer a month after release, but the Electric Clinic has been a record seller for Radio Carbon Art and hence very busy with getting hundreds of orders out. Watch in HD if possible. Heres the link for the ESC web page: Click Here!

Radian Acro Fun

I was shooting some B-roll clips for my upcoming Electric Sailplane Clinic DVD and had a few extra minutes for some practice with my Radian.I limited myself to a 150' box, simulating a possible indoor acro flight, and just let the camera run. The Radian is stock except for 11-8 CAM, and a Gens Ace 35C pack. Of course the plane has been seriously re-tuned for better performance. Fun times. Available in 720 HD, its better to watch it on Youtube at this link: Radian Acro Demo

Pre-Order The New Electric Sailplane Clinic DVD

You can pre-order my latest DVD the Electric Sailplane Clinic starting today. It will start shipping in early November,and as an insentive, any pre-order qualifies for a FREE entertainment DVD of your choice. Click this link to read more about and order this highly educational training program. This DVD shot on 1080i HD teaches the essential skills you will need to be successful with e-gliders of any type. I cover:

ESC Programming • Lipo Battery Safety • Propellor Use • How To Use A Watt Meter • Soldering • Connector Choices • Charging • 2.4 With Electrics • BEC Set Up • Battery Cell Monitoring

Read more after the jump:

My Parkzone Radian Modifications and Set Ups

Here is a short article on how I've modified and tuned my Parkzone Radian to improve its performance and reliability.This popular training plane can greatly be improved with a few simple mods. Read the article and check out the photos after the jump.

Stupid Parkzone Radian Flying Video

Yes, I flew foam. Forgive me. Got a Radian to use in some future video projects and put my little Contour HD cam on it for some fun. I flew the Radian box stock first, and I knew it would suck, and it did. I put her in the tuning shop and moved the CG an INCH back, hacked the stab to get rid of the massive decalage, re-routed the pushrods a bit, and put some stiffeners in the fuse, and other tweeks. She flies sweet now, better than it should. Watch it on Youtube for a better bigger view.

Paul Naton On The RC Today Radio Show

I was a guest on the RC Today Podcast show this week. The hosts are glider friendly guys, and we chatted about HLG's, soaring and electric gliding. I'm on Show 7, and skip ahead, I'm on towards the end, though the whole show is enjoyable. Here's the LINK.

2.4 Radio Clinic DVD Reviewed on RC Groups

A new review of my 2.4 Radio Clinic just dropped on RC Groups, so please check it out. I did more research on this DVD than any other, and if you really want an easy and concise way to learn all about 2.4 radio systems and how to use them safely, get this DVD.

US F3B Team China Updates

Even though information via Twitter and Facebook are restricted in China, information on the US F3B teams' travels are leaking through the great information wall and you can read the team updates at their site at this link:  Great reading, the contest is set to start soon! Excitement builds, the team is feeling good.

Now For Something Completely Different

I got into soaring thru surfing, and though my boards have been dry for some time, I do love the sport of kings. Here's some footage from last weeks Billabong at "Choopoo", the world's heaviest tube. I've ridden some nice barrels at Black's, but this is off the charts scary.

Podcast With US F3B Team

The podcasts continue! This week we have members of the US F3B team who are getting ready to go to China to due battle at the world championships. Team flyers David Klein & Tom Keisling as well as helper Gordon Buckland talk about preparing the team, what planes they are flying, fund raising challenges, and what they are expecting at the first ever soaring world's to be hosted by China. The one hour show can be streamed or downloaded by using the player below. Support the team by going to their website and contributing: http://www.teamusaf3b.com

Also support Radio Carbon Art by purchasing one or more DVDs: Radio Carbon Art

F3B Team Podcast 1

 

 

Podcast With World Champion Joe Wurts

The podcast flurry continues, with a one hour converstation with soaring legend Joe Wurts. We chat about the F3K worlds, glider designs and trends, and other good glider geek stuff. The audio is not the greatest, but what Joe talks about is pure gold. Listen to a stream by clicking the player below, or right click to down load the 54 meg MP3 audio file. This podcast is brought to you by the Soaring Master Class DVD series and our cool new poster glider prints which you can look at here:

JW Podcast

 

New US F3K Team Podcast

This is a new 1 hour podcast interview with US F3K team members David Ashinsky, Oleg Golovidov, and manager Bruce Davidson. We talk about the recent world's, the pilots experiences, lessons learned and other HLG geekery. You can listen to the stream by clicking the play bar below, or right click the bar for a direct download of the high quality 53 meg .mp3 audio file. Enjoy! More F3K and HLG podcasts coming soon.

F3K PODCAST

 

New Glider & Sailplane Poster Prints By Paul Naton

After printing up some large prints from my photo collection, I was inspired to collect the best of my images and offer them for sale through the Radio Carbon Art website. Watch the short video for a quick overview of the photos and go to the Soaring Poster web page to get more information of sizes available and pricing. The larger prints look amazing and any one of them would look great on your office, shop or bathroom wall. A 20" x 30" print is only $30.00, for a short time only. Watch the video in HD, it looks real nice, double click the on the video frame for full screen.

First FAI F3K World Championships In Sweden

The first ever FAI F3K (handlaunch glider) world championships start July 5th at the Arboga field about 150 km west of Stockholm, Sweeden. The US team is well represented along with about 20 other countries. Bruce Davidson who teaches on the Handlaunch Master Class DVD series is the US team manager. To find out the latest news on the event, here are some good links to follow: Go USA!

US Team Thread on RC Groups       Swedish Face Book Page

New Zealand Team Face Book        Official Contest Site

Polecat ALES Contest Photos

I attended the Polecat ALES (altitude limited electric soaring) contest in Carlisle PA. I was flying some 1.5 meter planes, the smallest in the contest, but got 9th overall. I'll write more on this format later, but first some nice shots I took at the contest.

More photos after the jump!

Now This Is Slope Soaring

Found this nice little video from Matt Bellaka, an airline pilot who would rather go motorless.

Vintage Hobie Hawk Promo Video

Found this super cool vintage Hobie Hawk promo film that was made circa 1975. I remember seeing this film at a sailboat show around that time. (I was into sailing) The print ads were cool too. Some great shots of flying at Torrey Pines, Dana Point, San Francisco, and Palos Verdes. Little did I know that I would fly those spots myself 20 years later! I have a few hours on a Hawk, decent flyer, dutch roll and all, might have to get one someday. Enjoy the hot chick loading her hawk into her 67 Bug. (had one of those).

Should You Upgrade To The New Spektrum DSMX 2.4 System?

Last Month Spektrum/JR released a new flavor of a 2.4 radio transmit technology called DSMX. DSMX is a hopping hybrid variant of their DSM2 transmit technique which aims to have better lock-out resistance in high interferance situations like large fly-ins or other harsh 2.4 radio environments. I cover the DSMX technology in my new 2.4 Radio Clinic DVD, and you can watch the clip here for free. DSMX is not needed by a vast majority of DSM2 users, DSM2 still works great. But if you are buying new JR radio gear, make sure you get DSMX compliant hardware, though some older gear might be on sale cheap. Good thing is that older DSM2 radios (not receivers) can be upgraded to DSMX for a small fee. I am no hurry to go to DSMX, though it may work better in some situations. Watch the clip and check out the new 2.4 Radio Clinic at this link.

Download Interesting Thermaling Research Paper

I found this interesting paper on the thermal soaring techniques of birds and how the science geeks are using this data for UAV flight. By Ákos, Nagy, Leven,Vicsek and published on the Cornell Univ site. A lot of this paper contains info known to the better HLG pilots already! Download the small but-oh-so interesting PDF file here: Download BirdThermal

My New Electric Glider

Last month I got a new plane, well a used one. Yep, it has a prop. It's an Aria, built has javelin throw HLG in 2001, converted to electric. Glass bagged wings, MH32, glass fuse, v-tail. More with pictures after the jump:

2.4 Radio Clinic Preview

Here is the trailer preview for my latest training DVD, the 2.4 Radio Clinic.  Everyone who is using or is changing over to 2.4, needs to know how to use it right, and this DVD teaches you all you need to know.  Click Here for more information on the 2.4 Clinic at the Radio Carbon Art website.

Da Truth About Thermal Duration

Just Watch It.  Thanks to author John Marien.

What Is A F3B Winch?

Here is a short clip I shot with Mike Smith last June while we were filming the Master Class 3 DVD. Mike explains the basics of the specialized winch that is used for F3B competitions. Thanks to the US F3 team for letting us film a practice.  Kyle Paulson does a nice speed run with his Freestyler 3 at the end. 

A Wing & A Prayer

I have a secret desire to don a wing suite, and hurl myself off a cliff until glide speed is reached, then sweep down canyons and forests at terminal velocity.  If I was 21 again, with nothing to loose, maybe I would do it. Otherwise, I watch the pro's, and enjoy the show.  Imagine where this sport will be 10 years. Waiting for the first sustained slope flight, just might be possible.