In celebration of the 20th running of the Torrey Pines Gulls International Handlaunch Glider Festival, I have re-released my film International Handlaunch as a special 2 hour download edition at the very special price of only $5.00 usd. Click Here to buy the 2 hour download.
This film first released in 2000 documents the last major HLG/F3K contest to feature the Javelin or over-hand throwing technique as the new generation of discus or spin-launch gliders were about to revolutionize this class of gliders. This special edition of this film has been remastered and re-edited with additional historical HLG footage and interviews added to document the the rapidly changing designs and launch techniques of the last 13 years. Discus-launch pioneers Dick Barker and Phil Pearson talk about the birth of the spin launch in rare interviews, and design master Mark Drela talks about the ideas behind the ground-breaking Super Gee design.
You can now purchase the newly re-mastered download edition of the highly acclaimed Radio Clinic For Sailplanes training program for only $12.95 for a limited time. This 1 hour and 55 minute high quality program will teach you the beginning and advanced radio programming techniques you'll need to get the most from your glider and radio set up.
The DVD price is $24.95, so the $12.95 download price is really a great deal and you don't have to pay shipping or tax either!
This new download edition has a new short tutorial on 2.4 radio technology and how it works, but overall the program is about the same as the older DVD version. Click Here for more information and to buy the download.
One of my good customers who is getting back into soaring big time (and has purchased ALL of my films for inspiration) just got a nice barely used Icon 2 and brought it by the shop for a 'PN' tune-up and pre-flight set up. We did a F3J program on his new JR 9503, reset the CG and tow hook, installed a new 2.4 receiver, and did a quick decalage/zero trim check with my iPhone.
I found this cool video by Petar Jansen on the repair of an Arcus full scale glider with a snapped tail boom. Some of the techniques shown could be used for models and the jig used to align the boom is super cool. Had to fix 2 control linkages, water ballast pipes, total energy probe system and make a better-than-new repair. Watch a second repair video after the jump: -PN
I've been shooting cloud time lapse videos for years to include with my soaring films and I recently came across this gorgeous film shot on a Red Epic camera with some special IR filters that enhance the contrast of the sky. Studing the sky is really key to understanding how air moves, lift, sinks, and evolves with the sun's energy input. Good thermal pilots have a developed sense of how the air will behave under changing conditions. They understand that air never stays still, never stays in equalibrium, and never wants to keep you aloft. Be one with the air your plane flies through. It takes a lifetime to gain that threshold. Karst County, Wee Jasper NSW, Australia, artist Glen Ryan.
Radio Carbon Art is offering two of the world's most popular thermal soaring videos as high quality digital downloads.
The one hour Secrets of Thermal Soaring and two hour High Performance Thermal Soaring can be purchased for only $9.95 for a limited time. The $9.95 special download price is terrific deal (DVDs are $24.95) and you don't have to pay shipping, VAT or tax either. Special download expires March 15th, so get your download now!
Once you order and pay, you will get a special link by e-mail within 24 hours to where you can download the high quality video files suitable for computers, smart phones Ipads and other small devices. The download files are Digital Rights Management Free, and are in the universal non-flash .mp4 video format which will play on any device that can play video files.
Radio Carbon Art will be releasing other instructional titles in download format as fast as the films can be re-edited and prepared for download. Visit the RCA Downloads page to buy and browse the training films currently available.
An R/C glider struck a fellow sloper in the head killing him. The accident happened in Germany at a well known slope site at a small hill. Next time you fly, take a minute to think about safety and how much energy a large glider is producing at even a low speed. I've bee struck by planes a few times and had some very serious near-misses from gliders flown by expert pilots that would have caused great injury. Is your glider safe? How's that old battery pack doing? Have a fail-safe programmed? Read more about the incident at this link:
I found this cool vintage soaring film from the late 1950's featuring the rare Mosway 4 glider soaring with buzards over South Africa flown by early hipster Renè Comte. Nice photography and wing mounted cameras give this film a great feel. A classic soaring film. Read more about this glider's restoration at this link: http://www.moswey4.ch/
Download the Soaring Experience Wallpaper Series 1
Paul Naton of Radio Carbon Art has created a unique and very cool set of twenty (20) wallpaper background images you can use to spice up you computer, laptop, or phone screen.
You can download the 20 high resolution jpeg images in various sizes at the link below: http://bit.ly/18wyNJA
For computers, the images are in 1024x768, 1280x1024, and 1900x1200. There is also a set at 960x960, which should work on most modern phones (Apple & Android based) and smaller tablets.
Please share the image links with your friends, spread them around the world!
I ran across Nenad Saljic's photography site the other day and saw his series on the Matterhorn. No, not the Disney version, the real thing in the Alps! His photos show cloud formations and the clear seperation boundaries needed for dynamic soaring. You can imagine the power the pinnicle produces in the right conditions. Only problem is getting up there. Then landing. Over 500 guys have died on the Horn. DSing could be possible, though not probable. Check out some cool Matterhorn DS photos after the jump.
I have posted 113 video clips and previews on the Radio Carbon Art YouTube channel and we just passed 2 million video views! This number is really incredible, and I get more new customers from YouTube than I do from any other form of adverstising. If you have not seen all of the cool free content on the Radio Carbon Art YouTube channel, then click this link and have a watch. Make sure to subsribe to my channel to get up dated on new videos posted. - Paul Naton RCA
The guys at a new website rcflightline.com are doing a podcast series and they recently had Daryl Perkins on as a guest. Daryl talks about how he got started in RC and his new job building composite RPV's for Vanilla Aircraft. You can download or stream the interview from this page and link: http://t.co/jX4Btt4m Check it out.
The first F3F Worlds are happening now at Cape Arkona, Germany, and Team USA is doing well after 3 days of racing in big winds. You can watch live and stored video at this link: Live F3F. You can support the US team by visiting their site and getting some raffle tickets or getting some shirts. You can watch either the live stream or stored video from the past days. This is a clinic on how to (and not how) to fly fast F3F pylon turns on a small slope in big winds. Check it out! Very cool.
Here are some short tuorials that did not make the final edit of the Electric Clinic 2 training DVD. I show you an Explorer 4.0 glider fuse, how to maintain a gear box, and a light bulb battery discharger. If this stuff got cut, imagine what good information is on the DVD! Comment if you have any questions.
The new Electric Sailplane Series has been a big hit amoung glider guys, and why not? E-sailplanes are now cool and I have to say I fly mostly electric launch thermal gliders now. (I do fly a fair amount of HLG still) My big high start has been sitting idle, it is just too easy to plug in a battery and get into the air without the hassle. I've spent the last 2 years learning the fine points of performance electric flying and I teach all about the hardware and how to safely install, charge, and optimize today's cool e-gliders. You can still get both Electric Clinic DVDs for only $39.95, a great deal for 4 hours of intesive training and information. Enjoy the preview! - Paul Naton
After many requests, I've made a detailed video showing how to make my major tuning modifications to a Radian to make it fly like a real sailplane.
This 30 minute video covers changes to the CG and tail decalage angles which will greatly help the handling and glide ratio of both the Radian and Radian Pro. I also show other modifications I made to my plane for better glide, increased climb under power, and increase reliability. I also show how to make a flaperon set up for the basic Radian which gives it camber changing and landing flaps, changes that really transformed this foam ball into a decent glider. (As a side note, I just won day 2 of the big Polecat ALES contest with the plane shown in the video)
If you've found the following video useful, support this and future free videos by visiting our website at radiocabonart.com and purchasing one of our sailplane training DVDs or digital downloads covering the skills of plane building, tuning, radio programing, thermal flying, electrics, handlaunch and contest flying.
Here is a short highlight reel I put together at June's Polecat CAMS ALES soaring contest near my home in PA. I didn't shoot a lot of footage as I was either flying or timing most of the contest. I did win day 2 with a near perfect score flying my performance tuned Radian. Took 8th overall. Watch in HD if you can. Double click video for full screen, or view on Youtube at a bigger size here: http://youtu.be/55PuCcke1a4
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:
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.
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!
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.
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!
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!
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
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
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.
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.
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.
