Sled Works Aerotow July 12th-15th 2018 Owatonna Minnsota

[Mosquito]

Come join the Sled Works team for 4 days of aerotowing in lovely Owatonna Minnesota July the 12th to the 15th, 2018.

Visit www.sled-works.com for registration and photos of previous events

See www.owatonna-rc-modelers.com for information about the field.

[MarkRobbins]

Would not miss this! Awesome time, awesome people, awesome field.

[Mosquito]

You can't miss it Markie! You are bringing a tow plane!!!!!!! Looking forward to flying with you again at this event.

--Tim

[ARUP]

I've taken time off from work and ready for 'the BIG drive'! Rawhide!

[Al_M]

Yeeehaaaa! See ya there, Mike!

[kjkavaney]

New Engine in the 108% PEG...hoping for better power !!!!! hope everyone can make it up here to join us on our 6th annual event..
kevin

[DanR]

I'll be there. My tent is ready!
Dan

[DanR]

I asked about when the field would be open for setting up camp and was told Thursday morning. So plan accordingly if you are planning on camping at the field (Al, I assume that would be you), don't arrive until Thursday morning.

See you all on Thursday!

Dan

[MarkRobbins]

Team South Dakota had one more towplane checkout tonight before the big event!

[ARUP]

Are we gonna have a towplane tug-o-war contest this year? lol Seriously... congrats on the new tug!

[Mosquito]

Looks like a beautiful field Mark.

[Mosquito]

Started the aerotow yesterday with light winds and intense heat and humidity.

Started today with nice flying but the rain has come in and halted us.

Tim

[French1]

Just Got back home

that was GREAT!

Got there early in the week and had the chance to visit Tim farm and Kevin place, thank guys for your hospitality.

Event started Thursday with some moderate wind associated with thermal, the field is great, mowed very short and a fabric runaway that make the take off a no brainer... some great flight up to 45mn, plenty of towplane, very short line, a lot of flying!!!

Friday got more challenged, rain was called in middle of the day, we flew as much as possible in the morning and shut operations about 1pm, It rained for three solid hours but every one hanged to it and the sky cleared up about 4:30 letting us flying until dark with some perfect evening conditions.

Saturday was the ideal day, once the low clouds cleared up about 9:30, it has been a busy day towing continuously sailplane. about 5pm banquet was called in and awards distributed, lot of contestants for the corn award this year!!! operations resumed shortly after 5:45, until dark again!

Couple casualties have happened, two towplanes went down, and I think about a dozen of sailplanes have been adopted by the corn, luckily, quads help with the rescue of couples, one had the privilege to stay overnight in the corn, flew next day without any problem...

A big thanks to Larry, Dave, Kevin, Tim and all the SLED crew for organizing that great venue, we will be back for sure!!!!

SLED !, SLED !, SLED !

Picture available on my Flickr page following this link

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmfdcgJE

[Al_M]

Stephane said it all. Sled Works was well worth the trip. Great event, good friends, and a superb field. Can’t ask for anything more than that. Many thanks to the Minnesota/South Dakota folks for their hospitality. I will be back next year.

[ARUP]

Thanks to the Sled Works Team for a nice event. It was great seeing everyone.

[Mosquito]

Well, another Sled Works Aerowtow is in the books. If anything, we will remember this event as probably one of the warmest we have held. Other than the heat, we had a brief delay on Friday for some rain showers but once those passed, we had great flying into the evening. Saturday and Sunday were perfect days to fly. If anyone did not come because they "flew the weather forecast", well that's too bad.

We also were lucky to have Stehpane Ruelle with us at our event. Stephane brought with him Horizon's new ASH 31 sailplane along with a buddy box to allow anyone that wished to fly it with zero fear of having an issues since he could take control if need be. I saw many different pilots fly that glider over the 4 days. I know of a few that will be buying one!

This year the heat and humidity helped the local corn fields sprout to heights over 6 feet. This made recovering planes from the corn a challenge. I had left my quad copter at home and regretted it almost immediately. Thanks to fellow club member Paul Johnson for coming down and saving the day in recovering a sailplane that spent 24 hours in the corn.

Thanks for all the hard work everyone put in to making this a great event. It's been the highlight of my summer for 6 summers now. Next year will be the same and I'm already looking forward to it.

Off to Winamac Indiana for the next aerotow adventure!

Tim