49th Annual Cumberland Maryland Soar For Fun !!!!!

[Snatch]

[Snatch]

[Csessa]

Well another great weekend of flying. Plenty of tugs and tow pilots, all which did a great job. Plenty of weather variations but nothing insane. I really enjoyed the slope action on ?? (which day was that?). The sky full of foam going up up up.

As with every trip there are a few repairs to look into, but nothing major, which is a great feeling. Time to start the winter repair and build list.

The hospitality was well above the line. This has become the expectation for the Mountain. Many thanks to Jim D and the local folks for all the effort. This site looks and works great.

Too much fun flying so not many photos. I thought I would put up the first "is it real or is it Memorex" photo. I am sure there will be a host of much better shots, but I owed it to my mode to get one up.

[French1]

Same feeling than Conio.. I miss the place already, will need to wait next year now to do it over...

stayed Friday through Sunday and everyday was worth it!

The best memory was on Sunday afternoon after bailing from the tow about 200feet up and going in direction of the landing area when all sudden I saw bird circling, And here is how another 1 hour flight started with my DG-800S...

I put my Bidule 111 at work with a DA100, with the help of Len the engine been tuned up and giving best performance with a XSOAR 26x10 . Pulled with authority whatever way present on top of the mountain... Very slick airframe, time to go in hibernation for now and to mount some canister and the cowl on

New pictures uploaded on my previous link

Stéphane

[French1]

Gerald pictures of Sunday
https://www.flickr.com/gp/pteromorph/3Zf85x

[Swiss1]

Once again a great event,.Snatch and I arrived late Wednesday night and turned up at Linda's the following morning for Breakfast. Up the mountain and assembled our Tow Planes and the Ka-6. The weather was perfect and we flew all day long. Friday was cooler but still had a bunch of flying going on, which was followed by Saturday's gusty cross runway antics, put hairs on my chest Sunday was The perfect day for the Arcus, a glorious sunny day and I got the chance to fly over High Point as the passenger in the 2-33 from the local airport, we got towed to the field by a Cessna 150 with an up graded 180 motor aptly named "The Happy Hooker". Marvin Holland was my pilot and he did a great job of circling the field as Gunny and Erich followed suite with their 1/3 Scale's 2-33's below. (Snatch should have some video to follow shortly}
It was great to see everyone at this spectacular location, thank's Jim for sharing your passion with us all.
This event get's the SCCStamp of Approval

Jeremy and Ben
SCC AAA TT TN

​

[stevekremer]

Great pictures Stephane. Thanks for sharing!!

Steve

[hello82]

awesome awesome time!!! Good to see everyone once again and meet some new faces! Thanks to Jim, Len and all the tow guys and volunteers! That full scale 233 was great to see...lol did not know it was one our guys!! thanks for posting all the pics!!

here's a few of my photos

Matt

[hello82]

and more

[hello82]

and still more

[lenb]

Gerald pictures of Sunday
https://www.flickr.com/gp/pteromorph/3Zf85x

Thanks for posting the Link Stephane, I didn't see this post when I put up the link also... lol

I deleted my post to keep the thread clean.

Len

[JimD]

First and foremost,thanks to the tow pilots who kept the line running during the event! Len, as always, I cannot imagine any of these events running without you. Jeremy and Tom, what an incredible pair, they not only traveled all the way from Alabama, but they both put in hours of tow time each. Then our newest tow pilot, Stephane, great job! Thank you all so much for coming and for your effort in making this event run smoothly.

By the Numbers

5 Days of flying

48 registered pilots

14 States:

• Alabama
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia
• West Virginia

The weather could not have been better, just spectacular for early November! Every day offered soaring of some style ranging from DLG, to wild slope, to hot liner, to bungee and winch launch thermal duration, to SLS, to giant scale aero towing. Every form of soaring had at least part of a day of absolutely excellent conditions.

Logistics

Hosting an event involves a lot of behind the scenes logistical work. Beyond pilot registration, there are issues of parking, camping, restroom facilities, food, and frequency control (but to a much small extent). With the varied soaring disciplines come issues of winch and bungee locations plus active runway selection and traffic patterns determined by wind speed and direction. Al DeRenzis has taken responsibility for the winch line setup and Russ Bennett the bungee launching setup. Both of these men have long been fixtures of the Soar for Fun and their flight line help is very much appreciated.

Having enough food, delivered on a timely basis and at a reasonable price is probably the biggest logistical issue. We like to have quality food and a varied menu so we are not serving the same thing every day. With five days and no way to know the exact number to be served each day, the issues involved are obvious. Fortunately, from experience, we have gotten pretty good at this, but it takes someone to give time and attention to making things happen. Al and Sally DeRenzis, and John and Sharon Appling helped out tremendously by taking care of our Saturday lunch. We all owe them a special thank you!

Then there are other issues, like keeping the neighbors (whose houses we drive by on an often dusty road) happy. This year, many of our neighbors came up to our event to see what we were all about. The feedback was very positive as they looked on with amazement. Many new friends were made by simply spending the time to talk with these neighbors about what we do and the dates of our events
.
The Ever Increasing Intrusion of Government Regulation

The careless actions of a few can bring down heavy-handed regulations on all…never mind our long history of self-regulating and safe operations. At the Saturday lunch break, John Lueke gave us a very timely update on current law and things happening with the AMA and FAA. Thank you John for your ongoing efforts on behalf of our wonderful hobby/sport!

We have always had the constant awareness of our proximity to the two local full-scale airports. With the recent media and government attention on drone activity, this proximity has taken on a new level of concern. We, the local R/C community, have always had a close working relationship with the local full-scale community. As with most of the prior years, the flight instructor for the Cumberland Soaring Group came for a visit. Also, as with most years, he had the chance to give some of our pilots a sailplane ride over the field. We also had a visit from one of the most experienced pilots in the local EAA group. These connections are very important to have, especially now, and taking the time to talk with these folks and make them welcome at our event has an even great importance than prior years.

Giant Scale Soaring and Aero Towing

For the Cumberland Soar for Fun, 2009 was the water shed year for the predominate style of flying. Up until then, winch launching was the standard and aero towing was more a novelty…Alex ( IFlyTailies) and Erich Schlitzkus had both demonstrated aero towing in prior years. But, 2009 was the first year that Len Buffinton came to Cumberland along with his passion for giant scale soaring and aero towing. Locally, we had accomplished crude success with aero towing back in the early 1970’s, but it never caught on. Having grown up near Cumberland and watching the full-scale aero towing operation based on the Cumberland Regional Airport, aero towing was always one of my interests for R/C and Len proved that it could be done reliably. Len and Steve Pasierb have developed a very dedicated group in the Connecticut area and have consistently brought numbers of them to the Soar for Fun events. (Of that group, Conio Cessa and Don Chamberlain have been especially supportive.) Their enthusiasm has been contagious and has spread by starting new groups, and giving new energy to other groups involved in ground breaking efforts dating back into earlier decades. Charlie Reeve, Tom Pack, and Erich Schlitzkus had all done aero towing, but have since become very dedicated to it as a means of launching the giant scale sailplanes they love.

New Giant Scale Models

In 2010, the conversation was why aren’t there any USA vendors making giant scale sailplane kits. Enter Gunny Bumburs…Gunny (Aviation Concepts) brought his 1/4-scale Schweizer SGS-233A to the Salem Connecticut Aero Tow event in 2010 and from there now offers a 1/3-scale version. He produces his own kits and manuals and has become the segment defining kit maker. Gunny brought flying models of both his ¼-scale and 1/3-scale 2-33’s kits to the SFF, Conio Cessa brought his ¼-scale model, and Erich Schlitzkus brought his 1/3-scale model. All were flown with great success and to the delight of all there to see them.

As for the Large Mass Market vendors, Horizon Hobby has brought the 4.2M L-13 Blanik and 4.7M ASW 20 to the USA market. These fine models were well represented at the SFF and flown with great success. Similar size and performance scale models previously were out of the price range of many modelers, but these two have redefined the market.
Bill Hempel has produced the super-giant scale 50% KA-6. There are now four of these in our region that I have had the chance to tow
.
Then there are the hand-made giants, like the ARCUS and DUO DISCUS (and others that I can’t name with precision). For the truly committed, these models are just the best of the best.

Other dedicated modelers, like Stephane Ruelle and Tom Pack, have recently hand-built their own giant scale composite sailplanes
.
I am skipping a lot here, but hope I have given at least a good representation of what has happened in this region the last six years.

Tow Planes

TopModel had the segment defining tow plane in its 3.2-3.3M Pilatus Porter Model. Sadly, these models are no longer available. However, TopModel now offers the Bidule 111 and Bidule 170 tow planes. These models come with a tow release mechanism and do not require after-market modifications to make them into tow planes. Stephane brought his Bidule 111 to the SFF and Len brought his Bidule 170. Both models did major towing duties and have proven to be very reliable tugs.

Horizon Hobbies now produces a 33% Pawnee and a 36% Super Decathlon that can easily be modified into tow planes. Tom McLeod brought his Pawnee all the way from Alabama to help with towing duties at the SFF. Jeremy Hartmann (The Model Box) brought his Hacker Decathlon which is available from several sources and did considerable towing as well.

Basically, even though our much loved TopModel Porter is no longer available, there are other very good choices. The Decathlon is well represented with versions from R/C Guys, Hacker, Hangar 9, Bill Hempel, and Pilot.

HighPoint Aviation Airfield

My dream when I bought this property was to develop it into a first class R/C facility that could host soaring events such as the SFF. 2015 and retirement offered me the chance to really accomplish major advances toward that goal. None of this would have been possible without the support of all those who come to the events here. I continue to be impressed by the long distance people travel to fly at our field. Tom McLeod and Jeremy Hartmann get the award for the longest distance traveled for this event, but many others traveled long distances, like Burt Pickard-Richardson, Scot Stewart and Matt Lupri.

Then there are the long time dedicated guys like Dave Harris, Russ Bennett, Carl Luft, and Pete Carr. Dave donated a microwave oven to the new building facility and it was put to good use at this event. Thank you Dave!

The significant others

My wife’s one request when I started planning the new building was for there to be a “Ladies Room.” We very much appreciate the support of our ladies and are proud to now offer them their own facility. Luisa brought decorations to give the newly completed facility that ultimate feminine touch!

2015

This year, I traveled to aero tow events at Ann Arbor, MI; Salem. CT; Monticello, IL; Muncy, PA; Newark, DE (twice); and Hammondsport, NY. I also hosted the 6^th Annual Cumberland Spring Soar for Fun, the 3^rd Annual Cumberland Summer Soaring, and the 49^th Annual Cumberland Fall Soar for Fun at the HighPoint Aviation Airfield. In addition, we got started on our new hangar facility, got started on kit #003 of Gunny’s 1/3-scale SGS 2-33, and maintained the Porter though 74 hours of flight time and the H9 Super Decathlon through 50 hours of flight time.

All in all, what a year this has been!

2016

HighPoint Aviation events

7^th Annual Cumberland Spring Soar for Fun on March 17-21, 2016.
4^th Annual Cumberland Summer Soaring on July 21-25, 2016
50^th Annual Cumberland Fall Soar for Fun on November 3-7, 2016.

Thanks to all for your support and here is looking forward to 2016!

[Soarntz]

WOW! 48 pilots

Great Job by all involved..... Thanks

[stihac]

Congrats on another great event Jim! You are for sure major driving force in the aerotowing/soaring movement. Thank you for all you do to grow the hobby.
I'll do my best to visit The Mountain next year.


Petr

[lenb]

After reading all thats been said, there's not much more to add except to thank Jim for all the hard work he has done to put on such a classy event. When we arrived on Wednesday, the weather was absolutely perfect, mid 70's and bright sunshine. Thursday was a carbon copy, just warmer and even bigger lift.. Friday was thermal and Slope flying as was Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
What a fabulous way to conclude the 2015 Aerotowing season for us on the Eastern Seaboard.

The Bidule has acquired close to 75 hrs of towing duties since August and the new steering system has 25 hrs of FLAWLESS operation. We could NOT be happier with the way things are working on the plane.

Thanks to the other tow pilots who helped keep everyone in the air, Jeremy, Tom, Stephane, Don and Jim..
Its a pleasure to work with these guys.


Stephane's Bidule 111 or as he says 777, This little tug could pull anything we brought to the line, and only sporting a 100cc motor up front too. Stephane gave me the opportunity to fly the plane and tow for a while with it on Friday and I was thoroughly impressed. Other than being a little tough to see when high up, its just as capable as the big brother 170..

The pictures are a bit deceiving based on which angle they're taken from.

Thanks to everyone for attending the event and we'll see you in the spring!


Len