Newish member, looking for fellow flyers in Austin area.

[edfmaniac]

Hello y'all,

I used to be a member years ago when the site first came into existence, but I think it moved or changed and names/passwords were lost, purged. I had built an AMR Trainer 50 to tow people and was looking for a group to participate with. Now I'm back looking for people again. I heard there were some folks in the area that were active on this site so I'm following up to continue the search. Now that I have both a large tug and a large scale sailplane, a 1/3 Baudis ASW22, I'm determined to find some fellow soaring enthusiasts to share the skies with. Tom Harper was mentioned and possibly Walt Higgins. And I heard there is a guy who either flies at Lakeway airport or had a discussion about large scale gliders with someone out there. There's a group that meets in San Antonio too but they aren't very responsive to emails and I hesitate to drive down there on a Thursday, their chosen days for aerotwo events, without confirmation that there is actually an event.

So if you live in or around Austin, and have any interest in trying to form a group or just help out a first time large scale pilot fly his first giant plane, I'd really look forward to meeting/flying with you.

Thanks

[DennisB]

Tom Harper is the person who moved to Lakeway airport.

[edfmaniac]

I would sure like to have a large scale mentor there when she flies for the first time.

[edfmaniac]

After seeing the latest release from Horizon and thinking the ASW would rarely fly without a constant towing partner to pilot the tow plane, I decided to put an outrunner in the nose. So it will be an easy task to launch, knock on wood. But it would be really nice to have a second pair of eyes watching approaches and speeds, and to give the plane/radio set up the once over.

[lenb]

I sent Tommy a note to reach out to you.

LEN

[Mark9]

When I get released from my surgery I would like to know if you get a group going. It is not that long of a drive from where I live, assuming 35 doesn't get clogged! I could be there mid morning and could return home the same day.

[edfmaniac]

I sent Tommy a note to reach out to you.

LEN

Thanks Len. Was it you that I sold the Petrel short kit to years ago? Your name sounds familiar. Just wondering if she ever made it into the air. Thanks again.

[lenb]

Yes, that's me.
The kit is about 1/2 way completed, Scot ( Stew ) has been constructing it for me over the last couple years. He's a master builder and works when he gets free time.

[edfmaniac]

When I get released from my surgery I would like to know if you get a group going. It is not that long of a drive from where I live, assuming 35 doesn't get clogged! I could be there mid morning and could return home the same day.

I'll definitely post about any successful gatherings.

[BryanB]

Hey guys, I spoke with the Scale Soaring forum admin guys about trying to get us a "Texas" forum in the "Locations" section on the forum. I think that'll make it easier to not only organize but also connect with who/when around the state but mainly in the Texas triangle. I'm a purest when it comes to sailplanes so unless I have a cliff to toss it off or a high start/tow plane I'm grounded.

[edfmaniac]

I can respect the purest mindset. I almost put a power pod on my Hall Cherokee II, for the same reason that the ASW22 ended up with a motor in the nose, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. LOL I have a little more invested in keeping the short kit built vintage woody as unadulterated as possible. Some day I'll finish the poor thing and tow it up. But as for self launching/recovering gliders? I don't have a problem enjoying them as I'm pretty good at pretending that the plane doesn't have a motor when I'm not launching or recovering it from an unexpected land out/crash.

I really need a van so I can carry my tow plane more than a mile or two but we could probably fly at the local rc club down the street from me. They have a decent facility but the ground under the grass is usually cracked up this time of year. Flight ops might be restricted to the paved areas for the most part.

[Mark9]

Same here don't have any gliders with a mustache!

[JEBarton]

Hi edfmaniac, I'm the San Antonio flyer you emailed a while back. I'm sorry our exchange of emails got fouled up. We would love to have you come fly with us. Our next scheduled aerotows are on July 12 and Sept 6. Only bad weather or something really unusual will keep us from towing on those dates. Just send us an email a week or so before the event and we will confirm the dates.

[Mark9]

John, keep me in the loop too. I hope to be released by my surgeon before the Sep 6 date. The Kate is waiting to fly again.

[edfmaniac]

Thank you very much. I need to build a travel box for my big glider now, but I plan on bringing it down to one of the next two events. Fingers crossed.

[Tom Harper]

Hi ed, I live at Lakeway air park and would love to meet you and anyone else into scale soaring in the area. feel free to give me a call 818-219-5910
I have been thinking about going to slaughter park airfield and see if that club would be ok with us aerotowing there.
I have been restoring my full size 1929 Fleet model 2 biplane so I have not been flying my scale stuff lately.
I have a 40% carbon cub tow plane so I can help you out with towing.
Look forward to hearing from you and going flying.
Tom Harper

[edfmaniac]

Tom, I corresponded with some guys from the Slaughter Lane field today and it sounds like they have a weird rule about sailplanes/gliders. They must be motorized, I guess to lessen the chances of someone going down in the neighborhoods/complexes sprouting up around them. So aerotowing there might be prohibited.

I'm going to maiden my ASW22 soon and would like you to be there if you have the free time. It will probably be the weekend of 23/24.

[edfmaniac]

No maiden this weekend as it was gusty and I stripped an aileron servo when the wind blew a main wing panel off of the table. Fortunately it was in the bag and the servo was the only casualty as far as I can tell so far. The field at ARCA is actually better than it was last time I went. The grass portion of the runway is much more flat and well trimmed. I joined the club so I will have access whenever the weather is good. I haven't met him yet, but there's a club member who races/tunes full scale gliders on a regular basis. Hopefully he gets the scale bug if/when I hand him the sticks on the ASW.

[edfmaniac]

Thank you sir. I hope to maiden the plane before July. I will call you and see if we can get together for a chat or possibly have you be there for support. Slaughter field looks like a good spot. I wish ARCA had better grass since it's only a couple of miles from me, but I will probably do the maiden there unless I can get a travel box built first. Thanks again.

Victor