GL contest

Update;

Thanks to Donald Fourson, the IRKS will reschedule their contest to a different date. So we are still on for May 1st.

Raed

Original post:

Due to a scheduling conflict with the IRKS “sailplane contest #2”  I am considering moving the contest to Sat May 22nd. If anybody has an issue with the new date please let me know within a couple of days before I submit the change to the AMA sanction.

Raed

raed5@yahoo.com

Welcome to the NEW Buzzard’s Web Site!

Wow,  this is exciting.  I’m really stoked on this new web site.  Gordon has really hit one out of the park with this one!   And I don’t think he’s done yet….

If this is the first time you have visited you have a lot to see and do.  The site should continue to accumulate interesting information and more of those great Gordon Reports.   I’ve got to figure out how this new site works so that I can get in on the action too!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! 

Rick

Christmas Eve Gordon Report

A small group of us flew on Thursday – Christmas Eve including Allan, Rich, Jody, Ed, Rick and myself. A good friend Tim Gess from MI was in town and wanted to show us the most recent developments of his self launching device (the OneWinch) for sailplanes. I had tried launching my OnyxJW with the device with Tim in March and it worked well but needed more improvements which Tim had made and was now ready to test it out again with some big ships. Thursday was very windy which dented the enthusiasm of Ed trying to trim his new Ava but Rich, Al and Rick were flying and I also used the opportunity to get some stick time on my High End. I found some great lift in the windy conditions and got a good 25 minut flight in. Rick launched his 2M Laser with Tim’s self launcher a few times with Rich Kiburis doing the towing. The launches went very well achieving launch heights which looked equivalent to a good winch launch. After a couple of winch launches with my High End we decided to try Tim’s launcher with a “big ship”. Once again Rich did the “towing.” I was only at about 150 feet when something broke on the apparatus and Rich pulling hard on the device was struck in the back with the end of the towing twine. Struck pretty hard too apparently as it left some nasty welts even through his pullover. Clearly the towing system worked extremely well but needs a little beefing up in a few places. Tim has a great concept which allows excellent launches either on your own or with someone towing. The cause of failure has been addressed. (In addition to using 350# snap rings Tim has also encased the end of the line in a braided dacron sleeve, before tying the knot. This greatly relieves the “stress riser” that occurs when you knot a line.)
We called it a day around noon and packed up to go home and get ready for christmas.
Gordon

10km XC attempt at Kennyworld

Gordy Stahl, Ingo Donasch and myself planned to try for our LSF 5 Goal and Return flights at Kennyworld on Dec 12th or 13th. The weather forecast all week indicated that we would be in for a hot day with record temps in Ocala of 84 degrees. The wind was going to be swinging from east to west during the day at a strength of around 8 mph to 12 mph. Though not ideal wind the task was still doable so we set out on the Sunday to give it a try. Jody Miller came with us from Orlando and we were also joined by Art Scheurer at Kennyworld.

Unfortunately for us the entire XC attempt was going to be in vain because the weather forecasters got it entirely wrong. We were greeted in Kennyworld with overcast skys, cold wind and a cloud base of barely 600 feet. We didn’t see the sun all day and the buzzards were finding conditions tough. In fact when we were watching Buzzards successfully thermalling they were disappearing into cloud! It was a great opportunity for a dry run to test our equipment and planes. The old Vyger was assembled and flown a few times but the windy conditions were not her forte. I flew my High End for the first time and got some trimming and mode settings done on it. Ingo flew his Shadow a few times also to test the air. The biggest problem we had all day was that we needed much longer stakes to hold the turn around down in the loosely ploughed peanut field. The turnaround continued to pull out of the ground on any strong launches. We did have a fun day all round but we’ll need to try again with better weather conditions. Thanks to Jody and Art for being our loyal assistants.
Gordon

FSS Contest #1 2010

Title: FSS Contest #1
Location: IRKS, Cocoa, FL
Link out: Click here
Description: Sanctioned FSS Soaring contest is Number 1 in the FSS series for 2010. Being the first sanctioned contest for the year it is one not to be missed. Especially when it is being held at the awesome soaring site used by the IRKS club. See you all there.
Start Date: 2010-02-20
Start Time: 09:00
End Date: 2010-02-21
End Time: 16:00

Buzzards Appreciation Day

Title: Buzzards Appreciation Day
Location: Buzzards Field Oviedo
Description: My fellow buzzards
Mark your calendars, Saturday Jan 16th is “Buzzards appreciation day” where we meet at the field, get to know each other, share ideas to promote our hobby and support our club. Our friends at Rocket City club do this several times a year and they enjoy it. So bring your favorite food item, a salad, bag of chips, a desert item etc, the club will provide burgers, hot dogs, and drinks. I especially ask people who fly helicopters, and electric plane, also people who only fly on weekdays, to show up and share their interests and ideas. Bring your helicopters, electric planes, sailplanes, cars, boats, blimps, birds…(did I miss anything?) for food and fun at the field.
Raed
Start Time: 08:00
Date: 2010-01-16
End Time: 18:00

New Years Day Woody Postal Contest

Title: New Years Day Woody Postal Contest
Location: Buzzards Field, Oviedo, FL
Link out: Click here
Description: Merril has posted a thread on RCGroups about this fun challenge. Basically the winner will be the pilot who achieves the longest Thermal Duration flight on New Years Day. Entries to be posted on Merril’s thread. Conditions to enter include only Woodys allowed. (No Ava’s Dannys or Topaz type aircraft. F/Glass and Carbon are allowed in the fuselage but not in the wing.)
Sounds like a fun day.
Go to the thread above and post your name and the plane you are flying to enter.
See you at the field on New Years day.
I’m flying my newly acquired Aquila Grande.
Gordon
Gordon Buckland
aussiekk@bellsouth.net
Start Time: 08:00
Date: 2010-01-01
End Time: 18:00

Thanks for visiting us.

The Orlando Buzzards are a non-profit fraternal organization established for the enjoyment by its members of radio control soaring. The members participate in both competition and sport flying of model sailplanes. Members build and fly gliders of all sizes – ranging from as small as 24 inch wingspan to some over 16 feet across. These soaring machines are usually launched into the air with an electric winch to begin a flight. At that point the pilot steers the airplane to where he believes there are rising currents of air to keep his model aloft. Sometimes flights can last for over an hour and in good conditions even a beginner can keep his sailplane airborne for a long time.