Karl “BigSwede” Lindstrom got some really nice shots of my 7+ year old Aeromod Voltij flying at the Ruins yesterday during WeaselFest. This Voltij was my first pure aerobat and is still one of my favorite planes to fly… a true classic!
Update: Here’s some onboard video from this same session. Hope you took your Dramamine!!
Now this looks very, very cool! François Cahour, one of the absolute godfathers of R/C glider aerobatics, has written a new book on the subject, Voltige Planeur RC that is available from Amazon. François has been flying glider aerobatics since the mid-1970s and his contributions to the sport are boundless; I can’t wait to see what he has written and will be ordering immediately. The book is written in French and 147 pages – having read a shorter article he has written on the subject, I anticipate his book will be excellent! 
The book’s description:
The first flight training book about R/C glider aerobatics. Following his monthly column in the magazine RCPilot, there are presented here more than 40 aerobatic figures. Divided into 3 parts for a logical progression: basic figures simple and compound, inverted and snap figures, and lastly, the exceptional figures.
The general method involves the description of each figure, the main defects to avoid and basic tips to achieve it. A perspective drawing of the figure with representations of the stick movements show the position of sticks in each phase of the embodiment of figure. All figures are achievable by the author’s glider, some details of which are shown here. Are also addressed are some of the technical details of the author’s glider that allow the achievement of the exceptional figures.
A sample figure from the book, showing glider flight path and radio inputs
Back in the good old days, camcorders came with this sweet thing called a “viewfinder”. A viewfinder was a tiny LCD screen with rubber eye cup that you held against your face. You got a clear, bright view of what your camera was recording (although many times it was in black & white). By holding the camera to your face, it gained a degree of natural stabilization and, in a slope environment, helped prevent the camera from excessive wind buffeting.
Unfortunately, a few years ago, the mega-corporations who produce camcorders decided that what “everyone” wanted was tiny palm-sized HD devices with giant flip-out LCD screens. While this is surely great for capturing little Johnny’s precious moments on a home video that will probably never even get downloaded off the SD card, let alone viewed, these two features together – tiny, lightweight camcorders with giant, glare-prone LCDs – have made these otherwise cheap and serviceable camcorders all but useless for capturing slope soaring.
Enter… Getó Fabuloso
The philosophy behind Getó Fabuloso is simple: most problems can be solved with duct tape.
In this case, the flap from a box lid, some lovely black Gorilla Tape, a few scraps of Velcro, some hot glue and about 30 minutes of my time was all that was needed to turn my little Canon Vixio from “Slope Zero” to “Slope Hero”.
Not only does Getó Fabuloso completely eliminate the major issue with small camcorders – the glare on the flip-out LCD screen that makes them all but useless for filming slope soaring – but in addition, you get the stability inherent to two-handed binocular style hold. That’s a win/win in anybody’s book.
And of course the cool Star Wars look & feel – reminiscent of Luke’s fateful encounter with the Sand People in Episode IV (still objectively the best of the franchise) – is purely coincidence
Pictures tell the rest of the story. I am sure others have found similar solutions; this was just a brainstorm of mine, as I have a pressing need to do some filming this weekend!
The 2013 Two Ocean Slope Soarers Aerobatics contest write-up is now up on the TOSS website and it’s a great read! This was the 5th annual running of the event and they scored some fantastic conditions both days. Photos below by Shane Schwartz courtesy Christo le Rou in the Cape Town Slope Flyers thread on RCGroups. Congratulations again to the winners, the judges and all the participants for a great event!!
And in case you missed it the first time, here’s the official event video one more time:
TOSS Aerobatics Event 2013 from Alan Ball on Vimeo.
Dawson Henderson and I have been collaborating on a wiki project meant to help support all the Le Fish builders out there – LeFish.org – home of Le Fishipedia
It’s meant to be a one-stop shop where new builders can learn about Le Fish, get guidance on what style/weight of build will best suit them, etc. Basically we’re trying to help people avoid having to wade through thousands of pages of forum posts to find this important info. It’s still a work in progress… it always will be
So… check it out! And enjoy!
Laurent Berlivet of Jivaro-Models built this really fun “Némo”-themed French Le Fish, and I love it! Laurent and his son had a chance to fly it over the holidays and were kind enough to send the beautiful photos above. Thanks Laurent!
First off, Happy New Year Everyone!
Looking back on 2012, I’m blown away by all that has transpired in the world of slope aerobatics. There has been truly impressive progression on so many levels, all across the globe. Merely trying to wrap my arms around everything – even just the highlights – is not an easy task!
With so much happening this year, it’s appropriate that we take a look back at five things that made 2012 one of the most important years for slope aerobatics in recent memory.
Russell Conradt of South Africa was encouraged by his friend Michel to design and construct this beautiful own-design slope aerobat named the Conquestador. It’s 2.5m span, 1.63m long and weighs in at a tidy 4950g (174oz)… yeah baby!!
The plane features balsa fuselage sides with surfboard foam top and bottom for easy shaping, then glassed with 163gr fiberglass cloth. Wings are foam core bonded with epoxy to obechi veneers and laid up in a 25kg granite press. The Conquestador uses the tried-and-true SB96V (root) and SB96VS (tip) airfoil blend, and on only its second flight garnered Russell a 2nd place finish in the inaugural Aerobatic Classic competition.
You can read all about the plane and its build here on the AvCom build thread.
Russell himself said it best… “There is no doubt that one of the best decisions I have made in modelling, was to build my own… I am so glad I didn’t order another plane from China.”
Absolutely spot-on and job well done, Russell!! Thanks for sharing your stoke with us
Fun session yesterday at Ellwood Mesa. Wind was crossed up but the agility of the ultralight Le Fish allowed me to work a small face that picked up the wind, and fly in tight. Lots of good old fashioned “in your face” flying was performed As I was packing up to leave, I snapped this shot of my plane with a squad of pelicans in the background. Great day!
Peter Richner is a madman! First the 4m ExCali, now a 6.2m Le Fish? Mother of God.
Watch this space…
