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International Slope Race (ISR) 2019.

Doc James Hammond

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Hey Dudes and Dudettes,
Just a note to let you know that despite Wayne planning to abscond to warmer climes with his good lady during the ISR next year, (He's a cad and a bounder!) myself and of course my lady Julia will be attending.

Added to that - this year, in conjunction with Aloft Hobbies as always; we will be giving not one, but TWO prizes:

1. A plane as a prize for the valiant and hard working helper's raffle.

2. A plane to be given as first prize for the winning Sportsman.

Please do come!

Tell your friends, tell your relatives, tell your...who else? - well, tell everyone!

Cheers and see you there!

Doc James & Julia Hammond.

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Konrad

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Doc,
This is great support of the event. The winners don’t need the encouragement of prizes. After all to get good enough to place in an event already takes dedication and commitment to the hobby. The top guys are addicted to the hobby and the pursuit of excellence. What is needed are workers and new blood. Your prize matrix is a very good way to get both. This needs to advertised a lot over the next few months.

Doc, again thanks for supporting the event so well.

All the best,
Konrad
 

Doc James Hammond

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Doc,
This is great support of the event. The winners don’t need the encouragement of prizes. After all to get good enough to place in an event already takes dedication and commitment to the hobby. The top guys are addicted to the hobby and the pursuit of excellence. What is needed are workers and new blood. Your prize matrix is a very good way to get both. This needs to advertised a lot over the next few months.

Doc, again thanks for supporting the event so well.

All the best,
Konrad

Thanks Konrad, happy to support - this is my favourite event of all time.

Please come guys, one and all.

Main Racers: You dont need any encouragement! You are all demons!

Sportsmen: Come and try!
The Sportsman's prize to the winner will be of a configuration and potential competitiveness to enable that skilful chap to enter the main race next time with it. (In the unlikely event that its still actually around!)

Helpers: One small caveat...
For the helpers prize, I will insist that the helper who wins it does actually have to have helped at some time during the racing. I'm sure I'm being reasonable there.

Julia will probably bring along some little things for the "Mrs Winners" too.

Cheers,

Doc.

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Wayne

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I think this will be the best ISR in a long time! I know I'm going to do my best to spread the word in the coming months, and if you all help, we can make this the golden event it once was! If you fly any form of gliders, then please come on down, and please consider piloting a plane.

The Sportsman class is open to all, I do suggest you have at least a 2 meter wingspan on your race plane as it can be hard to see a smaller plane, but we have had a couple of people use a 60" plane in the past. Any plane that can turn some speed will work well. As a Sportsman you will be teamed up with an Open Class pilot that will act as a mentor to teach you many of the finer points. This will probably cover aircraft setup, tuning for conditions and most important learning the course as Davenport has some tricks. These mentors are all very experienced and will have you performing like a pro in no time. This is a great opportunity to learn a ton in a very short period of time. Highly recommended!

If you have a done some glider races in the past, then please join in the Open Class. Most people are racing F3F ships with a fair amount of ballast as the conditions can be very good. The experience level of these pilots is insane. Many of the folks that have done well at the ISR have gone on to represent various nations in F3F and thermal contests around the world.

Please help and spread the word to your pilot buddies.
 

Doc James Hammond

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I have 2, maybe 4 guys from UK very interested and one buddy from Argentina who will probably go.

I'm working on the Australians and one or two more places.

Lets see it really get back to "INTERNATIONAL!"

Cheers,

Doc.
 

Doc James Hammond

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Here is the last race of 2018. Conditions are a bit grey but wow! Thanks to Gabriel DeVault for this.

Cheers,

Doc.

 

Doc James Hammond

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Now a hark back to 2016 (2017 was cancelled) Look a the weather, look a the place and look at the models racing - can you see them?

This one from Gerard Menut.

Doc.

 

PaulG

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The event sounds like a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to learn a lot in a couple of days. I am a rookie RC pilot and just started about a year ago. Work only allows me the occasional weekend to go fly and have been itching to try slope gliding. I am going to put a hold on the May dates in my calendar and I'm sure more info will follow in the months ahead on details such as how to get there, where to stay, what to bring etc.
 

Wayne

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Can do, typically the group of pilots will pick a hotel and take most of the rooms. This makes things a little more fun as the hangar talk continues well into the night and meals. :)
 

Doc James Hammond

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The event sounds like a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to learn a lot in a couple of days. I am a rookie RC pilot and just started about a year ago. Work only allows me the occasional weekend to go fly and have been itching to try slope gliding. I am going to put a hold on the May dates in my calendar and I'm sure more info will follow in the months ahead on details such as how to get there, where to stay, what to bring etc.

Come along Paul - the pilot and just general attendance mix is eclectic, and they are all very good, friendly and experienced guys. You could learn a lot about flying, and also building too. A lot of the guys are veteran (Like me!) model builders and have been through the entire gamut of balsa, foam composites etc etc building - most of all, they all are happy to impart any knowledge they have.

Like Wayne says, the "after hours" gathering are really fun too: eat some barbecue, drink some beer and tell some lies!

Unknown-33.jpeg

Hope you can make it. I'm 10,000 Miles away and I'm coming with my good lady!

Cheers,

Doc James Hammond.
 

Doc James Hammond

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I loaned a plane to an Australian guy at the ISR in 1986...guess what happened?

Kaboom!

Still, it beats DS!
Unknown-2.jpeg


Doc.
 

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Konrad

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There has been a somewhat disparaging remark made about DSing.

I’d like to correct this misconception. Dynamic Soaring (DS) is a great challenge, to both the skills of the designer/builder and the pilot. These challenges are what make DSing so rewarding.
The carnage shown earlier in this thread is a classic example of using the wrong tool for the job. In the early 90’s few designers had the appreciation of the flight loads put on the airframe while DSing. As a result many nice high quality airframes where lost flying beyond the structural limit of the airframe. Today it is understood that DS ships have own structural needs and set ups requirements that are very different from those of a front side ship.

With a proper ship it is well within the realm of possibility for most fliers to reach speeds of 450 kph. And for those dedicated to this discipline can reach speeds above 750 kph. To be clear these speeds cannot be reached with ships built and set up for front side flying. The structural and control demands are just too great for the front side ship.

Here are some ships that Aloft sells that are suitable for DSing:
https://alofthobbies.com/aircraft/gliders/dynamic-soaring.html

Here is a link to a talk by the preeminent DS designer and pilot, Spencer Lisenby.

All the best,
Konrad
 
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Doc James Hammond

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There has been a somewhat disparaging remark made about DSing.

I’d like to correct this misconception. Dynamic Soaring (DS) is a great challenge, to both the skills of the designer/builder and the pilot. These challenges are what make DSing so rewarding.
The carnage shown earlier in this thread is a classic example of using the wrong tool for the job. In the early 90’s few designers had the appreciation of the flight loads put on the airframe while DSing. As a result many nice high quality airframes where lost flying beyond the structural limit of the airframe. Today it is understood that DS ships have own structural needs and set ups requirements that are very different from those of a front side ship.

With a proper ship it is well within the realm of possibility for most fliers to reach speeds of 450 kph. And for those dedicated to this discipline can reach speeds above 750 kph. To be clear these speeds cannot be reached with ships built and set up for front side flying. The structural and control demands are just too great for the front side ship.

Here are some ships that Aloft sells that are suitable for DSing:
https://alofthobbies.com/aircraft/gliders/dynamic-soaring.html

Here is a link to a talk by the preeminent designer and pilot, Spencer Lisenby.

All the best,
Konrad

Hi Konrad,

Statement:

I am completely sure that Spencer and the other highly skilled DS guys close his level take the maximum possible precautions and enforce the maximum degree of security and safety possible when flying at what is now approaching Mach 1.

But there are a couple of other things so lets start with the misconception comment:

1. The pictures above show the remains of mostly dedicated DS models - many from the original Manor stable.
2. I am a model aircraft and full sized designer and I fully understand the needs of DS type airframes.
3. I am quite capable of designing and constructing DS model - and many have asked me why I have not done this.
4. I am not disparaging DS, the designers, or those who fly it at all - this hobby is meant to be fun - which many people seem to forget - and anything that is not outright dangerous, is part of that fun.

Fun.
(This is
where it gets personal)

So imagine the scene when I'm up at a local slope - which actually does have a semi useable back side - and a flyer whom I have not seen before shows up with a fully dedicated DS model and some really state of the art radio gear.

Wow, now this should be worth watching, right?
I mean if this guy (who showed up in a very expensive car with a couple of very good looking ladies) has got to the level where he can fly this master class level plane, then we are in for a great show right??
I have not seen him fly before so he's probably another overseas guy who has learned somewhere else, probably???

I'll cut to the chase. Whatever this person had flown before was not much above the level of a park flyer, but against all odds he actually did get the model to do rudimentary if highly erratic DS.
The model ended up through the side of someone else's car after having parted the hair of a 6 year old child first. The difference between the life and death of this little girl was a few millimetres, and not because of any visible avoiding action but just luck.

So here's why I don't make dedicated DS models, and this is entirely personal and no reflection on DS or those who fly it:

I can control the airframe design and I fact had actually designed one by that time.
I can control the construction and am fully aware of what's needed and how to do it.
What I cannot do is control who buys DS planes.

Cheers,

Doc J.

By the way, Good news!

Back on the fun side, it looks like my Guy in Argentina - an accomplished pilot by the way - is coming to the ISR.

Ole! :cool:
 
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Konrad

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Doc,
I’m in no way trying to persuade you to the joys of DSing. Like you said this is a personal choice.
Nor was I implying that you were one of the designers that didn’t understand the forces on the DS ship in the 90’s.

Mis-use of any tool will likely result is failures. That was my point in saying that most of those ships in the photo look to be deficient in structure. For example I could try to fly a Carl Goldberg Gentle Lady on the front side of a slope in 15mph winds. In all likelihood the wings will part the fuselage or the wings will fold. This isn’t a burn on the designer so much as a fact that at the time the forces on the airframe were not fully understood. If you watch the video I linked to, you can see that Spencer discusses how these problems arise and how they were addressed as the speeds became greater and greater. Today he, and the fast guys, are dealing with issues of compressibility in the transsonic range. Just because a designer claims a ship to be a DS ship does not make it suitable for all the speeds we see on the back side. My* 450 mph DSing ship is not suitable as a 500mph plus ship. Just like that Gentle Lady is not suitable for much speed past 20 mph on the front side

Anytime a pilot flies beyond his or her level of competence there is a much greater risk of disaster. This is not unique to DSing. While flying RC since 1979 I’ve seen models damage property at least a dozen times. Heck one of my ships went through a roof of a barn, after a mid air. I’ve also witnessed two fatalities as a result of our toy airplanes. One was as a result of poor construction, for the speed, where the elevator went into flutter in an AMA Pylon race hitting a bystander in the head. The other was 5 lb. sport plane hitting a fellow flier in the chest rupturing his spleen. He died latter that night in his bed. The pilot lost control as a result of a failed go around, stall.

What I am saying is that DSing is a lot of fun! And when done correctly maybe even more enjoyable than the front side as there is more challenge for both the designer/builder and the pilot.

* My personal best speed has been close to 400 kph (240 mph). Yes, I have a long way to go.

All the best,
Konrad
 

Doc James Hammond

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Actually I put the DS carnage pics up just for fun, to over-exaggerate the dangers of MOM.

This is a kind of overdone humour that we blimey Brits love.

A bald guy for example is often called "Curley" by us Limeys.

DS has nothing to do with this ISR thread.

Cheers,

Doc.
 
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