Midwest Slope Challenge (WOW) ODR One Design Racer

[JJ Colorado]

Many years ago I opened my AMA magazine and read about Wings Over Wilson (WOW), the Midwest Slope Challenge. Hmmm, Kansas, Slope! ???

So I drove to the heart of Kansas to fly some slope Combat and find out more about the glider racing events they hold. It is a great slope flying venue with plenty of nearby camping and an excellent slope flying area. People drive from as far away as New York and Penn. to participate in this event.

I built a "One Design Racer" (ODR) and found glider racing to be fun, while also having a practical glider to fly in a wide variety of conditions. Suggest you build one and make it out to Wilson lake to race, or just fly it wherever and enjoy a simple, durable and moderately fast glider with a 60" span. At min weight of 25oz this will fly well in a light to moderate breeze. At max weight of 35oz (ballasted up) it can cruise quickly in a good stiff breeze. The ODR racer specs are attached.

If you do attend WOW, Bring an SST or Bee2 for some combat to go along with racing. Of course the Open racing class is also worth flying with whatever you'd like to fly, and there is plenty of open flying time between races or combat.

 

[Red]

Man I wish this was closer, I’d be all over it.

 

[Wayne]

After reading the class rules. I really have to question if they have considered updating the rules to allow 3D printed planes. Keep it cheap and easy. Also makes a great splat if there is a mid air.

 

[TyFlies]

A couple of years ago a guy flew with a 3D printed fuse and a sheeted wing.
The heats are raced with 4 pilots at a time, so there is some carnage.
A couple of ODR pics. Fist pic would be pre race altitude gain before the buzzer. Each pilot has a caller behind him to tell him when to turn a the far end. Floggers are at far end. It is fun that your caller is helping you on one race but is competition on another one.

 

[JJ Colorado]

Part of the appeal of the ODR gliders for me is the durability. My Cobra ODR has an EPP fuse that I have applied a dozen layers of thinned goop to as a finish. Landing at Rocky Mountain LZs loaded with rocks and gravel is not an issue for that plane. It is a really fun event.

Between events there is plenty of time for casual fun flying and combat contests go as long as the wind keeps blowing. When the winds get real strong the Open racing (one on one) starts. Open has one restriction. You can race anything except a ODR plane. Well, there are some other restrictions, but essentially it is anything but a ODR plane.

One day when the winds were very light a group of us came up with a new "Ahi, Alula, Libelle" class and raced them until conditions improved.

Note that FancyFoam is only two hour aways so Wilson is the proving grounds for the SST series of combat planes that you can find on the Aloft site. Suffice to say, the combat competition is fun and furious.

 

[thenated0g]

Do you have any pictures of what these look like? I was just having a little trouble understanding the single taper thing.

"
Plan form: Single taper only. i.e. leading edge and trailing edge of each wing half must each be a straight line. No Schumann, elliptical, Hirth, or other plan forms without constant taper. Outer 1" of each wing tip may be rounded or tapered"

 

[Hawaii Sloper]

Do you have any pictures of what these look like? I was just having a little trouble understanding the single taper thing.

"
Plan form: Single taper only. i.e. leading edge and trailing edge of each wing half must each be a straight line. No Schumann, elliptical, Hirth, or other plan forms without constant taper. Outer 1" of each wing tip may be rounded or tapered"

It looks like the wing on the swift that you cut for me. Like all the wings you hot wire cut.

 

[Red]

Do you have any pictures of what these look like? I was just having a little trouble understanding the single taper thing.

"
Plan form: Single taper only. i.e. leading edge and trailing edge of each wing half must each be a straight line. No Schumann, elliptical, Hirth, or other plan forms without constant taper. Outer 1" of each wing tip may be rounded or tapered"

Just means that root to tip must be a straight taper. Simple trapezoid, no curves.

 

[JJ Colorado]

Yep. The leading edge and trailnig edge must be straight lines. There are two inches of taper from the root to the tips. You can have a straight LE with the taper in the TE, vice versa, or on inch of taper for both LE and TE. As Red put it, a trapezoid with four straight lines.

Attached a pic of my Cobra ODR. This has an EPP fuse while other have fiberglass fuselages. Since there is a minimum weight of 25oz you have a lot of flexibility regarding fuse construction and servos. Wing thickness is required to be 9.5% which is relatively fast, while allowing the glider to be a nice sport flyer as well. No rudder, and no flap mixing, no stabilization. Simple and inexpensive, though you can manually droop the ailerons/flaperons to slow it down for landing.

 

[thenated0g]

Ok that's makes sense. Requires a tail? Dumb

Would be fun to do sometime.

 

[JJ Colorado]

The flying site for the Midwest slope challenge, Lake Wilson, is conveniently located just 60 miles South of the geographic center of the contiguous US 48 states. So it is the ideal location to attract slope flyers from across the US.

It is also only 40 miles away from the worlds largest ball of twine (in case it isn't flyable one day).

 

[Shoelace]

The flying site for the Midwest slope challenge, Lake Wilson, is conveniently located just 60 miles South of the geographic center of the contiguous US 48 states. So it is the ideal location to attract slope flyers from across the US.

It is also only 40 miles away from the worlds largest ball of twine (in case it isn't flyable one day).

I think even if there was a surplus of lift I'd have to make my dreams come true and see the world's largest ball of twine. Glorious.

 

[iti20090]

I built a "One Design Racer" (ODR) and found glider racing to be fun, while also having a practical glider to fly in a wide variety of conditions. Suggest you build one and make it out to Wilson lake to race, or just fly it wherever and enjoy a simple, durable and moderately fast glider with a 60" span. At min weight of 25oz this will fly well in a light to moderate breeze. At max weight of 35oz (ballasted up) it can cruise quickly in a good stiff breeze. The ODR racer specs are attached.

Thanks for posting the regulations, I have always had it mind to build an eyeball version of the teeny Hurricane pic I have kept for many years (decades). The size parameters in the regulations could now be applied to that. Too far away on the south east coast of africa but would enjoy the long awaited fun build.

Cheers
Dave
Soaring Blog - East Coast Slope Soarers

 

[JJ Colorado]

Some pics and comparisons to the similiar (wingspans and vertical stabs w no rudder the same), but in almost every other way different Magnus 60.
ODR 750gr, Magnus 1050gr (unballasted). ODR 9.5% airfoil thickness, Magnus 8.5% airfoil thickness. ODR foam and balsa wing/tail with glass or EPP fuse, Magnus Carbon fiber (except for the hatch). ODR straight line LE taper, Magnus curvy.

My Cobra ODR has been around for many years, but at the spring WOW some folks had obtained or built a few glass fuselages to help pilots refurbish their fleets (they vanished quickly). The pics are from my current build for the new sleek but sturdy glass fuse. The wing is just 1/16th balsa over foam cores cut to the spec SD6061 airfoil thickend to 9.5%.

 

[Shoelace]

Thanks for posting the regulations, I have always had it mind to build an eyeball version of the teeny Hurricane pic I have kept for many years (decades). The size parameters in the regulations could now be applied to that. Too far away on the south east coast of africa but would enjoy the long awaited fun build.

Cheers
Dave
Soaring Blog - East Coast Slope Soarers

That is beautiful. That brings me back. I have a Freedom and a Freedom X-Cel kit to build at some point. I really love the looks of the 1980's planes.

I'm old.

 

[Wayne]

Is Magnum still making the Cobra? Larry seems to go in and out of production. He makes some very nice kits IMHO.

We should start up some ODR fun around here. Might work well at Coyote Hills.

If you have not had the opportunity to see man on man (MOM) racing, it is FUN!! With the ODR class it is affordable and practical. The International Slope Race (ISR) was basically the same style of racing, but with 3 meter gliders and a longer course. Could be one heck of a show with the 3 meter stuff, but needed added safety due to the much higher damage potential from the fully loaded 3 meter ships.

Anyhow, I'd love to see this class fire up again out this way. We do not need to do it at the SLOT. In fact I suggest if we do this we make it more of a fun series than anything. Much like the Speed-o races used to be in So Cal.

 

[Doc James Hammond]

Is Magnum still making the Cobra? Larry seems to go in and out of production. He makes some very nice kits IMHO.

We should start up some ODR fun around here. Might work well at Coyote Hills.

If you have not had the opportunity to see man on man (MOM) racing, it is FUN!! With the ODR class it is affordable and practical. The International Slope Race (ISR) was basically the same style of racing, but with 3 meter gliders and a longer course. Could be one heck of a show with the 3 meter stuff, but needed added safety due to the much higher damage potential from the fully loaded 3 meter ships.

Anyhow, I'd love to see this class fire up again out this way. We do not need to do it at the SLOT. In fact I suggest if we do this we make it more of a fun series than anything. Much like the Speed-o races used to be in So Cal.

It’s the best fun.

Doc.

 

[TyFlies]

Is Magnum still making the Cobra? Larry seems to go in and out of production. He makes some very nice kits IMHO.

We should start up some ODR fun around here. Might work well at Coyote Hills.

Larry took the Magnum website down last year but can probably still be talked into cutting wings or maybe a full kit if asked. If anybody wants his contact info, just let me know. I got a pair of Cobra wings from him last year and plan to mount them to a fiberglass fuse. Erik Eaton in Kansas is another guy who has designed a couple of ODR models over the years, and is happy to share ideas. My old Bad Voodoo Pro which Erik designed is going to spank JJ's creation next year for sure : )

 

[JJ Colorado]

Well, we'll see about that, won't we.

By having another ODR plane in my quiver I'll get more practice in and will be able to experiment on a few things. If I recall correctly Ty snagged a couple fuselages so he is probably coming with an armada of ODR planes.

At WOW the ODR class is flown with four planes at a time. The Open class is one on one racing with lots of different 2 to 4m planes flying. Seemed like 2.5 to 3m were most prevelant. The CD decides what contest to run based on the winds and slope for that day. There is also a lot of fun flying going on and people bringing out unusual projects to test fly.

 

[Wayne]

Sounds like a great time to me!

I'd like to offer an ODR kit in the future, but it may be a while, we have a number of projects in the works currently.