Chance Cooper from McPherson, Kansas (above left) makes a last minute visual check of his Tragi 702V before launch in an Unlimited Race heat. Helper is Andrew Williams of Canuck Engineering in Denver, Colorado. Foam warbirds (above right) turn and burn, practicing for the Warbird Race at the 2012 Midwest Slope Challenge. They include Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars made
of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4:00 PM.” Saturday’s winds were brisker than the forecast, and the start of the Foam Combat Match was delayed, hoping for a reduction in the wind velocity. It’s not often that we have too much wind to fly slope, but in high lift conditions it’s difficult to get a “kill” be- cause the good lift allows a glider to recover easily and quickly after it’s been hit in the air. The attacked plane must hit the ground for a kill point to be scored. Foam Combat Match: This is full-contact
air combat, flown with specialized “Nerf ™” sailplanes. The gliders are made from tough EPP (expanded polypropylene) foam, which quickly returns to its original size and shape after it’s struck or crushed. More often than not you can crash a combat foamie, pick it up, launch it, and it will fly fine. Combatants score by striking an opposing aircraft hard enough to cause it to “depart from controlled flight.” The attacker must then fly a loop or a roll to demonstrate he’s still in control of his aircraft before the next encounter. Sometimes two or more planes become entangled and all go down, but gen- erally no serious damage results and the planes are launched again to rejoin the fray. The pilot with the most “kills” wins the match.
Contest director, Andrew Williams, from Denver, CO, ran the match without tradi- tional heats using the “Colorado format” of one long match where victorious pilots keep track of their own “kills” and get their score card signed by the “killed” pilot. This format greatly reduces the contest management ad- ministrative tasks associated with starting and stopping heats, although there is some calculation work to be done at the end. An- drew pointed out a match can last from two hours to two days. After two hours of combat flying the top
Foam Combat pilots were Mike Bailey of Wichita, KS, flying a Windrider Predator Bee, Joe Chovan of Syracuse, NY, with an- other Windrider Predator Bee, Don King of Cleveland, OH, campaigning a Slope Slayer
FLYING MODELS
from Leading Edge Gliders kits, built and flown by Joe Chovan of North Syracuse, New York; Joe Hosey of Topeka, Kansas; a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG- 3, designed, built and kitted by Larry Blevins of Magnum RC Models, Knoxville, TN; and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 designed and built by Mike Bailey of Fancy Foam RC models, Wichita, KS.
Knife Edge, and Mike Gantner of Cleveland, OH, designer of the Slope Slayer Knife Edge.
Saturday afternoon was open flying in
great lift conditions and Saturday evening we attended the banquet, which included a catered meal, award of trophies to race win- ners, and an extensive raffle. Each regis- tered pilot won a prize, and for this we thank our generous sponsors. How many sailplane events have local business sponsors? Now, that is local support. The list of sponsors ap-
pears in the box below. Please support these sponsors when you can. For more photos of this year’s MWSC, and information on the 2013 MWSC when it is announced, see the official MWSC website at
www.midwestslopechallenge.com. One Design Racing (ODR ) rules can be found at
http://midwestslopechallenge.com/page12.html Event organizers were talking of some ex-
tra special events for the 20th anniversary edition of the Slope Challenge. For me it promises to be a memorable trip.
SPONSORS COMPANY NAME
Academy of Model Aeronautics Aero Works Castle
Canuck Engineering
Dymond Modelsport LTD Don’s Hobby Shop Eaton Air RC Edge RC
Fancy Foam Models
Great Planes Model Mfg. Hobby Horse
Magnum Models Nano Planes
Sig Manufacturing
Slope Slayer (GEMS) Windrider Aviation
Wyoming Wind Works Bob Smith
Eric Abraham Porcelean Home Oil
Leache & Nagele Hardware Store WEBSITE
www.modelaircraft.org www.aero-works.net
www.castlecreations.com www.canuckengineering.com www.rc-dymond.com
www.donshobbyshop.com www.eatonairrc.com www.edgerc.com
www.fancyfoam.com www.greatplanes.com www.hobbyhorse.com
www.magnumrcmodels.com www.nanoplanes.net www.sigmfg.com
www.slopeslayer.com www.windrider.com.HK www.wyowindworks.com
LOCAL BUSINESSES Pro-Tech, Inc.
Radio Control Models Troy’s Grocery
Rodrick and Minerar Funeral Homes Leon’s Welding and Fabrication 35
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