Club in Focus
Torrey Pines Gulls (TPG)
TPG is one of the first AMA Chartered clubs dedicated solely to RC soaring. Located in San Diego, California, TPG was first chartered in 1970, celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2020.
The club has one slope soaring site and two thermal sites. Our slope site is the world-famous Torrey Pines Gliderport, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Gliderport is listed as a National Landmark of Soaring of the National Soaring Museum; a San Diego City Historical Site; listed on the California and National Registers of Historic Places (the first gliderport to have such recognition) and in 2003 also became the first site listed on the Academy of Model Aeronautics’ National Aeromodeling Heritage Program.
RC soaring at Torrey Pines has its own amazing history dating back to the mid-1950s including the first eight-hour plus slope flight with RC by anyone in the world. Flight activities at the gliderport can be complex, as we share this unique resource with paragliders, hang gliders, and sometimes even manned sailplanes, following a comprehensive set of safety rules to avoid conflicts. Aside from general sport flying, we have monthly themed fun fly events. A checkout flight supervised by the TPG Slope Coordinator is required of all RC pilots new to the Gliderport. See Resources, at the end of the article, for more information about flying at the Gliderport as well as a beautiful panorama of the location.
Our two thermal sites are in Poway, about 20 miles east of the Gliderport; and Encinitas, 14 miles north of the Gliderport. At the Poway Flight Center, we hold monthly discus launch glider (FAI F3K) contests and bi-monthly limited run electric launch (FAI F5J) contests. Poway is home to the International Hand Launch Glider Festival (IHLGF), held annually at the end of April, attracting F3K pilots from around the world. At the Encinitas Flight Center, we hold bi-monthly thermal duration contests. Both fields have strict limitations on the use of motorized aircraft and are designed for soaring use only. Due to the Southern California climate, we enjoy our contests and fun fly events year-round.
The Torrey Pines Gulls holds bi-monthly general meetings where we update members on club activities, contests, fun flys and enjoy guest speaker presentations on a variety of RC soaring, aviation and other glider-related topics. We finish with a free raffle of a glider kit and related items. We also publish a monthly newsletter, and in addition to our website, we have a TPG Facebook page (linked in Resources).
In November 2020, TPG was named the AMA Club of the Month. An interview with club president, Ian Cummings and club historian, Dr. Gary Fogel, was featured on the on AMA Podcast #59 on TPG’s 50th anniversary (see link in Resources, below).
TPG has approximately 125 members of diverse ages, backgrounds, and professions. We’re a very friendly group of RC pilots who are always happy to welcome new members. If you’re ever in the area, stop by the Gliderport and enjoy the view! Check out our website and Facebook page (see Resources, below) to learn more about the club.
©2022 Dale Gottdank, TPG Communications Officer
Resources
- Torrey Pines Gliderport Panorama — A stunning panorama image provided by Ian Cummings. It’s almost like being there!
- Torrey Pines Gulls — The TPG website provides everything you need to know including membership, calendar of events/contests, contact information, newsletters, etc.
- Flying Torrey — Rules for flying at the Gliderport and other related links may be found here.
- TPG Facebook — Check us out on Facebook for the latest postings and other news.
- AMA Club of the Month Podcast — “Joining us on the AMA Podcast today to talk about the Gulls is club president Ian Cummings and club historian Gary Fogel.”
- The 2022 International Hand Launch Glider Festival by Gary B. Fogel — A write-up of the 2022 edition of the IHLGF which was featured in the June 2022 of the New RC Soaring Digest.
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