Green Air! The 2021 New England Scale Soaring Aerotow
Big tow planes and even bigger gliders. What’s not to love?
As the United States continues to reopen from the pandemic, 30 pilots, several dozen spectators and a supportive local flying club made the May 2021 edition of this annual event a complete success. Four days of flying spectacular blue skies and big lift air was the capstone to a beautiful long weekend of weather.
The RC Propbusters located in Salem, Connecticut is a large fuel and e-power club located on a rented patch of land at the center of farm fields. The open spaces and surrounding areas which are ideal for a power club also provide perfect conditions for RC soaring. The combination of powerful tow planes powered by 100–150 cc motors continually towing and a nice range of sailplanes made for a great variety of aircraft to share the sky and fun viewing from the pits. Across the four days, participants flew vintage designs such as the Reiher, Minimoa and Nemere to 1–26s and K8s to the sleek modern-day 6.6 and 8 meter Arcus, DG-1001, Duo Discus, Shark and a range of other glass ships. 1:3 scale models overwhelmingly dominated with a few much larger and a couple smaller.
Encouraging new flyers and thermal duration converts to towing is a big part of this event. Those interested in flying a range of electric sailplanes were also welcome to attend in the hope they will want to take a turn flying one of the giant scale sailplanes. We know it only takes a small taste to get someone hooked. Fortunately, there are always a few models up for sale should one seek instant gratification and a lighter wallet.
Towing power was provided by a diverse group of models including a nice pair of Hangar 9 Pawnees powered with DA-120 motors, a TopModel Bidule 111 on DA-100, a Peter Goldsmith Design Chmelak Z-37 on DA-150, an Aviation Concepts’ 1:3 scale Cessna 185 on DA-150 and an Aeroworks’ Carbon Cub also sporting DA-150 power. Cannisters on all but the Chmelak were the order of the day. There was essentially little to no waiting to get a sailplane airborne. Emphasis is always on flying as much as those in attendance want or can tolerate!
Like other recent meets, one sign of the evolution in our hobby was seen as more front electric sustainer (FES) and retractable electric ducted fan (EDF) units are appearing in sailplanes. Among the EDFs zipping around over the weekend was a RC Flight Academy 6-meter Duo Discus on a Mig Flight JETEC 120 running 12S, a 5.33-meter EMS Arcus running a Schubeler unit on 12S,and a 4.4-meter Valenta Fox on a Mig Flight JETEC 90 running 10S. In the FES category, a 6-meter Mibo Model DG-1000 had its maiden after adding a Torcman unit with NT530–35/14 turning a 18x11 propeller. While it flew beautifully, it was clear this model could step up to a 20x13 for more robust climb. A Hangar 9 ASH-31 6.4-meter with FES also made many impressive rise off ground (ROG) takeoffs each day.
Lunch is often as important as good lift and kudos go to the club members who stepped forward to man the grill. Simple hotdogs and hamburgers were served with a good dose of humor and sarcasm provided to those waiting in the lunch line. On Sunday, one of the participants, Bob Morrow, provided sandwiches and snacks for all the hardy souls who stayed on for day four — or day five for those who arrived on Wednesday afternoon!
This event regularly draws participants from a 5–7 hour drive radius. The pandemic kept 2021 attendance down. The ample open spaces also see a number of camping trailers and tents while the less hardy head to hotels and a nice dinner in one of the nearby seacoast towns. All are looking forward to the 12th annual event in May of 2022.
The discussion forums at ScaleSoaring.com (see Resources, below) contain a complete listing of aerotow events in the eastern United States in addition to a wealth of information on scale sailplanes and tow planes. There are typically one-to-two large meets each month starting with Cumberland, MD in March right through the Turkey Tow back in Salem, CT in late November. The crew responsible for the New England Aerotow also put on the Sky High Aerotow at a gorgeous private flying site in Muncy Hills, Pennsylvania each September. Sky High is set for September 9–12, 2021.
Our sincere thanks to RCSD and Managing Editor Terence C. Gannon for helping to promote our events and for your kind support of everyone who loves the multifaceted hobby of RC soaring!
©2021 Steve Pasierb
Resources
- ScaleSoaring.com (website)
- Sky High Aerotow (listing on the RCSD Events page)
All images are ©2021 Jeff Duhaime, all rights reserved, used here with permission. Read the next article in this issue, return to the previous article in this issue or go to the table of contents. Downloadable PDFS: just this article or this entire issue.
