July 2022
Do You Prefer Flying Solo or with a Crowd?
We recently added a new fixture to our Events page (see Resources below) regarding Flying Circus 2022 taking place soon at Fiss, Austria. This is the 25th edition of this annual event and has grown steadily over that period. We assume, that is — unfortunately, we have never had the opportunity to attend in person, so we’re relying on the glowing reviews of others in this regard. Attending a future Flying Circus is definitely on our list so we can see this magnificent gathering in the even more magnificent Austrian mountain surroundings for ourselves.
However growth has some attendant problems. Apparently, they have a transmitter impound. It’s not to guard against one frequency trampling on another like the bad old days. It’s to ensure that of the couple of hundred gliders in attendance, that only 15 to 20 are in the air over the Schönjöchl at any one time. You can’t fly without a transmitter, so it sounds like a very simple and yet highly effective method of relieving airspace congestion. Unfortunately, it’s only a problem that relatively few events actually have — a lot have trouble getting 15 to 20 aircraft to show up in the first place.
But as we were discussing this both in the office and with some of our friends, there are those who were not in any hurry to attend, which we found curious. With a little prompting, it turns out the very reason they would not want to go was that they actually prefer to fly alone or with a couple of close, hand-picked friends.
Once one person had said howdy doody to the elephant in the room, the whole damn herd came trampling out. It seems like those in our statistically insignificant sample were about evenly split: some preferred a big crowd because it gave them the opportunity for socialising punctuated with a little flying. For the rest, the solitude and silence of solo flight was what they craved — being in the air as much as possible and for as along as possible without getting bogged down in a lot of idle chatter.
Obviously, there’s no right answer here, but that left us with the open question: do you prefer flying solo or with a crowd? Let us know and perhaps we’ll compile the results into some sort of future article.
Coming Up in the Next Issue
We’ll be launching with Managing Editor Terence C. Gannon’s In The Air editorial. This month, amongst other things, he sounds off about those who might want to turn their hobby into their profession and what we can do to help those who make that exciting leap. There is also some exciting news from our friends at Stratodynamics, some great Letters to the Editor and — with a little luck — we’ll be kicking off a new regular column called Cool New Stuff which will present, not surprisingly, cool new stuff which is just out on the market.
We have a couple of articles by popular scale soaring master builders in this issue: Vincent de Bode is back with his Slingsby King Kite and Chris Williams returns with Variations on a Theme. Check out the key image above for a hint as to what that is all about. We also have Peter Scott’s review of the Cellmeter 8.
We also have the next instalments of our various continuing series including the Soaring the Sky Podcast, Stamps That Tell a Story, Letter from the Vintage Glider Club as well as Peter Scott’s Electricity for Model Flyers and James Hammond’s Shinobi | A Home-Grown Moulded Fuselage. Also, we hope to kick-off a new continuing series with the working title of Glider Patents. In that, we’ll dip into the US Patent and Trade Office and look at some neat glider-oriented patents which have been filed over the years.
And, of course, we’ll bring the issue in for a soft landing with a beautiful parting shot and some salty closing commentary in The Trailing Edge.
And as we always say, we have a few things on a slow simmer which may just come to a boil before the deadline, so you have even more reasons to grab the new issue once it’s out. It’s almost guaranteed to have a few surprises you weren’t expecting.
What’s New in The RCSD Shop
Whether flying alone or with the gang this stylish, 80s-90s nostalgia bucket hat is a perfect addition to your kit. It features a beautifully stitched logo reminiscent of the early RCSD logo created by the late Robert ‘Bob’ Rondeau, the Graphics and Art Director for RCSD when the logo first appeared on the cover of the January, 1985 issue. It is a combination of timeless practicality and vintage style. Perfect for slope, field or cockpit. Get yours today.
Don’t Want to Miss July 2022?
It’s out in just a few days, so if you don’t want to miss the July 2022 issue of the New RC Soaring Digest make sure you connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn or subscribe to our Groups.io mailing list. And please share Lift over Drag with your friends because we would love to have them as readers, too!
Until next month, fair winds and blue skies to you all. Now, without further ado — get out there and fly!
©2022 The New RC Soaring Digest Staff
Resources
- Flying Circus 2022 — From the RCSD Events calendar: “Imagine flying with new friends in beautiful Austria! The schedule for this four day event…”
