Letters to the Editor
It looks like a perfectly sane idea to us, Waid.
My Latest RC Insanity
I attached a 64mm EDF to a 25-year old, semi-scale ASW-15 (82" span) I inherited from a friend who passed. Icare sold these little slopers back in the nineties. I had a sister ship ASW-19 which flew great on the slope and could even thermal on a strong day. I flew this ASW once at Kiona Butte in the late nineties. It handled very well — similar to the -19.
Up until a couple weeks ago it had been in the box for over 20 years. Might be fun for aerobatics, as that EDF puts out some serious thrust on a 4S Lipo. Hope the tail can withstand the blast! I’ll let you know what transpires if I ever manage to get the little beast into the air.
Waid Reynolds
Green Valley, Arizona
Can’t wait to hear an update after you fly it for the first time! Please keep us posted and we’ll be sure to include that in a future Letters. Thanks for sending it in , Waid.— Ed.
Update from South Carolina
I have been flying at my new location at Bowman, South Carolina. It’s about a 70 minute trip, Eutawville was about 50 minutes. The first week was frustrating, I took a busy highway to get there and a truck tossed a stone into my van windshield. The windshield had to be replaced. So I won’t be taking the highway anymore, I’m going local which is how Eutawville was. It’s a longer ride that way but it’s really nice to see a lot of farmland.
I stopped by the Eutawville field one day and it’s 100% gone now. They plowed it over and it’s been seeded with cotton. They moved very quickly. It still shocks me that 92 acres of cotton and they wanted that last six acres we leased. And the owner of the field refused to give us back our 2022 money!
I got my Pulsar 3.6m full house completed these past few weeks and maidened at Bowman. It was uncomfortable, Eutawville was so large I used to always joke about the only thing you can hit out here is the ground. Bowman is still a decent size field but there are trees to contend with on both sides of the field. It’s just a matter of getting used to the field. The maiden went well with no issues. I used a GliderDrive, YEP ESC, KST servos and a Horus X10s with G-RX8 receiver.
The Bowman club president was very accommodating to Gene, Mark and myself which are his only sailplane members. He granted us permission to fly behind the flight line so we can stay out of the way of the power planes (lots of very large gassers). The club just completed a power station that uses a large truck battery with a 120v inverter that is charged by a solar panel. So we have power which was one of my big concerns. I was also allowed to drive a 2" PVC tube into the ground and brought the Eutawville umbrella over. So the sailplane guys will be flying in style! The only negative are the bugs, OMG it’s been years since I flew at a field infested with them. I tried a few bug sprays but so far nothing works well.
I enclosed a photo of the Pulsar flying…on an early morning flight.
Gary Quiring
Eutawville, South Carolina
Thanks for the update, Gary, and congratulations on a successful first flight! While it sounds like the new venue you’ve found that while not perfect, is at least being helpful in keeping you and your ‘band of brothers’ in the air. Perhaps there is a reader out there who can help Gary and his fellow glider guiders find a suitable field closer to home? — Ed.
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