I'm finally slowing down, and staying in one place for a couple of days... Did a quick scan of the legion of email on RCSE from the past couple of weeks, and have some thoughts to pass on. First is on the mecca of hand launch, the soiree at Poway last weekend. The second is on the launch height thread (will be a separate email). The third will be on the toys that I flew. (another separate email). As usual, the Poway event was amazing. Lots of talent, lots of cool toys, and lots of thermals. To go with that, lots of wind and sink as well. The TPG guys did a great job with their smooth running of the event, and really kept things running along very well. Made some tough, but fair calls in regards to misc. score entry errors. Saw it happen to other people this year, was a recipient last year, painful no matter who gets it. But, they are fair and consistent in their application of the rules. It seems that the average skill level is increasing at a pretty good pace in HLG. There were folks that made it into the flyoffs (and did quite well) that flew in the sportsman class only a short time ago. And, it definitely wasn't only the "elite" that won rounds. Lots of blood was poured out on the score sheets all through the contest. It used to be that one could do quite well with only a reasonable performance. Nowadays, almost all of the pilots are doing pretty well. Fun to watch. On Sunday, I walked downwind of the field a ways and watched a few rounds from a vantage point on the hill. The planes performance, the pilot skills, and the helper calling all has to come together to get competitive results. One can really see the various parts coming together with a bit of distance and elevation to get a good vantage point. It was also amazing to have a look at all of the new toys that are becoming available. As people are getting a better understanding of efficient manufacturing methods, along with improvements in the understanding of the low Re aerodynamics, the planes are getting better and better. I'm not sure that I like some of the design trends due to aeroelastic effects and flutter, but in general we are getting some pretty good performance out of these small light toys. A whole lot of fun was had in Poway this year (as usual), Joe RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
