Lake George Aerotow Meet (1st/2nd May 2010)
(Pictures courtesy of Wayne Jones.)
 Peter Wyss, Dean Schuback, Mark TerLaak and Stephen MacMahon attended the second Annual Aerotow Glider Meet on Lake George at the kind invitation of Geoff Kempster on Saturday, Sunday, the 1st and 2nd May..
This year, the weather was kind to both pilots and gliders with clear skies and light winds, especially Saturday. Peter, Mark and Stephen arrived early Saturday morning and after setting up camp, each pilot put up their perspective Robbe “Skywinds” to test the air. The Skywind is a very useful electric thermal glider with a 2.8 meter wingspan.
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Despite the air being chilly, there was the best thermal activity of the entire weekend with the early flights. For some reason, the thermals seem to dissipate as the morning progressed and most of the aerotow flights were relatively short in duration. Mark Ter Laak had a couple of longer flights from great heights. One Tug pilot commented to me that he felt Mark had a set of binoculars inside his head as he could see his Discus at great heights where us “mere mortals”, struggled at much lower heights.
The winds seem to persist from the south-west as similar to last year however the wave lift which assisted in helping to maintain longer duration flights was not there since the winds were not strong enough. The Lake itself, showed very little thermal activity as the day progressed.
Peter Wyss recently finished his new Discus and it had its maiden flight on Saturday. In true Wyss fashion, the plane flew very well and whilst Peter also had his maiden aerotow as well, he handled them like a seasoned glider pilot: Well done, Peter. Mark flew his trusty old Discus which always performs well and Stephen flew his 3.2 meter Scale Ventus 2C.
In all, it was a very pleasant day with lots of aerotows and electric glider flights.
As the evening closed in, we started twilight soaring with the slow electric gliders as we did last year. Sitting down in the darkened pilot area shielded from the sun and flying out on the twilight sun drenched Lake with calm winds, is a very special event. For an old RC pilot, this is the epitome of what RC flying is all about. As the sun set, Peter delighted some passers-by, with an electric flight with his Mentor lit up light a “Christmas tree”.
Dean Schuback arrived Sunday morning and joined us in our traditional “bacon and eggs on the Lake”. Other RC pilots that arrived were looking on with envy. Sunday morning was a little chillier than Saturday and we commenced aerotowing after breakfast. Stephen had his maiden flight with his 4 meter Reichardt Lunak (Click here for video!). Whilst quite heavy, the plane performed well. Dean Schuback flew his Discus which also performed very well despite the lack of genuine lift. In the afternoon, flying was concentrated around electric gliders, helicopters and very fast Funjets.
This was a great weekend and thoroughly recommended for all glider enthusiasts. The scenery and the venue is unique. All of us went home with no casualties and look foreward to Lake Keepit later this year.
More pictures can be found on Wayne Jones website and our gallery page. |
