The growing interest in aero-tow is starting to filter through to more organised events and the demand to have things appear where people can see them and get advanced warning . Scale gliders of all sizes are starting to appear through out the country and the demand for tug pilots is also growing .
There are a number of experienced pilots involved in this aspect of aeromodelling , but we welcome new comers too . It is possible to rig up a simple velcro system to a small foamie glider , preferably with ailerons , and thus avoid having a separate servo and release mechanism in the nose . You simply need to pull up to release at altitude and off you go .
There are several places where you can find out more about aerotowing . Bill Derenzy from Tauranga oversees most of the North Island events , and Peter Hewson is co-ordinating those in the South Island . A good place to look is on the Soaring site on the Model Flying NZ webpage ( http :// www . modelflyingnz . org / intere st / Soaring / aerotow . htm )
or have a look on RC Groups ( http :// www . rcgroups . com / forums / sh owthread . php ? t = 1842930 # post24304 256 )
and / or you can send me your email , primarily if you are a South Island enthusiast , and I will put it on an email list so that I can send out information about future events etc .
There is a calendar of invitational events on the Soaring SIG site and we are trying to
establish further events at this stage . The tentative calendar for 2013 looks like this :
May 18-19 |
BURNHAM ( CRFC field ) |
July |
BLENHEIM |
Sept . |
TIMARU (?) |
Nov . 2-3 |
MATAMATA |
Nov . |
CHRISTCHURCH |
Gore & Dunedin may also hold invitational events . |
Also , thanks to Rex Ashwell who sent through a fascinating link to an aerotow event in Interlaken , Switzerland . They do it big over there ! http :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = EyL0gNdEfVM & feature = related
Top : Alex Hewson ( on tug ) and Neal Blackie with his 5m on launch . Thermals were exceptional . A great day for aero-towing . Middle : Fresh off the workbench , Neal Blackie has his rebuilt 5m ASW ready for a test flight at Burnham . Graham Tully helped with moulding the new fuse and the plan is to add 6m wings and considerably reduce the weight . Neal also hopes to mould a new canopy to replace the temporary one . Flew fine though . Bottom : Some large gliders at Interlaken , Switzerland . A huge hangar on the airfield made for superb storage and pilots didn ’ t really need to de-rig their models . Oh , wouldn ’ t that be nice !