Paul Luebke
I started flying RC airplanes in the early 80’s. Like many other modelers I had an almost fanatical interest in airplanes from a young age. A Carl Goldberg Gentle Lady was my first RC model and I learned to control it by throwing it from a hill at a Park near home. I spent some time with powered planes including control line and RC although I never really got into powered planes until fairly recently with electrics. Living close to a park where I could fly a glider and where no one would complain probably had something to do with my favoring sailplanes although I have always enjoyed being able to charge the batteries overnight and spend a good chunk of the next day hunting and riding thermals. My second sailplane was a Paragon and I flew this for a few years until I traded it for an electric glider while living in Houston. The Paragon was a very nice plane although I never did fly it in competition and I only launched it with a hi-start. I have regretted trading the Paragon at times and have considered building another but I guess I’m just not quite nostalgic enough to do so, yet. 
I did very little flying for a few years and eventually got back into soaring. I looked up MVSA, hung out at the farm and eventually became a participant in the club. The Chrysalis was my first project while I watched and learned from the guys in the club. Having always enjoyed building things and wanting the best possible performance, I decided to dive into TD and scratch build my own Magic by Frank Weston. Building the Magic was a fair amount of work but it was fun and satisfying learning how to make airfoil templates, cut wing cores, bag flying surfaces, mold the forward fuse and roll the aft fuse. At the time the Magic was just about the only high performance sailplane you could buy plans for and build yourself. I flew the Magic for about six years and have since been flying my Pike Superior in unlimited thermal duration. Although I have been in MVSA for probably less than half the years I have been flying sailplanes I would say that I have learned much more and enjoyed flying more during my experience with the club.
My first experience slope flying was with the Chrysalis. I used an extra battery pack for ballast and flew from a hill in Earth City with some guys from the club. My first real slope plane was a Boomerang by Frank Cavosos which is still flying. Another slope plane I enjoyed quite a bit of flying with was a Lex Liberato Mig-3. I completed the Mig-3 at a campsite by Wilson lake on my first trip to the MWSC (Midwest Slope Challenge). I flew both the Mig and the Boomerang in combat rounds at Wilson and had a great time. I started flying the Boomerang and the Mig-3 at Fults in 2000. From the first time I flew at Fults I have enjoyed the hike through the woods and the view along the way and at the top of the hill. For me a visit to Fults is always worthwhile, if the wind is 10 to 20 out of the southwest it’s a bonus.
There’s no doubt that the scenery at the slope is part of the experience, you can often see for miles from a slope such as Fults where you stand more than three hundred feet above the flat river valley. Flying on a slope you’re able to fly at or below eye level and at high speed. If you like to roll, loop and fly inverted the slope is the place to be, when you bleed off some energy in the process you just get in the zone, pull back on the stick and re-gain altitude and energy.
Launching can be a little intimidating on the slope, particularly if there is a sharp drop where you throw from. It often takes a little self coaxing to throw their plane off the slope. When you have a plane ballasted to fly 40mph plus it’s pretty tough to give it a heave that will produce that kind of velocity even with a 20mph headwind. In such a case your plane may drop and be sluggish on the controls until it picks up enough speed. Fults Hill is actually a hill that sits on top of the bluffs. Until your plane reaches the foot of the hill you’re not yet in the strongest vertical lift. A plane with a low wing loading when thrown from the hill will usually go upward rapidly and provide the reassurance that altitude brings. You may find yourself putting off the landing on the slope also, especially if you’ve nearly doubled your empty weight with ballast. You’ve been ripping up the sky having a great time but eventually it’s time to land. With the Boomerang landing is no sweat since it never flies very fast, just turn downwind, fly along the treeline on the left, make a 180 turn back into the wind, get it low and poke it in if necessary. On the 180 turn you want to be upwind of the trees to avoid the turbulence. If you get over the trees on the backside you will likely be climbing one or throwing sticks at your plane. With a highly ballasted plane the process is similar although you may likely go around a few times until you’re comfortable that you have as little energy as possible, get low and put it down. If you overshoot your landing and your only a few feet of the ground, no sweat, head her out into the lift on the slope, gain just enough altitude and do it again.
Interestingly, the climb rate on the slope is closer to a winch launch than a thermal climb. I’ve logged 20ft/sec in climbs while doing half-pipes, not the 70 to 80ft/s in the early part of a winch launch but fairly impressive compared to 3 or maybe 5ft/sec for a typical thermal climb.
EPP foam plans seem to be the best way to get into sloping. They may be the only way to be able to return repeatedly with the same plane at Fults and with few if any repairs. EPP planes are also relatively cheap and yet their performance can be impressive. With CF internal reinforcing both in the fuse and the wing along with strapping tape over and along every inch of the plane with the exception of the tail these planes can be smooth enough and stiff enough to fly very fast yet tough enough to take the abuse that is often dealt them on the slope. Some may argue that slope flying is the best type of soaring there is. I enjoy doing both and would not want to give up either one.
Here’s a few links for slope planes:
http://www.slopeflyer.com/ This is a great resource, go to links for many more.
http://www.inlandsloperebels.com/ Slope Flyer Magazines in pdf can be found here.
A couple others that aren’t on slopeflyer: