Mirko and Greg Head to Kansas
Posted by Greg Smith on Apr 1, 2003, 10:17
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We took a 4 day trip to Kansas for some general slope'n and to attend the first Midwest F3F of the year. (See the results of the F3F race.)
We loaded up the van with 25 planes and after an all night drive we arrived at Wilson Lake at about 9AM. The wind was rippin' at about 30-35 but coming in from the NNW so the main slope was out. We headed around the lake to Minooka Park where the direction was OK if a bit North.
The first plane in the air was my Gulp DS which I finally got repaired after repeated ground contact DSing in South Dakota last year. Actually the plane was in pretty good shape, the main damage was a blown up servo. I built the Gulp with all internal linkages for a nice clean airplane but access to the damaged servo made me feel like a surgeon and the repair went pretty well. I should have done it a lot sooner. The Gulp is a great flying plane!
Mirko got his Hornisse in the air and worked the lift off the right side.
I got out the Vindicator. As always, I love how this plane flies. I would have loved to fly the Extreme that was in the van but I made a deal to sell it to Pat so I figured I better not tempt fate and risk wrecking it. BTW, I got a new, molded Extreme from Brian McLean the day before I left. Guess which plane has priority for finishing now that I am back?
Finally, we headed to Coronado Heights a bit South of Salina. The wind direction was more favorable here and the lift was decent. I flew the Gulp while Mirko flew his Hornisse.
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| Greg snd his Gulp at Coronado Heights |
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| Mirko's Hornisse at Coronado |
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| The LZ at Coronado |
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| View from the top of the castle at Coronado |
On our way back through Lincoln we stopped at Biggie Biggs for beer and Pizza. Jim, the owner, has flown sailplanes in the past and recently acquired a couple of DLGs which he has almost ready to go.
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| Our humble abode in Lucas |
Friday again brought NNW winds. We knew Minooka would work OK but we wanted a hill with a more Northerly face and hunted around South of I-70. There are a couple of promising areas but we did not find any easy access.
Friday dinner at Meriday's in Russell was great. Kansas steaks are some of the best in the world and Meriday's is a super place to get them for a good price and without a bunch of fru-fru that you don't need.
Saturday and still we had NW winds. So we met Mike Bailey at Minooka. He had his 3 meter, EPP FOX which he got in the air ASAP. It is a super flying plane as well as looking great in the air.
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| Mike and his 3 meter FOX |
I tried the Barracuda and while it flew OK it was not really happy in the light lift. I was happy that the repairs I did to it after a rude arrival at Bender Park in Milwaukee left it no worse off than before the incident. Still have to address that incidence issue.
I tried the new Opus V DS from Espen and again, while it flew around OK the lift was too light to really give it a work out.
Mirko stormed around with his Pixels. Still an impressive plane especially in light air. While mose slope planes will fly in big lift, the Pixel has a really broad speed range. We've had them in the air from 8 to 50 plus and they always work!
I flew the Vindicator again as well.
Mike got his Tragi 702 in the air for a bit of sorting as this was its first slope flight. Mike got this plane wrecked from a winch/radio malfunction and has repaired it to flying status.
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| Mike and his Tragi at Minooka Park |
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| Greg and Mike at Minooka Park |
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| Planes at Minooka |
In the afternoon we headed over to a hill that has a new road up just East of the dam at Wilson Lake. The now mostly westerly wind was light but good enough for the Pixel, SH-50 and FOX plus Mike's Boomerang. When the lift really shut down, I got out the Combat Wings XE2, a Soeed 400, EPP wing. It is really fun to fly.
We went to the Bunker Hill Cafe for dinner on Saturday and it was excellent. More Kansas beef, can't go wrong!
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| The Bunker Hill Cafe |
Sunday was the scheduled day for the F3F event so Mike, Mirko and I met up with Pat and Randy McCleave. (see more on the race)
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