By Chuck Anderson
As far as I know, the first thermal soaring model airplane contest was held here in Tullahoma, TN on May 31,1971. We began flying RC thermal soaring in 1963 using Thermic 50 sailplanes with Cox 0.02 engines and Controlaire Superregin receivers. We were forced to abandon this class when the rise of CB killed the use of Superregin receivers. By the 1970's, we were getting small Superhet receivers and I began to think of reviving the event. Therefore, a club powerpod thermal soaring contest was scheduled for 1971.
About this time, we began to read about thermal soaring contests being held in the Mideast, Midwest and the West Coast. It sounded interesting so someone proposed that we sanction a contest and offer both power pod and pure sailplane events. All that was necessary to add pure thermal soaring to the contest was to provide a winch, so I submitted a contest sanction for May 31, 1971. The following is from a June, 1971 club newsletter:
AIRFOILERS RC GLIDER CONTEST
by Chuck Anderson CD
The Airfoilers held the first (as far as known) RC Glider Contest in the South east on Monday, May 31. We had 14 contestants with 8 entries in FAI Thermal Soaring and 11 in the Power Pod event. The contest got off to a slow start, however we did complete 4 rounds by 5:00 p.m. We had 6 contestants on one frequency (72.400) which made scheduling somewhat a problem!
The only problem with the FAI was the time and work required to retrieve the tow line. There were 2 Cirrus Gliders entered; most of the remainder were sport types. Dana Swah of Smyrna, TN got his Cirrus too high in a booming thermal and encountered flutter problems trying to recover. Half the stab came off and the model abruptly flipped inverted and began to spin. The model finally hit vertically in the woods as the lost stab began to go back up in a thermal. Some fast foot work kept the stab in sight until it worked out of the thermal and came down. Miraculously the model hit in a deep honeysuckle patch and the only damage incurred was a split in the top seam of the fuselage and negative dihedral in the wings from a rotated wing rod. The model was repaired in time for the next round. Gene Stuber of Chattanooga, also had thermal problems with his power pod model when he accidentally put in too much fuel. He encountered a giant thermal just after launch and the model was soon just a speck in the sky with the engine still running. Gene held in as much down elevator as he dared and flew all over the area trying to get out of the area. When the engine finally quite, he had trouble getting the model down in 10 minutes.
Flying times were higher in Power Pod than FAI. The Power Pod models had more time to look for thermals since they could search for good air on the climb out. Also, very few of the FAI contestants had flown towline previously and none had used a gasoline powered winch. Therefore, they were reluctant to use power and did not start getting maximum altitudes until the 3rd and 4th rounds.
By all standards, the contest can be considered a success. Fourteen contestants may not seem to be a large number by some standards, but it was enough since both contestants and the officials were learning! The pace was nice and slow for everybody except the tow line retriever and everyone had a good time. The new winch worked perfectly and the club just about broke even financially. Winners are listed below:
Power Pod
1. Chuck Anderson 1684
2. Bob Williams 1508
3. Gene Studer 1225
FAI
1. M. Swah 1250
2. Rex Powel
3. Herb Davis
We did have the fall contest and have continued to have 2 annual sailplane contests every year since that time. This year, 2001, we will be holding our 31st consecutive sailplane contest.