sox101

Does anyone know of any good sloping sites in Nova Scotia? Preferrably near Yarmouth, but anywhere will do.

daveosoar

I've never been toNS but, if my school geography is right (back better than 50 years!) its nearly an island. Find a steep coastal slope or cliff that has an onshore wind and you're away. First check out your landing area!
Dave.

slopemeno

My Feedback: (2)

Acually, I bet its great. Check out you local weather sites online ( I bet theres lots of fishermen up there) and figure out the prevailing wind direction. Now start looking for sites. I'd go with "Road-sloping" first, where you drive around likely-looking areas and check out the slope. Higher/steeper is better, and a grassy landing area at the top, and some access to the bottom. I flew at a spot in Mendocino in Northern California recently that had ZERO access at the bottom; it was a 30' cliff right into the Pacific.- needless to say I threw that plane as hard as I could so a dive back to the cliff was possible.

What kind of plane are you planning on?

sox101

Well, I am buying a Shark slope racer ARF, and I actually have found a slope near my house. It is a coastal slope about 80' tall. It is steep, but not overly so. Do you think it would be ok for sloping?

slopemeno

My Feedback: (2)

If it faces the prevailing winds go for it. BTW that Shark ARF is a great flier in light lift. A freind of mine has one and it flies in about 7 mph on our slope, which is about 500'/45 degrees.

Just remember, speed is life, so try to launch hard and keep your speed up by trimming the elevator to keep in moving. You'll find theres a "lift band" on small slopes thats about 5' off the deck, and about 45 degrees out from the peak of the lip of the slope. The plane will accelerate very naturally when you find the band. Focus on keeping the plane in the lift band. A "ramp turn" where you climb at an angle, turn around, and dive back into the lift band wil help conserve energy. If the lift picks up ramp turns become half-pipes, loops, etc.

A little "yard work" on your landing zone doesnt hurt either. Stomp down any tall weed that can catch your wing on landing, and remove any rocks you see. We also put up a flag, which is nothing more than a piece of rebar with a thin nylon ribbon on it, so we can see the direction and gauge the intensity of the wind. And a bench, every good slope needs a bench...

sox101

Yes I think I will probably have to fix up the landing zone because it is covered in *****ly weeds. Oh, and i'm glad I found someone who knows about the Shark. How is it's maneuverability and how does it handle moderate to heavy lift days? How fast does it go ?

daveosoar

Dont know the Shark, but if I wre to try a new slope I'd use an EPP wing, like an Xit , Wildthing etc., I keep one just to test the wind/slope before throwing anything expensive. For £45 its cheaper than crushing anything else and has lasted 7 years!
Dave.

slopemeno

My Feedback: (2)

Its a 6062 'foil, IIRC. It can go pretty fast, actually. Once you get it trimmed out and settle on the location of your CG, make two ballast blocks, say 8 oz each. When the lift is mderate, use 8 oz, and when it howls, use 16 oz. The Shark has kind of a goofy setup withthe fairing under the wing. so I would make a way of attaching the blocks under there. I would use a 10/32 steel bolt to hold the blocks on.

The shark is a great low-cost plane. Every year Sal will have it on sale for $125 or so. It not going tobreak any records, but for tearing up a small slope right-in-your-face close, its perfect.

I would consider reinforcing the fuselage with some S-glass or carbon in the area between the wing cutout and the canopy area. Narrow areas like this should have a dotted line and "tear here" written there.

I would focus on programming your plane with smaller thows, particlarly on the elevator. Smaller thows will keep you from over-controlling and slowing down too much.

You should program "spoilerons" if your radio can do it. Both ailerons going up 45 degrees will slow the plane down for landing and kill lift. You will need to add elevator compensation, either up or down about 5% to counter the pitch change due to the ailerons being deflected.

As far as manicuring your slope, we usually hide a sharpened shovel on the bushes nearby, so you dont have to carry it in and out every time you fly. A sharp shovel is a very handy tool for digging weeds and rocks. Sharpen it to about to a dull pocketknife level.

Post some pics of your hill. Come up with a catchy name for it. Get some other guys addicted to flying there.