I live a few miles from the end of Cape Blanco rd. in Port Orford so it's only natural that I would eventualy give it a try. I started flying Glow planes a few months ago, bought an Aircore trainer to learn the basics with and scratch-built a RCM advanced trainer for a second plane. Then I started thinking about sloping because I kept seeing guy's out at Cape Blanco flying them. Well I was at Eugene toy and Hobby a couple months ago and bought a Sig Ninja kit. I never built a foam core wing before and one wing came out warped but I got it straightend out ok. Anyway I ran into Steve from the BirdWorks out their last week and watched him for awhile and he gave me a few tips. I had my Ninja with me but chickend out cuzz I didnt want to break it. After thinking about the tips I got from steve and playing on FMS for a couple hours that night I had enough confidence to give it a try. Next day I drove out to the Cape at noon and I was amazed at how easy it is to slope. My Ninja almost fly's itself. I can set it up running down the ridge and let go of the cotrols and she just cruizes. The wind have been pretty light the last week or so and I think It would like more wind but it really suprised me with how smooth it fly's. Their were a few other guy's out there too and they all said it flew nice too. It does real nice flat turns almost by itself, I just touch the aileron and breath on the elevator and she comes around so pretty it makes me look alot better than I am. I realy couldn't compare my planes performance with the others out there. Almost every one was a BirdWorks MOG or Burrito, there was a coulpe other simular types too. There are so much lighter than the Ninja so they fly alot different. Ran into two guys that were giving slope their first try too, they are from Eugene and usually fly gas or glow, they said something about a 10 foot wing span, wish I had asked them some questions but I was too busy thinking about what I was doing. Landing was always scarry but I managed to get it down smooth every time but one and that wasn't too bad either. All in All I would say I had a great time for my first days out on the Cape.

Welcome to the slope!

You're lucky to live so close to one of the best slope soaring sites on earth.

Be sure to listen and do what Steve says. He won't steer you wrong.

I'm a beginner and i was wondering for slope gliding, i have a flying wing glider, do u just find a really big hill and throw it off? never really done this before.

Todd,

Regarding the "10 foot span" remark, any thermal ship can be flown on the slope, and on light air days, sometimes they're the only thing that will stay up. I've got a Spirit 100 and a Bird of Time that I regularly fly on days that won't support a Ninja, and I've got a Gentle Lady that flies when nothing else will. For lazy, gentle flying, it's hard to beat.

papermache

Earthspeedandfire,

You're very near the Laguna Niguel slope soaring Guild. I checked their web site, but haven't seen any activity on it since 1996.

here it is:

http://www.rcsoaring.com/lnssg.htm

Dave of DavesAircraftworks.com and John Roe hail from your area. I'm not sure if their club hill is still active.

For more basic info on slope soaring, here is a great that Greg Smith maintains:

www.slopeflyer.com