Heathcote Soaring League

Heathcote Soaring League (HSL) is a radio controlled glider club, based at Maddens Plains, 58 klms south of the Sydney CBD. HSL is involved in slope soaring, thermal duration, aero-tow and scale soaring.

We welcome new members whose primary interest is to fly radio controlled sailpanes, electric sailplanes or oldtimer models. We do not encourage Sports power models to fly at the Club site. Pilots who wish to fly power models, will be directed to one of the many Clubs in the region, who specialise in power flying, and whose club flying fields and operating procedures have been developed specifically for that purpose. HSL strongly encourages all members to achieve a competency level equivalent to LSF Level I. Speak with, or contact, one of the committee members to get an LSF accomplishment form and perform the tasks, to gain your level 1 competancy. We have Glider Instructors, who can instruct and test pilots for the Gold and Bronze wings, Glider, awards. MAAA membership is required to fly at Maddens Plains.

Membership fees are due now. Payment must be in before 1/7/12. If you haven't renewed your Club membership for 2012 - 2013, or are not a member, then you are not permitted to fly at the Club field. The land is leased to HSL Inc and is private property, for the use of members and guests. You must have current MAAA affiliation and Public Liability Insurance to fly at Maddens Plains. There is a .pdf renewal form or a membership application form for dowload, on the 'Club' page of this website.

Heathcote Cup Thermal Duration Competition 2013

This year we had two days of enjoyable flying at Maddens Plains with a combined attendance of 17 pilots over the two days.

Day 1
Saturday started out with very light winds from the NW steadily increasing after the 1st round to be a breezy westerly wind before swinging to the ENE in the afternoon and calming off. During the day the size and strength of the thermals increased as the day got hotter, before becoming less frequent and very light by mid afternoon. Flying started at 9:30 and finished at 4:15 after completing 8 rounds.
There were 14 competitors for the start of flying with 12 entrants remaining at the end. Unfortunately we lost Ian Roach and Les Morris from the competition after minor damage to their models, which was not repairable at the field. Geoff Hungerford was lucky he had a well-trimmed model, which continued to fly for a while after a battery failure before safely landing on the hill opposite the flying field. A long trip into the scrub for Geoff to retrieve the model meant he missed a round. Lucky for Geoff he didn't run into any of local neighbours - they can give you a nasty bite.
At the end of the day the results were computed (thanks to Jack Murphy with assistance from Ian Roach) and Mitch Todd was the winner from Jack Murphy and Alan Lowe. Leading competitor in the 2 metre event was Owen Pearcey.

Day 2
Sunday was always going to be hot but it seemed to get a lot hotter and more taxing on everyone as the day progressed. Winds were light all day with very strong thermic conditions in the middle of the day.
Flying got underway just after 9: 15 am with seven rounds and ceremonies completed by 3:15 to allow everyone plenty of daylight for the drive home.
Clive Warman badly damaged his Supra after loosing his model in the sun on launch. Clive also damaged his backup model due to a winch mishap after breaking the line. To give an indication of how strong the thermals were - after the lunch break, Kevin Weston spent almost the full 10 minute flight trying to get his 2M First down from spec height just 1 minute after launching.
At the end of the competition the winner was Matt Lowe with a perfect score after 1 dropper followed by Alan Lowe and Jack Murphy. Again the leader in the 2 metre comp was Owen Pearcey, who won the overall 2M Championship for the combined result for the 2 days from Kevin Weston.
Overall it was one of the best days flying we have had for the Heathcote Cup in many years - just a pity it was so hot.

HeathCote Cup
The winner of the Heathcote Cup 2013 was Mitch Todd who retained the Cup following his win last year. Runner-up was Alan Lowe from Jack Murphy.
Thanks to all the competitors who took time out to compete including all those from Newcastle and further up the Hunter Valley. It was great to have you guys attend what is the longest running thermal competition in Australia.
Alan Lowe
President
HSL

Hi everyone.
Sunday 15th May 2013 was the fourth round of the Millennium Cup and was forecast to be sunny dry and fairly windy. At about 20 kph not very windy by FAI standards but enough to get people in trouble.
We had a good turn out of 22 competitors at the Salt Ash field, which was in good condition apart from the vandalism, at least there were no wrecked cars to interfere with the winch line.
The wind stayed fairly constant throughout the morning session and seemed to reduce a bit in the afternoon but strong thermals gave some problems with gusts. Launching was by winch up until the last few flights when the motor decided it had had enough and made its departure - literally! Launching proved a problem for some built up models but there were very good launching techniques shown by many of the built up model fliers and they managed to get good launches and one or two showed up well in the results.
The First/Velvia type models coped well with the conditions except for one experiencing flutter near the top of the launch and loosing both elevator and rudder with obvious consequences. We had one mid air when Max Stone's model clipped a Velvia (Barry Burke's ?). Max's home built model spiralled down without much damage and the Velvia went on to record a good flight time with only a little damage to the fuselage. Lunchtime was provided by the club with an optional gold coin donation and very well organised by Clive Warman, thanks Clive.
The wind caused some problems with models getting too far downwind and not making it back to the field. The Velvias of Bill Gibson and Les Morris were still missing at the end of the competition despite extensive searching in the course of the competition. A line search was organised and Les Morris's model was found by John Quigly - great! Bill's model got the same treatment but could not be located, we will get the FPV boys on the job next weekend if not before.
Congratulations to Owen Pearcey, who, flying his own designed (including the airfoil) and built model were ideally suited to the conditions and resulted in first place. This will be a swan song for Owen,as he is relocating to Brisbane in the near future. Newcastle's loss is Brisbane's gain.
Special thanks to Helen and Brian Lindsay for their sterling help throughout the day, together with John Rawlins who helped as well.
Despite the difficulties and mild carnage I think everyone had a good time and went home tired but happy. I know I did - I was in bed by 8pm
Paul Gibson
NOTE: The next round of the 2013 Millennium Cup will be held at Taree/Old Bar over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of September, 2013.
A map and directions to this new field will be forthcoming.

Millennium Cup sponsors are -
Model Flight
Traplet Publications

For an overview of the rounds held in the

2012 Millennium Cup Series, click HERE.

2011 Millennium Cup Series, click HERE.

2010 Millennium Cup Series, click HERE.

2009 Millennium Cup Series, click HERE.

2008 Millennium Cup Series, click HERE.

2007 Millennium Cup Series, click HERE.

2006 Millennium Cup Series, click HERE.