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 1/7/11. If you haven't renewed your Club membership for 2011 - 2012, 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.

Hi everyone.
On Sunday the 15th January, we held round 1 of the 2012 series. We had 16 pilots enter the competition.
The forecast was for rain showers in the morning. On the drive to the field as I approached Appin I experienced very heavy rain and this continued for quite some time while at the field. So those who were there got to partake in a very nice cooked breakfast put on by the Appin club members.
At around 10am the sky began to lighten up a little and the rain eased right off. So we got out to the pits area and began to set up the winch and retriever systems. We had a pilots briefing and got underway a little after 11 am under a partly cloudy sky and with light to moderate winds from the ESE. At times the sun came out and conditions were very pleasant and there were some good thermals about. Local eagles seemed to be able to find and work the available lift quite well.
A few models were damaged during the course of the competition. There were at least a couple of fin failures during the ping and zoom phase of the launch with those aircraft subsequently crashing while unable to be controlled. There were a few wing failures on launch too. I think that as we get more familiar with the winch that we are trying to generate higher launch heights with more full pedal launches.
Stan Runcinski from Canberra is a pilot who joined us for his first experience of Millennium Cup flying on Sunday. Stan has a new First aircraft which he had tested only in very windy conditions prior to coming to Appin. During the course of the day Stan made adjustments to his aircraft and was progressively improving its handling. His last flight of the day was only few seconds short of the 6:00 minute target flight time.
We completed four rounds before we had lunch at 1pm. After lunch we completed a further three rounds for a total of seven rounds on the day. This was quite remarkable considering the amount of rain earlier in the day and the delayed start. Six or more rounds permit the dropping of each pilot's worst score on the day.
When the scores for the seven completed rounds were tallied, the winner for the day was Don Farrar. Congratulations Don. In second place was Fred Lodden and in third place was John Kinlay.
NOTE: The next round of the 2012 Millennium Cup will be at the GMAC field at Goulburn on the 12th of February 2012.

Millennium Cup sponsors are -
Model Flight
Traplet Publications

For an overview of the rounds held in the

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.

Club Thermal Duration Competition

Hi everyone.
Today we had 10 pilots compete in the final round of the 2011 HSL Club Championship. We used the man on man format to Australian Thermal rules - a target duration time of 10 minutes in a 12 minute working time.
We had a delayed start as I had forgotten to bring along the club equipment box, so some jury rigging was done to press various lengths of rope into service as tapes for the substitute spots.
Conditions were fine and sunny all day. Initially the wind was moderate from the north. Around midday the wind had picked up a little and in the fourth round we had a few line breaks on launch. Initially the thermals were elusive and weak. later they became stronger but the time between them was quite large so it could be some time into flight before lift could be found, if at all.
Around 1pm a big front approached from the SW with a beautifully large thunder head. The decision was made to call it quits after the completion of round 4. With just the 4 rounds completed there was no dropper.
At the end of the day the scores were tallied and for the second time in a row in the 2011 HSL Club Championship, a round was decided by just one point. In first place today was Brett Watts. Just one point behind in second place was Alan Lowe with Matt Lowe in third place.
The winner of the HSL Club Championship for 2011 is Allan Lowe. Congratulations Alan.
In second place is Matthew Lowe and in third place is Fred Lodden.
1st place in the 2m category is Les Morris.
The current standings for the Club Competition, can be seen by clicking on this link

A Supra coming in for landing 2011

Just click on the picture to go to the calculator. Input your figures and 'presto'.