Flying Sites

Green Horizons Sod Farm, near Burford, ON

SOGGI thanks Green Horizons and sod farm owners for their support over the years in allowing SOGGI to fly on their fields.

It’s a nice day. The sun warms the countryside unevenly, creating point-to-point temperature variations. These temperature variations create 3 dimensional air circulation patterns that include areas of rising air (“Thermal Lift”). The pilot’s task is to fly the model sailplane into that “Lift”, so that the model will be drawn upwards by the Lift. This ability to climb without an engine is called “Soaring”.

Sometimes lift is scarce, so a protracted search for lift may be required. The spectacular ability to glide for great distances and for long periods of time is the defining characteristic of a good model sailplane. But if there is no Lift, then even the best sailplane will be forced to glide back home for an early landing.

When lift is found, half-hour flights are relatively common. A repetitive zig-zag search followed by circling in lift can cover many miles, all within sight of the pilot.

Before any search for lift can begin, the model must first be launched to an initial altitude of several hundred feet. For “pure” sailplanes, the launch effort is normally provided by an electric winch, or by a rubber bungee cord (more properly called a “Hi-start”). This launching tackle must be laid out on the ground parallel to the prevailing wind direction, so that the launch can be made squarely into the wind.  Launch altitude is reached within a few seconds, at which point the aircraft is released from the launch line. The search for lift then begins.

After the launch-line drops to the ground, helpers retrieve the line to prepare for the next launch, and to prevent entanglement with the launch lines of other nearby winches.

Sod farms provide a large flat area that is free of obstructions, making it easy to lay out the launching tackle and to retrieve the launch lines.

And just in case you are caught far from home and struggling for altitude, it’s comforting to know that you can  land nearly anywhere on a sod farm.

Sod farms can also accommodate some other soaring aircraft types, for example those with on-board electric propulsion systems, discus launch sailplanes, or even rubber powered freeflight models. “Freeflights” have no radio control system, but simply drift downwind while circling continuously. Even without an interactive means of control, they can still land safely on our large unobstructed flying sites. Click on Our Model Aircraft for more details concerning SOGGI’s various aircraft types and their launching methods.

Permanent markings and/or physical infrastructure are not permitted on the sod surface. Other techniques for organizing our field operations have therefore been developed. Considerations that go into the day-to-day set-up of our field operations are discussed on our Safety page.

On July 12, 1985, Jack Nunn of Midhurst, Ontario flew 2 hours 47 minutes at a sod farm site near Cookestown, Ontario, to set the Canadian Open Thermal Duration Record for all sailplane classes — a record that appears to still stand. In the decades since, model sailplane design, construction materials, and radio control systems have all made spectacular advances. The time would seem ripe for someone to mount a challenge.