STILL on the Road...Slope Soaring the 2m B.O.T. at Oregon Inlet, Outter Banks, North Carolina

Finally heading back home after a week's run out to the east.  Since I was parked so close to I-40 while at the Carolina Classic, I decided to knock off a Bucket List item and visit Kitty Hawk.  Got some stuff on that later, if I don't run you all off with these ramblings.

I camped at Cape Hatteras for a couple days...about 25 miles south of Kitty Hawk...then moved north a few miles to a Park Service campground near the Oregon Inlet.  This gave me some steeper dunes to try my hand at sloping the 2M Bird of Time.

Gonna crunch out some video of it and the Huntersville Meet once I get home and settled, but here are some photos of the little B.O.T. getting coated with beach sand:

My campsite at the Oregon Inlet Campground.



The 2M B.O.T. gets a charge before assaulting the beach.



All you need for slope soaring.  Actually, the camera bag and lawn chair are optional, but can come in handy...just don't stumble over them if your R/C Body English includes wandering about a bit as you fly (blame control line flying for that).  The GoPro, for me, is almost mandatory these days...I like to pretend I'm along for the
ride.





Though still a BUNCH higher than my beloved levees back home, the shoreline dunes to the north were fairly low, with a big gap for an access road.  Even though I couldn't see the gap from where I was standing, the B.O.T. instantly let me know when it crossed in front of it...with a sudden drop as if it had just snagged a pound of lead.



There was another gap to the south, but also included a couple tall peaks that really gave the B.O.T. a huge boost of speed every time it passed by.  The glider looks like it's descending, but has just 'gotten the boot', and is accelerating (which will convert to altitude as soon as it's pilot puts down the camera and pulls in some elevator).



Riding the wave from the bigger dune, the B.O.T. climbs out.  Finding the peak of the lift (and the dead spots) is part of the fun/challenge and, unlike thermal soaring, tends to be pretty dependable as long as the winds stay constant.



Unfortunately, my GoPro camera was jolted back and downward a bit at launch, giving me a lot bigger view of my sand-covered wing than I'd wanted.  Still not too bad.  The tall cranes in the distant background are part of the construction of a new bridge across the inlet.



Nose low and booking down the beach.



Running low and fast and right up against the dunes is fun, but can really pile up a sailplane without the roll response of ailerons.  Luckily for the B.O.T., I got away with this for a few passes before thinking better of it.



Shows how poorly I'd cleaned the sticky castor oil from the B.O.T.'s wing.  Up at about the top of the lift wave, we cruise back down the beach.  The Assault Van and it's camper just under the right stabilator tip.



Some of the local residents were less than impressed with the clumsy intruder that seemed to have a problem understanding slope soaring ettiquette and right-of-way rules.  



I managed to get down to the beach without falling on my face...not wanting to trust my depth-perception to land the B.O.T. while looking down from the dune.



Out in front of the lift wave, the B.O.T. glides in for a fairly smooth crosswind landing (meaning: it didn't cartwheel when it touched down).



Yeah, gonna have to get the shop-vac after the B.O.T. when I get home...


So, that's it for the moment...nothing is bent or broken so far.  I ought to be rolling up the hill this evening, and will post more after I get after my yard which, I am sure looks like a hay field by now...

On The Road Kim