For a couple years here in America, a handful of aerobatic glider builder/flyers have tossed around the idea of performing VTPR style aerobatics over the plain. VTPR in itself on the slope can be very dangerous to the model, but is accentuated even more over land in still air. There has been some resistance from modelers regarding safety and whether a slope glider should even fly in the park. There has also been much appreciation and positive excitement over the style. One platform is on RCG at this link.
A BIG thanks goes to a fantastic designer/pilot by the name of Remi Le Besque in France, we can now see the style come to life. And by this video just released today, we can see the flying style is totally viable possibly attracting new enthusiasts and glider designs we at VTPR Aerobatics fully support.
The MadExa 2.0 glider is derived from an Excalibur 2.5m with "mad controls" and equipped with a Turnegy SK3, 3451-1000kv motor and 13 x 6.5 prop.1800 to 2400mah 3S batteries, 70A controller supply the electrons.
Enjoy the flight as we see this style of glider aerobatics become another option and growth channel in the sport.
By, Eric Johnson A6E Intruder Plane captain AMH-2, US Navy, 1973-77
This is a short story you might be interested in coming from personal experience. Its about the dangerous job of flight deck operations aboard US Navy Aircraft Carriers. Not glider related but the Jets have wings too...
I’m not one to brag or make light of my
achievements in life, but in this case, I can honestly state a fact,
I worked in one of the 3 most dangerous
jobs in the world!
Being a teenager just out of high school in 1972 without a job and no prospects
in sight, I had to make a "Y" in the road decision. I just acquired
my military draft number in high school from good ole Uncle Sam, #298 I believe
when 350 was the cut-off. I was more than likely bound for Vietnam! I had 90
days to report for a physical. So, I did what every other scared kid would have
done to avoid carrying a rifle in some foxhole witnessing pain and agony. I
spoke with my cousin Don who had just been discharged from the Air Force and
his best friend Tommy who had also just been discharged from the Navy. I was
looking for some advice from their experiences that would help me make this
important life decision. Out of these conversations I decided I didn't want to
go to Germany or some other foreign country in the Air Force. Also, I was very
concerned about living aboard a ship in the middle of the ocean! So, I chose
Airplanes aboard ship. How I came to that resolve, I’m not sure to this day
except Tommy had mentioned, "if you join the Navy, be an
"Airdale", so you don’t work at the bottom of the ship as a ‘Blackshoe’
where you will never see the light of day or breath the fresh air again!”
Tommy's second piece of advice was "Make sure you sign up with a guaranteed
"A" school program. I joined the US Navy!
"I haven't the slightest idea where I’m going or
what I’m doing"
So I’m fresh out of Boot Camp in San Diego with orders to report to jet engine "A"
school in Millington Tennessee. I report in, I take all the fundamental entry
exams for aviation technician and my counselor says, "The aircraft jet
engine billet is filled up, we can offer you sheet metal or the aircraft
hydraulics tech." Dejected I chose hydraulics of which I hadn't a clue
what it was. After 4 months of intense schooling only 11 out of 45 students
graduated!
Left end top row, 1973
Everybody in the Navy at this point of their rookie first
year are pretty nervous about now not knowing where they are going to send you
next. I filled out what the Navy calls a "Dream Sheet" at the
beginning of the school session that I believe to this day was used to let you
do just that - Dream. If I remember correctly, out of 10 choices, I picked 4 or
5 west coast locations, a couple each Southern and Midwest locations, and 1
east coast location, Virginia Beach, VA. So, after graduation we waited a week
for our next set of orders to arrive. Guess which dream I got - Virginia Beach!
The orders said “Sea Duty" with Attack Squadron 42, NAS Oceana Virginia,
A6E Intruder. I was ok with the plane, certainly not the sea duty. This is NOT
exactly what I would call my dream!
"Is it possible I’m a little over my head?"
Up to this time I had heard from the other veteran sailors that working
on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier was a life or death situation at best
especially at night. I just ignored the comments or maybe I subconsciously
resisted to believe it out of fear. When I reported for duty, they told me to
“Go check in at the line shack. You’re going to be a Plane captain for a few
months.” What the heck is a Plane captain? It didn't sound like a hydraulic
technician to me, did they make a mistake? Wrong. Come to find out, being a
Plane captain for a minimum period of 12 months was required before you
qualified to work in the shops.
My Plane Captain
cert.
I served aboard the USS Saratoga, CV-60
USS Forrestal, CV-59
USS Lexington, CV-16
The Plane captain is the person that has the most intimate hard-working
relationship with the aircraft. They are the last people to visually examine an
aircraft before it is sent on its way. 18 hours day and night he or she washes
it, inspects it, starts it, launches it, retrieves it, refuels it and actually
finds themselves talking to it in language I cannot repeat here! Basically, they
are the sailors that certify the aircraft is safe and ready for the next combat
mission.
PC Bob Frame launching 504 for bombing run training.
One of my favorite tasks performing this incredibly important job was doing the
walkaround with the flight crew. This is where your work is scrutinized to a
tee and questions are asked of you to answer in a completely truthful and positive
manner with a paper trail backing you up. You see, after the PC has turned in
the post flight inspection results to all the shops, he has to follow up that
they have done their routine and special maintenance on the aircraft with the
proper signed documentation before the flight crew sits their butt in that aircraft.
If the aircraft has a major in-flight failure and you haven't done your
homework on getting the plane in tip-top shape, "your ass is grass"
as they say! So, I enjoyed walking around with the pilots because I knew I had
done an excellent and thorough job for them because I didn't want my ass to be
grass! Then you could talk to them in normal fashion like, how’s the wife and
kids and did you have a nice weekend or something instead of standing there in
stark terror thinking, did I remember to check the hydraulic fluid level in the
main reservoir?
It's getting real, my
no. 512 ready to catapult off the USS Forrestal, 1974.
"Jet Pilots are Ego Maniacs"
There were a few pilots that always displayed a macho by the book stone faced
stature that was intimidating to all of us. Our commanding officer was one of
them. I realized later after I completed my four year tour that these pilots
deserved to act how ever they wanted towards us enlisted pukes. You see, I realized
for a pilot to be the best he or she can be taking the risks needed in order to
defeat the enemy or protect our troops on the ground, they need a GIGANTIC EGO
to do so. If your life depends on a single jet pilot’s actions in the cockpit,
I want them to believe they can do and be anything they want to be. It just
comes with the territory.
"The scary part of a Plane Captains job" The one thing they do time after time on a daily basis is assist the flight
crew in strapping them into the cockpit ejection seats. I attended 3 weeks
training on the GRU7 ejection seat before becoming a Plane captain and I’m glad
the Navy spared no expense in these classes. Not only do you help them get comfortable
in the seat, you also arm the seat. That is to say, you pull out all the safety
pins to make the seat ready for firing the pilots out of the aircraft should they
encounter a sudden emergency situation. These lifesaving seats travel around
300 feet per second and pilots can pass out! You can imagine what would happen
to both the pilot and the Plane Captain if there were an accident on the ground
during this strapping in process. Probably a mess you wouldn't want to witness!
Oh yes, the GRU7 seat is powered by a series of fuel rocket motors underneath
it and they burn around 4000 degree's! This is just one of the many daily highlights
enjoyed by the trained Plane captain. Then, doing this service aboard ship
while the jet engines are running in pitch black darkness at midnight in the
middle of the ocean with aircraft screaming by at 200 mph. Now we're talking
about a real scary existence. You better know what you are doing up there.
"Was this my dream job?"
They say the top 3 most dangerous jobs on earth are, 1. Oil well fire Fighting,
2. Flight deck Duty, 3. Law Enforcement. I served aboard the USS Forrestal, USS Saratoga, USS Lexington, and I tend to believe Flight deck Duty is
number 1 for these reasons:
1. If you’re not paying attention, you'll be blown overboard into the sea from
100 feet up by the jet blast, which I’ve witnessed, possibly never to be found
again especially at night. I came close to this myself, once!
2. Sucked into a Jet Engine Intake maiming and probably killing you instantly.
3. Wiped out by the failure of the aircraft arresting cable that catches the
plane on landings.
4. Crashing aircraft on the flight deck due to pilot’s stupidity or equipment
failure.
5. Dismemberment of limbs on catapult takeoff of aircraft should you forget
it’s a missile 24 inches away.
6. Walking into a spinning ghost-propeller at night from not paying attention to
see or hear your way on deck.
"There is life after being a Plane Captain"
I was finally transferred to the hydraulics shop after 18 months of very hard and
intense work. The shop was a good solid grounding that greatly complimented my
experience on the flight line as an aircraft hydraulic flight controls troubleshooter
the next 2-1/2 years of my tour. What did I enjoy the most while facing
danger every day on the flight deck? The camaraderie first, and the fact I
could successfully accomplish flight readiness of multimillion dollar aircraft for
the precious flight crews. And the result of the experience rewarded me with
the hydraulics career I have enjoyed for over 40 years!
I think of my Plane
captain brothers everyday who are serving aboard ships today knowing the
grueling and dangerous work they are performing to keep the birds in the air,
and our country free...
Some
species of the Albatross can live up to 80 years old. They hatch one newborn
every other year of their life. And this is staggering information recently
discovered. The Albatross glides over the oceans a minimum of 8 months per year
without stopping and rarely flapping their wings. And the Southern Albatross
shown here glides around Antarctica 5 times per year averaging 600km per day!
Amazing
Fact: The oldest known female Albatross is 67 years old, her home base is
Hawaii. Her name is Wisdom and she has flown 2 flights of mileage to the moon
and back, and in 2018 has begun her third flight to the moon!
Originating in France, VTPR
type of RC glider aerobatics has been flown over 3 decades. Even earlier back
in the 1960's in certain forms that were called "freestyle"
aerobatics here in America and abroad. There is a long rich history leading up
to its concept, description and introduction by the French, to America and
beyond.
This website was originally
hosted by a previous server in 2009 and since 2012 has been bringing you French
style VTPR content on the blogspot platform with excitement and dedication to
the sport. We are very proud of our global reach in posting new content for
your viewing pleasure, and will continue to do so.
Personally, I have been an RC
slope glider enthusiast since 1992 in Southern California. This sport
has been very enriching, fun and has made many advancements since those days
and even more for those of you who have been sloping since the 60's. It’s incredible
to see so many innovations in model equipment, design and flying types even in the last 10
years since this platform was launched.
Aresti type aerobatics with
its pinpoint perfection figures has dominated the world and the American scene for
decades and still does to this day with powered planes and slope glider modeling alike. It
has been the foundation of what we do on the slope or the field aerobatically. Then around 2005, we heard about this French aerobatic
type called VTPR (“Voltige Très Près du Relief”), described as “aerobatics very
close to the ground”. And not within feet, but inches of the ground, even
touching! It continues to gain popularity ever so slowly due to its extreme proximity
to the hard ground. As a result of a core group of American VTPR pilots/modelers,
since 2005 there have resulted new and exciting model designs and assembling
techniques that has moved the marker forward into some amazing results. Wooden and
EPP modeling has advanced into very lightweight designs all in order to hand
the pilot a very neutral and highly aerobatic platform that produce maximum results in performance and fun never seen prior. Larger composite/crunchy
type models have also advanced into the French VTPR mode and continues to do
so. As of this writing the VTPR concept I believe has finally caught the American
eye on the slope as a viable and permanent style/type from here on out.
In 2018 on this blog site, the
VTPR milestone marker quietly moved again into a new concept coined PARK-VTPR
or VTPR aerobatics performed not on the slope, but over the plain or flatland with
electric motor assist MVG's “very close to the ground!” This new direction is going
to prove both difficult and very rewarding. And we at VTPR Aerobatics are
excited and happy to bring you the latest results of this slow movement
into the flat with new model designs (as shown below), techniques, and flight
videos we hope you enjoy and are inspired to move into your own PVTPR efforts.
We are already seeing positive input and ideas from our electric power glider
friends wanting to explore this concept.
Summing up, the prior 10 years
have proven to be very positive and alive with advancements in the hobby. 2019
is looking like a year of new cutting-edge ideas in powered gliders, and flying
low as you can go holds some positive promise as well going forward. It’s time
to build and fly… EJ
A new thread on RC Groups is underway exploring this new VTPR Aerobatics style, and new efforts in glider development for the style. The thread is focused on transitioning VTPR from the traditional French style slope version, to a still-air version on the plain. A short introduction is posted in our pages section to get you up to speed. Join in and check out the RCG thread as this new and exciting next step in VTPR Aerobatics unfolds into 2019.
June 24, 2020:
The PARK-VTPR style has been officially accomplished! Go to RCG thread here to see it happen.
C'mon, everyone has a favorite. With any sport, to say who is the best is always subject to opinion unless hard performance numbers of record are presented. Therefore since there are no hard numbers in VTPR aerobatics yet, I take liberty to share my opinion. You may or may not agree, that's alright. The sport of VTPR is subject to many factors, primarily the glider model selected, pilot skills, the geography of the slope where it is flown, and too many more to list here. Those presented here are in my opinion the current top 6 pilots on the planet. And I am sure there are more I am not aware of. They are shown not necessarily in the order of ranking. My number #1 pilot is here but I leave you to guess who he is. Who is your #1 VTPR pilot?
Item of note. All the pilots in this line up are flying composite (no foamies) 2.5 meter wingspan class or more. There are many great pilots that fly 2 meter or less models, but the 2.5 is what the French designate as the "sweet spot" size that can perform "all manner" of VTPR. And who would know better than our French friends who invented VTPR? This writer concurs with them...
Eric Poulain - France
Master Poulain is by far the smoothest VTPR pilot in my opinion. He enjoys painting the sky with his trusty Excalibur 2.0 as if he is Rembrandt! He never appears hurried or tense. He controls the glider aware of every nuance of weather changes while maintaining beautiful lines and figures. Video courtesy SlopeAerobatics.com.
Guillaume Leroyer - France
Guillaume (William) Leroyer is pure amazing! He has many club aerobatic championships under his belt. He also fly's many different types of model airplanes. He is especially excellent with powered 3-D flying. But in glider VTPR you will notice a distinct flying style than the others. He is for the most part flying low all the time. The only period you see him get a little elevation is to gain speed downward into VTPR mode. He manages the air and the glider gloriously! His maneuvers are a bit racy and cleaner than the others. He is an exciting pilot to watch. Video courtesy Michel Leroyer.
Remi Le Besque - France
Remi Le Besque is a fantastic pilot. On the flat he fly's through the most dangerous low maneuvers that can possibly be performed with a glider, and he does it beautifully crisp and clean.
There is no fear of crashing the glider as Remi is so confident and knows his glider so well, he makes it look easy. Certainly it is easy for Remi.
Ronan Calloch - France
The glider is Limande. It's designer and pilot is Ronan. The first thing you will notice is the glider is very predictable with virtually no bad habits. Its completely neutral and has a limited top speed range. This sounds counter to good flying models but in the case of VTPR, its exactly what you want. Ronan is a fantastic pilot as you can obviously see here. He explores all manner of VTPR in a daring, exciting and very smooth way. Definitively a world class flyer and designer in the sport today. Video courtesy Ronan Caloch.
Cody Remington - USA
Cody is one of America's top pilots winning the 2009 World Youth F3J championship. He was coached by Skip Miller. Here is a video of Cody tearing the sky up VTPR style with his Espada glass ship in 20 plus MPH winds. His energetic and confident style captures his youthful approach to flying. He's not a VTPR pilot per say, but I think we can see he can fill a world class role with no problem. Being the only American on this list, in my opinion Cody qualifies as the US ambassador. Video courtesy Wakuman on RCG.
Joel Metz - France
Joel is such a smooth and confident pilot as well as a great videographer. He can surprise you with some nice beautiful and predictable figures, then all of a sudden will negotiate some technically dangerous figures without batting an eye. He makes it look so easy... One of the best there is. Video courtesy Joel Metz.
The text basically says "Club Flight from Menez-Hom Slope, Sunday, 1st April, 2018. The video quality is great, the location is epic and the flying is amazing. Click on image to watch the video. Be sure to let it load up.
VTPR in its beginning some 35 years ago as far as we know in France, began as a fun day of flying doing tricky games with gliders. It wasn't about precision aerobatic maneuver flying, or flying the highest or the fastest. It was centered around a group of guys letting it all hang out low to the ground performing fun yet dangerous moves to the glider. And it came to be known that a 2.5 meter glider hits the sweet spot for performing this fun and dangerous style while still looking majestic and smooth in the air.
What we have here is a session at Menez-Hom where the guys are competing for fun around a water bottle for prizes. Enjoy this rare glimpse into original French VTPR... EJ
If you want to see what low & slow looks like, this is the example for you would be pilots and spectators alike to enjoy. The glider is a 2.5 meter Flyer, a privately designed purpose built VTPR ship. Take special notice at when the pilot deliberately dives and drives the glider back up, the inertia increases very quickly readying it for the next aerobatic figure. This is due to the gliders very clean design (minimal parasitic drag) and efficient wing airfoil. Another element of being able to fly low to the ground for long distances cleanly is the geography and shape of the slope. And the constant and predictable wind volume. This is a perfect flying site and glider for so much fun...
