Do those things have motors?
Several of our club members are avid slope flyers and often have the chance to talk to the general public about our sport. We field all sorts of questions but one we hear pretty frequently is “do those things have motors?” or some variation like “how come the motor is so quiet?”. I think that due to the speed, maneuverability and close in flying we do at the slope it may be hard to believe for some folks that, no, these things do not have motors. So, even though the question may seem obvious to those of us involved in slope flying I think it is a good one from the general public and provides us with the opportunity to explain how slope soaring works and how we are able to extract energy from something as simple as wind hitting a slope. The next time someone comes up to you at the slope and says “Do those things have motors?” use it as an opportunity to be an ambassador for our sport!
If you’ve asked the question “do those things have motors?” in the past and want to know more about radio controlled slope soaring take a look at the slope flying section of this website.
July 10th, 2007 at 10:56 am
[...] blurb about a question we get asked often at the slope when we are flying our slope gliders, “do those things have motors?”. It seems to be a great way to get the conversation going about how slope soaring works. [...]