By Gary Fogel
Some of the earliest documented model sailplane flights with radio control from the cliffs at Torrey Pines were made in the 1950s. For instance, Dr. Bob Chase of the Soaring Society of America set a world R/C glider endurance record in 1956 with a flight of 8.5 hours in duration. Several members of the Ryan Aeronautical factory in San Diego also became interested in R/C gliders and used the cliffs at Torrey Pines in the 1960s. Members of the Harbor Slope Soaring Society (the oldest chartered R/C soaring club in the AMA) infrequently used the cliffs for R/C gliders. During that same period, the Torrey Pines Gliderport was heavily used by the Associated Glider Clubs of Southern California (AGCSC), the oldest continually operating glider club in the United States.
With increasing pressure from the various users of the site to form their own club and have an organized presence at Torrey Pines, a few young R/C pilots formed the Torrey Pines Gulls Radio Control Soaring Society, Inc. (TPG). They received Academy of Model Aeronautics club charter #129, making the TPG one of the oldest chartered R/C soaring clubs in the United States. Members of the AGCSC were concerned about possible air traffic problems with the R/C gliders and several TPG members, led by the first TPG President Kelly Pike, convinced the AGCSC that the TPG pilots were competent and could share the air space in a safe and consistent manner. TPG pilots made many R/C sailplane demonstrations at the very popular Torrey Pines Mid-Winter Soaring Championships held annually by the AGCSC. These demonstrations included both an aerotowing and winching demonstration followed by a spot landing contest. A friendship between the two organizations soon developed. By 1974, the TPG had grown from the initial group of 10 members to a total of 67.
With the year 'round excellent soaring conditions typical of the San Diego area, many "Gulls" quickly acquired a high skill level and began a tradition of winning contests as well as a tradition of training any and all new comers who were interested in the hobby. The father and son team of Rod and Mark Smith (members of both Harbor Slope Soaring Society and TPG) won various national championships with their Windward and Windfree sailplanes. At the 1973 LSF Tournament, TPG member Andre "Buck" Faure took first place and the TPG was awarded the best team trophy. Mark Smith designed and flew the radio controlled soaring seagulls for the motion picture Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The R/C gulls were used in the filming at several locations including Torrey Pines, Carmel and Hawaii. Mark also set endurance and distance records for R/C sailplanes while in Hawaii in 1973 while soaring his Windfree sailplane for 286 miles in 13 hours over a closed course. In the early 70s, Torrey Pines became widely regarded as an ideal testing facility for many unique R/C gliders including Mark's Models more popular kits such as the Wanderer, Windward, and Windfree and several more aerobatic models. Kelly Pike attempted to break the world R/C glider speed record at Torrey Pines in 1973, but his average of 106 mph was not enough to break the existing record of 113.24 held by the Soviet Union. On one pass, he flew by at 120.61 mph, but the resulting second pass was much slower. TPGer and columnist Paul Denson was Contest Director at the Speed Record Trials.
In the mid-70's, several pilots led by TPG member Frank Cox began a tradition of "combat" with R/C gliders. Virtually any glider was used and colored paper streamers were taped on to the tail of each sailplane. The victor would remove a streamer from another plane and land successfully. Frank Cox flew his rainbow colored hobie hawk in these contests and "re-kitted" many over the years. Another TPG tradition...the Redman Rules contests began in the 1970s. These consisted of events such as limbo and beer can bowling. Many Gulls lost their planes in these unique events, but also sharpened their piloting skills...training that would help the club in the years to come.
Club sponsored "one-design" contests began in the 1970s where each pilot would fly the same type of plane as a real test of pilot skill rather than aircraft superiority. Slope races were held with everyone flying a P-51 Mustang or similar U-control plane that was converted for radio control. Another popular plane was known as the Canyon Products "Foamy", a 1/7 not-so-scale all foam model of a Schweizer 1-26 sailplane. The Kraft "Brick" receiver and servo system fit nicely in the Foamy 1-26 and was protected by the foam of the airframe in the event of a mid-air collision during a slope contest. By geographic proximity, the Torrey Pines Gulls, Mark's Models, and Kraft radio formed a unique relationship that lead to the training of a large number of R/C glider pilots.
Without question, a major emphasis of the TPG has been thermal flying with R/C sailplanes at a variety of locations in San Diego County apart from the Torrey Pines Gliderport. A group of dedicated thermal flyers could be found in the 1970s and 1980s at Hourglass Field every weekend morning near Miramar College. More recently, flight operations were moved to the "Poway Flight Center" at the east end of the Poway Valley. Over the years, the TPG hosted several League of Silent Flight (LSF) contests and many local SC-squared contests. Buck Faure, Mark Smith, Kelly Pike, Alex Mladineo, Don Edberg, Steve Neu, Ed Hoppe, Randy Warner, Ken Banks, Irv Stafford, Al Doig, Bob Anderson and others won many contests for the TPG. Monthly club thermal contests helped to sharpen everyone's skills...in a very short time, the Gulls became well known for their winning ways. In 1977, the AMA Nationals came to Riverside, California and many of the Gulls were in attendance and took home several trophies.
One-fifth and one-quarter scale model sailplanes were flown by members of the TPG since the mid-1970s. Torrey Pines has become famous for a series of scale sailplane meets over the years since then, continuing with the annual Torrey Pines Scale Soaring Classic held in the spring. Several TPG members have held glider licenses for full scale aircraft. One of our more famous members, Carl Gwartney, even flew troop gliders in combat missions during World War II.
In the 1980's, the Gulls continued to expand and by the late 1980's, membership was over 100 pilots. Steve Neu and Don Edberg went on to represent the U.S.A. in several World R/C contests. Emphasis on the 2-meter class and on R/C hand launch gliders increased. TPG member Bob Torres took home the first place prize in the first 2-meter contest.
In the 1990s, TPG pilots have dominated the contest scene, continue to encourage new pilots to join their club, and have developed connections with other pilots around the world. Each year the Gulls host the International Hand Launch Glider Festival which brings top R/C pilots from all across the U.S. to the TPG Poway Flight Center. The North County Clouds joined forces with the Torrey Pines Gulls and provided increased membership and enthusiasm. Ron Scharck and George Joy brought home trophies from the 1997 U.S. Nationals. Gary Fogel set a U.S. Declared Distance Record of 4.19 miles for Class A Hand Launch Gliders by soaring the entire length of the cliffs at Torrey Pines in 1995. Mike Smith won the highly competitive CVRC Fall Soaring Festival Thermal Duration contest in 2000. Several club members have columns in a variety of model magazines, holds a fund raiser to support the USA F3B (multi-task soaring) team, and the club gives an annual donation to a local charity at the end of the year. The club newsletter is widely regarded as one of the best in the nation.
TPG logo 1970s (1) = very first logo
of the TPG
TPG logo 1970s (2) = second logo of
the TPG
TPG logo 1970s (3) =third logo of
the TPG
TPG 1980s = self explanatory
TPG logo = current TPG logo
