HIGH ALTITUDE FLOAT FLYING SITES, PLANES, & EVENTS
This page was last updated on January 29th, 2005; thanks for visiting!
(Several newer high resolution photos have been added to the top of this page; please be patient while they load.)
UPDATE: The SPARCS 2006 Float-Fly will be held on Saturday, June 10th at Dry Lake.
Here's a view across Hinman Reservoir during the 2004 SPARCS Float-Fly which was held on June 6th, 2004 This site is located on private property which is normally not open to the public at all, and the owners have been gracious in inviting our club members to fly here; we really do appreciate it! 2004's morning weather was beautiful, with the winds holding off until well after lunch! All of the pilots who brought float planes had plenty of opportunities to get in all of the flying they wanted in the morning.
There are public campgrounds in the area; the closest is at Wolford Mountain Reservoir about 4 miles away from Hinman Reservoir, where Keith & Paddy and Mary & I camped before the official float fly on Sunday. (Keith & I also flew slope gliders on the slope above Herk's flying field late on Saturday afternoon.)
PHOTOS FROM THE SPARCS 2004 FLOAT FLY
Above, Herk and Rod watch as Scott readies for the first takeoff with his 4-Star 120 on custom foam floats.
Aircraft on the shore waiting to fly include (from left to right) Herk's Wild Hare and Seamaster; Bruce's E-FOX; Rod's custom designed & built Blue-Cor P51 on Blue-Cor floats; below that, Rod's Balsa USA Laker; and at the right, Bruce's "LECTRA-SPORT", an 05 electric powered original design that's been flying off & on since it was built in 1985. (Bruce's SKYFOX, not included in this photo, also flew this day.)
The 4-Star 120 took off & handled smoothly in the air!- Great job, Scott!!
Above is Herk readying his Seamaster for flying; his Wild Hare awaits it's turn.
Another incredibly smooth landing!
Rod Baron designed a profile P51 from Blue-Cor, powered it with a brushless motor and a Lithium Polimer battery system, and then designed his own Blue-Cor Floats mounted on a carbon fiber tube strut system. The aircraft is very light, and can just about hover in his capable hands!
This is me with my E-FOX on it's floats on the shoreline of Wolford Mountain Reservoir, just below the campgrounds. I flew two battery packs- about a half hour's worth of takeoffs & landings- on Saturday morning, getting a good feel for the takeoff, flight, and landing characteristics. This was a good idea, as I was preparing for the night flying on Saturday evening. In the photo above, you can just make out the 4 LEDs on the end plate on the wing; there are 4 more built into the other wing tip plate as well, and another four LEDs on the lower edges of the fuselage. The night flying worked great!
More information on future SPARCS float flying events at this site, and the flying site access directions are available by contacting either me (719-836-2489), or Herk Almgren (970-724-9585).
Previous Float Flying Photos from the recent past
Below is a view across Hinman Reservoir with one of Ron Teke's larger coroplast creations taking off in choppy conditions. This photo is taken from the dam area on the east side, where we normally park and fly; the view is west towards the northern Gore Range.
This is one of Ron Teke's aircraft taking off at Hinman Reservoir during the 2002 SPARCS Float Fly
Above, Herk Almgren has started his Ace Seamaster, and is ready to set it into the water for a flight.
Herk's Seamaster has just lifted off the water in the photo above.
Above, SPARCS newsletter editor Rod Baron, holding his Balsa USA "LAKER"; beautiful looking aircraft!
Here's the underside view of Rod's LAKER.
Above are two of my float planes, sitting on the shoreline of Dry Lake, which is situated just north of Fairplay along the west side of U.S. Hwy. 285. The SKYFOX is on the left, a plane which I designed in about 1993; this one is the original, and has been flying since then. On the right is my "LECTRA-SPORT" on light floats.
I designed the LECTRA-SPORT in about 1984 for an 05 electric power system. It flys well from water. The floats were built in January of 1985, based on a Mitch Poling design which was published in Model Builder magazine at one time. It's presently flying with a Graupner SPEED 500 BB RACE motor on a 6 cell 3000 mAH NiMH battery pack, turning an APC 9x5 prop.
Above is the EFOX , a 63" wingspan aircraft which was mounted on floats in Mid-May of 2004, sitting on the shoreline of Dry Lake near Fairplay, ready for it's first flight on floats. The power system is a geared Cobalt 20 sized motor running on a 12 cell GP 3300 NiMH battery pack; weight is at 6 pounds, for a wing loading of 17 ounces per square foot.
The photo above shows our favorite 'distressed plane retreival' craft, a pair of the Coleman vinyl inflatable kayaks that my wife & I also use for fishing & just playing on the water. These became available in the spring of 2003, and include the three piece break-down paddle for the modest price of $60.00 at Wal-Mart. (You also need to get an air pump, which is not included; and another accessory we like is a boat cushion to sit upon- the lowest point inside the boat is where water will end up, after all!)
FLOAT FLYING from high altitude lakes has become one of my favorite challenges!
On July 15th of 1991,
I flew for the first time at Kite Lake near ALMA, Colorado; the lake surface is at 12,000 feet .
This plane origionally started as a Telemaster 40, with the wing stretched to 78-1/2", and additional vertical stabilizer area for float
stabilization. The floats are my own design, (thanks to Andy Lennon for his excellent design data published in RC Modeler Magazine in early 1991). A few dozen planes are now flying these floats; I'll offer my thoughts on float design and setup later, along with information about how to obtain plans or kits.
On September 30th, 1991, I flew the same float plane sucessfully at Summit Lake on Mount Evans, at an elevation of 12,800 feet. I haven't yet located a higher accessable lake for float flying, but I plan to continue the search; I'll post information about any new sites here as the information becomes available.
SPARCS sponsored three AMA Sanctioned "Kite Lake High Altitude Float Fly Challenge" events in July of 1992, 1993, and 1994. The"CHALLENGE" was in dealing with the thinner air, and resulting power loss for RC engines operating at 12,000 feet, as well as lower performance of some airfoils in these conditions.
More Kite Lake Photos
Fliers along Kite Lake Shoreline More of the Kite Lake Fliers along the Shoreline.(20K)
Plane on takeoff run on Kite Lake (29K)
Herk Almagren's SIG Kadet Senior Lifting off Kite Lake. (30K)
Because of Kite Lake's expanding popularity as a trailhead for everyone climbing the four "Fourteeners" which circle the north end of the lake, resulting in fairly foot trafic in the vacinity of the lake, we started searching for another accessable lake, suitable for float flying, at or above 12,000 feet.
Click for a photo of my "Floatmaster" on a landing approach at Oliver Twist Lake. (80K)
The photo which you can select to view above is of a landing approach on Oliver Twist Lake. This lake is located north of the Mosquito Pass Road, which crosses the Mosquito Range between Alma and Leadville.
Oliver Twist Lake is a site less visited by the masses; it simply isn't directly on the way to any high-popularity destination.
The Lake itself is about 800' x 800', circled fairly closely by the mountains on the west and north, but open to the valley to the east.
It is larger, and therefore "more flyable" than Kite Lake. It is located in the midst of a large area of inactive patented mining claims.
Here are two more photos of the Oliver Twist Lake flying site :
View north across the lake from the south shore, myself in the foreground;
and an overview of the lake setting from above to the south.
Access requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the last 3/4 mile, but is not what I would consider a rough 4-wheel drive road; you simply need higher groung clearance, and lower gear, to drive the old stage coach road comfortably.
This is Dry Lake, on the west side of US Hwy. 285 just north of Fairplay. About 1/3 of the shoreline, on the northeast side of the lake, is BLM administered public lands.
Another Float Flying sceneOne of several private lakes in south park; John Cain flying the Telemaster.
Ron and Chris Teke with their 1/6 scale DeHaveland Beaver
John Cain at Lake DeWeiss with his Wild Hare on floats, 6/96
Ron Teke with the Beaver on a close fly-by at Lake DeWeiss, 6/96
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