best in power scale soaring: 2033 Southern California PSS Festival, The

Model Airplane News, Oct 2003 by Garwood, Dave

People who design, build and fly power scale soaring (PSS) planes delight in the way warbirds, fighter jets and bombers look, but they also enjoy the peace and tranquility of silent flight. An exciting, specialized component of soaring, PSS is inspired by aircraft that are powered by piston engines, jets and rockets, but these models fly without power. Although some PSS sailplanes could fly in thermal lift, they are most commonly flown in slope lift.

The Southern California PSS Festival is the largest gathering of pure PSS gliders in the Western Hemisphere. Held on May 23 through 25, 2003, this was the sixth year that the Inland Slope Rebels club in Riverside, CA, ran the event, making Cajon Summit a mecca of power scale soaring. We always like to see what other PSS modelers are designing, building and flying, so it's a great time when 50 or more of us get together to show our stuff!

The flying site is a mile-long ridge 1,800 feet above the Cajon Pass in the San Bernardino National Forest, a few hours east of Los Angeles. This site is known for its reliable winds created when the high desert to the east heats up and draws air through the Pass and up the face of the ridge.