Update 08/05/03:
Regarding the “South Florida Slope Site” post from Charles Lillo, the park he referred to is called Vista View Park and is now open to the public. However, radio-controlled model aircraft are not and never were permitted there.
Along with a growing group of interested local glider flyers and AMA Flying Site Assistance Coordinator Joe Beshar, I am currently in the process of attempting to obtain the permission of Broward County park management to use the hill there for slope soaring. If successful, we intend to form an AMA chartered club called the Vista View Slope Soaring Society.
For further details, please visit our web site at http://www.vvsss.com
Thanks, Mike Naylor – info@vvsss.com
Below is Charles’ original post:
We are in the southern part of the state, 10 mile west of Fort Lauderdale. The spot in an old landfill and will soon be open to the public as a park with a bike path and walking trails and some places to picnic. I do fly there that’s me in the photo. The elevation is said to be 150 ft, but with the prevailing East wind the lift is incredible!. We fly there most every weekend. I’m building a new Cobra racer and we have 2 old Climax’s and once in a while when the wind is really strong we pull out the old Solaris and electric we converted to a sloper.
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Mt. Trashmore is north of us and I’ve flown there before but I like our spot better. Mt Trashmore is a working landfill and still smells terrible. Our spot has been closed for 20 yrs and has a lot of really nice landscaping because it’s going to be a park someday.
Although Vista View Slope Soaring Society never became a reality, a well-established club called [url=http://vistaviewflyers.org/]Vista View Flyers[/url] now flies electric-powered models at Vista View Park on a field next to the south-facing slope, and we’re occasionally able to slope soar there when there’s a south wind. Our fly zone is restricted to the south side though, so there’s no access to slopes facing other directions. We also occasionally set up a winch and launch sailplanes toward the east along the south slope.
[img]http://vistaviewflyers.org/images/ss/vv-park2.jpg[/img]
As it currently stands though, the only real slope soaring site in South Florida is the Waste Management landfill at Sample Road and Florida’s Turnpike in Pompano Beach, and membership in the [url=http://www.phflyers.com]Pompano Hill Flyers[/url] club along with AMA membership and your signature on a legal release form (required by Waste Management) is needed [b]before[/b] you come to visit.