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Post by bananaman on Jun 9, 2009 17:50:59 GMT 10
Undoubtedly, there will be a more detailed report coming. But I have to say the Windsock team picked a really difficult year to debut at Australia's largest R/C sailplane comp at Jerilderie. The weather was extremely non sailplane friendly. Congratulations to Jeff Irvin for being the highest placed newbie to the event and he also won the "Middleman" Trophy for finishing in exactly mid field. "Go the homemade models!!" ;D Well done Jeff. I'm really happy for you. Also well done to the other team members. You had a very steep learning curve in really tough conditions. But you will have learned a lot this time and will not have that stress next time. Hope to see Jeff, Greg, Graeme and Ken there again sometime.  |
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Post by sean on Jun 9, 2009 19:23:21 GMT 10
Well done guys! That looks cooooold!!!
How did you go with the new Xplorers Brian?
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Post by skyboyken on Jun 9, 2009 21:06:16 GMT 10
The competition was incredibly tough, and extraordinarily tight at the top with only a few points separating each place (out of a total of 6,000).
Brian flew superbly to finish 9th out of 65 - equal 9th with 3 other pilots to highlight how tight it was.
a great time was had by all - it really was an experience to remember.
More tomorrow. Tired now.
Ken.
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Post by thevon on Jun 9, 2009 22:01:12 GMT 10
That looks soooooooo-o - o - COLD!!!! Onya guys, huge effort!
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Post by jirvin4505 on Jun 9, 2009 23:51:52 GMT 10
A great weekend away. Very happy with how the E2k flew More latter A video of the flightline while we were waiting for the fog to clear. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvf-STUPEnIenjoy... Jeff |
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Post by nick on Jun 10, 2009 6:04:43 GMT 10
great video jeff
glad i missed the cold
looks like you had fun filming and giving some cheek along the flight line,
well done for your high placing in the comp,
looking forward to talking to you guys about your time away.
see you guys out at the feild somewhere
kind regards
nick
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Post by thevon on Jun 10, 2009 7:21:59 GMT 10
That's a ripper of a video Jeff. For anyone who's never seen a thermal comp, it paints a great picture. Now you just need one with some flying in it! Also shows just how cold and windy it was! I bet if the flying action had been good you wouldn't have found the time to take the video!
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Post by skyzking on Jun 10, 2009 12:53:12 GMT 10
Awesome video Jeff, thanks for sharing...
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Post by ezza on Jun 10, 2009 23:42:20 GMT 10
Thanks for the reports guys. Jeff that video is fantastic!! Great to see all that lovely carbon! MMMMMMMM.
Congrats to all of you as it looked like a hellish mission and very tough/cold comp. Gives me an idea of what I might be in for, if I can make it next year. Looked windy. I reckon Kevins' comments summed up how cold it must have been.
I thought I read somewhere that they used 1m distances on the landing. is that true?
Eric
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Post by jirvin4505 on Jun 10, 2009 23:48:10 GMT 10
Thanks for the reports guys. Jeff that video is fantastic!! Great to see all that lovely carbon! MMMMMMMM. Congrats to all of you as it looked like a hellish mission and very tough/cold comp. Gives me an idea of what I might be in for, if I can make it next year. I thought I read somewhere that they used 1m distances on the landing. is that true? Eric Thanks Eric Yes 1m distances on the landing tape - next year the 100mm sections like we fly here in Qld. BTW they are also changing to 150m winch lines. cheers jeff |
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Post by bananaman on Jun 11, 2009 12:22:13 GMT 10
I wrote this for my club's newsletter, it is more about the team I flew on, but gives you an idea.
The 32nd Jerilderie LSF Competition took place on the Queen's birthday long weekend 6,7,8th of June. It is Australia’s largest R/C Sailplane competition. We had a group of pilots from MRSSA and some from Windsock. Enough to do two teams of Queenslanders. Pilots were Evan Bengtson, Brian Ford, Karl Knack, Ken Fox, which we’ll call “Team MRSSA”. Ken Stephens, Jeff Irvin, Graeme Foster and Greg Roper were in “Team Windsock”. Kevin Smeaton came along to help retrieve lines and repair radios.
We all left during Thursday and drove directly there but in separate groups, arriving in fog at around 4.30am on Friday. It would be so nice if a trip like that could take the same time as it took to type!! After a breakfast and very short nap we went to the field to start playing. I still had a bit of setup left to do on both the Xplorers and it is always good to have some flights at a comp field beforehand to get a feel for it and the conditions.
On about my second flight just as I was about to push for the zoom I felt and heard a noise from the left gimbal of my borrowed radio and its centering failed. It made for an interesting zoom and flight. I got it down safely but now I had no radio.
Kevin and I then decided to swap gimbals from my dead MC24 and the one I borrowed from Jeff Irvin. It required a fair amount of disassembly and time but we succeeded. I had lost a lot of model setup time and was very tired but got some stick time and managed to get the models flying and landing better. It wasn’t a good start, but thanks to Kevin we were now ready to start the comp.
Saturday started off after a wet night and the winch lanes had to be moved to avoid the worst of the puddles left on the field.
65 pilots plus their helpers got ready to fly. It all happens impressively fast. The event is also the F3J team selection.
We managed to put in some flights with a couple of hours lost to light rain. The air was very cool and thermals, although about, were far apart and very smooth flying was required. Both teams had to get used to these foreign conditions and adjust flying styles to suit. Harder than it seems.
A stripped V-tail nut meant Evan’s new Viper was out of action and he flew the smaller Estrella.
Sunday started off with thick fog that didn’t lift until after 11.00am although a few rounds of DLG were flown. We did have to walk through a shallow lake this time though and Kevin had a tough day of it. Conditions were again difficult and any control input had to be needed or it was going to cost height. It seems that the high moisture content of the air and condensation affected Karl’s radio and Evan’s Estrella as they both had difficulty getting them to behave nicely. Any uncommanded movement costs time in that kind of air.
Both Greg and Evan had to do repairs after slippery moisture covered models and gloved hands resulted in some handling damage. The joys of “away” comps and different conditions.
Monday started with low cloud and a blustery cold wind. Although a few attempts were made to get flying started, only the DLG guys got to fly again. I had a couple of flights to see what the model flew like with full ballast. It was quickly into cloud on a very mild launch. The cloud was just below average launch height. At 11.00am the comp was called and that was it. Pack up, do the presentations and go. Half of round 8 had been flown but these scores were discarded and the results were for the 7 complete rounds flown.
The comp was very, very close. Only a few points separating the top 20. In the wash up, Carl Strautins was 1st, Joe Wurts 2nd, Mike O’Reilly 3rd. David Hobby was 6th. The F3J team will be Carl Strautins, Jim Houdalakis and David Hobby.
I managed to share 9th spot with 3 others. The next to figure of our teams was Jeff Irvin in 33rd place. Jeff won highest placed newcomer and the “Middleman Trophy” for finishing mid field.
Well done Jeff!!
Our other pilots finished further back in the field which is disappointing however the scores (not yet published) show the very high standard of all pilots entered as their flights weren’t terrible.
Although the conditions didn’t live up to expectations (or did they?!). I enjoyed myself immensely and finished where I did because of the experience and help of my team. Thanks Karl, Ken, Evan and Kevin.
The trip home was a real anti-climax and a tough drive after such a sapping weekend. I’ll do it again though. Next year’s event will be a little different because they will launch off 150m lines and use graduated tapes. I think it’s time to have a couple of flights on a short line to see what its like.
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Post by thevon on Jun 11, 2009 16:21:58 GMT 10
Great report, thanks Brian. Can't say it makes me wish I'd done it! Sounds nerve-janglingly and exhaustingly daunting. Well done and I hope you guys recover from the ordeal within the week and don't come down with swine flu!
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Post by bananaman on Jun 11, 2009 17:01:42 GMT 10
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Post by bundyglida on Jun 13, 2009 21:26:19 GMT 10
NOT FAIR!, I so wanted to be there this year! I am in for next year though ;D I should have a nice kit of Pikes by then, I hope they don't 'blow up' like the explorers did  Anyway, Congrats to Brian, coming 9th with models that you haven't even got to know, is amazing. How did the Euro go for you Jeff? I hope you like it, it is a great glider. Catch you all again soon. Dale |
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Post by jirvin4505 on Jun 13, 2009 22:14:41 GMT 10
NOT FAIR!, I so wanted to be there this year! I am in for next year though ;D I should have a nice kit of Pikes by then, I hope they don't 'blow up' like the explorers did Anyway, Congrats to Brian, coming 9th with models that you haven't even got to know, is amazing. How did the Euro go for you Jeff? I hope you like it, it is a great glider. Catch you all again soon. Dale Yes Dale certainly a soaring experience. Still thinking about the flights I made and dreaming of improving my landing precision. >Europhia... Set up on Friday before the comp, got some very good help from Evan with the launch trims. Then went far better than I could have imagined in very demanding conditions. Of the Queenslanders your E2k was the 2nd model to place ;D Not too bad coming in well behind Brian's Explorers. cheers jeff |
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