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Post by larrikin on Oct 18, 2009 18:56:19 GMT 10
A big thanks from me to the Windsock crew for making the day a success... well I think it was anyway. Good people, good fun. Perhaps another day in November or December? If there is enough interest, perhaps an on-going bi-monthly series to keep the thumbs in. Next time I think that, because it was a "low-key" event, that the winches could have been put into wind and leave the course that way it was. And for those that were there a bit later in the day, my bottle of port is almost gone already...*hiccup* Thanks again fellas David
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Post by mikey100 on Oct 18, 2009 19:33:48 GMT 10
An interesting day. Of note:- * Garth getting 160mph with his Sunbird racer. *Me getting 107mph with my old, stock, Parkzone Striker. *Jeff folding the wings on his hotliner at over 100mph. Am sure pics will be posted. Commiserations! *Lots of winches, thermals and nice planes. *Going to the Laidley slope in the arvo and having 15-20kts and heaps of lift. Even sloped the Stryker as the lift was so strong.
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Garth
> 100
wings are for wimps
Posts: 188
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Post by Garth on Oct 18, 2009 20:04:30 GMT 10
Yer good day. Not sure why we launched down wind all day? Really happy with 160mph on 44amp's.
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Post by ezza on Oct 18, 2009 20:41:45 GMT 10
A big thanks to the MRSSA for setting up the F3B Speed course and teaching us a lot about this discipline. You guys are a wealth of knowledge and experience. It was alot of fun and I would be in for more. Like to try some distance as well. Great to meet Garth and Mikey finally. Garth's little sunracer was unbelievable. Nice little machine that was a blur to me most of the time. It was cool to see Jeff doing F5B with his Monny until it folded RIP. That is some intense flying!!!!!! Sounds easy to launch and do 4 fast laps but there is alot more to it than one would think. Combining speed, distance and thermal, an F3B comp would really test you out. Just lining up to do 4 straight laps was hard enough. A good launch is so critical. Swung by Beechmont on the way home and despite the good conditions I was shocked at how freezing cold it was. Going from boiling hot, totally sunburnt, dehydrated to subzero(atleast that is how it felt), was too much for me today. Got to see Shane ds'ing his all carbon Atomic Wedgie which was cool. Catch you all again soon, Eric
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Post by thevon on Oct 18, 2009 21:07:01 GMT 10
Had a great day today going to Harrisville for a trial F3B competition day. Nick and Ken turned up at my place bright and early at 7:10am and when we looked at our pile of gear we decided we’d definitely best take the Commuter van! We hooted across town making use of the new direct Springfield route, stopping for the necessary coffee at Maccas Yamanto, and arriving at the MRSSA club field at Harrisville at 8:45am. We thought we’d made an early start but there were a few others already there including Sean, and poor Ezza who’d come all the way from Byron Bay, forgotten about daylight saving and turned up at a quarter to 8!
The other Windsockers who came along were Brian, Jeff, Mikey100 and Garth – plus a bunch of the great guys from MRSSA who organized everything, although not everyone flew the F3B course. Some guys flew electrics, bungeed or generally helped out.
Nick and Ken had brought along big shade structures which were a bonus as the sun had a savage bite from early on. The winches were laid out in anticipation of the forecast southerly, which turned out to be a bum steer and we spent the day launching into increasing tailwinds. I got the radar gun out to clock Garth’s screaming little Sunracer and it hit 159mph (255kph) easily but man, that thing was hard to follow! It went past with a blip! Garth couldn’t fly it for too long as his brain was starting to fry.
Brian and Dave, both experienced F3B pilots gave us a briefing and lessons on how to do it, and we started the practice sessions. The F3B course is comprised of a 150m line with an “A” base close to the winches and the “B” base at the far end. They arrange guy ropes in a sort of vertical pattern along the arc that you have to cross, and a person sits there sighting across the lines and pressing a beeper button as the model’s nose crosses the plane described by the guylines. You launch by the winch, try to hold altitude as you cross the A base (beep) and you can even thermal for up to a minute, then you dive and cross the A base again (beep and timing starts) then you have to do 4 legs. One difficulty is judging that you’ve gone far enough to turn for the B base (no beep means you missed and you have to go back!). We soon realized that 1) technique was VERY important, and 2) height before dive-in was TERRIBLY important! I was happy with a first time of 29 seconds (which I never bettered all day!) but by contrast Ezza who’d been thermalling the Skorpion massive dive-in from great height and cracked a 17 second run – the fastest of the day.
Jeff and Jane turned up with the kids - Jeff heartbroken when he realized he’d forgotten the wingbolts for the Monny F5B. But toolboxes were explored and bolts found and Jeff’s day brightened up. He got the Monny tearing around in a terrifying fashion and did a series of runs using the F3B bases. After the 4 legs he pulled throttle for about 2 seconds and the Monny ripped up towards the stratosphere then he looped upside down, rolled out and dove in for another attempt. On about the 4th run I gunned the plane at 60mph gliding through the bases then it rocketed up for about a second reading 107mph (off line) on the gun, just before Jeff half- looped it and the plane broke up and showered Monny bits over about 20 m2 of paddock! That was a low point, but Jeff was philosophical as the Monny has a reputation for such problems, and he has a new Surprise F5B ready to take its place. We were all a bit shocked at how lightly built the wing was considering the huge loads it takes. Garth’s Sunracer pulls about 60amps and the Monny pulls 200!
We all had a great time with the F3B runs. The increasing NE tailwind was great for getting rid of the pesky flies but it unfortunately made it hard to get the sort of launch height you need for good speed, but the whole session was still a great introduction. Nick was flying the X Pro he bought from Hutton for the first time, and was hugely impressed with it. Apart from winch launching the Fazo I enjoyed hand-tossing the Espada RL, hoping that (one day) I’ll succeed in getting big height from a hand toss. Unfortunately I broke the fuse boom in a very soft slow landing in tufty grass! (tail whip). A bit disconcerting. Ken also had a good session with the Blaster DLG. There was a break in the proceedings while we enjoyed the BBQ burgers for lunch, then we were back into winching and beeping until about 3:20pm when the wind really picked up from the NE and some rain squalled in. We decided to pull the pin and packed up quickly.
For hard core slopers a fresh NE wind was too good to pass up on a Sunday arvo, so Ezza made plans to head home via Beechmont and our crew plus Sean headed for One Tree Hill near Laidley, where Mikey100 was reporting great conditions. It probably took 40 minutes to get there but well worth it. I’ve never been to the site before but it has a great big grassy landing area and the wind was bang on the hill, so the lift was great. In no time Sean and I had the Orca and Fazo together and launched simultaneously. The big planes reveled in the big sky, big lift conditions and we carved it up for about half an hour till the cold was getting hard to bear! A great finish to the day’s flying.
Long drive home, coffee and food at Blacksoil, gear unpacking. After a long and full day of playing with toys outside all day the boys are tired but happy!
I know Nick has some good pics to post but judging by how tired he looked when he left here it won't be tonight!
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Post by skyzking on Oct 18, 2009 21:38:27 GMT 10
Wish i was able to make it out today, but had to work unfortunately. Looks like everyone had a good day.
To David (larrikin) yes this should become a frequent event and another one next month or even December would be awesome...
Abdullah...
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Post by nige on Oct 19, 2009 5:13:40 GMT 10
Andrew's back at work (the reporting type) and great to see and thanks for the effort. It sounded like a top day apart from the carnage. I will have a big plane one, day although the Starling Pro would have done some runs. Keep us posted guys on the next one please.
Nigel
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Post by skyboyken on Oct 19, 2009 9:03:37 GMT 10
Great report Andrew! Had a top day. Everyone was great to be with, everyone pitched in and everyone had fun! I was pleased to get what I think was the second best time of the day at under 22 seconds (21.9 I think). I was hoping to crack 20 secs but couldn't get a good enough launch in the downwind conditions. That's fine, the game is to do the best time you can in the conditions of the day with the plane you have. The Orca and the X Pro (both thermal planes) went really well!! Conversely the Fazo, which is a very quick plane indeed, suffered from not having been set up to winch launch which gave VERY low launches in the poor conditions we had, and the times reflected that. As we all saw, it's a combination of launch height and technique. I love it! I reckon it's great flying - great fun . I asked Brian and the MRSSA guys to consider another F3B day before Christmas and I hope they do one! So next time guys come on out with whatever you're flying and have a go. One of the nice things about F3B is that it's easy on the planes (until you get super serious ). We are very lucky to have Nick's support with the strawberry farm too. Sean and I did a few practice runs there last Monday and Jeff has been using it to practice his F5B so there's no reason we can't knock up a couple of smaller bases (sighting devices) and have a go out there whenever we want. Ken.
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Post by sean on Oct 19, 2009 10:17:33 GMT 10
Yeah, it was a really fun, relaxed day. Glad to see Andrew out flying again too. Big thanks to the MRSSA guys for going to so much trouble, especially Brian and David for their enthusiastic tuition! There is a LOT to doing well at F3B. If you don't get a good launch the speed task isn't very speedy at all!
It was very sad to see Jeff's Monny crash right when he looked to be getting a bit more relaxed with it. Whenever I see it fly I get the itch to spend money... I'm doing my best to resist... I look forward to seeing his Surprise in action.
I'm definitely keen on another F3B day before the end of the year.
Sean.
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Post by bananaman on Oct 19, 2009 11:59:54 GMT 10
Thanks to all of you who made the trip at such short notice.
A pity about the weather v launching but that is an eons long hassle with setting up a course. We set it up to the conditions that prevailed at the start and that were forecast for the majority of the day plus trying to fit the course on the site (trees/powerlines) and keeping in mind the position of the sun.
In the past we have bitten the bullet, wasted an hour to change things around only to have the wind swing again. It is an unfortunate but worldwide hassle that sometimes occurs. It also befalls major events. However in the end you fly to the conditions that prevail, which is a pain, I know.
There is an advantage to downwind/crosswind launches and that is you very quickly get to see how well your model is set up. A good head wind really disguises poor setups. Plus, you develop another valuable skill set, beyond that, it is a pain in the central inner buttocks region.
David and I later discussed the next event which will probably be held on the 7/8th or 21/22 Nov (will confirm later). We decided we will run it a little later in the day so that the wind will more likely be settled in a particular direction (for wind/sun), it may mean setting up at the far western part of the field.
Even though the launches weren't monumental, the flying for first timers on the course was. I was very impressed. The times may not show it, but from watching all of you, your skills are good enough to enter a formal event (with a little more course time). Although you won't do a Weberschock, Bohlen or Perkins speed time (yet).
Speaking of times, here is what you achieved. Remember, for those not there, this was in mostly crosswind to downwind with mainly non-F3B models and pilots that have never done a course before.
In no real pilot order and unfortunately not all flights were recorded: Eric 32.58, 48.44, 17.75, 19.8 Garth 29.38, 42.88, 49.95 Nick 32.50, 22.57, 32.09, 35.87 Ken 25.95, 27.2, 37.67 Sean 29.37, 28.06 Andrew 29.34, 33.22, 35.81 Brian 23.74, 28.08, 18.5 Jeff (F5B run) DNF but spectacular flight with similar ending!
I would guess that had it been flown into wind, those same pilots and models would get sub 25s and the purpose built "B" models sub 18s with more course time that would obviously drop further.
I really have say again, I was, and am impressed with how you guys flew the course and thanks for your help and enthusiasm. Thanks David for making the time to come out and help. We all appreciate it. Must have been hard to hear all those calls and not been on the sticks (although Eric did let you have a couple of goes with the Skorpion).
I'll try to firm up a date for the next one ASAP, hopefully we'll do a distance event as well, now that IS challenging. Stay tuned. And Ken, I'll get those sighting devices finished!
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Post by nick on Oct 19, 2009 15:56:08 GMT 10
well i suppose i have the photos of the day and a few comments this is ken sean and ezza before the start of the day brian and dave showing us newbies what we should do and how it works brian had this tiny little glider and was showing us the right way to turn and fly dave and brian spent some time setting up the two stations and this is station A and i must say it was a wicked thermal day, just look at those clouds!!! well sorry about all the photos jeff but they are good viewing and i do feel sad for you and your plane this is the area where skylab came down, there are more bits but the ones in red circles are the only ones i can see in the photo, as you can see it went in hard, one wing had already left the fuse some collected bits jeff inspecting his motor, is it ok jeff? one cactus battery, and i think the speedy looked the same here we are having a minutes silence garth with his new toy thanks everyone for a great day, all the help on the course and with a little glider set up, looking forward to the next one. then we drove to laidley for andrew and sean to have a slope as ezza said earlier it was hot at harrisville and then we also froze at laidley, i wrapped a towel around myself when i took these photos. All in all a fantastic day regards nick
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Post by thevon on Oct 19, 2009 17:07:34 GMT 10
Haha Nick, excellent pics, thanks! I cacked myself laughing at the "minute silence" one. That photo does look like it, doesn't it!
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Post by nick on Oct 19, 2009 17:49:38 GMT 10
;D ;D yeh sure does andrew that's the first thing i thought when i uploaded them onto my pc regards nick
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Garth
> 100
wings are for wimps
Posts: 188
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Post by Garth on Oct 19, 2009 18:39:30 GMT 10
Great photo's nick.
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Post by larrikin on Oct 21, 2009 0:15:11 GMT 10
For those that flew the course on Sunday, this video reveals how well you were flying. The video is none other than World Champ Joe Wurts doing a speed run at Jerilderie. They were obviously launching into wind but the course was "downwind" the way we should have done it on Sunday. The point I wanted to make is that in the video, Joe waits for the tone at base "B" just like the rest of us mortals. There were some clean runs done on Sunday that, given a respectable launch, (and a "B" model) would have turned in a good time. Enjoy the video. vimeo.com/5137638D.
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