Post by bananaman on Jan 26, 2010 9:01:09 GMT 10
This is from my club's newsletter but the event had a number of Windsockers who many of you will recognise.
Weather forecasts were looking good for the weekend. Rain in recent weeks promised a lush green field and it didn’t disappoint. This year was the 30th year of the the Sailplane Expo. It has been cancelled only once due to weather. The event is held south of Armidale on a large cattle property. This usually means a large fly population. Although they weren’t as bad as in the past they certainly were keen to explore any open orifice. Pesky blighters! Much more colourful language abounded however !
This year’s events were Open Thermal, Open Electric, 7 cell Electric (LEG), DLG and Nostalgia which was open for all “old style” models but focused on the spirit of yesteryear. So some pilots really used 30yr old models and radios!! It was interesting to see some of the classic models that helped develop our hobby to its current state. Windfrees, Sagittas, T-Birds, Bird of Times, Step Ups, Paragons etc.
The solid Qld contingent consisted of:
Kevin Smeaton, Brian Ford, Ken Fox, Ken Stephens, Graeme Foster, Mike Rae [over from Perth] (MRSSA)
Jessie Soric (welcome back – DLG) TWB
Greg Roper, Shane Spoor (Maleny)
Dale Ward, Wayne Davey, Brenton Lorrisch (Bundy)
Peter Prasser, Alan Beck (RSSF)
Jeff Irvin, Karl Knack, Dave Anderson,
John Junovich, Chris Lambert (RAMS)
There was a bit of controversy over 300m v 400m lines before the event however it was all bluster in the end and the event ran well with the majority choosing 200m. It may well run with 300m in the future, but that is for later. Running both lengths didn’t cause any issues I could see.
We arrived at the field on the Friday afternoon for some quick practice flights.
It was very green, grassy and recently mown. Most unlike the dry dusty paddock we often see. Hutton Oddy (the only local flyer and one of the organisers) did a great job of getting the field ready.
After some quick trims and system checks, it was into town for a shower and dinner with the Bundy guys. On the way into town I blew out a tyre on the trailer. JJ, Chris and Mike gave assistance. The spare was previously repaired and I didn't like the chances of returning to Brisbane without further drama. Before a long weekend, getting an odd sized replacement was going to be difficult. I was right, Armidale had nothing. Luckily Jo tracked down a suitable replacement in nearby Uralla. She had 2 trips to get the new and much better tyres. I certainly paid for it but I was stuck otherwise. The trailer rides even better than before with its bigger wheels.
Saturday started with the wind blowing pretty much down the winch line. Hutton has a lot of faith in the local forecast and his winch direction decision was correct.
The event started a little late, as the 50 odd pilots, got ready and Kevin as CD and scorer was busier than a one-armed paper hanger. I ran the first couple of heats so he could get into his efficient groove. I don’t know how he did it all together. A very valuable individual is our Kev. Jeff Irvin ran the electric events.
Once the contest had started it was fairly constant flying if you were in all events but there were a few quiet spots if you just did one. The nor’ west winds that dominated the weekend were kind and nurturing some rounds and fickle and cruel in others. I saw strong classic thermals, bubbles, ground wave, buoyancy, light sink and “one way rides into the ground” sink. Each day the lift seemed to work in a different areas.
Pretty much every pilot got caught out and out landed, the eventual winner also had a long “walk of shame”.
The first day didn’t have too many dramas, and model carnage was limited to a few LEG and Nostalgia models.
I had a shocker on the first day having landed just out of the landing area well under 7 mins when everyone else got away. I think I was 18th after the first day. Karl did very well flying his new Espada to 2nd.
At the end of Saturday some of the big names were not even in the top ten. The dropped round would be a decider in this event.
That night was the dinner and trade show at the Armidale RSL. It went well, with some history of the event from Dave Morgan, Des Kingdoms’ witticisms and good company.
Sunday started with the wind blowing downwind as we set up. Some initial heats were affected but soon after it swung to the forecast direction and blew more strongly. Hutton was right again.
There was a little more carnage this day. An Open class homebuilt exploded spectacularly on launch raining parts everywhere. Shane Spoor flying Jeff’s well contested “Club model” had a mid-air with Jeff Green’s Experience Pro. The molded model won the fight with the bagged model spiraling with increasing speed to its demise.
Jeff’s Europhia also had a distant contact with Des Kingdoms’ Pike Superior, slicing off its tip. Both models got back OK.
There were some more Nostalgia and Electric models damaged in landing bingles.
In a very concerted effort to get a good score and beat Carl Strautins in one round I was a little slow to retract the flaps and snapped a flap linkage. I did beat Carl though. One point!
The last day started with a stronger breeze that increased during the day. This was the worst day for lift with many outlandings, short flight times, line breaks and some walks of shame beyond 1km. I had another bad flight stalling in a wayyy downwind thermal, low to the ground. (I had full ballast in and hadn’t increased my flight speed to allow for this) I nearly got back to the tape, which was about 500m closer than I thought I’d get. Karl outlanded as well on one flight. The gusty conditions in the landing area made precise landings difficult, if you where even able to get back.
These outlandings really shook up top positions. Eventually Carl Strautins was the winner in Open thermal (also in the outland club), Gerry Carter second, Karl Knack third, Mike Rae fourth and Phil Crandon a very well deserved fifth. Graeme Foster got third in Nostalgia.
It has to be noted that Carl flew on 150m lines. He is practising for the F3J world’s.
I ended up 7th I think which was higher than I expected.
The Qld contingent finished strongly with the mid field full of maroons amongst the southerners. I can’t remember all the scores or where they ended up, no doubt Kevin will post the results soon.
I didn’t get to work with everyone but I was very impressed with Dale, Wayne and Brenton. The Bundy boys really operated well as a team and flew very well. All worked very hard to get their times in some terrible air.
Jeff was his usual helpful self, he was unlucky with some line issues and low height, but had some great saves.
Dave Ando was always good to keep an eye out for while flying or spotting as he often found bubbles others missed.
Karl flew very cleanly and handled his new model exceptionally well considering he only had a few flights with it before Expo.
Ken Fox, got caught in some bad air in a few heats and even aggressive flying at low level couldn’t get him his times.
Kevin again did the odious (to us pilots) task of scoring. We can’t thank you enough for doing that Kev.
I enjoyed myself again and look forward to the next event.
Brian
Weather forecasts were looking good for the weekend. Rain in recent weeks promised a lush green field and it didn’t disappoint. This year was the 30th year of the the Sailplane Expo. It has been cancelled only once due to weather. The event is held south of Armidale on a large cattle property. This usually means a large fly population. Although they weren’t as bad as in the past they certainly were keen to explore any open orifice. Pesky blighters! Much more colourful language abounded however !
This year’s events were Open Thermal, Open Electric, 7 cell Electric (LEG), DLG and Nostalgia which was open for all “old style” models but focused on the spirit of yesteryear. So some pilots really used 30yr old models and radios!! It was interesting to see some of the classic models that helped develop our hobby to its current state. Windfrees, Sagittas, T-Birds, Bird of Times, Step Ups, Paragons etc.
The solid Qld contingent consisted of:
Kevin Smeaton, Brian Ford, Ken Fox, Ken Stephens, Graeme Foster, Mike Rae [over from Perth] (MRSSA)
Jessie Soric (welcome back – DLG) TWB
Greg Roper, Shane Spoor (Maleny)
Dale Ward, Wayne Davey, Brenton Lorrisch (Bundy)
Peter Prasser, Alan Beck (RSSF)
Jeff Irvin, Karl Knack, Dave Anderson,
John Junovich, Chris Lambert (RAMS)
There was a bit of controversy over 300m v 400m lines before the event however it was all bluster in the end and the event ran well with the majority choosing 200m. It may well run with 300m in the future, but that is for later. Running both lengths didn’t cause any issues I could see.
We arrived at the field on the Friday afternoon for some quick practice flights.
It was very green, grassy and recently mown. Most unlike the dry dusty paddock we often see. Hutton Oddy (the only local flyer and one of the organisers) did a great job of getting the field ready.
After some quick trims and system checks, it was into town for a shower and dinner with the Bundy guys. On the way into town I blew out a tyre on the trailer. JJ, Chris and Mike gave assistance. The spare was previously repaired and I didn't like the chances of returning to Brisbane without further drama. Before a long weekend, getting an odd sized replacement was going to be difficult. I was right, Armidale had nothing. Luckily Jo tracked down a suitable replacement in nearby Uralla. She had 2 trips to get the new and much better tyres. I certainly paid for it but I was stuck otherwise. The trailer rides even better than before with its bigger wheels.
Saturday started with the wind blowing pretty much down the winch line. Hutton has a lot of faith in the local forecast and his winch direction decision was correct.
The event started a little late, as the 50 odd pilots, got ready and Kevin as CD and scorer was busier than a one-armed paper hanger. I ran the first couple of heats so he could get into his efficient groove. I don’t know how he did it all together. A very valuable individual is our Kev. Jeff Irvin ran the electric events.
Once the contest had started it was fairly constant flying if you were in all events but there were a few quiet spots if you just did one. The nor’ west winds that dominated the weekend were kind and nurturing some rounds and fickle and cruel in others. I saw strong classic thermals, bubbles, ground wave, buoyancy, light sink and “one way rides into the ground” sink. Each day the lift seemed to work in a different areas.
Pretty much every pilot got caught out and out landed, the eventual winner also had a long “walk of shame”.
The first day didn’t have too many dramas, and model carnage was limited to a few LEG and Nostalgia models.
I had a shocker on the first day having landed just out of the landing area well under 7 mins when everyone else got away. I think I was 18th after the first day. Karl did very well flying his new Espada to 2nd.
At the end of Saturday some of the big names were not even in the top ten. The dropped round would be a decider in this event.
That night was the dinner and trade show at the Armidale RSL. It went well, with some history of the event from Dave Morgan, Des Kingdoms’ witticisms and good company.
Sunday started with the wind blowing downwind as we set up. Some initial heats were affected but soon after it swung to the forecast direction and blew more strongly. Hutton was right again.
There was a little more carnage this day. An Open class homebuilt exploded spectacularly on launch raining parts everywhere. Shane Spoor flying Jeff’s well contested “Club model” had a mid-air with Jeff Green’s Experience Pro. The molded model won the fight with the bagged model spiraling with increasing speed to its demise.
Jeff’s Europhia also had a distant contact with Des Kingdoms’ Pike Superior, slicing off its tip. Both models got back OK.
There were some more Nostalgia and Electric models damaged in landing bingles.
In a very concerted effort to get a good score and beat Carl Strautins in one round I was a little slow to retract the flaps and snapped a flap linkage. I did beat Carl though. One point!
The last day started with a stronger breeze that increased during the day. This was the worst day for lift with many outlandings, short flight times, line breaks and some walks of shame beyond 1km. I had another bad flight stalling in a wayyy downwind thermal, low to the ground. (I had full ballast in and hadn’t increased my flight speed to allow for this) I nearly got back to the tape, which was about 500m closer than I thought I’d get. Karl outlanded as well on one flight. The gusty conditions in the landing area made precise landings difficult, if you where even able to get back.
These outlandings really shook up top positions. Eventually Carl Strautins was the winner in Open thermal (also in the outland club), Gerry Carter second, Karl Knack third, Mike Rae fourth and Phil Crandon a very well deserved fifth. Graeme Foster got third in Nostalgia.
It has to be noted that Carl flew on 150m lines. He is practising for the F3J world’s.
I ended up 7th I think which was higher than I expected.
The Qld contingent finished strongly with the mid field full of maroons amongst the southerners. I can’t remember all the scores or where they ended up, no doubt Kevin will post the results soon.
I didn’t get to work with everyone but I was very impressed with Dale, Wayne and Brenton. The Bundy boys really operated well as a team and flew very well. All worked very hard to get their times in some terrible air.
Jeff was his usual helpful self, he was unlucky with some line issues and low height, but had some great saves.
Dave Ando was always good to keep an eye out for while flying or spotting as he often found bubbles others missed.
Karl flew very cleanly and handled his new model exceptionally well considering he only had a few flights with it before Expo.
Ken Fox, got caught in some bad air in a few heats and even aggressive flying at low level couldn’t get him his times.
Kevin again did the odious (to us pilots) task of scoring. We can’t thank you enough for doing that Kev.
I enjoyed myself again and look forward to the next event.
Brian
. That was a real shame because it ended his thermal comp. The plane (Jeff's) is to be given a fitting funeral by Greg BTW, including prayers to the thermal gods to accept it as an offering.