East Lomond. Skorpion gets an airing.

The forecast for Sunday was for bright skies and 15mph south westerly winds but as I suspected it didn’t look quite that promising as I drove through rain showers to get there. The sky was heavily overcast but a good wind was blowing so I took my Skorpion up to the slope. The wind was about 30mph rising to 40 at times and cocked slightly off to the south but with the air temperature in the car park about 14 deg C it was quite pleasant considering it is the end of October. It did stay dry when I was there.

I lobbed the Skorp off with 60% ballast and it was going pretty well but it went even better with all the ballast in and lots of reflex and snap flap! I think I got spooked by Ian’s Skorp disappearing down the back of East Lomond last week and had fun landing because I would not fly far enough back from the slope edge on approach! Even with full crow the Skorp was still licking along in the lift!

I have convinced myself that although the Vikos is nicer to fly than the Skorpion, the latter is faster. I spent some time trying to learn to fly using “energy management” and I have got the hang of that now!! Ha ha!! I wish!!
Horcum next week with any luck.

Stowaway

Hoping to take my Skorpion out flying sometime soon I was giving it a check over and found one tailplane half a bit loose. Removing that tailplane half I discovered the 5mm carbon joiner was one I had replaced last year and it was a bit of a sloppy fit. Hmm…? I dug into my stock of 5mm carbon rod and discovered that all 5mm carbon isn’t all exactly the same diameter! A new joiner was quickly fashioned and ready to fit. I accidentally dropped a tailplane incidence pin inside the rear of the fuselage. A good shake saw it on the carpet along with this legless stowaway!

Scottish National F3F Championship. Day Three

Saturday 22 October saw us back up on East Lomond for the last day of the three day Scottish National Championships. The original two day event lost a day to the weather and, because not everyone could make the replacement day, three events would be flown with the best two days counting towards the championships. From the forecast I was expecting similar conditions to last week’s windy day but with some sunshine. What we got was winds right up near the maximum 55 mph and heavy overcast. The direction pretty well due south which meant the course was well to the left on the slope with the A base being down the hill about 50 metres from the fence and right next to the path.



Ian Stewart had a test fly and allowed his Skorpion to drift a bit too far back behind the A base and the poor Skorpion was caught in the accelerated air in the compression area above the path and was blown back down the hill behind the slope. Kevin and Ian set out on a rescue mission and the poor Skorp was retrieved after a search. The model wasn’t as badly damaged as it could have been and repairs should be straightforward. Some wing delamination and broken nose and sheath.
Some thought about landing was going to be required and the best “approach” seemed to be to fly in from the right in front of the slope with the brakes out and aim to drift back a little to end up setting down in the area normally used as the pits! Best to be committed though and keep the speed up/ No drifting back allowed!!

We flew two rounds per launch with a fly-through in between and managed to fly 14 rounds before we had had enough!

Peter flew his new Predator 3 which looked good in the heavy conditions but had a “moment” when a flap stuck down during a fly-through and he had to land down the front of the slope edge! No damage though but Peter switched back to his old faithful Cyril for the rest of the day.

Craig flew several rounds with his EMP Banshee foamy model before switching to his Spark; the Spark seemed much more at home in the heavy winds.
Mike stuck to flying his Extreme all day and was rewarded with a third position. Well done that chap!

Kevin flew his Pike Precision and it went well all day until an unexplained crash at speed on the slope edge. The Precision looked badly damaged with one wing root particularly badly smashed. With most models carrying as much ballast as possible any sudden stop was going to cause trouble.

Ian Simpson managed to join us to give his Big Bird an airing and it went very well.
I stuck with my fully ballasted Vikos but never felt it was on the pace all day. I had a full load of 750g of brass and tungsten and I’m thinking it just can’t carry enough weight.

Although the downhill course seems a little odd the lift seemed better than the usual East Lomond slope we use so maybe the wind coming from the south is better not having come from Bishop Hill first!

Peter sent out an email which I have copied onto the results page. Well done to Peter, Kevin and Mike on their placings today and congratulations to Peter on winning the Scottish National Championship.












It is interesting to note that 14 events were scheduled for the Summer season and 6 were flown but 3 of these were extra days added to replace days lost to the weather.

Winter league next so better look out the thermals. Oh look here they are! I have been wearing them all “Summer”!

East Lomond F3F

An extra F3F competition which I believe will form part of a three day Scottish National Championships.

The wind was blowing SSW so the course was set-up well round to the left of the slope at East Lomond. The wind was forcast to be 15mph but was in fact more than double this at around 30-40mph. At this wind strength East Lomond is not the best. Overcast skies saw little thermal activity and the gusty air proved quite challenging and I never really got my Vikos going well. The wind strength increased throughout the day and the last rounds were flown in 50+mph.

The decision was made to aim for 10 rounds with one fly-through and that is what happened.

Mike won the first round with his Extreme and was third in the second round which was won by Dave Watson and his Cyril. David Loomes was second in both of these rounds flying his Cyril. Ian Stewart was third in round one with his Skorpion and Mike third in round two.

Round three was won by Dave with Ron in second place with his bitsa Viking and David finished in third place. Ron took round four with Mike as runner-up and Ian third.

Dave took round five with me in second place and David in third. Round six saw Ron in top spot followed by David Loomes and Dave in third place.

Round seven was again won by Dave followed by Robert Carson with his Sting and I managed third in this round. Round eight saw David in first place closely followed by Mike and Dave.

Round nine was won by yours truly with Ron in second place followed by Mike. The last round was taken by Dave followed by Mike and me in third.

Final result:
1 Dave Watson Cyril
2 Mike McCracken Extreme
3 David Loomes Cyril
4 Ron Russell Viking
5 George Young Vikos
6 Ian Stewart Skorpion
7 Robert Carson Sting
8 Martin Gibbs Viking

Well done to Dave Watson whose Cyril looked fast all day. Dave also had the FTD of 44.5.

Looking at my own scores on the spreadsheet showed them improve as I increased ballast towards the final rounds where I ended up with full ballast and maximum reflex. I should learn to fly heavy! I suspect my Skorpion would have been better on the day but I have been concentrating on only flying the one model.

Towards the end of the competition the landing zone became a little tricky with some turbulent air tossing planes around near the ground. I managed to damage a flap wiper but application of some Beli-Zel superglue soon had it sorted.

As Ron was flying through between rounds nine and ten he flew too low and accidentally hit the slope with his Viking which stopped rather suddenly. His fuselage ballast didn’t stop quite so quickly and took out and elevator servo leading to a zero score in round ten. Getting the nose cone off to examine the damage proved a challenge because the ballast was well rammed into the radio area and trying to exit through the glass-fibre!

Another competition scheduled for next week and this will be the last of the summer season. Summer 2011? Huh!!

No flying :o(

A holiday last weekend meant no flying although I wish I had chucked a foamie in the car because the wind looked spot on the Levisham slope when we stopped for a look on the way home from York on Monday.

Forecast for this Saturday was pretty poor with light winds and variable directions forecast so the F3F event was cancelled. Sunday was dismal to start with but brightened up later and a good westerly meant Bishop should have been good but I didn’t have time to make the trip/climb. Not having my own car is a drag! I must try Peter’s westerly slope near Lindores sometime. The low westerly slope next to the car park at Craigmead would be worth a try; works fine in light winds with a foamy and DLG. Easy access and only a few minutes from the car park.

Made up a spare Eneloop rx battery for my Vikos and did a bit more to the repair of my Spark. No flying though :o(

East Lomond F3F

10 rounds of F3F on East Lomond in +25mph, no rain and the sun came out in the afternoon. Days like this help to make up for all those other ones in rubbish weather!

This is destined to be the first day of the Scottish National F3F Championship with the second half hopefully next Saturday.

I started well and won the first round and went on to win 2 others! One of my most successful days ever but the competition was so close that consistency paid off and Peter went on to win. In my last round I got some great air and annoyingly cut the B base and made a poor recovery which didn’t help! I had been threatening to cut that base all day! Peter’s write up and final positions are on the Results page.

After the event was complete Peter flew his lovely new P3. Noice!!



No camera pictures from me today only a few from my phone. Camera got wet last week in Wales but finally dried out now.

Second half next week but I won’t make it :o(

Dagenham Dustbin still dead :o( :o(

Welsh Open 2011

Thursday morning saw me at Peter’s house loading our stuff into his car before setting off about 10:30 to collect Mike for the journey down to the Bwlch and the Welsh Open. Twenty minutes later we were heading back to Peter’s to pick up the bag containing his clothes and chargers! We took time when we got to Mike’s to drool over his recently aquired large Ventus spotted hiding in the back of his garage before heading for the M74. A stop for a burger to sustain us and we were off. We had an appointment for a curry in the Ashoka in Bridgend later on.

Friday morning started damp with showers and a good south westerly wind so we ended up on Mickey’s slope and the start of the competition. I have to confess to being a wee bit nervous before my first flight but was more than chuffed with a 39.xx which is only my third sub-40. Well pleased I was! The majority of times were in the low 40s and mid 30s. Fast!!

We were plagued by frequent heavy showers all day but the proximity of the cars meant we had somewhere to hide from the rain.

Our poor models had to lie there and get soaked!

Just before I was due to fly in round two, I spotted a problem with an elevator servo and had to switch to my Skorpion. AJ was kind enough to let me squeeze in a “re-fly” later in the round. The rain started during my flight but I declined the offer of a second re-fly which AJ reckoned was a mistake. I think he may well have been right!

The weather meant that only one round was completed and just over half of the second before flying was abandoned for the day. Back in the New Inn for a quick change of elevator servo (I had a spare with me) and my Vikos was ready to go again. Rich Bago had more servos with him and I was able to obtain another spare.

The Ashoka was pretty busy all evening so we had to find another curry house to squeeze in the 14 hungry fliers. Two curries in two days. Wow!!

Saturday saw us on the west slope at Mickey’s in similar (less than perfect) weather and no cars to escape to. The first big shower got Mike and I really soaked, Peter had managed to find shelter under the Sportsbrella of the Yorkshire contingent. Guess where Mike and I went when the next shower hit? I’m sure the three of us spent half the day having philosophical discussions with Jon, Keith and Richard as the heavy rain lashed the Sportsbrella. We were more than grateful for their hospitality!
Round two from Friday was completed and round three flown with several interruptions for the heavy showers of rain and hail. The Norwegians sat out these deluges stoically hiding behind large cape/groundsheets.

Mike provided some entertainment for Peter and me during round four by almost cutting on legs 3 and 5 and then having a huge cut on leg 7. However, if you are not cutting you are not trying!!

A heavy rain shower before I flew in round four seemed to remove most of the lift and I put in a dismal 60.xx time although not as bad as Jon Eddison who got some very poor air indeed. Full ballast and no wind is not a good situation to be in! That would be our discard round sorted then! About 10 pilots got caught in this crap air before it picked up again. I wasn’t keen on the walk up the hill to the landing area and as the day progressed and more pilots and more rain fell and the path became quite muddy and slippery and the climb up to the landing area became a trial!

Just before Joel West launched my Vikos in round five I spotted that one flap was a bit slow and checking things after I landed showed the battery had almost died. Gulp!! Lucky that didn’t happen in the air. Also lucky that I had a spare in the correct configuration for the Vikos all charged up and ready to go.

The weather closed in during round five and we spent the last hour hiding from the rain until a halt was called to let us all get our more than soggy gear stowed in the cars and heading back for a well deserved hot shower before making our way to the Welsh Open Banquet. Mike and I were inspired by the Norwegian guys at our table and we are planning to organise our own F3F training camp!!

Sunday morning saw us sitting in Peter's car at the road junction by the ice cream van watching the rain falling. And falling... And falling….

After lunchtime it was looking like that would be it for the day but around 2:30 it stopped raining and Rich Bago had had enough sitting around and headed for the Ice Cream slope for a fly and was soon giving his Alliaj big licks. Assuming Rich knew something the rest of us didn’t most of us followed him out to the slope and arrived just as the rain returned. More time under the Sportsbrella followed! However, we did manage to complete round five and fly round six. I didn’t think my 44.xx was much good but others were slower than me because they were unlucky and caught out by the most variable air of the whole competition and I raised my 40th position to 39th.

The lift on Friday and Saturday was fairly consistent (apart from the bad spell I got caught up in round three) but the air on Sunday was definitely variable. In the final round not only did Peter have to fly in indifferent air the sun came out and was hanging right over the climb-out area dazzling any pilot trying to fly there. The pilot who flew just before Peter stuffed his Alliaj when he lost sight of it in the sun.
The standard of flying was excellent and you needed to consistently be getting mid to low 30 times to feature in the top 10. I didn’t envy the organiser’s task of trying to keep everyone happy in the changeable weather conditions. As is normal, the lift was variable but generally not as bad as it could have been. With a field of over 50 pilots and numerous stops for rain only 5 rounds were completed. It was great to see the many different styles of flying.

At the end of the competition, and to save him lugging it all the way back to Norway, Bjorn Tore Hagen was kind enough to give me his camping chair. Thanks Bjorn :o)

The results are on F3F groups and Kevin Newtons's website (knewt) has pictures and more information.

Congratulations to Joel West for a well deserved win. Congratulations should also go to everyone who competed and stuck it out to the end!









Note. If you are ever in Wales and trying to get money from a cash machine, when the machine asks if you want instructions in English or Welsh, don't click Welsh! Prat!
Also, keep an eye open for Welsh beaver! Quite common I believe :o)