Wing-span
Jul 04, 2007, 06:53 PM
Round 1 write-up 1st July 2007 Ashurst,
It was raining when I got up. But the trusty Met Office had said the rain would clear and the sun would come out to play later in the day. When we got to the flying field the wind had picked up and the rain was, still raining. The winches were set up with the turnarounds huddling together for warmth at the far end of the field. There was a slight delay as we waited for some small rain showers to pass and then we got on with the flying.
This event was a re-run of Round 1, cancelled due to bad weather. Like me, I thought a lot of the pilots felt obliged to attend, even though the forecast wasn’t great. I know that I certainly needed to get my fix of flying. The high wind predetermined that there would be some damage done. The joiner boxes on one of the local chaps huge flying wing gave up the ghost as he zoomed on his first launch of the day. The wings clapped but the model looked like it will fly again. A few other planes suffered damage during the launch phase and of course there were the inevitable line breaks. On a personal note I was really happy because I finally completed a days F3J flying without a plane breaking up on me! The repairs to my plane proved more than satisfactory (thanks Rob).
The local conditions combined with the wind direction called for high launches to get above the bumpy air as the wind rode over the steadily rising valley floor in front of the flight line. If you did manage to get a good launch you were able to get into a band of low level wave lift which you could sit in or cruise along. The occasional thermal would blow through rapidly but the turbulent air broke the thermals up and made it hard to centre your turns. Most of the pilots stuck the nose into the wind and used any rising air to their best advantage. If you were caught in the wrong part of the sky when the gusts subsided or sink rolled through you could find your heavily ballasted model plummeting unless you were quick to move to another area. Any pilots daring to send their plane down wind were at risk of it ending up un the River Adur if they failed to make it back.
As the day went on the wind died a little and the sun came out. Thermal lift became a viable option. Flight times increased and moods improved as just earlier the rain had very nearly stopped play. I even managed a 9:52 with a 95 landing bonus to win my last slot, but I had left it too late to make the fly off. Simon Jackson, Adrian Lee, Chris Foss, Ian Duff and Mike Raybone had made the final cut and got to fly two 15 minute slots in the finals. The decidedly dodgy conditions called for tactical thinking and a lot of watching what the other guy is doing. Now, all of those guys are old hats at doing the watching or making the moves but only Simon Jackson was able to launch to the moon aided by what I felt was the ideal model for the conditions his F3B Estrella. The height he gained and his piloting skills got him into an area of ‘good’ air that others struggled to reach. Simon even managed to do some high speed runs and a couple of razor sharp square loops on the way down from the heavens before flying out the final slot. Not bad really and well done to the winner of the day, Simon Jackson.
Si
It was raining when I got up. But the trusty Met Office had said the rain would clear and the sun would come out to play later in the day. When we got to the flying field the wind had picked up and the rain was, still raining. The winches were set up with the turnarounds huddling together for warmth at the far end of the field. There was a slight delay as we waited for some small rain showers to pass and then we got on with the flying.
This event was a re-run of Round 1, cancelled due to bad weather. Like me, I thought a lot of the pilots felt obliged to attend, even though the forecast wasn’t great. I know that I certainly needed to get my fix of flying. The high wind predetermined that there would be some damage done. The joiner boxes on one of the local chaps huge flying wing gave up the ghost as he zoomed on his first launch of the day. The wings clapped but the model looked like it will fly again. A few other planes suffered damage during the launch phase and of course there were the inevitable line breaks. On a personal note I was really happy because I finally completed a days F3J flying without a plane breaking up on me! The repairs to my plane proved more than satisfactory (thanks Rob).
The local conditions combined with the wind direction called for high launches to get above the bumpy air as the wind rode over the steadily rising valley floor in front of the flight line. If you did manage to get a good launch you were able to get into a band of low level wave lift which you could sit in or cruise along. The occasional thermal would blow through rapidly but the turbulent air broke the thermals up and made it hard to centre your turns. Most of the pilots stuck the nose into the wind and used any rising air to their best advantage. If you were caught in the wrong part of the sky when the gusts subsided or sink rolled through you could find your heavily ballasted model plummeting unless you were quick to move to another area. Any pilots daring to send their plane down wind were at risk of it ending up un the River Adur if they failed to make it back.
As the day went on the wind died a little and the sun came out. Thermal lift became a viable option. Flight times increased and moods improved as just earlier the rain had very nearly stopped play. I even managed a 9:52 with a 95 landing bonus to win my last slot, but I had left it too late to make the fly off. Simon Jackson, Adrian Lee, Chris Foss, Ian Duff and Mike Raybone had made the final cut and got to fly two 15 minute slots in the finals. The decidedly dodgy conditions called for tactical thinking and a lot of watching what the other guy is doing. Now, all of those guys are old hats at doing the watching or making the moves but only Simon Jackson was able to launch to the moon aided by what I felt was the ideal model for the conditions his F3B Estrella. The height he gained and his piloting skills got him into an area of ‘good’ air that others struggled to reach. Simon even managed to do some high speed runs and a couple of razor sharp square loops on the way down from the heavens before flying out the final slot. Not bad really and well done to the winner of the day, Simon Jackson.
Si