Potential Dates for F3B Contest in San Diego

[marios]

Since it looks like there is some excitment to organize an F3B contest, let's get it started!

I checked the schedule of competitions at the Poway field in October and here are the dates we have the field available:
Sat 13th (following Visalia), Sunday 21st, Saturday 27th (right before an SC2 in Poway).

I personally prefer Sunday 21st or Saturday 27th. Let me know what dates you guys preferred.

I hope we can get this contest going and attract some of the old as well as new blood!

Mario Scolari

[djklein21]

I will be available for any of those dates. I will be there.

[tewatson]

Weekend right after Visalia would mean some of us taking our lives in our hands..."yes, I know I was gone for four days last weekend, but now I'm going to disappear this Saturday too."

I'd vote for anything more than two weeks after.

Tom

[timmig]

I like Sat the 27th---gives plenty of time to plan for it--and a break from Visalia.
Tim

[glderguy]

Do you fly TD also Tim?

[timmig]

No--I'll have to learn the TD aspects of it--- but I'm pretty good at reading air and circling my scale ships after aerotowing.
T :)

Looks like I didn't make the list! :rolleyes: :(
Guess I'll stick with F3F or MoM racing!

[marios]

So are we agreeing on the 27th? Today I was talking to Steve Condon and he thought about having a two day contest. Thoughts?

From personal experience and anticipating a shortage of help, I would say that it will be somewhat difficult to run 5-6 rounds in one day with more than ten pilots.

Sooooo....it would be nice if we can get confirmation from who else is coming. If you guys know of other pilots that may be interested, please let them know. From San Diego I would say we have:
Aaron, Mike Smith, Steve Condon, Scott Condon, Larry Jolly and myself. Anyone else from San Diego?

Mario

[glderguy]

So does this mean some of the dedicated F3F/slope guys, now considering F3B, are going to be seen at Visalia this year, tow hook equipped plane in hand, getting in some flat land thermal practice for F3B duration task the following weekend?????? Whats this world coming to anyway.......just kidding, Ive been to Visalia twice and both times found it a good time.
Walter

[tewatson]

Not from SD, but I'm in. Also, if we do what we did at the February TPG contest (fly just Speed and Distance), we can get more rounds in.

Tom

[F3X]

I am in. Sounds good. Need some mono though.

Group buy on mono???

[djklein21]

I am in for a group buy.

[s2000]

Mario, just a heads up, October 21st is the weekend of the Visalia aerotow, if you wanted to fly your new DG-1000 that is a good time so the 27th for F3B is a good date.

[marios]

Who is S2000?

Ok so it looks like the 27th it is. I hope I don't get divorce after a back to back weekend with a 6 month old pregnant wife and thirty days after opening a new store.

No worries...I am in for Visalia and F3B.

Mario

[jgs99v]

OK - I can't take it!!!!
I'll attend and yes I'll get in on the mono group buy - Did I hear 300#????
What are the winch rules????
Sharing team support????

[marios]

OK guys, Steve and I suggested a list of potential pilots to attend. That list is made of the following:
1) Daryl Perkins
2) Gordon Jennings
3) Larry Jolly
4) Skip Miller
5) Steve Condon
6) Scott Condon
7) Mike Smith
8) Aaron Valdez
9) Tom Copp
10) Tom Watson
11) David Klein
12) Tim Cone
13) Tom Kiesling
14) Mike Lachowski
15) Craig Greening
16) Mario Scolari

Whether you are in the list or not, I need you to send me an email to let us know you are flying the contest.
My email is mario.i.scolari@nativa-online.com and I will add you to the list.

Finally, there may be people reading this post who don't want to fly but would like to help in any way, please get in touch with us and I PROMISE we will find something for you to do! So far we have Steve running the contest as CD and myself organizing other matters.

Mario

[marios]

As for the winch rules, we should keep the F3B rules unless you are a new pilot and want to use your own winch. I guess we could let new pilots bring whatever they have, right? Thoughts?

Just make sure you don't have one of the old F3B winches with 250 HP at 55,000rpm! If so, you may want to consider flying a full scale nimbus 4!

[tewatson]

Crap...just realized that Sat the 27th won't work for me. The previous weekend (20th - 21st) will, or perhaps Sun the 28th.

Tom

[Daryl Perkins]

Hey Mario,

Nice to hear from you. Where ya been bud? I'm in, just pick a date. I think it might be nice to have a clinic sometime before at Poway, to introduce the new guys to the tasks, the winches, mono, etc....

Steve - it has been WAY too long.

It's great to see some interest in the F3B tasks. See ya'll there!!!

D

[FLY F3B]

I think we should supply as many winches (F3B legal) as we ahve available from those that are coming out to fly, and use only those. Entry fees should be enought to cover the cost of the line we expect to use over the course of the contest. We should maybe place an order now so we will have some ready. If we get 8 - 12 winches we should be able to get 4 person flight groups up no problem, even with relaunches. At the clinic we held a while back we were able to get 8 winches. Seemed to work out ok. Of course the more the better.

Mike

[djklein21]

I am in for both the clinic (helping as well as learning) and the event. I have a winch and two batteries to supply. I agree with Mike, we should beg borrow or steal as many F3b legal winches as possible and then string them with line that will be covered by the contests entry fee. That way those without winches will still be able to participate.

This makes line sizing a little different, as a Team would not be able to select the optimum line size for their plane and conditions. Nor would the oorganizer want them too, because we would break to many lines. We may want to string all of the winches with 1.25. This would however give the larger planes an advantage (Daryl) :)

David- who is thinking out loud.

[djklein21]

BTW- any local slope racers that are interested in learning F3b, give me a ring. I will help you out and introduce you to winch launching as well as the tasks.

[jgs99v]

Guys in NorCal any interest in a primer/practice event?
South Bay does not have a field anymore - any feedback?

jack ~

[marios]

Hey Guys,
I have some very interesting updates. Nothing is official yet but I think there is a fairly good chance of this happening:
a) Steve is working to have a bigger and better field act as the contest field. That field is in Escondido and it can act as a test for a much bigger event....don't ask which bigger event yet!
b) I sent some emails out to my friend Jorge Krenkel from Argentina and Francisco Pantano also from Argentina but living in Germany. Jorge is trying to open up his schedule so that he can come and join us for the contest. Then Francisco, who flew at the worlds and happens to fly in the same team as Andreas and Martin Herrig, is telling me that if we organize a two-day event, he will most likely join us and there is a good possibility that the Herrig brothers will come too. Again, no confirmation yet but I am working on it. Wouldn't that be exciting? A re-match of the WC in American soil?

One thing I am consulting with the rest of us who live in San Diego is about the possibility of hosting these guys in our own homes. I have enough space for two or three people in my house and I already told Jorge and Francisco that they can stay with me. Could any of you host the other pilots?

I think that we should have an entry fee of about $ 50 so that we can either buy some decent prizes or to donate all the proceeds to the future F3B team. Those of us who have a relationship with Futaba, Airtronics or Jr can maybe ask for some prizes. Aaron? Mike?

Joe W, it is too bad you are leaving early. Any chance of changing the dates for a week or so? If we change the dates, what day would it work for you?

Does anyone else have contacts in Europe that would like to invite? We may be organizing something really exciting here....

[Joe W]

For me, it would have to be earlier than Oct. 5th (Oct. 6-7 is Visalia).

[marios]

Hey Joe,
I checked with some of the guys from around San Diego and it seems to be consensous to keep the dates for the end of October. Sorry we'll miss you and good luck with your "new life"!

Mario

[mithrandir]

Shucks... wish I still had a glider... I would do this stuff again! :(

[F3X]

Shucks... wish I still had a glider... I would do this stuff again! :(

How many do you want Mike? :D

[FLY F3B]

Mario, it looks like the 27th and 28th of Oct. is a good weekend for me to be able to put up the Herrigs if they come out. We have one queen sized bed and a couch...

Mike

[marios]

OK, Mike. That sounds good.

Today, Francisco confirmed he is coming. He is staying in my house. The Herrig bros will confirm shortly. It would be cool to see US champ host German/World Champ. Maybe you can use some sleeping medicine to decrease their flying performance. That stuff works well blended with early morning coffee!!!!

Mario

[F3X]

I hung out a bit with Francisco when I was at Lunen Germany, very nice guy!

It will be embarrassing getting our collective :censored: handed to us by the WC, you do know there will be a lot of guys there that NEVER flew F3B before or like me that have done it just a few times. I would practice before the practice if you know what I mean. :D

[target]

Now if someone only put together a "B" league....

Target

[FLY F3B]

No better way to learn than to watch and fly with the best. Gauranteed, that if you don't particitpate when these guys show up, you will not advance your skills much. Please don't let a little potential embarrasment keep any of you from coming out to fly...

See you all soon.

Mike

[Silent-AV8R]

Mario, it looks like the 27th and 28th of Oct. is a good weekend for me to be able to put up the Herrigs if they come out. We have one queen sized bed and a couch...

Mike

Isn't the TPG SC2 on 10/28?? So this will be a 1-day thing on Saturday 10/27. right?? :confused:

Please excuse me, I am easily confused.

[Daryl Perkins]

Great... :rolleyes: the Herrigs? I've flown less than 20 speed runs in the last 4 years... and we get to play with the Herrigs? great.... :rolleyes:

That'll actually be fun. I guess I could... I dunno... practice.... nah.... what was I thinkin'...???

It'll be nice to see where the benchmark is now.

Bring 'em on baby!!!

dp

[tewatson]

Isn't the TPG SC2 on 10/28?? :confused:

Yes it is...good catch. Push the F3B thing up a week, to the 20th-21st? What say you, Mario?

Tom

[s2000]

Maybe it's just me, but who would pass up a chance to fly or even be a helper for an F3B event to go to another SC2? Me, even if I don't fly in it I will definately be there as a helper, for sure Saturday, and at least half of Sunday, should be awesome to see the Herrigs do what they do best.

[tewatson]

That's not the issue...the problem is the SC2 contest is at the Poway field. If the F3B date isn't changed, the event becomes one day only (Saturday).

Tom

[Silent-AV8R]

That's not the issue...the problem is the SC2 contest is at the Poway field. If the F3B date isn't changed, the event becomes one day only (Saturday).

Tom

Thank you. That was my point. I'll be there no matter what date it is. People have to have somebody to beat! :D

[marios]

Hey Guys,
I do understand about the SC2. Steve and I are trying to get a very nice field in Escondido (same field we organized the US F3B team trials in 1999). We will find out if that is feasible. If not, we may have to change the dates. No chance the club can move the SC2 by one week, right?

As for you Daryl coming with no practice, I would say that if won't be any harder than the time you landed the Eagle in Israel with only one wing.

Guys, don't worry about being rusty. This is from Mr Rusty himself!! Today I flew my Cobra in Poway after 8 years of not touching F3B. Literally, I sucked!! Plane was not trimmed - I had double neutral in the elevator and in my brain - Air seem to neve being any good, etc, etc. On a positive note, I didn't break anything and I can still tow and land within 200 meters.

To those of you concerned about looking getting beat or not looking competitive, Mike Smith is right! Whether you are getting serious about F3B or simply want to have a good time, there not nothing better than flying with the best. At the end of the competition, I guarantee you will be a better pilot.

Mario

[Schwemmer]

I know you are working hard at getting the dates confirmed. As soon as you can confirm the dates the, I can schedule my work off to be there as a helper. I work on a 30 day schedule so the sooner I know the easier I can get the dates off.

Sherpa

[marios]

It is VERY LIKELY that we will keep the contest as a two day. This is assuming we can get the Escondido field. We have the best man on the job to get that done: Mr. Stevo Condon! More news next week....

We need all of you interested in either helping or flying to send me an email to mario.i.scolari@nativa-online.com

I also need to know what freq. you will be flying on.

Thanks!!
Mario

[F3X]

Mike,

Check these guys out for line. Possibly for a group buy? I bought 1 spool for testing but the cost is good if the line is good.

http://www.justforfishing.com/browse.cfm/4,1016.html

Don't everyone jump in these guys just yet. Lets see if Mike thinks it's worth looking into first then maybe we can get a small break shipping all the line to the same place???

Dude! Seen the cost for Jinkai?? 175.00+ for 1100 yards!

[FLY F3B]

Looks interesting, but it seems like the diameter of 1.4mm for 200lb stuff is thick...

But I don't know the relative thicknesses of the equivalent speedline mono. It would be my opinion that we place an order through emc vega for some speedline and until the testing prooves the line is decent, then go for the other stuff... The price difference is not all that great. Like $20 for speedline vs $15 per 400meters for this (just for fishing) line.

Mike

[Kiesling]

From what I can tell from EMC Vega's site, the tensile strength of 1.4 mm speed line is around 206 lbs. 1.15 mm speed line is around 164 lbs. I think 1.4 mm line is way thicker than you would ever use for F3B (even on a dirt field).

So unless they sell thinner line, I would stick to the speedline.

FWIW
Tom

[s2000]

So has there been a firm date set yet?

[F3X]

From what I can tell from EMC Vega's site, the tensile strength of 1.4 mm speed line is around 206 lbs. 1.15 mm speed line is around 164 lbs. I think 1.4 mm line is way thicker than you would ever use for F3B (even on a dirt field).

So unless they sell thinner line, I would stick to the speedline.

FWIW
Tom

http://www.justforfishing.com/browse.cfm/4,1023.htm

There is this also.

1.28 mm 150 5 lb. 1,690 Clear

I think the Speedline will be closer to 30.00 a winch after shipping and the other stuff 12.50 a winch shipped, Cheaper doesn't mean better but its worth a look.

[tewatson]

FWIW, the last time we bought Speedline it ended up anywhere from ~$16-21/roll, all in. There's an increasing discount depending on quantity purchased (I think we were at 90-100 rolls).

Can't remember where the Euro was at the time...this was in 2006, before the team trials.

Tom

[marios]

So far looks like 27th and 28th but we are waiting to get confirmation on the field we would like to use as Poway is only available for one day.

I will let you know early next week.
Mario

[FLY F3B]

Yeah Tom Watson is right here... If we buy 20kg worth of line, or mulitples of 20kg's, then the shipping is greatly reduced. Last shipment was for 2 packages of 20kg's each, 1.15, and 1.25mm lines came to right around $25 per roll average...

Also, FWIW, we noticed other lines in use at the worlds. Apparently the Chech's are using some ultra thin lines. Didn't get the name or manufacturer, but looked interesting. They had quite a few line breaks, but nothing that put them out of contention. I didn't notice whether their launches were any better or worse than anyone elses either. If anyone has any info here it could be useful. Thin lines are really not a good choice for an abrasive field like Poway though...

Mike

[tewatson]

I have a 1000m hank of Shogun 0.91 line...Holy Banjo String, Batman!

Tom

[Bro]

Mike;
I'll check with Jiri or Roman on the Czech team, and get the lowdown...

Bob

[FLY F3B]

Thanks, cool Bob. Interested to see what they were using to land the big one :-)

[F3X]

Any new word? Are we still on? When is the next practice????

[tewatson]

Need a firm date, 'cause if it's still the 27th-28th, I have to initiate efforts on getting my family commitment changed (fat chance, but I can try).

Tom

[FLY F3B]

I don't have any new news from Mario and the Condons regarding the field. We need that feedback before we can go forward. As far as our next get together goes, I would like to shoot for Sunday the 19th at Poway. The handlaunch guys are flying on the 18th, so we should plan around them.

More later

Mike

[djklein21]

I know that Darryl and I are out for the 19th. We have a big man on man slope race at Grass Mt that weekend.

For any of you guys that are interested, we still have room for a few more spots. This will be one of the few chances to race against Darryl Perkins and Joe Wurts at the same time. I don't know about the rest of the field, but I am not driving 200 miles to loose.

For any of you slope racers interested in F3b, I try to practice 2-3 days a month. It is a good idea to come out and practise launching off of an F3b winch before we have a group out for practise.


I am looking forward to some more F3b practice,
David

[Daryl Perkins]

... but I am not driving 200 miles to loose.

David

Ya just gotta admire the optimism in the boy... :rolleyes:

dp

[djklein21]

I am not betting the farm, but you have to believe before you can win.

[timmig]

Loose?? You mean----LOSE???? I know you'll be Loose too!!!! :):)
Don't worry Dave--- I'll spank ya too!!!! :):)
Tim

Hey--- I would like to come down and do some winchin with ya!! Something I haven't done in years!

[FLY F3B]

We'll keep you in the loop Tim - thinkin' Sunday the 19th for the next effort.

Will post something more soon.

Mike

[mlachow]

Yeah Tom Watson is right here... If we buy 20kg worth of line, or mulitples of 20kg's, then the shipping is greatly reduced. Last shipment was for 2 packages of 20kg's each, 1.15, and 1.25mm lines came to right around $25 per roll average...

Also, FWIW, we noticed other lines in use at the worlds. Apparently the Chech's are using some ultra thin lines. Didn't get the name or manufacturer, but looked interesting. They had quite a few line breaks, but nothing that put them out of contention. I didn't notice whether their launches were any better or worse than anyone elses either. If anyone has any info here it could be useful. Thin lines are really not a good choice for an abrasive field like Poway though...

Mike


Check with Fischer for line. It is clear, but the spools are identical to Speedline and I think it comes from the same source. That is the cheapest stuff. Well, not much cheaper than Speedline, but a little less expensive.
http://www.fmt-fischer.de/

Euroline Pro.

[target]

Sunday the 19th is the second day of the Grass Mountain MoM slope race....

Target

[FLY F3B]

There will be more dates... :)



Sunday the 19th is the second day of the Grass Mountain MoM slope race....

Target

[FLY F3B]

This is me rattling your cage...

Steve was unsuccesful in getting permission to use the Sod Farm in San Pasqual Valley for our San Diego F3B contest in late October.

So, are you/we still going to put on a contest, and if so, should we check field availability at Poway and set a date?

Let me know, and of course let the group know if you/we are still trying to make this work.

Talk to you soon.

Mike

[F3X]

We still ON????

[FLY F3B]

Tom, I would have to say no at this point. The November distance contest is going to be the first one now. I iwill let you know if people wake from their naps, or stop getting so busy with life that they forget about F3B...

Mike

[tewatson]

An event in early January would be a good way to start the year. I hope the new-found interest is enough to support at least 3-4 contests a year in SoCal.

Tom

[FLY F3B]

That sounds good to me. I will look into dates at the Poway field for an event.

Mike

[timmig]

MAN---does F3B take that much planning that it can only be flown a couple of times a year? Seems impossible to organize-- we started talking about it before the summer-now it's not going off till "08"?? Seems that must be why we can't get many people involved. It's too problematic.
FWIW
Tim

Congrats on getting married! That's a BIG step!!
I'd be interested in investing in a good winch--and practise flying-- but it seems there's just not a lot of people wanting to do this. It just seems obvious from the response we've had here and the difficulty of putting it together. Have fun on your honeymoon! :D
Tim

[FLY F3B]

No, just that those who were planning to do the one in October got busy and life got in the way. Don't start with the it's too hard thing. Right now there are only a few that have the line and the winches, so consequently if they can't be there, there ain't going to be much of a gathering, much less a contest.

So, if you know someone that has a winch, hook up with him and go launch your gliders. Cuz, the gatherings will happen.

I am getting married in 3 weeks. That is why this October is tough for me to step up and organize. Make sure you make it to the Distance event Timmig. That will be a bunch of fun, and there will be lots to learn.

Later.

Mike

[jgs99v]

Mike - I wish I had someone locally to practice with. If you guys let me know ahead of time I can try to make it down south. I have a winch - Not F3B legal, need line and an updated turnaround.

thanks,

jack ~