This weekend I made it onto the Australian team for the 2013 F3K World Championships to be held in Denmark in July. Also on the team are my good friends Hugh Blackburn and Jon Day.
More details, report and results here...http://www.rcga.org.au/
Woo Hoo!
Can't wait,
Marcus

I had a fantastic time competing for Australia in NZ, against NZ, and ended up in 2nd place See all the photo's and my report here...http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...1715428&page=3
Cheers,
Marcus

I am currently working on a new molded DLG project with Brad Wilman and Andy Smith called the Shark and you can follow the design philosophy and the building on the Shark threads..http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1780060

My current love is flying DLG's and I currently fly a Salpeter, Concept and Stobel V3.

I started flying DLG with a Salome and it was simply the best fun in the world. Tim Lennon and I developed our technique together flying at lunch time in the local park.

In 2003 and 2004 I won the Australian DLG Championships with the Salome. At this time I was know for my very aggressive/high launches and I broke a few planes.

I designed the Blade (see below) with Tim Lennon and we learnt a lot about trimming and setting up a DLG, but it was not very successful becausewe could not launch it very high because it was too flexible.

I flew a NAN model Spin for a few years and we started a F3K League in Melbourne and this developed some excellent competition. See www.rcga.org.au

In 2011 I went to the F3K Worlds as the Team Manager and absolutely loved it. It was the best fun I have ever had not flying.

I have developed my launch technique over many years and I am still regarded as one of the highest launchers of a DLG in Australia (60m+). I enjoy helping out by teaching others how to launch high and I really enjoy posting on the 'Launch video - comments please' thread http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1725624 .

You can see my DLG launch tutorial video here...

F3K/DLG/Handlaunch Launch Tutorial to get to 60m (200ft) (3 min 10 sec)

Thought i'd let you all know who I am and what I do with some random ramblings:

I started flying gliders 28 years ago at aged 15 and have been addicted ever since. I have tried power flying at different times throughout my life but have always come back to gliding. I love the challenge of you against the elements.

I am a competition pilot, not because I am particularly competitive, but because I love how it drives you to be a better pilot.

I also enjoy designing and building my own planes and I am an engineer by profession. I have built a few vac bagged planes but really got into molding and I have racked up about 14 molded planes to date.

The Blade:
My first bagged plane was a DLG called the Blade in 2003 and it was ahead of it's time as the attached photo will show. I moulded this with a friend of mine Tim Lennon.

The Mongoose:
I then built an F3B plane from CNC Aluminium molds using the HQW 2/8 and had mixed success with it mainly because it was too heavy at 2.5Kg, but I did manage to win the 2003 Australian Thermal Championships with it and did a 15.4 second speed run with it. Not bad for 2004.

The Machine (Hence my handle Machineman):
My second moulded plane was another F3B model and this time it was a joint project with Tim Lennon, Bruce Nye and Steve Boag. I designed a transitioning set of wing sections using xfoil and we came up with a radical low aspect ratio, perfectly elliptical planform. The wing section is 7% thick and has 1.4% camber.
I have done 31 laps in distance and have done multiple 15 second speed runs with it. It is remarkably easy to fly.