Ok so it's a while since we maidened these things, but I'm still amazed at how it flies... For those who don't know what they are:
Adam's: Solid 300yr old English Oak; PW106mod fitted with RDS etc - 60" span with a wing loading around 35oz/ft.
Mine: Solid Idigbo hardwood; PW106mod no RDS etc - the production prototype - 60" span with a wing loading around 31oz/ft.
Mine is the one doing most of the flying in the vid, apart from the two DS passes at the end when the music stops - that's Adam Richardson's Oak one. If you fancy one, they are available to order from Adam at £550ea. Takes him and his Dad Dean a full week of work to make two! They come completely finished - all you have to do is chuck your gear in. Pretty much an ARTF except they are hinged as well!
The day on the video wasn't particularly great either - only about 15mph on the Skirrid, but they handle the light conditions really well as long as you can let them drop a bit off the launch to gain some speed. Once up to speed they are seriously efficient models.
Thursday 24 September 2009
Monday 21 September 2009
Welsh Open 2009
A few pics of the weekend... Well done Graham Reed and Team Watering Cans!
(if the slide show plays a bit fast for you, then hover your mouse over the pics and the play/ pause buttons will come up - you can then scroll by clicking at your own pace...)
(if the slide show plays a bit fast for you, then hover your mouse over the pics and the play/ pause buttons will come up - you can then scroll by clicking at your own pace...)
Welsh Open - didn't come last!
What a fantastic weekend. It all started rather hilariously for me as I was drawn as first in the flying order - no pressure then! In retrospect I think I probably had my best air in round 1, but didn't fly it aggressively enough - I should have probably taken 5 seconds off it. However, I was pretty happy all in all to place 38th out of 50 pilots. Whilst we have a large number of fantastic F3F pilots here in the UK, it was really interesting to see how some of the Euro guys go about the course.
Also got to see all of the new hot kit coming onto the scene - the Martinet was there in both long and short flavours, as was the stunning new Aeromod Alliaj HM - I've got a bit of glider horn over this one. Freestylers were ten a penny, and there was even a lone Radical. Skorpions were very much still in evidence, and were smattered all over the placings from 1st down to 47th - still a seriously competent model in the right hands. The Ceres has become a very popular model, although the new Extreme is starting to become more visible too. There seem to be more and more RaceMx's at competitions, and several other competitors now have theirs on order as well. And of course Espen Torpe was there with the yet to be renamed "Cyril". Although it looks rather like a Ceres, it has a new tail, fuse, wing and section. Pretty much a new model then!
Anyway, pictures will be up later once I've gone through them all and come up with a few good ones.
Also got to see all of the new hot kit coming onto the scene - the Martinet was there in both long and short flavours, as was the stunning new Aeromod Alliaj HM - I've got a bit of glider horn over this one. Freestylers were ten a penny, and there was even a lone Radical. Skorpions were very much still in evidence, and were smattered all over the placings from 1st down to 47th - still a seriously competent model in the right hands. The Ceres has become a very popular model, although the new Extreme is starting to become more visible too. There seem to be more and more RaceMx's at competitions, and several other competitors now have theirs on order as well. And of course Espen Torpe was there with the yet to be renamed "Cyril". Although it looks rather like a Ceres, it has a new tail, fuse, wing and section. Pretty much a new model then!
Anyway, pictures will be up later once I've gone through them all and come up with a few good ones.
Thursday 17 September 2009
Night before the Welsh Open...
Crikey - still can't quite believe it myself. I've managed to get up the reserve list, and ended up gaining an entry to the Welsh Open F3F. I was really looking forward to just spectating it, but now I'll be flying alongside some of the best pilots in the sport. Goal? Don't come last!!!
Wednesday 16 September 2009
The Wrecker in glorious but not very windy sunshine 09/09/09
Chris Van Schoor aka "Woodstock" was over from Ireland to spend a few days flying with us, and as usual when Chris comes to fly, most of the wind disappeared!
I managed to re-maiden my JR Models Madslide before Chris arrived - it had been on the bench for a tidy up as well as getting some decent servos in there. Flew great - was lots of fun, but doesn't fly "big" enough to really enjoy the Wrecker. So I'm going to try her on a smaller slope - I think that will be a better fit for the model. Here's Tom Satinet giving her the heave-ho...
Will Deighton was also there with his Acacia 3 - a maiden for him and his first 3m model. Flew it really well with loads of confidence despite the intermittent lift - top job there - I'm sure we'll see him on the F3F circuit soon enough!
Mike Evans was flying his RCRCM Sigma F3B which continues to impress him. Looks to have good potential for F3F...
Then Mike started to play about a bit so that we could get some interesting shots of the model closer in to the edge. I guess Mike felt pretty comfortable with the Sigma as I didn't even need a zoom for most of the shots along the edge! Fun!
I flew my Skorpion F3B again, and again in really light conditions. Got a little worried at one point about 5 minutes into the first flight when I found myself half way down the Wrecker with not a lot of lift under the wings, but thanks to a couple of pointers from the lads, I soon found a spot and was enjoying a bit of thermalling over the valley. The next flight I decided to push it a bit and put 3 slugs in - the conditions weren't that different but the Skorp showed again that it's a really versatile machine and I flew it in the light conditions without any cause for concern, except this time it was a little more fun when diving in with a little ballast onboard. Really enjoying this model - hopefully I'll enjoy racing it as much as I have enjoyed flying it so far!
For some entirely bizarre reason, I actually failed to get ANY pics of Chris or any of his models! No idea what I was thinking there, so apologies Chris!
I managed to re-maiden my JR Models Madslide before Chris arrived - it had been on the bench for a tidy up as well as getting some decent servos in there. Flew great - was lots of fun, but doesn't fly "big" enough to really enjoy the Wrecker. So I'm going to try her on a smaller slope - I think that will be a better fit for the model. Here's Tom Satinet giving her the heave-ho...
Will Deighton was also there with his Acacia 3 - a maiden for him and his first 3m model. Flew it really well with loads of confidence despite the intermittent lift - top job there - I'm sure we'll see him on the F3F circuit soon enough!
Mike Evans was flying his RCRCM Sigma F3B which continues to impress him. Looks to have good potential for F3F...
Then Mike started to play about a bit so that we could get some interesting shots of the model closer in to the edge. I guess Mike felt pretty comfortable with the Sigma as I didn't even need a zoom for most of the shots along the edge! Fun!
I flew my Skorpion F3B again, and again in really light conditions. Got a little worried at one point about 5 minutes into the first flight when I found myself half way down the Wrecker with not a lot of lift under the wings, but thanks to a couple of pointers from the lads, I soon found a spot and was enjoying a bit of thermalling over the valley. The next flight I decided to push it a bit and put 3 slugs in - the conditions weren't that different but the Skorp showed again that it's a really versatile machine and I flew it in the light conditions without any cause for concern, except this time it was a little more fun when diving in with a little ballast onboard. Really enjoying this model - hopefully I'll enjoy racing it as much as I have enjoyed flying it so far!
For some entirely bizarre reason, I actually failed to get ANY pics of Chris or any of his models! No idea what I was thinking there, so apologies Chris!
Dedication or stupidity?
The cold side of F3F at the Hole of Horcum during the 08/09 winter league...
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