15/11/2015

Speed Videos from 2015 WC

David J. Olson from the USA has been uploaded videos he took from the 2015 WC to youtube. They are mostly of the speed task. It's quite interesting to see how the fast times are flown. His channel is here with several videos.

07/09/2015

Final Standings - 2015

Below are the final standings for the 2015 Season. Congratulations to Steve Haley.

RankNameScoreLeague 1League 2League 3League 4Nationals
1Steve Haley40009861000100010001000
2Simon Haley3808922.9946.6877.3988.3950.2
3Tom Satinet3768.810000867.2987.4914.2
4John Whittle3273.8620.80833.9939.4879.7
5Clive Needham2911.2722810.3642.8736.1380.4
6Bob Dickenson2876.8482.6754.50811.9827.8
7Dave Worral2724.60927844.8952.80
8Bill Haley2486.3761.70209.2686.5828.9
9Brian Johnson1476.20733.80742.40
10Mike Challinor981.1981.10000
11Phil Goddard554.30000554.3

2015 Nationals

The Nationals for 2015 were flown at the Wetlands on 30/08/15 . The RAF didn't authorise the use of the airfield at Cranwell, which is just down the road from the site of the "main" BMFA nationals. Thankfully we were allowed use of the Wetlands, by Fred, the farmer. The F3B contest was held in the lower field, which was somewhat short in length but we managed to squeeze the winches in.

01/09/2015

Dave Worrall

With sadness, I must report the death of Dave Worrall. The seriousness of Dave's condition had cast something of a pall over the weekend's contest, and yesterday we received the inevitable news that he had passed away. Only last month we had had the pleasure of his company and he had still been flying to his usual high standard. Dave will be sorely missed by us all.

Announcement from Clive as follows:
To Everyone. It is with deep regret I have to announce the death of Dave Worrall. Dave has been fighting a blood disease for several years but managed restart flying F3B when it became possible to use electric motors for launching. Dave was at the top of tree for many years with his own designed "plus" models for slope and thermal soaring and took part in several F3B World Championships the last being in Switzerland 2007. Taking the Bronze medal in 1983 England, Silver Medal 1985 Australia, narrowly missing the gold, was part of the team Gold in Australia that year and silver team in 1983 plus the same in 1987. He took part and won many contest both slope and thermal, taking part in the very first Radioglide at Pontefract Racecourse. As a qualified engineer working in the aerospace industry for most of his life, spending several years in Germany, he always took a measured technical approach to producing and flying model aircraft and will be sorely missed by his many friends.

03/08/2015

F3B World Championship 2015 - Results

Results from the WC are here. Top 3 individuals are:

  • 1) Martin Herrig (Ger)
  • 2) Andreas Herrig (2013 Champion/Ger)
  • 3) Andreas Böhlen (Sui)

Top Three teams are below:

  • 1) Germany
  • 2) Switzerland
  • 3) Sweden

01/08/2015

2015 World Championship - Preliminary Results

The preliminary results for the world championship show that the new champion is Martin Herrig of Germany. Germany also took the gold in the team contest. By my count that makes a Herrig win in the last 5 championships!

2015 - Round 4 - Results

15/07/2015

2015 - Round 3 - Results

Below are the scores for round 3 on 27.06.15.

Soaring conditions were good with some strong lift with out it being too easy in duration. The contest was won by Steve Haley. Everyone else had at least one bad round, but with Steve flying a 14.63 in speed 1, he was always going to be tough to beat. I lost 400 points in a bad duration, Simon had a bad Speed (30.xx), as did Dave (27.xx). John Whittle had problems with his CG when ballasted, and lost points in distance and speed, but his own built model looks very promising. I believe Steve's time of 14.63 is a new record for electric f3b.

While sometimes one doesn't feel motivated to get ready for a soaring contest, once you are out on the field that buzz comes back and you feel the thrill of flying. Especially in F3b with it's complexities, which test you as a pilot.

F3b Sports EU

Hi - I've added a link the side bar for F3b Sport EU, a site run by Thomas Dylla, with reports from the European scene. With the Nardt Open and WC around the corner, it should be a good place to get news and info. Facebook page here.

2015 - League 2 - Result

Report on League 2, by Clive Needham:

Due to various circumstances including broken models, sickness and lack of support from some, only 7pre- entries were received by the Wednesday deadline for this contest plus maybe the uncertainty about which day of the weekend the comp was to be held. The reasons for using this system have been previously explained, for an example two weeks earlier there was an e-soaring contest and if the contest had been held on the Saturday (the preferred day) the weather would have intervened plus 5 out of the 13 competitors would not have been able to attend so it was fortunate in that case Sunday was the best day.

Of the 7 entries only 2 competitors we going to use winches, then one of those decided the day before not to attend, leaving only Bob Dickenson winching, however as Bob also has an e-Crossfire model he agreed to fly it. So that how the first all e-electric F3B contest came about with 6 competitors, but if Bill Haley had not had an operation on the Friday and John Penton with severe back pain there would have been 8 flying electric models.

20/04/2015

2015 - League 1 Result

Below is the result of the first round of the BMFA F3B League of 2015.

#NameScorePcntScoreRnd1 DurRnd1 DisRnd1 SpdRnd2 DurRnd2 DisRnd2 SpdPlty
1Tom Satinet5829.61005829.610001000898.710001000930.90
2Steve Haley574898.65748995.710001000784.310009680
3Mike Challinor5719.698.115719.61000857.1935.3998.6928.610000
4Simon Haley5379.992.295379.9650963913.410001000853.50
5Bill Haley4440.476.174440.4800.9687.5711.8634.8761.9843.50
6Clive Needham4209.172.24209.1555.7409.1727.57701000746.80
7John Whittle3618.962.083618.9977.11000879.90761.900
8Bob Dickenson2813.248.262813.2987.1100000826.100

League 1 was flown at a new venue near Altricham. The field was very flat and had an ideal amount of grass on it, although it was on the tight side for F3B. The weather was very sunny if not especially warm, perhaps because of the NE wind direction. The wind direction would mean the sun was somewhat problematic in the middle of the day as it was in the centre of the course. However, it was a good day for a soaring contest, with moderate winds and variable thermal activity.

26/01/2015

2015 - UK League Dates

The UK BMFA league dates for this season (2015) have been added to the side bar. Direct link here.

2015 - European F3B Schedules

The contest schedules for the 2015 F3B events in Europe have been put on-line. FAI F3B World Cup.

N.b. Please note that "World Cup" is not the same as a the "World Championship". The World Cup is a series of events. I am not sure what the overlap of FAI World Cup and Eurotours is. All the published Eurotour events are listed on the FAI world cup schedule as well. In terms of UK pilots, it's only an academic interest. I might try and do Belgium, if I have got the time.