F3B World Championship - Live Streams

The 2017 World Champion ship is currently running (07/08/17 to 11/08/17). Live streams of the action are being posted on facebook by Martin Webershock and team USA, on facebook.

F3b sport EU
Team USA

New Distance World Record

Andreas Herrig sets a new record in distance with 39 legs at the Kirchheim Open. Scores here.

Oktoberfestpokal, Munich 2016

Here's a good video from last season's Oktoberfestpokal.

Nationals Photos

Photos courtesy of Mike Holtby

2016 Nationals Result

Pilot	Dur 1	Dis 1	Dis 2	Speed 1	Speed 2	Dur 2	Total	Rank	%
Jon Whittle	1000	1000	1000	901	965	1000	5866	1	100
Steve Haley	820	1000	1000	1000	1000	1000	5820	2	99.22
Tom Satinet	860	1000	1000	630	685	991	5166	3	88.07
Mike Holtby	990	944	857	636	381	611	4419	4	75.33
Brian Johnson	806	1000	632	629	508	818	4393	5	74.89
Bob Dickenson	1000	889	857	0	653	688	4087	6	69.67
Bill Haley	1000	565	657	523	0	1000	3745	7	63.84
Phil Brandeth	999	571	211	365	330	0	2476	8	42.21

Here, very belatedly, are the results from this years Nats. Congrats to John Whittle on his well flown victory and new PB in speed. The Target looked very fast.

It looks like this will be the last F3B contest in the UK for now and possibly for ever. I was flying f3j at the weekend and it was discussed there how quickly participation numbers have fallen off in the last few years. It is what it is as the modern saying goes. F5J seems to be doing well though, so that is something. Clive thanks for your efforts in running f3b and trying to keep it going. There are some pictures from the contest that Mike H took. I will ask him to send them to me.

Speed Contest 2016

Pilot	Model	R1 Time	R1 Points	R2 Time	R2 Points	R3 Time	R3 Points	R4 Time	R4 Points	Total
Tom Satinet	Avatar/Stinger	16.76	991.6	15.80	946.8	20.00	801.5	20.08	987.5	3728
Simon Haley	Fosa (e)	16.62	1000.0	22.60	661.9	16.03	1000.0	24.55	807.7	3470
John Phillips	Tanga	19.43	855.4	19.03	786.1	20.13	796.3	19.90	996.5	3434
Bob Dickenson	Ascot	21.83	761.3	20.81	718.9	20.67	775.5	19.83	1000.0	3256
Steve Haley	Fosa (e)	17.32	959.6	14.96	1000.0	16.78	955.3	0.00	0.0	2915
Bill Haley	Ascot (e)	22.87	726.7	24.54	609.6	24.89	644.0	22.31	888.8	2869
Jon Whittle	Own Design	18.00	923.3	16.52	905.6	18.03	889.1	0.00	0.0	2718
Phil Brandreth	Sitar/Electra	45.90	362.1	40.19	372.2	35.21	455.3	38.27	518.2	1708
Clive	Ascot (e)	35.80	464.2	0.00	0.0	0.00	0.0	0.00	0.0	464
Average		23.84		21.81		21.47		24.16

After a couple of years of not being able to run the pre-season speed contest we managed to squeeze one in this year. However, fog until around mid day restricted the number or rounds that were flown. Nonetheless it was a good day to try for a PB with light winds making course navigation easier than it can be in strong winds, and thermals being present in the afternoon sunshine.

The first round went to Simon with a 16.62, which was a PB. Round 2 went to Steve with a fast 14.96 (myself a 15.80 for a PB). Round 3 went to Simon with another PB of 16.03. Round 4 went to Bob, who was very consistent, with a 19.83 run. Simon was probably the fastest pilot on the day but cut in round 2 and in round 4 had a cut that I didn't signal properly. He also cut in the ensuing reflight! It was a shame as he showed what a good pilot he is.

In the end I "won" - largely due to other pilots having problems. It was really a day for trying for a PB and getting out to do a bit of flying. Fun as always.

Dates for 2016 BMFA league

Happy new year (?!).... Below are the dates for the 2016 league. I am pretty certain these will remain as they are but I await absolute final confirmation from Mike P/Clive.

• Speed - 12 or 13th March
• League 1 - 7th May
• League 2 - 28/29 May
• League 3 - 25/26 June
• League 4 - 30/31 July
• Nats (League 5) - TBC?
• Nats reserve - TBC

The dates are what is practical to fit in with other events at the Wetlands, which is becoming an increasingly popular site for esoaring, f5j and flower arranging (probably). I'm some what inclined to setting a definite date (either the sunday or the saturday) and trying to stick to that this year, due to work commitments, but we'll go with what best suits the consensus. The situation with the silent flight nationals remains unclear. The nationals reserve will only be organised and flown if the nationals doesn't produce a result.

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.

Final Standings - 2015

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

Rank	Name	Score	League 1	League 2	League 3	League 4	Nationals
1	Steve Haley	4000	986	1000	1000	1000	1000
2	Simon Haley	3808	922.9	946.6	877.3	988.3	950.2
3	Tom Satinet	3768.8	1000	0	867.2	987.4	914.2
4	John Whittle	3273.8	620.8	0	833.9	939.4	879.7
5	Clive Needham	2911.2	722	810.3	642.8	736.1	380.4
6	Bob Dickenson	2876.8	482.6	754.5	0	811.9	827.8
7	Dave Worral	2724.6	0	927	844.8	952.8	0
8	Bill Haley	2486.3	761.7	0	209.2	686.5	828.9
9	Brian Johnson	1476.2	0	733.8	0	742.4	0
10	Mike Challinor	981.1	981.1	0	0	0	0
11	Phil Goddard	554.3	0	0	0	0	554.3

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.

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.

World Champions Medal Table Updated

The medal table for the F3B World Championship has been updated.

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

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

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.

2015 - League 1 Result

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

#	Name	Score	Pcnt	Score	Rnd1 Dur	Rnd1 Dis	Rnd1 Spd	Rnd2 Dur	Rnd2 Dis	Rnd2 Spd	Plty
1	Tom Satinet	5829.6	100	5829.6	1000	1000	898.7	1000	1000	930.9	0
2	Steve Haley	5748	98.6	5748	995.7	1000	1000	784.3	1000	968	0
3	Mike Challinor	5719.6	98.11	5719.6	1000	857.1	935.3	998.6	928.6	1000	0
4	Simon Haley	5379.9	92.29	5379.9	650	963	913.4	1000	1000	853.5	0
5	Bill Haley	4440.4	76.17	4440.4	800.9	687.5	711.8	634.8	761.9	843.5	0
6	Clive Needham	4209.1	72.2	4209.1	555.7	409.1	727.5	770	1000	746.8	0
7	John Whittle	3618.9	62.08	3618.9	977.1	1000	879.9	0	761.9	0	0
8	Bob Dickenson	2813.2	48.26	2813.2	987.1	1000	0	0	826.1	0	0

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.

2015 - UK League Dates

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