BMFA F3B League - Round 4 - Report

Hello! I am reviving the f3b UK blog. Thanks to Chris Jubb.

The first post is a report from League 4, 2013. With the recent "heat wave" (aka summer) that we have been experiencing it was possibly a relief that the weather for Sunday was overcast and fairly mild (with even a few rains spots at times). Personally I didn't fancy lugging the gear around in 30 degree heat all day.

However, the overcast conditions and the fairly bright light made for a sky that was difficult to pick out models in, and was a challenge all day when flying at duration distance. What was generally reckoned to be a wave was fairly consistent from the east at a considerable distance beyond the winch line. With the general lack of obvious thermals, the best tactic for duration was to push out in front and carefully ride the wave in combination with the slight slope lift from the right of the field. In spite of the difficulty in seeing models, there were few low scores in duration with most people achieving good times. A good launch was very helpful, giving you the chance to range out to find the lift.

Conditions for launching were quite decent, with a moderate wind. If you could steer your model off to the left and swing back in to the wind a decent launch was definitely possible. Not too much score separation happened in Round 1 of duration. A few people dropped a minute or two or messed up the landing, but there were no real clangers. Mike Holtby's Cobra again showed it's ability to pull big tension on the line and float very well when required.

Distance conditions were reasonable but not epic, with the lift again being most consistent to the right of the course, with most people choosing to fly that direction. I think Bob had a go on the other side and did okay. In fact Bob was unlucky as he had a huge launch it to great air on his first distance round, but the round was cancelled when a parachute being wound down in a cross wind knocked down base B (sorry Bob)!

Clive put in a good stint scoring a very respectable 23 legs in round 1, which was the best score of the competition. Young Simon put in a good performance scoring 21 legs in both rounds and only dropping 45 odd points. Clive, Steve Haley, Mike Challinor and John Whittle scored the maximum 1000 points in both rounds. Distance scores were fairly close without most people dropping or gaining too much over the field.

On to speed where times were generally in the high teens for a good run, with the exception, again, of Steve Haley who took a couple of seconds out of the best of the rest following a good launch and consistent flying (15.xx seconds). This took nearly 130 points out of his nearest rival which would prove critical in the final scoring. Bill wasn't quite back to his usual self, but it was good to see him flying again. Round 2 of speed followed a similar pattern to the first round with times of about 17 seconds being competitive. I put in a new personal best of 17.31, which to my surprise, took the 1000 points for the first time, beating Mike and Steve by few tenths. Happy days! Brian dropped quite a few points in speed, which I am sure he will be looking to improve with his Ascot, which seemed to be showing good potential - it's a well proven model of course.

Round 2 of duration followed a similar pattern to the first with mostly high scores. Unfortunately Clive was not able to fly the round due to technical problems with his electric model, which was a shame as he had scored well to that point. I enjoyed a fun round against Steve were we both gently rode the wave, indicating lift and sink for each other and swapping heights and position throughout the slot. Eventually I came out just on top with a 10.00 / 100 point flight that was a nice way to end the comp for me.

So all in all another very enjoyable round. I don't think there were damaged models. Perhaps Clive's prop blades took a bit of a beating when he tried to repay the farmers kindness in helping get Steve's esoaring model out of the tree, by strimming the grass for him. Kudos to Steve, as it takes a top drawer flyer to truly park a model in a totally inaccessible place. The model only being retrieved thanks to Bob's slightly disturbing expertise with a chainsaw. Whether he just carries it round in the back of his car in case of emergency, I don't know.

Special mention must go to Phil Goddard who flew most, or all, of the competition with his transmitter set to the model memory of one or more different models, which may or may not have had something to do with f3b or even gliders. The word on the flight line seemed to be "Wot4," which we can only assume is a model that doesn't have the same trim settings as a ceres lift. The winner was Steve Haley, with his round 1 speed score proving to be decisive over 2nd placed Mike C. Simon Haley came in third having flown consistently all day. He narrowly pipped John Whittle, who lost a few crucial points in the final duration slot. I was fifth, follwed by Bob and Mike Holtby. Dave Worrall and Brian Johnson scored good points and will be looking to the nationals no doubt. Clive and Phil suffered non serious "technical" problems and Bill was still feeling his way back after recent ill health.

BMFA F3B League - Round 3 - Report

BMFA F3B LEAGUE 3 CONTEST 2013

The Wetlands Sunday June 9th by Clive Needham

Following the cancellation of L1 due to a poor weather forecast and the abandonment of League of L2 when the weather closed in at midday, it was with anticipation during the week leading up to the contest at The Wetlands as the weather was set fair for a good day’s flying. Unfortunately due to the NE winds off the North Sea the forecast for the East Midlands changed on Saturday from one of glorious sunshine for most of the UK, to low cloud for Sunday which might or might not burn off by lunch time.

It did not look good when I set off from the Lancashire side of the Penines in bright sunshine but hit low cloud on top of the hills in Yorkshire all the way to The Wetlands with a cloud base of about 8ooft at Doncaster airport.

However by mid morning as we were ready to begin the contest, after a slow start setting up the course, the cloud base was gradually rising.

As you may be aware we have been experimenting for some time with models launched by fitting an electric motor instead of using a winch and towline

Apart from the expense of the cost of winches and towlines, plus the time to set up before the contest, there is a feeling that some possible newcomers are prevented from trying out F3B because of lack of confidence in the use winches. A bonus point for those who are not able to launch as high as the top pilots is the use of height limiters to cut the motor, so all start at the same height, therefore no excuses if the top pilot’s scores are not matched, it’s still their skill that counts. We are now in a position to demonstrate that electric motor launched F3B models are viable and not at a disadvantage compared with the traditional launching method.

I have been flying a Dingo electric for some time and Dave Worrall self converted a Crossfire to E earlier this year, resulting in him returning to F3B after 2 to 3 years, Bob Dickenson had his Crossfire converted by Tony Fu (Sloperacer), in addition Norman Quirk has also returned after a break with a Strega supplied by Tony, this design was used very successfully by Alan Flockhart a couple of times last year, including a speed run of 17xx secs, many other designs such as the Rotmillan, Ascot and Skorpion which I have also flown are very suitable.

Most of the models are using Leopard motors (Sloperacer) with gearboxes and lipo batteries, 4cell 1800mah in either a single block (fuz size permitting) or 2x2 cells end to end, most models are convertible as long as at the point the nose has to be removed it has a minimum inside diameter of 30mm. Some manufacturers are now beginning to offer E- fuselages, Output required to launch the models, which can now be built down to about 2.4kgs including motor, gearbox and battery pack, is approximately 1000watts, this will launch an un-ballasted model to the average height of 250m in 12 to 15seconds. Models ballasted up to 4kgs take a little longer but each launch only take about 250 to 300mah from the lipo pack. Therefore each pack is very good for 4 launches and possibly 5 if pushed.

Back to the comp, it had been hoped that all four of us with suitable electric models would be able to use them, unfortunately Dave Worrall was on holiday and Norman Quirk’s new Strega had a problem with the motor pinion not being fully secured on the shaft, Bob Dickenson decide to fly one round with his Fosa and the other with the E- Crossfire for comparison, his scores were very similar 2742 in R1 (Fosa) and R2 2633 E- Crossfire.( The lower score reflects the faster time of the top scoring pilot of 15.13 -R2 as against 17.01-R1) I elected to fly the whole contest with the E-Dingo although I had a “normal” Estrella with me.

As usual we started with duration and apart from the first slot won by Norman with 9.35s and 100 landing bonus (chat man 14 year old Simon Haley) flying his untried Vampire model with Mike Challinor and Brian Johnson well behind, all the other 5 slots were more or less flown out. That is excluding my 6.43s after a re-launch. Mike’s unexplained 6.43s probably cost him second place overall. Two rounds of distance followed with mostly good air in all, the winners being Bob Dickenson 2 one each with his two models, Mike Challinor 2, Jon Whittle, and Steve Haley one each.

The slot with the greatest number of legs was closely contested by Steve Haley, Norman Quirk and myself scoring 25, 23 and 21 legs respectively.

Back to back rounds of speed were next both won by Steve Haley, Fosa 17.01s R1, close behind Mike Challinor, Target, 17.20s and R2 Steve with 15.13s, this time second Jon Whittle, Ascot, with 16.45s

Norman lost out in R2 due to lack of familiarity with the Vampire set-up resulting two pings off the line below full launch height, meaning he had to make the best of it before running out of time.

There were some very close calls at Base B, the pilots with the best scores usually only clipping the line. They generally have an instinct regarding the 150m turning point and very often have the best callers assisting them, it also helps to have a good launch height, but of course if we all use electric motors to launch we will start even, whatever the conditions.

All in all an excellent contest enjoyed by all with good weather all day including a steady breeze to assist the winch launching, the height limiter was set at 250m but could have been altered if conditions changed sufficiently enough to warrant such a change. No Line breaks or broken models, these days it is very rare for a model to fail, one of the concerns of those who have not been prepared to try F3B. Any damage is usually due to finger trouble as is the case in all disciplines.

Models flown in order of final results:- Fosa, Ascot, Target, Fosa/E-Crossfire, Precious, Cobra, Vampire, E-Dingo and Ascot.

BMFA F3B League - Round 3 - Results

#	Name	Raw	%
1	Steve Haley	5938.3	100
2	John Whittle	5668.1	95.45
3	Mike Challinor	5471.3	92.14
4	Bob Dickenson	5376	90.53
5	Simon Haley	5344.4	90
6	Mike Holtby	4976	83.8
7	Norman Quirk	4803.8	80.9
8	Clive Needham	4767.8	80.29
9	Brian Johnson	4330.4	72.92

2011 - L8 F3B results - Retford.

1 Haley, Steve 6000

2 Challinor, Mike 5640.4

3 Whittle, John 5486.1

4 Haley, Simon 5465.8

5 Woodhouse, Ken 5213.1

Although I have left Alan and Dick off the official ranking for L8,

I think we were all very impressed with the F5B models and grateful for their help on the bases during the day. The idea of combining the two events (F3B & F5B) would certainly add more gravitas to both FAI discipline's, advance electric F3B and hopefully make for more efficient and enjoyable competitions.

Mike flew steady as always, John W flew the nuts of his vintage Ellipse 2 and placed a credible 3rd and Simon flew his best F3B contest to date placing 4th. It was good to have father back in team Haley following illness and Bob for keeping us entertained as always (that bloody tree again Bob)...!

It wasn't one of Kens best comps which was understandable given his slipped disc issues and Jonathan

continued to improve and will be a force in the league once he gains some consistency which will come soon with experience and positive attitude.

Overall 2011 F3B Results.

1 Steve Haley 4,000.00 100%

2 Mike Challinor 3,806.90 95.2%

3 Ken Woodhouse 3,720.36 93.0%

4 Simon Haley (Junior) 3,634.31 90.9%

5 John Whittle 3,542.91 88.6%

Well done to the top three (Steve, Mike, Ken) and to Simon for placing 4th which at 12 years old must be the highest junior placing we have had in the league's history.

A big thank you to Clive once again, for running the league and for maintaining and transporting all the equipment to and from the comps.

One again, this year, we have seen the number of competitors reduce and although most F3X disciplines are experiencing the same, we do not promote / maximise our sports' exposure nearly enough and we are all guilty of not doing as much publicising as necessary.

I am convinced that electric F3B is one option that we should promote vigorously and credit again must go to Clive for flying his electric Crossfire this year, to develop the rules, and promote the advantages of electric launch. Given Clive's efforts I think we are all hopeful that we may gain some new pilots next year using this format.

UK pilots have competed in two F3B Euro tour events this year and apart from being very enjoyable, we continue to learn and improve our competitiveness which inevitably filters back into our league. Mike, Simon, and especially Ken, have all improved immensely this year as a result of competing at a higher European level and I would urge everyone to make the effort, finances permitting, to have a go at least one of F3B Euro tour events.

Its a very different experience to the normal UK league event and very rewarding.

Team Haley - Holland 2011

Ken with his trusted Target - Holland 2011

Over to you Bob for BB-banter L8 and the overall results....

See you all at the first winter practice...

Steve Haley

Nats

Report From Clive Needham

2011 F3B NATIONALS RAF COTTESMORE

Due to the loss of Spitalgate as a venue for the Nationals Dave Phipps the BMFA CEO was tasked with finding an alternative and due to his efforts the RAF agreed to the use of Cottesmore. Concerns were expressed about the difficulty of gaining entry due to the airfield still being classed as active although it is in the process of being shut down and handed over to the army.
Fortunately the stringent requirement for all entering to be photographed and the picture attached to the pass were not enforced on the day thus speeding up the entry.
The weather forecast leading up to the contest was not promising with strong winds and heavy showers for the whole weekend.
Although the winds were fairly strong all day the many showers could be seen passing us by with just a brief sprinkling from the edge of one was the only interruption. We have flown in much stronger winds such as at the two day contest last year at RAF Barkston Heath.
However the conditions did slow down the contest due to a number of line breaks.
It was pleasing to have Tom Satinet joining us for the second time this year and Jonathan Sage for the very first time, Jonathan Wells also flew F3B for the first time since last year’s Nats.
Unfortunately due to the need to ensure we had a valid contest with the possibility the weather might prevent this, we were not able to give as much help and attention to the newcomers as we would have wanted which made it more difficult for them, however both appear to be keen to continue flying F3B with us.
The open e-soaring contest was situated downwind of us further along the runway’s grass verge and because of the wind direction and few thermals most of their flying was upwind which resulted in some over flying; this was not a problem except in distance when some of their models entered the course causing confusion.
Because everyone arrived early expecting to be held up at the guardroom we were able to make a prompt start, as usual duration was flown first in three slots of four.
The first slot comprising Bill Haley, Simon Haley, Jonathan Wells and Jonathan Sage who had a baptism of fire for his first ever competitive F3B launch and flight!!
The slot was won by Jonathan Wells by only 2 points from Bill, however both the first two slots were won without flying out the full 10 minutes, the second slot winner was Mike Challinor and only when Steve Haley flew in slot 3 was 10 minutes almost achieved with a 9.55 and 100 landing.
The same pattern occurred in second round duration flown as the last task in a two round contest, only Steve Haley and Ken Woodhouse completing nearly 10 minutes, unfortunately for Ken he was in the same slot so he did not get the true benefit for his efforts. The other two R2 duration slots were won by John Phillips and Jonathan Wells with times of 7.22 and 9.10 respectively.
Rounds one and two distance were flown back to back as usual to make the best use of the manpower and with the help of non flyers Keith Wells and Barry Mason we were able to fly 3 up which is more satisfactory and takes less time than 2 up.





As in duration the laps scored reflected the windy conditions with only Steve Haley, Bill Haley and Ken Woodhouse posting over 20 legs with Ken receiving 1000 points in both rounds but the second one for only scoring 12 legs!!
Speed is also flown back to back and we had the help of Alan Flockhart who flies F5B and was interested in making a comparison between the two disciplines so he with his daughter manned the safety line throughout.
The conditions helped in achieving high launches except in my case as due to flying an electric powered Crossfire it was a battle to achieve the agreed launch height of 300m at a weight of 3.7kgs before the timer cut the motor, in fact the logger indicates cut-off points of about 250m. I hope to be able to increase the power from 500 watts to 700 to overcome this disadvantage in windy conditions.
Most achieved reasonable speed times with the regular speed merchants posting under 20 seconds with Ken near to his PB with 16.81 and Jonathan Wells maybe with a PB of 18.83? Jonathan Sage and Tom Satinet deserve a mention with Jonathan posting 21.34 and 20.39 in his first comp, also Tom with 22.69 in R1 and although he messed up in R2 completed his run to get a score.
As usual Steve Haley showed everyone the way with times of 15.62 and 14.23 flying his Baudis Fosa at about 3.8kgs, this is his fastest so far with the Fosa and only 0.39 seconds outside his British record.
Simon Haley cut the safety line and thus his flight was annulled as stated in the UK variations from the FAI rules where a 300 point penalty is applied. The cut cost him a couple of places on the leader board. This variation may need to be discussed but not here as the explanation is too long, however bear in mind the important word is annulled (which used to be the case in the FAI rules) as against a penalty which cannot be discarded.
Except for Brian Johnson who slightly damaged his model in a landing and Bill Haley who seriously damaged his Shooter, losing it in the sun, all others completed the contest.
Bearing in mind the conditions it was decided to end the contest at the end of round two as it then met the requirements regarding validity.
The prizes were presented by the BMFA chairman Robin Gowler, this is the first time I can recall this has happened.
Many thanks to all who entered and especially to those who helped in anyway including Simon and Steve Haley for computing the scores which you can see on Yahoo Groups.
Models flown as far as I can recall.
Shooter, Target, Fosa, Estrala,Precious, Ellipse,Tangent and E- Crossfire.

The highlight of the weekend was the several low passes by the only remaining flying Vulcan bomber during the F3J contest on Sunday.
The wind was slightly stronger on Sunday, not less as forecast, and five of those who flew F3B entered F3J which made the entry up to 18.
Three of the five made the four-man fly-off the winner was again Steve Haley with son Simon age 12 just a few points behind, Jonathan Wells came fourth

5 go to belgium

Five go to Belgium.

I had not planned to do any European competition this year but as a result of a last minute decision by Steve Haley to go to Belgium, I was suddenly thrown into the exciting, if not daunting prospect, of having to fly against some Europeans. Steve wanted to make up the number for the team so along with: Clive Needham, Bill Haley, Stephen Haley, Ken Woodhouse and myself - we planned the trip.
The thought of flying a European (ex Euro tour)competition had cause an initial rush of excitement as I knew from previous experience flying on the continent was a totally different experience; from the standard of flying to the smooth organisation European competitions are fast paced and pilot focused. However, Sat waiting at Hull Ferry terminal at six o'clock, with the last check in for the ferry at seven thirty, Mr Needham was still stuck outside Oldham on the M62, things were looking a bit desperate. It was raining and Steve and I working working out how we can get: three people, camping gear and equipment into one of our smaller cars and failing. With minutes to spare, Clive, wheel smoking and breaks screeching, arrived at the terminal to save the day and we piled all kit into the one mighty Kia (including its two fully operational windows and a lump of wood just in case).
The beauty of travelling by ferry from Hull was that now we could: kick back, get some dinner and crack open a beer before hitting the bunks in the cabin.
Arriving in Rotterdam early Friday morning it was just a straight two hour run to the site of the competition in Belgium Anthisnes. I had been warned previously that the site was tight to fly from, but as the mighty (and very comfortable) Kia bumped up the dirt track to the small plateau of a field. I was already prepared for the tree line a hundred meters downwind from the launch point and the surrounding crop fields. I did not turn in disbelief to ask 'is this it?" thanks to my earlier preparation on Google earth.
Ken had already arrived, coming from south of London via the Channel Tunnel. In fact Ken was so early none of the organisers had even turned up. This led to some confusion and the Brits were already upsetting the locals by pitching their tents in the wrong place. Ken wisely gave up on setting up camp and opted to start on his Calais supermarket purchases, by opening a can of beer whilst wait for the rest of the Brits to arrive.

The wind, that had been slowly building all day, was now at the point where it was a good enough excuse to not fly since the excitement I had felt earlier was now turning to nerves. Unfortunately for Bill, he had to fly his model (Shooter), as it had been recently mended after an unfortunate incident at a previous competition. A few test flights was all that was needed to get Bill's model's elevator and hook settings dialled ready for the following day.
Woke up to a damp windy morning but following the pilot's briefing the competition was soon underway. Round 1 slot 2 Ken is the first up for team GB in duration. Due to the high cross wind and the location of our winches on the downwind side this proved to be very testing conditions with many crossed and broken lines. Unfortunately for Ken and down to no fault of his own his model (Cyril) entangled with another competitors towline during launch resulting in one half of this tail plane being broken off. He was lucky to direct his model to a soft crash landing in a sweet corn field. Due to the contact with another winch line Ken was able to claim a re-fly schedule for later in the round. Slots continued with many crossed line and other pilots experiencing similar problems; this was becoming a day of survival. As the strong cross wind continued, the Contest Director (CD) following the Brits request, decided that each pilot would launch in the order that they were lined up on the winch line downwind side first. This helped to eliminate the problem of crossed lines. Maximum duration points were achieved by someone in every slot. However the conditions were challenging and changeable and the turbulent air, coming off the high corn fields, made achieving the hundred landing points difficult. Ken made the decision not to continue flying after a poor result in his duration re-flight. He did not want to risk damaging his number two model and spoil his weekend and the rest of the competition season. Instead he did a cracking job of helping the team by: ensuring all winch batteries were fully charged, launching models for Steve and I and being the best distance lights man in the business. Thank you Ken; who also managed to find the time to drink his annual supply of cheap beer over two days and digest a large cow strapped between two bread vans for supper!!





Photo of Ken’s burger

The second round of duration was flown early Sunday morning, the wind had dropped to almost nothing and conditions were challenging for different reasons. A good launch was required followed by delicate flying with minimum control input. This would maximise efficiency and hopefully achieve a thousand points. I was impressed in the way that Steve's Fosa performed in these weak conditions by being top of the pack throughout his slot.

Next up distance. Due to the conditions there was only one practical side to fly distance. So this made chatting a little easier for team GB against the might of the bigger European teams. We produced some good lap scores, and caused some upsets when Steve took a lap from Andreas Bohlen (Switzerland) and myself a lap from Peter Hubbertz (Germany). Our strategy worked well (but that's our secret!). Clive did well against a strong field achieving nineteen laps in his first slot. Bill flew some great distance and was unlucky not to get the 1000 in his second slot by missing his last lap by less than a second. Most slots were won with scores in the low 20’s with the exception of Andreas Herrig (Germany) achieving twenty-six laps in both his slots!

Speed, as always, is the fun bit. Again, Team GB performed well with quick turn rounds on re-launches and good chatting to support the pilots. Clive and Bill as always impressed me with their dedication and determination to score points in every flight and finish the event in full.
I started with a disappointing 17.45 in average air and I knew that I would need some luck and to fly well if I was to have a chance of my goal - a top 10 position. However with the pressure building it all went wrong in my second speed run when I crossed the safety line and gained 300 penalty points. The run had only been 18.73. So for the third and final run I had nothing to lose. Stood on the base, Steve asks “I guess you want to go for it?" I did not reply and just waved Ken to Launch. Ken gave me a cracking, full ballasted launch with plenty of tension into reasonable air. However the climb out was a bit awkward due to a recent wind shift which resulted in an abnormal entry onto the course. Diving onto the course I rolled and pulled like I had nothing to lose; clipping the turns perfectly and before I knew it I was on my last leg with the model maintaining good speed. A quick twitch on the elevator to prevent disaster, followed by some over correction and it was done - a 15.14 run which was a new PB. Boom!!!!

Steve, partnered by his dad Bill were, as always, a force to be reckoned with. Steve did very well with average air recording times of 15.72 and 16.87 for his first two runs which put him in 9th place. With everything to play for going into the last round, a good run could put him on the podium. Problems with the chute opening on the first launch saw him with the breaks out and quickly coming in for a re-launch. On the second attempt the launch crew double checked the chute and Steve was away. The launch was average and so was the air. He dropped onto the course and clipped the first turn perfectly and was on his way back to base A. Another good turn and all the competition were watching. He positioned the model low but perfectly between the corn field and base B, rolled and pulled hard...nothing...he’d cut. Quickly recovering, almost ploughing into the corn field (with an 'oooh' from the onlookers), he returned to base B to get the turn but it was never going to be fast enough. A 21.94 sec run with a cut.

Fastest speed of the weekend Jens Buchert 13.55

Final Standings
From 62 competitors

Steve Haley 15th Fosa
Mike Challinor 27th Target
Bill Hayley 49th Shooter/Ascot
Clive Needham 54th Dingo


Full results at http://www.f3b.be/anthisnes-2011/final-scores


Conclusions
The final results were disappointing but promising and I will let you do the maths on what could have been for Steve and I if we had not made mistakes in speed. We all had a really enjoyable weekend, Belgium may not be the biggest flying field but the organisation is excellent. The competition is 'hosted' by the local club, which means that there is no manning of course or button pushing and the pilot can just concentrate on, well flying; this result in a fast and more exciting pace of competition. Add to this the social aspect and the large entry numbers compared to domestic competitions and it makes the journey well worth the while.

The cost for the whole weekend including: ferry, entry fees, car parking at Hull, camping, food and spends came to just under £300 - I was pleasantly surprised. And although the journey was long, it was enjoyable because the travelling time in the car was less than in many domestic competitions.

Will I be going again? Yes and I would recommend it to anyone. The flying standard is high but this comp has a different feel to others I have attended, it is more about enjoyment. The winners are the people smiling, so we all won this one. Well done Team GB.


Most of the team but clive is behind the camera.


The winch line was compact so teams had to pack winches the space available.

Retford Practice

Great days flying at Retford on Saturday, several F3B and electric pilots enjoyed near perfect summer flying conditions which were calm, variable winds, warm and good thermal activity all day. Throughout the day we tested models, fine tuned ballast set-ups for next week’s Belgium international where six pilots from the UK F3B league will be competing.

Mike and I flew hand launch models throughout the day and I must admit Mike had the edge on me most of the time with his more recently designed Russian hand launch model. Although I did get the better of him in the last flight when I put my Long-shot up the winch line which I have to say, was much easier than throwing bloody things all day!!

After lunch, all pilots flew two rounds of speed on course which consisted of each pilot flying three consecutive speed flights on random winches with everybody acting as the pilots team. This system worked really well in terms of achieving flying consistency on course, trying different chat men and maximising the flying time available for each pilot.

John Phillips was show casing his new Tanga and having briefly had a go with it, I though the Tanga showed good promise, especially on turn exit when flying speed. JP subsequently had a go with my Cyril as it was easier to demonstrate to John how I like my models set up. Again this proved to be a useful exercise as John instantly realised that although the Cyril was set up much more active on throws, it was balanced and easy to fly....which is why I am always harping on about trying to find the right balance when setting up new models for competition flying....

Thanks again to Clive for organising the day’s events and it was also good to see Phil Brandreth again who was flying an array of electric models which was both interesting and topical as UK F3B has started developing new rules with a view to integrating electric powered models into F3B in the near future.

Role on Belgium....

Cheers Steve.