DAY .. 12-14.oktober
2007 -
Soarist Open F3J
So then I am home again! I did not bring my
laptop to the event but my Ipaq that did not do
the trick with updating this website.
Soarist Open 2007 gathered 86 pilots from 26
countries around the world for a Tournament of
Champions. It was an invitational event and I am
very happy that I was invited for this. Left
Norway Thursday morning and after a 3 hour
flight I arrived in Istanbul together with my
son. I paid for my son so that he could see more
of what a huge F3J contest is and maybe work
hard this winter flying. Maybe he can be a
junior pilot soon? Dad really hope so off course
;)
Some of this writeup will have to be seen as a
"check" for next World Championship F3J that
Turkey will organize.
Most pilots arrived Thursday and we headed of to
the Hotel in busses provided by the organizers.
Customs are never a problem in Turkey and most
pilots got their boxes. 2 1/2 hours later we
arrived at the Hotel while one bus was caught in
traffic and used 6 hours... It was National
holiday so early or late is the best arriving in
Istanbul I think. Hotel was nice (20 of us had
another Hotel nearby) and Setur the booking
company does a nice job making sure we are all
were and when we should be... I will actually go
so far that I think all teams should let them
handle the booking for next World Championship
as I am not sure I can do a better job for my
team. Maybe I want a car to sleep a bit longer
and maybe stay at the field some nights but it
is good to have someone care for you.
Friday morning we woke up to high temperatures
and 1 hour drive to a field that looked like it
was not for us. Imagine a huge field you can
launch in any direction and with grass cut like
it was a golf field. A big tent for models and
catering and also and also extra food wagons if
you found yourself hungry outside the normal
breakfast/lunch/dinner time. Field is laid out
with the usual red stripes to show launch
corridor and possibility to launch in either
direction from the middle. There are no slopes
nearby. Some tree lines can work as thermal
kickers but not big enough to be worked as
slope. Friday was practice day but they also
flew round 0 to check up the gear and let us all
make good use of the day. It was easy conditions
all day but the last groups had a more calm
condition with the sun (and visible flying
light) just disappearing. In the evening we went
to a surprise party with barbeque and a very fun
karaoke night. A hat was taken out to draw the
names though I think there was some cheating
from Semin (our Aunt in Turkey...) to make it
more exiting. We had a blast and I had to sing a
Turkish song. That was not possible so ended up
making a rap on F3J. It is not more than a
karaoke machine that is needed to have a full
evening of fun. Great evening at a very nice
place with a small pond and garden around it.
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Saturday we started early as all athletes should do I guess! Up at 6 and off with the bus at 7:30 I think it was. We arrived in foggy conditions at the field but managed to start of the competition in decent time. Some did fly a but far thru the fog but no models were lost I think. Conditions were different all day making it sometimes very difficult in some rounds and easy in others. We had a great big lunch midday and the weather looked for a while super with sun coming in over us as we heard rumours about rain other places. We did have some stops but flew until the sun gave up on us and had 3 1/2 round at the end of the day. The contest was running pretty smooth and the only stops we had was mostly because of weather. The timing system is just as we have been used to in Turkey and works ok. As you know I make some MP3 files of my own and like it slightly other ways but it works and there were no glitches in the timing or the LED boards on each end of the corridor. Official timers were provided and for the first time in modelling I think we used electronic sending of times and landings to the main computer that also provides scores on big screens in the "pits". You even get a receipt of your scores from tiny printers the timers have in their belt. Beware that the official timing is with as the rules state a digital clock as usual. The boards was not used all the time as the rain came in but I think it worked well also showing video of this and earlier events. A note is that I think the hand units that sent the times in for scoring were on 2,4gHz and were not any problem for those who flew on 2,4gHz in their planes. On Friday I had the chance to fly Larry Jolly's Pike Perfect equipped with this technology from JR/Horizon hobbies and YES it did work and YES I did fly Larry's plane extremely far away in low altitude. Larry's model is a new version fuse with glass/kevlar in the nose area so that the 2,4gHz Rx antenna can sit inside the fuse. It seems to be a fast and reliable system and I know there was a lot of other communication devices on this field (Walkie talkies, computers, mobiles, etc). Dinner was at the Hotel and as always in Turkey I get good food. Even my son ate some and you know how difficult a 10 year old can be not being home.. Larry also helped me with bringing a JR9303 since my son wanted one and I cant get it here in Europe. Thanks Larry!! You are a good friend.
Sunday we woke up to a lot of rain coming down on us and even though we went for a very early start there was no chance that the weather was going to improve enough to be flying. So we went to the wet airfield and packed our boxes before we headed for a very cool fishing restaurant up the hills. Here we were for many hours eating lots of small nice meals before we did a few words to wrap up the contest. The evening was spent in the Hotel and while some gathered in a party others slept a bit before we would go home on Monday or later into the night.
All in all a very good test for next years World Championship in Turkey. There was things to improve but that is also why they did this competition. They want to improve and be the best. Be SURE to be there for Eurotour early spring because I WILL. I have learned to love Turkey and the people I have met up with there. And when they can get so many nice pilots (F3J pilots is a good bunch of lovely people) together it cant go wrong. I would like to thank the Organizers and their sponsors for a great event (again) and also all the pilots and my team the Czech guys (and Jane that was kind of best of us on the list this time...). Love you all.
New models? Should there be any new models this year?)) Yes there were one at least. The High End from HKM was there and it seems to be a nice quality plane that does not fly bad. I did not get the chance to try one or see one in difficult air but it looked nice. I also heard that Stefan Eder is making a face lift on the Crossfire with better linkage and new and better tail for the V-tail version. Not really a F3J model but for windy conditions we sometimes need that. Many of today's F3J models are made very light and fragile. New this year is more and more 2,4gHz. As mentioned earlier Larry Jolly was there with his Pike Perfect and flew pretty well (had one line snap though) and I know the Supra comes with glass/kevlar nose cone also. I think many will switch to this system and it does have some advantages. I did have a glitch on Friday with my Perfect on 35Mhz possibly due to a Tx being shut on briefly?? and that would hopefully not have happened with 2,4gHz.
