DAY .. 29. April - 2004 Brio F3J - Finally my Brio extension is finished and were tested today!! And what a rush. The tug on the launch were better (all 250-270m today even as I chickened out on the pedal) and the model felt light in the 2-4m/s wind. But it still have kept most of the distance qualities and that was the purpose. So I am very happy and will probably use it for the F3J competition this weekend. Just so it is said. The quality of my building is not up to Samba standard but I have built it strong so that I can use it on full power. Now my Brio is 3,3m and is 2250g. And I am not making more of them until maybe Samba wants to... I think this will be my primary weapon for WC F3J in Canada together with my Pike Superior. - To see the difference I brought out the AVA that is all a different plane for a different task. The AVA responds to the smallest lift and is best in the morning and afternoon flying. But it did the task good today and I am getting better launches now with a different setup. The launches were from 200-220m and top height at 774m (2539feet) was cool. I also went down to 22mm brake and that was much better. Now it doesn't need so much elevator compensation and slows down better.

  DAY .. 28. April - 2004
- Some rain in the air but my son Fredrik just had to do some flying he said. So we cruised around 10-15min with the Majko before the father got cold... And only two days to Fredrik's birthday !-) I think he will have a nice present..

- Later in the day I met up with Erik Eggum on the same field. I had promised to bring him a new Majko and it was time for a test flight. His model is equipped with a Mega 400/15/6 , 11x7 prop and 2s Lipo 2000mah. This gives 12A and at least 10min of motor time on a very low weight. The model flew very well and although Erik felt it was a new model - with a bit nervous fingers - he were all over the place and was smiling from ear to ear :-) The model climbed at apx 30 degrees but if he wants more it is just to get a bigger prop. But I think there is plenty of power there.

  DAY .. 27. April - 2004
It was raining slightly today but I found a few minutes with "less rain" and just had to test my Majko with new 2s 2000mah Kokam Lipo cells (and the new all moulded elevator as you see). It worked fine and I found small lift here and there so I took out the AVA and a small bungee. Strange how poor the AVA zooms but there is a good tug on the line. So the bungee works well and AVA is maybe better than most others models on a bungee because of low weight and good tug. In the air the AVA is kind of "back to the 80's" but it has much longer legs and it responds extremely well to lift. I would actually prefer the AVA compared to a Graphite from same producer... The AVA is a good entry level F3J machine and cheap to build with only 3 cheap servos needed. I doubt I will fly it in the weekends F3J competition but who knows maybe the conditions are right :-)

  DAY .. 24. April - 2004 F5J Extreme
A new postal competition in the F5J Extreme contest today. The Extreme element is taken away (points according to celicus outside) but we still have fun. This time we have a two day competition so everybody have a chance of good weather. I used the first day since the weather was nice and there were extremely much thermals down in the valley where I live. I just watched my video streamer for a few seconds and launched the way it pointed. I even did 3 rounds on the same charge. The only problem was that with so many thermals the wind is shifting all the time at the landing spot. So in first round I came in downwind and missed some landing points. But anyhow it was good practice. Feel free to join us and fly tomorrow :-) I used my Organic 2,5m with Hacker B50-6S and 10 cells 1000mah.

  DAY .. 23. April - 2004 Pike electro fuse
Back home again and two parcels waiting for me. 2 extremely beautiful Pike Superior's had to be unpacked and checked. Both are sold sadly as they were very nice (See picture). I also received my Pike electro fuse and it looked nice. And weight is incredible and even more incredible when you feel the strength. The weight is only 260g and with elevator joiner 3,3g, servo fitting (ready made for 368+261 Graupner or Volz + 261) 6,1g and one elevator of 52g the total weight is 321g. Now that rocks!!! As you see the "L" for servos in front were also supplied but off course the servos should be in the back. The only difference on this fuse and a normal fuse is the bulb on rudder, a chopped nose and that is stronger.

  DAY .. 23. April - 2004
 I also have got my hands on a AVA from kennedy models. This model is produced by Vladimir Models in Ukraine on license for Kennedy models. I had heard and seen some rumours about many F3J pilots testing them so I had to also. It was finished in only 4 hours as this model is a really simple ARF (Almost Ready to Fly). It was easy to assemble with only rudder, elevator and spoiler. I used two standard servos and one 13mm for the spoiler. The weight ended without ballast tube on 576+303+155+158g= 1192g. This gives a wing loading of 16,7g/dm on the wing that is 3,22m and 71dm!
Now to the flying. Since this is full flying stab and I did not know the EWD (Elevator Wing Dihedral) I tossed it a few times before I went for the winch. The CG (Centre of Gravity) seemed fine on the given 100mm and the hook was set to 46cm from the tip of the nose. I knew some owners had "popped of" with this setting so I dialled in a bit down elevator in the launch. The launch went well but my home made hook were bent down and I popped of at 120m (waiting for the hook that should have been in the set). The model flew nice and I used the first flight to get the spoiler -> elevator setting dialled in. I changed the hook for a bigger wooden screw and went up again. Tried to get gentle a zoom and gained a few meters son it. Picked a thermal just a few minutes later and the model turned well into it. I knew the model would thermal but I was curious to whether it would have some distance capabilities. I dialled in a "speed" setting and watched how it picked up speed upwind (it was 2-4m/s between the thermals today). I was a bit surprised how it actually have some potential. For a 71dm/1200g model it went well against the wind but more testing needs to be done in more sink and wind to get a conclusion. 10min was no problems today and thermals were all over (it was low clouds all over). Three more starts were made but the Lolo download shows that it zooms poorly. Even on full F3B power and hard zoom it does not gain any or little height (I launched downwind all day with purpose). I think I need to have a gentle zoom with this model. My mother I law came by and had never flown a model before. But she have now! She actually flew 3min all by herself (I launched and landed off course) with only 30sec instructions. This might be a very good introduction model for new pilots in F3J since it is cheap and needs little equipment. So why have I gotten this model ? Well I normally fly Pike's but needs to check out everything new on the market. Don't worry I am still addicted to Pike's since the AVA is boring compared to a full house composite model. But I did loop and roll the AVA :-)

  DAY .. 21. April - 2004
On my way back home over the mountains I just had to stop again in the "Vøringsfoss". This canyon gives you a rush to fly in and today the light with big rainbow was awesome. I made a small video. Not very good quality as I was filming myself but the light is beautiful. 3,6mb .wmv.  Further up in the mountains a cottage were on fire. Sad but a nice picture!

  DAY .. 21. April - 2004
Rolf Inge was working but Arild Møllerhaug wanted to have a maiden flight on his new Raptor 50 helicopter. It went well and also Arild seems to handle helicopters fine now. It was very bumpy and we should have been flying DS instead. My Majko flew well again with the new elevator and Rolf Inge stopped by just to borrow my X-wing for a few minutes. There were also a few other guys on the field and among them Birger with a new Joker electric helicopter. 32 cells and brushless machine is just as powerful as any 50 size helicopter!! He even attached his big camera with zoom lens and lifted it with no problems.

  DAY .. 20. April - 2004
Today the weather was not that good so me and Rolf Inge went to the local airfield. Rolf Inge flew his Raptor helicopter and had some range problems. He seems to fly well helicopter but that does not help when it tries to cut wood. Luckily the trees saved the helicopter and it landed soft on the ground. Only minor damage. Multiplex crystal in a Graupner receiver does not work obviously... I flew my Majko with new elevator. The Majko is now all composite with an upgrade from the producer. It work fine. Rolf Inge also had some good time with my X-wing. That wing never dies!

  DAY .. 19. April - 2004 F3B Denmark
Not home yet! Just had to drive by the guys in Haugesund again and get my car fixed. So when Arild Møllerhaug fixed my car me and Rolf Inge Waaga went to the DS slope for some action. And with fairly good conditions we had a nice time. It went on and off a bit but sometimes it went extremely fast again. I flew my Opus V and Rolf Inge flew his Pike WR Extreme. Sadly my camera were in the car. But flying was most important. I was really tired after the long weekend so I fixed myself a nice place in the DS zone relaxing and watching Rolf Inge flying. And I have now found the best cure to get a sleep. The sound of DS made me sleep a few minutes back there. I woke up after apx 10min when Rolf Inge said he was going to land so it was my turn :-) I just have to tape some DS sound next time I cant sleep!

  DAY .. 18. April - 2004 F3B Denmark
A new day and new possibilities. Today we were going to fly only distance and the organizer had 8 helpers on place already from 8 o'clock !! That is fantastic for such an event. We were 3 men teams so it could take some time to pick up models landing far out. But it went smooth and the F3B timing gear from Søren Krogh (that looks superb) worked us thru the day. Me and Espen were going on the boat to Norway at 17:30 so they speeded the whole event up as much as possible and we were actually finished with 6 rounds before 1 o'clock! Amazing is the only word I can say to the organizers. That is 4 groups of 3 pilots = 24 flying groups in only 4 hours. Espen was a bit unlucky in round 5 when a wind gust blew his model around just after the launch because of a strong thermal. The model took 4-5 loops on the line before it landed almost unhurt in the winch lines. He borrowed my Caracho and flew well with it for two distances (seems that my launch setup is good because he got very high and crushed the others). The wind was 2-4m/s 90 degrees cross and sometimes from the back or front because of thermals. The sun was shining all day. So me then ? I think I flew well and only lost a leg or two somewhere. But I did fly against both Jesper Jensen and Jan Hansen (that came 1st and 3rd) and gave them some beating. So here are the results (will have details later from Søren). Sorry that I did not remember the last name of smiling Thomas!

Sønderborg F3B 17-18.april 2004,  6 rounds  1. Jesper Jensen 14981, Estrella  2. Espen Torp 14475, RaceM F3B  3. Jan Hansen 14399, X21  4. Søren Krogh 14342,  5. Michael Monk 14159,  6. Jo Grini 13939, Brio/Caracho  7. Erik Morgan Villadsen 13924, X21  8. Søren Helsted 13697  9. Kenn Dyreborg 12060, E3  10. Thomas 10165, Trinitus

  DAY .. 17. April - 2004
A Danish sailplane event is a whole different than in Norway. Here they start with breakfast on the field early morning. This makes you calm down and since the winches is already up everybody is ready for the task! Today we were going to fly "only" duration and speed but we managed a whole 6 rounds, lunch and also a great dinner prepared on the field. Again the Danish guys AND girls know how to make it a great event. But there is no secret that both me and Espen likes good food... Erik have lived in Denmark so one could say is used to it but still looks like an athlete (sorry Espen..:-) After two tasks completed Espen was in 2nd place after Jesper Jensen with me in 7th and Erik in 6th.
The most exiting thing for many might be that Espen flew his new RaceM F3B that he already had place for good 2nd place in F3F a week ago *(see www.F3X.no for results). The model was blistering good with good launch height (250-290 according to Lolo), good speed (all speeds 17.. something except one with missed turn) and it seemed to thermal well. The model is based on the famous RaceMachine but is bigger. Sadly this is the first model out of the moulds and it needs to be much stiffer. But Espen is already on it to change the production slightly.
Myself ? Well I have full time duration points and does well there with my Brio. I did not fly full time in the one round I used Caracho (have to compare with Brio). The speeds are not as good as I want (mainly 19.. something speeds) but I did not fly better with Caracho so it is my thumbs that needs to "activated" for speed.
Anyhow the competition was well run and most of the pilots attending are very good. The conditions were foggy/sun but warm and 6-8m/s wind straight on.

  DAY .. 16. April - 2004
Me and Espen took the "speedboat" to Denmark and going 40knots it only took 2,5hours to get to Denmark. Now this is much better than the night over with a normal ferry. It costs a bit more but is worth it. We arrived at Jan and Louise Hansen and there we met Erik Morgan Villadsen for some Danish hospitality. Jan and Louise have lived in Norway and we know them pretty well from before. We also drove by El-flight and went berzerk.. My Visa card became warm

  DAY .. 15. April - 2004 DS
Off to Haugesund to fly some DS and then further south to meet up with Espen for F3B in Denmark.
I met Rolf Inge Waaga and Arild Møllerhaug that quit work early just to fly DS with me. We went to a local DS-slope this time called Ørpetveit. It is a great place that I have been to before. But this time the wind was 10-12m/s and the conditions were blistering. I brought my Opus and the others had Pike WR. The landing conditions are not perfect here so both Arild and Rolf Inge snapped their nosecones. Arild fixed his and wanted to have some slower DS.. But we all know that when you first have started going DS you cant stop. So while pushing his Pike really hard the nose came of and the model smashed into the ground. Thanks for a nice time again guys.

  DAY .. 15. April - 2004
On my way over the mountain I stopped too look at Vøringsfossen again (look at day 200 September 2001 for canyon flying). I just had to get out my Majko for some flying and got a tourist passing by take some video with my camera. Pretty cool sitting on a rock and just let the Majko slip down the 200m deep canyon. I just love to push the limits sometimes. Hope to get out the video when I get back.

  DAY .. 13. April - 2004
Since I am going to Denmark for some F3B this weekend it was time to check the CG on my Brio for speed. The ice is now still there but the surface is not good for securing the winch. So I found a field nearby (just 5min from home) and rigged the winch on a wet farmers field. I flew mostly with 600g of lead but also tested a bit with 1200g (total weight 3,2kg). The conditions were sometimes very good and after a 4 leg speed one could pick a thermal and fly downwind as long as one dared (it was 4-5m/s wind and it came down from the mountain). I was happy with the half lead but would like to practice more with full 1200g. I will need better conditions for that.

  DAY .. 13. April - 2004 Brio F3J
New prototype midsection for my Pike Brio just came out of my "private mould"! I have been thinking about bigger Brio since before it was available and now I have finally done it myself. 2x15cm are just finished. They might not be the perfect fitting or high polish since I am not one of those guys working for Samba (I have big respect for all those working in this business on the floor). But hey I have done it myself and are happy with the result. I have more work on them before I can go flying with fitting guiding pins, wires, cutting of flap and sanding a bit on the leading edge. The weight was ok considered this is double carbon, UMS rowing, no vacuum, with pink foam and abaci. They are 79,5g and 79,6g each and should be strong enough for F3B flying if needed. I don't think you will see it flying just yet as I am going for F3B in Denmark in the weekend (together with Erik Morgan Villadsen and Espen Torp). But progress will be in my diary off course. BTW pictures are taken with more dihedral than I plan to use (here shown with apx 8 degrees but it will be around 7).

  DAY .. 12. April - 2004 Brio F3J
On the ice with my son for some relaxed flying. I flew the Majko and my X-wing but again I borrowed a Ultimate from Arild Hagabråten (Thnx Arild). Damn it is a tiny bit of fun flying knife-edge across the ice.
In the evening I worked a bit on my new Brio F3J. 2x15cm bigger midsection is the plan. Espen Bakke have cut me some pink foam MG06 airfoil and with double carbon from Samba and UMS-12000 from Carbon Vertrieb and some plastic plates from my uncle Per Arne Nilsen I am set to go. I don't use vacuum just because I don't have it but I think it would be ok since this is a test not a production machine. So what have I done ? Well as you see of the pictures I have a pink "mould" that is made slightly bigger than the ready wing. In the mould I have first a thin plastic sheet for making the shiny surface (a little thicker than plastic for transparent overhead). For the best surface you start with a thin layer of glassfiber then Carbon, rowings and more carbon in the D-box. While the epoxy is still wet you add the inner core made off course slightly smaller than your wing needs to be. Then add more plastic sheet and the top mould before you add 5kg of pressure and heat for a overnight cure (I use 24 hours epoxy). I also prepared the "sleeves" *(don't remember the correct name) for the joiners with UMS rowing. The sleeves were made by Samba. Next day I checked the airfoil shape against my Brio wing and it looked good. In my case I think I made the inner core became too small so when I started the next faze I wanted to build the height a bit with Abaci (normally one use balsa or rohacel but abaci is strong and easy to cut). So I started with cutting space for the spar/joiner and added a carbon sock and some extra rowing to build the height. The original midsection was attached with a 0 degree joiner to get the correct height of the joiner. for bottom layer I wanted to build the height a bit as I mentioned earlier so first I added one layer of carbon, the hinge material (some kind of material that they use for insulating electric wires in power plants. It looks like glassfiber but will stay soft like Kevlar) and then a sheet of abaci before the last coating of carbon and glassfiber. Put a plastic sheet on the top -check your alignment in the "mould" and add 5kg of pressure over night again.

  DAY .. 9. April - 2004
Strong winds today so just a small flight on the ice with the Majko before we (me and my son Fredrik 6 years) headed for a DS-slope up in Rogne (just a few miles up the valley). The wind was shifting a lot and as I checked out the lift with the Majko I found there was not good enough conditions. But I did fly 20min with the Majko and some rough DS before we went home.

  DAY .. 8. April - 2004
Easter is here and today the sun were shining to us. I was on the ice with Majko and X-wing until the wind picked up. Then I went to a nearby slope and flew some slow DS. As always cool to fly DS here since the slope in front are steep and with a relatively sharp edge. It is also going up in the DS zone but since a rotor already is formed the DS is good. The Majko is up to it and I surfed around for 30min. A video is made HERE (6,2mb .wmv)

  DAY .. 7. April - 2004
Ok I have now reached 200 hours on my Royal EVO since February last year. The Tx has done its job and only failed me once when a wire to the right stick broke of. Maybe MPX finally should sponsor me with a new one ? Just for the record I have never been sponsored with much. But I have been given models as payment for work done as webmaster on their pages. So a big thanks to small companies that needs work in return (especially Samba and ET-AIR). Today I flew my Majko from ET-AIR and had a good time. Gunnar Neslein showed up as he has a cottage in the area. Gunnar got a beautiful 6,2m ETA with brushless coming out on the top of the fuse. Gunnar uses 17 cells on a 13" prop and this gives him 3 min motor time. Enough for 2-3 climbs up to apx 300m. His daughter also flew the MPX Teddy and seems to get the hang of it (12 years old). A video of the ETA is out HERE (13,6mb .wmv)

  DAY .. 4. April - 2004
On my way home and have now been sitting 2 hours waiting for the mountain to open. There is a snowstorm in the mountain and it is boring. But my portable is working on batteries so I can write a few words about today and some more words about last flying day (2nd April). Today we were planning on a trip to another DS-slope but the weather was not good with rain. So I started on my way home. But only 100km into the mountains the rain stopped and I found a small DS-slope in Etne that worked fine for my Majko. Flying DS (Dynamic Soaring - see www.grini.no/ds ) is not always about getting the super duper speeds. It is also about exploring how it works and it is incredible how many places one can extract energy from rotor and vortex's. The slope I found was not a slope at all but there was a lot of rotors and that's just what we are looking for. I flew my Majko so hard that the rudder fluttered and came of. And I am still smiling :-) A small video can be downloaded HERE (5,5mb .wmv). Last words: Just got informed by the radio that the mountain is closed. 3 hours home just became 6...

  DAY .. 2. April - 2004
Just sitting in Haugesund and have made a few videos of today's DS-flying..
Big version (23mb .wmv) | Short version (6,7mb .wmv)
The conditions were great and we started at 11:00 and we went home at 20:00. Three men and continuous flying ONLY in the back. We had to recharge on the slope mid-day :-) I think I have never flown so fast before. The speeds were sometimes in the high 250km/h when it really got groovy I think. Sadly I don't have the fastest runs on video but it goes fast and one can fly anywhere in the back!! BTW I started the transfer of the videos and went to bed... Hope it works!
Edited 4.april: By studying the videos we had (there is only room for apx 10min on my camera) the speeds were up in the 170-240km/h range and the best I have found until now is Rolf Inge Waaga with 240km/h. It seems that we could easily get 200-220km/h but when the rotors were at its best we were probably above 300km/h. Damn we should buy a radar gun here in Norway! Anyhow I had a incredible day and almost 3 hours of flying ONLY DS was insane. My radio now says I have 199,8hours of flying since last February. A big thanks to the Waaga family that provides me with a bed and good friendship. And off course Arild Møllerhaug that never says no to a few hours on a slope :-)

January - Won the first F5J extreme postal competition and first flights of both my new Brio and Superior. 9 days of flying in total
February - New Pike Superior, won Arnborg F3J winter flying (Denmark) and bought a Caracho as a spare F3B-model
March - Good practice on the ice, Indoor and Fagernes Air show
April - DS three times, new and bigger Brio for F3J, electro fuse for Superior/Brio and the AVA
May - Started editing

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