- Blast from the past? Ever seen a Taifun? It is an older Danish design that was "remade" with new airfoil some 6-7 years ago. I have now had the opportunity to finish the first prototype of the latest version. Normally this model have rotowing but with better servos etc. it is now made with aileron/flaps. Have not had a chance to fly it yet but hopefully soon. Check some more pictures and a story at: http://www.et-air.com/taifun/
DAY ..
29. April 2005
- back on the slope but this time alone. In Norway the laws say you
can walk in the woods all you want and a farmers field can be used
until 30.april unless there are special rules that year. So I went
to the slope and sat down to see if the farmer was around. After an
hour I got tired and brought my plane. Then the farmer came.....
Seems like the old guy was the father and the son was furious even
though I tried to be calm. Something must have happened here last
summer since he does not like people here. The ramp is made for
Hanggliders and I cant understand what a small sailplane would do
for damage as long as I dont walk on the field. Anyhow I will
respect the farmers decision and stay away. We shook hands and
hopefully we can come back sometime. So I landed (I even got landing
permission from the farmer) and only got a few minutes of airtime
with the Shongololo but enough to see that all is ok before next
weekends Norway Open on the west coast.
DAY ..
28. April 2005
- Was on the slope to fly the Shongololo and L33 with my son. We had
food, drinks and the weather was nice. Some older guy came and said
the place was closed. I did not belive him since I had talked to the
farmers last year about when to fly here but anyhow my son got a bit
"shocked" of this shouting guy so we went home. Later I talked to
the paraglider guys. They had also been told to keep away...
DAY ..
24. April 2005 -
F3J
- Competition day and I was ready and fit. The competition was run
with winches as many of the Nordic countries now does (except for
Nationals). 16 competitors was at the startline and we agreed on as
many preliminary rounds as possible but not to start any new round
after 16:00. The weather was awsome and many rounds would probably
be needed so that it was not to be a landing competition so that
sounded fine. After that we should complete the round and go for 3
finals with 4 pilots (I wanted 4 with no throwout). I had my
automatic timing system
with me and it was set to play 5min preperation time and the 10min
working time. We did not need all 5 minutes of prep. time but with 4
pilots in each team it became a sedate and calm competition for all.
I think all enjoyed themselves during the day atleast many said so.
The weather was so nice that the thermals became very strong but
also a bit tricky since the sink was big and thermals not so wide at
ground level. First 2 rounds showed many full time flights but then
it started to be difficult.
When
3 1/2 round was completed I informed the CD that we would be able to
run 6 rounds if there was no delays. So the CD continued the 5 min
prep. time and when the clock was 15:55 the automatic timing system
started again for a new round. But people were tired and some would
not start on round 6 it seemed. The CD tried to start round 6 but
decided to abort after flight group 1 had flown. During the day I
had flown very well except for one flight... I had on the paper 4x1000points
with 9:52, 9:52, 9:53, 9:52 but a pittyful 6:40 round was lost since I
decided to look out and relaunch to get ahead of what I thought was
the best in that group (Geir Strømstad). How wrong can it be.... The underdog Ivar
Børsheim found a thermal in low altitude and flew the whole
10minutes... Damn there went the flyoff. Well it was entertaining
atleast ;-) The lesson to be learned is that although I have said to
myself to be tactical this is wrong for me. I am much better of
going my own way and find my own thermals like I normally do (and
did in other rounds). The finals were flown by 4 pilots (I came 5th) and very
cool to see that the Junior Tore Kvarme won with an old Pike Plus
against big cannons like Inge Balswick (been around since F3J
started and been to 3 WC's), Alf Erik Ross (on this years national
team F3J) and Erik Morgan Villadsen (National team F3B). There was a
few misshaps during the day mostly because the starting conditions
were hard with wind and strong thermals. One Eraser broke in the
zoom (4 year old eXtreme) and one Giga fluttered in the start.
There was also some mishaps in the landings. The best weapons seemed
to be a good layup F3J model or a F3B model. But during the finals
an F3B model might have been to heavy. The light models were pushed
around and was difficult to control (example big 3,4m Graphite).
The full results can be found
HERE and details
HERE.
|
DAY ..
23. April 2005 - Practice day on Spydeberg before the first F3J cup event this year. I took a decision to use my new JR9303 and tested all my weapons today (AVA, Superior and Brio). The weather was so good that no matter what you had in the air it went up. Actually a bit boring... The transmitter seems fine and does what I need. The switches can be arranged to my liking (4 phases on two switches left side) and I kind of started to like slider on the left side for camber control. JR have done a big move in were things are connected in the Rx and with the sailplane program I can now use channel 1-2 for ailerons, 3-4 to elev/ruder and 5-6 for flap. So you can actually fly a small DLG with 5ch Rx (or 4). I am missing one thing at the moment and that is to have the motor on a button (important for me flying electric sailplanes). Seems I have to solder something if I want that although I have not looked inside the Tx yet. The battery could have been better as it is only sold with 600mah Nicd pack. I bought some 2000mah AA-cells and if the numbers are correct I will have 8-10hours of flying. (the EVO have a 1500mah and apx 6hours flying). We were 6-7 pilots at the field and I got company during the night by Stig Magne Olsen. We made starting lists for the competition and enjoyed some video on our laptops. BTW a big thanks to Alf Erik that had a spare 35mhz module I could borrow. |
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DAY ..
22. April 2005
- Very weather and calm conditions today. Got a SMS message from the
paraglider guys that the birds were turning in the thermals on the
slope. So I rushed to the slope and prepared my Pike Superior
electro. There is no way to land under the slope so the electro fuse
is just perfect companion in these conditions. I did not need it but
is great to be able to search down and out for the thermals without
any worry ;-) After 3 flight and a total of 1 hour I was tired.
DAY ..
21. April 2005
- Was going to fly my Shongololo today
with the new JR 9303 but the wind came down into the valley and
there was no way I could fly since it was strong wind also. Even the
paraglider guys was just looking sad and read the newspaper on the
slope. I did try my sons Headwind on a place with less wind. But the
downdraft was so bad that it did not even climb. I did do a range
check on the 770S Rx in my Pike Superior. I was impressed. Actually
it was slightly better than my MPX IPD DS Rx and that is very good.
And the 770S (SPCM so you need a JR/Graupner Tx) is only 19g with
crystal.
DAY ..
20. April 2005 -
Jojo a virgin on
JR/Horizon
-
Ok I am not a virgin.. But in JR terms I think I am.
So
over to the shiny case I got in the mail today. It took only 7 days
shipping to Norway so I started fidling with the switches and put it
on charge while I surfed thru the airplane manual (seems I have the
"A/S" version. airplane/sailplane). After 1/2 hour and some dinner I
had to start fidling with the on/off switch also so I fidled more
and took out a sailplane from the cellar... I took the worst one out
there. At WC the South African team had got new Graupner MX-22's
(same case as 9303) and strugled with programming. I bought one of
the planes (Shongololo a copy of the Swedish Racemachine) they
brought and discovered that it was NOT properly set up. So here I
have a model with servo horn in all strange directions and a new
radio that I have been fidling with for just 20-30min. Well to make
a long story short the model is up and running and the timer says I
did it before the radio had been on for 2 hours. I now have all the
setup I need for F3J with 3 flight phases, camber control on the
slider and a countdown timer on the training button. Even the name
on the model is correct ;-O
DAY ..
20. April 2005 -
JR/Horizon is here!
- Guess what popped up in my mailbox
(no not the email one...). A brand new and shiny 9303 with the
newest software and 3 receivers (SPCM 770) to suit my Pike
models. Just started to flip the switches and feel the grip.
Programming looks ok on first looks and I got all 6 servos to
buzz at least.
A BIG thanks to John Diniz and the others at
Horizon
Hobby. You made my trip to US Nats this summer much easier
(I borrow the equipment).
I was also out flying with my son
but the wind was a bit too much for him to fly. But he took some
photos while I gave his Headwind a spin. At 4A max his Headwind
would fly for ages with 700mah battery :-)
DAY ..
19. April 2005
- Nice weather but the ice is not secure
anymore I think. So the solution was either to find a wet farmers field
or a slope. I decided on the last one even though there was no wind to
talk loud about. But I tossed my Pike Superior out into the open and
searched for some thermals. I found lots of them and even though I did
have make 3 landings I was up in a total of almost 50minutes. Messed a
bit around with the CG and camber again also just for fun. It is always
good to feel the difference and make some useful experience in all types
of air. OK I have so many hours on the Superior that I know all its ups
and downs but one can never be fully outlearned.
DAY ..
19. April 2005
- I have been wanting to find the original of
this picture when I got it from Tor Midtlund that had found it
somewhere.. Thanks to Martin Pilko it should be a great memory to keep
for the future.
Me at the worlds tossing Tor Midtlunds
Superior. Photo by Martin Pilko, Calgary, Alberta Canada
More photos |
Calgary R/C Soaring Society |
Martin's pictures
DAY ..
18. April 2005
- My son is now officially sponsored for the
first time in his life at the age of 7 ;-))) Well anyhow Richard at
RC-flights had
some planes he might have some fun with while his father (me) checked
and finished some planes for Richard (a nice L33 sailplane). So it was
kind of give and take deal. The planes were fitted with some new
electronics in my basement and we headed out to the flying field nearby.
A little bit of wind but the Headwind flew nice (it is actually a scale
model of a US superlight) while the Bat-model had some problems in the
wind. We had a nice time and went home for home made cake. A great thing
to do between dinner and desert don't you think?
DAY ..
17. April 2005
- Managed to slip away and fly some 3x12
electro competition with my Superior. I should have chosen my AVA for
faster climbs (lighter) but I think I did prove that my Superior is
competitive. If I had managed my landings I would have won the
competition. So my Superior is superior if the pilot has been
practicing... :-)))
Results HERE and
details HERE
After the competition I again became a family man but I had arranged a
meeting with
RC-flights Richard Blindheim. My son started blinking his eyes when
I told him he was going to have not one but 2 new planes today! He is
only 7 years old but I guess it was about time he got a new model after
his crash last year. Thanks to
RC-flights for
the gifts just 12 days before my sons 8th birthday. I also got to hold
Norway's first Futaba 14MZ. I think Futaba is on the right way of
thinking on many of the features (li-ion pack, synth, 12channels (14?),
joggle wheel, light in screen, etc) but not all features are my kind of
thing so I don't think I need one. But cool to see one. The price btw is
17.000Nkr.
DAY ..
15. April 2005
- Made a trip with Arild to Lillehammer since he was picking up
a Hangar 9 Funtana with Saito 120. Not in perfect shape but a nice catch
as he got a ok price and all up with digital servos. We stopped on a
restplace and did some electric flying and also visited the new guy in
town. IMPX is a new hobbyshop in Lillehammer that seems to have mostly
all you need and not just one of each item. We wish them good luck (and
they bought a bunch of the
DVD's for sale).
Tomorrow its 3x12 electro at Spydeberg. See you there!
|
DAY ..
13. April 2005 - Lots of wind all day but in the evening it settled down to a light breeze. So I decided to have a small session after dinner with my Superior electro. The cells are getting better and better for each time I use them and I am now down to apx 50sec motortime but great climb even with only 17x9 prop. Not easy to make a good video on my own but I made one just for fun. Not any good video at all so don't be disappointed. But it shows that things work :-) 6,8mb .wmv HERE
DAY ..
12. April 2005 |
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DAY ..
11. April 2005 - No flying today but a lot of work have been done. Started up the "secret" prototype F3F/DS model from ET-AIR (Espen Torp) and finished my electro fuse for Superior I have had for a long time. I fitted a brand new FAI 18 controller (software 4E2), a new 10cell CP1700 pack and my trusty Hacker B50-6S with 6,7:1 gear. Tested a good bunch of batteries and propellers today and all now seems fine as long as I don't use my old packs. When running above 100amps one need batteries that are in a good condition is what I have found. The finished electro Superior ended up at 2250g without batteries. With 10 cells the total weight is 2733g (2544g with 6 cells). |
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DAY ..
10. April 2005 -
Krystall
Cup F3J - First competition in Norway as usual. Normally we have it on the ice but this year we waited a few weeks and had in on the beach instead. It worked great and 15 pilots had a blast in four rounds. The conditions were not optimal since the southern wind made it a bit turbulent. But the weather was nice and food made by the Inge's wife Kristin was super as always and included in the starting fee of only 50Nkr (6EUR). We used my timing gear and it seemed to work great again. The MP3 player repeated track one the whole day only interrupted by lunch. After 3 rounds I had 3x 1000points and was fairly happy in the difficult conditions. Since there is no finals here there is no point in "staying with the crowd" but instead do your own thing. Maybe I should have stayed with the crowd because last round was a disaster and I dropped into 3rd place. But I got wood as Gordy would have said :-) A few new faces and I think they had a good time. Today's best newcomer was Bernhard that really did well with his Space pro. He also brought his Espada but did not use it. The guys from Lillehammer also turned up and showed us their smiling faces. On the picture with Dragonfly Ivar Børsheim. Todays best happening was SUPER service by Thorbjørn Jespersen from T&K seilflysport. He had brought me another brand new Kontronik FAI 18 controller. And I had not even asked for it! He wanted to know if why my motor setup did not work. And I agree it is strange. The best F5F/F5B guys in the world uses it. Now that's service! I guess I will have to test tomorrow. |
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 DAY ..
9. April 2005 - New day and new possibilities. Tried to have some flights with the AVA today also but only the first climb was good. I did not understand what was happening untill I read RC-groups about the controller. It just plain don't work well on some poor old batteries. Even on 18 cell F5B models it is not up to it if your battery is bad. But I will consult the reseller before I try something else (probably Hacker 195 or Shulze 149).  I even tried the
controller on a Kontronik 42-60 I happen to have. Now the controller had
problems starting the motor also... (see conclusion on 12.april).Oh BTW my son understood the point and started hammering the winch turnaround into a rock. Hahahaha Tomorrow its first F3J competition in Norway. Ahhhh good old running also :-)
DAY ..
8. April 2005
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DAY ..
5. April 2005
- Wind is high today so I went to a nearby slope (Karihus) for
some slope action. But after assembling 2 models the wind
suddenly changed. Luckily I had bought a new controller for my
motor in the AVA just to discover that it was not big enough for
my motor. My motor is a specially made motor for F5F and no
matter what I did the controller said it was too much.. The
controller can now be bought cheap if someone needs it. It is
only tested and found ok (it works great on other motors I
have...). I have now ordered a VERY expensive Kontronik FAI18
instead (3 times as expensive sadly....). So back to the flying:
The slope is only 50m from the car and the wind-change made me
pack up and move 5-600m so I had to pack all in the car and
drive there and assemble again. Now my Pike Brio went out for a
good spin and the lift was great. Full aerobatic with one
chamber of lead (600g) is great offcourse. After 30-40min of
flying I landed and headed back home.
DAY ..
3. April 2005
- Warm and sunny day on the ice. Even my wife came with me and
my son. My son (Fredrik) wanted to fly and that I can not say no too. So
I took out the Fling and the bungee that came with it. It is only a
small bungee but it gives enough power to give a very good height with
that small plane. In zero lift it is usually enough for 2-3min flying
time and only 10m to walk for the parachute as long as the wind is
blowing your direction. I also flew my Shockflyer a bit and some other
guys also had a nice time on the ice. Tom Olav had an encounter with the
ice but says he have more planes.... A cool one today was the small cub
with homemade winter shoes! Incredible how much fun one can have with
inexpensive models on a nice sunny day.
Til helgen:
Invitasjon
til "Sparebank1 Jevnaker/Lunner Krystall Cup F3J 2005"
Silent
Flight Team Hadeland har for 9. gang gleden av å invitere natur-,
glass-, mat- og termikk-elskende modellflyvenner til sesongåpning, med
årets første "Stevnemøte" i F3J, søndag 10. april. I år er
stevnet lagt noen uker senere enn normalt, og vi håper på tørr sand (badestrand)
under beina i år, ikke is. De som har vært der tidligere vet vi kommer
tilbake. De som ikke har vært med tidligere, vet ikke hva de går glipp
av...
Her kan dere lese
fjorårets resultater.
Meld dere på til
inge@balswick.no
DAY ..
1. April 2005
- Spring is here and I moved to a nearby slope to finish of the
1 hour task for LSF II. I used the AVA because a high pressure makes the
thermals small and therefore the wind is not from the bottom of the
valley (no seaslopes around here...). First flight was difficult as the
thermic cycles brought me good lift but I had to let go when they past
2-300m behind me and went for the slope again. The slopelift between the
thermals was not good enough and my local slope does not offer landings
below the slope other than 100-200 below. So it was an adrenaline kick
to fly 3-4 times below the slope before a new thermal gave me lift
again. I landed on top after 34min but had to fly again offcourse. Next
flight lasted an hour and I was bored after 30min of flying even though
it was tough again. The paraglider guys were also there but only had
short flights down to the ice. So I did not dare to fly any bigger
airplanes today. I am also slowly moving towards JR... Fitted a stand
that is really for a JR but it was ok on my EVO also. Got the stand from
www.RC-flight.com
