Dagbok April mnd 2002

DAY .. 30.April-2002
-07:30h - Poor weather the last days but i have been working a bit in the workshop and also my son got to be 5 years old. Offcourse he got a new airplane.... I have also been making a treasure-map for the childrensparty this weekend. I am going for F3J in Sweden but should be back home in time to see if the kids managed to understand the treasure-map of the new millenium!! Start in the sand, work your way thru the garden, pick up the trail and pass the banana-tree before you find the treasure by the wood-pile.....

Now thats a treasure-map of the next millenium!

DAY .. 28.April-2002
-07:30h - Up and away before the birds were singing. That is no problem when competition is the goal. The day was to be spent at Spydeberg and competition in 3x12minutes electrosoaring. The weather was nice at arrival with sunny sky and only 2-3m/s wind that sadly picked up during the day. I measured 10m/s at the strongest but my Organic was actually ok in the strong wind. The best model today would have been a F5B-model (like the Suprice 10 that the winner had) and go really high. But I am proud that I managed to circle thermals in each round and ended up in second place with the Organic 2,5m. My friend Petter had to call it a day because of jitter in the second round but I guess he still had a good day at the field.
I guess I have to mention that I started the day with crash of my VIP-400 (flying to low in strong wind) and during the day test flew an Adrenalin in the same category for Dag Eckhoff (yes the model flew well...). I finished the day with flying X-wing and Select DLG in the strong wind and actually the Select handled the wind better than the X-wing. Detailed results from the event can be found here.

Arne Simonsen gives help to the junior Per Kristian Wulvik

DAY .. 27.April-2002
-18:00h - A long way from home my friend Petter Østbye have good red wine and a hobby room full of unfinished models... Guess who has to start working on them before tomorrows competition?? His Organic 2,5m electro was offcourse ready by the time we went to bed! Anyhow we also went outside in the rainy rain and tested a Electric Aliance that Petter have. It is equiped with a Brushless Hacker B20 and goes vertcal from your hand. The only problem was that Petter's Graupner radio has HUGE trim controls and the aileron trim was way offsett by the time I was ready.... See my scary face on the picture as the models goes knife-edge over the car-roof before I got control again.

-12:00h - They were hungry but no running pigs were in sight.....
One of our sponsors (To the national team of F3J 2002) is on a weekend trip with some of the employees and they wanted some test flying to see what model flying was. When I arrived the weather was really bad with snow and strong wind so it was decided that only small electric flying was possible.
A small flying wing was charged and some air-shotguns were prepared to get the whole thing down from the sky!!!! Thank god I didn't fly my bigger planes or this would have been expensive. The Flying Wing came down full of holes but are still flyable. Next time I think they will have bigger guns!
A big thanks to Gylling Teknikk AS for the raffle prizes and also for buying tickets in the big Aeromodelling raffle. Be sure to buy tickets you also!!

DAY .. 21.April-2002
-12:00h - I have finally got the answer I wanted from my doctor.... Now I can use my back as it should be stronger than it was before the operation in january. See picture of my 4 big screws (at L4-5 low in my back) and and see why F3J starts will be higher and faster than ever... Did I say that ??? Those screws doesn't get loose so maybe we should use those instead of the stake in F3J... (F3J-joke)
Anyhow I hope to be competitive and in full action by the end of summer so look out all competitors in F3J WC in Finland this year! For those of you that wants to compete in F3J you should take a look at this years BIG RAFFLE with a Stratos SL X-tail in first price!!!!! Look no further than to the biggest aeromodelling raffle this year F3J.no/2002/raffle

-14:00h - Since my back finally can be tested I brought my big winch and a few models to the local field for some training. 22 degrees in the shadow and 4-5m/s wind was great to practice both F3B with Wizard Compact 2 and some F3J with the Pike SuperLight. I cant wait to fly some competition again. The Wizard was tested with almost full ballast (750g that gives a total of apx.2800g) in 4 speed runs and some distance tasks before i went over to the Pike SL. The weather was really hard to fly in since I live down into a valley and wind is never constant airflow. But this gives great landing practice and flying behind big trees in 5m/s is not the same as DS.... The planes are ready for the next comp....

Ready with the Wizard and 750g of ballast

DAY .. 21.April-2002
-kl.12:00 - Our small flying field is finally without snow and the guys is almost kissing the grass after a long winter on the ice. I brought my Organic electro and took a few throws with the Select (and one flight with the X-wing offcourse). Nice thermals a little up in the sky but nothing that the Select would profit on. Spent almost 5 hours a coke and some candy before dinner....

Geir Atle just loves his screwdriver....

The family Støveland in action (he forgot his crystals...)

         DAY .. 20.April-2002
-kl.14:00 - A few more photos of the Select in the photo gallery. I promised a cool timer board! Here it is. All Carbon and with my name engraved off course... Have to get a pen-holder but then its finished.
         DAY .. 17.April-2002
-kl.14:00 - Back from the 1000km trip I brought a little rascal called "Select". It is a DLG (Discus Launch Glider) or SAL (Side Arm Launch) if you want that name that ET-AIR is selling. ET-AIR is also supplying free mini-Select's for the national junior team F3J 2002. The Select can be fitted with 2-4 servos and I first fitted 3 and then have tried also with rudder-control. I have fitted all 4 servos in the fuse as you can see on this picture. Not much room for more... It launches great with discus launch and does not need any extra control in the launch (normally one needs a little down elevator and aileron when launching). I think I will take out some of the servos and only use 2 in the future to save weight. Sadly I was a bit foolish to throw the whole glider into a telephone-wire and have now done some repairs... Anyhow the glider seems nice and is cool for DLG. A lot more throwing photos is collected and displayed HERE. The problem now is that after today's two sessions I have a really bad back and I think I will have to take it easy a few days!!!

         DAY .. 16.April-2002
-kl.15:00 - Still no wind in the morning but just excellent at about 15:00. Figure eights and really great DS in the not spectacular conditions but cool and safe all the day. Made almost an hour of flight time and had used 600mah on the receiver battery. This slope really rips and it would be great to be here when its blowing 15m/s and flying F3F (and DS off course..)
Have take a lot of pictures. See 29 pictures HERE.

         DAY .. 15.April-2002
-kl.09:00 - Rolf Inge Waaga is the good guy giving me a few days of from the family life. He and his friend Arild Møllerhaug just happens to live just a few km away from some of Norway's best DS-slopes I have seen (DS = Dynamic soaring, "backside sloping"). Early there was no wind so we made some barbeque and had a few beers waiting for the wind. About 16:00 we were on top of the mountain and could feel that lovely breeze of just 6-7m/s. This is enough here and we made some great frontside action before we tried to sacrifice some models to the DS-gods. I had brought my new Wizard Compact 2 and had over 2 hour flight-time this day without any damage. Offcourse it was not ripping in the DS but the conditions were just great for practicing DS and continuous flight in the back was possible almost all the time. At 20:30 we made the way back home to my friend.

          DAY .. 14.April-2002
-kl.07:00 - Just great! RAIN is all I can see out the window and that's how it was all day long. On a local kinder playground me and Kjell Arne Fjelde made some circles with our X-wings but mostly we talked and played with Espen's CNC-machine (made some cool timerboard in carbon that you can see later..). At 1600 hours we hit the road and went to some friends in Haugesund "just" 100km away.
         DAY .. 13.April-2002
-kl.16:30 - Listening to phonecalls and SMS broadcasting that the conditions were excellent made me jump into the car and begin a journey some 500km away. The destination was Stavanger on the west coast of Norway. Todays fine weather made it possible for my friends to have a F3F-contest without me... The next day they were having a new competition so I just couldn't resist it. 7 Hours later and some canyon flying later I arrived at Espen Torp's house in Stavanger. call me crazy I dont mind :-)

         DAY .. 12.April-2002
-kl.12:00 - Yet another day on the "small" slope in Fagernes. Brought my Wizard Compact 2 but it wasn't enough wind to do some serious flying. Cought a few thermals with my X-wing, let the sun tan my face and had lunch on the slopeside.... great!
         DAY .. 11.April-2002
-kl.12:00 - Sun, 15 degrees Celsius, 300m slope side and some great thermals is not something that one would have every day. The Organic was thrown out into the peace and found warm air rising after just few seconds!! Wow what a ride on the thermal coaster. The best about this glider is that its light, can be fitted with motor, picks thermals if there are any and also flies very fast if you want to. I also picked thermals with my X-wing but in the sink areas the X-wing is just a stone falling and needs all the power it has. After an hour or so a few friends with paragliders showed up. It was the "Sæbu-brothers" that wanted to try the sky for some thermal activity. Håkon was first and got a nice trip all the way down to Fagernes about 300m below. Gunner was second and got a nice thermal but just after the takeoff. Sadly he missed a turn and had to go thru some bad air on the way out in the valley. Got some nice photos of them and have collected all of the 22 pictures here if they want to order them for private use. If you read Norwegian you can see Håkon and Gunnar Sæbu and their logbooks for paraglider tours.

Håkon Sebu looks for some thermal activity

DAY .. 10.April-2002
-kl.13:00 - Nice wind from the north and my plan was to check out the mountain for some DS-flying. Unfortunately my DS-slope is up high in the mountains about 40km away and there it is still snow. Because of that I have to depend upon the machines that will remove the snow before the summer... Guess what! Still "road closed". Stopped by the road and flew some X-wing but that is boring when you were hoping for some DS and the wind was just perfect. The Wizard will have to wait a few more days/weeks for some real action.
DAY .. 8.April-2002
-kl.17:00 - My friend Roar Steine has finally got to senses and picked up model flying again. He bought a X-wing from me and invested in new TX here the other day. Finally it was time for some real time on the ice and he had found one old but ok model long down into the basement. He just forgot one thing: Rubber gets old!! The wings is put on by rubber and his 4 year old rubber would not be among us anymore... The result you can see on the pictures. Amazingly enough the engine is still ok! I brought the Diablotin for a spin and tried a different propeller and battery. I was not enough for hovering so I changed back and burned up another speed 300... Anyhow a little cold today, but ok.

DAY .. 7.April-2002
-kl.14:00 - Some of us like to cruise around looking for thermal others just like the smell of real power. Myself - is a true thermal beliver but cant help it, I just need that electric power..... Today i flew both the Diablotin Tiger (burned up another speed 300) and two nice flights with the Organic. This time i had changed the nose to electric power and went vertical as you see. Lovely day with 10-15 degrees and no wind. BTW Organic picture was Christian pushing the button... I just need a camera with timer-switch and serial pictures!!!

Johansen just home from the hospital. (knee operation)

DAY .. 6.April-2002
-kl.11:00 - Decided to write English for a few days to see if I remember how to spell the words....
Today I was flying a Organic 2,5m and a VIP-400 (speed 400). I also borrowed a helicopter and tried to learn how to fly that. It ended up that the owner was really nervous...... Some of the pilots also tried to get a dogfighter into the air as you see. The throwing style is not something to copy!!! It finally got into the air.
Good story about my new Hornet helicopter:... You know those fishing holes on the ice ???? Well when it is getting warmer the hole gets bigger and it doesn't get frozen anymore. Since I am very new to flying helicopter I had to land a few meters away and guess what i found! The only hole seen in miles!!! Had to reach down the hole and grab the helicopter before it went to the bottom. The whole evening went to dry up the thing and now it is working again.

DAY .. 5.April-2002
-kl.11:00 - Well haven't been able to fly any today but the net is "full" of interesting pictures and videos.
Wow, wow, wow what happened here!! English ? Yes this one is for Jane that always surfs through my place :-)
Espen has been to La Muela (international F3F comp.) and put out some nice pictures. You will find them HERE.
But the pictures that really was good just came from John McCurdy. See them HERE.
Also there are pictures other places:
Gliderking (also video but huge 14mb and upwards), Kevin Newton, Mike Shellim and Planet-soaring.
With limited connection you can sit all day just wondering how it would be if we were just there....

DAG .. 3.April-2002
-kl.11:00 - Hmmm isen er farlig. Tenkte at isen skulle være stor nok for ett pittelite Hornet helikopter. Nå er vel ikke jeg akkurat dreven helikopterpilot enda, men jeg hovrer såvidt etter tre dagers trening. I dag skjente helikopteret litt ut til høyre og jeg landet en 6-7meter borte. Hva var vel ikke der enn det eneste vannhullet som fantes på hele isen. Her hadde nok en eller annen luring vært på isfiske og hullet hadde utvidet seg litt. hele helikopteret fikk jaggu meg plass nedi dette hullet før jeg fikk rivi det opp i siste liten. Det ble nesten ubåt av det hele!!!!! Nå i kveld har det tørket og det ser ut til å virke, det hovret ihvertfall....
Ser enda ingen grunn til å gjøre ferdig pyntekroppen på helikopteret.....
Nå må jeg få tak i noen drev, for gutta sier at dette helikopteret skal fly bra! Vi gir oss ikke så lett.
DAG .. 2.April-2002
Hovring og mere innstillinger på helikopteret. Har ett problem med drevene som ikke vil sitte på motoren. Må nok bestille en liten haug av disse. Fikk ihvertfall vært oppe i en 15-20m høyde idag og litt frem og tilbake før jeg måtte lande i en snøhaug...

DAG .. 1.April-2002
-kl.11:00 - Tom A. Hansen med familie tok seg en formiddagstur til Valdres og hentet likegodt med seg en V-tronic hjem igjen. Eller var det omvendt ? Uansett drakk vi noen bøtter med kaffe, fløy V-tronic i hagen og Hornet prøvde vi å starte både i stua og i gata. Hornet'en er dessverre enda ikke helt ferdig ser det ut for og jeg sliter med deler som burde vært satt bedre fast osv... Fikk en liten haug med bilder av Tom som dere ser her + hans digre vinterprosjekt, en Dauntless:

-kl.14:00 - Hornet er ferdig, men det er mye leamikk selv på dette lille helikopteret. Har såvidt fått lettet det fra bakken, men gyroen tok kvelden og virket ikke. Mulig det er pga kulden den ikke ville mer. Det har ihvertfall hovret litt.
På isen er det fremdeles litt folk nå siste dag i påsken. 3x familien Weeg hadde funnet frem nye akromodeller og tok felles take-off fra stripa. Også idag gikk det en modell i stripa, men denne gangen var det nok en overmodig nybegynner og ikke Kåre.... (se 31.mars). Må vel konstatere hele 3 helikoptre på isen i dag og ingen seilfly. Været var overskyet, men varmt og fint.

Januar 2002 - Det er kaldt, vinter, elektroflyging, men også plutselig varmegrader og årets første 12min termikktur. Fikk endelig slept i gang Mini-phønix'n og har testet en ny X-wing fra Flying wings i Stavanger.
Februar 2002 - Begynner å komme meg etter ryggoperasjonen og heldigvis..! kom den nå når det ikke er flysesong. Det viktigste som skjedde i Februar var opprettelsen av flere domenenavn: F3J.no (landslaget F3J) og VFKM.no (Valdres Flyklubb Modell). Klubben fikk seg også ny Skanner.
Mars 2002 - Dette ble en skikkelig modellflymåned!! Nye NM-regler på danskebåten, test av Diablotin for MI, Fagernes Flyshow, Årsmøte NAK, slepetreff Starmoen og Krystall Cup på Jevnaker (3'de plass). Endelig har også vinsjen kommet seg ut av dvalen igjen. Fremdeles ikke helt god i ryggen, så jeg må hjelp til de tyngste løftene med vinsjen.
April - Over to English writing and nobody has complained yet (and almost nobody has said anything at all about it). This month has finally brought slopeflying and some DS again. I have also brought home a second place in 3x12min electro competition with the Organic electro.

Vil du Tilbake til Hovedside dagbok ? Jo Grini