DAY
.. 31. August 2004 -
Setup of F3X-model
New article released. Rewritten during WC. Enjoy and give me feedback if you
like it :-) Article
HERE
DAY
.. 31. August 2004
Out with the AVA electric today. Went to a local slope just above Fagernes
and found some thermals out in the valley. The wind was south so I should
have gone to another slope but this is closed due to paragliders been too
much on the farmers gras (Karihus). Actually this is sad since the site is
closed by old members of the pg/gh club that even dont have a flying licence
(according to what I hear). They just found a small complaint from the
farmer enough to close the site during summer. I talked to the farmer and he
is sad about it. He has rented the whole field out to another farmer
(complicated, yes...) and he is not sure this farmer will have it also next
year. The field is small and rented out for free so wee might try to rent it
for next year.
Anyhow I flew my AVA and found the thermals I wanted and landed well dispite
some bad turbulence. Have you ever tried flying a blue model down in a
valley? Blue does not go well with forrest in the background...
DAY
.. 30. August 2004
Since I am going to NATS next year I need to test how a skeg (or large
toothpick) will work. It is not allowed in F3J but some competitions in USA
it is allowed. I figured I would do the same as my friend Gordy Stahl and
found a brass tube that I glued in front of my fuse (with lots of
microballons and carbon). A 5mm carbon rod is inserted and gives me a good
skeg that I also can adjust the size of. I can also insert a 8mm rod if the
ground is very soft or adjust the length...
DAY
.. 29. August 2004
Today I was spectator for the nationals in dogfight. It is actually pretty
exciting when they fly finals with 1/12 World war 2 flying machines and they
try to snap each others 12m long tapes. They start up with a "scramble" and
run to start their machines. A quick start will give you extra points and so
will cuts of tape or "hits" with others. There is also points for time in
air during the 7min working time. Our local club leader did not have a motor
that started well but did some cuts in the final that gave him the best
score in the finals and moved to a good 4th place. Congrats Kjell Arne with
a good competition and I think this gave you a good start on flying
competitions. I took a lot of pictures.
42 pictures can be seen HERE. I also made a small
video
HERE (7mb .wmv).
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DAY
.. 27. August 2004
Indoor season has started. Well not completely indoor but when the schools
start we have the sports hall every friday evening. Sadly I was alone but I
did get some practice with my X-wing. 280/6v motor, Lipo 1p2s and Gunther
prop makes a lot of fun for 20-25 minutes and since I have two packs I can
"fly forever".
Team trials F3J USA
I
will go to the NATS in Muncie, USA next year!! With help from a lot of cool
guys I am able to finance the trip. I thank you a lot: Jim McCarthy,
Larry Jolly, Gordy Stahl, Dr. Danny C. Williams, Jim Bacus, and John Diniz.
I am now on the look for a competitive DLG also - to be able to compete
in almost all sailplane classes over there!!
Team trials F3J USA
Don't know when, were or what yet but I am invited to the team trials in USA
by Jim McCarthy. Read most of the discussion
HERE. I am honored guys :-) The discussion is going on at the RCSE list
that is seated ? or atleast
HERE and
HERE and
HERE
DAY
.. 26. August 2004
AVA in the air again. This time with electric fuse and 6 cells. I had two
long flights in very calm conditions. This model will go up on anything and
now I have moved the CG to a better position (110mm for electro and 115mm as
sailplane) so it reacts much more to light lift. According to Vladimir (the
producer) there will hopefully be a midsection with flap made during the
winter. Might be a "must have" as this model is very relaxing to fly. Links:
Vladimir models
and the reseller
Kennedy Composites
WC leftovers: Now and then I will release some small stuff from the WC. This time it is time for some of the guys that are really crazy (like me). So a small video can be downloaded HERE (1,3mb). I kept it small since it is mostly talking by Gordy. Later I hope to make time for some launching, landings, etc. Maybe a whole movie but time will tell.
DAY
.. 24. August 2004
Just had to go flying in the evening. Had some new wiring done on the
Shongololo and it worked fine today. Sadly the rain came so I did not get as
much flying as I wanted. But I was outside and that is a lot better than
looking at the television :-) Need to take a look at South African flying
machines ?
http://www.murdoog.co.za/ shows their models. Craig Goodrum ended up in
4th place this WC. He mostly used his Eish.
BTW Do you see the caps ? It is actually from the Turkish team at WC in
Finland 2002. I forgot to bring it for the WC in Canada. Turkey have a very
nice website at
www.soarist.com . Turkey was last in WC but this time they ended 2nd. Maybe I should apply for the job as National coach?. They must have been working good as a team the last two years!
DAY
.. 23. August 2004
Was going for a awhole day on the field but was hang up by my mother that
needed some help. Ended up for a evening session that was ok but not good.
It was calm but after setting up the winch there was a small draft from the
back. Tested some launching styles with the Brio and the Shongololo. Was
really lucky with the Shongololo as the whole right wing started to jitter.
Landed with only left wing working. Seems that I will have to do some
rewiring. The Brio flew weell as always but all tests failed and starting
with a lot of lead in poor conditions does not give me a big grin on my
face... So I took it all out for a last flight and my smile came again :-)
Caracho 3.1 for salg: Se HER
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DAY
.. 21. August 2004 - Shongololo alias "Jacket-machine"
- At the worlds in F3J I traded myself into a deal on a Shongololo. This is
a "copy" of the Racemachine. Well not excactly as the South Africa pilots
(Michelle and Craig Goodrum) got the airfoils and produced their own moulds
anad called it Shongololo. It is not excactly the same but very similar in
geometry. I promissed to do a maiden flight within a month and so I have
done. The model I got was a bit abused and have done a lot of airtime but
after a few hours it was atleast ready for a flight. It needs more time to
get in good shape but I wanted to try it before I used more time on it.
Today it was 4-5m/s wind when I arrived so I left for a slope instead of the
winch. Offcourse when I was ready to toss it the wind dropped to 2-3m/s but
hey wew do take some chances don't we ? The model flew well right from my
hand but the CG might need to be a bit more aft (I started at 100mm from
leading edge). I tested a few settings but needs better conditions to
conclude more. It seems that it might be a nice model for me at the slope so
that I can keep my Pike's at the winch... This model was 2225g and is pretty
stiff. I even got a DS joiner supplied with the model :-) My son operatd the
camera most of the session and a small movie can be downloaded
HERE (1,4mb).
DAY
.. 18. August - 2004
- Bob came by and wondered if th wind might give us a chance today. Yes I
said but now it is late in the day so the wiwnd might die when the thermals
get weaker in the valley. We headed for Fagernes and a slope called Karihus.
It is closed for summer by the local HG/PG club but by walking on the side
of the farmers field you can access... Sadly the wind was completely wrong
as a big raincloud was behind us. So we headed back to my place and flew my
X-wing in the road :-) A small video by Bob with my camera
HERE (4,7mb).
On the picture you can see Bob just wanting to throw the model - but wrong
way Bob!!! It was offcourse just for the picture.
DAY
.. 15. August - 2004
- From West Europe Bob Hopman and his girlfriend came to Norway for a 2 week
holiday. Bob is a keen slope-pilot and has his own slopesite at
www.hellingzweven.nl . Later this
year he will move to south Germany and I think we will see more to him in
F3F. Bob owns a couple of nice planes that we brought out for some action
today. He have a Opus DS like me but today he only flew the Focus from
Marcus Becker (a plane I tried to order but never got...). We ended up on my
DS slope but with no wind the only plane I could fly was the Vector Zero
wing. Then we went to Slettefjell (800m slope) but the fog did some tricks
on us. But we did fly and his girlfriend made a small video of me flying in
the fog. It is not good and might be boring but if you just HAVE to see all
videos on the net
HERE it is
:-) I think we had a good time anyhow and just maybe we will get some
flying done on friday.
DAY
.. 11. August - 2004
- WC is over we are back home. Alexander is still at my place as he is going
straight to "young eagles"-event. This is an event for those 18 or under
were they can try almost everything. Parachuting, sailplanes, modelling,
etc. It is a yearly event and almost all expenses are paid for them. But
today we had some punishing F3J practice... We headed for Klanten airfield
as the temperature was over 30 degrees celcius down in the valley. It was
better at Klanten (at 820m above sealevel.
I have also collected most of the photos we had on the thunderstorm during
WC. If it was not for all the planes sitting in the back of our truck we
would have headed to the center..! Earlier in the week we had experienced a
small sandtornado during practice. Most pilots landed straight away while me
and Aril flew straight into it. We did get bumped around but it was cool and
extremely strong lift. I wowuld do it again for sure :-)
All the thunderstorm pictures are here
Check www.F3X.no for my updates