DAY ..
31. August 2005
- Out with my Pike Giant today on the winch and found why it did not
start very well in one of the starts at Nationals. It was a
program-error from me actually... Anyhow the model started well I
just did not build up tension fast enough. I also broke the 1,35mm
line so many times today that I almost gave up flying. In the end I
gave up tying the knot and tapped the thing up with lots of down
elevator as soon as the tension were building. This model can give
you extreme tension and converts it into speed extremely well if the
settings are correct. My son took some ridiculously bad video with
my phone (2mp phone but bad videos). So only txt today. This weekend
there is Nordic championship F3J on Spydeberg in Norway. I am
looking forward to it.
DAY ..
29. August 2005
- OK there should be no reason for me to fly now with all that
practice in the weekend but I did. It was blowing hard today and I
really wanted to find a sweet spot on my Giant with lead. Lots of
turbulence and I found a good spot for it. I also found what
settings to go with that spot offcourse. Because there is no "sweet
spot" on CG. There is spots for each camber setting and air
condition together. I think I am pretty ok set for differential
also. I did atleast turn it pretty much on a dime in the high winds
(10-15m/s).
DAY ..
26-28. August 2005 - Nationals F3J
- Yihaa!!!! - National champion
4th time in a row!!! It was the most
horrible flying conditions one can imagine even though the sun was
out most of the time. The wind came over a small hill and made the
flying almost like flying behind a slope in the turbulence. The
thermals developed on the field but offcourse never got big or
released before they had travelled behind us. And in 15mph winds on
the ground and more in altitude one had to be careful. I even took
good times and landing a bit
farther away a few times to get good scores. That is one strange
tactical thing to do!!! Most of the times I got home but it was much
about stretching limits and coming home the right way. We got 7
prelim rounds and 4 final rounds in 1 1/2 day and that is good with
18 competitors (4 teams).
Yes I did fly my Pikes. 2pre and 2finals with Giant and yes they are
Volz and JR9303 powered! Other than that it was more about tactical
than models....
Strange
detailed scores HERE
Beware my camera is for repair so I used my mobile camera.
-
Pictures HERE -
Pictures Ivar HERE -
Mainne HERE
And some super pictures at the
organizing club.
See them
HERE
All the pilots in front of the
bridge (The worlds strongest maelstrom). Photo by Vegard Børsheim
Food and frequency pins. All in one place
offcourse... Photo by Vegard Børsheim
This is how I smile when I reach a good placing..
Photo: Vegard Børsheim
DAY ..
24. August 2005
- Bad weather all week but today the wind came down in the
evening. So I pulled out the AVA and the bungee for some late night
flights. The wind was down but came down from the mountain and gave
me some bad sink. The AVA is great in calm weather but in sink you
cant go anywhere. Still I think it was great practice since there
are big differences in the air ALWAYS.
DAY ..
24. August 2005 - Giant arrived
- My brand new Pike Giant tips arrived today!!!! And they
are ready for action. Sadly I sent my models with a car for the
Nationals F3J this weekend (I am going by plane) so I don't get to
test them until Friday. I could have fitted them on a electro fuse
but I don't think I bother. Looking good and off course ready made
with 30% hinge line. I fitted them with the best there is of thin
servos. There are room for 13mm servo but I had some brand new
Volz WingMaxx HP digitals that is very fast and strong. The
Giant tips are an idea of mine that I think will make the Brio THE
F3J killer machine in all active conditions. There might be some
German morning conditions you would like the Superior but as long as
there are a thermal you WILL reach it with this model. A quick
measurement shows 64dm2 (99inch2) and a total wingspan of 3,3m
(118inches). Very cool numbers ;-) The tips can be produced a SL 68
for F3J/TD (230g each) or like mine carbon 80 (282g each) for all
types of flying. I want to start in those hard conditions and hard
landings so I like them rigid.
DAY ..
21. August 2005 - F3J
- Competition day and I was CD with a big hangover. But it
was ok and I needed the practice so set of for long flying times
ending up flying 0,5s over the time and was out of the finals right
away!! But it was a good competition though the conditions were good
in most of the rounds. Very warm and therefore the thermals were not
always so strong but were all over the place. Some sinkholes got us
fooled a couple of times though. I ended up just outside the finals
in 5th place of 16 competitors.
Results HERE
DAY ..
20. August 2005
- Arrived Spydeberg for tomorrows competition and met up
with some of the guys. We had a nice flying session and a good party
into the night. Yes I know party is not good before a competition
but it was a calculated risk that did not pay of...
The pictures are not super since my camera is on the desk for
repair. But I bought a camera phone that does and ok job.
DAY ..
19. August 2005
- Yet another day on the football field but now there seems
to be some farmers field ready for me. I had a good time flying my
Brio and are testing some new landing settings that I will have to
try in competition this weekend. When I got home I received what
Gordy feels is my next toy ;-) A "Miss
Mayflower". A flying boat! Thanks Gordy!!!!
DAY ..
18. August 2005
- Used the day to prepare lines for Nationals and Nordic F3J
but also a small flight with 3DX
DAY ..
17. August 2005
- Practice on the football field in the day and meeting with
the powerguys in the evening. I flew my newest Pike Superior and
also the 3DX together with Arild. A small video
HERE. Not any good one
but mostly to test my wifes camera. My camera is on the bench for
repairs after a long Nats...
DAY ..
15. August 2005
- A great day at Klanten airfield and got my "old" superior
dialed in with JR radio, MPX Rx again (have used JR770S in USA on
all models). I got a new module from T&K and as usual JR/Graupner is
slightly stronger than MPX.
Simple range check shows almost the same though.
DAY ..
11. August 2005
- Another day at the football field. And yes I admit that
using a bungee saves you a bit of time if the rain comes in to ruin
your day... My son got a little bored as I did not let him fly my
Pike in this small field and low altitude... Otherwise a great
flying day.
DAY ..
10. August 2005
- Very few local fields that are open (farmers still not
ready for winter) so I ended up in a football field with the bungee.
Checked out the Pike Brio and found faults after Nats I needed to
fix. Then I had 10 flights on the Pike Superior and offcourse now on
35mhz again after being on 72 in USA. Warm here today but low clouds
and some heavy wind in the mountains made it good for landing
practice.
DAY ..
9. August 2005
- Norwegian weather here... But today there was an opening
and I brought out my new bungee that my uncle kindly did not see any
use for. It is perfect for me so thanks Per Arne!!!! This rubber is
for workout but seems to be perfect for our small histart's. Alf
Erik have made a small documet about it
HERE (nor. txt.)
The new tube is great. One can stretch it up to 6 times and buy it
in all sorts of strenghts... It is possibly produced in USA
http://www.thera-band.com/resistive.html Dont know the price in
USA but here in Norway it is better than normal "model-rubber"
and much better. For F3B/J planes the Silver is what you want. Long histart 100feet (30m). Small fields 50feet or even 25ft might be
enough for some... For 2m or normal F3B launches the black type. I
have this one and some times run it double (2x50feet). Made a small
video from what my son captured on my camera.
http://www.workflow.as/jogrini/video/bungee.wmv (2,5mb).
Personally I would rather like to set up my winch with short line
(less work actually) but rubber is offcourse less expensive...
DAY ..
4. August 2005
- Met up with a friend that have a cottage in the area. We
went to Slettefjell for some sloping action and the conditions was
nice even though the wind came a bit from the side. I flew my
Shongololo and Ole Heiberg flew his Mini Elipse. Afterwards we
travelled down into a cool valley for some barbeque. A nice day out
even though I still have some jetlag...
6.august 2005 -
Back home
I have a huge number of pictures (700 + a compiled video)
that I dont find much room for on the internet. So: Any of you
attending Nats (and my sponsors) can have one CD sent for free in the mail. All
others can also have if you donate a dollar or 10 to my paypal....
Send me an email with your contact details and I will ship ;-)
--- jo (@) grini.no ----
Hilsen (Regards) Jojo - personal website:
www.grini.no
Like my site ? Push the button
and donate a Euro or two...
I will be gone on a trip (19/7 - 2/8) I have been
looking forward to for a long time.
Last year in WC F3J, Canada I met up with some great guys that
wanted me over...
For updates from Nats (Nationals sailplanes in USA) go here:
