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:
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DAY ..
16. July 2005 - Goldagan - Yearly event by the nearby club in Gol (same club that have Klanten and I am a member). Lots of the clubmembers were there and we had a blast though only 24 pilots might have been better (but leaves more time for us to fly). I brought my 3DX that many guys flew and my Pike Superior electro with new batteries that sadly went bad in the second flight. Seems there was a "monday" soldering and it went soft. The controller did just as it was supposed to and blinked 6 times for low voltage. I thought it was strange and made a small timing on my Tx for throttle and got it to work but in the air it sounded like something was wrong. Emailed the reseller so we will see... Erik was also there as he is returning to Bergen with a Westad winch and lots of fun it seems. First pictures shows Odd-Arne and Pålern that have fun as always with 3m Decathlon and 3,75m Fox. Inverted fun is one of Pål's funstuff... check picture 3... Have some simple video HERE (17mb .wmv). Had lots of aerobatic but boring with my 320x240pixel video... Cool lowpass though! |
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DAY ..
14. July 2005
- Out flying with Arild behind the trees (oops in the trees) in
Arild's street. Photo shows my 3DX. Actually the best 3D depron
model I have ever had.
DAY ..
13. July 2005
- Some "Altitude training" before Nats sounded fine since the wind
was blowing well today. I packed the cab full with Shongololo and my
son before we went to Beitostølen for some DS. The wind was 15-20m/s
and pretty gusty at times so I expected some high speed and violent
share layer. So it was... After just 10min of DS the model "burped"
and a loose flap made me land. Taped it tight and of we went again.
This time it was no problem and I reached extreme speeds.
Temperature was 15 Celsius and we had a nice time. Last landing was
a bit poor with one tip in the dirt first but that's ok. I have the
Shongololo for this hard use....
DAY ..
12. July 2005
- Still very warm so me and Arild found some shade and flew by the
water. I had my old thrusty 3DX (a damn good model) and Arild with
Lierider. A good small session of flying before the wind picked up.
DAY ..
11. July 2005
- Me and Arild went flying in the park. Both with Shockflyers and
some fresh batteries. Had some good fun and scared some
sunbathers... Later I went to a small lake and started a small
barbeque together with wife and son. The Shockflyer is great to get
that fire warmer. The lake was warm so I started flying while
standing in the water. Great for a long time and touched the water
with the rudder. Then I asked my wife to take a picture and guess
what happened !-) Well the pictures speaks for itself. My son cought
some small fish and we all laughed. Also pictures from yesterday
evening. No flying but the "VG" magazine burned well... Cool
DAY ..
10. July 2005 -
Valdresfestivalen
- Lots of flying on the local festival and lots of people watching.
I flew my Turbulent and Osprey (that also worked as a rescue plane
one time).
Had some problems with engine mount on both the Osprey and Turbulent
but nothing some CA could not fix!
Lots
of picture by me HERE
DAY ..
9. July 2005 -
F5J Extreme
- Watched Aril fly his Shockflyer in the park but I had to watch
since I had a MB that leaves NO space for fun. But I squeezed in my
Superior electro and could have brought the winch also even with a
passenger. F5J Extreme today and I had got a new battery for my Pike
Superior. 10xGP2200 from Hopf in standard soldering actually fits
inside my Superior fuse with no rearranging (5+5cells). I attached a
16x13 Aeronaut (because I did not have any bigger diameter with
proper pitch). Now for all of you out there that buys one of these
be careful on the first charges if you have one of these zapped and
matched. It was 30 degrees Celsius outside and I charged with my
Orbit on auto. This gives 8A much of the charge and is a bit much.
The battery got VERY hot and I had to put it in the grass to cool of
before I could use it. It is supposed to be 50-70degrees when used
but not 80-100 like this was. Actually it was ok just when it was
finished but after a few minutes (fiddled with my radio) one could
feel the heat thru the fuse!! The F5B guys even heat the batteries
when charging because the cells get warm from inside and out (at
least that's what I think). Then the battery gets even warm and can
supply more. But too much heat and charging and it explodes. Another
thing we have noticed is that you need to charge on NiCd program. A
Shulze 330 on auto will say that the pack is finished but the pack
will not give much power. It needs an extra charge. That is not a
problem with my Orbit (though more expensive). A side note:
Strangely enough the American competition rules for electric
sailplanes only allows NiCd and not the new NiMh cells. And NiCd is
not allowed in Europe soon... Side note 2: They say that GP2200 can
be used with no zapping because they have very low internal
resistance already.
So to the flying.. I flew first one flight and used almost all my altitude before I found that thermal I needed. But it went up and I reached my 10min with only 10s motorrun and landed on 10:01 and 1-2 in landing. Next launch my rudder fluttered and I had to land immediately. The rudder servo had came loose (I mounted that myself hmm) and I had to tape it. With no rudder and small thermals it was difficult but I managed to stay up 9:59 and slided sideways in the landing for a 3-4m. Sadly I had used 3 climbs with a total of 27seconds. Third flight I found a bigger thermal after two short climbs and flew easy and calm in and out of it since my rudder was still not working. I managed 2-3m 10:00 and with only 12seconds motor. Thats nice with no rudder. Back home I then report to F5J Extreme at RC-groups.
DAY ..
8. July 2005
- Out testing the Druine Turbulent from
RC-Flight.com on the water today. Some small cute floats from
Simprop were attached and of we went. Had adjusted the CG to a
better place and now the model was nimble and easy to fly. One of
the floats came loose (poor gluing by me) and then it was difficult
to take off so I did not take a chance. Arild flew his Shockflyer
F3A and touched the water. Cool. It was a bit turbulent behind the
trees but he made it well. A video made by us and by us
HERE (4mb .wmv)
DAY ..
7. July 2005 - Evening
- Got a telephone from a Norwegian on holiday in the area.
He had his car fool of goodies and wanted to play. I am not the one
to say no - especially not when it is sailplane toys. Erik is from
Bergen and brought his Eraser, New Sting and Ocelot to play with.
Since there was no wind we drove to Klanten and set up the winch.
Erik had never got the hang of that winch stuff but 5 minutes of
setting up his Eraser and he went vertical as it is supposed to !-)
Erik talked like he was a newcomer but by no means was he that. He
spotted thermals in the evening air like he had done nothing else so
there might be some potential in those guys on the west coast... It
was clear that he knows a lot of models and stuff but never got to
play with guys with similar toys. Pretty cool to see how much a few
hint and tips can make a difference. It is also good for me to have
some input and see fellow flyers that like this side of the sport so
much. Erik was a very nice guy like many of us sailplaners are!!! He
might be back for the "Goldagan" next weekend. Will see. We started
late today at around 18:30 and got heavy thunder, sun, heat,
10minutes of heavy rain and a sundown that can take your breath away
with fog on the ground. Thanks Erik for a nice evening.
DAY ..
7. July 2005 - daytime
- Me and Arild went for a spin at the local sportsfield.
Arild had his Shockflyer F3A and I flew my Druine Turbulent from
RC-Flight.com. Sadly I flew thru some violent turbulence (just
out of a thermal) and bounced on the ground. Not much damage but
needs some love and care on the hobbyroom.
DAY ..
6. July 2005
- Just a coffee before I wanted to test a Druine Turbulent I
got from
RC-Flight.com. This is a 1950's classic French homebuilt plane.
The original was extremely easy to fly and a very stable aircraft.
Offcourse while I took that one coffee the thermals in the valley
started their work and the wind picked up. Not nice when the plane
is only 590g and with a wingspan of 915mm. But it handled the high
winds ok and the MTM 400XT motor I had put in was powerful enough to
give me 60-70 degree climb (9x5HD and 3x600mah Polyquest Lipo
cells). The plane comes ready made and comes including a 380 motor
with gear that probably is just as powerful (just a bit heavier). So
I did not get a feeling for how well it flies but it was not slow in
handling and fast in the rolls if I wanted. There is one servo in
each wing and full span ailerons so flapping was possible to achieve
sink (for landing) or more lift for slow flying.
DAY ..
5. July 2005
- Seaplane practice before Sunday. Then it is the local big
festival and Sunday is the family day with 2-3000 people watching us
fly. Pretty cool to fly with so much spectators. Security is
important so practice is nice to have. The wind was too high for my
light Osprey electric but Geir Atle had his North Star in the air.
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DAY ..
4. July 2005 - Managed to squeeze in some flights while my mothers Landrover were in for repairs. Cruised around with the Morgan. But I have to say. English cars are no good... Sorry guys but I'll rather drive my Opel Combo. It gets me where I want. And if that wasnt enough my Smartmedia memory card failed (just got a new one) in the camera so few pictures could be rescued... Hmmm
DAY ..
3. July 2005 |
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DAY ..
2. July 2005
- Forgot to add on the F3B event that we in the evening
tried the kantal wires that makes our F3B winches much weaker. This
is done in Sweden and they aim for 18-20kg force so that all easy
gliders and big F3B ships have almost the same starting altitude.
The thinking is that we have to get all in the air in an easy way
and that it forces the thermal thing to be important and not the
starting technique. I tried my winch with this extra powerloss in
calm evening conditions and I can assure you that the zoom and power
was nothing to brag home about. Joakim Stahl that was with me said
the kantal thread was a bit long and the power around 15kg. To me
15kg seemed to little and might be dangerous (for the model) since I
had wingdrop on the starts. The setup was easy to install since it
goes directly on the minus lead of the winch (takes less than 1min
to install). Sadly the maker had done a minor mistake on the thing
so it took another 2minutes to get it fit. It will need a bit more
time in the workshop (if you read this Thorbjørn you need to pick
the up).
Conclusion: I am not yet convinced this is good. And others have
tested in winds with conclusion that an F3J/B model will start
almost as usual. But less power can be easier to enforce than
shorter lines. What I can conclude for sure is that one needs
something to calibrate it with. That means both one drumsize and a
fishing weight on 20-25kg.
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DAY ..
2. July 2005 - The local club have ones a year a "stay the night" at the local airfield and some of the guys have lots of fun all weekend. I am there in the daytime... I flew my SU-31 electro (from www.elefun.net ) and took some photos as the guys had lots of fun. Frank Olav flew his semi-scale helicopter but I think he had some drinks yesterday... Tom Olav flew both Mustang and his new Pitts. Flew well though I think the EWD and motorthrust needs some adjustment. Did not see the new grashopper in the air but the joint venture of Frank Olav and Christian looked ok. Kjell Gai stopped by and picked up a new Brio before he drove up to Lofotuka for Nationals in F3F and midnight sun-fun. Might be some info at www.tmfk.no or www.lofotuka.no next week. |
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