WC Sites
to start with:
Official (very good):
www.F3J.sk
| Norway team:
www.F3X.no/f3j/2006/
My site:
www.jojoen.no/diary
My contributors
especially for this WC:
Volz-servos
| Samba |
Kennedy Composites
DAY ..
25.july
2006
Today it is very hot (just like yesterday) with over
30 celcius. Me and Tor did some shopping for a big fan and
almost bought a digital camera. Luckily we checked the price
in Norway (2mb line in the Hotel) and found it was cheaper
in Norway. We got over to Samba and did some iron work for
some model stands before we went outside for some flying (we
brought both winch and bungee). Tor had some good flights
with his Perfect while I flew both Supra, Perfect and Giant.
Conditions were humid and the thermals vaporizes quickly so
it is easy to be fooled. I mostly did short launches and
most of the times had no problems getting my times. I forgot
my camera in the car so only camera pictures of the flying
today untill I get access of the bigger ones. Jane and Jaroslav is driving us back and forward so
we can have the car in a safe place and get some beers ;-)
Jaroslav and Vlastimil of Samba is working day and night to
prepare models that will be delivered for the WC. So they
have no time to fly with us but is joining us now and then.
We visited a nice swimming place in the center of their
village Sebranice. We should have gone swimming but nice
cold beer in the shadow was too good... In the eveing me,
Tor and Jane went for dinner and now Tor have prepared an
easy drawing for the model stand. Easy, very robust and how
it should be made.
DAY ..
24.july
2006
After 14 hours driving and a feryy me and Tor are in
Litomysl/Sebranice for a day with Samba. We came with ferry
from Gøteborg to Kiel in Germany and stayed outside Praha
before we came here. A hobbyshop in Praha was also robbed by
my credit card (or was it the shop that robbed me?). At
Samba's place in Sebranice we met up with Mike O'reilly from
Australia (and offcourse the Samba people). He seems to be a
very nice guy. I dont think I have ever met a bad Australian
pilot. They all seems to be good guys. Today we will do some
flying here in Czech before we go to the WC site in Martin,
Slovakia tomorrow morning.
DAY ..
20.july
2006 -
Pike Perfect
Probably last practice before Slovakia World
Championship F3J. Tor came by to get some flights on his
Pike Perfect. He got 4? flights and the last two was pretty
good. A little tweaking on the landing and he is good to go
and better of then his Superiors I think. That is one of the
big ups with the Perfect. It is soooo easy to fly and anyone
can take the sticks and feel comfertable. I got one flight
with my own Perfect. I also hope to get some flights on the
new Supra wing in Slovakia!!! I will get my own layup wing
when I arrive and will have 4 days to set it up! Should be
an easy task since it is only the wing that needs tweaking.
So the biggest problem will then be to have 4 models and
only 3 allowed.. (2xPike Perfect, Pike Giant and Supra).
Then again it might happen something on the Martin Cup...
With 177competitors and 14 on the startline it is a LOT of
planes going up!
Tor Midtlund (my spotter and Martin Cup attendant) with his
Pike Perfect.
DAY ..
18.july
2006 -
Pike Perfect
Received yesterday evening a Pike Perfect for my
spotter for this WC (Tor MIdtlund) I had agreed to mount it
and testfly it and for that I can use it as spare at this WC
F3J in Slovakia (leaving Saturday). The model was offcourse
ready for today (took 5 hours with ready made wiring) so I
took it for a spin at my mothers cabin in the mountains.
Layed out a small bungee and had 3 flights in difficult
conditions with lots of thermal activity but also sink and
wind coming from a nearby hill. 2 of the flights were long
and one short. 2 first landings in my hand and the last one
a spot landing 2cm from drilling a hole in my cap. The model
flew just like my other model but this one looks VERY cool
in the Norwegian colors. Tor will be flying Maryin Cup with
it I guess. He will get some flights later this week.
Pictures by my son and my mother.
DAY ..
16.july
2006 -
Valdresfestivalen
Today we flew Seaplanes and helicopter on the local
festival. I flew my Osprey that I mostly only fly at this
festival. It works fine as always. Geir Atle dropped
caramels to the kids and even hit some cars ;-) That was my
fault as I called the drops... But there was no damage other
than the car owners wanted it to be. BTW Carles Aymat from
Spain had some parts to fix my Crossfire fuse. Thanks a lot
Carles!
DAY ..
15.july
2006
Finally got a flight with my Pike Perfect. I put up
the short bungee on a local football field and got 4 long
flights. A little rusty on the landings (100, 95, 95 and
100) but that will work with a little competition tension.
DAY ..
13.july 2006
- Blew up my Crossfire in DS
Weather man was correct and the conditions were
superb on the DS slope at Beitostølen. West wind and 7-8m/s
becomes 10-14m/s coming over the top. We started of with me
flying Luna wing and Widar Vector zero but we quickly went
for the big guns. I threw my Crossfire "DS" version (double
carbon stiff F3B, parts marked with DS or something). Got it
going pretty good but then the wind picked up slightly more
and it was not only screaming anymore but kind of humming
with deep bass. Not the kind of sound you hear when you
flutter normally so I kept on going tighter and tighter.
Never ever flown this fast with any model before so my
adrenalin was pumping hard and the smile could be seen all
around my face when it suddenly blew up in front of us. What
a KICK!!!! Nose broke off in air after the flutter of the
wings and parts falling of as snow... Actually the wing is
in good shape but I could never find the nose. So I have
already ordered a new fuse thru Bernhard Henschel (producer
of Crossfire, Stefan Eder is not always reachable I hear).
Found the Rx but missing crystal and end lid on it strangely
enough. I like the model as it sniffs up DS very easily and
the speed I got today was way beyond what I expected this
model to take. I am not kidding. This was VERY fast. I also
got to fly Widar's Caracho for a while. That model also is a
nice DS model but the tips could be seen twisting a bit when
it went thru the shear layer. It also is a very fast model
and Widar was smiling all the way thru dinner. He even
wanted to pay for all (did not let him ;-).
DAY ..
12.july 2006
Got a visit from friends. Widar Holmedahl and Alf
Erik Ross took the trip up here to fly some slope and maybe
get some DS in. Today the wind was not with us but we went
to Slettefjell and at 1300meters it is always a small
breeze. So we got to fly a little bit at least. Not any
super conditions but nice to be up in the mountains. We
finished of with some pizza before we went to my place for a
few drinks.
DAY ..
8.july 2006
The guys at our local club had a weekend meeting at
our club field so I stopped by to take some pictures from
the air with my Organic 2,5m equipped with the Nikon D50. Me
and Tom Olav went to the DS slope in Beitostølen and had a
good flight there. The conditions were pretty good though
the wind was only 3-4m/s on average but on the slope it was
5-6m/s because the slope is rather steep and the wind needs
to pass right at the top. Sadly the wind changed strangely
so when I was aiming for a landing at the top I could not
and had a stupid landing at the bottom instead. This
resulted in a broken nose on my Crossfire (repaired now).
Tom Olav also got to fly a little before the wind changed
but ended up as all motorflyers with up elevator when the
wind changed ;-) Tom Olav took all the pictures on the
slope.
DAY ..
8.july 2006
Videos from the weekend in Haugesund are ready. The
camera went out of battery so the really good DS was not
captured. But still some of the passes show pretty fast
flying. I divided it into two videos. Chapter 1 is DS on "Ørpetveit"
and Chapter 2 is F3F slope with 5-7m/s teaching Arild how to
thermal and making dinner on the slope. Yes we had a good
time ;-)
Chapter 1
(24,5mb) and
Chapter 2 (42mb) - backup if server is slow:
Chapter 1 and
Chapter 2
DAY ..
3.july 2006
Yearly "Haugaland Open F3F" between me and my
friends here on the east coast. I had never flown the Pike
Giant in F3F so it was time to test it out. The conditions
were ok on a smaller slope (Aksdal that we used 2 days ago)
with wind coming 45 degrees from the side and with 8-10m/s
force. I struggled with missed turns and wrong settings the
first rounds but got it going good halfway thru the event.
Arild and Rolf Inge is much better than me in F3F but I
think I followed up pretty good (See
the scores and tomes HERE). Arild flew his Aris and Rolf
Inge RaceM. A very nice day in 25 Celcius and good good
friends to end the stay here on the west coast. Thanks guys!
|
DAY ..
2.july 2006 Today we had two choices. Either F3F on "Aksdal" or DS at "Ørpetveit". I got to choose and took the DS option. Conditions started ok but went to the extreme during the day. I ended up flying faster than I have ever flown and laps were in the range 2-3seconds. Speed was probably above 300km/h no kidding. The Crossfire is very good for DS and I had only slight bending even with very hard pulling at 200-250km/h. First time I have ever flown inverted DS easily also. Very nice to finally have a good DS model. Rolf Inge took some movies but went out of batteries when the conditions peaked. So I only have movies from my mobile when it was superfast. Will probably be a good compiled video later when I get home. Anyhow this was a day I will remember as one of my best DS-days up until now for sure. Arild flew his Compact single carbon V-tail and Rolf Inge his Compact DS with X-tail. "Drillo" also came with us and flew Opus and a EPP model. Roger one of the new guys to sailplanes in Haugesund also came up to the slope and got a bit flying on my Crossfire to feel what it is all about. Evening was spent again at Rolf Inge's parents cabin with barbeque and a small boat-trip on the sea. For two seconds I felt really free. I think I need to get out on the sea more!!! It is a long time ago since I felt the salty water in my face. Bigger pictures when I get to a broadband connection. |
|
DAY ..
1.july 2006
Went to Haugesund for the yearly Haugaland Open (a friendly
F3F between me, Arild and Rolf Inge). Wind was not high
today but thermals made a inland slope work well for us.
Yesterday I bought a used Crossfire extreme (DS version only
a few flights 1 month old) from Erik to have as backup plane
in F3B and F3F this year (and DS). I mounted the servos in
the fuse and flew it today. The model was heavy (2,4kg) but
that is ok since I am mainly need a model for backup. The
model was rock stiff (not the ailerons sadly and elevator
pushrod was a bit loose inside fuse).
In closer inspection one can see many faults and they have
tried to correct problems by only a layer of airbrush some
places. The paint also comes of easily since they have
waited too long between painting and the next layer. Anyhow
these things can only be seen in closer inspection and has
nothing to do with performance. So over to the flying... The
model flew right out of the hands since I had got both a
prelim CG and elevator throw from Erik. Small corrections
was needed in both to correspond with my liking and for F3F
flying instead of F3B. I tried many different settings but
found 1mm speed setting to be the most efficient though in
very weak conditions (2-4m/s) I could use 3mm thermal flap
efficient in the speed to get it on step. Today we had a bit
thermal influence off course so the wind varied from 5-9m/s.
One flight of 10 laps could have 2 small thermals. So the
best way to fly was not too aggressive but to fly
consistent. I had a bit problems to get it to kick around
the turns but ended up with quite a bit of kickflap (3-5mm)
to be activated at 30% throw. Elevator throw is now apx 10mm
with 45% expo and 3mm combiswitch (depends on flying
style). Don't ask me about CG but apx 3-4mm behind trailing
edge joiner I think. I used it empty, half loaded and fully
loaded and it was easy to see when it was not on step. The
model seems to be fast when you have conditions but might
fall thru if it is loaded too much. I think I have to work a
lot on the turns also (settings). Rolf Inge flew his RaceM
and Arild flew his scale model and Aris. We did not setup a
racing course since we think it will be better tomorrow
(According to the newspapers). We also did fly a tiny bit of
DS but the place we flew (Aksdal) was not the best place for
this.
In the evening we went out and collected one single crab and
had a barbeque. We did not get any fish so some meat was
prepared. A great night by the sea at Rolf Inge's parents
cabin.
