Follow Jojo at this page: www.f3x.no
DAY ..
30.June 2007
- Nordic Championship F3J
First day of Nordic Championship.
Raining and blowing hard. We measured sometimes
above 12m/s and up in the air above the trees it
was well above all the time. I flew my Skymax4
first 3 rounds and injuired my runner Aril
Røsvik pulling him off the ground when the other
runner Alf Erik Ross had to let go. That's 250kg
that could not hold the 1,45mm line!!! Aril is a
big person but he said he looked down on the
stake as he flew past it! Guess my Skymax4 is
strong enough and my UMS joiner is also strong
enough. The model did not bend so Philip Kolb
has done a nice build! Many models broke either
in start or landing and I some of us were
curious to if the Perfect 68 would take the
conditions. No problem. Most were bending but no
problem. I would have liked to have my Giant as
Alf Erik and Rune had some extreme heights with
theirs and did not need much ballast at all. Had
a good day and after 4 1/2 rounds I had flown
pretty good comparing to most.
DAY ..
29.June 2007
- Nordic Championship F3J
Day before of Nordic Championship and
all the pilots arrive to rain and a cold
Denmark. In the late evening it was a small
chance to fly so I took out my Skymax4 and got a
flight. I also helped Poul Møller with a
Superior and had a hand throw with his model.
Stupid mistake as I took a farmers pole in the
dark and made a hole in his midsection. That's
how it is to help sometimes... Well good thing I
know how to order a new one for him ;-O We were
going to stay at a youth hostel but 9 pilots in
one room with no window was out of the question
so we got a nice Motel instead.
DAY ..
24.June 2007
- F3B Norwegian Cup
Last F3B competition in Norway before
the world Championship but not the last
competition. We will travel on Thursday in the
following week and go to the Nordic Championship
F3J in Denmark. Then off to pre-competition at
the worlds and finally Worlds... Today we had
wonderful weather with south winds at 2-5m/s.
Normally this means good launching conditions
but this field is kind of strange. You rarely
get the really good launches and since the field
is higher in the middle the line sags at the
top. All my speed launches was with 1250g of
lead and 230-238m height. Duration launches were
250-260m. First two speeds were fairly good but
in the last two I should have had less ballast
and relaunched. But I had good duration rounds
and in the last one I could have taken it home
flying against the winner. My Skymax 4 circles
very well and circling the same tight thermal I
went up while Arnfinn had throw in the towel
and get home. It was not enough to win but a godo confirmation for me. Arnfinn deserved the
win with steady speed flying. My team mates Knut
Vidar (also pilot for WC F3B) had a mishap in
round one and had to get home to reach a plane
for Turkey but I think he is ready. My Team
manager Egil Roland shows that he is stable and
a very good pilot taking the last podium place
behind me. Looking at the scores you see that in
Norway you need to fly duration as well... Even
on a sunny day with lots of thermal clouds you
get hit. This is due to the Nordic conditions
that is very hard compared to many other places
in the world. We are not many on Norway but I
think the level of flying is getting much higher
the latest years. Should be hard to get on the
team in F3B for the next WC in two years. Thanks
to the
Cirrus club for a nice 4 rounds. Pitty we
did not have enough people to fly distance but
as expected.
DAY ..
23.June 2007
- F3B Norwegian Cup
Should have been a pre-event for
tomorrows National Cup but nobody was there when
me and my son woke up at the field. We came the
day before and had a good night sleep before a
couple of long days on the field. Well godo for
my son as we now could go swimming - pizza and
the movies (Mister Bean on travel). Late evening
Fredrik flew his Easyglider of the winch and I
got a start with my Skymax 4 fully loaded in
dead air (0-1m/s).
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DAY .. 18.June 2007
- Skymax 4 Made in Turkey Got to fly my Skymax 4 made in Turkey again today. A pilot from Vågå had bought a Pike Superior used (used a few times only) and needed some help on a servo issue. We corrected the problem and went for some flying since he had not seen much flying from a winch. A local football field was good enough and I set up the winch for 100m to the turnaround. The ground was very hard and I set the pins for 45 degrees and had 2 nice flights. On the third flight I thought the line broke until I could see the line tangled 10m beside me.. Then I understood we had been lucky. The turnaround had come loose and went pass us.. A lesson learned maybe. When the ground is hard it means the pins can come loose easily too. Just as very soft ground! |
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DAY .. 17.June 2007
- Norwegian Cup F3J
Minireport2:
F3J 17.juni -
Vingen - 1. Jo Grini, Valdres (Pike Perfect)
2. Arnfinn Lie, Cirrus (Aspire) 3. Alf Erik
Ross, Cirrus (Pike Perfect)
14 pilots 6 rounds preliminary and 2 finals. 3-4
pilots in each group and only 100m to the
turnaround. Most pilots were very satisfied with
the test of this short lines. Good launches for
all, short small field, more a thermal /
spotting competition, divide a F3B line and you
have two lines.. Thanks to Egil Roland and
Vingen for a great competition and super
barbeque Saturday evening. I flew my Pike
Perfect all day and though I did miss in one
round I had good points ahead of next on the
list. Had to use some ballast in some of the
midday rounds but the finals was very soft. We
had clouded weather with a small shower in the
morning and just after the price giving. Yes we
were lucky with the weather! BTW the jacket and
caps you see is the new team jacket (with logo
on the back) and the t-shirt you see Egil and
Vidar is wearing is also the official one for
this years WC F3B (the super light kind and for
sale during WC). Sweaters and shirts are also
made. BIG thanks to Egil and
Workflow.as for the sponsoring
NEW
Detailed results from the event
Left: F3J podium. Middle: Egil CD and proud of
his T-shirt. Right: Tor throwing KV's Crossfire
V
DAY .. 16.June 2007
- Norwegian Cup F3B
Minireport:
F3B 16.juni -
Vingen - 1. Arnfinn Lie, Cirrus (Victor X)
2. Jo Grini, Valdres (Skymax4) 3.Knut Vidar
Moløkken, Løten (Crossfire V/X)
13 pilots 4 rounds (speed and duration only).
Very difficult conditions since the wind came
from the east over a large hill. Lots of violent
small thermals and rotors. Launching conditions
were ok and speed times relatively good. Best
time was 16,2? by Widar Holmedahl. Some duration
rounds could be won with only 3:30min...
Sunshine and hot most of the day but it became
cloudy and the conditions evened out a it at the
end of the day. In the evening some of us met up
at Egil's place for food and beer.
I flew my Skymax 4 and had a good time with it
even though I made some major mistakes. Then
again so many others did in the difficult
conditions and I did less than most. I started
of in speed as first one and had huge conditions
but did not get a signal on B-base. I used full
ballast in the fuse for all starts (apx 1250g)
as the launching conditions were fairly good.
When the signal equipment was corrected I had
extreme sink in the course and got a 22.. In the
second round I had huge air again but managed to
get too close to A-base and had to pull too
early for a cut. Got a 23 on that. In 2rd round
I had a 17,7? for a win in that round. In the
last round I was beginning to get the hang of it
and got a 17,07sec but was beaten by one guy (Widar)
with a 16,2sec. Anyhow I love my Skymax 4 that
is the 3rd one out of the moulds and made by
Philip Kolb in Turkey. Yes it is Philip himself
that has sweated for many hours over that moulds
;)
Tomorrow there is F3J with 100m to turnaround
and 14 pilots on winches. All wants to try this
and maybe make it even more a thermal event than
it is. Very cool solution for Norway.
NEW
Detailed results from the event
Left: F3B podium. Middle: Vidar with T-shirt.
Right: Barbeque and KV needs tea and sleeping
bag..
Left and middle: Barbeque at Egil's place.
Right: KV and Egil discussing winches for WC
DAY .. 13.June 2007
Flew a show mission at the local hotel
for some guests. I flew my helicopter and took
some pictures of the group. Geir Atle Kjørli and
Tom Olav flew seaplanes. Good money for the club
and there might be more missions for them.
DAY .. 12.June 2007 -
Crossfire DS - 220MPH
On the third day Jojo made DS... or
something ;) What a day! After a long period
with hot weather the temperature came down a bit
and the wind picked up. Me and my son went for
the DS slope and the conditions were so
promising that I took out my well used and
heavily repaired Crossfire X-tail. It has a been
repaired well I think because it held up for
today's conditions. It started out with a very
smooth DS zone. Rarely have I experienced a so
calm DS zone. Speed was equal all around though
not very fast. My son had fun with the radar gun
and gave me the speed for each lap. They were
stable around 80-110mph. Then it calmed a bit
more so I landed and charged waiting for heavier
conditions. I had said to him that I would be
very happy with 150mph today and super happy
with 200mph. A few biscuits and a soft drink
later the wind picked up and when you were
standing at the top the wind came from behind
along your feet. Threw the model out (double
carbon Crossfire with DS joiner) with 600g of
ballast. 3 laps and it rumbled already. I had to
fly pretty big circles and not to perfect.
Otherwise I was sure it would blow up. But the
conditions were still smooth and those who know
me know that I just "have to". It was difficult
to get good high readings but I found if my son
just held it steady I could fly the same pattern
each time and "present" the model. After plenty
120-150mph laps I had to narrow it down a bit
and fly lower. This made the readings really
bad. Maybe because of a close mountain in the
background? The speed was now sometimes so high
that I often had to bail out after just a few circles.
Vertical after bail out was probably around
4-500m... I decided to use up the model and gave
it my best shot. Did 2-3 goes at it and adjusted
the flying path until my son had good signals. 5-6 circles later and my son
screamed "220"!!!! My heart now pumped all it
could but I wanted a backup reading of that. He
screamed "193" and I bailed out! I was 100% sure
the model would blow up but since the conditions
were smooth it was mostly just a high rumbling
and not so much "smack" each time I went thru
the boundary layer. I also could fly mostly
below the boundary layer but the the readings
were not so consistent then. So I can now finally
(after so many years) say that I have reached
220mph (354km/h) and a backup reading of 193mph.
It was the greatest feeling I have had for a
long time ;) I want to conclude one thing after
so many days on the slope waiting for
conditions... Wait until the temperature drops
and you will have thicker air and more wind
probably... You might have a rain shower but it
might be worth it! My radargun is maybe not the best
but I did get what I wanted and can atleast say
that YES I can also go fast ;)
I cant wait to get a stronger secret weapon (yes
it is produced but have not arrived. wait and
read ;)
Left: My son Fredrik (10). Right: Jojo waiting
for charging. Yes I charge with a 3 cell lipo
and a small Jeti charger.
Left: DS slope senn from the highest point.
Right: A VERY happy Jojo
DAY .. 10.June 2007 -
Skymax 4
Another day in paradice? Strangely hot
here. Went to the powerfield and flew my 2meter
Adrenaline2 but sailplane virus got to me and I
set up the winch for a 100m practice with the
Skymax4. SInce it was hot I never managed to get
the Skymax4 up in altitude with half ballast so
I took it out and then I could slowly rise in
the weak thermals for a nice speedrun or
distance practice.
Mid-day I went down again but the virus caught
up with me again when the trees bended
slightly... It was time for a session of DS or
at least that's what I thought. The weather
stations I found was not up to date and when I
arrived the wind was a bit off. At the parking
lot I met Finn Krogvig driving home from a photo
mission near his cottage (he is a good
photographer and had put some of his photos on
teh walls of a hotel). He came along together
with Tom Olav and a couple of girls (girlfriend
and friend). Flew teh Skymax4 again but the
conditions was never really good. Tom Olav got a
couple of readings on my radar gun but since I
was not consistent it never went really fast
(102mph = 164km/h). We finished off with pizza
at the "Peppes Pizza". A nice day out you might
say. Flying, nice girls, good food ;) Mountain
photos by Tom Olav
DAY .. 9.June 2007 -
Crossover
Another hot day. I went to our
powerfield and found long grass that needed to
be cut. An hour later and I was too hot to put
up the winch in 30C. So I took a few airshots
with the Joker 2 and headed further up the
valley. There was no or little wind but at my DS
slope at 1350m it was a nice breeze and a few
degrees less. Tossed out my Crossover (Crossfire
fuse and RaceM wings). Not enough for sustained
and cool sounds on the backside but each time a
thermal passed I did get a few minutes with
action. Nice to be up here again. Called Philip
in Turkey and they bragged about 25C and
slopeflying at the black sea. Had to tell them
it is better in Norway ;)
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DAY .. 8.June 2007 -
Skymax4 Extremely hot to be early June in Norway. Above 30C today so I went to the summer place of my mothers farm up in the mountains (a few degrees less at high altitude...). Set up the winch with 100m to the turnaround and today I got the logger in.. Launches were in the range 160-190m (depending on thermal or not) and the altitude I was at was 958m. One could basically fly how long I wanted today if I set out to search immediately for a thermal. If I flew a speed run first I could end up in sink but mostly I could find something to get up on. Philip asked me what I thought after a bit time on it and this is what I replied: "Love it. Just on my way home from high altitude practice. At almost 1000m it goes just as fast with or without ballast. Well atleast difference is smaller. Easiest thermal F3B plane I have ever had and launches with nice increase in energy with your settings. I first wondered why you had so little elevator throw in speed but with kick flap to neutral it kicks almost too much in the turns. In your next production you might use stiffer silicone or more maybe. This is right now my nr.1 model for sure. Wing is dead stiff. Only joiner (the standard one, not the UMS one) bending slightly but still steady high speed turns. Use 100m winch. Launches are 160-190m every time. We will use this for next F3J competition. On 200m I launch always 255-315m. Need to find bad weather days. WR Jojo" I also flew my Joker 2 to get a few photos of the summer place. Photos of Skymax 4 by my mother. |
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DAY .. 7.June 2007 -
Skymax4
Another day at the football field. This time
with the Skymax4 and only 80m to the turnaround.
Works great as I expected. Yes I did do 75m
starts in both Finland and Canada WC F3J so I
know what to expect ;) Had about 7-8 starts but
forgot again to put in the logger.. And yes I am
still very happy with the Skymax4. This IS a
godo model. In the
evening (low light at 11:23PM / 23:23) I took out the
Joker2 heli and did a photo of the building site
next to me. Cool to be able to take pictures
from a helicopter this late and all in focus
(F/3.5 - 1/400 - ISO1600)
DAY .. 5.June 2007 -
Perfect
Had to get out practicing launches as we on the
next F3J Cup event will use 100m to the
turnaround. All pilots discussing the issue of
launches on the Nationals F3J agreed that it was
cool that it was more of a thermal contest than
a landing contest. To ensure that we will reduce
the line length even more when we use winches
(we had 150m). With 200m we can also easily
order 400m lines (for F3B) and cut them in half.
There is no big difference in launching really
other than a quicker start and lower launch
height offcourse. I did not bring my logger but
previous testing shows around 170-200m launches
if the conditions are good. Another benefit with
100m is that we can hold a contest in much more
places. A local flying field is enough. Practice
field was the local football field. I used my
MP3-horn and tried to get a thermal on each
flight (and I did) and landed withing 1-3sec and
0-1m each time. Had about 7-8 starts. Tom Olav
came by and used my camera a bit.
DAY ..
2.June 2007 -
Nationals F3J
Final day of the Nationals F3J
and wonderful and hot summer day. I got a
serious sunburn so my legs hurt. The
Championship went well for me as a CD and today
I got 3 guys helping me with lunch and cleaning
(Geir Atle, Tom Olav and Arild). For me it went
down the drain with yet another heavy miss and
not reaching home for a bad score. I ended up
9th and are offcourse not happy with that. But I
guess I worked too much on arranging the stuff.
Nice feedback afterwards about the best
Nationals F3J ever (thanks for that) but I
should have used more time on myself.
I could have said that some of the runners on my
team was not fast enough but that might be bad.
Ooops I said it. Well anyhow in the Saturdays
conditions one needed very fast runners and most
launches were low for all teams. I had a
wonderful smiling team in Rune, Øystein and Knut
Vidar. They are wonderful to work with. Next
year I think we might go for winch at the
Nationals and next F3J event we will for sure
use winch and only 100m to the turnaround. All
pilots agreed that this championship was great
since it was so difficult.
Webpage (nor.txt) -
Details
Left: Dinner Saturday. Left: Me launching
Øystein Sunde (picture by clubmember)
Runners from left: Rune, Knut Vidar, Arnfinn,
Aril, Inge and Thomas. (picture by clubmember)
Left: Sundown. Middle: Arnfinn launching Finn's
Soarmaster. Right: Some of the food and podium.
DAY ..
2.June 2007 -
Nationals F3J
First day of the Nationals F3J
and I was CD. It went well for me for a while
but I guess I got tired in the last ones and did
a huge mistake. Could not reach home. relaunched
but only time for a bad score. Still have some
rounds tomorrow though. Competition running well
and all seems happy. I arranged breakfast and
some of the guys in the club fixed lunch while I
flew (Geir Atle and Tom Olav). In the evening I
did some barbeque and it became midnight before
most people were in bed. Great day.
DAY ..
1.June 2007 -
Nationals F3J
Whole week has been about
preparing for Nationals F3J at my homeplace.
Luckily I got some help during the days at the
Nationals so I could compete. But it takes some
time to prepare all needed and 3 meals every
day. Most pilots arrived today (friday) but it
rained almost all day. It cleared up in the
evening and some of us got a few starts. I flew
my Skymax 4 for one flight.