DAY .. 31. May - 2004 - F3B Cup Day 2
- Today we were flying only speed and since the launches had been bad the day before we set up winches both directions. After the first round speed I felt that I still needed more launch height so I set up radically much launch camber at 20mm on my Brio. This helped a lot. I got good height and went straight to base-A to start the speed with a small dip (we launched mostly opposite of the speed course). The launch height was not extremely good but I earned the best speed of the day at 19,8sec. In the third speed I got a good launch height of apx 230m with my 20mm camber (the conditions were still not good to launch in) and went straight for base A again. Again a good speed that became the second best of the day. In the last round I did not get any good conditions to fly in but overall I became the "speed master" after 4 rounds of speed. I am happy with the speed results with the two fastest speeds in the event. The winner of the event Widar Holmedahl had been flying good all weekend and the only one we F3J-guys did not manage to ruin it for in the duration. So Widar won the event in bad launching conditions with his Caracho that is known for not launching well. A big cheer for Widar that obviously have been working on his Caracho and is now also on almost 20mm of camber in the launch (hook 108mm). Personally I have been thinking a bit on this F3B thing and have said no to the National team for Nordic Championship this year and will not fly so much F3B anymore. I am tired of the equipment hysteria and that it is so technically difficult to do well in F3B. One also have to have a lot of practice with other F3B pilots. One have to be a team. So me living far out from all others will have to settle for F3J that I anyhow love so much. But I have at least shown that my Brio is fast and can do well. I might edit what I have written in the diary later when I have thought more on what happened. ... When looking back on the event I see that I sometimes get to much exited about mistakes I want to tell people/organizers about. This might be a "typical Jojo thing" but I like to say what I think is wrong. I said sorry to those I raised my voice to and feel that I am finished with F3B flying. After the event we found in the rules that if you release your model in one round one have to fly that model in all those tasks within the round. As I said earlier I practiced some duration with my Brio Giant in distance 3 and 4 without entering the course (I said I would not enter). This means that I also should have flown Brio Giant in round 3 and 4 thermal and speed. I did not think about it since we flew all tasks in unconventional manner. Anyhow I did not do it because I wanted to cheat and it is a bit late to change the results two days later. I was asked by the organizers just before what I flew and told them that I did not enter the course with Giant tips. But it is a fact that the results might be very differrent since my last two thermals are 1000p and speed round 3 was a 1000p. Round 4 speed was also ok but not 1000p
Anyone wants to buy a cheap Caracho 3.1 in good condition ? (single piece wing, 2,15kg) 4000Nkr without servos
More pictures HERE (opens up two windows)

  DAY .. 30. May - 2004 - F3B Cup Day 1
- F3B national cup. Biggest error we did was to setup the flying groups with no teams. We have seen this before (Yellow Eagle Trophy). One has to set up teams so that everyone knows what to do and have a team that wants to work. Then it is also easier to set a team by the bases. In the meeting the day before we all had said that we were going to try 3 pilots in each round of distance but off course everybody was running around to get the best spotter/helper and also trying to get the best winches. We were going to fly all 4 rounds of distance at once. With only 10 pilots and one helper it is difficult to make distance with 3 pilots in each group and to fly only 2 pilots is sad. This meant that the helper that launches you needs to run over and sit on A-base and shout to you any information you need (working time, flying time, etc). I understood quickly that this was not going well. I could not hear the first 3 signals on B-base so I said to the organizers that this was not fair and that I needed a reflight. They still wanted to fly anyhow and did not reward me with a reflight as they had done nothing wrong. The second start of distance I launched and went far out and picked a thermal. I went for A-base and hoped for a signal but never got it. My helper was not ready and had not seen me going out. So I had to make a relaunch and launched into bad air never found the thermal again. Again I told the organizers that this was not good. Again I should have had a reflight but did not get it. It was my helper that had made the fault not the organizers. But my helper was also A-baseman!!! As usual I am the only one raising my voice when I feel something is wrong. I heard much talk among the pilots but only I had the guts to tell. This means that after two bad distances from me they only thought I complained because of that. But I don't care as I am not an F3B pilot "anymore" and don't have the time to best in that discipline. Don't misunderstand. I am a competition pilot that loves to win but I know I cant win every time without practicing a lot more. To fly distance you need helpers. There is a lot of things happening all the time, lots of planes and things to see. So I decided not to fly anymore distances and just tried to have a nice time instead flying thermal. I used the starts to get my launch setup better with my Brio Giant instead (I never entered the course). After 4 rounds of distance we flew duration but at that time there had been so much talk about me complaining so I decided to skip the first round and took a break. Next 3 rounds of duration I got full time and the launches were getting a little bit better.

  DAY .. 29. May - 2004 - Speed practice Rena
- This weekend was to be 3 days of F3B practice and Cup at Rena. We used a training field for parachuting and it is big. Rena is in south east Norway apx 200km from me. The first day was speed practice with full setup of equipment and the organizers provided winches for the pilots for a small fee. They had also done a good job with toilet, tent, food, accommodation, etc. I had 12 flights. The first 9 was with Pike Brio and they went well. I had very good times at least what I think myself. The launching conditions were not good. It was hot and the air did not give us very good times even though there were thermals around. The other guys said that my Brio wasn't fast enough so I picked up my Caracho just to show them that it is not quicker at least with me behind the sticks. So I flew 3 flights with Caracho 3.1 and I think they show that it is not consistent in the speed even though I had a speed of 18,79. The Caracho is fast but does not launch as well as my Brio. But I could see that Widar was having "good" launches with his but the best launches were with Geir's Superior (see lolo readings 750kb). It was evident that we needed to practice launches in warm conditions (compare to last WC F3B ?) It was a nice day of flying and we stayed the night in a military camp nearby. Details are on THIS page (750kb).

  DAY .. 28. May - 2004
- Alf Erik still here and we went to Klanten airport for some more practice. Just as we had finished adjusting the winch the wind turned 150 degrees and picked up to 5-6m/s. Damn. I launched my Pike Brio and went almost all around the turnaround for a 219m start. Pretty nice with so much wind in the back. But Alf Erik only had his 3,45m Graphite so we wrapped it up and went to the slope at Storefjell. Big mistake because the wind died and the lift was almost nothing. We flew my Majko a bit and tried some slow DS. This place have potential but not today.

  DAY .. 27. May - 2004
- Alf Erik Ross came for a visit and some practice in high altitude. We went to Klanten airport that is sat 820m above sealevel. A great day with lots of practice on the winch. I flew a bit with my Pike Brio Giant and my Caracho. The Caracho did not work well today. It feels that it reacts different to the high altitude and needs less elevator not to have a tip stall in the turns and zoom. It got worse with ballast in. I reduced the elevator and it got better. My Pike Brio Giant did not have that problem and not Alf Erik's Graphite either. Our starts were at 230-280m but my Caracho never reach more than 220m and many popp-offs. I even had a start that I was stuck on the line and had to use full break to slow it down for a "controlled crash". Two other guys with motorplanes also appeared and they had trouble starting the engine (high altitude again) and they crashed the other plane they had.. I also flew Alf Erik's Salome DLG a bit. Nice plane for the price.

  DAY .. 26. May - 2004 This day has nothing to do with model ariplanes... :-)
- A pround father can now say that his 7 year old son is also watching this diary from his own computer. My son Fredrik is now on broadband with a pc sponsored by grandmother Tordis and uncle Lars. But you will have to wait a bit more to snd him emails...

  DAY .. 25. May - 2004
- Helping out the local sports club with some broadband network and the football field was right in front of me.. Could not resist it and brought out the Majko. 10min flight in a little tight space because of the floodlight but ok.

  DAY .. 24. May - 2004
- Very little flying lately so when dinner was finished today I drove off to Klanten airport for some late night action. I brought my Pike Brio Giant and had 8 flights with 5 speeds, 2 distance and one thermal "round". The last thermal round was cool as I found a wave that brought me to 798m. And since Klanten is at 820m that is a total of 1618m above sea level at 20:30 in the night! My "extensions" are bending a bit when I fly hard speed but they seem to take the beating. 2 rounds of distance today with full ballast. Kind of cool to have so much energy in the model. So if I have more than 3-4m/s headwind I think I can launch with 1100g of ballast in distance task and do well. I also logged all my starts and all except two with full ballast was 260-280m high. I am happy that in this altitude and hours. The conditions were fine with low sun, 8 degrees and 1-3m/s headwind.

  DAY .. 23. May - 2004
- Roman Vojtech have reach a stunning 343m on F3B winch with his Viking. I have compared with my own Brio launch on 319m during Yellow Eagle Trophy to see the difference. Off course it is not correct to see all the differences since we are not launching in the same conditions but anyhow... Roman was using the pedal while I only used the pedal in the zoom (to get the line away). Roman's Viking is 62dm and weight was 2800g. My Brio is 62dm and was 2050g. Hence the difference after zoom I guess.
Look at overlay .gif HERE | Roman site: www.Lomcovak.cz | Yellow Eagle Trophy

  DAY .. 20. May - 2004
- Man I would have liked to be at F3F in Stavanger today. But I was home and are seriously considering to go by car tomorrow for the Eurotour F3F on Saturday/Sunday. Eurotour invitation HERE
I have put out today's results are out on www.F3X.no with details HERE

  DAY .. 16. May - 2004
- Did have plans for DS today but the wind was not there. At least that's what I thought. I jumped into Arild's car and we went to our local airfield for some power flying. When we arrived the wind had picked up and up to 5-6m/s down in the valley should be much more in the mountains. Damn! Well I did bring my Majko and had a long flight flying a bit aerobatic and did find lift. Arild brought his T3D electro that did not like the wind too much. I think he cant wait to get ready his Vertigo electro so we will build a bit tonight. He also brought another typical Extra plane (Staudacher something) and ripped off the wheels. Rune Larsen was also there and did some low passes with his Midget Mustang. We discussed how fast it was going downwind and did some guesses. According to the video we are pretty on the target and the model did 177km/h (se picture). On our way home we stopped by a small DS-slope I have been to before. But the wind was not straight in and I did not find any DS with the Majko.

  DAY .. 13. May - 2004
- First day after the weekend I am not tired so I had to get on a slope and abuse my Majko a bit. The slope just above Fagernes (Karihus) worked great today with lots of thermals. The lift was not consistent but thermals coming every 5min or so made it great. No need for motor as when the lift died I just headed out in the valley and found a new thermal.

  DAY .. 9. May - 2004
- On our way back Tor Midtlund called and said there were speed practice at Spydeberg. I immediately turned the car around although Alf Erik would have to sit and watch us (did not have any F3B machine with him). Conditions were warm in the high 25C, 0-2m/s and some thermals. Conditions were sometimes good but much poor launches. Batteries went empty at the end of the day but we managed to change some of them and finished at around 18:00 I think. I got 9 starts (I came late) and my Brio was setup for F3J so I had to do some dialling in the first starts. Changed the CG for the last 3 and it felt as I were almost there. Should have had a few more flights. Maybe next time. Anyhow Gjermund had brought the excellent timing gear so we had a nice time with easy access to results.
Txt-document of times HERE

Gjermund throwing Erik's Estrella.

  DAY .. 8. May - 2004 Yellow Eagle Trophy
- Rain in the night but OK in the morning. All were in fact ready for the start at 10:00 and 15 competitors were briefed for this event. We flew F3J but with winch and 11min working time. This allows 5 pilots in each group and the winches were apx 15m apart. The wind picked up pretty much and I started with my Giant Brio. I mostly out launched the others and did well. I thought The wind picked up even more so I removed my extensions on the Brio. The launches were now extreme and according to the Lolo I had 319m!!! I used off course winch (1,25 speedline) and did not touch the pedal until the zoom so the line tension was extreme. This gave me apx 220m before the zoom and 192 at the bottom of the zoom. And I had no ballast so the weight was 2050g. Would be fun to start in these conditions with 1,2kg of lead :-) It rained a bit in round 5 so we had to wait a bit for the fly off.
For the fly off I attached the extensions again so that it became the "Giant Brio" (named Giant by Alf Erik because of the size and performance...). Again I had good starts (no Lolo in now) and brought home the trophy to Norway. Thanks guys for a great event again.

Results from this years Yellow Eagle Trophy in txt HERE   |  Lolo screen capture of 319m


 

  DAY .. 7. May - 2004
- Me and Alf Erik Ross headed towards Sweden and the yearly competition in Herrljunga, Sweden. Yellow Eagle Trophy is an annual event that goes back many years. We arrived in the evening but managed a few starts in strong wind before the Swedes had the barbeque ready. Alf Erik hoped for lighter conditions tomorrow. I got a few good starts on my Giant Brio and it launches very well.

  DAY .. 5. May - 2004
- Its raining outside and that's good for my allergic :-) But bad for flying :-( In the weekend I got my new "Canada-box". 154x34x20cm = two Pike's and even room for my Tx.. 11,5kg with two complete models is good (box 6,8kg). And your right its bolted together with aluminium just like a big plane. Looks cool and should keep my models in one piece on the flight over there. BTW I got it from Østbye Hobby & Sport and costs 1400Nkr. I think he has one more in storage.
- And on Saturday its F3J with winch in Sweden! (Yellow Eagle Trophy)

  DAY .. 2. May - 2004 F3J Cup
- Sadly we woke up to rain outside but there was a bit less rain at around 11 so I brought out the AVA. I checked with Geir that I flew with yesterday what channel he was using (he uses the same channels) and we agreed on what to use while the others sat inside drinking coffee. Then I did a major mistake... I did not collect the frequency tag... His 11 year old boys were also using his channels on their own radio and guess what: they had off course collected the tag as the were should! So the conclusion is that this can happen to anyone and maybe specially me that flies so much alone :-( The AVA suffered some small damage and a broken joiner in the outer tip. So I was set a little back but picked out the Superior of the car. I might have gone for the big Brio F3J but chickened out with the Superior.
I was CD for the contest today and started the competition around 12:00 I think. We were 16 competitors and had 4 rounds and 2 fly offs. I won both the preliminary and the finals and only lost a few points in a landing to Geir Strømstad that flew well today. Results can be found HERE and details HERE
 

  DAY .. 1. May - 2004
- Picked up Aril Røsvik on the airport. He comes all the way from Tromsø in the North to attend tomorrows F3J Cup (I think its something like 2000km if he drives...). We arrived at Spydeberg airfield at apx 13:00 and it was time to strip of some cloths as the summer moves in. I flew my new Brio F3J (3,3m test model) some and also the AVA to make some video. There were also 4-5 other guys there and my uncle Per Arne Nilsen got a first flight with 3,4m Graphite electro. I also flew the AVA late in the evening when it was almost dark outside. Just to see how it was in calm air. I did fly 8:33 and that's good when one can almost not see the model. Aril was going to launch his Tsunami at the same time but he resigned as he was "tired" after a long night looking at me setting up launch groups for tomorrows F3J (or what Aril ?). But I did arrange some small lights on top of the wing. Geir Strømstad was also there with his children and he also flew his Superior and some small electric model (a Vertigo biplane). The launch video of the AVA can be downloaded HERE (4,9mb .wmv)

January - Won the first F5J extreme postal competition and first flights of both my new Brio and Superior. 9 days of flying in total
February - New Pike Superior, won Arnborg F3J winter flying (Denmark) and bought a Caracho as a spare F3B-model
March - Good practice on the ice, Indoor and Fagernes Air show
April - DS three times, new and bigger Brio for F3J, electro fuse for Superior/Brio and the AVA
May - Won two F3J competitions - one of them with my Brio Giant. 3 days of F3B flying and I got to be speedmaster.
June - Started editing

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