DAY
.. 30.
September - 2003
Testing
of Pike Superior Electro
Finally I got the Pike Superior Electro in the air. While at
Hollandglide Samba provided me with a spare Pike Superior X-tail
fuse (actually this was the prototype of the X-tail fuse).
This is NOT the final product of an electro fuse as Samba might use
a nose cone instead of the canopy fuse. The final
product will be ready during the winter I think.
Anyhow the servos of my fuse are in the tail and I have cut
the nose to fit a brushless motor from Hacker. I know many want big
3000mah cells but I cant see the reason so I fitted 10x1200mah
Sanyo-cells and a 17x13 propeller (there
are room for atleast 14-16 of these cells in this fuse).
This gives me a reasonable climb of 8m/s and three climbs to thermal
height. Actually the motor used (Hacker B50-6S with 6,7:1 gear) is
not the best motor and I am going to use pushed Sanyo CP1700 when I
have heated up my iron... So with a B50-7S and a bigger propeller
you can expect apx 10-12m/s climb. I flew only one flight since it
was late in the day and the light could have been better. Altitude
measuring was made with Lolo from
www.lomcovak.cz . The Pike Superior
is available from me
or any of Samba
model's dealers
Advantages of a Superior with electro as I can see it now: Easy
flying on flat fields, flying on the slope when there is little
lift, good practice of F3B speed without winch and off course you
can fly anywhere at any time :-)
Next up is the same fuse fitted on a Pike
Brio wing... :-) ref. see October issue
DAY
.. 28.
September - 2003
The last F3J-cup event this year was on today. It happened at a
military "parachute-airfield" at Rena in Eastern Norway. The flying
field was the biggest I have been at - maybe Corfu was bigger. It is
autumn here in Norway so driving there at 06:00 in the morning the
temperature was only -4,5 degrees when I stopped for a photo.
Arriving at the field was a cold experience but the sun soon gave us
the much needed light to warm us up. Flying was maybe the most
difficult F3J event I have been to this year. The thermals were
there already in first round but boy they were weak. I won my slot
in the first round with only 4:25.... The start height were
extremely bad and since we only used one runner (local rule) this
made it a pain to search the big area. I knew the woods were warmer
in the morning but they were so far away...
Anyhow I managed to win preliminary rounds with 4000 points and was
eager to start the finals. There were two Swedes also at the
competition and one of them Søren Svantesson was also in the finals.
He was second after preliminary only loosing points to me in round
3. First final was a pain but I managed to get a little lift while
all the others landed and took their second starts. The results was
that 3 of four were almost equal in flying time. Second final we all
searched the sky all over but Søren was first on the thermal to far
away for us others. I made a early restart but to no use as Søren
flew the slot out. As you understand I ended second in the event
beaten by a Swede.
Since this is national cup event one has to take out the Swedish
results before we can use the points for National team and National
cup results. This way I won the event. I have now won all F3J events
in Norway this year that I have been to, won the National cup 2
times in a row, and have also won the National championship two
times in a row. I am very pleased with the season as you can imagine
:-)
For those of you that like to see the
results with no Swedes can
see at this site and
National Cup/team for Canada
All other results is at : Norgescup F3J Rena:
Referat /
Resultater /
Bilder
DAY
.. 25.
September - 2003
It is windy out there today but I only went to some local slopes.
First on Karihus flying the Vector zero then I went to another local
slope flying both the Vector zero and the X-wing. It was a bit too
much for the 330g X-wing but it was fun. As you see there is autumn
here and the trees are soon all yellow and red.
BTW while talking to Kjell Sture in the weekend he said a friend of
him was trying to fly more than me. He looks at my diary and goes
out flying every time I have written something. Cool - keep on
flying guys! I just checked my Tx and it has been on for 135 hours
since 23.February (that was the date I bought the EVO). That means
if we are realistic and take out 20% for dead time I have been
flying apx 30 minutes every day.
DAY
.. 24.
September - 2003
Today there was club meeting and afterwards we did some night
flying. Me with X-wing, Geir Atle with a spacewalker and Kjell Arne
with a Raptor helicopter.
DAY
.. 22.
September - 2003
On my way home I now could see the summer
is over....
Just had to take a few pictures.
DAY
.. 19-21.
September - 2003
Sorry guys but the report on this weekend will
have to wait. My brain has a bad temperature after a shitty weekend
at the west coast and will need to cool down before I write some
more. Results for myself was ok with second at nationals Scale
soaring and 14th in F3F (28comp), Those of you that knows Nor.txt
can read the official pages
HERE
DAY
.. 15.
September - 2003
The wind is 11m/s according to the webcam at
Storefjell so
I just had to go for my favourite slope. The slope is at almost
1400m and there is 800m down to the bottom of the valley. There is a
50km drive but I can just step out of the car and throw the plane... The wind
was not straight in today (apx 35-45degrees) but I meassured
constant or more 14m/s so the Pike Brio went for a spin. The
conditions were extreme and 800g of lead (total 2,8kg Brio) was not
enough at all. But it was really cool and I had a good time
practicing F3F for about 45min.
BTW I might have stepped over a bit on my left foot in the weekend
so next weekends Nationals F3F might go down the drain if I am not
getting better during the week :-(
DAY
.. 14.
September - 2003
Last day of the National Championship F3B. Really early and the wind
was finally in the correct direction. It also picked up during the
day and mostly we had to use 1.25 and 1.35 line too keep the lines
in shape. We even broke lines because of the tension that made the
lines go hot and brake on the drum. The starting gate where we have
the winches is also on the back of the landscape and this made the
throws really difficult today in the strong wind. I think there went
at least three planes in the throws.
My own team "F3X.no" was really going strong and we were well
prepared for this event. I was really happy to be on this team as
everybody knew exactly what to do all the time. F3B is so
challenging technically that one needs to have the team working
together all the time. My team finally won the Team score and my
team mate Erik Morgan Villadsen won the whole event by getting the
fastest speed in the last round and beating Espen Torp that in many
years have been THE pilot in Norway in F3B. I was not happy with my
last speed and dropped down to 4th behind Arnfinn Lie that got some
discards after 4 rounds that helped him beat me. 4th place is maybe
the worst place one can get just outside the top three and medals
but hey I think I must be very happy with the result this year. I
proved to myself that I can be constant and the speed points this
year is much better than what I have made before.
Looking back at the nationals it as usual became a speed-event
because of the discards after 4 rounds (according to the rules there
are no discard before round 6) but the best guy won I think and we
HAD A GREAT TIME :-) A big thanks to all the volunteers
that made this possible.
BTW The winner Erik M. Villadsen showed us that the X21 model can be
a winner and he also became speedmaster....
Official site | 50 pictures by me | report from Egil Roland (nor txt)
DAY
.. 13.
September - 2003
First day of National Championship F3B. We started up late since the
wind was in the wrong direction and we had to carry the equipment a
long way. But we got started with thermal and I got a good start. 24
competitors and few official helpers made the distance a bit more
difficult than it should have been. But we managed thru and I was
very happy with 19 and 18 legs in both my distances today (1000 and
900p). The wind did change a lot during the day just as the weather
forecast had said. So the speed and the last thermal of the day was
challenging you might say.. With 1-3m/s wind straight from the back
the launch heights became very low and some of the guys really
missed out here.
My own result was pretty good I think and my thermal round showed me
that this is something I know how to do. Just a bit pity that I
showed all the others the thermal a bit too early... Speed is still
not my thing as I as usual fly not as straight as the best and I
must learn the 150m course. It is too late to turn when you hear the
beep. But 839 and 947p in speed is ok for me. After the first day
the list showed that many could win this championship. I was in
third place but the two guys at the top were really strong. The
evening was spent with barbeque and I was as usual too late in bed..
DAY
.. 12.
September - 2003
Arrived at the Nationals and today there is training and Team
manager meeting. We had some starts before the rain dropped down
upon us. It was poring down but my Pike Brio was under the tent....
Stupid because there was so much rain that the model were full of
water when I picked it up just 30min after. I changed the Rx just in
case since I could not risk anything. I don't think there was water
inside but best to be on the safe side.
Arild Møllerhaug also got the first flights with his Pike Brio
(2-piece V-tail carbon) and seemed very happy with it. He also did
well in the Nationals F3B and after just flying the model 3 flights
he ended up as nr.10 of 24 comp. Arild is normally a F3F-guy but I
think he will be a good F3B pilot also. The picture is put together
from 3 photos taken during the weekend. And yes Arild's hair is
orange.... You can "open
the big picture" - "right click" - "use as background".
DAY
.. 11.
September - 2003
Just 3 launches but good conditions on the field with the winch and
the Pike Brio. I was also invaded another sport just nearby.... see
the picture.
DAY
.. 10.
September - 2003
New practice day with a few starts on the winch with Pike Brio. I
had some new ideas about turning in distance that I wanted to try
out. When turning at base-A in high wind I always have problems
coming out of the turn. Today I tested some negative kick-flap only
in that turn and it was fun to see the speed increasing out of the
turn. At the B-base I did the opposite and "lifted the model" as
usual but now with "start-flap". This might seem strange to many of
you - but for those that have flown distance F3B in strong winds
understand the problem.
DAY
.. 9.
September - 2003
OK to the weekend there is F3B National championship. So I took out
the Pike Brio for some practice since I have new tips on it. No
problem at all (it is good to have all settings
written down but I actually did not need it). I also flew the
Spacewolf a few flights and changed the CG and EWD (incidence
wing/elevator). Maybe it is a little stupid to do these adjustments
so close to the championship but I feel it suits my flying style
better.
DAY
.. 6-7.
September - 2003
It became a fantastic weekend with great weather
even though the wind was not by the best direction. But we did fly
Saturday on an inland slope with thermals flying by in the 14m/s wind
and also on Sunday on a small sea slope that gave more even times but
also not as fast. Not the biggest starting field but the pilots were
good and 4 of the pilots from last Viking race was there. I proved
to myself that I can be competitive in F3F also even after 10 years
out of it. I even got a 1000p on Saturday and flew well as long as I
did not test to much or too little lead.... My Pike Brio seems to be
a plane that can do all the F3X competitions and maybe win also..
Results can be found HERE |
Pictures can be found HERE
Later on Friday and Saturday we even flew
some DS on some bigger slopes and I also tested my uncles ASW 28. It
flew well but I had a problem with a servo and got a bit hard
landing on the top of the slope. I would also like to thank Rolf
Inge Waaga for the hospitality and the drinks.... I remember all :-)
DAY
.. 5.
September - 2003
This weekend there is 2x F3F in
Stavanger/Haugesund on the west coast of Norway. I went on Friday
and met Rolf Inge Waaga and Arild Møllerhaug for some practice and
maybe DS on a local slope. Sadly the wind was not with us so we just
made some slow front side for fun. I flew the Pike Brio and the
Vector zero while Rolf Inge and Arild brought each their Opus. The
weather was warm so when we got to Rolf Inge's cabin we watched the
sun's last minutes on the sky. Arild also got his new Pike Brio with
2-piece V-tail. He was brought in to control by Rolf Inge as he was
speeding to fast with his 944...
Watch this space for more on the F3F-comp later.....
