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Kansas F3F – August 2005

We got in a 4-round F3F race on Saturday the wind was very light, 4-7mph or so when we started and it got lighter as we went. Thermals did make the course flyable most of the time. Probably not even “legal” wind most of the time but we could fly and figured the light air practice would be better than nothing so we set up the course and proceeded to run the race.

We flew on the ENE face of Airport Hill at Wilson Lake in Central Kansas. This site has good potential if the wind comes up and is the right direction. Not real common wind direction this time of tear but it was good to see that the site will work and early season events may see ENE more often.

Ian and Andrew made the trip to central Kansas from Colorado. Greg drove from Milwaukee and the rest of the guys were local or from not too far away.

Todd and Mike both got some of the better air and that, along with some good flying, got them both their best results to date. Eric was making some really nice turns and just missed besting Jack! Watch your 6, Jack, guys are gunning for you. Chance is improving as well. Ian and Andrew got their feet wet and both showed promise. If the wind had been better I think Ian would have been very competitive. Andrew got the long walk when he landed the Discus out.

Since we started doing F3F in Kansas it has grown quite nicely. If the forecast would have been more favorable we should have had at least 12 racers, Maybe as many as 15! We are also starting to see guys running much better courses and making the commitment to get a dedicated F3F plane. I expect to see this keep growing!

Here is how they finished.

Results for 08-20-05

1 – 3846.31 – Todd Martin – Flash
2 – 3826.80 – Mike Bailey – Nemesis
3 – 3783.97 – Greg Smith – Viper/Passion
4 – 3486.39 – Jack Cooper – Mini Charisma/2.5 Meter Discus 2B
5 – 3438.21 – Erik Eaton – Banana
6 – 3360.46 – Ian – Sting
7 – 3131.99 – Merrell Anderson – Banana
8 – 2570.57 – Chance Cooper – Vortex
9 – 1980.30 – Andrew – Lumberjack/2.5-Meter Discus 2B

My Weekend at Glider Point

Eric Hvinden sent in this story.

My Weekend at Glider Point

Having previously been hooked by the slope flying bug, I had gotten away from flying after an incident several years ago involving R/C Sailplanes, Pellet Guns and a Homeowners association. Needless to say, I needed a new place to fly. Living in Southern California, with the building of new homes occurring at an all time rate, and flying sites being bulldozed, I looked for a place that was relatively close, relatively accessible, and fun to fly. Looking on the Internet, I found Glider Point in Chino Hills State Park. It is located in the Chino Hills State Park, but access is from a residential neighborhood, where they have built homes right against the park boundary. The residential neighborhood has posted signs of no parking from 7PM to 8AM. The park officially closes at dusk, but the parking is only allowed until 7PM (A problem in Summer hours).
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Airtech Dynamic in Flight

This easy to build, easy to fly, plane has been mine and flying since January 1, 2004. The Airtech DYNAMIC comes with up-curved pre-formed fiberglass wingtips that are one of the nice features of this well designed glider. Flaps are also very nicely precut, as well as the ailerons. Aileron and flap hinges are all pre-set in the wing. The only things to install in the wing are the servos and the wing tips. The full flying stab and rudder are also ready to mount with the stab linkages already pre-set in the fuselage. This 100-inch plane weighs in at about 55 ounces.

I bought this plane for light lift conditions, after I had an almost disaster with my WIZARD in light air in South Dakota. I have had very good flights in very light air in Kansas, South Dakota, Utah, and here in the Milwaukee area. Many is the time when I have thrown this plane off a hill with almost nothing out there for slope air, but managed to work this up to huge altitudes. This plane has a “nose” for thermals.

 

Over and over I have “specked out” this plane then come down in a good dive at high speed, regaining huge altitude on the zoom. The best way to fly this very stable plane in light lift is to set the transmitter to low throws on the ailerons. Trying not to turn too much, keeping the plane level with the low throw, (cutting aileron drag) maintains the speed of the plane, and hence works the light lift much better. I generally tack the plane like a sailboat into the wind at lower altitudes, and save circling for much higher altitudes. The tremendous stability of the Airtech DYNAMIC, allows for a fair amount of time in the “hands off” mode during flights, letting the plane range and search by itself, hardly touching the sticks. This makes for a very dynamic plane in flight. (Pun intended.)

A couple degrees of flap can be helpful while searching for lift, and of course full flaps for the final touchdown if you are short of space, coming in too hot, or trying to spot land at some infernal contest. This plane is very easy to land, even without flaps.

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