F6D World Air Games Qualifier 2 Pictures

Above, the group that took part in the 2nd WAG Qualifier. Left, a bit of muscle stretching before getting out there - airshow video coverage team (from Kwela) present.

This type of event held at an airshow in this instance resulted in a few problems but the organisers were obviously not aware of the extent of the full size activities. The wind direction resulted in the spectator area being directly upwind of the box creating an upwind no fly zone and having a full size helicopter operating flips every 10 to 15 minutes about 500m upwind behind the spectator area resulted in less than ideal conditions for the light F3K/F6D models. Although air turbulence from the full size activities affecting some of the DLG flights cannot be ruled out, the conditions were the same for all competitors and on that basis, some protests had to be turned down.

F3K Nationals Pictures

Thank you Mark for the invitation to submit to the F3K blog. At last, here are a few pictures from the F3K Nationals. I'm now slowly catching up on my blogging entries.



A big thank you to ETB organisers Paul Carnall, Izak Theron and Herman Weber for hosting a great event despite the trying weather conditions.

... and on Monday the weather cleared and we had the most perfect flying weather for the rest of the week!

F6D World Air Games Qualifier 2

Saturday the 10th of May saw Henley Aero Modelers hosting the 2nd South African National Qualifier for the 2009 World Air Games to be held in Turin. The event was part of the Henley Airshow which was to celebrate the opening of a new runway at the field.

Sadly only 6 people entered and only 5 flew as Deon had motor vehicle issues. I assume the poor entry is partly due to a conflicting construction seminar being held on the same day (I'm not sure why the MGA calendar wasn't consulted before scheduling the seminar), and the general apathy of a number of some of the F3K community who probably felt that Helney was to far to travel.

Derek Marusich did a wonderful job CDing the event with some assistance from Lionel Brink who was the CIAM official in Bob Skinners absence. I must thank both of them for the wonderful job both did, especially with keeping us on track with the tight time slots we had to fly within. Also for the prompt and accurate scoring. In particular the way they dealt with a couple of particularly opportunistic appeals, that IMO where blatant attempts to get out of jail after messing up flights. It is sad that this noble sport has sunk to this level.

Rounds 1 and 2 where flown between 08h45 and 09h45, the air was cold and an inversion layer was still evident over the area. This made thing's very difficult for the competitors. Alan didn't let this put him off and managed to record a magnificent max in the first slot.

Round 1 - Last flight, 7 minute working time, 5 minute max.

Slot 1

Steph    196 sec    653
Alan     300      1,000
Mark     122        407

Slot 2

Kurt     110 sec    591
Lionel   186      1,000

Round 2 - All Up, Last Down, 3 Flights, 3 Minute Max

Slot 1

Steph    180 sec  94 sec  104 sec    1,000
Mark      68     178       93          897
Lionel    63     180       76          844  

Slot 2

Alan      95 sec   161 sec  104 sec  1,000
Kurt     107       102       61        750

Kurt really enjoyed the first flight of round 2, I think it was his highlight of the event at this stage. However he was going to find himself even more delighted once the scores where tallied.

Pre-liminary Results

1. Alan Smith     2,000
2. Lionel Smith   1,844
3. Steph Duponsel 1,653
4. Kurt Stockton  1,341
5. Mark Stockton  1,304

As the entry was so poor, all pilots went through to the semi-finals, the preliminary rounds only serving to provide groups they would fly in.

The semifinals where flown in a lunch time slot, however the amount of lift available hadn't really improved much. Again IMO this was mainly due to a full size helicopter opperating about +-500m upwind of the flight box.

Semi Finals - All Up, Last Down.

Slot 1

Alan       0 sec  54 sec  117sec = 171 sec   606
Steph     93      91       98    = 282     1,000
Mark     108      90       63    = 261       925

Slot 2

Lionel   54 sec  102 sec  67 sec = 233 sec   1,000
Kurt     54       75      43     = 172         771

This saw a major shuffle in the positions:

 
1. Steph    1,000
1. Lionel   1,000
3. Mark       925
4. Kurt       771
5. Alan       606

The final took place in mid afternoon. Only the top 3 pilots went through. The final result was:

1st Stephane Duponsel
2nd Lionel Smith
3rd Mark Stockton

Later in the day Kurt and I got a chance to demo the DLG models of the main runway directly infront of the crowd. I believe this demo was well received by the audience, especially as this time we did some aerobatics rather then duration type flights.

I must again thank the guy's and girls at Henley Aeromodelers for the splendid day as well as for inviting the F3K / F6D community to be part of the airshow. Derek for his level headed and excellent CDing and last but not least Lionel (Brink) for acting as the WAG observer as well as for scoring the event.

F3K National Championships

This past weekend the South African gliding National Chmapionships where hosted by ETB.

The weather conditions where far from ideal with high (over 20km/h) winds and rain over most of the 4 days scheduled. The conditions where so bad that F3B, F5J, Open, 2 meter and RES100 only completed 4 or 5 rounds per class.

Thanks to the perseverance of the F3K pilots, all 11 rounds where completed. The final results are as follows:

9,203         Alan Smith
8,781         Stephane Duponsel
8,073         Conrad Klintworth
7,853         Craig Goodrum
7,822         Mark Stockton
6,604         Lionel Smith
5,888         Peter Eagle
4,441         Anton Coetzee
2,024         Rudi King
  689         Deon Scholtz 

The round by round raw data as well as task list can be downloaded here.

Open letter to HLG pilots and organisers

Dear friends,

In last days I read some allegations stating that the promotion class F6D endangers the competition class F3K. I must state, that these two classes are not one against the other. Quite the contrary, they are complementary.

The relation between F3K and F6D may be considered as the relation between full size aerobatics and Red Bull Race. Both these doublets have many similar traits. E.g. full size aerobatics is a well established sport whereas the Red Bull Race is a discipline matched to TV. The Red Bull Race pilots come from aerobatic pilots. Observing aerobatics contest is rather boring for non-specialists whereas the Red Bull Race offers an exciting show.

F3K is a competition class which many pilots fly for fun. F6D is intended for attraction of public and media for the benefit of all aero-modelling categories. So both classes have their entitlement.

Some people try to kill the F6D class because they believe it may help the expansion of F3K. I believe that they make harm to hand launch glider pilots in general. I am convinced that strong position of F6D will strengthen the position of F3K. And on the other hand, undermining F6D would also weaken the international standing of F3K.

I know that the promotion of F3K class to World Championship status is not welcome by all modellers. The reason is on hand. In some countries the modellers representing the country are supported by the government. In this this case each new WCh class means dividing the available sum into smaller parts. But World Air Games are organised and financed in a different way, so F6D can’t be invader of F3K.

I know that the F3K class is a great fun for pilots and therefore I support it. You can see my support from the fact that I sent the proposal for upgrading the F3K to World Championship class to FAI. It was my own initiative to submit this proposal on behalf the Czech Modellers Association. (See page 12 of the CIAM FAI Plenary Meeting Agenda).

I wish all F3K pilots good flights and attractive competitions. If you like strengthening the position of F3K, support also F6D.

Best regards
Tomas Bartovsky
Chairman of the CIAM FAI RC-Soaring Subcommittee

March 17th 2008

March F3K League Positions

F3K

                               Rnd 1       Rnd 2         Total
1. Mark Stockton               1,000         892         1,892
2. Alan Smith                    840       1,000         1,840
3. Stephane Duponsel             892         803         1,695
4. Craig Goodrum                 752         914         1,665
5. Dion Liebenburg                 -         707           707
6. Herman Weber                    -         530           530
7. Conrad Klintworth             407           -           407
8. Lionel Smith                  382           -           382

Micro / Mini F3K

                               Rnd 1       Rnd 2         Total
1. Herman Weber                  747       1,000         1,747
2. Kurt Stockton                 982         640         1,622
3. Deon Schultz                1,000         527         1,527
4. Alan Smith                      -         980           980
5. Mark Stockton                   -         956           956
6. Lionel Smith                    -         623           623
7. Rudolf Engelmann                -         559           559

F3K @ BERG - 8 March 2008 - Results

F3K

Round 1

Last Flight, 300 second max, 10 minute working time

Slot 1

Stephane  110 sec    430
Alan   256  1,000
Dion L  198    773

Slot 2 

Mark   300 sec  1,000
Craig  300  1,000
Herman    70     233

Round 2

All up, last down, scored in seconds, 180 second max

Slot 1

Stephane  180 + 116 + 68 = 364 sec    978
Mark   180 + 0 + 72   = 252     677 (landed out on second flight)
Alan   180 + 75 + 117 = 372  1,000

Slot 2

Craig  82 + 59 + 58   = 199 sec  1,000
Dion L   58 + 48 + 59   = 165     829
Herman   65 + 55 + 47   = 167    839

Round 3

Ladder Task starting at 30 seconds, increasing by 15 seconds, max 120 seconds, working time 10 minutes.

Slot 1

Mark  30 + 45 + 60 + 75 + 90 + 105 = 405 sec 1,000
Alan   30 + 45 + 60 + 75 + 90 + 105 = 405 1,000
Craig   30 + 45 + 60 + 90            = 300   741

Slot 2

Stephane   30 + 45 + 60 + 75 + 90 + 105 = 405 sec  1,000
Dion L   30 + 45 + 60 + 75      = 210    519
Herman   30 + 45 + 60 + 75       = 210    519

Final Result

  Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Total
Alan   1,000 1,000 1,000 3,000
Craig    1,000 1,000   741 2,741
Mark   1,000   677 1,000 2,677
Stephane    430   978 1,000 2,408
Dion L    773   829   519 2,121
Herman    233   839   519 1,591

Mini / Micro F3K

Round 1

Last Flight, 300 second max, 10 minute working time.

Slot 1

Kurt  25 sec    391
Deon S  39    609
Lionel  39    609
Mark  64  1,000

Slot 2

Rudolf  37 sec     544
Alan   64    941
Herman   68  1,000

Round 2

All up, last down, scored in seconds, 180 second max.

Slot 1

Kurt   26 + 39 + 29  =  94 sec    528
Rudolf  34 + 39 + 30  = 103    579
Deon S  19 + 31 + 24  =  74    416
Alan   76 + 59 + 43  = 178  1,000

Slot 2

Lionel   28 + 110 + 26  = 164 sec    704
Herman   48 + 147 + 38   = 233  1,000
Mark   66 + 86 + 50  = 202    867

Round 3

Ladder Task starting at 30 seconds and increasing by 15 seconds. Working time reduced to 5 minutes.

Slot 1 

Rudolf  30 + 45   =  75 sec    556
Deon S  30 + 45   =  75    556
Alan   30 + 45 + 60   = 135  1,000

Slot 2

Kurt   30 + 45 + 60   = 135  1,000
Lionel  30 + 45   =  75    556
Herman   30 + 45 + 60  = 135  1,000
Mark   30 + 45 + 60   = 135  1,000

Final Result

  Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Total
Herman   1,000 1,000 1,000 3,000
Alan     941 1,000 1,000 2,941
Mark  1,000   867 1,000 2,867
Kurt    391   528 1,000 1,919
Lionel    609   704   556 1,869
Rudolf    544   579   556 1,678
Deon S    609   416   556 1,581

Obsession Update

Steph sent me photo this morning of the Obsession's currently under construction.

I wonder if the green wing is for Alan ;)

F3K League change of venue

Based on those who have voiced their preference the next league event
has been changed back to Saturday the 8th at BERG. Pilots briefing at
1:30 to start at 2.

Evan tells me the grass is nice and short at the moment. Entrants so far:

Stephane 35,140
Mark 35,250
Alan 53,300/600
Craig 35,170
Kurt 35,100

Rudolf (35.040)

Looking forward to seeing you all there,
Stephane

Looking forward to seeing you all there