Brendan M.
The september TD contest is in the books and to say it was a hot one is an understatement. I think all of use where as broiled as a Easter Sunday ham, and with the winds being stated as light and variable the variable part was direction which liked to switch around, good to locating thermals but sucked for winch launchers.
Six of us braved the heat as listed above in the standings and the Millers took the Unlimited class and Bob G. doing his usual thing by dominating RES and 2 Meter. The conditions werent to challenging but you still had to find the lift if you found it you found it but if you didnt well you get the picture.
When I arrived my dad and Bob G were already there my dad was flying his electric mini bird of time and Bob was assembling planes shortly after Bob W showed up with the winch which with todays heat was a core to set up and take down. Soon after Rich R and Rich S showed up followed by Dan G. I wanted to try the new Glider Keeper AMRT today but use the ALES function I went in and set the altitude to 150M and launched and found the air pretty bouyant and smooth, when I landed I checked the altitude reading and it said 252M I double checked in the APP and sure enough it said 252M so I turned the timed part off on the setting and launched again this time it said 258M….no idea why so I switched to an Altis and set that up for the contest. With the wind being so lite I planned on flying the Volo SL all contest.
We had our pilots meeting and started round one, lift was there and the air smooth I got kind of low but managed to find something and work it for time and a landing, I don’t have my score card so I don’t remember times and landings. Round one some kinks showed their ugly faces with the winch and retriever so we had to get those figured out which they did. So on to Round 2 and it was pretty much the same thing launch got kind of low but this flight I thought I was done for until I found something at the south end of the field and worked it not way downwind but way cross wind there was a wind shift I think after round one it went from coming from the southerly direction to I think a westerly direction I managed to make my time and got a decent landing.
Now lets talk about something cool and I cant remember if it was round 2 or round 3, during this round me and my dad heard a strange noise that sounded like an old guy standing up, which isn’t uncommon, but then Bob G yelled American Pelicans! And sure enough a flock of them were circling in lift and Bob G launched and flew with them, I attached a picture of this, also Rich S launched and was at the west side of the field and he found some booming lift! You couldn’t go wrong.
Round 3 was pretty much the same, look for signs of lift launch and try to find where said lift was at and work it for time and landing points. I launched the Volo had to kind of work for it but managed to get my time but upon getting ready to land I was off by 5 seconds in my landing pattern so I was in a little hurry and to high when I got to the tape I pulled flap and told my dad to watch out because I knew I was high and a little fast I dorked the SL. I didn’t see and damage to the fuse or really anything else but when I got back to the pit I checked the tip joiners and I had cracked one, luckily I had a set of 9 degree joiners for the lite so I popped those in I was surprised that I didn’t hurt anything else because it was a hard hit, lesson learned.
Round 4 opened up and I timed for Rich S, I actually timed alot for Rich S today and he is really getting a handle on his full house planes, he was also flying his Sagitta in 2meter which he knows that plane well. So with all of the timing out of the way I went up for my flight I yelled “Going up!” hit the switch and the motor acted like it was jammed so I tried again and the same thing, from what I can tell when I dorked the SL I pushed the spinner back up against the motor mount. I walked back to the pit and my dad was getting the tools to fix in but I had put the Phoenix together so I told him I would just fly that it needs some tweaking with differential and expo to settle it down but I did the F5J thing I launched turned it the direction I thought the lift was at and used the rest of the motor time to get some altitude for the most part it work. I found lift and went up came in landed with a 9:50 and I think an 89. The Phoenix is different from my volos it flies differently and landing it is pretty easy with the dual flap set up.
With round 4 done we all called it a day we took planes apart turned the cars on to precool them said our good bys and headed out. All and all it was a good day with a lot of good flying even with the heat. As they say you should have been there…as long as you had cold water and shade…
Brendan
Dan G.
September’s TD contest was a rough one where the wind and increasing temps… I still can’t think of a comparison yet. I remember sitting in my car with the air on. I remember how good the beer, potato skins and boneless hot wings tasted. I remember showing off the day to wake up in the middle of the night on my couch. It was that kind of day.
My Story:
I flew with Joe and Dad at Foley on Wednesday. The air was light and lift was challenging. I think it was the second day of using a more aggressive camber setting in thermal mode. The Xplorer 3 flew slower in thermals and the speed became more manageable.
Yesterday, the day of the contest, I was all business. I packed the plane, a pop up shade tent and hit the road. Arriving at Foley, dad was already there. I was excited to set up and get some more practice in, only I couldn’t find my radio. It was at home. I drove home, picked it up and arrived 15 minutes before the 10am pilot’s meeting. I had spent over two hours in the car before 10am – 90 minutes more than usual.
The wind was light from the south but the lift was buoyant. Two practice flights in, solid landings, pilot’s meeting. We were shot on flyers, maybe due to the 95F+ temp forecast, and it was decided to “fly one, time one”. We were also one shot for 2-Meter so I put my hand up making it three.
The wind for round one had shifted from south to variable north / northwest. The winch looked to be the best option in the conditions. I flew 2-Meter first, I just wanted to get it out of the way. Six-minutes two seconds and a 41 landing. Pretty sure this would put me in 1st place. Today I see it was an 8-point lead. My last flight was UNL. There was a discussion moving the winch and hi-start between rounds as I stood checking the plane for launch. The wind was 5 from the north and I waited for a thermal or small shift and to switch focus from the discussion and get to my flight. That’s what I remember. Five-minutes fifteen seconds and a 95 landing.
I timed for my dad intermittently throughout the day. He then timed for me. At one point, he was busy as CD, moving the hi-start from south launching to northwest and then northeast, I asked Rich S to time. Dad kept scoring 10-minute RES flights but struggled with the Maxa for Unlimited. I struggled with concentration – rising air temps, advice from my timers and a whole body concentration on the plane. RES 5, 2, 3 and Unlimited 5, 6, 4 minutes. I tried to keep up with drinking water but my wet t-shirt and hat seemed to keep in the heat. I dounsed my head with water twice. After round 3, I pointed my car to the sun, put in my window shade and ran the air as much as I could. One more round.
I skyed out in both RES and UNL both descending as a faint hairline in the sky. These would be my best flights of the day – 9:52 89 (RES) and 9:33 98 (UNL). 2M was a struggle with a 2:53 – 0 flight.
I packed up, turned in my card and pointed my A/C blowing car toward beer and appetizers.
I’m yawning with coffee in hand as I write at 10am on Sunday. I have pictures of my card and my dad’s on the monitor as well as a spreadsheet of those scores. Yesterday was mostly a blur and I feel 90% back. It’s good to fly with other flyers but what we do, in the way I do it, requires all of my senses and concentration. I need to learn how better to fly with others and take advice but it’s also a competition. When flying, I don’t believe in lucking into lift. We hunt for it and listen to the plane. I don’t believe the air is all bad. We just haven’t found the lift. If the sun is out, the ground is being heated and “turbulents” are created. In full sized planes the turbulents come and go as we fly under the sun or clouds. The pilot is always in control of the aircraft. If not, you’ll end up in a Blancolirio report on YouTube.
If I could go back, I’d bring my radio the first time, set up a shade tent and use a camp shower whenever needed. I need to learn how to take advice during contest flights but it’s also important, somehow, to ask for what we need before the flight – time, status of lift across the airspace and nothing negative about the air or something called “luck” that takes away the years of thought and practice boiling it down to rolling the dice.
If you see me on the field, say hi, but know there is a bit going on under the hood. It’s too much to say or not say while hunting for lift, especially on a hot contest day.
Dan
Mark M.
Well, I’m home. It’s 75 here.
I got to the field early because I needed to test fly my electric Mini Bird of Time. When I first built it there was way too much up thrust so I did what I’m famous for. I cut off the nose and rebuilt it. The test was successful and it flies great. I do have to turn on the brake though. Next weekend is the Balsa Builders event in Muncie. Two days of wood.
As to my contest flights, I flew Darwin the Berkut. I have not bonded with it yet but I have some ideas. I had a mishap with my Phoenix last week and suffice it to say Wayne, our resident composite repair guy will have it soon. It’s not too bad really.
I had 4 reasonable flights, finding lift, getting close to times, and zeroing two landings. On the last flight as I was coming in for my approach only to find that I had a stripped gear in my left flap servo. Missed the landing but made my 10.
Much thanks to Brendan, who is getting really good at calling lift. He is good at finding it when he flies but he keeps you informed of what is happening when he is timing. That was especially useful yesterday with the frequent and rapid wind direction changes. There was not much prevailing wind and so the swings we saw were thermals passing by. Between pelicans, dragon flies, corn husks, and birds there were plenty of indicators.
Thanks to Mr. Gill for running a good low key contest and Mr. Williams for the winch and others who helped set it up and take it down. Did anyone mention that it was hot?
Mark
