A sunny day out

  Now not moving house left me with a day off and some brownie points to squander.  Sunshine and a northerly had me heading up to St Agnes to meet up with Roger.  The first few flights were with the Willow 2, as always they felt smooth and as I added different amounts of ballast in the consistent air it was easy to gauge the effect on how the model corners and flys.

  Roger was doing the same with his Radical.  Whist neither of us were exactly hammering the models it was clear just how alike they were flying and how well they both maintained their energy around the turns. 

 I couldn’t help but get the Merlin out for some fun.  I flew the Merlin dry first of all and she was bouncing around the turns and really putting a smile on my face. But as I put more weight in her the extra energy meant  I could play more and more.  This is a model which loves reversals and really laps up harsh controls.  I can’t think of a better tough sports/racing moldie out there!

  I’d forgotten that Roger hadn’t seen a Merlin since the early prototype I had.  It’s only when I step back and think of the models from a few years ago that I appreciate the quality and construction steps we’ve taken.  I wish my flying had taken the same steps.

 As Roger put his Radical through it’s paces and scared the birds some other guys turned up.  A flying site like Aggies can be frustratingly busy sometimes, not yesterday, but seeing the other models out there and relaxing in a beautiful location!

Too little too late for the Champion of Champions but a fantastic time-thanks Roger!

Welsh-ish

I know young Master Knewt is working far too hard at the moment so here's amy latest unofficial Welsh open list.  Yep it's reached the 55 mark already

1	Frank hulton	England
2	Mark Abbotts	England
3	Martin Newham	England
4	Ian mason	England
5	Jiri Hladky	Swiss
6	Goetz-Michael.Beckers	Germany
7	Andrzej Tabero	Wales
8	Mark Treble	England
9	Stefan Fraundorfer	Austria
10	Erik Heijne	Nertherlands
11	Simon Thornton	England
12	Mark Redsell	England
13	Kurt Planitzer	Austria
14	Paul Stubley	England
15	JohnPhillips	England
16	Rick Ruijsink	Nertherlands
17	Frits Donker Duyvis	Nertherlands
18	Kurt Weillstraat	Nertherlands
19	Tobias Lämmlein	Germany
20	Greg Dakin	England
21	Stefan Bertschi	Swiss
22	John Treble	England
23	Gerhard Niederhofer	Austria
24	Mike Evans	England
25	Andy Burgoyne	England
26	leslie wood	England
27	Martin Drewett	England
28	Graeme Mahoney	England
29	Tony Livingstone	England
30	Clayton Landells	Wales
31	Daniel Schneider	Germany
32	Roger Hilman	England
33	Joel West	England
34	Martin Bepler	Gernany
35	Keith Wood	England
36	Paul Garnett	England
37	pete burgess	England
38	Reto Blumer	swiss
39	richard bago	England
40	Kevin Newton	England
41	Jason Bioletti	England
42	Christian Schnepfleitner	Swiss
43	Greg Lewis	England
44	dave rumble	England
45	Jose Luis Alvarez	Spain
46	Cedric GRANDSEIGNE	france
47	Joe Cubitt	England
48	Marcelino Puñal	Spain
49	Iñaki Elizondo	Spain
50	Iñigo Herrera	Spain
51	Jorge Medina	Spain
52	Lazaro Martinez	Spain
53	Fernando Moro	Spain
54	Peter gunning	Scotland
55	Stuart Wallace	England
r1	John Edison	england
r2	Alejandro Gil Garcia	Spain

Welsh open- unofficially

I am helping ut by collating the entries for the welsh open.  My unoffcial list is here.  I'm sure Kevin will post an official one on his blog when he has the chance.

1	Frank hulton
2	Mark Abbotts
3	Martin Newham
4	Ian mason
5	Jiri Hladky
6	Goetz-Michael.Beckers
7	Martin Newnham
8	Mark Treble
9	Stefan Fraundorfer
10	Erik Heijne
11	Simon Thornton
12	Mark Redsell
13	Kurt Planitzer
14	Paul Stubley
15	JohnPhillips
16	Rick Ruijsink
17	Frits Donker Duyvis
18	Kurt Weillstraat
19	Tobias Lämmlein
20	Greg Dakin
21	Stefan Bertschi
22	John Treble
23	Gerhard Niederhofer
24	Mike Evans
25	Andy Burgoyne
26	leslie wood
27	Martin Drewett
28	Graeme Mahoney
29	Tony Livingstone
30	Clayton Landells
31	Daniel Schneider
32	Roger
33	Joel West
34	Martin Bepler
35	Keith Wood
36	Paul Garnett
37	pete burgess
38	Reto Blumer
39	richard bago
40	bob Schnepfleitner
41	Greg Lewis

Welsh day out

Sunday’s race on the Crest was a bit of the throwback and for all the right reasons.  Perhaps it was the small number of us or the fact that it seems a relatively long time since many of us had met up but as we headed off to the Crest the atmosphere was more like a stress free day’s sport flying.

  The wind wasn’t exactly ripping up trees, there’s be no risk of your wing blowing passed you after a slope side crash.  But this was the crest and there was enough wind to have the laminated ballast cards being thumbed through various types of metal being inserted into models.

  I’ve been loving my Merlin lately, a lack of flying time just hasn’t let me set up the willow 2 properly but the Merlin’s solid feel meant I was very comfortable to be putting 800g of lead in.  Once the clag had cleared the breaze dropped off to around 7-10mph and pretty well stayed there all day.  Normally this would make ballasting easy, 500g (1/3) and off we go, but the wind swinging to the south meant that the lift could pretty well stop.

  It was clear that the conditions could quickly change from low 40s good to mid 70s bad and back again.  The Merlin’s short boom and forgiving nature managed to compensate for my poor thumbs.  With a little look from the conditions everyone knew they could take a round but bad luck and you were gone.  I had a bit of both, including a top 3 round finish.

  With laminated ballast cards being sacrificed in the hope of wind those who like a good blow were starting to get twitchy, Whilst the Lord Dakin just needed some dark magic cantations.

  Thanks to Skip for making sure the day went so well.

Finishing off the southern winter league

  There always seems to have been a reason why I haven’t been able to make any races or even sports fly this winter.  But Sunday’s southern winter league gave me a chance I wasn’t going to miss.  I decided to fly my Merlin in the first few rounds, partly because it was the new version with the half yard joiner but because I just love flying it.  My Patched up Willow 2 was waiting in the wings for it’s call.

  As the brisk wind settled down to the forecast NNW, flying on Whitesheets’ WNW slope was always going to be a challenge as my comeback race.  The extra ballast capacity of the Merlin wasn’t used, mainly because of my lack of practise with 4.5kg models but plenty of other pilots were starting off the day at that weight.  I was soon wearing a wide grin, whatever model I chose, they’re just good to fly but I feel like I’m letting them down.

It’s on crossed days like these which show the improving standards of F3F pilots and the whole southern league.  This isn’t a soft option league any more.  A variety of styles and techniques were tried during the day as conditions changed.  When the air did occasionally square up and the times come down the good old reversals still seems to be the default setting of most pilots as things get fast.

  Although there were plenty of Needles, Baudis assemblies and Freestylers I think that Mark Treble and his Toxic deserve a mention.  When it comes to knowing the model and getting the most from it Mark has put the time in and is getting the rewards.

  Well done to Grommit for running the league in his uniquely relaxed- Baffled dad at his daughter's wedding style- an excellent day for everyone.

Now if I can just get the pictures to up load....

A winters day out

  After numerous missed chances I have finally managed to get out and headed off to Whitesheet’s famous NW slope for a winters day’s soaring.  Between the club AGM and the F3F race on Sunday, Saturday was a busy hill and a fantastic chance to do some catching up.

  I was flying the new bullet proof Merlin, a half yard long joiner and fantastic surface finish, she really does feel like a solid and purposeful  beast.  The Merlin flew so well I forgot the get the Willow 2 out of the car for some race practise- I was enjoying myself too much.

  The slope had some interesting models, of course a Willow 1 but on the bigger end, Andy B brought along his 4m DG scalie.  I loved the way it seemed to take off by itself as I gave it a running launch and then to see the big old loops, fast passes and some fun flying, she looked a lovely bit of kit.

  At the opposite end of the size spectrum (not often said) was Bear and hit 2.2m Drops.  It’s the nicest bit of mouldied kit I’ve seen for a while and looked good fun to fly.  Balanced in the air but it’s has to be tempting to just hang it up on the mantelpiece.

  A good day’s flying in some great company!

Willow 2's hit T9

I am still here, quietely getting on with things and a little frustrated with my lack of flying, but the great nes is that willow 2s are at T9.

so for the Uk there is simply no better F3F model for the price!