Fun flying but wheres the sun shine

 

Feels like chances to get out to fly have been few and far between in recent weeks.  Last weeks race at the mynd was one of vastly differing conditions.

  The Sakers predictable  behaviour and reactions to different lift made the race much easier.  I even found myself keeping up with the Saker master himself - JP.

  Whist I should be talking about summer time thermals, today's flying was very similar to the Mynd.  Variable air coming through meaning the turn style to use seemed to change turn by turn.  It's so nice that the Saker is easy to read and react to. I'm not sure my thumbs still won't slow it down but it's good to know that the Saker is proving so capable.

South of England open- one of the best

   The south of England Eurotour was one of my first races for a long time and it turned out to be the first competitive outing for JP and his Saker.  Although my own limited thumbs mean that I am always very much an outside bet I love multiday events.  The prospect of meeting up with some European as well as more local friends had me heading off to the glorious slopes of East Sussex.

  There is an argument that many F3F models have come together in terms of design.  3m span models certainly dominate and to the untrained eye you’re very much relying on trademark colour schemes to separate them.  I’m not decrying these models- they clearly work but it does tent to draw you eye to those models that stand alone.

  The Caldera T, flown by Deiter Perlick really stood out.  Deiter makes beautiful models which have tended to the smaller spans over the years.  Not surprisingly the T ailed model flew ‘as if it was on rails’ and showed a remarkable ability in the turn.

  Deiter, in common with many of the better pilots, did not stick to 1 turn style.  As the weekend unfolded you could almost see him learning what worked on the hill as the conditions changed.  No one was better at doing this than the eventual winner Markus Meissner.  Markus was 16^th after the first round but hunter England’s Mark Redsell down, round after round.  Mark lost first place in the very last round of the competition.

  The greatest change in fortunes came for John Philips.  After day 1 he was in 17^th, including a fight with the local plant life- que John bringing out his Saker and producing one of the most dominant day’s flying that I can remember- Day 2 was JP day.  I don’t think her was ever out of the top 4, as the Saker showed the way through some challenging conditions.

  My own performance was also improving and more than keeping up with the improving form of many pilots.  Being able to watch John fly my design with such success was almost as good as flying them myself- the Saker is without doubt capable of mixing it with just about every other model out there.  I could tell you about the bad luck I had with the lift fading as I flew the last flight of the day but lets not…

  Weekends like this are about far more than the podium finishers or just the racing.  Those long days in the sunshine and wind were finished off perfectly with a ‘debrief’ over a cold drink or 2.  It’s at times like that when friendships are made or strengthened as well as many of the best memories of the weekend.  F3F at it’s best is about more than racing.

  Possibly more than anywhere else, UK racers know that you can go from last to first and back again very easily and this does not affect your welcome each evening.  If you have suffered some damage, you might even get a pint put in front of you!

  Although my car was full of models and I carried 2 Sakers to the tope of the slope each day, my Saker was rock solid and was the only model I flew all race.  In some conditions that would have challenged many models in previous years the Saker was always well behaved.

  After a weekend like this, my enthusiasm is certainly re-invigorated to get things ready for the next UK summer league.

  Now how about a bit of sport flying fun and an evening out before the summer league outing?

Mynd weekend

 In a summer of memorable days, I found myself on the Mynd with Andy. A mid summer day with a good breaze and thermals a plenty to enjoy. 

. Both Andy's PB2 and my own saker enjoyed some variable air.  Both models showed that when the air is good they take off funny that. 

A glorious day finished with a pint.  Simply whats not to like on days like this?

What a day!

 

  After another week of NE winds made our usual slopes less fun, the call of the Wrecker meant that for a second weekend in a row I found myself on the Motorway heading into Wales. This time I was greeted by William setting up his automatic F3F course for a little bit of practise and within an hour our numbers had swollen into double figures.  Bright sunshine tempered by the 25mph+ winds.

  The day was by no means an exclusively expensive toy F3F session, A good few of us had brought something different to fly- it was all going to go on a day like this.

  The model's ranged from Les's 2m Screamer, thought the Needle 100 and my own Falcon 100 to some bigger F3F models.  I did take my Saker but as usual I ended up only flying the first model out of the car.  The air did cycle through, alternating between good to 'hold on'.  It wasn't a great surprise when Andy B told me that he had started filming my Falcon just as the air dropped off, he was heading back from landing on my last flight as the air got ridiculous and the Falcon's speed kept building and building.

  It was good to see the Screamer model, I've not see this one in the flesh before and it can certainly go, at just 2m it's a little small for my own taste but t put a big smile on Les's face.

  A couple of blasts from the past were the Needle 100 and Mike Evan's Alliaj- not the most attractive but Mike had the wings bending some in the turns at times.

  After JP had flown his Fox it was time for him to bring out his Saker.  I know that he had been looking forward to really testing those wings for a while and as he added 1.6KG of ballast I knew that he wasn't going to hold back!  For the second weekend in a row I got to sit back and admire a model of mine taring up the sky and really being put through it's paces.

  EM, reversals Philips specials the Saker just seemed to keep on flying though them all and keep on getting faster.  Whilst part of my was a bit gutted that it's clearly my thumbs holding back the Saker, knowing that it can more than keep up with the rest of the racing field is fantastic.

  The Vantage was also a model which stood out, flown by Les and Andy, both showed the benefit of consistently flying the same model.

A fantastic day out in the sun!

EM turns on the wrecker.

  Sunshine and NE winds can only mean one thing- a trip to the fabled Wrecker.  I have always had mixed feelings about the slope, clearly epic lift but the long walk to land has often caught me out.  This dislike of the walk s actually one of the reasons I try to go sometimes, to try and get over this.

  After flying the Falcon with a Cheshire grin on the edge, I managed to tear myself away from the Falcon and rig the Saker.  Although the wind speed of 10mps would usually have me looking to put 800-1000g of ballast in, I tempered back due to the large variation in the lift.  When the lift came in I know that she will go!

  I gave the Saker to the Dark lord Greg Dakin to stir the sticks and let me know just what she can do and how much I am holding back the Saker.  She was soon doing huge pumps with some excellent energy retention and then ripping up the edge with some speed building EM turns that looked like an effortless high speed figure of 8.

  Greg does like his loops and it wasn't long before he was DSing the edge, with the speed climbing with every loop.  After taking the Sticks I attempted to follow Greg's EM turning style.  It was just easy, only my own aggression diving into the compression after each turn prevented me from going faster (honest).  The Saker felt like it wasn't going to over pull/scrub speed in the turns, as long as possitive reasure was kept on the wing, the faster we went.

  After landing safely each time I put my models away with a huge smile.

  I have to give a word to the Raptors that Greg was flying.  A 2.4m thin winged aerobatic smile maker.  Most certainly the best model I have seen in this class for a long time.

A trip to the Mynd, but no wind

  Dad'd taxi being directed to the midlands  usually gives me the chance flr some soaring on the Mynd in Shorpshire.  Conditions here remind me of Whitesheet, with the variability of lift making it a great sport fly spot.  Unfortunately this weekend there was so little breeze that the wind direction was swinging 180deg at times as the thermals drifted through.

  Room in the car meant I took the Falcon rather than Saker but after a few deep breaths I hurled it into the air and hoped.  I've forgotten just how clearly the Falcon reacts and indicated thermal lift.  It wasn't long before I was comfortably flying from thermal to thermal.  

  A good day and the first time this year I've come away from the slope wishing I'd packed the sun cream rather than waterproofs.  Another cool Falcon day

A summer social

 

    Getting a bank holiday pass to go and fly was a bit of a surprise but not to be turned down.  It won't be news that the Saker and Falcon both got a day out to Whitesheet.  It's always fun to chat with other pilots and have the chance to compare your own flying and use of the the air with theirs.

  The Saker and Falcon didn't let me down at all.  Keeping up as the lift died and accelerating away as the thermals came through.  The Saker was ballasted up to well over 3kg and does seem happy at that weight in summer conditions.

  A good day out for slope Dog and me.