SEN 2418
- F1D Champs Update
- Still looking for a Ken Bauer Multi-function timer
- FabFeb 2018 E36/F1S Contest Report Musings #3 (Last One!)
F1D Champs Update
Another blog with good color and tech comments https://thef1dblog.wordpress.com/ from Mike Kirda
Weather inside the site not so good yesterday maybe better today
Still looking for a Ken Bauer Multi-function timer
Peter Allnutt is anxious to obtain a Ken Bauer “Multi Function” electronic F1A timer produced around 1993. (Peter has asked before and someone came up with one of Ken’s Electronic D/T only timers produced in the 1980s, if not before!) . If yoi have one that is no longer needed please contact Peter or SEN.
Thank you
Peter
FabFeb 2018 E36/F1S Contest Report Musings #3 (Last One!)
(we had forgotten to publish the last of Derek’s 3 F1S etc pieces from Fab Feb)
From: Derek McGuckin
At the Max Men F1B was flown on Friday. I dropped a round but still had lots of fun. Saturday was F1A and Q day. It was one of the best days of the week weather wise with hardly any wind. Made it tough for some of the F1A flyers. I helped time several of the Q flights and they were impressive. I’m tempted to give the class a shot but will wait until there is at least a year without a rule change. Might have to wait a while!
With the nice weather I decided to fine tune the climb of my F1S for the contest on Sunday. The result of the reattached rudder I described in the previous missive was a tighter spiral climb. I straightened it out a bit. The plane was making one full turn in the 5 sec motor run. I decided to stop there because it’s a safe pattern.
The wind was blowing on Sunday. The mini’s were scheduled to start at 10am. I arrived at the field with dust blowing every which way. The forecast was for strong winds, so I wasn’t surprised. People were standing around with anemometers to see if they were within the limit. Needless to say, quite a few people decided to sit this one out! As 10:00am arrived the CD Bill Booth said the contest was on and the flight line would be at the far west of the field close to the orchards. A small line of cars headed that way and we began to prepare for a challenging morning.
There were three of us flying in F1S: Julie Parker, Jack Murphy and myself. Mike Richardson had come along to enjoy the ‘show’ and offered to time for Jack and me. Thanks Mike! The orchard blocked a bit of the wind down low. Not the case higher up as I discovered with my first launch. About half way through the climb a strong wind gust blew the plane upside down and it shot straight toward the ground. The spiral climb saved it as it came around and transitioned ok at about half height. I made the max then dropped the second due to a bad climb in the wind. Jack had dropped a round as well. Julie’s plane was damaged in a wind caused crash and she decided to call it a day.
The wind hampered things for the first three rounds. Luckily it started to slow down, and the last two rounds were almost pleasant! I maxed the rest of the rounds while Jack dropped one more. Final results were me in 1st, Jack 2nd and Julie 3rd. As noted conditions were tough! Even so it was lots of fun. My plane handled the wind for the most part due to it’s safe climb pattern. I wonder how a ½ climb turn F1S hot rod would handle the wind turbulence?
There was at least one maxout in each of the mini classes. No flyoffs were necessary. One of the young Chinese flyers put on quite a show and she ended up in second place in F1G. Her intensity while winding and delight in flying brought smile to everybody on the flight line.
So that’s it. I had a wonderful time flying E36/F1S at FabFeb. There is talk of rule changes due to performance. I hope the class stays stable for a while more. Yes, the top planes are amazing but you still have to fly them and mistakes can and do happen. Along with wind! Now back to the bench to finish the next plane. My hope is for a bit higher climb on 5 sec. motor runs. I look forward to next years FabFeb and more fun competing in E36/F1S.
A big thanks to Norm. Furutani, Roger Morrell and Bill Booth along with all the volunteers that make the FabFeb contests possible!