Wednesday 30 January 2019

Winner Winner!


Southern Winter League at Whitesheet 27th Jan 2019.

Another post-nightshift competition opportunity for me presented itself this week with some blowy conditions forecast for Whitesheet Hills in Kilmington for January’s attempt at a Southern Winter League F3F competition. I had a sufficiently chilled nightshift and headed off armed with lots of caffeine, my trusty Pike Precision, Fx-32 tranny, lots of ballast and  the Needle 124 as a back-up.

I arrived safe and sound pretty much on time and 18 hopeful competitors made their way to the NW slope of Whitesheet Hill. I forgot to take my anemometer out to the slope so I didn’t get to measure the breeze, but it was WAAAAY more than just a stiff one. Our magnanimous CD for the the Day (Stu Wallace) took some measurements and I believe they ranged from a measly 7m/sec  to a whopping 48m/sec! I put most my ballast in the Precision at the start of the day and didn’t change it. I am only running brass in the Precision and could have put more in the front of the joiner. This changes my CoG quite a bit forward from my 107mm and I am a bit loathed to do that…

It was great to catch up with so many pilots I haven’t seen for ages and also meet a few for the first time. It was my first time flying with a couple of stalwarts from the heyday of F3F in Greg Lewis and Dave Woods and I hadn’t seen Tony Robertson for years so it was great to see him at a comp, no matter how briefly….

I was really impressed by the turnout on Sunday, especially with the less-experienced racers. Winds that strong are a challenge to fly in and add to the stresses of being new to competing. I thought they all did an outstanding job!

Round 1 was a learning experience for me (actually, all the rounds were a learning experience for me!) as the hill shape and wind strength combination we were presented with isn’t one I have had before. The closest I can think of was Levisham way back in 2010-ish. Fortunately I found landing a LOT easier at Whitesheet! I posted a 40.2 for 4th in the round and Graeme Mahoney kicked off the comp in style with a blistering 36.75. Greg Lewis and Nigel Witchalls posted sub 40’s for 2nd and 3rd in the round. Allen Elliott flew his Needle 124 to his fastest time of the day of 44.01 also Stuart Wallace with his Needle 115 posted his fastest time of 46.74.

I managed to get some extra lift in round 2 which complimented my line and the flowing style I have been concentrating on to give me a 35.95 and my first round win. Greg and Nigel both went sub40 again to take 3rd and 2nd with Andy Burgoyne also in the 39’s for 4th. John Phillips broke his Pink Camo thing on landing and found a dead battery in his spare plane so was pubward bound from there. After missing round 1, Tony graced us briefly with his flying presence, then after a servo issue for one plane and a slight re-shuffle of composite material on another, he was off to the pub with JP.

I had some soggy air and over-flew the plane, trying to hurry it through the turns, resulting in a 50.08 and 10th in round 3. “that should be my discard” I stupidly thought… Mike Evans flew beautifully directly before me to take the round win with a 40.76. Closely followed by Dave Woods with his Pitbull2 and Nigel Witchalls who was having a stellar competition so far with his Pitbull. Graham Hill was performing admirably with his McMeekan Falcon for his first (?) F3F comp (Incredible conditions for number 1!) Very smooth and consistent all day.
I managed to win the 4th round with a 37.61 with Greg hot on my heals again. I only got to see brief parts of Greg’s flights as he was directly after me, kicking of each round. I had to land very efficiently to see him and when I did, he looked completely at ease and smack-bang on the bases all day. Graeme Mahoney and his Pitbull2 took third place in the round with a 40.74.

Ian Falconer flew his fastest time of the day with a 39.54 and 2nd in round 5 along with Mark Passingham who took the round win with a 37.71 with his Freestyler5 and Mike Evans 3rd with his Shinto and 39.54. I had some soggy air, but tried to fly smoother again and limited the damage to only a 43.99. Stu had been struggling with a bad neck all day and had to succumb to the pain and sit out the rest of the day from here. There isn’t much worse than being freezing cold and in pain. Hats off to Gromit for sticking it out to the end of the day!! Hope your neck gets better soon!

Round 6 was a memorable one for me. Halfway through the run I reckon I was on track for a run in the mid 40’s and then WHACK!!! The Precision took off like a Stabbed Rat or a Scolded Cat from base A and just kept getting faster each time it hit the thermal on base A! The thermal hadn’t hit base B and the wind direction difference was such that I wasn’t really turning against the wind and I had 4 legs of the fastest I have ever experienced a Radio Controlled Glider go! I ended up posting a 36.03 and won that round! I’m pretty sure I had just DS’d the edge of a thermal. Greg posted a 39.61 for 3rd and Mike Evans took 2nd just prior to my run with 39.26.

My Thermal created havoc with Round 7 and it was only the second round without a sub40. Greg took 1st with 40.25 closely followed in the order and time by Nigel Witchalls with a 40.81 and third was Andy Burgoyne with 40.87. Pete Burgess had his best time this round with his Pitbull2. The wind was extremely strong for this round and everyone had difficulty getting their planes to penetrate off the slope at all! Landing was a challenge and crow brakes or butterfly was NOT required! I managed a 48.96 this round and couldn’t get the Precision into a place where it would gain any energy. This still wasn’t my discard round though! Bruce Hudson was flying a plane I didn’t recognise but it can’t have had more than a 2m wingspan and weighed no more than a few feathers taped together. He had his second fastest flight of the comp in this round with a very respectable 52.94 (only topped in round 2 by 29 hundredths of a second)

Greg stood up after my 48 to kick off round 8 and had one of those flights I wish I had seen. He managed to set the slope record for the NW face of Whitesheet with a 33.85 run which must have looked absolutely stunning! I managed a 42.81 this round which wasn’t really too bad, but compared to a 33….. it became my discard. Rachel sent me a message asking how my day was going and I told her it was a tough but brilliant day and I’m doing pretty well but I think I might require some luck to win. I was right to assume I was in second place, but I didn’t know just how close it was at the top!! I only had 230-odd points to make up on Greg! Dave Woods took 2nd in the round with Graeme Mahoney 3rd (both with sub 40 flights) and Mike Evans set his best time of the day with a 38.28.

Round 9 was some of the ‘some luck’ I needed. I managed a very fast 35.89 run. I had found the place on the slope that was working best for me and obviously had some good conditions as although Greg came second, he was nearly 8 seconds behind me with a 43.69. Dave Woods kept his climb to the top on track posting the 3rd fastest time of 44.01 with Mike right on his Pitbull2’s heels with a 44.36.

Greg Lewis got us underway in the 10th and final round with a 47.57 while I was landing. 
I didn’t see his flight. 

I didn’t ask him how he went. 

I didn’t want to know. 

It didn’t matter. 

I just needed to fly my line as best I could. 

Jess Nichols was one of the newer F3F pilots at the comp and he had his best flight of the day with a 49.89 and Dave Woods also flew his best time of 37.55 for second in the round. Mike Evans secured 3rd in the round with 43.17.
I stepped up after Mike and the Precision let me put her on the same track as the previous round and I managed to coax her around for a fantastic 34.54!! It was all I could do. We just had to wait for the results to be published.

 

WINNER, WINNER!


I finally won my first official event! SO pleased!

I forgot to take a camera so I don't have any pics or videos for you, sorry.

Andy Burgoyne took a video of my final flight. It looks so slow! A better first leg and maybe the fastest time of the day?



Bruce Hudson took a few vids too and for some reason they are a little steppy, but they give a little indication of the day. The first one is me, second is Mike Evans, third is Andy Burgoyne and I'm not sure about the 4th sorry. Possibly Ian Falconer?






I had an amazing day and want to say a huge thanks to Stu and the Whitesheet club for hosting the 4th attempt at a winter league and for welcoming me along. Thanks also to Pete Burgess, Allen Elliott and Graeme Mahoney for sharing the centre duties with Stu.

Can't wait for the next event!! I could get used to this winning thing!


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