Mike Young and Shane Biddlecombe were synonymous with the Bwlch for quite a while and this vid is, in my opinion, their best. Being a bit old (technologically speaking) the picture quality isn't what you might be used to now, but the footage is outstanding!
Enjoy!
Actually, most of Mike's videos are well worth the effort to watch! Check out his channel.
I'm not sure if Mike and Shane will get the glider bug again. I sure hope so, I'd love to fly with them again!
Sunday, 22 February 2015
Sunday, 15 February 2015
Welsh Winter League Round 4. Feb 2015
That was an interesting day!
On arrival at the Bwlch 12 of us were
greeted by departing clag and a breeze that would have worked on the Wrecker. It
was starting to swing south as the forecasts had predicted so we made the
decision to move to the Crest as this should give us the best chance for
getting the most rounds in. It is the longest walk at the Bwlch,
made even longer by going all the way around to the SE slope after stopping at
the usual spot to watch the wind cease to blow, which was a little
disheartening.
The weather couldn’t make up its mind and
after a false start was spoiled by low cloud we were treated to some epic sports
flying Dakin style and I had a bit of a play under the fluffy ceiling too.
Tony
Livingstone got us back under way with a cracking, round winning, 44.45. Tony
wasn’t overly pleased at being first off today (no-one ever is, strangely!),
but I’m sure a round win in the first round made it feel a little better. After
a superhuman effort to come over from Switzerland for todays comp, Stefan
Bertschi found himself planeless after suffering some control issues resulting
in a heavy landing. He was to sit in the middle for rounds 2, 3 and 4.
Round 2 had the best conditions of the day
with Simon Thornton taking the win and fastest time with a rapid 38.06. I also
got my fastest time of the comp in round 2 with a blistering 49.15 and my only sub 50. Not my best day, more work
required.
Tony smashed everyone in rounds 3 and 4
taking the fastest times for both but the chasing pack wasn’t ready to give up.
Simon was still hot on his heels and Martin Newnham is never too far away. Greg
Dakin and Graeme Mahoney were also well and truly in the mix too.
The wind started to properly die during
round 5. That didn’t stop Graeme from taking the first of his round wins. Les
Wood was starting to come to terms with the Crest after a nervy start and
Stefan had managed to organise a ‘time share’ wing joiner to replace the
Radical one he had left in the warmth of his humble home. I’m sure there is a
massive thankyou to Andy Burgoyne for the loan and a collective sigh of relief
that it took 3 rounds to organise as he was never too far away from the fastest
time of each round.
Round 6 was horrible. Ian Mason and Les suffered the brunt of the cruddy air
with scarily slow runs that unfairly stayed legal with regards to wind speed
and we had a short break after Ian’s flight to let the breeze regroup before completing
the round and letting Graeme take his second round win.
Andy Burgoyne finally got some decent air
under the wings of his glider and posted a very respectable time that was
pipped at the post by Martin Newnham with the round win a Graeme with second in
the round. I flew straight after Andy and got the post thermic, dead air for
yet another slowest time that was nearly 30 seconds slower than the fastest.
Stefan took the 8th round and
did some grounds keeping along the way with a trouser-browning moment removing
some grass from the slope edge! Made me giggle like a nervous schoolkid! John
Treble had his best round with a very well flown 48.27 and his fastest of the
day, getting right in the midst of the usual suspects and leading pack.
The penultimate round saw Stuart Wallace
take the cake with a brilliant 48.48, a miserly 2 tenths ahead of Martin with
Simon in third and the conditions were starting to deteriorate somewhat. The
final round saw the conditions fall to almost nothing by the end and 12 grateful
pilots called it a day after Les had his best round result with 3rd and Martin
took another round win.
Massive thank you to everyone that helped
to get the competition to run smoothly, especially those that helped with the
course carriage and er… ere….. erec…. Putting up and down, everyone for buzzing
more than their fair share, Stu for taxing everyone and to Martin and Stefan
for helping out in the centre.
Huge CONGRATULATIONS to Simon Thornton for
the narrowest of wins over Martin Newnham and Graeme Mahoney. A very deserving
top three.
Full results below: (spreadsheet available on GBSRA website)
| Simon Thornton | 8535.94 | ||
| Martin Newnham | 8492.64 | ||
| Graeme Mahoney | 8470.73 | ||
| Greg Dakin | 8207.83 | ||
| Stuart Wallace | 7899.10 | ||
| John Treble | 7568.22 | ||
| Andy Burgoyne | 7563.51 | ||
| Ian Mason | 7510.26 | ||
| Les Wood | 7240.14 | ||
| Clayton Landells | 7073.16 | ||
| Stefan Bertschi | 6510.46 | ||
| Tony Livingstone | 6318.47 |
Sunday, 8 February 2015
Wrecker to myself!
The forecast was looking excellent during the week for a brilliant day of practice and sports flying for Saturday on the Wrecker. Clear skies, 15mph wind smack-on NE and a beautiful 0 to 2 degrees Celsius/Centigrade (bbbrrrrr).
I let people know via the BARCS forum that I'd be there with the F3F course that anyone could join me for a sports fly and possibly have a practice session. The idea of the course on the slope may have kept everyone away because I was forced to endure a full day flying by myself!
The wrecker works quite well in a NNE, which was what I was provided with, instead of the NE.
The VR slope also worked pretty well and I used them both, seeing as I had the space.
The clear skies didn't really appear straight away either.
Full ballast was the order of the day to start with and the F3B Skorp was ripping around. A modified reversal turn (I think i'll call it the Inverse Reversal!) was working the best for me and I couldn't get a good rhythm for any decent EM type turns.
I spent ages playing with differential and snapflap and then popped the brakes on as a precursor to landing......... bloody thing nearly looped and even full down elevator only just held it level. A bit of practice putting full down elevator just before flapping it up and I was able to control the unruly beasty and get it safely back to the deck.
The DSL had been given a healthy dose of reflex during the week and was a totally different plane to fly, she is no longer the ugly stepsister. Even though the need for ballast was gone as the wind had all but died, the DSL really surprised me and I think it flies really well even without snapflap (accidental discovery after a crow-through!).
As the wind died down, the sun came out and the afternoon session was just a real pleasure to be up on the Bwlch.
Next Sunday is the 4th round of the Welsh Winter League F3F and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope the conditions are epic................. actually just flyable would also be nice!!
I let people know via the BARCS forum that I'd be there with the F3F course that anyone could join me for a sports fly and possibly have a practice session. The idea of the course on the slope may have kept everyone away because I was forced to endure a full day flying by myself!
The wrecker works quite well in a NNE, which was what I was provided with, instead of the NE.
The VR slope also worked pretty well and I used them both, seeing as I had the space.
The clear skies didn't really appear straight away either.
Full ballast was the order of the day to start with and the F3B Skorp was ripping around. A modified reversal turn (I think i'll call it the Inverse Reversal!) was working the best for me and I couldn't get a good rhythm for any decent EM type turns.
I spent ages playing with differential and snapflap and then popped the brakes on as a precursor to landing......... bloody thing nearly looped and even full down elevator only just held it level. A bit of practice putting full down elevator just before flapping it up and I was able to control the unruly beasty and get it safely back to the deck.
The DSL had been given a healthy dose of reflex during the week and was a totally different plane to fly, she is no longer the ugly stepsister. Even though the need for ballast was gone as the wind had all but died, the DSL really surprised me and I think it flies really well even without snapflap (accidental discovery after a crow-through!).
As the wind died down, the sun came out and the afternoon session was just a real pleasure to be up on the Bwlch.
Next Sunday is the 4th round of the Welsh Winter League F3F and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope the conditions are epic................. actually just flyable would also be nice!!
Sunday, 25 January 2015
Venturing into business
I have decided to start selling glider related RC bits and bobs.
Skipsoaring is the trading name and at the moment I am using Facebook as the platform.
I am selling KST servos and PracticalRC magnetic switches to start with and am working on expanding my product line.
Check out the Skipsoaring facebook page and feel free to let me know what you think. Contact Skipsoaring at skipsoaring@gmail.com
Our Website will be at www.skipsoaring.co.uk although online shopping won't be available just yet.
Skipsoaring is the trading name and at the moment I am using Facebook as the platform.
I am selling KST servos and PracticalRC magnetic switches to start with and am working on expanding my product line.
Check out the Skipsoaring facebook page and feel free to let me know what you think. Contact Skipsoaring at skipsoaring@gmail.com
Our Website will be at www.skipsoaring.co.uk although online shopping won't be available just yet.
A flame re-kindled......
I cartwheeled my F3B Skorp back in June 2011. It broke my heart and I had not worked up the courage to tackle the necessary repairs until recently.
She is all repaired now, although in desperate need of some tarting up!
I was so nervous about flying her again that I had been procrastinating consistently for the last month or so and although she was ready for a thrashing, I just couldn't bring myself to let her out.
Well after using her ugly stepsister (DSL) in my first recent comp and managing to come second to last, I bit the bullet and had a day of testing and comparing the two Skorps in marginal conditions on the Icecream slope yesterday.
The difference between the two gliders was astounding!! The DSL felt handicapped compared to the F3B and is now taking a back seat until the conditions are too strong for the F3B and the DSL will be loaded to the hilt and thrashed!
Just need to set up the F3B on the Taranis and give her a well-deserved paint and polish.
She is all repaired now, although in desperate need of some tarting up!
I was so nervous about flying her again that I had been procrastinating consistently for the last month or so and although she was ready for a thrashing, I just couldn't bring myself to let her out.
Well after using her ugly stepsister (DSL) in my first recent comp and managing to come second to last, I bit the bullet and had a day of testing and comparing the two Skorps in marginal conditions on the Icecream slope yesterday.
The difference between the two gliders was astounding!! The DSL felt handicapped compared to the F3B and is now taking a back seat until the conditions are too strong for the F3B and the DSL will be loaded to the hilt and thrashed!
Just need to set up the F3B on the Taranis and give her a well-deserved paint and polish.
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Welsh Winter League 2015 round 3
It was a wee bit chilly this morning but the views were spectacular and there was a bit of a breeze, so it was looking pretty good!
John Philips was first up and was whizzing around getting us all excited about some great times. It ended up that there was a bit of a thermal lottery going on and I had some dud tickets. Joel West had the golden ticket and the thumbs to go along with it although he only just pipped JP for the win with Tony Livingstone grabbing third overall.
I managed to be the best placed welsh resident with thanks to Clive H Jones letting me just beat him to the second last place!
I've got to get the settings sorted. The air I got wasn't as bad as my times suggested and I think my thumbs were getting a bit excited.
Speaking of excited........ I'M GOING TO RUGEN FOR THE GERMAN OPEN!!!!!!
Lots of practice between now and then.
Massive thanks to Andrzej for his selflessness today to sit in the middle without flying and running the comp.
It was awesome to see everyone again today and I'm looking forward to more abd more great times on the slopes.
See Andrzej's blog for the results here: http://welsh-f3f.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/swsa-third-round-f3f-league-results.html?spref=fb&m=1
It's good to be back
I managed to be the best placed welsh resident with thanks to Clive H Jones letting me just beat him to the second last place!
I've got to get the settings sorted. The air I got wasn't as bad as my times suggested and I think my thumbs were getting a bit excited.
Speaking of excited........ I'M GOING TO RUGEN FOR THE GERMAN OPEN!!!!!!
Lots of practice between now and then.
Massive thanks to Andrzej for his selflessness today to sit in the middle without flying and running the comp.
It was awesome to see everyone again today and I'm looking forward to more abd more great times on the slopes.
See Andrzej's blog for the results here: http://welsh-f3f.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/swsa-third-round-f3f-league-results.html?spref=fb&m=1
It's good to be back
Thursday, 8 January 2015
18650 LiIon batteries as receiver packs
I had an issue recently with my receiver packs which was caused (I believe) by my lack of understanding regarding the do's and don'ts of batteries.
I had heard people talk about cycling their battery packs to give them a bit of a tidy up and with my fancy-pants charger I set the packs to do 3 cycles.
What I didn't realize is that you should never discharge batteries below certain voltages and I set the cycle to 0.0v. I also left the battery packs in my drawer and fuselage (disconnected) for about 3 years of inactivity.
This short story is becoming a tad lengthy, so to wrap it up, the 4 cell NiMh battery pack failed recently leading to a catastrophic meeting of terrain and a baffled Aussie. What the heck had happened? What had I done?
After some research and some advice, I chose to install the same set up as Reto Blumer with 2 x 18650 LiIon batteries (Panasonic NCR 18650PF 2900mAh). These two batteries deliver 8.4V fully charged when configured in series which is a bit too much for standard servos requiring the voltage to be dropped down by the time it gets to the servos.
There were 2 options for doing this. The first was to install UBEC's in the wiring of the wing and fuselage just prior to the servos that converted the high voltage to 5V, guaranteeing to not burn out your servos. This option also allowed your receiver to receive the entire voltage from the pack which is excellent if you have telemetry sent to your transmitter with battery voltage.
Even though the ground had kindly disassembled my wing and given me access to the wiring, I chose to install a single UBEC before the receiver which converts the voltage to 5V (you can choose 6V if you like). This negates my in-built telemetry for battery voltage (I can buy a sensor to give the telemetry back) and also creates a little headache for the fuselage installation with 2 issues.
The placement of the UBEC can interfere with the operation of the receiver. There is some techo reason for this, but it is irrelevant really. The fact is that you need to have the UBEC far enough away from the RX to allow proper function. this took some significant jiggery-pokery, but I did manage to achieve it! The second issue is the additional space required.
All the figuring out is worth it in the end though as I now have ample battery supply and power and a new, embedded charging regime. I also have a little voltage meter which which I can check the voltage of the pack before or after each flight.
I have done some more research on the batteries and I think I'll stick to the Panasonics and continue to get them from ECOLUXSHOP on Ebay. I got lots of information from The Battery University which I found I could understand after reading it a few times. The UBECS are available from T9Hobbysports for the inline ones for individual servos and the Single UBEC for the entire system I got from First Person View. One of my Skorps didn't have a switch so I got a magnetic one from Rich at T9 as well. I also mad a very cheap and basic voltage tester by soldering two male servo pins onto the wires of this.
I found a good list of precautions regarding LiIon batteries that I'd like to share with you here:
I had heard people talk about cycling their battery packs to give them a bit of a tidy up and with my fancy-pants charger I set the packs to do 3 cycles.
What I didn't realize is that you should never discharge batteries below certain voltages and I set the cycle to 0.0v. I also left the battery packs in my drawer and fuselage (disconnected) for about 3 years of inactivity.
This short story is becoming a tad lengthy, so to wrap it up, the 4 cell NiMh battery pack failed recently leading to a catastrophic meeting of terrain and a baffled Aussie. What the heck had happened? What had I done?
After some research and some advice, I chose to install the same set up as Reto Blumer with 2 x 18650 LiIon batteries (Panasonic NCR 18650PF 2900mAh). These two batteries deliver 8.4V fully charged when configured in series which is a bit too much for standard servos requiring the voltage to be dropped down by the time it gets to the servos.
There were 2 options for doing this. The first was to install UBEC's in the wiring of the wing and fuselage just prior to the servos that converted the high voltage to 5V, guaranteeing to not burn out your servos. This option also allowed your receiver to receive the entire voltage from the pack which is excellent if you have telemetry sent to your transmitter with battery voltage.
Even though the ground had kindly disassembled my wing and given me access to the wiring, I chose to install a single UBEC before the receiver which converts the voltage to 5V (you can choose 6V if you like). This negates my in-built telemetry for battery voltage (I can buy a sensor to give the telemetry back) and also creates a little headache for the fuselage installation with 2 issues.
The placement of the UBEC can interfere with the operation of the receiver. There is some techo reason for this, but it is irrelevant really. The fact is that you need to have the UBEC far enough away from the RX to allow proper function. this took some significant jiggery-pokery, but I did manage to achieve it! The second issue is the additional space required.
All the figuring out is worth it in the end though as I now have ample battery supply and power and a new, embedded charging regime. I also have a little voltage meter which which I can check the voltage of the pack before or after each flight.
I have done some more research on the batteries and I think I'll stick to the Panasonics and continue to get them from ECOLUXSHOP on Ebay. I got lots of information from The Battery University which I found I could understand after reading it a few times. The UBECS are available from T9Hobbysports for the inline ones for individual servos and the Single UBEC for the entire system I got from First Person View. One of my Skorps didn't have a switch so I got a magnetic one from Rich at T9 as well. I also mad a very cheap and basic voltage tester by soldering two male servo pins onto the wires of this.
I found a good list of precautions regarding LiIon batteries that I'd like to share with you here:
Never completely discharge li-ion battery ( below 2.5V ).Charge fully before first use.Never use force to install (insert) li-ion battery.Use only high quality battery chargers.Do not expose to heat. Do not short (connect) positive, and negative battery contacts. (Keep battery that is not in use in plastic holder)Do not charge battery over 4.29V (another reason to use good battery charger).Do not charge unattended.Do not store your li-ion batteries fully charged (for extended period of time).Store in cold and dry place at approximately 3.7V (storage charge).Never try to charge (or discharge) li-ion batteries with battery chargers that are not made for Li-ion batteries.- See more at: http://www.orbtronic...h.lECsV2VZ.dpuf
Hopefully some of this info will be helpful for you, however please remember that I am by no means an expert and am not trying to tell you how to set up your power supply for your planes. Copy my set up at your own significant risk!!
Hopefully some of this info will be helpful for you, however please remember that I am by no means an expert and am not trying to tell you how to set up your power supply for your planes. Copy my set up at your own significant risk!!
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