Day #4 Worlds

Shower, check email, check blog for grammar and spelling:-), breakfast and away we go for day 4 of competition.

Colin is up early on line 1 so both he and Ethan skipped breakfast and went to Henley field to practice. Michi and Will followed them after a speedy breakfast and we ambled along after ours.

At Henley field the guys were just packing up when we arrived. I paid the landing fee for everyone and off we went to site 1 for the morning session.

Colin and son Ethan are next up in the ready box.

Colin was third up so things happened quickly once we arrived.  Bib's on the crew and away he went on his last round of P-13. A good blow out pushed Colin but he held the distance pretty well. A few early center maneuvers and a soft spin entry. Colin scored a 369.20 on the "hard" panel.  We posed for a group picture after Colin finished up his round.

Colin and the rest of the team after his last flight.

It's almost "Go Time" for Michi!

Michi was next to fly for Canada and also worked hard in the winds. His spin entry was also soft and he struggled slightly. Still a good flight under the conditions.  Michi scored 379.60. Another team picture with Michi this time. This has become a tradition now!

Michi and the rest of the team after his last flight.

Ethan was the last Canadian in the morning session and he flew pretty well under the circumstances. Spin entry in the strong blow out was his nemesis but still an "ok" flight. Ethan scored a 363.20.  Yet another photo for his family back home.

Ethan's turn to pose with the team after his last sortie.

We got the morning scores when we stopped for the midday lunch break at the main site. I also confirmed the location and time for the Manager's meeting later tonight at 18:30 upstairs at the main site. Lunch was good and we were on our way back to flight line #1 for Chad's last P round. 

Chad puts the new plane through wind tunnel testing:-)

Winds were about 5 to 7 MPS (meters per second) crosswind with a slight left to right flow. The guys got ready and Chad once again followed the US Junior pilot Joseph. The US guys all came out to support him just like our team for Chad. 

Chad had a pretty solid flight with the winds still kicking up and managed to score a 400 from this panel of judges. We watched a couple other flights along with CPLR's final P round. Pretty solid with minor tracking errors and centering.

Chad's turn with the team members.

We headed over to the #2 flying site to see some of the other guys finish the afternoon rounds. Shulman, Hatta, and Andrew Jesky all flew in the gusty winds & they all worked hard to maintain the distance.

Tim Jesky (sitting) with Darin Pierce and Will Gross

We had to get gas for the car so we headed back towards Henley and the guest house. We had a good debrief and after a little clean up, I dropped some of the team off at the Henley Arms for dinner. I had to attend the meeting at the main site to choose flight orders for the semi's and to get briefed on the start times etc. 

Turns out the meeting time was incorrect (see a trend here?) and had been changed to 6 pm so I arrived just in time for them to assign demo flights to various pilots that did not quite make the cut. They had apparently announced after the P rounds, that the meeting time had changed... sadly I was the only manager not present for the announcement therefore I must have been at fault. Finally! My chance to get fired off the team :-)  

Due to my failure to appear, a jury member selected Chad's spot on the roster and the meeting was pretty much over when I walked in. This turned out to be a bonus because I headed back to the Arms and caught dinner with the rest of the team.  Chad is last up on Flight Line #2 on Friday morning....unless they change it.  They should rotate the order somewhat for the afternoon but... well I missed that part:-)

Back home we chatted about the days events and had a nice carrot cake desert the folks at the Village had sent over to us.... how very nice.

Practice for Chad, feeding lions & giraffes for Michi, Will, Colin and Ethan, shopping for Kelly and Agnes and I am sleeping in... ya right.

View from the grandstand.

Robin Trump and helper of the German team.

Scores by panel have been posted by the Argentinian team. I am stealing   :-)

Panel 1
http://www.pergaminovirtual.com.ar/blogs/entry.php?w=aeromodelismo&e_id=16539

Panel 2
http://www.pergaminovirtual.com.ar/blogs/entry.php?w=aeromodelismo&e_id=16540

Panel 3
http://www.pergaminovirtual.com.ar/blogs/entry.php?w=aeromodelismo&e_id=16541

Panel 4
http://www.pergaminovirtual.com.ar/blogs/entry.php?w=aeromodelismo&e_id=16542

Final de las Preliminares
http://www.pergaminovirtual.com.ar/blogs/entry.php?w=aeromodelismo&e_id=16538

Day #3 Worlds

Off for day 3 action...

Chad is up at  10:12 at flight line 2 so both he and Agnes headed to Henley feild after breakfast for some practice flights. Windy today with a 25k wind with higher gusts. Blowing out.

The rest of the team followed and after a quick stop at Henley field we went to Site 1 to see Jason Shulman of the USA and Hajime Hatta of Japan fly. We hoped to also see Andrew Jesky but time issues made this difficult. Will, Michi and the Chariady clan stayed behind to watch. They reported a solid flight.

Daniel, Jason Shulman, Mark Atwood, Dave Stodart and Daniel's friend? :-) 

Michi had a chance for a photo op with Hatta San and some of the Japanese team. I think it made his day!

We headed over to flight line 2 and Chad had his planes all together. Winds were about 6 meters per second and a blow out for right to left flying today. The US team also showed up to support their junior pilot Joseph Szczur who flies just ahead of Chad.

Joseph Szczur, "Origami Style"

The rest of the team arrived and Chad took off.  He had his best flight of the P rounds so far with a solid effort. Very few errors and the distance was well controlled  Centers also nice. 

Agnes and Kelly guard the planes!

Watching Joseph's flight.... Chad is up next.

We had a very short debrief and he felt good about the flight. I was very pleased and really felt he had put in his best round so far in the competition.  We will see what the judges say:-)

Seba's highly modified Hera

The other pilots headed to Henley field for practice as they all fly in the afternoon session today.  The gals went for some shopping and we checked Chad's scores. He scored a 432.2

We watched several flights on line 1 (as well as CPLR's flight) then headed to Henley field to check on the other team members practice session.  There were several other teams on site including Sebastiano Silvestri with his Hera. Low and behold they were just finishing up when we arrived so.... you guessed it..back we went to the main site.  :-)

Colin was the first team member up after lunch and had a pretty good flight. Some centering and radius issues along with a varied baseline conspired to reduce his score from his usual standard. He scored a 368.00.

Michi was up next for Canada and had a faster paced flight than normal. Consistent radius-es, although a bit tight, helped him with his score. Some other minor issue but otherwise "ok" as Michi would say. Score was 412.00

Mitch loves to smile for pictures... just not mine :-)

Next was our junior member Ethan Chariandy and he had a very nice round. A couple areas to work on include a smoother reverse top-hat and more speed in his rolling elements i.e. 1/2-Full roll-1/2 rolls. All in all a good performance and he received a score of 408.40.

Back to Henley field as Chad wanted to work on some elements. We watched the Japanese team go through both P & F rounds and then finished up early... still a long day for everyone.

Team Japan packs up after practice.

Back at the Village Manor House we enjoyed a cool beverage before walking over to the adjacent building to the dinning lounge of the Village Guest House. We had arranged for dinner here tonight with the chef Adele. It was fantastic and I think we all gained a few pounds since she started feeding us.

Dinner time!

Following dinner we retired back to our Manor House and had a great discussion on the finer points of judging and the difference between getting 6 & 7's versus 8 & 9's at the Worlds. This discussion left us dazed and confused so... aside from being a well known flyer we need a way for the judges to notice us. The team "Skunk Works" was tasked with coming up with ideas for plane designs this evening that we could incorporate into a "Super Bi-Bipe" for the 2015 Worlds. Why you ask?  Because we are determined to one day crack the elusive 8 & 9 club. Simple as that.

Our design will incorporate numerous features that have already been introduced into the precision aerobatic world... only we are taking it one step further!

The plane will feature four wings with the three top ones being anhedral and the bottom one straight. This will allow retracts as an option.... if you can find them of course. The plane will be powered by the new Plett motor with dual counter rotating blades that we affectionately call the "Ginsue".

Aerodynamic changes are also incorporated... A forward Canard wing with dual stabs will add incredible stability for both hot and high operations as well as cold and snowy conditions making this plane suitable for any schedule they may come up with in pretty much any location.

A split tail with crow in the ailerons coupled with the "Ginsue" prop system will allow this plane to virtually stop on the down-lines. Details are still in the works but a few photos below prove that we are serious!

Off to bed :-) Final day of preliminaries tomorrow.

Day #2 Worlds

I have added pictures to the Team Gallery.. link is to the right.

Here we go...

Colin and Ethan were first up and headed out to the Henley airfield for some early practice. Michi and Will followed shortly after breakfast.  We were slightly more leisurely and arrived around 8:30 to check on the guys. They had already left for the main flying site so we headed up to Site 2 in preparation of Ethan's second P-13 round.

The usual plane assembly program was underway and once completed they moved to the second ready box as Ethan is second up this morning at 9:09 am.

Colin, Ethan, Will and Chad watch the action.

The demo flights were before the start time today and it started right at 9 am as advertised.

The usual battery check was undertaken and then sound also checked before Ethan was cleared to go. Due to the shift in wind the sound check area is a long way from the set down position so there was an "accommodation" made to allow for the extra time needed.

Ethan took to the skies and had a pretty solid round. He made some adjustments in several maneuvers and executed them well. He ended up with a 405.40 score!

Colin was the next Canadian pilot up and he repeated the preflight procedures then took to the skies. He flew well and only had some minor  centering issues as the winds were much lighter than we have been experiencing. Colin scored a 419.20 in front of panel #2. We are trending upwards :-)

Michi was next and his flight was much better than yesterday's round. He made some minor rolling errors and although he was a bit throttle happy he scored a 424.20
Another good score from the #2 judging panel! We will take it and build towards flight #3 tomorrow.

Michi's fleet prepared for winds!

Will and Michi ready to go.

Flight line.

Lassi Nurila of Finland asked if I could help him with his plane for the sound check etc. He is all by himself here and I had some free time.  Reto Schumacher was following Lassi and we had a good look at the citrin repair after hitting the barrier.  The repair worked and it was back in action.

It stayed together!

As Chad flies much later this afternoon he headed to Henley to fly some practice rounds while we went  over to the main building and checked scores and grabbed a bite to eat.

We grab some burgers and headed out to the Henley field to see Chad & Agnes. He was flying as we arrived and we watched several others pound through P-13.

We noticed a group of people at the north flying site and also a tow truck. It hooked up to a car and took it away. As it drove by it appeared to have been struck by some sort of animal that damaged the radiator.  Rumors swirled that one of the US team entourage had been hit by an animal while the car was parked? Perhaps Mark Atwood can fill in the comment section with details?

Back we went to the main site for Chad's flight.  It too was at the #2 site and after doing the assembly, voltage & sound testing he took off. A very solid start with a bit of a soft spin entry but pretty good all around.  Chad's scored a 432.80

Chad gets his batteries checked.

Ready to go!

Joseph Szczur's Pegasus

We once gain went back to the practice site (see a trend here?) and met up with the guys. The sun was starting to set so we headed home to clean up and go for dinner. As the Henley Arms was closed on Mondays we went to Spur Family Restaurant, pretty much like a Montana's back home. Lots of kids though! The US team and supporters were also there this evening!

Back home it was time to blog, relax and socialize (talk airplanes etc) and then off to the rack.

Round 3 of P-13 on deck for tomorrow.

Round two of four. Remember that until everyone flies in front of each of four panels it's just a good guess who is where. It will start to flesh out after tomorrow.

Day #1 Worlds

Morning update:

Our first Competition day! P-13 is on the menu.

Chad & Agnes headed to the Henley airfield early to get a couple flights in. Michi, Will, Colin and Ethan all followed about 40 minutes later. I followed them out and after stopping to pay the landing fees, I headed up to the main site to get the flight line schedule. We elected to not attend the social as the drive and time involved were prohibitive (Up early today etc.). I heard through the grape vine that it was a nice event.

The event staff at the main flying site had kindly made multiple copies for me the night before so I quickly found them, borrowed a highlighter and marked out the Canadian pilots schedule. I give every team member a copy (no excuses!!!) and also put one on the wall at our accommodation.

Preliminary Schedule through to Wednesday.

 I went back to the Henley field and enjoyed a great breakfast that was served by some wonderful ladies right at the site. Very good and I understand that they will be there throughout the week providing meals all day long.

My breakfast with coffee... 40 rand :-)

The guys all got in a couple flights and also watched Andrew Jesky put in a round before heading up to the main field for his P round today. As Chad flies after Joseph Szczur, we will see plenty of the American team over the course of the preliminary rounds. 

The guys went for a quick breakfast as well after I told them about it :-) Gerhard Mayer also arrived to fly his Trigantic but I headed back to the Manor House to get Kelly and... well up load this blog update.

Argentinian Facundo Cepede's Diaguita Bipe

Diaguita Bipe at practice this morning.

It's now 10 am local and Kelly and I are about to head up to Site #1 now as Chad will be the first Canadian to fly just before lunch. The rest of the team flies in the afternoon winds :-).

Evening update:

We quickly arrived at site 1 and found Chad and Agnes talking with Diane and Ewi Plettenberg. CPLR was flying and put in a nice round. We later heard that a helicopter had buzzed the flying site moments before and he was forced to restart his round. The organizers had put out a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) informing pilots of the event but this fellow clearly did not read them.

Chad got his planes ready as we continued to watch the flying progress. Pretty sold wind conditions blowing about 25 kmh made everyone work hard to make good radiuses and loops in the Cuban 8.

Dave and Chad await the start.

Joseph Szczur was ahead of Chad so we all met up with the US team that came out to watch him fly. He did very well given the conditions.

Chad was up next and flew pretty well. Winds were much stronger than it felt on the surface and he had a few soft spots. A good start to build on given the conditions and nerves of course:-)

Michi was up next and he did a good job considering he needed to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes leading up to his flight:-) He was a bit nervous but held it together for the flight. The spin entry was a bit soft but some fine tuning and he will have it down next flight.

Michi puts in a round on the stick plane.

Voltage check.

Michi is next up.

Ethan was the next Canadian up to fly in the afternoon order and had a very good flight. Minor things to work on but a great effort considering this was his very first worlds. In fact this was history making in that he was the first ever Canadian Junior to compete at a World Championship.  He did us proud.

Ethan awaits his first round as Canada's first Junior.

History was made...Airborne for the first junior F3A flight for Canada! Proud? We sure are!

Colin had to wait a bit as he was near the end of the afternoon session. Some of the most interesting flying was the landing portion as the approach was over rough terrain and onto a curved portion of the race track. Many pilots moved to south of the flight box to facilitate and easy landing. Unfortunately the Swiss pilot Reto Schumacher landed and then hit the barrier. The Oxai Citrin is repairable but it will require some late night maintenance to return to the competition. We wish them well with repairs.

I made a run over to the main competition building and retrieved both Michi and Ethan’s scores. Chad had already picked his up from the board.

 Colin is oh so ready!

Colin finally took to the skies after a long day. It took a toll as his flight was less than what he expected of himself. No zero’s but some areas to work on as well.

Sunset over the Henley Aeromodellers Field

We loaded up and headed to the Henley field for some practice. Everyone put in a round or two before heading home to a nice braai. It was great!

Day 1 Scores

We are all exhausted and turned in early tonight.... it starts all over again when my alarm goes off at 06:30.

Tomorrow is round 2 at site #2. Good night form South Africa.

Official Practice Day - Saturday

Wake up alarm, shower, light breakfast and out the gate at 07:45. Well pretty much :-)

The Canadian armada headed out to the main competition site and quickly found parking. The guys started assembling planes while Kelly and I scoped out the processing order. Norway was all done so we started right away. Michi was the first one ready so he pulled his competitor number out of the bag and then we picked out the bib from the pile. His planes were then measured and weighed and sticker-ed accordingly. This process was repeated for each of the three remaining pilots.

Bob Skinner assists while Michi selects his numbered marble from the bag.

Bib numbers: Chad -19, Michi - 43, Colin - 58, Ethan - 47

The planes were measure by being placed in a 2 meter square box then weighed (max 5050 grams).

It fits!

Colin's Caelestia is weighed.

Ethan's turn.

Made it through!

The airframe weights with the heaviest batteries are as follows :
Mich A - 4905 B - 4770
Chad A - 4775 B - 4795
Colin A - 4950 B - 4890
Ethan A - 5025 B - 4850

Once the processing was completed we had a team picture taken for the local press.

Team Canada F3A 2013

We then packed up again and headed over to Site #1 for our official practice session. Due to the size of our team we were a bit late but the officials gave us a bit of a break... well a couple minutes anyway.

The primary planes were quickly assembled and Michi went up first. His plane's battery voltages were checked (max is 42.56 Volts). Voltages were as follows: Michi 41.9v, Chad 41.7v, Colin 41.8v, Ethan 41.8v

Noise test was next with the following recordings taken: Michi 90.3, Colin  89.5, Chad 91.8, Ethan 90.5 db (max is 94db)

The French team watch Chad fly his solid P-13 practice round.

Everyone put in their respective practice flights and it was a relief for me to get through the session. The guys did a great job getting ready and I look forward to the start of the contest. We loaded up and after checking out Henley airfield and a stop at home, headed back to the main building to see what was going on. We came across the Japanese team and quickly put our team Interpreter Michi Akimoto (also sometimes pilot) to work making introductions and answered questions for us. He was very happy to meet them!

Canadian and Japanese teams.

Don and Joseph Szczur and Ethan and Colin Chariandy

Team Australia

Opening Ceremonies

Brown out in Henley-on-Klip :-)

We had the chance to also meet Jim Eichenberg's son Dave who lives in Johannesburg. He came out to see the event and cheer on Canada. The support is greatly appreciated. 

We had the opening ceremonies with the various teams marching into the flag square... short speeches, music and we were done! The Team managers had a meeting to have any questions answered and to be given a quick rundown on the field setup. It's a little different than what we would normally see but not a major deal. The landings may be the most entertaining part :-)

The flying schedule will pick up in the morning as it was not ready when we left the site. I will post it as soon as I see it. I do know that Chad goes late morning with Michi, Ethan early afternoon and then later Colin. I should be able to upload at the worlds site directly as they have a huge onsite wireless system bouncing off a satellite :-) That should make Don Atwood and the US fans happy!!!

We headed off for dinner at the Cafe Blue and then back home to prepare for another day tomorrow as our event really gets under way. Couple extra pics below...

CPLR readies his Galactik

 Galactik

Kelly took time to enjoy the World Pipe Band Championships being streamed live.