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Combat and Race Day 15^th June 2014

You may have noticed what a lovely sunny, wind-free day Monday the 16^th was ………. that was because all the crap weather was used up on the Sunday! Jeez it was cold and windy and wet even though it started well.

At 8.30am it was hard to get down across the bridge due to the arrival crush but by 9.30 our hard working CD, Dave Pound, had got the first event lined up.

There were to be four events –

One Make Racing; One Make Combat;

Open Racing and Open Combat 

Here’s the line-up for the OMR section – all Tigers though Scanners are allowed too. From L-R we have Dave Foster, Dean Schuback, Dave Pound, Clive Weatherhead , Mike Minty and Kelvin King. All six would fly 2 rounds – isn’t that a good idea, 6 identical planes all trying to fly 10 laps of the same track around two poles! Since all must have a 46 max, same 11x6 prop and only 10% nitro in their fuel, it should boil down to “pilot skill” to determine the winner!

Note that Dean appears to have driven over his wing to make his plane easy to identify, whereas Kelvin spent about $400 of time and money recovering his $135 plane after a spray-painting exercise didn't yield quite the results that he had hoped for!

Round 1 got off to a good “Reno” start and it was soon obvious that there was a significant difference in speeds, Mike’s being the slowest and Kelvins the fastest. At the end of the race Dave P found he had no throttle control so we had to wait for him to use up the large tankful of fuel! Isn't it interesting how a deadstick is completely impossible unless you happen not to want one at all. Another round of 10 laps of low speed racing was to follow though not for everyone! In Round 2 coming out of the second turn Kelvin and Mike planes decided to have a chat, a close chat which shortened Ks wing but introduced Ms to wingless flight. This is an exTiger!

So after all the points were added up we had:

1st Dean Schuback         2^nd Dave Foster            3^rd Kelvin King

So we went on to One Make Combat where everyone (well, Dave F, Dean & Clive being the only ones still flying!) was provided with a streamer (thanks Dave P for spending 4 hours making them!) with instructions to “go get ‘em”. As usual there was a lot of flying (3 5 minute rounds) but very few cuts despite time being added to each round, Enough were eventually made to give:

1^st Clive               Equal 2^nd Dean & Dave F 

We had some concerns about the use of an APC 11-6 prop on ordinary 46 motors, but it produced interesting racing and reliable performance, with room for people to make the most of their aircraft and run their motors at peak. 

By the way, thanks to Ian at Hobbyland in Hornsby for coming through with a supply of Tigers and props at a great price. We've got another order in, now, for 15 more planes! It's so good to be able to visit a proper hobby shop rather than a website!

In the gaps in flying due to plane re-fuelling or rain, Clive entertained the troops with his latest home-designed electric disc – it flies remarkably well once you get the right sized prop!

 So we got to Open Racing where the fast guys came out! Both Clive and Andrew Biddlecombe pulled out their mean looking Viper 500 racers (Andrew's was very quick on a massive tuned pipe), Kelvin just swapped the prop (11x6 to 9x9) the silencer (regular to tuned) and the fuel (10 to 30% nitro!) while Tom Sparkes brought out his foamie electric Me 163 and Dave Bolstad had a hot looking tiny electric racer. Mike M had an old fun fly as did Pete Hellmich. We also had a guest flier from the gold coast, flying electric too. Interestingly Tom burnt out a speed controller, Dave B burnt out the motor, Clive and Andrew ran out of fuel which let Mike come second a long way behind Kelvin! Round 2 was reduced to (the originally planned) 8 laps to give C & A a chance to finish! There was a lot of close racing and also close calls but at the end of it we had:

1^st Kelvin        2^nd Andrew     3^rd Mike        4^th Clive

Interesting that Kelvin was able to make an ordinary Tiger 3 very competitive against purpose built racers with his choice of prop, a tuned pipe (not noisy) and 30% nitro. One of his secrets is the way he sets up his planes. He adjusts travel until, for example, full elevator gives him exactly the turn that he wants, and he does the same with ailerons. Clever - and it isn't a secret any more. As Gary Player said, "the more I practice, the luckier I get".

In Open Combat it was much the same story as One Make though how it is possible for 8 (yes EIGHT) planes to fly round each other for 5 minutes without a cut or a mid –air is anyone’s guess!

In an attempt to create and opportunity for cuts Kelvin flew a slow but very aerobatic fun fly profile plane that only managed to tie itself in knots.

In Round 2 both Clive and Dave B managed a cut and in Round 3 Andrew & Dean scored so the results gave:

Equal 1^st Clive & Dave B        3^rd Andrew           4^th Dean

So here are the smiling trophy winners despite the cold, rain and wind! Thanks to all who flew and the other members who helped score or count cuts in the racing. Thanks, in particular, to Dave Pound who organised the day and managed to 'herd the cats' sufficiently to get 10 rounds of competition in before the weather really turned nasty.

See you on Biplane day soon.

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The Penrith Model Show is on the public holiday - Monday 9th June. The poster, with full details, can be downloaded HERE. Below is a small version of the same!