Oct - Rcsoaring.com

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The scoring tent. The Istanbul Soaring Club vans.canvas for the roof and walls. Separatesections for each country. A separatetent for the official scoring judges, theCD and his crew, and a separate tent forthe transmitter impound. In addition, twocovered areas for competitors to hangout and watch the scoring in real time.Yeah, that’s right, real time scoring.Hosting an F3J contest is a manpowerintensive endeavor. Each lane requiredthe host to provide an official timer. Theofficial timer would start his watch whenyou came off tow, and stop the watchwhen you landed. He was also responsiblefor verifying your landing score. Hewould then enter the two scores into awireless PDA. Once the information wasentered, and you verified that it was correct,you would give him your private PINnumber. He would enter the PIN numberand the wireless PDA would instantlyupgrade the scoring computer. As soonas all scores for the round were entered,the scores would print out on big plasmascreen TV’s in the pilot hang-out areas.In addition, if you had a wireless laptop,you could log onto the wireless networkand see the scores update in real timefrom your own tent. Absolutely incredible.The Spor Yapi CupBefore the World Championships, youget to warm up in a F3J mini-event calledthe Spor Yapi Cup. Just four rounds(because there are less than six rounds,no throw-outs) and the best 15 pilotsthen fly in a two round fly-off. The USAwas represented by seven seniors andfour juniors. From countries around theworld, 153 pilots participated.Prior to the cup, I had no actual F3Jcontest experience. Although I had beento F3J events, it was always in support10 R/C Soaring Digest
of the juniors from Seattle so I did notcompete.At the Cup my flight times were in the9:54 - 9:55 range and I was making my100 point landings. I was feeling prettygood until after the second round when Ichecked the posted scores.I was flying 98.99 percent of perfectand was in 55th place! You have got tobe kidding! Someone patted me on theshoulder and said, “Welcome to the bigleagues.”I was calling for Bob McGowan duringthe Spor Yapi Cup and he educatedme on what it takes to win. He reallywanted a 1000 point round. As we arestanding on the flight line waiting for thewindow to open, we both spotted somehand-launch sign on the deck and itdid not appear that anyone else saw it.Bob pulled up elevator as soon as theplane left the thrower’s hand and wasoff tow in less than a second. He loopedinverted and rolled out, bee-lining for thehand-launch sign. Bob hooked, madehis time and landed with a 9:58:55 and a100 landing. He got the 1000 points thatround.The Cup also gives you the chance toget used to the local conditions. Everymorning, the air was still with very littlethermal activity. As the day went on,the wind would build to a steady 15 to22 knots. Most of us are used to gustywinds, but the steadiness of the windmade it deceptive. It just did not feel thatwindy.The wind was going to be a problem. Welost planes downwind and we blew upplanes on launch.We also had some throwers that werevery impressive. Cody Remington andBob McGowan could load up the linewith the best.But what we had that no one else hadwas monsters for towmen. These guyscould pull. Phil Barnes and FrankieBurnoski towed for the Seniors and DaveKalamen (Brendon’s stepfather) and KellyJohnson towed for the Juniors. Towmen,especially towmen of this caliber, are theunsung heroes of any F3J team. Withoutthese guys nothing happens. When yourOctober 2008 11
Page 1 and 2: SoaringDigestRadi C ntr lledOctober
Page 3 and 4: R/C Soaring DigestManaging Editors,
Page 5 and 6: the towmen and the strength of theh
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Page 9: Tents are a poor description of the
Page 13 and 14: adrenaline is up in preparation. In
Page 15 and 16: The WorldChampionshipsThe Team Even
Page 17 and 18: US Junior WC F3J Team: Dave Kalamen
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Page 23 and 24: spin and managed to fly the plane b
Page 25 and 26: Above and clockwise: Junior Team to
Page 27 and 28: Clockwise from above:The Supra wing
Page 29 and 30: Joe Wurts, Manager for Team New Zea
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Page 33 and 34: Above and right: Cody Remington pre
Page 35 and 36: Above: One of the many collisions t
Page 37 and 38: The F3J WorldChampionship Fly-offsT
Page 39 and 40: Ben Clerx’ plane box and travelin
Page 41 and 42: Above: Ordering at McD’s is easy
Page 43 and 44: first became aware of Pitcherons/I
Page 45 and 46: We agreed that Dan would launch for
Page 47 and 48: out light and stiff and looked up t
Page 49 and 50: Uncle Sydney’s gossip columnMiles
Page 51 and 52: quite as grand for this club compet
Page 57 and 58: Rol Klingberg built and flew hang g
Page 59 and 60: The KW 100 awaits another flight. H
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October 2008 61
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Flaps down!October 2008 63
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The FerengiRules of SoaringBy Peter
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Tinamous are strictly neotropical b
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Tinamou SpecificationsSpan 95"Chord
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The finished tip panel ready for sh
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One of the two tow hook blocks inst
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in the hatch, thus holding the hatc
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in handling, but I’ve since remov
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