Voltij

My Voltij is coming out to play on a trip to Lands End soon.  Just thought I'd remind myself what to do with it...

Welsh Winter League 2 - 10/11

• 10 to 15mph on the Wrecker, with a hint of easterly.  
• Some variability but generally pretty stable throughout the 12 rounds.  
• Flying two up with crow through. 
• Great to see Mark Southall back.
• Lots of pumping to gain height, none of which was particularly effective but it was great fun!
• When the wind shifted more to the east I finished up flying all French at Base B, which seemed to work pretty well but it's of course impossible to know what time you'd have had using a more orthodox technique.  There was a definite kick there though.
• The standard of flying was really high.  
• Particular mention has to be made of Clayton.  If we had a best newcomer award he'd be a shoo-in. And not just because he's the only newcomer!
• All in all one of those days where you struggle to get out of bed but end up so glad that you made the effort.

1	Kevin Newton	10597.14
2	Joel West	10530.70
3	Mark Southall	10306.83
4	Clayton Landells	10097.90
5	Mike Evans	9896.72
6	Stefan Bertschi	9834.71
7	Andrzej Tabero	9431.32
8	Scott Edwards	9022.79
9	John Treble	7630.55

Aufwind in English

There's only one thing better than Aufwind... and that's Aufwind in English.  Just have a look at the contents page below if you don't believe me.  Get your copy here.

Old stuff...

I had a bit of a clear out moving house yesterday and couldn't resist taking a few snaps of some old papers before they got binned.
The Newsletter goes back to the heady days before the internet when the co-ordinator, Mr Iain Rose in this case, used to run the 60" and F3F League, CD every event, write, print and send a Newsletter and clean everyone's boots after the race.
And then there was the Sympa, the plane that never quite was.
And finally the Renegade, I really loved that little rascal - although the bagged American stuff could have learnt a thing or two about leading edges from our own Mr Stevens.  Are you still out there John...?

Welsh Winter League 1 - 10/11

The lightest of breezes.  No rain.  One round. Some pleasant sport flying.  A fair bit of banter. Roll on league 2 and some proper winter league air.

More Extreme bits

Some more work on the Extreme and a quick conversion of my spare MPX P4000 to 2.4 gHz.  A few highlights so far...

• The quality of the Extreme components really is absolutely first rate.  Strong and light with excellent seams and great fit.
• Like most mouldies the Extreme does need a little fettle here and there.  The incidence pin holes need relieving a little in the fuz and the pushrods were a little tight in the snake (which I made up a neat Dremel attachment  to resolve - see photos).  These are however completely insignificant, especially when put into the context of the excellent component quality. 
• The tail linkage geometry is absolutely spot on.
• The Sanwa 762 are a great fit in the fuz and just as fantastic as they've always been.  SlopeRacer carry them as stock how.
• The MPX 2.4 gHz conversion is so easy to fit and works so well it is untrue.  I can see me doing the whole fleet much sooner than I'd imagined.  I got mine from T9 along with the MKS DS6125 wing servos which really do feel like the mutts nuts.

Extreme bits...

I'm just starting to get the Extreme together and have had a few bits of good news.  Firstly ModelPower not only do the new NiMH Eneloop type technology in the stick configuration but the capacity has upped to 2300mAh as well.  I'm just an old fashioned type of chap so I'd probably have preferred the Eneloop brand but I'll cycle these a few times and see what happens.

And... SlopeRacer have sent me a wiring loom as modelled and produced by Zim's wife Rachael.  I've always made my own looms in the past because clearly no one can solder as well as I can.  Apparently I was wrong...!

Welsh Summer League final positions

The Welsh Summer League finished with a phut this weekend when the final competition was called off because of a lack of wind.  A real shame as it was really close and a fly off in good even condition is what everyone was after.

The times flown throughout the year really demonstrate the fun to be had on the Welsh hills, although sometimes it would be nice to have less thermals and more even conditions.  Or, having the penny and the bun as my mum says.

Fastest times over the league were:

League 1 – 34:02 Joel West

League 2 – 35:18 Mike Evans

League 3 – 34:86 Kev Newton

League 5 – 36:86 Kev Newton

League 6 – 37:93 Simon Thornton

The final results show just how competitive it is.  If you rearranged a few of the thermal who knows who would be where, particularly Joel who did incredibly well despite a distinct lack of air for much of the year. 

Final League positions with five out of seven flown and with one discard:

1	Kev Newton	3941.22
2	Simon Thornton	3937.39
3	Martin Newnham	3827.65
4	Joel West	3787.58
5	Adam Richardson	3713.35
6	Andrzej Tabero	3534.84
7	Clayton Landells	3273.81
8	Dave Rumble	2695.41
9	Warrick Smith	2686.48
10	Andy Freeman	1991.47
11	Mike Evans	1806.59
12	Scott Edwards	1699.30
13	Simon Kronfeld	1667.88
14	John Treble	1559.24
15	Paul Garnett	926.16
16	Greg Dakin	924.86
17	Mark Abbotts	914.74
18	Jonathan Sage	902.27
19	Adrian Bedford	899.82
20	Mark Passingham	886.41
21	Tom Satinet	874.87
22	Mick Walsh	869.84
23	Andy West	856.67
24	Ron Broughton	843.38
25	Tony Robertson	838.29
26	Jacob Newnham	833.61
27	Ian Mason	811.98
28	George Pilkington	756.13
29	Stuart Brookes	755.08
30	Vic Eldridge	123.06