Thursday, 26 December 2013
Welsh Open 2014
We will be taking entries for the 2014 Welsh Open F3F on 2 March at 10:00. More information is here.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Magnet repair
Talking with Andrzej about guitar building gave me an idea to help keep wetted glass cloth up close and personal to what it should be adhering to. It's a bit fiddly but worked really well and is better for your breath than blowing up condoms!
There are probably numerous variations on this theme that people are already using but I thought I'd share as it's a useful tool to have up your sleeve in certain situations.
There are probably numerous variations on this theme that people are already using but I thought I'd share as it's a useful tool to have up your sleeve in certain situations.
Saturday, 9 November 2013
Viper update
The first fuz is out of the mould and the pink is shocking - fantastic!
The tail is done.
The wing moulds are almost finished.
The pink colour scheme is sketched out :-)
Have a look at the photos below and visit the TecnoEpoxy website for more info.
The tail is done.
The wing moulds are almost finished.
The pink colour scheme is sketched out :-)
Have a look at the photos below and visit the TecnoEpoxy website for more info.
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Vendetta
Here's a interesting thing... Inigo Herrera has produced the Vendetta as a personal project but is prepared to produce a couple to recoupe some of the cost.
The Vendetta can in many ways be considered a prototype for the Viper. Inigo has done a very good job of building them and the quality is excellent. In the air it is equally impressive, with good straight line speed, excellent cornering and great energy retention. It has fuselage and wing ballast and is capable of carrying over 2kg of ballast.
Some really good information and photos from Inigo are here.
If you're interested in acquiring one at a very reasonable price contact Inigo.
The Vendetta can in many ways be considered a prototype for the Viper. Inigo has done a very good job of building them and the quality is excellent. In the air it is equally impressive, with good straight line speed, excellent cornering and great energy retention. It has fuselage and wing ballast and is capable of carrying over 2kg of ballast.
Some really good information and photos from Inigo are here.
If you're interested in acquiring one at a very reasonable price contact Inigo.
Sunday, 13 October 2013
La Muela fun
More from La Muela soon, in the meantime here's some video fun...
La Muela 2013 from Kevin Newton on Vimeo.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Rotmilan
It's time for a quick update on the Rotmilan now that I've flown it a lot more.
My initial impressions were of excellent quality, great looks and very impressive flying characteristics. After spending several months flying it as my number one model I have if anything become even more impressed.
The quality is as good as planes twice its price. In fact, with fuselage ballast, crisp fit and finish, pull for up really neatly done and excellent wing linkages there is a real joy of ownership about the Rotmilan that makes it one of the best packages I've ever seen.
The flying is excellent whether you're flying old school or energy management. The Rotmilan also gobbles ballast and carries the energy beautifully. The fuselage ballast is handy and I regularly fill up the joiner too. As a bonus, it is without doubt one of the easier models to set up.
You can pick one up from Milan Demčišák Jr for €1,090, which probably makes it the most readily available, best value top class F3F machine out there. Why one earth wouldn't you drop Milan an email or visit the RTG website?
My initial impressions were of excellent quality, great looks and very impressive flying characteristics. After spending several months flying it as my number one model I have if anything become even more impressed.
The quality is as good as planes twice its price. In fact, with fuselage ballast, crisp fit and finish, pull for up really neatly done and excellent wing linkages there is a real joy of ownership about the Rotmilan that makes it one of the best packages I've ever seen.
The flying is excellent whether you're flying old school or energy management. The Rotmilan also gobbles ballast and carries the energy beautifully. The fuselage ballast is handy and I regularly fill up the joiner too. As a bonus, it is without doubt one of the easier models to set up.
You can pick one up from Milan Demčišák Jr for €1,090, which probably makes it the most readily available, best value top class F3F machine out there. Why one earth wouldn't you drop Milan an email or visit the RTG website?
Viper - TecnoEpoxy
I recently spent a really interesting few hours with team Medina who run TecnoEpoxy.
I've had one of their Vector DS's for years. Not only is it a great DS model it os also a fun alrounder that's fun to fly and massively strong and versatile for those untested slopes. In fact mine has done thousands of miles as it permanently lives in my camper van.
It was really interesting to see the CAD design and moulds for their new F3F model the Viper. The Vendetta, which Jorge helped design, has many similarities and its performance is excellent. Jorge intents to use the excellent LDS system rather than RDS. The prototype fuselage was very light yet incredibly strong.
Production should be underway by Christmas. Contact team Medina if you want to know more or get on the waiting list. Also check out their website for some interesting UAV stuff and their excellent Latigo F3K model.
I've had one of their Vector DS's for years. Not only is it a great DS model it os also a fun alrounder that's fun to fly and massively strong and versatile for those untested slopes. In fact mine has done thousands of miles as it permanently lives in my camper van.
It was really interesting to see the CAD design and moulds for their new F3F model the Viper. The Vendetta, which Jorge helped design, has many similarities and its performance is excellent. Jorge intents to use the excellent LDS system rather than RDS. The prototype fuselage was very light yet incredibly strong.
Production should be underway by Christmas. Contact team Medina if you want to know more or get on the waiting list. Also check out their website for some interesting UAV stuff and their excellent Latigo F3K model.
Friday, 4 October 2013
Welsh Open 2013
Welsh Open 2013
Day one was tricky, with a light wind that dipped intermittently below 3 ms, causing several reflies. By flying until it was virtually dark we managed to squeeze three rounds in.
Unfortunately those three rounds were all that we would manage as the dreaded Welsh clag (low cloud) set in making flying F3F impossible for the next two days. So with three rounds we had enough for a result but it did not qualify as a Eurotour result.
The conditions were pretty variable as evidenced by some pilots of the highest quality finishing well down the order (poor Stefan took some stick!) but Pete Gunning has been knocking at the door for a while now and thoroughly deserved his win and was very happy to get his name on the legendary Welsh Open Trophy and to win the excellent prizes provided by MKS servos. Team GBU of Thornton, Newnham and Newton again took the team prize.
Model-wise there were the usual Freestylers and Needles. I was flying a Rotmilan and I can't understand why there aren't more of these around, it really is an excellent package that is remarkable value. It's fantastic quality, a stunningly good all-round plane and costs less that £1,000.
The Vendetta from Inigo Herrera looked really good - and I'll add a few words and photos about that soon. It is in some ways the prototype for the new Viper from TecnoEpoxy in Spain - which looks very interesting indeed. There was also the new Merlin being sold by T9, which looks like incredible value.
Day one was tricky, with a light wind that dipped intermittently below 3 ms, causing several reflies. By flying until it was virtually dark we managed to squeeze three rounds in.
Unfortunately those three rounds were all that we would manage as the dreaded Welsh clag (low cloud) set in making flying F3F impossible for the next two days. So with three rounds we had enough for a result but it did not qualify as a Eurotour result.
The conditions were pretty variable as evidenced by some pilots of the highest quality finishing well down the order (poor Stefan took some stick!) but Pete Gunning has been knocking at the door for a while now and thoroughly deserved his win and was very happy to get his name on the legendary Welsh Open Trophy and to win the excellent prizes provided by MKS servos. Team GBU of Thornton, Newnham and Newton again took the team prize.
Model-wise there were the usual Freestylers and Needles. I was flying a Rotmilan and I can't understand why there aren't more of these around, it really is an excellent package that is remarkable value. It's fantastic quality, a stunningly good all-round plane and costs less that £1,000.
The Vendetta from Inigo Herrera looked really good - and I'll add a few words and photos about that soon. It is in some ways the prototype for the new Viper from TecnoEpoxy in Spain - which looks very interesting indeed. There was also the new Merlin being sold by T9, which looks like incredible value.
- 1
Peter Gunning Mickey's Massive 2718.402Jose Luis Alvares Paketes 2691.743Martin Newnham GBU 2672.174Gerardo Plaza TWC 2659.985Simon Thornton GBU 2658.856Joel West Mickey's Massive 2605.307Inaki Elizondo TWC 2585.888Graeme Mahoney
2574.379Paul Upton RPM 2563.8110Scott Ravenscroft
2556.8711Fernando Moro Paketes 2547.3512Paul Garnet
2540.1813John Phillips
2534.1514Richard Bago RPM 2481.6815Mark Abbots Team Wrecker 2475.8416Frank Hulton Team Willow 2472.2317Tom McPherson FARTS 2465.9018Mark Redsell
2464.5619Kevin Newton GBU 2441.5820Tony Livingston
2431.4421John Edison FARTS 2414.3722Keith Wood FARTS 2410.0423Alvaro Silgado TWC 2409.5724Carlos Rivero
2403.0925Mick Walsh
2370.4726Andy Burgouyne Team Willow 2369.1327Jorge Medina Team Buckaroo 2368.3728Markus Meinssner
2327.2529Ronnie Lampe Team Wrecker 2320.7030Inigo Herrera Team Buckaroo 2283.7231Dave Rumble Team Wrecker 2281.0132Tony Robertson Paketes 2270.9933Ian Web
2259.8234Mark Treble
2259.2335Lazaro Martinez Team Buckaroo 2253.9036Martin Drewitt
2241.9937Ian Mason Team Willow 2198.3638Daniel Schneider
2190.9539John Treble
2174.0440Stefan Bertschi Mickey's Massive 2156.8241Mike Evans
2148.5542Thomas Henselmann
2132.1643Tom Foreman RPM 2111.8744Paul Stubley
1950.1945Marcelino Punal
1589.01
- 1
GBU 7772.602TWC 7655.443Paketes 7510.094Mickey's Massive 7480.525FARTS 7290.306RPM 7157.357Team Wrecker 7077.558Team Willow 7039.729Team Buckaroo 6905.9910Tea Swillers 4725.10
Sunday, 8 September 2013
RAF Leuchars airshow
A splendid day out. The Red Arrows were simply perfect, the noise of the Eurofighter taking off with full afterburner and climbing vertically was breathtaking but the star of the show for me was the Saab Viggen - 40 years ahead of its time and positively mental!
Monday, 15 July 2013
BMFA F3F League event - 14 July 2013
What a fantastic day. 8 metres per second on Bishop's Hill with a bit of southerly in it. Plenty of sunshine and even a view of T in the park.
We flew 12 rounds, with plenty of sub 40s. It was great to get out on Bishop's again, only the second time for me. It surprised me how subtle it is for a big hill, there are some definite lines and styles to use. I was pretty rusty - this is only my second comp since September last year - but by round 4 I was really starting to enjoy it and feel in the groove. In fact I'd go as far as to say by the last few rounds I was flying better than I've done in a few years and certainly with a more competitive edge.
I hope I can keep work at bay for a while and get out more as it completely reminded me what I first saw in F3F.
The Rotmilan was a dream to fly. By lunchtime the fuz tube and joiner were full up and she loved it! She was so well mannered it allowed me to be really aggressive without fear of getting caught out. This is definitely a keeper and I've already sold a few other planes. More on the Rotmilan in a few days.
The results are below and I've taken the liberty of copying Peter Gunning's most excellent match report, I hope he doesn't mind, he's designing bits of my house so his revenge could be long lasting!
Finally, huge thanks to everyone who helped run a fantastically smooth and professional event.
We had 12 rounds on Bishop today in fantastic sunny conditions starting about 10ms and building through the day to around 15ms.
There was a surprising amount of wind when we met at East Lomond and it was clearly more west than forecast so we headed for Bishop and were up and running by about 11.20am. The benefit of only 16 pilots is that you can crack through the rounds and that we did.
Dave Watson (who had a very eventful) won round 1 in some decent air with a 40.53 and got the round of applause that he didn’t get at Horcum last time out. Round 2 was taken by Paul Upton with a 39.77 who along with Kevin was using the compression on the edge to good effect.
Round 3 saw Dave Watson have to scratch as he had knocked the pushrod connection off the tail of his Needle and Mick Walsh spectacularly hit the slope, did a flat spin and carried on flying but did not finish as he thought it was a zero. In the end we concluded that it wouldn’t have been if he had carried on as nothing fell off the model. I think Tom may have this on vid so am looking forward to seeing it! The round was won by Mark Redsell with a 40.98.
Ewan Maxwell took round 4 with a 38.31 (maybe a PB?) and Mark Redsell took round 5 with a 38.71 and round 6 with a 40.16, after this the thermal influence started to really assert itself and the times got quicker. Round 7 was won by Paul Upton with a blistering 35.77 flown with his RaceMx in very effective full reversal style. Round 8 was won by Kevin Newton with a 37.49 who had now fully re-gained his mojo and was ripping it up with his Rotmilan. This marked the start of Kevin’s string of sub-40’s which took him ever so close to the win.
Round 9 saw Dave Watson flick his Cyril twice and hit the hill about 50m down, amazingly his model was totally intact, he is a very lucky boy despite falling on his face walking to land after the next round! The round was won by Tom Foreman with a 37.74 who was getting some better air and flying it well with a very heavy stinger flying reversals. Mark Redsell took round 10 with a 37.10 closely followed by Mark Treble with a 37.21.
Round 11 saw Kevin Newton take fastest time so far with a blistering 35.29 followed by Peter Gunning with a 37.68. Having announced a (firm) last round in progress at 4.30pm, we just squeaked into round 12 which saw Tom Foreman and his heavy stinger take FTD with a 35.20 and David Reid come in second with a 36.07 with his Crossover.
So all in all a great weekend of flying in Scotland. We were very lucky to get up Bishop again with T in the park in full view below us and full size gliders galore sharing the slope.
We flew 12 rounds, with plenty of sub 40s. It was great to get out on Bishop's again, only the second time for me. It surprised me how subtle it is for a big hill, there are some definite lines and styles to use. I was pretty rusty - this is only my second comp since September last year - but by round 4 I was really starting to enjoy it and feel in the groove. In fact I'd go as far as to say by the last few rounds I was flying better than I've done in a few years and certainly with a more competitive edge.
I hope I can keep work at bay for a while and get out more as it completely reminded me what I first saw in F3F.
The Rotmilan was a dream to fly. By lunchtime the fuz tube and joiner were full up and she loved it! She was so well mannered it allowed me to be really aggressive without fear of getting caught out. This is definitely a keeper and I've already sold a few other planes. More on the Rotmilan in a few days.
The results are below and I've taken the liberty of copying Peter Gunning's most excellent match report, I hope he doesn't mind, he's designing bits of my house so his revenge could be long lasting!
Finally, huge thanks to everyone who helped run a fantastically smooth and professional event.
We had 12 rounds on Bishop today in fantastic sunny conditions starting about 10ms and building through the day to around 15ms.
There was a surprising amount of wind when we met at East Lomond and it was clearly more west than forecast so we headed for Bishop and were up and running by about 11.20am. The benefit of only 16 pilots is that you can crack through the rounds and that we did.
Dave Watson (who had a very eventful) won round 1 in some decent air with a 40.53 and got the round of applause that he didn’t get at Horcum last time out. Round 2 was taken by Paul Upton with a 39.77 who along with Kevin was using the compression on the edge to good effect.
Round 3 saw Dave Watson have to scratch as he had knocked the pushrod connection off the tail of his Needle and Mick Walsh spectacularly hit the slope, did a flat spin and carried on flying but did not finish as he thought it was a zero. In the end we concluded that it wouldn’t have been if he had carried on as nothing fell off the model. I think Tom may have this on vid so am looking forward to seeing it! The round was won by Mark Redsell with a 40.98.
Ewan Maxwell took round 4 with a 38.31 (maybe a PB?) and Mark Redsell took round 5 with a 38.71 and round 6 with a 40.16, after this the thermal influence started to really assert itself and the times got quicker. Round 7 was won by Paul Upton with a blistering 35.77 flown with his RaceMx in very effective full reversal style. Round 8 was won by Kevin Newton with a 37.49 who had now fully re-gained his mojo and was ripping it up with his Rotmilan. This marked the start of Kevin’s string of sub-40’s which took him ever so close to the win.
Round 9 saw Dave Watson flick his Cyril twice and hit the hill about 50m down, amazingly his model was totally intact, he is a very lucky boy despite falling on his face walking to land after the next round! The round was won by Tom Foreman with a 37.74 who was getting some better air and flying it well with a very heavy stinger flying reversals. Mark Redsell took round 10 with a 37.10 closely followed by Mark Treble with a 37.21.
Round 11 saw Kevin Newton take fastest time so far with a blistering 35.29 followed by Peter Gunning with a 37.68. Having announced a (firm) last round in progress at 4.30pm, we just squeaked into round 12 which saw Tom Foreman and his heavy stinger take FTD with a 35.20 and David Reid come in second with a 36.07 with his Crossover.
So all in all a great weekend of flying in Scotland. We were very lucky to get up Bishop again with T in the park in full view below us and full size gliders galore sharing the slope.
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Rotmilan first flights
What a breathtakingly splendid plane the Rotmilan is.
First flights were on a temperamental hill. And the last time I'd flown was about eight month ago. The last thing I was expecting was to feel perfectly at home straight from first launch and to immediately start blatting about with really effective EM turns.
I've got some video that I'll post soon. I'm also planning a road trip soon to the really big hills in the north end of the north, so that should yield some good footage.
I'll post more soon but don't really know what more to say other than the first outing with the Rotmilan was the best I've ever had with any plane, which taken in the context of it being on East Lomond Hill has really shocked me! More soon.
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Saturday, 27 April 2013
Rotmilan
Is the Rotmilan one of the best kept secrets in F3F...?
The quality is absolutely second to none, the fit and finish is as close to perfect as I've ever seen.
More soon from me...
In the meantime you can see more here or get your hands on one here.
See photos on iPhone/iPad
The quality is absolutely second to none, the fit and finish is as close to perfect as I've ever seen.
More soon from me...
In the meantime you can see more here or get your hands on one here.
See photos on iPhone/iPad
Sunday, 14 April 2013
MKS to sponsor 2013 Welsh Open F3F
Once again MKS (probably the best servos in the world) are going to sponsor the Welsh Open (definitely the best race in the world!).
Monday, 1 April 2013
Welsh Open 2013
We will be taking entries for the 2013 Welsh Open F3F on 27 April at 10:00. More information is here.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Welsh Open F3F 1997?
I found this old photo of one of the first Welsh Opens the other day. This was a great crowd and lots of fun was had. Rather bizarrely at least four of the people are now dead.
Who do you recognise...?
Who do you recognise...?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
