Monday, October 08, 2007

F3J @ WHRF, 7 October 2007

Thank you to everyone that attended HTL #6 at WHRF on Sunday, 7 October 2007. I was very impressed with the day, which included elements of a highly competitive group, relatively challenging conditions, but most of all - that wonderful sense of camaraderie we experience at these events.

The pilots briefing started a smidgen after 08h15, with the caution that strict F3J rules would be applied, electronic timing provided by Mark & the MGA's PA system, scoring by F3Jscore. The first slot started after 08h30 and we had no breaks throughout the day allowing for the finishing of the first 5 rounds around 12h30. The preliminary scores were tallied & checked, with 7 pilots (top 30%) identified for the 15 minute, winner takes-all fly-off at 13h00. In between the Martie's diner provided sustenance and the amazing weather conditions provided a suitable challenge to everyone. The heavy rains from the previous week & particularly the storms the night before created crystal clear air, with a very high humidity level. During the second round, a large bank of cloud began building an approaching from the East due to this humidity, but we were fortunate that we could enjoy sunshine for the entire event. Small thermals aplenty flew past the field in a stiff breeze, but the long trips downwind had many people scratching up front & particularly the RES100 and 2m class suffered being unable to penetrate as well as the larger models. The extremely soft ground seemed to encourage the pilots, and we likely recorded the highest number of spots in an event of this nature, ever!

The preliminary rounds & fly-off contained only Open class models as would be expected in conditions. The class leaders after the first 5 rounds were overtaken by Mark in a nail biting finish, flying his Xperience-Pro x-tail, and followed by Paul into 2nd place with an X-pro v-tail. Third place in the finals, and first Junior, Kurt, was a flying his dependable Eish!. Chris was flying his Pike Superior with aplomb, but a quick relaunch at the start saw his hopes of a win dashed.



Alan & his twin personality flew the only RES100 entry & Bas predcited see him moving to the top of the table.

Derek once again stamped his authority on 2M & also moves to the head of this class in the league.

It was nice to see 3 juniors (2 new) flying and wow!, these youngsters can definately mix it with the moldie oldies as they nailed the spot & maxed their flights regularly.

Lionel Brink

No comments: