SEN 2416 - When my E-36 Looks up to the stars does it see a GPS Tracker?

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Table of Contents – SEN 2416

 

When  my E-36 Looks up to the  stars does it  see a GPS Tracker?

 

  1. FabFeb 2018 E36/F1S Contest Report Musings #2
  2. Remember to look up
  3. GPS Trackers

 

 

FabFeb 2018 E36/F1S Contest Report Musings #2

(seeing #1 was popular and the link to the SCAMPS web site for Clint’s report  got 120+ clicks we have included the follow on)

 

Derek McGuckin on FB 

 

 

The 2018 E36 World Challenge

After the Kiwi Cup F1S contest I met Don DeLoach, Chuck Etherington and Lee Hines for dinner at the Lost Hills Denny’s, always a hot spot for Free Flight conversation. After a decent meal with excellent company I headed back to the Days Inn to charge batteries and get ready for Mondays E36 World Challenge. Unbeknownst to those in the restaurant a nice windstorm had developed, and I was covered in sandy grit by the time I made it back to my room. A portent of things to come?

 

Monday morning dawned, and it was comparatively calm. The windstorm had blown through (mostly)! I returned to the field to find that several of the porta potties had blown over along with two destroyed pop up shelters. The windstorm was rough! The wind was from the west. Not to strong but creating a nice drift. Chuck Etherington put up a test flight that ended up in the pit east of the field. Norm Furutani, the CD, decided to move the flight line at least a half mile further west for more room which delayed the contest start for a bit. 

 

The E36 World Challenge was sponsored by Mike Pylkeny of Starlink-Flitetech, Clint Brooks CB Model Designs and Bill Vanderbeek. There was real money up for grabs with $500 for first, $350 for Second and $150 for third. All contestants received a cool shirt as well! A big thanks to the sponsors!

 

I think there were 13 total entries. 

As noted, the wind was a bit stiff so the chases were on the long side. E36 isn’t flown in rounds so one just starts putting up flights. This contest was ending no matter what at 12:00 noon so there wasn’t time to dally. All flights had to be launched from a designated box which kept everybody together and increased the camaraderie. 

With the wind, air picking wasn’t that easy. A nice climb and transition was important even with 10 sec. motor runs. My first three flights maxed Ok. I had a bit of bad luck on the third flight. Upon arrival to the dt’d plane I discovered that it had tumbled with the wind, and the rudder broke off. I found the rudder a couple feet from the plane, put it in my coat pocket and headed back. Out came the CA glue and after several deep breaths I glued the rudder on. It looked pretty good, so I did a test flight and the plane was good to go. Whooo! I maxed the first flyoff flight and then checked the scores to see what was up. 

At that point there were 4-5 flyers who had made the first flyoff max with a couple more getting close. Many of the regulars were there along with Hayden Ashworth, a junior who was putting on a show! Stan Buddenbohm had a flat launch and poor transition on his first round and dropped. He put the plane away and was timing for Ralph Ray who was clean once again flying all rounds with a 5 sec. motor run! 

 

Now for the 5 sec. flyoffs! Chuck Etherington put up two quick maxes putting the pressure on the rest of us. Clint Brooks had an unfortunate timer issue on his flyoff flight with a 10sec motor run instead of the 5 allowed. He described what happened in his excellent article I linked to in the first of these reports. Hayden had a tough flight and dropped. His overall performance was great! Well done Hayden! 

 

That left four of us in the hunt. Did I say air picking was a bit tricky in the wind? Jack Murphy made his first 5 sec. max but dropped the second. It was getting tense in the launch area! I had set up my thermister right on the edge of the upwind side of the box. I would stand close to the line and watch the temp and streamer trying to pick a thermal. My plane needs the help to max on five sec. Ralph and Stan were about 5 meters behind me I spotted the conditions I was looking for and launched. I distinctly head Stan say “no, not yet” to Ralph; a bit disconcerting when one of the best air pickers in the world turns down the air you picked! My plane barely maxed and Ralph boomed off into another easy max. I was on the edge of the thermal, he was in the middle of it. 

 

Ralph and I maxed which brought us even with Chuck. Chuck had flown and dropped his third max. Ralph and I were back in the box waiting for a thermal. There were about twenty minutes left in the contest so the pressure was on. The set up was the same with me by the boxes edge and Ralph in the middle. After several minutes a big thermal came through and we both launched. Alas, I launched left and my plane ended up stalling off the top and started gliding at about 1/3 height. Ralph nailed his launch and maxed. I ended up with 70 seconds which put me in third. Chuck was second with Ralph completing his masterful weekend of E36/F1S flying in first. The E36 World challenge ended on time at noon. I wonder what Norm would have done if I had maxed and we needed another round to settle it…. 

 

A fun contest in challenging conditions! There were quite a few spectators who dropped by during the contest. Many were international flyers who asked many questions about motors, batteries, planes and props. Many of them had E36/F1S planes at home but they don’t fit into the F1A,B, C flight boxes so are hard to transport to Lost Hills. Understandable, though it would be great to have more international participation!

That’s more than enough. I plan on one more post concerning the Max Men F1S contest and any other thoughts I have. Be afraid….

 

Remember to look up

 

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”

Stephen Hawking

 

GPS trackers

 

Could you post for me for some feedback on the gps trackers now available ? I am ready to buy , but am not sure which one folks like more . 

   Thanks 

  Chuck Powell 

 

Editor’s Comment.  Chuck I can’t post any feed back because I’m not qualified to do so.  Perhaps some readers would like to ?   Also we would be pleased to publish links to any GPS tracker  supplier web site or technical description.