SEN 1566
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- Category: Archive 2011
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- BVN Report #2
- The World Model Box
- Box it, Tube it?
- Wandering way up yonder
BVN report #2
Arrived 7:30 am on the day of F1a and there was kind of a joke that the first round in f1b the day before was world record for taking all day for only one round After round one the delayed until Sunday
f1a day started out windy and picked up a little to be near limit all day and very turbulent 2 people maxed out and flyoff at 7 pm there was a lot less wind S. Limberger coming out on top over N . Wijnhoven 3rd was Maarten van Dijk 4th was Ivo Kreetz And rounding out the top 5 was Oleg Pshenychnyy
Sunday started out breezy with 4 min max and it got windy from there 4 rounds were flown and nobody was clean
Next stop Rinkaby Sweden
Brian Van Nest
For the 2011 Argentinian WC, I decided to replace my tried and true 40 year old F1A box, a classic 12in x 12in x 48in plus dormer for the extra long wings that held 8 gliders and support equipment. I used this box to attend many oversea contest and had managed not to pay any excess fees. Most recently use of the old box was a flight on South West-- they have a more liberal baggage enforcement. I have an old converted M&K box box that fits 3 F1A and an F1H that I now use for USA travel that meets the 62 in criteria. I was aware of the golf case practice, Alex Andriukov the first I know of. I was also aware of via SEN that the airlines were starting to get smart to this practice. I read the fine print on the Airline web sites-- most are specific that golf clubs, golf shoes and golf ball are all that is allowed-- even stating "other" sports equipment did not count and would subject the baggage to the full excessive baggage charges.
I had studied other box designs for a couple of years and spent considerable time trying to design a 6-7 model F1A model box to meet the USA Airline 62 in rule. I even measured out a "bent" box design at a standard long model wing design (ie extra long wings would not fit). In the end, I decided to design to the non- USA airline 82in (203 cm) rule and so Flew LAN to Argentina and had no problems. I'll use my small box for USA contests.
Editor's comment
I must say that Jim's new World Box looks very good. Nice wooden structure with internal fame to support all the model parts. Cut outs to make it lighters etc.
Box it, Tube it ?
My son is an active F3J and F3K flier and mentioned that they use Sport Tubes meant for snowboards for airlines. Also painted black.
Bill Lovins (Denver)
Wandering way up yonder, Words of wisdom from Aram and having fun?
In support of my grandson's flying it was necessary to make a trip to the Wilbur and Orville event at Wawaynda, New York. Firstly I must thank Andrew, Kathy, Sarah and Carroll for their hospitality and for running the event. My knowledge of geography in that part of the country is somewhat limited and I was initially concerned when following directions I left the interstate to go into heavily wooded hilly country. We passed through some little villages, I noticed the name New Hampton, which seemed to ring a bell. But the the terrain flattened the trees got less and low and behold there were even some farms! We found the field without difficulty, were show how to navigate with the golf carts ditches and bridges. The organizer will report on the results event in a separate item. But I was disappointed to miss one of the high lights of the event. The contest had 1 and half hour overlapping rounds so when we came to the fifth round the organizer reduced the max to to two and half minutes, that was OK for us but Sarah was running a little behind so as we flew our 5th round flight she was doing her fourth and had to do 3 minutes. This took her well off the field. It is reported that with an effort worth of Indiana Jones she cut her way through the brambles and eventually had to swim in the local river to fetch her model. I'm not sure if it was an example of mother-daughter bonding or Sarah's deficient education having studied engineering not archeology but somehow as Sarah emerged from the river Kathy ended up in it. Fell, pushed, pulled … or what. The second highlight that I did see was Art Ellis, Art has been ill for same extended period but was back of his feet and in fine form. He did help with some of the retrieval and hopes to be on the field flying real soon now.
For the benefit of Blake Jensen I can report that while the terrain is a lot smoother than Muncie the golf carts are not as fast. So Blake if you are tempted to go way up yonder on an America's Cup quest you might want to consider a quick Hayabusa engine swap.
So as mentioned the Hampton did ring a bell, I now realize that it was from watching the TV program Royal Pains that takes place in The Hamptons, the terrain and life style there appears a little different that around Wawaynda. However my friends back home were not to know these minor details when I reported that we spend the weekend in New York state, at one of the Hamptons, with a number or barons and met the star of the next Indiana Jones movie.
I was chided by another local, a real New Yorker this time, Aram, for not putting my mobile number on my models. This is a good point. In the past sometimes people would put the frequency of the tracker on the model so if the model was found by someone else they could tell them. This does not work with all tracking systems and now days has been rendered redundant by the mobile phone. Most of us carry a mobile phone while flying if for no other reason than safety. While coverage is not always perfect or 100% , it is most places. So I will be changing my “If Found” labels on my airplane to include my mobile number so when someone else finds it that can call me and let me know.
Finally some times our other free flight brethren accuse us FAI Sportsmen of being too serious and not having fun. If you could have seen the expression on the the youngest Barron, Gina's face it was very obvious that she had not read the memo, was having a great time and beat the big guys. On a similar vein my daughter in law reports that she overheard my grandson Wes talking on the phone to one of his buddies explaining about the flying and saying he had fun. Something that an almost teenager might not admit to his parents.
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Roger Morrell