F1D World Champs 2012

The Saga Begins

This cycle there is an addition...Spencer...thats right Tyson to the third power. We are in the preparation phase,building and flying every week. It's hard work chasing 100th of a gram at a time on the airframe but the hard stuff is necessary. We will be departing on August 4th for Beograd. Follow along, it's going to be a lot of fun!

It is finished

I am happy that tomorrow we don't have to return to the dome...or sauna, depending what your point of view is. I am sorry I didn't get to post yesterday but when we got back to our room, all I could do was to take a cold shower and crash into a ball on my bed. So today I have some great news to report. The photos below will give you some clues.

Yep there you have it, Parker took third in the Junior category, John took second in the Senior, and your US

seniors took top honors in the team category. It was an unbelievable couple of days. Parker finally got on the board with a 24:17 and then Curtis topped it with a 25:53 in round 4. Curtis had a 25+ in round round 3 but Parker had a wing tuck in a steer. Due to the high humidity, his all wood spars had softened and were flexing a lot so steering this plane was difficult. He will admit though that he took off a little fast after he caught it. In round 5 Parker put up a 24:56 and Curtis's prop went into a higher pitch and didn't climb high enough so he got a 23+. Going into the final round, we knew it was going to be tough but a couple last minute adjustments and a las ditch effort flight, Parker posted the highest Junior time of 26:44, well not counting Gabriela, she is in a league all her own and she put up another 30+. So it all came down to Eduard Moraru of Romania. He had the last plane in the air and needed a 27:18 to bump Parker out of third place. He managed a 26:10 which wasn't enough but it did secure the Romanian Juniors the top place in the Team event. It was exciting with Parker finishing 3rd and Curtis finishing 4th with only 16 seconds separating them.

In the Senior event we got to witness an incredible flight by Ivan Tregar in round three. He set a new world record for CAT III of 39:27. He steered into a thermal and just seemed to hang in the air. It was a perfect storm flight and everything fell into place. John did some heroics and almost caught Ivan when he posted a 36:33 in round 4. ( a new National Record by the way) Steve had a 30:36 in round 4, and Brett had a 34:54 which seemed to lock up the team event for them. Brett finished 5th in individual and Steve finished 14th. It was something to watch!

As promised, I am adding a couple photos of things I found interesting. Reiner Lotz, and Dieter Siebenmann of SUI, are testing a new design that is very short coupled with a quite small stab that has no airfoil but is completely flat. Here are a couple photos:

Reiner

 

They were having some issues with only being able to launch at about .25 torque. They intend to continue developing the design. I did notice that it recovers from trouble real well and looks very stable in the air. I also asked Dieter about his old blue winder with the internal counter and he was nice enough to actually open it for me so I could take a photo. This is a cool winder. And there is evidence that it is Swiss made byDieter:)

Dieter's winder

I couldn't believe he took it apart for me!

Parker is an honorary Junior member of the British team. They sort of adopted him!

Wouldn't expect anything less from Brett...Paper Airplanes wherever he goes.

Curtis and Ben contemplating a steer

I think his adrenaline couldn't take anymore.

Dieters Model Box

 

Thrill of Victory, and well, you know the rest!

For the Juniors the day was a challenge but there are some bright spots. Parker flew first and hung up at 7:00. The half motors were all flying at nearly 14 minutes at below the halfway up to the ceiling. The full motor was a different store. Parker was at the roof is 5:30 and then it did its normal race for the side and hung on the prop. It turned out that the exact thing happened to Steve Brown on his first flight. Curtis choosing to fly ship number 2 with a flaring prop at extremely low torque to just get a decent flight on the board had the same problem...to the roof and down the side. So Curtis's first round was a 5:47. After backing out a half turn on the high high pitch and a half turn on the preload,  Parkers second flight was still passing the halfway mark at 2:30, great for Lakehurst, but definitely not here. So he had the same issues with the second flight...to the top and down the site. Have you ever tried to steer a model that is bouncing off a curved ceiling? I'm sure glad I don't have to. At any rate he got between the wing and stab on the steer and the wing tucked and down she came. So Parkers second flight was also a bust with a 7:16. Curtis changed to his VP plane #1 but suffered the same fate. He made a great steer though after the plane bounced down the balloon right onto the line and he got it back to the center of the floor and posted a 23:58.
John on the other hand had a great day posting the two highest times of the field. He flew immediately after the horn sounded and started the day putting up a 35:09 for everyone to look at. It was a great flight that looked like it never got above 80'. John's second flight was also a great one and he managed to increase his time to 35:59. Steve, despite still racing to the ceiling again posted a 31:24 for his second flight. I am confident he will figure that climb out. Brett goes quietly about his business and is working out some cruise rpm issues but still managed to post a 33:41 and a 32:47. The senior team is in a great position after day one.
Parker and Brett put up a couple of trim flights after the rounds and Parker managed a 25:50 after backing off to a lower torque. That would have been the second highest Junior time of the day so we are hopeful for tomorrow. And if we can keep Curtis down out of the currents we think we can boost his times as well.
Did I mention that Romash is doing his thing and i have to tell you, he is a glider building machine. He asked to borrow some glue, and the next thing I know it is about an hour later and he is standing up tossing a Snifkin (Serbian Nifkin) across the room at a near perfect decent rate. I saw it, but still don't believe it. A young man by the name of Tasa is getting a Masters Class in glider building and Romash calls him a human milling machine. It is a lot of fun to watch. Well, we hope toworrow brings decent weather and that we can stop these planes from climbing too high.

Had to put this in just because I like it...we pass it every day on our way to the dome and 3 more different ones on the way home. I think they are exceptional billboards.

Parker winding up for his first flight of the day

Parker charming his competition...she is a great flyer and steers walking backwards

Phil and his Serbian crew interviewing John after his second flight of the day with one of the Romanian juniors in the background

Brett just chillin working some kind of crazy math in his head

John and Romash at the end of a long day...

In case you are wondering...it's HOT!

I am actually amazed at how well everyone is dealing with the heat. Frustration seems to become magnified by a fairly large factor when you add the heat in on top of it. Besides fatigue, Parkers spirits don't seem to drop even in the face of adversity. He had a motor blow up by the ceiling today and just got to work taking care of a broken rib. Everyone had a long day of testing and since I spend most of my time with Parker and Curtis, I only have their times to report on. Curtis is starting to get some consistent 1/2 motors in the 1:45 range with a change to a VP and Parker put up a 26:57 full motor today and that was with the plane racing across the center disc, loosing some altitude and bouncing off the side walls before he caught it and managed to steer back to the middle of the floor. That was with plane number 2. This evening was the opening ceremonies which were short and to the point. There was a local cultural dance group that performed and I will post a couple photos. I didn't get to take many flying photos today but will have lots of time tomorrow to do so. I will also get some photos of some of the technology and other interesting things. The first round of flying starts at 11:00 tomorrow and I look forward to providing some results tomorrow evening.

First practice day of World Champs

Steve Brown taking care of business in the sunlight which is nearly impossible to escape from!

Today was a very long day but we made some amazing progress! It seemed like everyone was getting things tweaked right close to where we want them. I am now self naming myself the motor maker...I made so many so Parker and Curtis could focus on flying, that I have no idea how many. It took most of the day to sort out exactly what thickness and loop length we they were going to use, and they broke a lot of them. The dome continues to be hot for sure but the worst heat is yet to come and wouldn't you know, it will hit just as the first day of competition starts. When the competition starts I will be in the team camp helping out with whatever I can. My days on the flying floor are numbered but I have really enjoyed it.
Curtis's parents are keeping our team fridge well stocked with 1.5L bottles of water and this is a huge help. I don't know how many trips they have made to the store for water, fortunately it is inexpensive, about 60 Dinar or about 75 cents. I haven't mentioned the food but we are getting exposed to a lot of local dishes at breakfast and at the venue where the lunch and dinner is catered. I like most of it but can't even begin to pronounce the names. Lots of sausage, cut meats, and excellent breads...lots of breads.
Well back to the flying, I didn't get any of the times from John, Steve, or Brett but at times they looked pleased. We got Curtis started on a variable pitch prop today to help keep him out of the ceiling. Which is paramount as I described yesterday. Things seem to be coming together for him with the new prop but it is a steep learning curve. As an example, Parker, Ben, and I, along with advice from all three of the other guys, spent most of the day tuning the VP for Parkers number one plane. I am excited to report that the last flight of the day produced a 15 minute 1/2 motor so he has a good chance of posting a 30 minute flight with the new setup. He did a 26 minute full motor flight with his number two airplane, affectionately referred to as yellow. So think about us as we move forward and if by chance you pray, send some up for our whole team for excellent flights and good hydration. Enjoy the photos!

Parker and Ben discussing Post-Flight strategy

Brett returning from a flight

Parker checking his time after another successful flight with a couple of the Czech team members in the background 

Our new British friend Peter

Curtis studying the new prop...I promise, I've seen him smile

Parkers plane cruising in the sunlight

Good Day Today

Parker and Curtis with one of the Romanian team members in front of them and a couple of the French guys behind them.

There was some good flying today and difficult conditions. What makes this space so challenging is that all of the windows you see in the photos allow the sun to heat up the floor and basically create mini indoor thermals that are very difficult to predict. Where there is rising hot air, it displaces colder air that is on the way down. So the launch is critical because you have to climb above all of this before things smooth out at about 8' above the floor. You can also see that we are in a dome shaped building, so where does all that hot air go, up to the top and then starts to spill back down the sides. So for Parker, challenge number one was getting to the top, challenge number 2 was to deal with his model racing to the side when it got up there. Steering at 90' is not something he has had a lot of practice at but he is certainly getting it now. His last flight today was in position to get him one of the top three spots but he ended up bumping the top of the top three or four times and then racing right for the side of the dome. The steer was challenging and he lost some time and altitude in the process. The good news is that he took 5th place in the Dorcol Cup and just over two minutes separated 2nd and 5th place. It is also encouraging that he flew his yellow plane all day and packed it away tonight with no damage. I think he is in a good spot for the week and the start of the World Championships. There is now two days of practice flying and then the WC starts on Wednesday.
Curtis also posted some good times today and followed right behind Parker in 6th place. On the senior team John Kagan finished 3rd with a two flight score of 1:07:32. Only one minute and nine seconds separating the top three spots. Brett Sanborn had one last flight to try and overtake John after a re-flight due to he and Parker of all people collided at the top of the dome and then came down about 30' tangled together before they finally released.  Some tense moments for sure. Brett finished right behind John in 4th place. Steve Brown, the other member of the senior team spent the day working on getting a proper launch sorted out.
Oh and I almost forgot, what about Denis Tyson...thats how they have chosen to spell my name here. Well I am very pleased with my 14th place finish with a combined two flight time of 46:30. Tomorrow I go into support mode and photo/chronicler stuff. We are really enjoying ourselves and look forward to seeing the fruit of the next couple days of practice.

John Kagan on the podium

First day of Drocal Cup

Parker and I flew our first three official flights today and while we always wish we had better times, we made steady progress with each flight. I flew a personal best 26 minutes last night and Parker flew a 23 this evening during practice. Curtis had a day like our first day with lots of problem solving. The rest of the team, John, Steve and Brett are flying very consistently, which is no surprise for those guys. Our props are working real well and we are hopeful for the times improving significantly over the next couple days as the team gets ready for the World Champs. Tomorrow is the second set of three official flights for the Drocal Cup so we can report where we end up on that tomorrow night.
The building is a challenge with the heat and the currents up by the ceiling. The heat doesn't bother me too much as we are staying very well hydrated with a 2 liter bottle of water constantly in our hands. Deb sent some orange hand towels with us and we are grateful to have them.
We have met some great people from Finland, and England, and through one of his sons I got to share a few words with a nice gentleman from Romania. Language is a bit of an issue at times and I am wishing we would have prepared by learning a few more Serbian phrases. A little strange getting into a cab with a driver who speaks no english at all. Not for him of course, just for us. We have it figured out though.
I promise to take more photos after I finish flying the Drocal Cup. Difficult to do both as the flying takes a lot of focus.