26 July 2007

Serious F3F/F3B slopin'

The 2007 F3B worlds feedback noted the use of the Rotary Drive System (RDS) in going to the "nth" degree for wing cleanliness on the winning craft. Being quite dubious about the ability of that system to crank 90 degree flap as currently deployed for crow/butterfly braking, I consulted boff John Lightfoot who quickly set me right and referred to this excellent 2002 article, located on the SSC web site:


"It's decided by the combination of the angle of servo movement and the angle of the crank — 30º to 45º for ailerons and 80º for flaps." The article makes it patently clear that the crank angle and servo degree travel can achieve this and definitely worth a read for those new to the serious soaring world.

Which brings me to the next eyebrow raiser - there has been talk about F3F and I must admit to being tickled with Russ's large thermaller on the new Verulum/Inanda site, probably the ideal South Wester F3F spot by virtue of the longer face necessary for a F3F course, without the scary landing implication of the SW side of Switchblade. Then I happened to extract a bit of the MGA calendar for a newbie and spotted this date lurking, long forgotten by myself:

Sep

Whilst slope racing has always been fun, could the current interest in moldies suggest it is time for some local Open and 60 inch F3F?

This would have to be supported ahead of time as it implies slope registration to the facilitate the SW option, along with Switchblade for the NE. (No feedback then nowt happens, as before. ;-)

Cheers

Dave

1 comment:

Volney said...

Hi Dave,

Joined the ETB guys at Volksust 2 weeks ago and 8 hours flying was not enough for Conrad! Pity it is so far away since his mates are also interested, some fly power.

Believe F3F will happen sooner than later, but September is just a tad early. I am sure we can get at least 8 guys together if had more of a lead time... Others will follow when it happens!

Best regards,
Klint