F5J and F3K League #2 2019 - Results - Model Gliding South Africa

Gordon ready to launch.

The second league of 2019 for F5J and F3K was held at GEMS on Sunday 10 March 2019.

The conditions were clear with rain predicted in the afternoon, with wind gusting from the north / north-west. In the end neither the rain nor the wind presented any problem, with the F5J pilots having to deal with more wind in the morning than the F3K pilots in the afternoon.

Julian (foreground) making some final adjustments. Eloff (background).

Craig (foreground) trying to get the bundle of cables into the pod of his Xplorer. Michelle (background) copying some model set up files - was it model 6 or model 10? Gys (right) supervising.

Aldo (left) offering the extra two hands (not mentioned in the user manual) to bind Craig's (right) a receiver.

The field was uncut - the main grass growth was short, interspersed with long stems on grass. Some leeway was given to pilots coming in low and slow hoping to make it 'home'. The long stems were purposefully used to Mike's advantage in F5J when he came in late, tipped some grass intentionally to stop the clock and then lifted off a bit to land closer to the spot.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

The morning's F5J flying went to schedule, starting at 8:45 and finishing just before lunch at midday.
Heidi and her team then laid on the best burgers this side of the Mississippi. F3K got going a bit earlier, and after Mike and Aldo had to leave unexpectedly due to a family matter, the competition carried on as planned.

Special thanks to Jan Sime and Gys Olwage for hanging around to assist with timing, announcements and other logistics.

There was lift all day long, but it was fickle and illusive. There would be usable lift, and in the same round a few minutes later, there was nothing much to be had. This called for very measured flying and astute air reading (especially in the afternoon).

Craig

Mike

Eloff (left) and Gys.

Michelle (left) and Craig

Craig

Aldo

Michelle (left). Craig (middle) asking her to take it easy on him when she flies the EasyGlider foamie against him. Aldo (right) agreeing.

Aldo launching.

Gordon (left) and Julian.

Gys (right) explaining the merits of foam gliders, to Eloff.

The F5J pilots flew six rounds, with normal rules and one throw away.

The F3K pilots flew things slightly differently from normal, testing two of the many proposed rule changes that will be voted on a the next CIAM meeting. There was no throw-away and a 60 second no fly period was observed before every task.

We had 5 pilots sign up for both classes, which was great to see. Michelle and Gys were flying foamies, and acquitted themselves very well, showing up the pilots of the more expensive models, on more than one occasion.