F3F is the provisional FAI
class for radio controlled slope racing gliders and every two years an unofficial World
Championship known as the Viking Race takes place.
Viking Race 1998 was held
in South Wales during the week 5th to 10th October 1998. The final entry of 70 pilots from
18 countries made this the largest Viking Race to date and has led to talk of progressing
the class from provisional status so that once the paperwork is completed the event would
achieve full World Championship status.
The site used was the
Bwlch Mountain near Treorchy in South Wales. Although the region is blessed with a vast
array of slopes the Bwlch is superbly suited to competition use as every wind direction is
catered for within a two minute drive meaning less time relocating and more time flying.
Saturday 3rd October was
taken up with the domestics of getting pilots into their accommodation and if possible
processing their models to ensure that they comply with current FAI requirements. No
failures that couldn’t be easily rectified were recorded, with the most common being
too small a nose radius. One notable failure was the Piranha of the South Wales Soaring
Association board member who had actually built the nose radius scrutinising gauge but had
optimistically assumed that all modern designs would comply. Another Piranha came to grief
in the same manner, as did the Cito 2 fuselage of John Phillips. Whilst the Piranha noses
were being filled with epoxy so that they could be lovingly fashioned into a more
acceptable profile John took the less subtle “patio slab grade sandpaper”
approach. Unfortunately your bumbling reporter was too busy laughing to get a photograph
but you’ve probably got the idea.
Sunday 4th October
involved processing the models that had not been scrutinised on the Saturday which left
just enough time in the afternoon for the pilots to partake of an unofficial timed
practise round. This was the first time many pilots had seen the slopes and I think it was
fair to say that no one was disappointed. Although only a practice session it was good to
see the Competition Director Iain Rose and his band of merry helpers slip straight into
the swing of things in a manner that was almost too seamless to be true.
Having proved that all the
equipment worked and that it was possible for pilots to be rotated at an amazing pace it
all looked good for round one on Monday. As a result of the mammoth entry and the
dependency of slope racing on clement weather a meeting was held on Sunday evening to look
at ways of getting the most from the flyable weather. After a surprisingly brief yet
remarkably productive discussion it was agreed that in order to give the competition the
best chance of getting the maximum ten rounds in preparation time should be reduced from
one minute to thirty seconds. Additionally it was agreed that should any weather
interruptions be encountered which would normally result in a round being lost the use of
group scoring for that round was possible if over one third of the pilots had flown prior
to the weather interruption. We all hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, but only time
would tell.
Monday 5th October dawned
with a strong NE blowing onto the corner of a bowl known as the Wrecker. Ideally the wind
would have been blowing straight Easterly so that the main bowl could have been used as
the slope lift available is so immense it cannot be described, it simply has to be
experienced! Still it was windy and dry so two out of three is acceptable, we wouldn’t
have to wait long to see what this “inferior” slope could produce.
Pilots briefing at 7.30
sharp meant that everyone was at the hill and ready to fly for the 9.00 scheduled start
time. In this early morning round conditions were more variable as the constant thermal
buoyancy that developed for later rounds hadn’t yet had a chance to develop. Several
pilots suffered in the heavier air none more so than one of the favourites Klaus Kowalski.
A launch into tragic air saw Klaus struggle to gain any momentum to use during his run and
despite flying a compact course he only managed to drag a time of 56.34 from the
conditions leaving him in 58 place, ouch! In the blustery conditions most of the UK
regulars knew to fly an extra five or ten metres from the slope edge whereas a few not so
used to the conditions proved it was easy to be caught out resulting in several 100 point
penalties for crossing the safety line between the two bases.
Trond Olson of Norway flew
a neat course in good air to put his Spark 5 into top spot in a blistering 36.58 seconds.
Second in the round was John McCurdy who despite a cut and looped recovery still steered
his Ellipse 2 V around the course in 37.85 seconds. Third was Fritz Kristofferson of
Norway who wrapped his Masterpiece around the course in 39.99 seconds.
For readers not conversant
with F3F the times given are for a model, after only 30 seconds height gain, covering ten
legs of a 100metre course. That’s 1km with nine 180degree turns. Most competitions do
not see the 40 second barrier broken and when it is, it is rarely by any significant
margin. Round one proved that if the weather held things could get very interesting.
Round two was soon
underway and the conditions, whilst still variable were at least fast. In fact over 14
times of under 40 seconds were to be recorded, awesome!
As tension built and the
wind picked up further, even a few of the more experienced pilots began to acquire safety
line penalties. In all, six pilots suffered including one of the front runners Jesper
Jensen of Denmark.
The winner of round two
was Klaus Kowalski of Germany who used the good air he’d received to record a time of
33.20 seconds with his own classic Spark 5 design. Klaus should be immensely proud of the
way he flew the round, as personally I would rate it as one of the best F3F flights I’d
ever witnessed. The straights were straight and each turn was fully committed to before
the buzzer. It would have been virtually impossible to get a better time from the lift
available and the plane used.
Reinforcing his round one
position was Fritz Kristofferson who scooped second spot in 35.41.
Third in the round was
myself flying the Cito 3 for Wales in a time of 35.89 seconds.
It was becoming standard
practise for the pilot waiting to fly to be literally running to the flight line at any
hint of good air. In several instances pilots launched within ten seconds of the previous
pilot exiting the course, had the timekeeper had more pairs of hands I have no doubt it
would have been even quicker.
Round 3 showed that as the
day drew on times were slowing down actually making this the slowest round of the whole
competition. Best time of the round was Ola Fremming of Norway flying his rather smart
Wizard Compact in a time of 39.15 seconds. Second spot went to Jan Hansen of Denmark
flying an Ellipse 2 V in 40.43 seconds with third place going to Jesper Jensen also flying
an Ellipse 2 V this time in 41.47 seconds. Incidentally both the Ellipses of Jan and
Jesper have identical carbon bandages around the tailboom. When questioned as to what
happened I was informed it was a virus!
The first major crunch of
the competition occurred with Dave Woods steering his V Ultra Pico into the rocks at base
B. As crashes go this one had everything. High speed, solid rock, debris blowing up
the slope, more debris clattering down the slope. So hard was the impact that the crystal
removed itself from the receiver, Dave didn’t look too hard for it, odd that.
A few rain showers loomed
and it was decided that, although faintly possible, another complete round seemed unlikely
so that was it for Monday. Most disappeared to warm up but a few stayed to practise and a
few more including the likes of Espen Torp and Nic Wright rejoiced in an hour or so of
combat.
So at the end of day one
after 210 competitive flights the leader was Fritz Kristofferson with Trond Olsen in
second and our very own Simon Thornton in third. The organisation was going well, no
protests, the equipment was holding up and no one had fallen off the cliff yet, a good
start indeed.
Tuesday 6th October and
another early start soon had round four underway. Unfortunately cloud base began to fall
and pilots walking back to land began to lose sight of their aircraft unless the bare
minimum height was maintained. The CD quickly realised the safety implications and halted
the round after only a few competitors had flown. The decision was inevitable and
fortunately Ken Woodhouse remained philosophical despite having just flown a new personal
best and his first time below 40 seconds.
The cloud continued to
descend but the weather forecast obtained on site from the Internet (courtesy of John
McCurdy) remained promising so there we stayed. Following a short amount of persuasion the
CD allowed the combat pilots the use of the hill to the far left of the course and the
pits, the one proviso being that they let everyone have a go! Those who had not witnessed
combat before were to achieve that higher level of consciousness signified by the inane
grin and inability to hand the transmitter back. Unfortunately several hours of combat
were all that could be accomplished and as time progressed it finally became apparent that
no further F3F was possible so a halt was called for the day.
Wednesday 7th October and
hopes were higher, as was the cloud base. The wind swung early on from NE to Northerly
requiring the course to be repositioned causing a brief delay to the start of round four.
The Northerly slope is generally regarded as the least potent by the locals but it did at
least provide a splendid natural amphitheatre for spectators. As to the times it could
produce, read on.
Again the early morning
round began before the ground had fully charged with heat leaving conditions that were a
little variable. One not heard to complain was Simon Thornton who flew his Cobra very
accurately into first place for round four and in doing so set a new British record of
33.17 seconds. Second place was myself with 35.82 seconds and third was Jesper Jensen with
36.13. Fritz Kristofferson lost out in the sink after Simons thermal allowing Simon into
first place overall and dropping Fritz into third place.
Round 5 and it was revenge
for Fritz who flew a storming 33.04 elevating him back to top spot overall. Second in the
round was Gerhard Flixeder flying an Ellipse 2 V in 35.78 seconds with Kurt Planitzer
third flying a Wizard Compact in 37.19 seconds. Simon Thornton did enough to remain in
second place overall leaving Trond Olsen in third.
Despite Simons performance
England team hopes took a blow when John McCurdy received a zero score because he lost his
nose cone on launch. Having witnessed this diamond tape became a sought after commodity as
even those who wouldn’t normally bother invested a little tape just in case, myself
included.
Round 6 and John Bennett
of England used his first allocation of decent air to steer his Ellipse 2 V into the 1000
point spot in only 35.78 seconds. Second was Rafn Thorarenson of Iceland using a new Tragi
to complete the course in 37.73 seconds. John McCurdy repaired a little of the previous
rounds damage by posting a 37.87 which was good enough for third. One pilot who had
apparently missed John’s earlier mishap was Marcelino Punal who suffered the same
zero score when he to lost his nosecone on launch leaving the innards of his Tempus
dangling in the breeze.
The completion of round
five meant that the worst time discard was activated causing the positions to jostle.
Simon had taken some points off Fritz putting him back into first overall leaving Fritz in
second and myself in third place. Jan Hansen occupied fourth and Gerhard Flixeder was in
fifth.
As the day drew on Round 7
was started and as on Monday the thermals became less frequent. The winner of round seven,
flying a Tempus, was Didier Lanot of France. Didier flew well in good lift and posted a
new personal best and French record of 34.27 seconds. Second in the round was Keith
Nicholls of Wales who nailed each turn to record a new personal best of 36.07 with his
Ellipse 2 V. Third was Geir Njaa of Norway in 36.33 seconds using his Wizard Compact.
What a day! Four full
rounds totalling over 280 timed flights and 54 times under 40 seconds. It took no
persuasion whatsoever for all the competitors to join in the ovation given to the course
marshals and CD who’d achieved a new record number of flights in one day.
As a result of round seven
Fritz regained the lead dropping Simon to second leaving myself in third, Gerhard Flixeder
in fourth and Jan Hanson in fifth.
Thursday 8th October saw
almost identical conditions to the previous day. An early start soon saw the culmination
of round 8 with top spot going to Rudolf Masny of Slovakia flying an Acacia around the
course in 37.38. Second was Geir Njaa in 39.43 seconds and third was Nic Wright of England
with a Tragi in 40.63. The round gave rise to 7 safety line penalties in total with even
Espen Torp being caught out at a cost of 100 points.
Round 8 had again shuffled
the deck with Fritz retaining first, I nipped into second, and Jan Hanson rose to third
knocking Simon down to fourth leaving Gerhard Flixeder in fifth.
Round 9 saw the beginning
of the Danish charge when first place went to Jan Hansen who flew a new Viking race record
of 32.97. Second was Jesper Jensen who flew 33.17 and third place went to Didier Lanot
with 33.81. Espen again managed to pick up a penalty that made a dent in the score he
would have had from his time of 36.86. John Bennett recorded a creditable 34.80 for fourth
although a number of people were intrigued as to what time would have been recorded had he
not cut and had to loop back! The new record thrust Jan into top spot overall with Jesper
sneaking into second leaving Fritz in third. Gerhard gained fourth spot knocking myself to
fifth and Simon to sixth.
The tenth and final round
was a tense affair as the varying conditions meant that it was conceivable any of the top
five or so could still win. The 1000 points this round went to Pierre Rondel of France who
flew his new Cobra magnificently to set yet another French record with a blistering run of
33.24. Second was Gerhard with 35.07 and third was Kurt Planitzer with 35.38.
John Phillips earned
himself joint best crash award when, on the last turn of the last round of the
competition, he buried his Cito 3 that had been travelling at an enormous rate.
The final results were
awaited with baited breath although the last two rounds appeared to have secured it for
the Danes. After a brief wait the scores confirmed the winner was indeed Jan Hanson of
Denmark who’s 35.81 in the final round had put it beyond doubt. Second and fellow
Dane was Jesper Jensen who’s 40.66 in round ten just kept Gerhard Flixeder in third
place despite his time of 35.07. Fritz Kristofferson did enough with 38.17 to stay above
myself in fifth as all I could coax from the air was a 39.88.
Final top 10 (of 70)
individual positions of Viking Race 1998:
1
Jan Hansen
8056.6
(Ellipse
2V)
2
Jesper Jensen
7865.4
(Ellipse
2V)
3
Gerhard Flixeder
7802.9
(Ellipse
2V)
4
Fritz Kristofferson
7767.8
(Masterpiece)
5 Kevin
Newton
7686.7
(Cito 3)
6 Simon
Thornton 7625
(Cobra)
7 Knud
Hebsgaard 7617.2
(Unknown)
8 Ola
Fremming
7574.9
(Wizard
Compact)
9 John
Bennett
7566.9
(Ellipse
2V)
10 Didier Lanot
7538.9
(Tempus)
Final top 5 (of 23) team
positions of Viking Race 1998:
1
Denmark 1
23016.01
2
England 1
22399.65
3
Austria 1
22386.80
4
Norway 2
22358.39
5
Denmark 2
22326.06
Thanks to excellent
sponsorship the top five pilots were able to enjoy a Mini Ellipse from Jaro Muller, both a
V and + tailed Adrenaline from our very own Purbeck Sailplanes as well as a Twin Star and
ASW 27 from Multiplex who had also kindly supplied the number bibs. All great products and
well worth further investigation.
Other prize winners were
John and Marcelino who were delighted to receive a roll of Diamond tape each for nose cone
fixation purposes. Equally delirious were Dave Woods and John Phillips who received a
dustpan and brush each as a tribute to their valiant attempts to litter the Welsh
hillsides with bits of their aircraft.
Whilst on the subject of
aircraft no doubt you will already have spotted some of the beautiful creations in the
surrounding photographs. I’m already trying our lovely editors patience as this
issues deadline has long since passed so you’ll have to wait until next issue for a
rundown of the new machinery. If in the meantime anyone offers you a Wizard Compact, Tragi
or an Acacia simply remove your wallet from it’s resting place and part with whatever
is requested, you wouldn’t regret it.
Viking Race 1998 was a
remarkable event with over one in every seven times below the magic forty second barrier
and in excess of three-quarters of competitors achieving new personal best times. As if
that were not enough almost every nation represented set new national records.
The one question which
always remains with every F3F pilot is whether or not the ten rounds flown was enough to
level out the varied flying conditions. I’m of the opinion that ten rounds are a
reasonable leveller although a jaunt to some of the coastal locations may do an even
better job. The juggle between the incredible speeds generated by some inland sites and
the more even but usually less spectacular times from coastal sites is always going to be
a tricky one.
Now though is the time to
rejoice in a Viking Race that set new records in fastest times, most numbers of
competitors and most flights. What is also remarkable is that through all this there were
no formal protests. That of course is not only as a result of the good sportsmanship of
the competitors but even more so a testament to the vast skills of Iain Rose as CD and his
team of well drilled and extremely capable helpers who never gave cause for any situations
to be questioned. Pats on the back all round chaps, you deserve it!
