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A Novice's Baptism of Fire
by Allan Feld (Translated by Peter Mikkelsen)
One evening at the local club field, Peter Mikkelsen asks me if I would like to compete in an F3J-event. It sounds exciting, but I reply that I might lack some of the basic requirements: a plane, and the skill to fly it.
My flying experience so far is limited to handling a few electrical powered planes and a lame Blue Phoenix. "No problem" Peter says. "I'll lend you one of my planes and we'll practice on wednesday".
Wednesday came, and an electrical winch was set up. I was consecrated to the Trinitus anatomy, and learned about flaps and crow-mix.
The Trinitus heads towards the sky. Peter is steering, but I soon received the transmitter. I get instructions and guidance on how to fly this machine. We find a thermal. "Use the rudder", "straighten up", "turn", "climb" etc. It works. The plane climbs higher and higher, but eventually the party ends. Only a little hight is left and it's time to land. The Trinitus approaches the landing area nice and easy. "Brake" Peter commands, and I pull the stick all the way back. Oops, a bit too much, but I still have enough height to gain a little airspeed. In a peculiar way the plane lands gently and not so far from the landing spot. Four more flights like the first one and I think I'm ready now. "Beware everybody, here I come."
The competition - a local F3J event in Denmark - is held during the weekend on May 3.-4. at Lindtorp Airfield near Holstebro. The airfield has been closed down years ago and the runway looks like an old highway - full of holes and with sporadic growth of weeds in the cracks in the asphalt. But we don't need the asphalt runway. The surrounding fields are in much worse condition. Large areas are covered with 10-15 cm water over the grass. Everybody is wearing rubber boots, but the planes won't stand up against the water.
With high expectations, but also feeling I might regret the whole thing, I arrive at Lindtorp friday evening. Peter and several other pilots have been here practising since noon. One pilot has already gone home again, because he crashed his plane.
Erik Dahl Christensen and his sweet wife Birthe invites us all to dinner at their home a few kilometers from the airfield. After a delicious dinner we head back to the field again. The local rc-club has a nice big clubhouse on the field. We unpack our air beds and get ready to hit the sack. After a short while, a pleasant sound of snoring can be heard. A hard days work awaits.
It's saturday morning. It's 7 o'clock. Wake up everybody. Ugh, it's pretty chilly. The sky is grey and there's a fresh breeze from northeast, but there should still be a possibility of finding thermals says one of the experienced pilots. I check the latest weather report and radar image with my laptop computer and mobile phone. The forecast says no rain today.
The exact wind-direction is found, and the contest director (CD) dictates where we should set up our starting equipment, keeping in mind that we have to avoid the large areas covered with water.
The teams set up 2-4 lines with a parachute attached to one end, and the the other end attached to the ground anchor 150 metres away. A safety line is marked up and the landing spots are placed in position. Two speakers making a terrible sound are set up as well - one in each end of the safety line. Everything is ready now - except the pilots.
It's 9 o'clock and in the clubhouse awaits coffee and breakfast from a bakery nearby. While breakfast is being consumed, a briefing is held. We plan on flying at least 5 rounds, but hopefully 6 or 7. We have to speed things up if we're going to make it.
Off to the starting grid. We just need a few more tow men and fortunately some volunteers from the local club have showed up. The contest director starts the contest. All the teams are getting ready. The first one to fly on our team is Peter. Hans will assist Peter during the flight, while Henrik and I go out to the other end of the lines. We attach the pulley to the line and we're ready. The procedure is the same every time. Two tow men get ready to run. One helper holds the plane and gets some tension in the line. The pilot stands nearby with his transmitter. When the CD announces "working time starts in 30 seconds", the helper starts the stopwatch and it begins counting down from 10:30. He waves to the tow men to signal that there's only 30 seconds left. When the stopwatch shows 10:02 the pilots raises a leg and this tells the tow men to run. They run like crazy and the line is tightened. A moment later the audio signal can be heard and the helper throws the plane. The planes head for the sky like rockets. The tow men are running but are gradually slowed down because of the pulling force from the plane. This is were my visits to Mc Donalds really pay back big time - counterweight is an advantage in this phase of the launch. I'm still amazed by the force and speed of the planes when they zoom off the lines.
The pilots who gained the highest altitudes start searching for thermals. Maybe one of the pilots decide to make a relaunch, witch you are allowed to do once during each round. In order to make a relaunch you must land the plane as quickly as possible. This is the perfect opportunity to show off various acrobatic manoeuvres and travel at high speed.
Supposing everything works out fine, the plane should be on the ground again 10 minutes later and preferably as close to the landing spot as possible. It will cost a lot of points if you land too far away and it will give you a penalty if you fly for too long as well.
After a while a thought crosses my mind - could it be, that Peter's invitation and his kind gesture of lending me a plane, wasn't just to help me get started as a F3J-pilot? Am I simply here to do the dirty work? No, it couldn't be, I immediately stop thinking these unworthy thoughts. But it doesn't really matter - this is really fun.
Now it's my turn to fly. Peter will assist me. An educated guess tells me it's more demanding being a helper than a pilot. Besides launching the plane, the helper has to keep an eye on all the other pilots in the air. Have they found a thermal? Are they higher up than we are? There's a bird circling. There must be a thermal. Hurry up, fly over there. In my case, the helper has an additional job: giving me advice about how to fly the plane, so that neither the plane nor the other competitors will be in danger. At one point, Peter says I have an exiting flying technique. I of course take that as a compliment!
We're just about ready to start. I'm ready with the transmitter. Getting nervous now. The CD starts the countdown. Peter counts down from 10 seconds. At 2 seconds left I raise my right leg. The towmen start running. The signal sounds. Peter lets go of the plane and it goes towards the sky. There is a hitch somewhere. I try to compensate the best I can. "Flaps off" Peter shouts. I try to find the switch on my transmitter - there it was. The flaps are set in neutral. Peter shouts that I should get off the line. I dive a bit and zoom upwards. The start is over. Whew!
Now I'm a bit more calm. I didn't get quite as much altitude as the others, but it's ok. Now it's time for hunting thermals. Peter gives some clues about where I might find some lift. The flight is pretty good, and eventually it's time to land. Peter leads me to the spot on the field. The plane approaches the area. Peter is guiding me all the time. Suddenly he commands "brakes out". The plane slows down and lands just 2 metres from the spot. Suddenly I notice the weather. It's grey, cold and windy but nice anyway. A few skylarks salute me with their singing.
The CD allows me some time, so I can enjoy the moment. But after a while it's time go running again.
The day flies by and we manage to complete 5 rounds. Depending on how the weather is tomorrow, we will either fly a few more qualification rounds or go straight for the fly-off. I wonder if my legs will be able to carry me tomorrow. I don't recall ever running as much as today since I was in the army. That was about 25 years and 25 kilos ago.
It's dinnertime and once again it's Erik and Birthe who are in charge of the kitchen. Chili con Carne (but mostly Carne because of Erik's two charming kids, who have joined us) but the chili is on the table if anyone needs to spice things up.
Sunday morning. The wind has increased to 10-12 m/s from the same direction as yesterday. Now what? Seems like it takes more than a little wind to scare F3J pilots. I guess it will be difficult to find any lift though. My legs are refusing to help me out of my sleeping bag. But after sensing the smell of fresh brewed coffee, I force my myself out.
After breakfast it's on with the competition. After a short rain shower we're ready to start. Now this is the kind of weather I like. The amount of wind makes it an easy job to tow the planes. We are only able to run about 15-20 metres and then we just have to concentrate on holding onto the line. Some of the teams break their lines over and over. It's annoying and costs a lot of points in reduced flight-time.
Most of the flights today are actually just a long struggle to keep the plane against the wind. There's hardly any thermals and none of the pilots fly even close to 10 minutes. After 2 more qualifying rounds we're ready for the fly-off. But first it's time for lunch and for calculating who's going to make it to the fly-off: it's Jesper Jensen, Peter Mikkelsen and Heinrich Jørgensen.
3 rounds were flown in the fly-off. Jesper Jensen won the competition. Heinrich Jørgensen was 2.nd and Peter Mikkelsen was 3.rd (see the results)
I expected to finish last - and did. Anything else wouldn't be fair considering my qualifications. But thanks to Peter's help and guidance, my result wasn't that bad. I finished last as no 12, but only needed 500 points more to finish as no 11. It was mostly my inaccurate landings that cost me a lot of points.
But I achieved what I had come for: I completed all the flights and avoided to crash Peter's plane.
In spite of the fact that it was an exhausting weekend, I think it was worth every minute. I think F3J is a wonderful way to practise this hobby. Compared to other types of RC-flying competitions, teamwork and cooperation is a main factor in F3J. You are very dependent on your teammates and they are very dependent on you. The physical challenge is also a unique feature.
The cooperation between pilot and helper is something I find very special. With Peter's assistance, I was able to finish this F3J event with an acceptable result, even though I had no prior experience.
I've already made arrangements with Peter, so I can borrow his plane again for the next competition. I think I will have my own plane ready next year.
Thanks to all the pilots for a great experience.
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