F5J Round 1 Results

Thanks to all who made this another great event. 

Weather was warm and sunny and the wind favored the slightly heavier, molded gliders. We all had some good flying but the top guys seemed to have it all together. The race for top spot was between Gert and Johan with Johan taking the lead by a few points. Evan did well to finish in third against the big ships flying a Tsotsi. Well done guys!

My biggest hassle was hitting the landing spot, and I was not alone.

Many, many thanks to the girls that helped with timing and scoring chores.

Overall Score

Rank	Name	Score	Pcnt
1	Bruwer, Johan	4982.2	100
2	Nieuwoudt, Gert	4941.7	99.19
3	Shaw, Evan	4642.3	93.18
4	Brown, Gordon	3998.5	80.26
5	Williams, Ivan	3940.4	79.09
6	Jubber, Garin	3767.4	75.62
7	Wucherpfennig, Rouen	3614.5	72.55
8	Edmunds, Hugh	3356.9	67.38
9	Meyer, Melgard	2934.5	58.9

Thermal activity was quite good as can be seen from the tight formation the picture below:

We had a good mix of gliders from modified Gentle Ladies, a Radian, a few Tsotsis right up to Explorer-E and a Pike. Johan's Pike launches vertically (well almost).

Wingman Gert:

Merke, gereed.......

Hugh and Gert really concentrating.

Discussing tactics?

If this looks like fun please join us for the next event 27 April 2013.

Frequent Questions

• Why F5J?
• What equipment do I need in my glider?
• How does the points scoring work?
• Is flight time measured by the altitude limiting device?
• Does the motor run time need to be logged?
• What is the F5J altitude?
• How long are the flights?
• How much power do I need?
• What does the altitude limiting device do?
• How many motor runs are allowed?
• Can one adjust the cut off altitude to below 200m on the Altis?

Why F5J?

If you are tired of carting around a heavy and expensive electric winch, or you cannot persuade your two tow-men to come fly with you, then you are ready for F5J.

What equipment do I need in my glider?

1. A suitable electric motor, brushed or brush-less, in-runner or out-runner.
2. A folding prop to minimize drag once the motor shuts down.
3. An electronic speed control (ESC) for the motor.
4. An altitude limiting device.

How does the points scoring work?

The points system work by penalty for altitude. You get penalized 0.5 points per meter from ground level up to 200m after which you get penalized 3 points per meter.
For example:

• You launch to 160m (160 x 0.5 = 80 points)
• You launch to 225m (200 x 0.5 = 100 + (25 x 3) = 175 points)

This means simply STAY AWAY FROM 200m because it will cost you dearly. If the conditions are favourable you launch low (like F3J). In poor conditions, launch to 199m if you can!

Is flight time measured by the altitude limiting device?

No, it is measured by stopwatch. From when the plane leaves your hand, to the time it touches the ground or any other grounded object.

Does the motor run time need to be logged?

Motor run time is not logged, you get one motor run of maximum of 30 seconds, use it or lose it. The more powerful gliders will use maybe 10 or 15 seconds to reach altitude, but it gives them no real advantage.

What is the F5J altitude?

To prevent zooming to a higher altitude using stored speed or kinetic energy, the F5J altitude is the maximum altitude attained from the time of launch, until 10 seconds after the motor is cut. In other words, if you have a hot-liner and cut the motor at 150m it might be possible to still reach 200m due to the high speed (kinetic energy). The altimeter will then record not the 150m where you cut the motor, but the higher altitude attained by coasting along. It might be possible to launch into a good thermal and attain over 200m, thus penalty points, but in reality you are still in control, as you can cut the motor early or fly level. The power to weight needs to be optimized to get to 200m within 30sec...so outright power ending up with a weight penalty is not optimal.

How long are the flights?

Working time is 10 minutes (600 seconds). In F5J it is possible to fly the full 10 min. Time starts as the glider leaves your hand, and stops when you land. Fly-off rounds are 15 minutes.

How much power do I need?

I fly a Tsotsi (2m wingspan weighing about 1100g) with a Park 480 (brushless) and it has more than enough grunt to get up to 200m in about 25 seconds. Some pilots have rocket like fully moulded carbon gliders that gets them there in about 10 seconds. (these rigs can be quite heavy). I work by trial and error (I know that is not very scientific) but 300 or 350watt should get a 1500g glider up there in the allotted time.

What does the altitude limiting device do?

The altimeter device has 2 functions for strict F5J competition.

1. It limits the maximum motor run time to 30 seconds.
2. It measures the highest attained altitude within a 10 second period after the motor is shut down either automatically (after 30 seconds) or manually by the pilot.

Some of the limiting devices have many functions for example:

1. Records altitude, temp, throttle position, battery voltage etc.
2. Allows motor emergency on for practice purposes.
3. Allows setting the motor cut-off altitude.
4. Allows changing the motor cut-off time.

How many motor runs are allowed?

One only, for launch. The Altis will prevent you from doing a second run. The Altis has a "motor emergency on" feature that allows you to run the motor again and save the glider, but it is not allowed in strict F5J competition. Any additional motor run scores you zero for the flight.

Can one adjust the cut off altitude to below 200m on the Altis?

Yes you can: Again for strict F5J comp, this will not allowed, although it has not been written into the rules yet. In such a case you would have to judge your launch altitude

Event Announcement.

Ladies and Gents!

This is an early announcement for the first round F5J comp to be held at GEMS on Saturday 23 February 2013

Entries are open and a cutoff date will be announced closer to the time.

Please supply Name, Freqency and SAMAA membership number. Entries can be emailed to:

  

We will have pilots briefing at 08:30 to commence flying at no later than 09:00.

Provided we have enough entries we will fly 6 rounds with 2 slots per round with one throwaway.

Rules will be provisional F5J (with motor off altitude setting allowed!) The basics are as follows:

1. Max 30 second motor run time.
2. F5J altitude logging will be necessary for scoring.
3. Time measured from hand launch till landing or end of working time.
4. No landing score if working time is exceeded.
5. No flight (Zero score) if working time is exceeded by 60 seconds.
6. No flight (Zero score) if landin further than 75 meters from landing spot.

Please read the full rules before the comp although a copy will be available at the field.

Rules are available from here.

Pack a lunch as this will be a self catering event.

See you there!

Hyper AVA EL Pro

Managed to clock away my AVA for the first time at GEMS on Sunday. Half hour flight was easy.

Altis V3

The Altis V3 is a data logger used for recording the launch altitude in F5J competition. The on-board device is barely larger than a servo extension lead plug so takes up very little space inside the fuselage.

The Altis V3 comes with a Serial-USB converter that plugs directly into the on-board device and into your PC USB port. This enables you to read flight data and to upgrade the firmware.

 Using the flight manager you can view your flight data, and configure all the device settings. Different firmware versions will allow different settings to be enabled or set. Below is a screen shot of the welcome screen.

Once connected to your device you can download and view the data. A list of flights saved on the device will appear in the pane on the left.

The device configuration screen is shown below. Note the various parameters that can be set.

 The Altis V3 device and external hand held viewer is available from me. You are welcome to email me for prices and availability.

Culex 2E

 We recently ordered 2 Culex gliders from Esprit Models in Palm Bay Florida. The service was good and the package arrived about 10 days after ordering at our shop in Jet Park, South Africa. The parcel was the size of a small refrigerator, including plenty of foam chips and bubble wrap, so no chance of damage.
Assembly
At a glance the overall finish and fit seemed good and the wing covering fairly tight. It appears to be standard thickness Oracover and quite strong.
Building instructions seemed fairly straightforward, but took much longer than anticipated. The wing servo leads need to be extended by soldering on the extension cable as the tube that runs the lead to the root rib is too small to feed through the cable plug. The wings split in the centre and are joined by a steel rod. The wing assembly is joined to the fuse by means of only 2 M4 nylon bolts. This arrangement was so sloppy that we added 2 more M3 bolts as far back as possible to provide some stability. The horizontal stab sits on a balsa pedestal that also houses the elevator servo. It seems flimsy but is in fact adequate. The fin sits behind the stab and has a very small join area to the carbon tail boom, it comes off easily.
Flying
After setting up the control throws and balancing we took to the air. You need about 200w to get it altitude in under 30 seconds. My plane took quite a bit of aileron trim to fly level (I think the wings are slightly warped) My partner's plane was fitted with quite a powerful motor and he experienced wing flutter during launch!
The MH32 wing section is quite slippery on this plane and it handles a fair breeze with ease. It has very little in the way of dihedral and it takes a lot of stick work to circle nice and flat in a thermal. After a while I got it to hang around nicely and I would say it has potential as a F5J competitor.
Warning!
Although this glider wants to go fast, don't be tempted. The slight wing flutter on launch should have been fair warning. On the fourth or fifth flight my partner brought the plane round in a steep bank and before he could keep the speed in check the wings started fluttering uncontrollably. Slow oscillations, rendered all the control surfaces useless and it came down nose first. Broke one wing and the fuselage, but it is repairable.

Just a few short years ago I was introduced to thermal soaring having flown only electric park fly models before then. I had no idea what I had let myself in for.
I had heard about thermal soaring but did not have any idea how it worked or how hard it was

My first glider that was capable of thermalling was a Multiplex Cularis. At the time I was into attaching small video cameras to my models in order to get some aerial video footage. The Cularis, being a 2.6m foam glider seemed like a good stable camera platform.

After a few flights I discovered that at times it would just stay up or seemingly float around longer. I was catching thermals without even knowing!

It was at this point that I got invited to fly with some “real” glider boys. I was blown away by some of the sophisticated gliders they had. Most of the proper competition thermalling gliders are made from very high tech composite materials. After witnessing the apparent ease with which these gliders caught updrafts and “stayed” up in the sky, I knew what I had to get involved. I started looking around and bought a second hand unused composite glider. Soon I got involved in competition gliding events.

F5J is very similar to F3J except that the rules have been amended to allow for an electric motor on the plane to launch the glider. F5J has taken the thermal duration world by storm. In Europe, England USA and Australia it has become one of the most popular soaring competition classes.

At this stage we have 5 organized F5J competitions per year including the Nationals. The competitions in 2013 will be hosted at GEMS near Bapsfontein, BERG near Krugersdorp and SGC near the Sammy Marks museum in Pretoria. This does not prevent you from organizing an event at your local club.

If you have ever wondered if soaring would be interesting or challenging, then F5J is for you. I find the soaring pilots to be very helpful and eager to introduce new pilots to the sport. The F5J competitions are always relaxed and friendly.

Please feel free to drop me an email if you would like to find out more or if you would like to visit one of the above mentioned clubs in order to see the planes in action. If you have a motorized glider you're welcome to bring it along.

Check out the MGA website http://mgasa.blogspot.com/ for more information and contact details.