Results from F3K League #2 (25 March, GEMS)

Results from F3K League 2 2018 F3K Flyer MARCH 2018 On Sunday 25 March we few our second F3K league competition of 2018, at GEMS in Bapsfontein. It had been raining heavily around Gauteng the week leading up to the competition but nonetheless the field was still in great condition. Just the farm roads were a bit muddy but that caused no problems. I'm sure Craig enjoyed the driving conditions with some extra opportunity for muddy, off-road, wheel spins. The conditions were forecast to be calm with wind increasing around midday but from the start, just after 9:00am, we had a westerly blowing and we flew with ballast for of most of the day. (At one point I was flying my snipe - with a normal weight of around 240 grams - with 72 grams). This made for challenging flying for the less experienced pilots, including myself. With the steady wind we saw many out-landings, including a round which saw Craig, Alan and Tiaan all doing the walk of shame to fetch their models. I can say with certainty that everyone missed the box at one point or the other. Fortunately we didn't have any major model damage, aside John who took a chunk out of his Snipe's leading edge when he hit a fence. We had 14 pilots enter, but due to ill health Chris and Theo had to pull out at the last minute - get well guys. Nonetheless, our field of 12 made for some stiff competition. Our reigning junior world champ, Tiaan Van Rooyen, flew with us for the first time since the worlds, and he was as sharp as ever - chalking up a solid second place. We ran electronic scoring using Glider Score and it worked really well. Everyone scanned the bar-codes printed on their scorecards and then entered their scores on their mobile phones. We flew a 'new' task, Big Ladder, for the first time thanks to my somewhat random task selection methodology. In this task the pilot has to attempt progressively longer flights. The flights start at 1:00 minute, increasing in 30 second increments. We flew this as the last round of the day and the scorecard reflects the trickiness of the conditions. But it was a fun challenge and we'll do it again. Next time I will make sure to record all of the flight times and not a yes / no, as I did. Oops. Sorry Roger. Overall it was a challenging day's flying, with us spending much of the day 'surfing', nose-into-the-wind. With the occasional pilot finding some lift. Our winner was Craig Goodrum, second Tiaan Van Rooyen, third Alan Smith and fourth Aldo Vos (junior). It was great to have two ladies in the field too - thanks for flying Michelle and Juanita. Thanks to everyone who attended. And to those who assisted on the day with the setting up and breaking down the field markings and scoring trailer. A special thanks to Mike Vos for bringing the trailer to the field. And to Roger Lambson for offering to assist with F3K generally. After the day was over, Craig 'Coach' Goodrum was the only senior pilot left on the field, spending time with Nicky (his talented daughter - it seems to run in the family) and James coaching them. It was amazing to see the skill of these youngsters and we look forward to the day when they join us in a competition. Until Next time... Craig (winner), Julian, Juanita, Alan  Roger, Tiaan, Nicky, James Mike, Aldo, Michelle, John When can I fly next F3K? HTL#2 (Gauteng, 15 April) Nationals (BOMAC, Western Cape, 28-30 April) Team Qualifier (GEMS, 3 June) The complete F3K flying calendar can be found here. Do you have a question? Do you have any other questions about F3K gliders and gliding in South Africa? Do you want to get into flying F3K? Do you want to buy an F3K glider? Do you want stay in the loop about F3K and model gliding? A great starting place is the Frequently Asked Questions on our website here. F3K Contact - Brett Lewis is the F3K representative of the Model Gliding Association of South Africa. For any information or answers please call him on 076-191-5277 or email him on f3ksouthafrica@gmail.com. Life is simple for F3K pilots - throw, thermal, catch, repeat...