Ivinghoe Beacon

Wind was a bit stronger than ideal for a maiden flight, at about 25 mph, but I had driven 75 miles and walked half a mile to find that out. So I tried to find another reason to just pop the Calypso Contest Plus back in the car and drive home. I tried to find a problem with all the control movements, and was glad to find the elevator trim was a bit off. Unfortunately, a quick trim change in the Elevator Servo Calibration area of the Tx had all the controls looking good, so I had run out of excuses... Some nice chap kindly agreed to throw the model into the wind for me, and away it went!

Aeros. Did a few bunts, loops and rolls, the 3.3m model a bit slower in the roll than the 3m one, but it was still no slouch. Stall turns were more graceful than with the 3m model. CG was about right as there was little or no tendency to dive when inverted.  

Landing. Getting the elevator trim right, with crow braking, can be a bit hit or miss. When the model had plenty of height to shed, I put on the full crow and adjusted the camber slider to the full penetration position (which raises the ailerons and drops the elevator a little more in the full crow position, but leaves the flaps at max down) and the model sat at 40degrees nose down, at zero ground speed, pointing into the wind. Perfect. 

Landing was a bit tricky as crowds seemed to gather and disperse at regular intervals, there were three kite fliers making the job more complicated too. I put off landing for a while as there were a few people milling around in the non-kite ridden zone, which I decided would be the best target. More models were taking to the air, so I flew further away, the efficient 3.3m model made that very easy, and the conditions were excellent for a good distance out to the left of the melee. 

The landing zone became free of obstructions so I flew around to it, and applied the brakes, then quickly put them away again when I realised I was further back than ideal. The model managed to find its way back to the downwind half of the landing area, phew! I watched others make the same mistake with less fortune, and gave myself an imaginary pat on the back, and packed the model away in its bags.

Certainly had a lot of fun, there can't be many F3J models that have been maidened in such strong winds, but the Calypso range inspire confidence with their impressive speed range. 

Now happy to give the model a full strength winch launch.

Jef 

Is that you in the picture Jef ?