GM1
Elite Veteran
Location: Tallahassee, Florida US
| AmazingI have always been in awe of the guys that could hover in the wind and make it look easy but did not realize how much model set up has to do with making that possible. However, even with a perfectly set up model, they still have a lot of talent and have done hours of practice to get to that point. I got lucky this year and had two windy months before the Nats so I had a lot of windy weather practice. It was a real help as the wind at the Nats this year was 8-15 nearly all the time.
I had completely redone the set up on my Stratus when I switched to 140 CCPM and decided to set the model up to hover in a moderate wind instead of dead calm. It requires a LOT more piloting to hover a model set up this way BUT when the wind does blow, it's a lot easier to hang on and get through all the maneuvers. If you looked at my head set up from last year and this year, you would notice a very dramatic change, less non-correcting delta, shorter flybar, different paddles, less flybar weight, stiffer damping, and a lot of other little minor things that made this model work better in the wind. In the DEAD calm, it's not as good but when have I EVER flown a contest in the dead calm?
I have already started working on C schedule for next year. It looks right now like it will take me a full year to get comfortable with the new maneuvers. Having done B for two years, some of the stuff that would be really scary is related to things we have already done so it's just a matter of getting through it enough times that it becomes automatic AND I don't have to do that @#$%^%$@!!! flipping pullback any more. The inside outside eight with full rolls is pretty scary though. If you pull too hard, the model comes down like an anvil and you run out of height before you finish the roll. I think I will practice that with my 3D model for a while since it rolls MUCH faster than my FAI models.
Gordie
On a dog sled team, if you're not the lead dog, the view never changes. |
