Wayne Mann
Senior Heliman
Location: United States of America
| Before everybody gets the opinion that we had a miserable time in Spain, let me assure you that we didn't. Spain was beautiful and the Villa that we stayed in which was like a bed and breakfast was also beautiful. It was next to a rather large river and the views were unreal. If we had been there on vacation alone it would have been a wonderful trip.
The main problem was that this area is basically desert. If I went somewhere here in the US to an event and we were going to have to fly under similar conditions with all the dust and dirt, I wouldn't even get my machines out of the crates. I would just say thank you very much, have a nice time and I would be headed home pronto. It will take me weeks to tear all of my machines apart to replace all the bearings that are now full of very fine dust.
Like Gordie said. It is impossible to build multiple machines for F3C and have them fly exactly alike. Curtis can't do it, I have not been able to do it and I don't know of anyone else that can build two models and get them to fly exactly the same. Strangely you always seem to pick the model that hovers the best. The model that Curits flew at the Worlds had nowhere near the HP of his back up model, but it hovered much better in the wind. Next year with the absence of "K" factors in a hover he would probably choose the model that flys the best upstairs just as I would.
Years ago I was able to get three models to fly on the same program and they flew virtually identical, but the models were mechanical mixing, the servos weren't that good relatively speaking and the mechanics had lots of slop relative to the stuff we fly today. With more precise equipment the tolerances to keep two or more machines exactly the same become extremely tight. CCPM or ECCPM as some like to call it only complicates these problems. With electric motors where you can control the HP from one engine to the next and be able to control the head speed from one model to the next a lot more precisely it would be a lot easier. Controling the head speed upstairs is the toughest thing for me as my set up requires 2000rpm or more to be precise. I think I had maybe two rounds in Spain where the engine ran to near perfection up stairs. The second round of "B" Schedule was one of those rounds. The aerobatics were big and very graceful. The third round of "B" Schedule which was flown on the next day was a little different. My flight was in the middle of the day, it was hotter than hell which made me very nervous about the high speed needle setting. So in an effort to error on the side of caution, remember what happened in round one of "B" Schedule, I decided to richen the high speed needle ONE click. That one click differnece from the day before made the engine too rich up stairs which made it a real struggle to precisely get through the aerobatics.
Competing at this level in F3C is just like competing in Nextel Cup Racing. It's not just about the pilot or driver. The equipment has to be set up to near perfection and it has to run to near perfection to win.
Wayne |
