Aussie Model Flyers

The Banquet Dinner and Final Post

2009-08-31T08:53:00.003+01:00

The Banquet finalised the contest with the presentations (there seemed little interest or applause in the podium places...) Our dear mascot, the boxing roo, has now departed. Many a man has tried before, and failed, but Mr Rabbit has claimed his possession from sheer thanks from the Aussie Team, from the beginning of the comp, by assisting us with fuel issues, to the very end, in arranging a table for the aussie team at the banquet - when they had two teams on one table.

Thanks Mr Rabbit, you are a legend!

Aussie's Summary of the Finals.

2009-08-31T07:42:00.004+01:00

The Wind conditions were very good, light winds, but as usual across the track. There was a slight bias towards a direction but the pattern could be flown either way.

We, the Aussie's, watched everyone of the finals flights. Obviously everyone had good practice for the final schedule, and were flying well. It was the styles that was interesting. Onda, the Paysant-Leroux were HUGE, they had to be easily pushing the 60 degree box marker. But obviously this had no effect on the scores. The Austrian, Gerhard Mayr, to our boys mind, flew brilliantly. Within the rules, not too big or small, with a very controlled flight of constant speed and precision. He flew very level, very technically correct. He is the guys with the unusual little extra-fins on the fin. See pictures below in previous post. In our mind, he should have been in the top three. His electric engine was superb, very quite and just a light hum sound.

Next to comment on is Quique Somenzini, again flew brilliantly. Fairly open pattern, his rolls in the pattern were similar to everyone elses, slow and long, but in the last unknown where they had a vertical square 8 with half roll in the middle (see photos Unknown Schedule 2) he cleverly tightened up the radius and quicken the roll rate to keep the maneuver to a reasonable size. Just about everyone else using a slow roll, made a square rectangle, and would have gone into the clouds - if there were any! Quique is one of those flyers who are able to keep the plane absolutely level. His rolling circles and loops were brilliant, on the last unknown he was the only person to go reverse direction on the wind. The reason being, he told Steve, was that the snaps could be done into the wind with more control. In the Aussie's minds Quique would have been a good bet to win the event. We are devastated and that he has been robbed to be given 7th place. As we said to quique at the banquet, now you know what the Aussie feel like.....

Onda flew the same style as Christophe, huge, very large radius' with long smooth rolls. His rolling circles were very wide and deep. His ability to fly the plane like this is amazing. All the Japanese all seemed to fly very level. (Because of their training no doubt). The only question on this style "can it be flown at 150m and inside the box, as the rules state?" we think not! But as at most world championships, the guys will copy or follow the person's style who is scoring the maximum!

Suzuki and Akiba flew very similar styles to each other, slightly smaller than Onda, but still reasonably large. To the boys, they still flew reasonably well with just small errors creeping in on the harder maneuvers, such as the rolling loops and circles.

Christophe and Benoit flew the same type of aircraft with similar styles. Their patterns were HUGE! or bigger! To the Aussies, the wings were always 15 degrees out of level, at least, (we know this looks right, because that is how most of the sportsman flyers want to fly, when you are training them. of course the rules say, wings out of level is a major area of downgrade) One of the areas that was very questionable, was the stall turns. The aircraft never, ever stalled, (so it was never going to flop) and seemed to be driving over with alot of throttle. You can see this by the smoke trail at the top of the turn and the fact that the plane turned over very quickly.
Radius and rolls were so big and long that there was little time for straight lines between individual parts of the maneuvers and between some maneuvers. The snaps of alot of the flyers were questionable, with very little elevator being used. So is the case with Christophe and Benoit. (but hey if they get scored for it, why would they want to change!) and example was in the two snaps reversed in the Unknowns where the aircraft wanted to finish nosedown, this being a direct result of very little elevator to pitch the nose up at the beginning of the snap. To Steve, the snap looks like one wing throws itself over.

To the Aussies, the scores left us amazed, unsurprised, but amazed. To us we thought they would have finished much further down the results. especially Benoit. It seems strange that one person can dominate the scoring in this type of company for all rounds, including the preliminaries. Christophe won every round of the comp bar one. Especially when the pattern is flown technically incorrect. wings out of level by at least 15 degree, box infringements, lack of straight lines, questionably snaps with no pitch, driven over stall turns, wings not square in vertical lines when there is a crosswind (so you don't have to yaw the model into breeze when pulling level) Spins becoming unstalled when the nose drops so far.

Jason Shulman flew his tighter style that we saw in Australia. He also seems to have a tendency to fly wing down (as most of the US team do and have done, except quique) On his last flight of the comp he also hit the famous Darty Fence when landing.

The German flyer, Bernd Beschorner, fly brilliantly. Technically correct, very level, within the rules of the box. His only fault was perhaps having difficulty landing the snaps.

What is sad for the Aussies, is that the World Championship title should be the best on the day and this title should have been someone elses, we have all spent lots of money and hoped for the opportunity to do our best, and when you make it to the final 10, and out fly people, you expect to get the podium. That was definitely not the case here. We feel for some of the other pilots.

Futaba are the Greatest!

2009-08-29T19:49:00.002+01:00

Thanks to the Futaba guys here at the World Championships, Chris's Radio is repaired and like new again!

We really would like to put a big thank you out to the Japaneese guys for their assistance all along for Chris, and cannot flaw them in any way.

Thanks again. Top Effort!

Team Results

2009-08-29T19:47:00.001+01:00

Rank	Team	Total	1	2	3
1	FRA France	21	1	2	18
2	JPN Japan	22	3	9	10
3	USA United States of America	30	6	11	13
4	AUT Austria	34	5	14	15
5	ITA Italy	56	4	21	31
6	GER Germany	76	8	20	48
7	SUI Switzerland	81	22	26	33
8	CHN People's Republic of China	104	24	34	46
9	ESP Spain	116	19	43	54
10	CZE Czech Republic	117	28	36	53
11	BEL Belgium	125	23	50	52
12	ARG Argentina	130	29	44	57
13	GBR Great-Britain	139	41	47	51
14	NOR Norway	148	25	61	62
15	IRL Ireland	155	32	45	78
16	CAN Canada	159	16	63	80
17	RUS Russia	160	27	56	77
18	RSA South Africa	177	38	64	75
19	AUS Australia	181	49	65	67
20	POR Portugal	182	40	70	72
21	FIN Finland	201	35	71	95
22	UKR Ukraine	215	66	68	81
23	KOR Korea	216	42	86	88
24	FAI1 FAI (Ecuador)	231	55	84	92
25	HKG Hong Kong, China	267	85	89	93
26	VEN Venezuela	268	69	98	101
27	GRE Greece	284	90	94	100
28	BRA Brazil	292	96	97	99
29	LIE Liechtenstein	29	12	17	0
30	SWE Sweden	76	37	39	0
31	NED Netherlands	134	60	74	0
32	ISR Israel	140	58	82	0
33	DEN Denmark	150	59	91	0
34	COL Colombia	160	73	87	0
35	FAI2 FAI (Zimbabwe)	162	79	83	0
36	SMR San Marina	30	30	0	0
37	CYP Cyprus	76	76	0	0

Final "Interesting" Results

2009-08-29T19:21:00.002+01:00

Not at all what was expected.... but here they are for what its worth.

1	72	PAYSANT - LE ROUX	CHRISTOPHE	FRA	2000.00	1000.00	1000.00	1000.00	1000.00
2	55	PAYSANT - LE ROUX	BENOIT	FRA	1951.82	952.31	869.31	899.38	999.51
3	69	ONDA	TETSUO	JPN	1939.68	982.75	956.92	944.33	950.19
4	70	SILVESTRI	SEBASTIANO	ITA	1931.02	954.03	855.87	911.46	976.99
5	24	MAYR	GERHRARD	AUT	1920.89	924.62	925.05	927.92	992.98
6	68	SHULMAN	JASON	USA	1916.06	969.15	929.59	924.95	946.91
7	14	SOMENZINI	Quique	USA	1905.75	973.05	932.70	942.60	929.80
8	29	BERND	BESCHORNER	GER	1891.87	924.81	885.85	914.98	967.06
9	90	AKIBA	YOICHIRO	JPN	1813.94	941.43	872.51	886.91	851.68
10	34	SUZUKI	KOJI	JPN	1807.24	899.68	867.36	876.12	907.56

We will add to this post tomorrow with comments from Chris and Steve. They were shocked beyond belief when i read who won and the placings. Afterall they both watched all flights today. Stay tuned for the rundown.

Pictures from the Semi Finals

2009-08-28T22:48:00.006+01:00

Goodbye our little mate Beryll.

We are showing here the flags and opposite directions, also with the image below see the smoke stack, well the flags are opposite...

This is an interesting one. Its a "Own" design, scratch built model by Gerhard Mayr from Austria. It was totally film covered....

This one is a very Pubic design we think. lol

German Flyer using a Plettengburg with out runner motor hooked up to a servo to adjust sidethrust during flight when the rudder is used. Its range is +/- 12.5 degrees.

The Final Result for Semi Finals.

2009-08-28T22:10:00.003+01:00

Line gets cut from 30 to the top 10.

Final Scores just posted as below.

First Figure is total, The following Two are the Flight Scores.

1 PAYSANT - LE ROUX CHRISTOPHE FRA 2000.00 1000.00 1000.00
2 SOMENZINI Quique USA 1962.58 979.07 977.42
3 SILVESTRI SEBASTIANO ITA 1959.09 977.87 952.33
4 ONDA TETSUO JPN 1955.13 984.03 950.83
5 SHULMAN JASON USA 1926.51 963.20 921.08
6 SUZUKI KOJI JPN 1885.26 954.05 931.21
7 AKIBA YOICHIRO JPN 1882.30 956.73 905.57
8 BERND BESCHORNER GER 1877.15 950.63 885.28
9 MAYR GERHRARD AUT 1865.02 957.04 897.39
10 PAYSANT - LE ROUX BENOIT FRA 1849.90 934.69 915.20

Cut Off Line

11 JESKY ANDREW USA 1847.36 944.47 902.81
12 KAISER STEFAN LIE 1845.37 927.80 883.93
13 WICKIZER BRETT USA 1827.06 908.28 862.11
14DANKSAGMULLER HELMUT AUT 1806.31 915.87 878.49
15 ZEINER MARKUS AUT 1794.03 916.78 851.25
16 NORTHEAST CHAD CAN 1773.76 921.40 831.95
17 MATT WOLFGANG LIE 1760.38 907.32 853.06
18 BURBAUD LOIC FRA 1759.95 910.59 824.14
19 ROMBAUT JUAN ESP 1751.99 887.67 840.32
20 GUENTHER ULSAMER GER 1745.20 902.72 820.71
21 FRIGGERI LUCA ITA 1743.51 906.90 782.21
22 RUBIN MARK SUI 1742.53 900.06 842.46
23 DIERICKX BENOIT BEL 1740.84 885.17 823.07
24 JUN ZHANG XU CHN 1740.71 891.22 835.71
25 FREMMING OLA NOR 1735.76 903.18 802.39
26 SCHADEN BERNHARD SUI 1693.01 872.73 820.28
27 BUTUZOV SERGEY RUS 1692.19 886.64 771.76
28 FRANTISEK POKORNY CZE 1690.61 884.33 806.29
29 COLOMBO MARCELO ARG 1687.78 869.27 818.51
30 SELVA MASSIMO SMR 1657.99 876.80 737.16

Good Luck to all for tomorrow. Well done to the 11 - 30th places.

New Addition Globe Trackers

2009-08-28T17:32:00.003+01:00

Ok, out of interest I have added the globe tracker to see where in the hell you all are!

The big globe on the right shows which countries/cities that have hit (Yellow dots) this site and also the current users (shown as pulsating radars.)

(All hits are from the moment the trackers were installed, not from the beginning of the sites conception)

To see more detail, and statistics on the big globe, hit the button with the small circle and four directional arrows.

You can spin, stop, speed up, slow down etc, so have a play!

South African Team's resident Princess.

2009-08-28T12:49:00.005+01:00

Yesterday we had a classic moment - obviously involving my big mouth!

We were on tour and had to walk down this tremendous hill to see where the dukes sat in the old arena to watch the bullfight. By the time we got down the hill, we were all hot and bothered. The tour guide said his bit, then said we have to go back to where the bus was and then walk further up to the bull ring they use today, to which Marc Wolffe from the South African Team said "What we have to walk back up there now?" I piped up "Toughen Up Princess". So for the rest of the day we were taking the piss, as the aussies do, and everyone else on the bus was laughing.

He is such a great guy, we have had a good time with the SA Team. Go you good things.

This blogsite.

2009-08-28T12:32:00.003+01:00

The blog site has now reached 2800 visits. As a matter of interest that is 2100 hits in the last three days..... you guys are insane. Do some bloody work.

Cheers
Blogger Wench

Whats on Tomorrow.

2009-08-27T22:47:00.002+01:00

The girls are staying home to soak up the 38 degrees and get scorched by the pool. Steve and Chris are off to the WC Site to watch the Semi Finals.

They will take some more pics and things, so stay tuned. I will post tomorrow night.

Cheers
Meredith

Steves Spare Tyre

2009-08-27T22:29:00.002+01:00

Interesting Information

2009-08-27T22:27:00.003+01:00

Christophe and Suzuki best rounds. Click image to enlarge.

Sight Seeing Day

2009-08-27T21:31:00.015+01:00

Today we headed off early with Koen and Isabel for a trip to the weekly Ourem Markets. Heidi was treated to a ride in the Motorhome.

I bought Jeans.... LOL I know you laughing Sharon! We had lunch there, a typical portuguese bbq, and I can report that nandos is about as traditional as it is..... After the Ourem Markets, we left Koen and Isabel, and made our way to the World Champs site to catch the tour bus.

First port of call was the Pombal Castle, originally errected in 1146. It was totally destroyed by the French and Rebuilt in 1940. What a beautiful place...... But my god the walk up to it was a heart attack.

After we made our way down in heart attack hill, we ventured inland for the Bull Fighting Arena. How cool that was. and yes, I was the only one to venture into the middle of the ring and pretend to be bull..... even Ian wouldnt join me....

Then we went on the Beach. about one hour our of Pombal was the mediterania - oops sorry Koen, the Atlantic sea. It was hell windy and the beach was closed due to the massive rips. But that didnt stop some of the other countries pilots, who were also on tour with us, enter the sea! Check this guys butt out.... I managed to pic him while I sat on the dunes. Don't know who he flys for?

Last Day of the Preliminarys...

2009-08-26T22:36:00.008+01:00

Pauls Flight

Paul was up first in the morning in the second block, the weather was exceptional conditions, taking off left to right. Paul's nerves had finally left him, the flight was of average standard with just a few mistakes creaping in. Loosing line on the reverse cuban eight in the half rolls and the half flop in the center stall turn. Finally Paul managed to land down the centerline of the runway in perfect safety.

Chris's Flight

Chris was up late afternoon, six from last for the day. The radio, after not working this morning, decided to boot up ok in the ready box. Plan B was not required. Winds were on his back, and varying from either side, as seen by the photo with the two flags. (see below) (the flag is correct - just above the roof of the car!)

Chris took off left to right. Chris described his flight as average, however Steve and I think it was a good standard. The main areas where chris was unhappy, was his centering, such as, the three rolls were early and the cuban eight drifted to the right, where he finished the second roll well before center. Everything else to Steve seemed pretty tidy.

Steve's Flight. (Last flight overall of the Preliminarys)

Winds were getting lighter and the conditions were the best Steve had experienced throughout the competition.

Shall I just repeat the post from Tuesday's pearler flight?? No actually this was a little better. Anyway, Steve is sitting next to me with Chris, and this is what they want to say.

Steve throughout the competition and has been watching Suzuki from Japan and likes his style. His aim was to emulate the flight style. We all recon it was just about as close as you could get to suzukis previous flight. Again we are happy to report that Steve's says it was the best he has ever flown.

The Results

After Steve had flown we made our way down to the club house to await the final results for the Preliminary rounds. What do I say, What a shocker....... I would like to say the usual was to be expected ie, 35 - 25 place..... but that was not the case. Final Placing were a shocking, 49 - Steve, 65 - Darty and a mere 22 points and 67th for Chris. In steves words, it was by far his best flights at any world champs, and he has his worst result......? But what do you expect!

Lets just say the results even for the top guys, was very surprising. We went through the scores at dinner and we are trying to work out how to get the 100 extra points each flight to get a look in? We worked it out:

drive over the stall turns, with at least quarter throttle
dont use any elevator in snaps, but lots of aileron,
fly with the wings out of level so you cannot see any part of the underside when you are 100m high and at the top of loops
ohhh and you must push lots of down elevator just before entry into the positive spins.
and dont wear australian uniform - actually just pick a top name country and steal theirs.

Some scores ranged between 6 and 7 for chris and steve, on all maneuvers so they need to improve on all maneuvers.

Photos that Swainey took this morning.

2009-08-26T11:29:00.004+01:00

Finnish Plywood Stand

Juan (Jason) Rombaut Bipe on Stand (Spain?)

Quad Stand for Chez Team

Quad Plane Stand.

Swainey's Radio

2009-08-26T08:55:00.002+01:00

The boys have just gone to the field to watch Darty fly this morning, Ian and Heidi are still sleeping......

Swainey turned on the Radio this morning and a different error appeared. Each time they recycled the power, different errors appeared again. They have with them now to see the Futaba guys after darty flys. Go Darty.

Shall keep you posted.

More Random Pics

2009-08-26T08:45:00.004+01:00

Our beautiful Mascot..... has been photographed by almost everyone in the comp now..... he is a big hit, you have to keep an eye on him tho.

The Beautiful Europhria.....

Swainey Unpacking

Steve Unpacking (ask him how many times he has stood up and hit his head) LOL....

Naurki (deigner of Pauls model I believe) and Paul at Barosa Field

I didnt get a pic with Jacky and Heidi at the opening on the post. So here it is.

The Electric scooters and the little Smart Car.

2009-08-26T08:22:00.003+01:00

How funny, some of the vehicles here are a scream.

Heidi misses her car too.....

2009-08-26T08:21:00.001+01:00

Photos again.....

2009-08-25T21:10:00.002+01:00

Steve and the boss of Oxai.

Koen Hermans from Quinta d'Oliveria - aka Heaven on Earth. (Like the Aussie Map?)

Darty and Jacky at the Pool (ohhh and my boof head!)

Suzuki Radio with counter balance.

Japanese Stater Motor.

More Photos of Planes

2009-08-25T21:00:00.001+01:00

The Runway - Up close!

2009-08-25T18:06:00.004+01:00

Sorry but it is obvious to you all that I am a crappy "Videoman" so just take it for what it is.... bumpy..

Mr Rabbit

2009-08-25T18:05:00.002+01:00

The CD of this comp.... and swainey.

Preliminary Round 3

2009-08-25T15:34:00.007+01:00

Notes on Chris's Flight.

Chris's Low profile tyres..... (so low you cant see em!)

First thing this morning, before wee and breakfast, at 6:15am, Our Mr Swain turned on his transmitter to find that it would not load up fully, just showed errors! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH............. So up to the apartment to use the internet to download the updates.... again..... and it booted up.... Meredith is a god.... but wait theres more! We transfered all the model data to Steves CF Card, so we had now a Plan B, incase the shit hits the fan......

Chris was absolute first up at 9am, plenty of time to turn on his radio, to have the same error code again.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... Plan B is now Plan A. Then it was flight as per normal.... EXCEPT..... aircraft needed a bit of trim..... Chris had his trim set to fine, and it needed about twenty beeps on the elevator trim, which he did on the way around to the entry of the box.

The winds at this stage we light, straight down the runway, perfect for an untrimmed model.... aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh, off we go. Chris is sitting right beside me and he says "pretty un-eventful really!" He did the best he could with what he had and thats about the max of it. The flight was far from shit, but not fantastic. Just good. He is our Hero to be honest, he was such a champ.

Later we caught up with Suzuki from Futaba Japan, who kindly offered to look at Chris's radio, and within seconds, one CF card out, Two CF Cards in, and a full reload, now it is going like a dunny door in the wind.

Below is a picture of the CD "Mr Rabbit"! He is a bloody champion, we are having so much fun with him. see later post tonight of the video.... LOL. He has threatened to kidnap our Mascot and put a huge ransom on him.....

Notes on Steve's Flight (go baby!)

As per usual with Steve's flights, it was his preferred wind direction just before flight, and then we watched in the Judges break of 5 mins, as the wind switched around, turbulance came and it went from great to crap in 5 mins...... aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh........ Damn...... all was looking good until the stall turn with 2 of four up, it drifted in to close, making the top hat rushed and too close as well. Ever thing went reasonably well after that until the center point stall turn. The plane went straight up the center line but at the stall point, got knocked out about 20 degree in the wrong direction, by then the aircraft was traveling too slow to correct. The plane stalled the wrong way leaving Steve 10m off the center line and still too close to the judges.....! After that it was a big struggle to keep the flight looking good.

The main thing is all three wheels touched down on the runway giving Chris another 200m walk.... hehe

Darty's Flight Notes

Darty said he remembered taking off and landing at the end of the runway, and it wasn't as wide as the Shepparton one. The wind was bumpy, the air was rough and coming to his face. Jackie did a great job of keeping him relaxed and calm.

The baseline on the two of four was a bit low. All in all, he said his positioning was excellent..... he was very happy with his flight..... The repair worked well.....

Steve gave him a few words about not having the wing down, so he made a conscious effort to correct that.

Ok, so I am off now as Ian is champing at the bit to have a swim, so because I dont wont him to drown, I will go join him.

For now,

Cheers
Meredith

Bill and Ben the Bucket Hat Men...Again

2009-08-25T10:58:00.003+01:00

Before we flew this morning......

Expert Technical Battery Warmer

2009-08-25T10:39:00.003+01:00

This is the latest in technology here in Portugal. Absolute best thing since sliced bread. Very Technical and a bit weird to get used to, but works very well....... (especially with knockers like Heidi's)

HIts on this site.

2009-08-25T07:02:00.001+01:00

LOL 1109 hits on this site..... hows that! did just under 400 last night alone....

Darty's Flight - Round 2 Preliminary Set

2009-08-24T19:27:00.007+01:00

Paul did a fantastic job repairing his tail plane last night, working until 11pm. He says the trim did not change for his comp flight.

Jacky called for him this time, and he seemed to be more relaxed (maybe because she was telling him to relax! - Go Jacky!)

The conditions had changed from this morning with some light rain and thick clouds as shown by photo below. This however, gave smooth air with no thermals. Paul put in a solid flight with no major mistakes to report.

When it came to land he obviously wanted to ensure he did not repeat the previous mistake by landing short, when the plane came to a halt there was only about 4 meters to the end of the runway before a 1m rough dropoff! So tomorrow we recon he will be spot on target! LOL.

Photos of Other Planes.

2009-08-24T15:38:00.021+01:00

Well dont ask me who's is whats, but we have some superb photos of the other competitors planes, so here they are.

SCORES

2009-08-24T14:34:00.003+01:00

Ok, everyone is asking for the scores, and neither Chris nor Steve want to know so I cannot post on this site. Please click the link to the Right on the status column, and click classifications. Only raw scores will show until all flights completed on all four rounds in the preliminary sets.

Some are saying the link does not work, please google www.fpam.pt which is the portugal fai website. go to classificions and click raw scores. prelim score final post will not be added until all four flights are done.

Cheers
Meredith

Publish Post

The Apartment at Quinta De Oliveria

2009-08-24T13:59:00.005+01:00

We moved into our new digs last night, still same place, but upstairs is the family apartment, the Dart's were supposed to come here, but have changed their minds to remain at the hotel. No they havnt seen this place yet.....

We still dine in the evening with the family that own the Quinta. Basically there is three motel type rooms downstairs, Chris and Heidi are in one, then this apartment upstairs.

The food has been an issue here for most of the contestants at the championships. They apparently are having problems just getting fed. Well I must tell you, the guy that owns this place is trying and has succeeded in filling steve up.... i know, but its true. He gave him the pot to eat what was left last night, as he wanted to completely fill him...... lol. We have had some absolutely tremendous food here, the wife is an expert cook. Not experienced any two dishes the same yet, which is a shame as they are all good. We are living the portuguese way, and loving it.

Now I have coffee on tap, there is nothing missing......!

If anyone ever comes to portugal, please stay here, it is wonderful. it is cheaper than any of the hotels on the champs list, and it is about 200 times better. Its within the villages in Espite. call us if you want the contacts.

Round 2 - Preliminary Sets - Morning Only

2009-08-24T12:46:00.008+01:00

The wind was a gentle right to left in the face, Steves preferred direction.

We all watched Suzuki fly, his flight was very smooth controlled, just a superb flight.

Chris was up 4 flight later, at 10am, and after having his battery checked by the officials, he was ready to go. He switched on the radio, but it would not go past loading files. When switched on again a code error appeared. We tried removing batteries, resetting, removing cf card, nothing worked in the time limit permitted.

After he had to miss his flight, Steve discovered that by pulling the 2.4 module out and replugging it back in, it fixed the error and was ready to transmit. ahhhhhh..... unfortunately the chance of a great flight had been lost, as the conditions were premo. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed our Chris was, we all were gutted. We had to get it back together, as Steve was up soon.

Steve was up 5 flights later, the wind changed to left to right in our face and got lighter still. This was Steves chance to put in a good flight as the conditions were fantastic, very smooth with virtually no bumps in the air.

Now sorry guys, I don't want to blow my husbands horn, but this flight was if not as good, better than Suzuki. It was so bloody near perfect, that I can't actually fault a move. Steve described it as the best flight he has ever done at a world champs. the engine was once again, so smooth and quite, the smoke trail proved how round and straight the plane was flying. Stall turns were so on the edge, they were magnificent. And seriously you should have seen the integrated roll in the loop. Frigging Text book! Ahhh I so happy! After the flight we had to land over the Darty fence, see pics next post. The plane touched down perfectly on the center line. My normally conservative Steve was shouting "Yeah baby, thats the Shit Dardy" with his fist in the air. Needless to say I went off like a dunny door in the wind, screaming and all that sort of embarrassing stuff.....! Go Steve. I asked him for 130% at the start in the ready box, he gave me 200%. We really want to give a huge thanks to Chris, who somehow put his problems behind him and stayed focused on the job at hand as Steves caller. He gave all the right cues and did a tremendous job supporting his fellow team mate. Go Chris, upstanding job!

After Steve's flight we went over to the other flight line to see the Futaba guys regarding Chris's issues. Obviously it was a little hard to explain as the radio was now working fine, and all the error codes were in Japanese when they showed up, so we couldn't relay the issue. They were, however, very supportive and offered any sorts of spare parts or requirements Chris Needed on his next flight, he will make sure he turns the transmitter on way early before the flight.

We are now home for lunch, in our very jubilant mood, with chocolate to celebrate (ummmm) and had some lunch. Chris and Heidi are at the field for lunch, with the meal tickets, providing food that is just amazing I hear. The Dart's are currently on their way to the WC field to have their lunch, then he is not due to fly until 7pm. We will join him later in the day. We have had word from the South African Team that the plane is repaired and flyable, however looks a bit 2nd hand. It should do the job.! Go Darty!

This is Steve's landing. as you will see straight over the orange tape. This is what Darty caught yesterday. This is the same line, however he was on the other side as it was a afternoon flight.

Round 1 - Preliminary Sets

2009-08-23T21:43:00.003+01:00

This post has been amended, please read again.

Today was a big day.... we are finally home and finished tea, Ian is in bed! Time to post.

Paul dart was first up this afternoon on Flight Line B and Chris and Steve were middle of the pack in Flight Line A.

We arrived at the field at noon for some lunch, then off to the Flight Line to support Darty. He had blown up his starter motor battery the night before, then he had to borrow one.

The wind seems to always be the same way here which as usual at the most recent world champs is cross wind. We are using both sides of the runway, one side in the morning, the other in the afternoon, so the wind is in our face in the morning and on our backs in the afternoon.

When Paul flew he took off from left to right, with an 80% crosswind away. Steve was calling while Jackie was on the video. Paul's flight seemed a bit shakey, I think the nerves got to him a bit. He seemed to loose line a little bit and perhaps flew in auto pilot mode without the thinking part that is required to put in the top flight. So there was no major mistakes but the lines were a bit bendy. Unfortunately the landing was a little short and he could not power over the tape as he had cut the engine, about 10m before the tape. The tail wheel and left stab just caught the tape pulling off the left elevator and because the aircraft slowed it slammed down on the runway breaking the right landing leg.

Paul has let steve know now by sms that the plane has now been made flight ready and we will go out this afternoon to re trim his aircaft at the practice field early this afternoon.

Chris was up first on the second line and did a pearler of a flight, he took off right to left as the wind had swung 30 degrees, still 80% away. He took off straight down the runway and climed out for about 300m as planned then did the 180 degree turn right on the 150m line. this set the flight up. The electic engine and his prop combo sounded smooth and effortless, as good as any here and the whole flight presented really well. The only real error that steve could see as his caller was on the sqaure on corner with half rolls when the top 45 degree flattened out and there was no real top corner. The landing was also planned after Paul's drama in that we had 500m of runway to use. So land long do not land short. Steve had about a 100m run to retrieve the plane but the landing was text book. The team were pleased with the flight.

Steve's fligtht was with the same wind direction but the wind had moderated and conditions were just about perfect with no big thermals making conditions quit smooth with small bumps.

The OS 200 engine ran smooth as silk and as said before sounded as good if not a bit better than the Japanese. Steve is using more oil than they are so he has more smoke. Steve said he lost sight of the aircraft in the stall turn with 2 of 4 (because of the haze) but all worked out well and it came down in it's own smoke unlike a lot of the top guys who seem to drive it over with about 1/4 thottle. The only real major mistake was the stall turn centre manouever where he missed the snap by 45 degrees. Every thing else went realy well and Steve and the team were very happy when the flight ended with Chris calling for steve had the same 100m walk to pick the aircart up after another text book landing.

Tomorrow we are up at 10 am and 11am and Darty, by the grace of god, doesnt have to fly until about 7pm. Hopefully he will be all fixed in time! The other teams were very gracious and gave him some carbon fibre and balsa to fix his problem.

Stay tuned, as their is wireless internet at the field, and we intend to blog just as the flights have been done. so about 5pm perth time, we will be able to post up chris's flight then Steve shortly after.

Photos and video will follow soon.

The Opening Ceremony Aerobatics

2009-08-23T10:42:00.006+01:00

The Extra 300 did some low level aero's that included stall turns and rolls. These were done right over our heads and very low.

The opening Ceremony Parachute

2009-08-23T10:42:00.003+01:00

The display ceremony contained a full size air show. Having paragliders with back packs circling around the field and over head. Then they had their parachutists' come down from 7000 feet with four official flags. We also had an extra 300 doing aerobatics right above our heads very low. OMG LOW! See video! Along with two Cessna's flying formation over our heads and the runway. A clipped wing cub doing like wise. Then lastly to close the opening ceremony a model F16 was screaming above our heads. Which mind you, would have raised some serious safety concerns in Australia.

Wash your Bloody Car Swainey!

2009-08-23T10:39:00.004+01:00

New Upcoming F3A Pilot in Training

2009-08-23T10:30:00.002+01:00

See our new Aussie pilot in the photos, we start them off young……. spot the team mascot?

The Coverted Cup

2009-08-23T10:28:00.003+01:00

The coverted cups! The team trophy and the individual trophy.

Opening Ceremony

2009-08-23T09:25:00.006+01:00

The boys managed to get in a couple of practice flights in yesterday and all went well. Chris and Steve managed to get in two flights, and paul got one early in the morning. Paul admitted to being nervous flying in front of everyone, as we all have at times. He experienced what Chris experienced when he first got here. Steve however seemed to be very calm and concentrated well. Everyones equipment is functioning perfectly.

Last night we had the opening ceremony with all the countries competing pilots, plus support crews. One of the good thing was they only played the national anthem for only 30 seconds each. So Meredith was very pleased, considering previously they played each of the anthems in their entirety, so you could imagine how long that would drag out for. All went smoothly with the flag and of course our team mascot attended as well.

We then all congregated with all the other countries in the Town Hall of Pombal for a meal and drinks.

Competition Site Problems.

2009-08-22T13:00:00.002+01:00

Pombal site has turned out to be a little bit of an issue.

All the boys flew there yesterday, and had issue with the wind. From what I gather from steve the runway is bitumen and it is higher in the middle that on the edges, therefore the wind hits the side and curls up in the middle. When the boys went to land, the plane gets caught in the draft and slams the models into the runway.

Apparently Chris is the only legend, managing to land safely! Other modellers wanted Chris to land theirs as he did such a good job!

Steve came in and just caught it before she slammed in, but still gave it a very flat hard landing, all is ok with the model.

Darty came in great, but had to slide it down the runway, tearing his wheels up completely. Off to the Model shop in Pombal to get new ones......!

The other issue is the dust and dirt (as you can see from a previous post with the video) whenever a car comes through, the dust blows stright onto the pilots.... so that will be interesting as time goes on. The models were covered with dust and the trannies, sunnies and especially their noses, as we had lots of dust boggies that night..... ummmm...... ok then!

This morning when darty called to let us know that he had blown up his battery for the starter motor.... no dramas, I am sure other will help out.

Steve and Chris attended the Team Managers meeting last night, and basically took the scenic route back, tearing up the VW round the bends..... Corners Like its on rails apparently!

Team Managers meeting was the usual bull, and the flight orders were announced. The boys first flights are tomorrow afternoon - (after siesta - LOL) with Paul dart first of the afternoon on flight line b, and chris and steve around the middle of the pack on flight line A, so that will enable them all to help each other.

There is approximately 90% running 2.4 ghz radios here - no surprise.

The electric models are in the majority with about 80% electric predicted for the comp.

Steve is exceptionally happy as his OS engine is running better than the Japanese Team..... Go figure!

Thats about it for today, tonight we are going to the opening ceremony in Pombal, so hopefully, please keep your fingers crossed that they dont play each anthem in full for all the teams..... Please Please dont repeat the US situation.......

Well Heidi and I have ventured out for a walk in the local village, and stopped for a bit to look at the half naked men playing soccer - well worth the walk - eyes are a bit sore now, so we are going to don the togs and take in some rays from the pool.... are you jealous.......>! Weather is lovely, it has cooled off, giving us a max of about 30 now, but he wind is a bit of an issue for the boys - steve is happy as it is what he is used to. The wind tends to switch and change frequently here! That will seperate the men from the boys.

Seeya guys, must swim.... LOL. maybe Pancakes or egg on toast for lunch i think.....

bye
M

I miss my Car!..... boo hoo

2009-08-22T12:52:00.002+01:00

Mummy Loves you Little Nitro!

Bill & Ben the Bucket Hat Men.....

2009-08-22T12:42:00.004+01:00

Changes in the site.

2009-08-22T11:29:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the changes guys, been playing and messed things up a little. Think we are on track now

Dining in Portugal!

2009-08-22T10:00:00.000+01:00

The food is fantastic in Portugal, expecially if you are staying at the Qunita D'Olivera, where we have onboard a chef of traditional Portugeuse and Belguim cuisine. For instance, we have a three course meal every night, and as yet are to have the same meal again. We have had salmon, steak and chicken that is to die for, all the soups we have had are just unbelievable! Dont get us started on the alcohol that we have consumed! Ask swainey about the "Douvel" Beer. (Devils Beer), poor swainey couldnt walk after one.... LOL

So the Darty's are staying at their hotel in Leiria, and guess what they had for tea last night......?????? Macca's! umm..... NOT!

LOL, they will be dining with us from Sunday, so they will be able to get veggies soon.

Cheers Peoples'

The Japanese Team

2009-08-22T09:53:00.000+01:00

This is the "Proline" flown by Yoichiro Akiba. (Japan)

The "Azure" flown by Tetsuo Onda.(Japan)

The "Wingway" flown by Koji Suzuki (Japan)

This is Christophe Paysant-Leroux's "Axiome" (France)

Our Accommodation

2009-08-21T19:24:00.000+01:00

Quinta d'Oliveira in Espite Ourem

Japanese Fuel

2009-08-21T19:22:00.003+01:00

Out of interest - well at least to Steve - the Japanese Team run 20 - 10% oil fuel... so as to reduce smoke and make it look like the electric models.

The Darty Disaster!

2009-08-21T17:14:00.004+01:00

Ok, so Darty is here! We found him, well he found us!

He arrived with a 23kg weight loss - his aeroplane, apparently it was not in Loaded on his flight, and was lost. So off to lost and found, to be told it will be shipped to his hotel or nearby.
He took his engine out of the plane and put it in his hand luggage, so after a little hassel at the security post being accused of packing a nail gun..... (What Tha?), he arrived and found out about the plane. They said that it will come to them the next day.... umm.... Then off to the Car Hire to find the car he got was way to small and would not fit his box..... Upgrade time.....! He finally made his way to the hotel they are staying at around midnight after many hours at the airport.

At the end of yesterday, he had his plane and was ready for flight this morning. Thanks to the help of a local Portuguese Man we call "Mr Rabbit". Go the Rabbit.

Today the boys are off the the field for a bit of a fly, then to registration of the models.

Stay tuned.

Wednesday 19th Practice at Leiria

2009-08-19T23:14:00.006+01:00

Steve's Zeque waiting for a flight

The practice Field using a thick netting as a runway - quite good surface.

Some shade with the Pit area at the Practice site. Temp today was a warm 27 degrees.

Todays Report:

We all went to a flying field in Leiria today. Chris and Steve had four flights each in varying conditions. Flying on different lines and in different directions.

Fortunately the practise site was not too crowded, with about 1 hours wait between flights. The good news is that everything is functioning very well for both Steve and Chris.

Still yet to meet up with Paul Dart. he was due into Portugal today! If anyone talks to him in the next 24 hours, can you let him know that we are chasing him so that we can register our team.

Stay tuned, tomorrow is another day.

Cheers
Meredith for the Team

Our mistake, sorry this is our car! wrong image uploaded. LOL

2009-08-19T23:12:00.002+01:00

The Hire Cars!

2009-08-19T07:17:00.008+01:00

This is Swainey's Car....

And this is our upgraded car from the
focus..... LMAO

The Competition Site

2009-08-18T21:58:00.004+01:00

The competition field. runway has just been laid, 1.2km long bitumen. As you can see from the video it is still getting work done. The club house has just been built also, as it burnt down. The portugese guys are wonderful and very helpful.

Cheers.
M

Swainey Spedo Tsunami

2009-08-18T20:49:00.004+01:00

Lets play a game.... spot the white Aussie.....

2009-08-18T19:40:00.003+01:00

Our Lovely Hire Car..... Its gone now!

FORD - Found On Rubbish Dump
FORD - Fix Or Repair Daily

Fuel Issues

2009-08-18T16:19:00.002+01:00

Got to the World Championships Flying Site, where we were to collect our fuel.... guess what, none for Steve, had paul and chris tho! They did have some spare fuel but all 30% heli fuel.! So a quick trip down to the model shop in Pombal, and the Garmin Nuvi as always got us there. We picked up 10% Tornado fuel, and with the 30% we have, we mixed and now ready to go. Looks a lovely colour I will add, think poo and puree and there is the colour. Once new car isd collected, we should be out to field for flights tomorrow.

Also while we were at the model shop, I bought this cool Heli for Ian, we are charging at the mo, so stay tuned for video on that. Hang five and watch it.......

The roads in portugal.....!

2009-08-18T16:16:00.003+01:00

A note for the Shield Family - or any other FORD owners!

2009-08-18T16:03:00.002+01:00

Ok, so our can is a Ford Focus station Wagon, done 57,000 kms. Pulled out of hire place, about 30 mins into journey the alternator light shows up! Ummm. see this is why we dont have a Found On Rubbish Dump. On startup the next day the Alternator light was off, but soon showed up again. after driving to the field and getting out fuel - yep another story there - the electrics started to go, especially when we couldnt start up, in a one lane dirt road, so i had to push it backwards so steve could do a clutch start in reverse gear! The electronic power stearing failed because of the battery issue - who would run an electronic power steering system anyway? Holdens dont, they use power steering directly off the engine! So we have made calls, and we are collecting another bloody ford, because thats all they have out this way, and will be very interesting around these small tight, hilly, weaving roads. We collect it tonight, so stay tuned.......

We are Here! Finally!

2009-08-18T09:49:00.001+01:00

Good morning people! The corams have arrived in Portugal. We didnt have any issues to report all is well. Just about to negotiate the roads here, that go up hill down dale. We will video for you today, so that you can share our pain. talk later.

Corams Arrived Singapore

2009-08-16T11:54:00.002+01:00

Happy to report that the model was checked in at Perth all the way to Portugal, so no stress! Currently sitting in the Qantas Lounge in Singapore, and its top notch.

By crickey its hot here, HOT, REAL HOT, REAL DAMN HOT! You feel like you are swimming with whales and you are waiting for the splash, and it dosnt come, but you are still spotted with water! ahhhh.

The flight over here was without patrons on 107 seats, so we sprawlled out like lizards basking in the sun. Made it here nearly an hour earlier, which is great if you dont have 6 hours to wait for the next plane - well now 7! Ha ha..... STeve and Ian are stoked, they are like kids inthe candy shop, with all the free food and Lemondae!

Wont be reporting from London, as we only have a one hour wait prior to Portugal flight, so this will be it for us until we have unpacked in Portugal. Swainey emailed us just before we left our humble abode, to report that the accommodation we have in Portugal is the kings nuts! After the next two flights, a dog kenel would be good enough to fall over and sleep for three days in! LOL.

To the girls are work, love you long time, hahahaha... enjoy your day! Tell Mickey I met his double this evening..... How funny was walking into the qantas lounge and heard this laugh, i said to myself, "self, thats mickey" was identical to him in vocal tone.... was so funny!

Til next time peoples.

M

Chris Swain - Email while away.

2009-08-15T00:36:00.004+01:00

Swainey will be away for three centuries, and you can get him on his gmail address or through this blog as we are all staying together. swain.chris08@gmail.com Cheers people, packing now, so post more on our stopover in singapore.

Schedule of Daily Events

2009-08-12T14:57:00.003+01:00

SCHEDULE
19th August 2009
Wednesday Early Arrivals. Unofficial practice at practice sites
20th August 2009
Thursday Arrival of Teams, FAI Jury and Judges. Registration.
Unofficial Practice at Practice sites
21st August 2009
FridayArrival of teams and registration
Team Managers Meeting
Model Processing and Official Practice
22nd August 2009
SaturdayModel Processing and Official Practice
Briefing and training flights for judges
Opening Ceremony and reception at Town Hall
23rd August 2009
Sunday Round 1 - Preliminaries - Flight line A and B – 09.00/13.30 – 15.00/19.30
24th August 2009
Monday Round 2 - Preliminaries - Flight line A and B – 09.00/13.30 – 15.00/19.30
25th August 2009
Tuesday Round 3 - Preliminaries - Flight line A and B – 09.00/13.30 – 15.00/19.30
26th August 2009
Wednesday Round 4 - Preliminaries - Flight line A and B – 09.00/13.30 – 15.00/19.30
27th August 2009
ThursdayReserve day for Preliminaries Flights
Official practice for semi-finalists
Judges briefing
Sightseeing tour
Dinner Party
28th August 2009
Friday Semi-finals - Rounds 5 and 6 - Flight line A and B
Meeting for judges and TM of Final pilots
29th August 2009
Saturday First round of finals according to schedule F09
Second round of finals according to unknown schedule 1
Third round of finals according to schedule F09
Fourth round of finals according to unknown schedule
Closing Ceremony in front MCPO headquarters
Banquet at Sporting Complex of Pombal

Steve Coram Profile

2009-08-12T13:38:00.006+01:00

Off to Portugal, this will be Steve's 11th World Championships representing Australia. We are like old hats a dragging this stuff around!

Steve competed at his first world championships in 1987 (dont do the math - he is old!)

Amoung Steve accomplishments as a F3A Flyer is his best and most proud win at CAOCC. For those of you who dont know, its a World Championship for the southern Hemasphere. So well done for that one babe!

He is also Australian Champion - no i dont know how many times???

Anyway, here is his mug, and his other "Powered" son. Its the Zeque, its powered by the OS-200 Fuel Injected Engine, runs all Futaba Digital Servos.

Anything I have missed out Steve? Look the guy is a legend in my lunchtime! Love ya honey!

Mum & Ian Can't Contain themselves!

2009-08-12T13:35:00.000+01:00

Sing with me.... you know you want to! "I'm going to paris... I'M going to Paris! LOL"

F3A World Championships - Portugal

2009-08-10T12:39:00.002+01:00

Well the first of us leaves on Thursday, Go Swainie. Steve and I leave Sunday! Whoo Hoo. Stay tuned, as when i am holiday I will finally have the time to start posting some things up.
Cheers
Meredith

Kalgoorlie 2009 IMAC

2009-06-04T04:13:00.005+01:00

What a fantastic Weekend! As usual the Kalgoorlie Modellers were very accommodating and welcoming! Thanks to Anne we enjoyed way too much food.

Flying standard was as usual, very high, cold mornings, minimal winds, makes good flying!

Congrats for Basic Flyers - John MacLeod 1st, followed VERY closely by Andrew Conner and Chris Walker, all from our beloved Whitfords Club. Top effort Fellas! Well done. The master is Proud. From Left, Chris Walker, Andrew Conner, Steve Coram and John MacLeod.

Stay tuned.