All new F3F Merlin from Ian Mason

A while back I was asked if I would build and test fly the new Merlin designed by Ian Mason. The first models turned up at T9HobbySport a couple of weeks ago and I received mine a few days later.

The market has many different types of models available for F3F / Slope, generally they come with a high price tag. Unbelievably you can purchase this model for less than £600 and the quality is excellent, see the pictures below for yourself.

The model being more aimed at entry to intermediate level, I was very interested to see how this models performed. It is always very positive to encourage new pilots into slope soaring or F3F and this model will definitely be a massive step in the right direction.

The previous model form Ian the Willow proved to be exceptionally popular with all levels of pilots, many being owned by very experienced pilots.

I will be starting the build in the next couple of weeks and I will provide as much information around the build but more importantly how well it flies.

I will be building the model using MKS 6125’s on the flaps, MKS 6125 minis on the ailerons and 6125e’s the fuz.

MKS Brings Brushless Motors to there Slimline Servos

More developements from MKS, they have a new range of slimline Wing Brushless Motor servos coming soon for gliders:

Great Britain Slope Racing Association.

After a lot of work slope racing in the UK has finally received official status. Below is a brief update on what we are trying to do to raise the profile in the UK and establish ourselves for the future:

I am sure the history of slope racing which I have documented below could be challenged, so I apologise for any inaccuracies, unfortunately I am still relatively new to the sport.

Slope racing in different forms has been organised at club and national level since the early seventies and possibly before then in the UK. In the mid eighties F3F racing was born by the Danes. From this time forward, various individuals have given up an enormous amount of time in the UK to organise slope racing. This group of pilots have remained in the whole independent. In the UK we have hosted 3 Viking races and before that the North Sea cup. Viking races have been hosted by many countries around Europe, which is incredible when you look at the amount of work it takes to organise these events.

In 2010 / 2011 F3F was finally recognised by the FAI, which led to the first world championships in Germany. This was without doubt a fantastic event. Those who were lucky enough to attend would all agree Franz Demmler and his team put together a contest that will be remembered for many years to come.

For the UK to bring this together and understand the process required, to send the best team and manager was not easy to achieve. It also showed that we needed to be much better organised and operate closer with our governing body the BMFA.

After I returned from the world championships, I set about looking at how this could be best achieved, how all the pilots could be involved in this process and decision making. Along with Jon Edison we spoke to a number of pilots to understand how they felt about the current organisation. Whilst it fitted what we needed for local league etc, it was clear improvements to raise this ever growing sports profile in the UK were essential.

With the information gained, Jon and I put together a proposal to submit to the BMFA to give us specialist body status. We wrote with close assistance from the BMFA, a constitution and proposal which was submitted in August. On Saturday the 7th September we presented the proposal to the BMFA Council in Leicester and they voted unanimously in favour of the specialist body.

So what does this mean?

It means:

· Secure the future of Slope racing in the UK and to promote the continued growth of slope soaring.

· To Provide the Slope Racing community the opportunity through an organised structure to have a direct input into the running of their sport.

· To manage the expectations of the F3F flyers and provide a democratic organisation to best suits their needs

· To raise the profile of F3F and give it appropriate representation on the BMFA

· Provide a representation on the BMFA Silent Flight Technical Committee.

Jon Edison, John Phillips and Peter Gunning have all stepped forward to form the first committee, which will work towards getting the association up and running. Julian Perrott from BarkWeb, a keen F3F pilot from East Sussex Slope Soaring club, has kindly offered to design and host our website. This will be released over the next few weeks. More details will be available once the website is up and running, including the constitution, how to join the association and support Slope Racing going forward.

So what will we be known as “Great Britain Slope Racing Association” or GBSRA. This will also enable us to also have the full potential to introduce new classes where possible.

I hope everyone is in agreement and understand why this was a necessary requirement going forward.

Kind regards

Martin Newnham
BMFA League Coordinator.

Video footage from SlopeGlide 2013 by Tom Foreman

Excellent video by Tom Foreman of Greg Dakin

Based on watching Greg fly his Dorado form RCRCM I have now placed on order, this model looks an excellent aerobatic model. I hope you enjoy the video of Greg showing off his skills at Levisham.

SlopeGlide 2013

With work I havent had much time along with organising contests to update the blog. Below is a report form last weekends slopeglide contest held in Yorkshire:

Thank fully the weather was on our side for the weekend and we had plenty of wind and sun for this year’s SlopeGlide contest. Last year we were in Wales and with the change of location we moved to the Hole Of Horcum. Although the numbers were not as high as last year, we still had plenty of pilots for an excellent weekend of flying.

The first day put us on Levisham, this is a very challenging slope at the best of times but add its variability and you can be punished in every round. At the end of the day there were a few broken models after the 10 rounds, thankfully all were reparable. Setting the variability aside, other than 2 rounds the rest were won with sub forties, the fast time by Mark Redsell with 31.66 which was also the fastest time of the weekend.

The results at the end of day 1 were as follows:

1 Mark Redsell 8465.22 1000.00
2 Greg Dakin 8120.04 959.22
3 Rich Bago 7998.55 944.87
4 Martin Newnham 7983.47 943.09
5 Paul Garnet 7940.57 938.02
6 John Phillips 7914.65 934.96
7 Kev Newton 7791.94 920.46
8 Ronnie Lampe 7504.88 886.55
9 Mark Abbotts 7499.67 885.93
10 Tom Foreman 7421.81 876.74
11 Keith Wood 7365.64 870.10
12 Jon Edison 7202.37 850.81
13 Frank Hulton 7094.88 838.12
14 Tom Macpherson 6983.12 824.91
15 Mick Walsh 6746.22 796.93
16 John Tideswell 6522.69 770.52
17 Jonathan Wells 0.00 0.00


Sunday, the wind was looking to be more southerly and the hope of flying on the bowl was eagerly awaited by all, conditions on this slope tend to more consistent, how wrong we was. Every round had its good and bad flights, everyone suffered at some point throughout the day. It was still a great days flying enjoyed by everyone.

Overall it was an excellent weekend of flying and I think everyone enjoyed the flying, the relaxed atmosphere and the company.

To the final results, Mark Redsell took the honours and didn’t put a foot wrong for a well deserved the win. It was great to see John Phillips sharing the honours along with Greg Dakin in third. I hope the port and win went down well.

At the end of the 20 rounds the scores were not as far apart as the conditions would have suggested they would be.

1 Mark Redsell 16867.49 1000.00
2 John Phillips 16563.05 981.95
3 Greg Dakin 16449.83 975.23
4 Martin Newnham 16315.29 967.26
5 Rich Bago 16233.95 962.44
6 Paul Garnet 15909.66 943.21
7 Kev Newton 15508.96 919.45
8 Keith Wood 15471.99 917.26
9 Ronnie Lampe 15195.49 900.87
10 Tom Foreman 15168.34 899.26
11 Jon Edison 15167.26 899.20
12 Mark Abbotts 14929.47 885.10
13 Mick Walsh 14545.54 862.34
14 Tom Macpherson 14434.28 855.74
15 Frank Hulton 14361.48 851.42
16 John Tideswell 13025.04 772.19
17 Jonathan Wells 0.00 0.00

I would like to thank Jon Edison and Ronnie Lampe for sharing CD duties, the new timing equipment with its latest update uploaded was faultless on both days. Frank, Mark A, Mark R and Paul for getting the course out to the slope and ready for use. Kev and Tom who shared buzzer supreme duties. Finally North Yorkshire Moors Ridge Soaring Club for sharing the slopes again for us to race our models.

I look forward to catching up with you all again soon.

Thanks

Martin

Another Great Video From Mechlekinki/Gdansk Cup F3F Poland 2013