Contest
6 of the
1999 JR
/ Airsail F3B Series,
hosted
by Central Districts Silent Flight
at
Palmerston North, on December 4-5, 1999.
CD:
David James
Summary, Round 1,
Round 2, Round 3,
Round 4, Round 5,
Round 6
What an awesome weekend! One of the joys of
travelling away from Auckland for these contests is that we get to fly on decent
fields for a change. Our Central Districts Silent Flight hosts provided yet
another great flying site, and they even managed to arrange the weather! A
constant westerly wind both days built to 10-15kts, temps were warm, skies were
cloudy but with plenty of sunny breaks. Plenty of lift and sink cycled through
at widely varying rates, providing some challanging conditions.
With the favourable weather, longer
daylight hours, and everyone helping out, we were able to complete 6 rounds
(first time this year!) allowing a discard. This made for a really tight,
down-to-the-wire finish, especially as the outcome of the Series was hanging on
this final contest. Dave Larsen was leading heading into the final round, but
with discards coming into play Chris Kaiser took out the win to clinch the JR /
Airsail F3B Series title for 1999.
This contest was especially notable for
the high standard of flying by many people, especially those in the B-League.
The majority of fliers set new personal best times in speed, and many also set
pb's in distance. Round 5 speed was particularly impressive, with 80% of the
field going under 23 seconds - not so long ago a 25 second run would have won
speed in this country. It's great to see so many fliers intent on improving
their skills.
Congratulations to Peter Nola for his
first sub-20 speed run (19.18 in round 2) and for winning the B-League - it's
the A-League for you next year Peter! Also to Chris Kaiser, who broke the New
Zealand speed record with a 16.20 second run in round 3.
