Contest 5 of the

2002 JR / Airsail F3B Series,

hosted by HBRF at Hawkes Bay,

on October 12-13, 2002.

CD: Chris Kaiser

Summary, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

"Interesting" doesn't really do justice to the conditions we experienced this weekend! The first round started flat calm, but by the time we had got into speed the wind was approaching the FAI limit. This task saw the unfortunate demise of Dave Larsen's new Caracho 3.1 in it's first contest outing, when the chute hooked the tail on launch and pulled it clean off. Looks like it should fly again though, which is good news. After this incident, flying conservatively to ensure survival in the extreme conditions became the name of the game. Following a lunch break the wind started to drop, but also started to swing around. Duration and distance were flown, in the hope that conditions would stabilise later on for speed. This period proved extremely challenging with the wind sometimes swinging beyond 90 degrees to the winch lines, and resulted in low duration times and few distance legs. Rain then put a stop to the days flying as a southerly front came through.

Sunday dawned wet and wasn't looking good, but it quickly cleared up and turned into a beautiful morning so we were able to fly Round 2 speed. Conditions were still extremely variable with light, shifty winds, but at least it was warm and sunny. Round 3 duration saw the best lift of the weekend with some monster thermals developing, however conditions deteriated again and the final distance slots and speed round had to be fitted in between rain showers.

Thanks once again to the Hawkes Bay guys, who not only provided a superb flying field but also put on a great BBQ lunch both days. 

Fastest speed time was 18.43 by Chris Kaiser, best distance was 20 legs by Peter Williams.