Results: Click here!
Many thanks to Max Uttien for his notes and the results from this two-day event in Holland! Max writes:
“Here are the results of the Dutch Nats – nothing on the scale of the Brit Nats, but very enjoyable. The event took place at the army base at de Peel, in the south east of the Netherlands close to Belgium and Germany, so a fair number of pilots from those countries participated”
Saturday
“The weather was quite windy with later on the day rain. I had one flight, but during the transition from fast to slow, I was pretty high on the windward side of the circle, this had the result that the model performed some nice horizontal turning circles with progressively smaller diameters and altitude, I tried to correct but had no line pull! What exactly happened after that I do not know because I was protecting my head with my arms expecting that the model would strike my head any moment. Then the engine stopped and the model was sitting on the grass on its wheels with no damage – How?? The lines were twisted three times = three loops – that was enough flying for me for the Saturday”
Sunday
“The conditions in the morning were much better, almost no wind. Later in the day there was a bit more wind but not too bad, so I made my last two contest flights without incidents. However, Jan Odeyn was again of an annoyingly extraordinary class and won (as usual!)”
I was really pleased to get Max’s news from the contest, and I also wanted to know if he was test-flying his new “Conley” Class 1/US Profile Bf109T yet – he’s put a lot of work into it and last time I heard from him he was almost ready. He replied:
“Yes; the Class 1 Bf109T had its third and fourth test flights. I’d angled the line slider back further, but I should not have done that, resulting in a 60 degree hang, very slow and almost full throttle. That was very impressive, but controllability was very bad because the airflow over the wing came more from the side than from front to back. That is why the model began to wobble, badly!! The elevator travel was also too large for these conditions which did not help either.
However, a few weeks before in Herentals, Belgium, the model was very docile! OK, so what had I changed? With a blush of shame I admit; 30% less travel on the elevator in relation to the handle, line slider 50 mm forward, and hook control from electronic to mechanical.
In two weeks we have the Niederkassel Rheidt event in Germany; there the Bf109 will have its 5th and 6th flight (Editor’s Note – night flying too?!) There I will also try to put in the first flights with the second prototype BCD Bf109 with a .40 Jett engine. If everything comes together, I will know what to do this winter to build a BMFA-legal Class1 with the Jett .40 engine.”
Well done Max! That’s real dedication to improving the model and your flying, and it should bear fruit very soon.
PS Max also won the 2.5cc “Beginners Speed” event at de Peel – great stuff!