2022-Lommersweiler

F3G Lommersweiler / St. Vith 30 April - 1 May 2022

As the saying goes - "First we had no luck and then bad luck". The F3G competition in Lommersweiler was actually supposed to take place in October 2021. We pilots, fueled by the great premiere in Colmar, were already on fire to meet again in Lommersweiler. But then came a storm with wind speeds of over 100 km/h and the competition had to be postponed by 2 weeks. Shortly before the alternative date, Covid paralyzed half of the helpers. That was the end of it for 2021.

Fortunately, the incredibly committed and hospitable club in Lommersweiler around the organizers Sebastian Peters and Marc Mölter were not deterred and have invited back to Lommersweiler for the end of April 2022.

A big thank you to the club and the many helpers.

Personally, I had my doubts about the 600km journey, but then the journey went by faster and more comfortably than expected. The club and the grounds are also just over the Belgian-German border and only 2 km. away from the highway.

The landscape is impressively beautiful, the course on the back of a ridge offers a beautiful view. An area of ​​150x50 meters is not exactly ample, but it fitted perfectly for F3G and offered enough space for the pilots, take-offs and flights.

A total of 11 pilots then met in Lommersweiler. Unfortunately, there was a collision with other competitions, which meant that some F3G pilots could not come. But there were also new faces. 3 well-known F3B pilots - Petr Fusek, Marek Pavel and Jiri Tuma, from CZ made for a very strong performance.

The whole atmosphere was incredibly friendly and relaxed. On the one hand on the part of the club, who made an incredible effort - e.g. with champagne breakfast - but also between the pilots. We all helped and supported each other and exchanged experiences and tips openly.

It is not necessary to come with a team. Individual pilots are quickly integrated into existing teams and actively supported.

Unfortunately, thedistance task system failed after the 2nd pilot group and could not be repaired. F3G pilots are pragmatic and we simply decided to fly 4x duration and 4x speed. Without further ado, we then also flew a Speed Cup on Sunday, so that we all had many great flights and experiences.

What did I take away from the disciplines?

As in Colmar 2021, time flight is super exciting and challenging due to the fact that the altitude at the start is subtracted from the flight time. (Note - up to 250 meters, 0.5 points/m are deducted, over 250 meters 3 points/m) I lost valuable points here and still have a few training units ahead of me.

The terrain together with the changing weather offered completely new, exciting conditions for each individual duration group (3-4 pilots).

Many pilots climbed to 200-240 meters to get over the 10 minutes. 10 minutes is long and so the conditions can change a lot. During one of my duration flights I thought after 5 minutes and maybe 200 meters altitude that the rest of the time is just a formality. Just as I relaxed a bit, the good air was through and there was a heavy sink. Luckily, with a heart rate of 140, I found even better air and managed to complete the time on the last lap.

In another time flight, a climb of 190 meters was not enough and I had to land after 8 ½ minutes.

Preparing for duration - what is the correct starting altitude?

In each group there was usually one pilot who took the risk and tried to climb only 100 meters and stay in the air for the 10 minutes. Some had to land early, but there were also pilots which took important points away from their competitiors.

Due to the large area, the models were spread out over a large area and the helper had to keep an eye on everyone and to assess properly whether it was worth flying somewhere else for better air. Thanks Alex for the great support otherwise my duration flights would have been even more catastrophic.

Speed - On Saturday we flew all 4 speed tasks of the competition. I had the impression that all the pilots made a clear step forward compared to Colmar 2021.

There were numerous 14s on the clock and in rounds 3 and 4 there were also extremely fast mid 13s.

The terrain was quite difficult to fly. The orientation and alignment was not easy to find due to missing reference points.

If I was still happy with twice 1000s in round 1 and 2 with low 14 seconds, I then had to learn in round 4 with a 16.9 that I still had to work on my consistency.

Speed is fun in F3G, with a model weight between 3-3.5 kg and heights of 330-360 meters. But that is by no means a guarantee for fast times. Entry, direction, turning, as I had to learn with my 16.9, must first be “put together” and flown precisely so that a really fast time is shown on the display at the end.

On Sunday we spontaneously launched an F3G Speed ​​Cup. Speed ​​is quite difficult to train alone so it was a great opportunity for all pilots to burn some more speed flights into the air.

In order to make it into the semi-finals - the best 6 pilots - a time of 15 seconds was necessary. For the final - Best 3 - it had to be a time of 14 second.

Denis Duchesne - F3B veteran - got along better with every flight and then clearly won the Speed ​​Cup in the last flight with a 13.7. It is remarkable that he flew the time with a Jedi lift (Baudis model). So you don't need the latest model to be at the forefront.

Denis Duchesne after his 13.7 in the Speed Cup

Further Impressions

Planes

Again a large number of different models were in action - Avatar, Device, Pike Precision, Shinto, Jedi Lift, Freestyler, Crossfire, etc. I saw an FS6 with Elektro in competition for the first time and the speed was impressive.

In my opinion, there is not THE F3G model. In the end, it is the pilot, how familiar he is with the particular model and how clean he flies that makes the difference and good performance.

Power Trains

There were also a large number of different configurations for the drives, all of which brought the models to a comparable level. Jan Timmermanns probably had the weakest drive, so his 2nd place with a Pike Precision is even more impressive.

Hans-Peter Haase went in an interesting direction and invested a lot of passion and time to put together a good F3G drive with relatively inexpensive components. Its heights were absolutely on the level of the other pilots/drives - approx. 350 meters with a model weight of 3kg. I think this could support many interested pilots to get into F3G with little financial effort. He flies

• Polytec 480-27 with Reisenauer 1:5 gear box

• VM 16x8,5 prop

• ESC YEP 60A

• Batteries: Turnigy Graphene 1000mAh, 75C (1x3S, 1x2S)

The entire drive train costs less than € 250,- and with one set of batteries 2 full climbs of 30 seconds are possible.

Personally, I am still super satisfied with my Leomotion 3031-2900V2/5S motor. It pushes my e-device with an amazing consistency to good starting heights of 350-370 meters (at 3kg).

Technic

There were no problems whatsoever with the technology during all flights and take-offs. The wiring, battery installation, logger was optimized over the winter and the pilots have also gained a lot of routine in handling.

Team Haase and I installed a magnetic reset button to reset the logger after a restart. This saves a lot of time and reduces the hustle and stress because the canopy does not have to be opened and the battery disconnected and reconnected. All we have to do is run a magnet over the fuselage and we can take off again immediately.

This can save valuable seconds and reduce errors in duration and distance flights.

The award ceremony was in the late afternoon so that everyone could still drive home in peace and daylight. Like the rest of the competition, this one was very relaxed, friendly and there was a large bottle of Belgian beer for each pilot.

We look forward to seeing you again in Lommersweiler in 2023. The people, pilots and landscape are absolutely worth the trip. Until then, the distance signal system will also work - promised.

The next F3G competitions are

22 May 2022 - F3G & F3B Rookie Meeting in Munich

2-3 July 2022 - Summer Soaring Criterium - Anthisnes (B) - Registration open

FAI International and also part of the F3G Contest Eurotour 2022

24-25 September 2022 - 46th Oktoberfest Pokal - München (D) - Registration open

FAI International, International German Championship F3G and also part of the F3G Contest Eurotour 2022

1-2 October 2022 - Colmar Elsass e-Trophy - Registration open

FAI International and also part and final of the F3G Contest Eurotour 2022