Round Zero

F3B League Round Zero kicked off on Sunday 21st October at BERG with 15 A League Pilots and 2 B League Pilots competing.

Of the 15 A League pilots 9 completed the 4 rounds flown. Both the B League pilots managed all 4 rounds.

The event got off to a prompt start at the advertised start time of 09h30. Well done people.

Distance was first, followed by Speed, then speed again followed by distance, etc. Back to back tasks. No Duration tasks only Speed and Distance.

The B League pilots flew in their own slot against each other. So each distance round had 4 slots. This did make things drag on a bit, hence only getting in 4 rounds. On the whole it was a very enjoyable day and a reasonably early finish.

Unfortunately, the attrition rate was high in the first round with Peter Joffe and Wolfgang breaking their models in the opening distance task. Paul and John had a midair with Paul's plane suffering the worst, knocking him out of the comp. John was able to repair the gash in the wing and was able to continue.

The next to break his model was Craig Baker when he dipped to low at the end of the speed run and smote Mother Earth. Knocking him out of the comp.

Michelle, unfortunately had to leave for work commitments, and was only able to complete the first round and the speed task in round 2. Derek was a non starter, because he was unable to get a model ready in time for the event.

It was a great day with the BERG field in superb condition. There was plenty of lift about and the light breeze helped with the launches.

Only the A League pilots get a handicap and only those that completed at least one full round. (Speed and Distance) The pilots average score follows the actual score with the handicap calculated.

This handicap will be used in the next event when calculating the pilots score.

A system will be devised to award handicaps to any pilots joining future events.

Any suggestions will be welcome.

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The full round by round scores are also available. Click here.

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Below is a quick summary.

A League

--Name ---Score ---Average --- Handicap
1. Craig Goodrum 7833.33 - 1958.33 - 1.0000
2. Dion Liebenberg 7337.38 - 1834.35 - 1.0676
3. Michelle Goodrum 1825.00 - 1825.00 - 1.0731
4. Craig Baker 1807.50 - 1807.50 - 1.0834
5. Tim Joffe 6582.90 - 1645.73 - 1.1900
6. Peter Eagle 6583.62 - 1645.91 - 1.1898
7. Piet Rheeders 6509.57 - 1627.39 - 1.2034
8. Alan Smith 6135.27 - 1533.82 - 1.2768
9. Evan Shaw 6097.87 - 1524.47 - 1.2846
10. John Monk 6015.31 - 1503.83 - 1.3022
11. Herman Weber 5771.00 - 1442.75 - 1.3574

12. Paul Carnall 727.27
13. Wolfgang Steffny 600.00
14. Peter Joffe 400.00
15. Derek Marusich 0.00

B League
1. Rudi King 6941.18
2. Len Thomas 6164.00

F3B League

Hi All interested F3B pilots



Herewith the long awaited rules for the competitions.



We will mostly fly distance and speed (tasks B & C) of the FAI F3B Discipline but this is up to the individual organisers discretion. Obviously all team selection events will be full F3B competitions.



To recap - task B - Distance



Working time seven (7) minutes. Pilots may only score laps during working time. Pilots have four (4) minutes from entering the course to fly as many legs of the 150M course as possible. Pilots may relaunch at any time during working time but the last attempt is the one that counts. The aircraft will be identified to the base B buzzers prior to launch and these same base B buzzers will indicate when the aircraft passes base B and it can be turned. The pilots team is responsible for base A and for counting laps and elapsed time in the course.



Task C (Speed)



Working time four (4) minutes to launch and gain height as necessary to enter the course. The pilot may relaunch at any time BEFORE entering the course. Once the pilot has entered the course they must fly four (4) 150M legs of the course as quickly as possible. Timers at base A will be provided by the organisers but the pilot is responsible for getting a caller to call the turns for them. The organisers/ timers will indicate when the aircraft has passed "OUT" of the course and can be turned to commence the run. They will also indicate when the plane enters the course (IN). The aircraft must complete the entire run on the opposite side of the course from where timers and others are situated and crossing the centre safety line will result in a zero score.



For "A" league pilots the FAI rule requiring the completion of an entire round (Tasks B & C) with a single aircraft will be enforced. For "B" league pilots this will not.



Round o - as will take place on Sunday is to establish a baseline for handicapping the "A" league pilots. The handicap will be worked out so as to provide all pilots with an equal chance of winning the event. The handicaps will be revised after every competition to take into account improvements in pilot performance. This will also allow pilots to join the league after round 0 but their 1st competition will then be as a "scratch" handicap and any benefit they derive will be from the following competition onwards. This is so as to not disadvantage pilots who fly round 0.



Promotion and relegation to and from the various leagues will be based on annual performance except where exceptional performance in consecutive events is observed and will be used to move those pilots between leagues. This will be up to the discretion of the organisers of the league



There will be prizes for both leagues - I have decided to sponsor 1/2 of a building group slot for the winner of the "B" league and Evan very kindly said he would do the other 1/2. For the "A" league pilots some sponsorship is still being sought but the thinking is that a worthwhile prize will be awarded as it is based on the years performance.



As always we welcome any comments and feedback on this as the purpose of the league to to foster pilot development.



PeterP

Practice for F3B League

A reminder to all that there will be an F3B League practice day at BERG on Sunday 14th October.

This is also a great opportunity for all aspirant B League pilots to come and get advice and set-up tips form the A league pilots. Remember that this is for anyone with an F3B glider that would like to try his hand at F3B. The emphasis will be on Speed and Distance tasks. We all get enough Thermal practices. Experienced F3B pilots will be able to help and guide you through how F3B speed and distance task should be flown.

Here is Trevor and Evan with their new Shongololo's, that were maidened last weekend.

There should be 5 new Shongololo's from the building group there, some for their maiden flights.

Peter will be posting rules etc for the league shortly, so watch this space.