Harry DeBoer wrote:
Now that most of the smoke has cleared, where can we find more out about
F3B;
3. how do you get started?
Just like anything else in the hobby. It helps to have some others
around to assist you. And it helps even more to have a group that flies
together. This lets you practice some of the man on man aspects, plus a
little friendly competition in practice on who is launching highest,
going fastest, etc never hurt anyone in improving thier model setup.
And of course, RCSE doesn't hurt. Obviously there were quite a few
responses. Mostly from guys who really love to fly F3b. There really is
no way to explain what it is like to fly distance and speed to someone
who has only flown TD. You can be descriptive and say what takes place,
but until you've flown some good distance groups and done it is some
good air, you just don't know...
4. what airplanes qualify?
Almost anything qualifies. Lots of TD models are out there with MH-32's,
RG15's, etc. They are good enough to get the feel of the tasks and to
learn a lot about flying. Like models will go up without circling....
You can even fly a Supra in F3b. And if you go to ancient history...
you can use a woody.
5. about how much dose it cost to compete?
Like anything, as much as you want. The biggest cost is the practice
time you need to improve your flying skills. You can buy a good model,
but it doesn't replace the practice required to learn to fly it well.
6. on average how many people do you need to run a contest?
Most F3b contests get run be the people flying them. If you read the
rules, it looks like a billion officials. But just like our AMA TD
contests, you don't need most of them. The only big overhead help item
is getting guys out to base B for the distance flights. Your own helpers
at base A can usually keep track of the flight times and count laps.
There are a few F3b buzzer systems in various places around the US. Some
of them even take care of all the timekeeping and lap counting. The only
thing "official" needed is someone at base A and base B to push the
appropriate buttons.
And yes, you can even fly the F3b tasks in a contest all by yourself. I
wouldn't recommend it, but it has been done.
What you didn't ask is what can you learn from flying F3b. Of course,
we all abuse Jeff Steifel, about his flying. But his overall flying
has gotten better since he has been flying F3b.
If you've never flown on monofilament and a F3b winch, you probably have
a lot to learn about setting up your model for launch. I have several
F3b winches. Great to launch my Bubble Dancer as well as my F3b models.
Got rid of my FLS decades ago.
I hope you get a chance to meet up with Dave or someone else in your
area to give flying off some F3b winches a try. And you still have time
to change your NATS entry from XC to F3b!
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