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New electric f3b class


thermaldoctor

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Phil.Taylor
10 hours ago, grj said:

Neil

In it's day F3B was hugely popular (I didn't fly it myself but I monitored it's progress). But unfortunately it died off, despite the particular efforts of Clive Needham and others who pioneered electric launch. Indeed there's a whole BARCS thread back in 2015 but I'm not smart enough to be able to copy the link but just google Electric F3B and it'll come up.

G

here you go - link to previous F3B electric thread - started in ... 2012 !

 

 

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thermaldoctor
1 hour ago, Phil.Taylor said:

here you go - link to previous F3B electric thread - started in ... 2012 !

 

 

Thanks Phil I am aware of that thanks but good to be reminded cheers. But very old school now with hopes of keeping f3b alive as it was. Its a shame the whole towline thing both f3j and f3b just dropped off a cliff.

The whole lot depends on lack of politics and easy agreement on some rules that suit all. 

 

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  • 1 year later...

We had electric models in F3B mixed in. The advantage they gained was benign able to launch at the height of the average launch if the day. 
while they had the advantage of getting a consistent launch, they then had the added drag of the prop on the front and the fact that for duration they weighted slightly more then a B model without ballast. 
they also weren’t top level latest models. 
they were all older generation models converted to electric for F3B-E.  
They never challenged for the lead and hardly ever won a round. 
fair play to Dave and Clive for giving it a massive go and fielding models that worked for all events. 
i’m sure that if we all had converted to electric models and fielded electric models, the same people would still be the top of the league. 
 

I would fly F3B again in a heart beat if there were enough people to have a go and a field large enough to hike the course and the winch line !
 

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  • 6 months later...
Nic Wright

After a 25 year break from competition I got back into designing, building and flying 3 metre toys during winter 21/22. I realised that today’s smaller servos and receivers have opened up possibilities for thinner wings and higher aspect ratios. As I looked again I could see there was potential to remove all R/C gear from the fuselage so I set off in this direction to produce something suitable for use in F3F. I have limited opportunity to fly on a slope edge locally and mostly fly with electric assist so the new model had a detachable electric nose pod. During the early electric flights I started to get an itch to compete in multi-task again. I decided to give it a scratch.

I had heard about 'electric F3B' and the new F3G class that was gaining popularity in Germany, Belgium, Czech and France and decided it was time to visit a competition to gain a complete picture. Steve Macken was also interested and together we prepared models to attend the F3G Eurotour event in Colmar in the Alsace region of the south of France. I made some minor changes to the new F3F model and had the Altis height and power measuring gismos working by the end of February. I was soon able to practice launching and learn how the Altis hardware and software worked. Steve had a model to assemble which he completed in time for 2 days of 'training' at the end of April. To our slight surprise we were soon dusting off 25 years worth of cobwebs and putting down some decent speed times. With only one suitable model each there wasn’t much practicing after this - we both wanted to compete and learn and get to the end of the competition.

We returned from Colmar on Monday this week so a few words about our experience. Compared to F3B this new class is much easier for Organisers due to the absence of the winches and the large flying sites ( 2x200m for winches lines ). It’s also easier for teams as there’s no need for a winch operator or towline retriever. The event ran smoothly and easily for Organisers and Competitors.

The drive train power limit of 350w.minute means the difference in launch heights between models is due to tiny differences in power train efficiency and much bigger differences in pilot control of the model during the launch and, of course, the chosen launch mass of the model. The power delivery and flight path are both important and need to be varied between tasks and as the conditions change to place the model in the right location ( and as high as possible in Task B and Task C ). Some practice and skill is needed here.

For the most part it felt like flying F3B but with higher launches in Distance and Speed producing more laps and faster times. It would seem that all pilots enjoy this aspect of F3G. I am told the Duration task is similar to the F5J format but in Colmar the conditions were windless and heavily overcast so 200-250m launches were typical - pilots chose (estimate! no telemetry allowed) a height they were comfortable with but no more then 250m to avoid over-height penalties.

Steve used an electrified Saker and I used my one-off nofuz1 F3F model with electric nose pod. Both models have about 2800g mass so way above the 2200g typical. I flew with ballast in distance and speed and hung out for over 9 minutes in very neutral conditions in Duration. Both models performed well and did not look out of place among the more typical F3G models which were mostly Quantum, Shinto, Mamba, Device and Pike Precision 2.

We observed and learned technique from the regulars. The top scoring pilots are already well practiced and flew with a high level of consistency and skill. I particularly enjoyed meeting up with my former F3B rival and friend, Denis Duchesne, who was a worthy winner of the Colmar event.

Ideally a three-man team is needed - pilot, launcher and chat man/time checker. The launcher can double-up as signal caller in the Distance task. We received help from the Ampere team (German/Swiss) or the Belgain team in every flight (8 each, 16 in total). Rain on the Sunday meant this was a one-day competition.

We will be preparing new models and will continue training with the aim of flying more Eurotour F3G events in 2025.

If anyone is interested in trying this class I recommend studying the f3g.info website. There are full details of popular power trains, propellers, techniques and links to the rules etc. It's very comprehensive. I'm happy to provide more detail here if anyone is interested.

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Steve Macken

Colmar certainly proved a friendly and relaxed format, with tasks covered at a decent rate for the 21 pilots entered.  It lived up to its promise, and we learned a lot.  As for performance, my wooden spoon placing told me I need more than a couple of days practice with a new model (after 25 years absence from competition!), whilst Nic’s mid-field placing (including a blistering 15.6s speed task in mediocre air) tells us all we can compete with the more seasoned pilots in the class with a decent, unified launch system.  And what’s not to like about a model flying contest in the heart of the Alsace wine region…?! 

Flying F3G reminded me of what I enjoyed most about F3B; flying multi-task with the same model, improving as the comp progresses, ‘racing’ others in distance…but with less delays and more airtime.  It would be great to see more UK pilots give this a go (a sentiment echoed by our fellow contestants), so just message me or Nic if you’re inspired and check out f3g.info .

 

IMG_0568.jpeg

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I have an e-fuze for my radical pro and an e-fuze for my sonix f3b. 
 

I staring to fit out the e-fuze to give me a winch type launch and then be able to have some fun. 
 

would love to give it a go, but free time is at a premium these days !
 

 

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Steve Macken

You’d get at least 3 x ‘winch launches’ from a fully charged 4S 1300mAh lipo, or some airtime on the slope when others are grounded by light lift or crosswind on the slope.  The Sonix looks ideal for F3G when equipped with a big-propped geared motor, typically pulling around 700W.

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That’s exactly what I have. 750watts and a 17x8 recommended by Vackav. 
still fitting the e-fuse out but have flown the glider variant on the slope in crossed condition. Nice slippery model with great handling. 

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Steve Macken

Launch energy is limited to 350Wm in F3G, so approx. 30 seconds at 100% throttle.  This can take even a ballasted 3m model well beyond the height of a decent winch launch whilst remaining within LoS.  There’s around 1,100Wm of energy plus a small safety margin within a fully charged 4S 1300mAh lipo.

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That will do me. I haven’t flown from a winch for a while due to

the faff involved with setting it all up. This will save me the faff and give me decent performance. Hey once sorted I may even get a pass to do some flying. 

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robtc3uk

I have a couple of old old f3b fuz I would I would one day love to build an Electra b3 replica. Plenty of room in the fuz for big motor and battery !! IMG_4846.jpeg.5cc0367ba9a1d769d28c435b59e4b5cf.jpeg

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