FxRES Comp CANCELLED Buckminster - Sun 30th Mar '25

[Richard Newsham]

EDIT: Saturday 29th March 2025 by R Newsham.

The FxRES competition on SUNDAY 30th March is Cancelled due to excess wind speed.  The wind has not gone away and the people on the list who were entered for Sunday have decided not to fly. 

Competition confirmed on (Thurs 27th March 18:20 by R Newsham).

I have looked at a couple of weather website.  It doesn't look like it is going to rain on either day.  There is a wind and I am hopeful that it will remain under 8m/s.  To be honest the weather forecasts change every time I look at them.

 

The next contest in the 2025 FxRES National League will be two separate one-day events at the BMFA National Centre at Buckminster over the weekend Saturday 29th March 2025 and Sunday 30th March 2025.   I, Richard Newsham, will be CD on the day.  

The contest is open to anyone with a model meeting the BMFA FxRES rules (links below).  If you've not flown FxRES before, you will be very welcome as an entrant, a spectator or a helper.  Scores will be entered in the 2025 FxRES National League but entry is not a commitment to the league.  

This year I do need to know if you are attending for organizing purposes.  Please (1,) state which class or classes you wish to fly and (2,) the day(s) you will fly on the weekend.   Please follow this post for updates as the event approaches.

I will make a go/no-go call on the weather on Thursday 27th March around 6pm.  

If you have a question, please ask!  Details below.  

Date: Saturday 29th March 2025 and Sunday 30th March 2025

Location: BMFA Buckminister, Sewstern, GRANTHAM, NG33 5RW

Format of the day:
        08:00 Site open - On Saturday I may not be there until 9am.  Please feel free to find the bungees in a large cardboard box in the hanger and transport them out to the field.
        10:45 Pilots briefing
        11:00 to 15:00 Competition working time
        15:00 Fly offs followed by prize ceremony
 
Entry fee: £15 (£10 site fee plus £5 to the prize fund for each class entered - Buckminster season-ticket holders do not pay the site fee).   The CD will distribute score cards in exchange for entry fees.  

FxRES is a competition class for 2m-span thermal soaring models constructed mainly from wood. Contests are a variant of the provisional FAI classes F3L (bungee launch) and F5L (electric launch) to a simplified and relaxed format.  Bungee and electric launch gliders compete side by side but with separate score sheets.  A competitor can fly F3L or F5L or both at FxRES contests.  The full FxRES rules in the 2025 BMFA Silent Flight Rule Book (links below). 

The contest comprises a four-hour working time during which competitors fly up to ten timed flights.  The best six count for the league and the winners on the day will be decided by additional fly-offs. 

F5L height limiters must be set to 100m/30seconds.  F3L bungees will be provided.  

Please read the BMFA Buckminster Site Flying Rules

BMFA membership is mandatory for entry. BMFA General Competition Rules say "All models ... must be clearly marked with the owner’s BMFA Membership number on the upper surface of the wing in letters at least 19mm high."  Handwritten is fine - a felt-tipped pen will be available on the day.  This is particularly important when flying or being photographed at Buckminster. 

The competition rules can be found in the link immediately below in section 7.25.  

2025 BMFA Silent Flight Rules - From this link find the ‘’2025 Silent Flight rule book.pdf’ document.  See sections 7.2 (General) and 7.25 (FxRES).

There are some informative posts on the "F3-RES and F5-RES - UK" Facebook group regarding where to find information. Posts 14th Feb 2024, 1st March 2024 and 17th March 2024.
 
Important -
Please monitor this post for updates as the event approaches. This is the media outlet for information regarding this event.

1, Richard Newsham: Sat F3L - Sun F3L

2, Pete Newman: Sat F3L - Sun F3L

3, Lawrence Drennan: Sat F3L *Retired

4, Martyn Kinder: Sat F5L

5, Niel Pritchett: Sat F5L - possible Sun F5L.

6, Alex Maxfield: Sat F5L - Sun F5L

7, Steve Haley: Sat F5L - Sun F5L

8, Gordon Brown: Sat F5L

9,

10,

11,

12,

 

[Pete in Northiam]

Pete Newman, Sat F3L, Sun F3L 

Fingers already crossed for good weather

[cirrusRC]

Thanks for running Richard.  I'm working that weekend so can't attend. 

Fur anyone unsure whether to attend, the day comes highly recommended.  A very relaxed format, no landing bonus, simple rules.  Great opportunity to learn and ask questions.

[andyharrold]

Sorry Richard,

Mother's day weekend .

[Lawrence D]

OK for Saturday F3L.

I have another commitment on Sunday.

[martynk]

OK for Saturday - F5L 

Sunday is mother's day..

[CTR]

Hi Richard,

F5L.

Plan to be there Saturday, and this time could do Sunday too if there are others for F5L on the day.

Thanks for stepping up to be the CD.

Neil P

[Alex Maxfield]

Hi Richard. I plan to be there for the weekend. I believe Steve Haley will be joining also.

[Steve Haley]

Hi Richard - Weather depending, I intend to fly both days.

Cheers Steve

[Richard Newsham]

17 minutes ago, Steve Haley said:

Hi Richard - Weather depending, I intend to fly both days.

Cheers Steve

Hi Steve. Do you know if you will be flying F3L, F5L or both. Will your new Skyhawk be making an appearance in F3L? 

Richard. 

[StraightEdge]

Saturday F3L (currently looks the less windier of the two days)

[Richard Newsham]

27 minutes ago, StraightEdge said:

Saturday F3L (currently looks the less windier of the two days)

Are you coming to join us with your Purito? Have you flown it yet with some ballast in? 

I've flown in windy conditions with 200g (AUW 620g ish) of ballast fit in my Purito. It flew very well. Unless you find a good thermal any thermal turns do blow you down wind so you don't do many, and more than not it's a matter of just pointing into wind. The bungee launch was just the same apart from the control surfaces may be more reactive. On landing you have to keep your nose down. And if coming down wind to land I would suggest starting your landing approach turn earlier than normal. 

This obviously all changes if can enter with a RES glider of about 1kg.  People do have them at this weight so can explore the sky more for thermals. The wind becomes less of a problem. 

Richard. 

[StraightEdge]

13 minutes ago, Richard Newsham said:

Are you coming to join us with your Purito? Have you flown it yet with some ballast in? 

Yes, the Purito, which I'm getting more used to now.  Normal flying weight 430g, my ballast set adds 40, 70 or 100g.  Briefly tried the first and second steps at Cruckton when it looked like it was getting windier for a bit but then didn't.  As the spar is slightly forward of the CG I'm not expecting to have to add nose-weight, but there's room in there if need be.

Appreciate the advice on technique for flying heavily loaded!

[Richard Newsham]

Sainsburys it is

[Pete in Northiam]

@StraightEdge I'd add to expect bungee launches to be slower: same force, less mass means less acceleration. But your wings will flex (and may flutter) more carrying a higher load. But in wind, who needs a bungee when you can launch short and kite until you're falling over backwards! If it's above 15 mph I'll be flying a 640g-bare RES Eagle with 250g added. 

[StraightEdge]

Pete, interesting to see it put that way.

I've now had enough flights to get some comparisons - all using the 10m/6mm bungee:

My maiden flights were unballasted (because I didn't have any then) in quite windy conditions (circa 15mph) and got 100m launches, but stayed close to base as I wouldn't have been able to get back otherwise.

My launches a couple of days ago in light conditions (obvs unballasted) only achieved 50m plus, but when I could find and stay in lift eventually resulted in slow-ish but progressive climb-outs with relatively long flight times, best about 20mins.

This afternoon was a bit windier, sometimes gusting quite strongly, so I added 70g of ballast (15% appx increase on bare), and got two successive good flights, appx 14mins and 18mins.  The second of these was quite extraordinary: just after launching to about 60-70m I got a read to my right so moved over, suddenly the Purito was sucked up in a way I've never experienced before, as if a giant vacuum was pulling it violently up, must have topped out around 250m, then managed to stay up there for most of the rest of the flight.  These flights wouldn't have been possible without ballast to give the model more kinetic energy, and I suspect the second of the two would have been just the same had I been carrying the full 100g extra weight.

Later as thermal activity decayed the extra weight worked against me, so I removed the ballast, but the ambient wind remained a bit too much so the worst of both worlds.

The only bother is that my ballast is in the wing-spar, and messing about with wing-tape in the field - off and on, off and on again - is a faff.

[Gordon B]

Please include Gordon Brown in F5L, Saturday only.

[Pete in Northiam]

...and even Saturday ended as a land-flip-repair early-bath day for me.

But big thanks for best efforts today Richard it was a challenging day but full of learning. First time launching a ballasted PuRES (475 bare + 135g Pb) for me which turned out to be a pleasure (except for that last landing!) and the windiest I've flown anything off bungee (so far ). I have got to get better (nervier?) at flying downwind...

Anyway, my wingtip is all fixed now how are others faring?

Thank heavens for hotel windowsills!

--Pete in Peterborough (for the mo)

[StraightEdge]

51 minutes ago, Pete in Northiam said:

But big thanks for best efforts today Richard it was a challenging day but full of learning. First time launching a ballasted PuRES (475 bare + 135g Pb) for me which turned out to be a pleasure (except for that last landing!) and the windiest I've flown anything off bungee (so far ). I have got to get better (nervier?) at flying downwind...

Anyway, my wingtip is all fixed now how are others faring?

I second that - well done Richard for your first event as CD !

Pete, glad you've got your PuRES mended.  I suspect my Purito was the lightest-loaded model of the day (430 + 100 wing ballast + 15 extra in the nose later on to help it behave, total 545g).  I scratched after the 9th round where just after landing the model was flipped over by a gust and lightly compressed and fractured a wing-tip.

My one max (Round 7) was achieved by simply launching high and being lucky to hold station as some 'warm' air came through.  I'd long since learnt that trying to circle into any hint of a thermal would just get me thrown out, blown back like a leaf and lose me half the height I was at before.  On the F3 front Richard's Purito was (eventually?) carrying 200g of ballast, twice that of mine.  Even so his three maxes were in the first half of the flying before the wind became stronger still.

The bottom line is that today was probably slightly more than the windiest I think one can safely fly a normal ballasted model.  By comparison Alex's fully-sheeted wing F5 model was flying at 900g appx - that extra weight doesn't just help it penetrate better and fly with more relative stability, it also makes for a much tougher airframe.

[Dave Elam]

Well done all those who flew in the comp today. I had considered entering today but the midweek forecast of windy conditions put me off. I do enjoy flying my Resco when the conditions are right but when I look at the other electric gliders in my hangar and the wind speed range they will fly in I've come to the conclusion that F3L/F5L models are very much one trick ponies when it comes to enjoyable flying. The nice thing about the monthly online competition is I can pick exactly what conditions to fly in.