It was a beautiful, sunny day with clear blue sky and it seemed that almost the entire club turned up for the end-of-winter BBQ. Here are some of the planes and people that enjoyed the day …
Bill had been rummaging in his attic and brought out his 1980’s vintage F3B glider that he flew at the nationals in 1980 or 1981. It was in remarkably good condition and I think it deserves a few (of Bill’s) words …
“It was an F3B competition sailplane from the early 80’s. I’m pretty sure it was made for the 1980 or 1981 Nationals, and last flown somewhere in the mid-1980s (84-86) at a Nationals – my brother and I used to fly for the QLD team. F3B in those days had speed, distance and thermal elements with scored spot landings.
I literally (grabbed) the bits you saw from the garage ceiling yesterday after decades in storage.
It is an own design, T-tailed glass fibre fuselage, 2.85 metre span glass fibre clad balsa sheet over foam wings with aluminium tube and birch spars and 3/8 high tensile steel joiner (those were the days of the “winch wars” – the wings took some serious strain on launch). It was built to go fast and far and take a serious beating (survive mid-airs) during the competitions.
When I opened the hatch I found the original 1908s (sic) servos still fitted – 1 x Futaba linear (don’t see those any more) for the ailerons, and 4 x Multiplex standards for elevator, ridder, tow-release and speed brakes. Will see if they still work…
I suspect it will take me some months to restore to flying condition as the ailerons need replacing (warped) and one speed brake is missing. The fuselage also needs a little repair around one wing fillet.“
Bill’s F3B glider with spoilers, flaps and ailerons and all flying tail. The fuse is fibreglass from a mould made by Bill.
… and the original 1980’s vintage servos are still intact
What a great day it was, though a little breezy as the morning progressed. Members old and new all seemed to be enjoying themselves while trying to keep COVID Safe.
A great range of models on display both on the ground and in the air, and they too enjoyed a wide ranging age, from Bills F3B glider which may have been the oldest one there to Marks Infinity Wing (3D printed) possibly only a few days old. Unfortunately there were none or our heli pilots to show what can be done even is the later morning conditions
Looking forward to Sunday 27th of September when we can do it all over again 🙂 weather permitting