Pattern Fashion

Protective cover by www.planewrappers.com what the best dressed pattern plane is wearing this season.

2008 pattern season

The road to the 2008 Nationals is going well for me this year. As for equipment I am well ahead of last year. Currently I have 3 aircraft flying, an Integral, Twister and GP Beryll. The Integral and twister are contest proven and ready with 5 Masters wins in District 6 between them. The Beryll is in the trimming stage with approximately 2 dozen flights logged to date. All are powered with the DZ 170 swinging an APC 15x11 4-blade.

The following are various pictures taken at the 2008 contest I have attended to date:

Space City RC pattern contest, May 3rd-4th 2008

WOW! Just hosted my very first pattern event. Based on feedback from those in attendance the event was a huge success. Support from the Space City club members along with the 24 contestants and their cooperation exceeded my expectations. We got in 6 rounds total FAI flew 3 rounds of P-09 and F-09 each. Go to Don Ramsey's Pattern Site for a complete listing of results. For those not able to make it this year the Space City RC Club encourages you to mark your Calendar for the first weekend in May 2009.


Special thanks to:
John Underwood -- chef (BB ribs Saturday night were outstanding)
Dale Dickey -- CD
John Blackmon -- my personal scoring assistant
Finnis Hopson -- Line Chief
Leonard Fangue -- Grounds keeper
Event Sponsors -- Futaba/Hobbico, Morgan Fuel/CoolPower, Randy's Hobby/Ritch's Brew, Tru-Turn, YS Parts and Service

Temple AeroModelers contest, April 2008

Temple AeroModelers kicked-off the 2008 pattern season with an event April 19th-20th. There were 29 competitors in attendance, pattern continues to be alive and well in the South Central US. Masters was the largest with 9. We are fortunate to have some of the best Masters competitors residing in Texas. Attending this contest including myself there were 3 2007 Masters' National finalist. I was thrilled to start the season off with a win considering the high level of competition. Go to Don Ramsey's Pattern Site for a complete listing of the Temple contest results.

Todd Blose debuted his e-powered CA-Models Passport. The aircraft is very impressive in both finish quality and flight performance.

Pattern Warm-up @ Sheffield Olive Ranch 3/29/08

Many thanks go to Jim Sheffield for hosting a pattern warm-up to kick the 2008 season. There is hope this will become a future annual event. There were 18 pilots in attendance from TX and LA. This year's warm-up included a 2008 FAI judge certification course conducted by Don Ramsey in addtion to open flying from the private 600x75 ft Sheffield Olive Ranch runway. There are plans to add a second runway to accommodate crosswind conditions.

ZNLine Twister #2

The 2008 pattern season in NSRCA's D-6 will begin very shortly. First meet on the schedule is mid April hosted by the Temple, TX Aeromodelers. I plan to begin the season with my Comp-Arf Integral however I have recently completed construction of another ZN Line Twister (see photos) to replace the one from last season which met an untimely death. As I write I am test running my second DZ170 on the Twister in preparation for its maiden flight later this week. I am hopeful the trimming process will be short, I should be able to utilize similar setups from last year's Twister.

Next project for 2008 is the Beryll GP.

Beryll GP

Arriving this week from Sam Johnson of OXAI US...

YS DZ 170

I have been fortunate this December to log 30+ flights on one of the first regular production run DZ 170's. My Comp-ARF Integral which has about 90 flights logged with a DZ 160 is the airframe I am using for evaluation and break-in for the 170. Being familiar with the performance of this aircraft with the 160 I can truly detect the added power/torque advantages of the 170 especially since I am using the same prop/fuel/plug/throttle curve configuration.

The significant difference is the middle power-band torque. Between 1/3 to 2/3 throttle I detect more power/torque authority. There is a reduction in the need to make throttle adjustments to maintain ideal cruise speed. In addition the transition to vertical from horizontal cruise is cleaner, not as much P-factor, I assume this is due to not having to go to a higher throttle setting to carve the desired radius. I am now throttling up after completing the radius instead of before or during.

In summary the break-in, and initial runs were easy and straight forward. One notable though is the increased compression over the 160, make sure you get a good prime and have a fully charged capable starter. This is one stout puppy. The idle and mid-range appear to run smoother (less vibration) and the transition from low to high throttle is outstanding.

Test platform:

Integral

APC 15x11 4-blade

CoolPower 30% heli

YS glo-plug

New Aircraft for 08

Compsite-ARF Integral

Power system

• YS 170 DZ
• CH header
• ES carbon pipe

Radio gear

• Futaba 14 MZ
• G3 R5114 RX
• All digital servos, T, E = 9650, A = 9151, R = 9155
• Li po RX battery

Fuel

• CoolPower 30% heli

Misc.

• APC 15X11 4-bld
• Tru-Turn anodized

2007 Accomplishments

NSRCA District VI finishes AMA Masters Class

• 1st place -- Temple Aero Modelers


• 1st place -- Cresent City Pattern Championship


• 1st place -- Dixie RC


• 1st place -- Jetero Pattern Classic


• 1st place -- Mid County RC


• 1st place -- SPARKS Pattern Fall Classic

...2007 AMA Masters National Champion

...2007 Futaba Flight achievement Award (highest round scored, ama nationals)

...NSRCA District Champion

Aircraft -- ZNLINE Twister

Engine -- YS 160DZ w/apc15X11 4 blade prop

Fuel -- Morgan Fuels CoolPower 30% heli blend

Radio -- Futaba 14MZ, digital servos all controls