F3b Soaring in USA

Getting ready for Gator

2012-01-02T18:33:00.002-05:00

January 1 came with some really nice weather. Temperatures in the 50's, sun, not too windy. I made the trip up to the NJSS field in Boonton and put in a few flights on the Shooter. So far the winter has been pretty good with some nice weekends in December and now January. Gator F3b looks like it's going to be a good turnout.

USA F3b Team Update

2011-05-31T15:56:00.000-04:00

I want to let the soaring community know that I have informed the Academy of Model Aeronautics of my resignation from the 2011 USA F3b Soaring Team.
I have already discussed this with the current Team Manager and alternate pilot Tom Kiesling as well as the other team members. It's not an easy decision. I don't believe I can be properly prepared for the trip to China and balance it with the rest of my life. I wish the team the best of luck and will do whatever I can to help the team have a successful trip to the World Championships in China.

F3K Team Day at CST April 21, 22

2011-04-21T20:15:00.001-04:00

CST will have F3K Team Days this week starting 4 PM April 20th through 4 PM April 22.

During these days 20% of all retail sales will be donated to the F3K team to help with their travel costs. This is a great opportunity to by the composite materials you need and also help the F3K team.

http://www.cstsales.com/f3k-team.html

Cumberland and Warrenton

2011-03-21T17:33:00.002-04:00

The weekend looked like it was going to be good for flying. Saturday forcast in Cumberland was for nice weather and winds that looked like they would be good for the slope. So I packed up the Cyril and Fosa as well as the Salto, Foka, and Pilatus and headed off to Cumberland. The weekend matched up with the Cumberland Spring soar for fun and the launch event for rcaerotowing.com.

The weather was sunny when I made it to the field Saturday. Everyone said that Friday was the really good slope day where you could fly anything. The first thing I put together was the Salto. I just got my DSMX update installed on my JR 12X and put a new AR9310 receiver in the Salto. So now I have flown DSMX.... The slope lift is not that strong but there is a bit of thermal lift. So it's great conditions for a big scale ship. My 1:2.9 Foka 4 is even more fun with lift and has much better aerobatic and inverted performance than the Salto. The next launch is on the Foka. That launch had a little excitement. After waiting a minute until some cold sinky air passed, the tow started. Then things stop climbing and Jim said I have a problem so we both dumped the towline. Fortunately I have a sailplane. Jim made it back to the field but wasn't in a good position so had a rough landing trying to avoid flying down the hill where he wouldn't be able to see the model any more. There was enough lift for me to take the Foka up and put in a bit more flying. The wind looked like it shifted a little more west so I put up the Fosa off a bungee. But things weren't that good so it was mostly just flying with low energy. But I could see the mixes needed more work. A little more aileron to rudder mix was needed. After flying it was off to the rcaerotowing.com launch event in the evening.

Sunday looked like sunny with light winds maybe a little east. So no slope lift but fine for aerotowing. Josh, Neil, Reto were planning on a F3j practice in Warrenton. So I headed there in the morning to do some TD practice and setup on the Fosa and Cyril. It was light, variable winds. So I did get a chance to dial in the TD presets as well as tune the rudder mixes. I also had lots of chances to practice downwind launches. So some good progress on model setup. Monday morning there was more of the white stuff on the ground in NJ. Where is spring?

JR 12X DSMX

2011-03-18T17:55:00.004-04:00

I'm now all set to test out my 12X with DSMX update. My transmitter just made it back home and I have two 9310 receivers to put into something.

Gator F3b Raffle

2011-02-11T21:25:00.002-05:00

The Gator F3b has a really good bunch of sponsors. There are plenty of prizes. Check out the list at http://www.gatorf3b.com/?page_id=200

You don't have to be there to win it....

F3b team logos and merchandise

2011-01-30T10:07:00.002-05:00

We're getting closer on this one. Logo designs and shirt designs have been done. This time there will be choices for those who would like team apparel but don't wear t-shirts.

The air travel budget is going to be higher this time. The airfares are higher and multiple excess baggage charges for the winch line and equipment.

Spring F3b Camp

2011-01-25T07:45:00.002-05:00

Contest planning is moving forward for Cal Valley event in early May. Hopefully the valley will still be green like last April. Contest will be May 14, 15 but there will be a good crowd the days before the contest.

RC Groups Link http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1375449

Winter F3b Camp

2011-01-25T07:41:00.002-05:00

Can't wait until the Gator F3b. Turnout looks good and guys will be out Thursday and Friday practicing before the contest.

RC Groups Discussion http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1295741

Primary Web Site http://www.gatorf3b.com

New Years Soaring

2011-01-01T18:03:00.002-05:00

Weather was nice today. So it was nice to get in a little flying in January. A few flights on the Fosa and on the Shooter. Almost no wind and low 50's were pleasant.

Winch Analysis

2010-12-14T23:17:00.003-05:00

I have a Dataq DI-158U hooked up to a netbook for some winch testing. It has 4 analog channels so one is hooked up to the battery, another to the clamp on current meter.

First thing I did was recreate a winch tester with the device. The Dataq libraries are poorly documented but the UltimaSerial library is a lot easier to code.

Fosa

2010-11-22T20:13:00.003-05:00

Latest F3b toy ready for the first flight. Finished up at 2080gm. Finally an F3b model that looks different in the air.

F3b Team Selections

2010-11-15T08:54:00.002-05:00

Well the 3 week journey is almost over. Fedex says all the equipment is supposed to make it here today. Between my equipment and Glauco's equipment, almost 500 lbs of F3b gear was shipped. Part of a which was borrowed in CA from Tom Kiesling and 5 batteries purchased.

What can I say about the results, I was surprised I finished 3rd. Happy with a 13.83 speed run for round 1 and I can't even complain about an 18.17 cut in round 3. Fastest cut I've had in a contest.

Distance started out rough with the wind and being the farthest away from the buzzers. But every flight was 22 laps or higher on the Cyril. After moving the buzzer for D off the ground, it was a little easier to hear. Very important when you are short on help in distance. Short help meant safe winch lines for the contest. But still good enough. No bad durations, no really bad distances but not 5 wins either. Three good speed runs, one OK, one that was so close to being really good and one asleep at the sticks on Sunday morning. Not bad for not really doing that much practice this year. Things just didn't work out with schedules other than a few short sessions after TD contest.

I finished up the trip on Tuesday with a trip to Soaring USA. Thanks Bob for selling me the one Fosa that Jiri sent for you. It's now in the shop and I'm sorting out the radio install. I used a Hyperion 1450 in the Cyril but the Fosa has a smaller fuselage. Clearly designed for Elite 1500 battery, either 3+1 or 4+1 configuration. I put the Fosa nose cone against a Radical nose cone this morning. In some ways it's smaller if you can believe that. I did find a few pieces of tungsten that I'll be able to machine to put into the wings to really load up the model.

F3b Models Shooter/Cyril/Freestyler

2010-10-28T19:03:00.003-04:00

The question is what F3b models are in that box heading to Cal Valley....

I have the most time this year on a Shooter. Yellow/Blue/Red color scheme is good for visibility for me in clear blue skies. The thing launches lots of weight. I have two Tungsten bars that fit into the ballast tubes with some space left over for some more regular ballast chunks.

Second model is the new one, a Cyril. Yellow/Red cubist with standard black/white bottom/ Red fuselage. Also good for blue skies. I have some lead ballast for the wing slots so I can load the thing up a bit in the wind. This might be the stiffest model I have.

Third model is Freestyler. Lots off flying time on that one last year. But I don't like the white/red color scheme in blue skies.

The Ceres Lift is staying home.

Lots of JR servos all around. The Cyril has the 388HV's and 3717HV's in the fuselage with a LiFe battery pack.

Gator F3b Feb 25-27, 2011

2010-10-28T19:00:00.001-04:00

The Gator F3b web site is up and running. Great work Gordon.

Traveling to US Team Selections

2010-10-26T16:07:00.005-04:00

How do you travel to a F3b contest? Pack a few winches and airplanes and line in some boxes and visit Fedex.

Winch box with stands for two winches, 3 turnarounds, chutes, and some tools. Stands and stakes are at the bottom of the 1610 case. There are also a few Soneil 12V battery chargers in there. 87 lbs.

Airplane box with 3 models, 15 spools of line, tripod, some containers for soaking line and a field charger. 66 x 14 x 15 PackLite box.. 80 lbs. Most of the line is in boxes. Add some cardboard dividers for extra protection on the airplane parts. I add foam pieces to cover tow hooks and also to cover up the V-tail rods and the tail cone from damage or damaging other things.

One more winch box for the second winch. Motor is boxed since it is easily removable on this winch and the winch is just a little too wide for the box. The swappable winch drums are also disassembled to save a little space. Some spare winch bits too like an extra foot pedal and solenoid just in case. One roll of practice line in there. Another 80 lbs. There is also a second motor in there for another winch and foot pedals.

Old models, new homes

2010-10-01T16:27:00.004-04:00

Well the Ceres F3b and Tanga were shipped off to new homes this week. Cyril should be here Monday. Saturday is time to practice with the Shooter.

Gator F3B Update

2010-09-09T08:44:00.002-04:00

The event will be flown over three days with possibly a Friday practice and Saturday and Sunday contest. (Format for 3 days is open for discussion and suggestion of the F3B community.)

The event will be held at the IRKS flying field at Cocoa FL (The power flying will be suspended at this field while we have the contest.)

The dates will be 25th, 26th and 27th Feb 2011.

RC Groups Discussion

Space Coast / Gator F3b

2010-08-07T20:13:00.002-04:00

Talking with Gordon Buckland at the Nats. We're kicking around the idea of a Jan/Feb timeframe F3b event in Florida. What do you think?

2011 US Team Selections Nov 5-8 Cal Valley

2010-07-17T17:17:00.003-04:00

Looks like another trip to nowhere for F3b soaring.

July 27/28 F3b in Muncie

2010-04-26T21:31:00.003-04:00

For anyone interested in doing something between RES and Unlimited at the Nats, there will be F3b flying at the south end. 2.4 only for frequencies.

Biggest group should be there on the 28th.

Ceres Lift at Cumberland Spring Fun Fly

2010-04-02T22:44:00.003-04:00

Paul Naton took a nice photo of my Ceres Lift at Cumberland.

Cal Valley mid April

2010-03-05T07:17:00.001-05:00

Time to start planning for some F3b flying. Record snows for the northeast haven't helped any for winter flying.

AR7600 Receiver

2009-10-24T12:34:00.002-04:00

Looks like pilots have another option for a RX. I usually use the 921 RX or 9300 RX for sailplanes. They fit fine. I have seen a number of AR7000 installs with the antennas folded along the RX. Not good for getting a good signal. The antennas just stick out the wrong way for a small sailplane fuselage.

The new AR7600 looks like it might be good for pilots who want a less expensive RX with the antenna oriented better for installation in a sailplane.

Remote Relays for Base B Buzzers

2009-10-02T19:13:00.002-04:00

I have a solution that I like to replace the base A to base B cable. It's a Spektrum transmitter, receiver and Dimension Engineering PicoSwitch. The Picoswitch plugs into a servo output providing a nice remotely operated relay. See http://www.dimensionengineering.com/PicoSwitch.htm

Tool has new home

2009-09-29T22:49:00.001-04:00

My other F3b Tool now has a new home. I still have a Ceres, Ceres Lift, Freestyler, and Tanga in the F3b collection....

LSF Nats 2010

2009-09-29T22:46:00.001-04:00

The proposed 2010 Nats schedule is out. F3b is missing from the list. F3k was moved to the weekend when F3b is usually run at the same time as XC.

So F3b will now be an unofficial event that will be held at the same time as 2M on July 27, 28. Make sure you get on 2.4 so that there aren't any conflicts with 2M.

Since it's not an official event, then there can probably be a contribution to the F3b team fund in place of the regular entry. Next worlds will be in China.

Who wants to make the trip to Muncie for 2 days F3b, 2 days Unlimited, 2 days F3k or RES, F3b, Unlimited?

Packing, packing....

2009-07-23T22:23:00.003-04:00

All the models are cleaned up and polished and packed.

Sorting out which tools and spare pieces to take and pack.

The team has a lot of "stuff" to get there. Fortunately with the help of 3 pilots, 3 helpers and team manager.

Checked the seating and the flight is not really full. Now only if we can convince Delta that the US Team should sit in those empty business class seats......

Practice complete

2009-07-18T21:30:00.001-04:00

Finished another long day of F3b practice. I probably have in 500-600 launches the past few months getting ready for the WC. Must be ready now. This week will be getting everything packed and ready to go.

More tweaking

2009-07-08T22:38:00.002-04:00

I have more DS378's so I changed out the flap servos on the first Freestyler. Now both of them have DS378's in flaps, get plenty of travel, and have the horns all inside the servo covers. Spent some time measuring throws between the two models too and have them matched even better.

Tungsten ballast fits the joiners. Now I can put an extra 10 oz max ballast into the model. Some evening flying today. cross wind, just a few MPH so I could not really load up. Thursday afternoon will be another practice day. Distance and speed flying planned. Depends on the help.

Won't have to worry about the sun in the afternoon. Should be light east wind, 5-7MPH. Temps in the 70's. Not expecting any killer lift. Also makes it easier to unload at the field. Won't have to drag all the batteries as far.

Good week of practice

2009-07-05T22:23:00.003-04:00

Monday June 29th, I got in 90 launches between the Freestyler and the Ceres Lift. Best run 14.28. July 3rd, another 90 launches. Finished up with a 14.26 and 14.14 on the last set of runs. Sunday was a visit to the Milling machine to make some Tungsten ballast pieces to use in place of the brass on the Freestyler joiner. Adds 10 oz to the ballast capacity. Helps guarantee no wind at WC.

Weather Improves

2009-06-25T22:23:00.001-04:00

Finally some normal summer days. Out this evening for a few hours. Weekend will be LISF contest and then Monday afternoon, more practice.

June 20th weekend

2009-06-21T12:22:00.002-04:00

More wet weather. You can see it on the US Open coverage....

Got out Saturday a little after 7AM. Put in three 10 minute duration
flights. No wind, overcast, no real activity just fly around for 10
minutes. Set up and flew a few distance flights working the 4 minutes.

Steve made it out to the field so I flew a few with base B calls and
some rain started. 15-19 laps depending on how much rain and how good
the launch was. 50% ballast, sometimes 1-2mph cross on launchs but not
much to help. Luis made it out so I could try a few speed runs. By
then the rain was starting so it really hurt the launches. Model was
silent except for the raindrops you could hear hitting the wing in
flight so I couldn't get it under 20. Around 21 in rain with no wind or 90 degrees at best. Radar looked solid yellow, orange to the west so I was packed up by 10. Good timing on packing up.

Too much rain overnight to be able to use the sod farm and more showers Sunday anyway. With the forcast wind, it would be hard to keep turnarounds in the ground.

Saturday Practice

2009-06-12T21:46:00.002-04:00

Looks like a good day for practice tomorrow. Steve, Luis, and Jeff should be out to help. Five winches, 12 batteries, lots of line. Partly cloudy conditions around 70 and no threat of showers until late in the day. With the east winds, shouldn't have any sun problems through the day. Freestyler and Ceres Lift all charged.

Practice Schedule

2009-05-31T21:19:00.002-04:00

Current outlook for F3b practice for 2009 WC.

6/6-7 Attending SKSS in Delaware
6/13-14 Practice in NJ
6/20-21 Practice in NJ
6/27-28 Attending LISF in NY
7/3-5 Practice in NJ
7/11-12 Attending DBSF in PA
7/18-19 Final Practice before WC

Back from Cal Valley

2009-05-25T22:01:00.002-04:00

Back home from Cal Valley. Models made it both ways on the airlines with SporTube. TSA didn't unpack them either way which was nice. After adding a touch of nose weight for the very active Cal Valley air, I flew the FS3 on Saturday and it worked well. Sunday was only 1 and 1/3 rounds and I used the Ceres Lift.

Launching seemed to go well for both models but I need a little more practice with the Lift. The Lift color scheme is a lot nicer than the FS3, red, white, blue.....

Need to sell Ceres and Tool

2009-05-25T21:59:00.000-04:00

I need to sell my Ceres and Tool. Models from last years team selections. I sold one Ceres and Tool already but I still have the nicer ones in the basement. Red/yellow Ceres and Red/white tool. Both only flown on sod.

Ceres Lift and Tanga Practice

2009-05-09T20:28:00.002-04:00

Now I have everything flying. Today was some time on the Ceres Lift and first flights on the Tanga. Steve and Luis helped out being timers and buzzers for some speed and distance flying. Lots of 15's today. Some good distance flights too, in the mid 20's which isn't bad considering it was fairly overcast. No huge lift, but some nice air to work.

Ceres Lift

2009-05-02T21:58:00.002-04:00

I managed to get a little time on the Ceres Lift tonight. Definitely pulls harder than the Ceres. Plenty of setup work remains. CG was a little too far forward. Lots of room inside the fuse with the 9300 RX and a 4-cell pack. Zlog fits in with no problem in front of RX. Fuselage must be too large....

Warm Weather

2009-04-26T06:47:00.003-04:00

It was a hot spring day. mid-80's. Made a really good practice day since it started out with light winds then picked up through the day.

Tanga and Ceres Lift are still in the basement waiting to finish up a few servo installs.

FS3 Practice

2009-04-23T23:27:00.001-04:00

Had some flying last weeked on FS3. 10+ MPH headwinds. I had one launch that was in the 300M area. Lots of them 280M. Things go fast with this much altitude.

Saturday looks like a good practice day with a bit of help. So I can set up a course and fly some measured runs.

Ceres Lift

2009-04-23T23:25:00.000-04:00

The Ceres Lift finally arrived. Starting the build. Without measuring the airfoil, the parts all look like the Ceres. Same size, shape.

Excellent practice

2009-04-01T07:57:00.001-04:00

Had a good weather day yesterday to get in a little practice. Best speed run was 11.44 sec with the Freestyler.

Building building building

2009-03-22T22:42:00.003-04:00

I finished up the second Freestyler. Haven't flown it yet, but now I have two of them ready to fly. Did some more work on the Tanga. Servo tray is cut out, ballast tube cut, layout and ballast tube loading checked with servos, JR9300 RX and 5-cell pack. I just need to make wiring harness and test fit wiring around ballast tube. Then everything can be glued in.

Not thrilled with the angle of the flap RDS hardware. It doesn't look like it's good for as much flap travel as I would like. I have some 3mm rod on order to make some new wires. And I need to measure the aluminum piece just in case I have to make a new one.

Cool posters for worldwide marketing campaign

2009-03-09T21:34:00.004-04:00

Check out our posters on display around the world.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1014415

Don't miss out.

Warm Weather

2009-03-08T20:03:00.003-04:00

Finally a good weekend weather forecast.

Fund Raising

2009-02-24T18:14:00.004-05:00

Fund raising is making good progress for the team. So far it has exceeded $7000, but we'll need a lot more. Overseas luggage hasn't started the extra fees for the first and second bag like domestic flights. But anything over 50 lbs is overweight. When you have luggage, a winch, models, and support equipment, you quickly get to at least 3 bags per person. So that's an extra $175 for the 3rd bag across all the 3 pilots, TM, helpers. Airfares don't look too bad, but we're going to have to fork out a bunch of cash to get those real soon. Large shirts are getting short in supply. Order quick if you want large.

Tanga vs Freestyler3

2009-01-31T11:14:00.002-05:00

Here are the bits and pieces from a Tanga and a Freestyler 3 sitting next to each other. The Tanga is a more conventionally sized F3b model while the Freestyler is on the small size. The Tanga is blue while the FS3 is red/white. The Tanga is the longer fuselage and the larger joiner.

The wing panels on both models are almost identical in weight. 578g for the Tanga and 580g for the FS3. The FS3 does also have a ballast channel in the wing. The Tanga joiner is much larger and slightly thicker but only 10g heavier, 127g vs 117g. Tails are really close in size and weight. The Tanga is 34.8g and a FS3 with the control horn added is 33.2g. The Tanga fuse is a little lighter, but when you add in the ballast tube, the Tanga is 308g while the FS3 is 290g.

Tanga RDS is here

2009-01-29T17:20:00.003-05:00

Fedex guys delivered a Tanga today. Blue and white.

This one includes RDS hardware. Looks like the pin mounts in servo, aluminum piece attaches to that and the rod. Two different angles, one for ailerons and one for flaps.

Wing joiner is really wide.

V-tail is two-piece and the ball link is already installed.

Cal Valley

2009-01-28T21:45:00.002-05:00

I missed the Cal Valley contest. Got most of the way there but had to return home.

If you want to see some results and pictures.

TitaniumLine

2009-01-10T09:50:00.003-05:00

More new stuff to test out. Unfortunately it's snowing outside. The new line doesn't have as much stretch as Speedline but it is stronger. It should be good for light wind, strong thermal conditions where the thin Speedline can be risky on line breaks.

Foot Switch

2009-01-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

For the foot switch on my winches, I use Linemaster Aquiline 971-SO switches. I've only had one microswitch fail from too much dust over the years. The best part is you can get the in colors. No black switch hiding in the grass. I have orange ones. Usual source is Newark Electronics. But I think some other winch part suppliers have them too.

T-Shirts Coming Soon

2009-01-07T16:22:00.004-05:00

The team web site should get updated with stuff to buy in another day or two. Get ready to order a Hanes Beefy T with pockets, or a Long Sleeve Beefy T, or even an embroidered baseball cap. Production on the shirts is about 2 weeks off, so delivery on those orders will be at least one month out.

A few of our soaring friends have presented us with a challenge to get fund raising going. They will be matching your contributions up to $6000 if you make your contribution, purchase raffle tickets or purchase merchandise before March.

Winch Battery Charging

2009-01-07T16:04:00.004-05:00

The secret to getting good life out of your winch batteries is to keep them charged and use a good charger. For years I used the standard automotive chargers. They are heavy, inefficient, and the automatic features sometimes don't work. Plus they are bulky which is not good when hauling a bunch of equipment to a contest.

Now I use ACI Chargers. Since I have 6 batteries for 3 winches at home, I have two of the 1206CC's and two of the 1214CC's. The nice part is they do most of the charging at a constant current. They bring the batteries up to charge pretty fast compared to a normal 10Amp auto charger. I was surprised that they even helped revive some old batteries I had sitting around.

The charger uses a switching power supply so it's fairly small in size and weight. The Eastern Soaring League purchased some in 2008 to use for on flight line charging of the winches. And they also work well on the expensive batteries like the Optima's.

Winch Solenoids

2009-01-07T15:52:00.002-05:00

What solenoid to use. I use a DC Power Contactor. I've been using Stancor 586-902's a long time and they work well and are reliable. Contact material is a silver alloy, not copper. The inrush current rating exceeds (600A) what you can put through an F3b winch and the continuous duty (200A) is in the range of what flows through a winch. They are a little larger than the auto solenoids most of you are familiar with and they are more expensive.

I usually purchase them from Newark Electronics.

F3b Timing System 2.4 RF Link

2008-12-28T20:49:00.004-05:00

I tested out my base A-B cable replacement today. Looks like it works fine.

Base B is a hacked LP5DSM transmitter from a Blade CX2. I pulled the boards out and mounted them in a box. Control sticks are replaced by a resistor network. The pushbutton switch shorts one of the resistors to get the second "switch" position. I also stuffed a 4-cell 1500mah NiMH and a JR Chargeswitch into the box to finish the package. Current draw appars low enough that this battery should last all day.

Base A is a AR500 receiver and four Picoswitches. The picoswitch replaces the long wire/pushbutton to base B. Packed in a box with another battery and chargeswitch. Both have 8-pin DIN connectors to connect into my signal system replacing the 150 meter cable. I won't miss rolling that out and back up at the end of the day.

Freestyler3 DSM2 2.4 Install

2008-12-23T11:41:00.002-05:00

Here is my latest addition to the F3b fleet. A Freestyler 3. You can get them at F3X.com.
The nosecone is fiberglass but the rest of the fuselage is carbon. Space is pretty limited in this fuselage.

I replaced the wing wire harness that was provided with one made out of teflon coated wire with 24 gauge for the power wires. I also cut down the servo leads since there isn't much extra space to stuff in any extra wire. I also cut down the leads on the 3-wire Spektrum switch so they are just long enough. The switch is in front of the RX. That switch is handy to have if you need to rebind to a different TX quickly. There is also a short 32 guage wire to bring out the wire for the JR DSM Flight Log. Servos are JR 3421SA's.

Ceres carbon DSM2 2.4 Install

2008-12-23T11:34:00.003-05:00

The Ceres is a bit more of a challenge for 2.4. It is all carbon and has a carbon canopy. My solution was to make a mold for the canopy and make a fiberglass canopy. The antennas were then placed as high as possible up into the canopy, one on each side of the fuselage. Works just fine.

I picked up mine from SoaringUSA.

Tool F3b 2.4 DSM2 Installation

2008-12-23T11:27:00.004-05:00

Here is a picture of my installation of a DSM2 2.4Ghz receiver in a Tool. This is the model I used for the 2009 US F3b Team Selection contest in Chicago.

The fuselage is all carbon, but the slip on nosecone is kevlar. So the antennas are positioned in the servo area. This area is pretty clear of carbon, especially at altitude.

Check out Skip Miller Models if you want a Tool.

Welcome

2008-12-23T11:26:00.003-05:00

Getting up a blog site on F3b. Getting ready for 2009 F3b WC.

US F3b Web Site up and running

2008-12-23T10:41:00.002-05:00

The web site is up and running. Check out http://www.teamusaf3b.com/. Paul Naton did the artwork for the logos.