Fwd: European Champs, Alcochete, Portugal 2004

[Nik Middleton]

Some more info on the EC in Portugal this year.

As has been mentioned, Roland Matt beat CPLR.

Of the 10 pilots in the finals, 5 where electric.  Couple of new engines, Leanna and Platenburg.  The later was interesting as it was a gear-less motor and very quite.

The cost of running eclectic is estimated as $20/flight due to the limited cycling times of the batteries, however, there are now cell balancers which it is hoped will extend pack life and therefore drive down the costs.

Certainly the judges liked the way the electrics flew as good throttle control is a must.   Those with IC engines who flew fast did not fare well.

Sound was a big issue.  It was really obvious that people where using flight condition switches to limit RPM and it's now so blatant that something will probably be done.  There is no way that the db level will get raised from 94, though the request to drop this even further to 92 will most likely get no support.  What is being circulated is the idea that the noise check be done 1 meter off the ground, i.e.  the carry height.  Lets face it, our aircraft do not fly at full throttle close to the ground for long, and this distance would remove the noise of the prop close to the ground.

As always there was a judging gotcha.  This time it was landings.  Many pilots where turning inwards after completing the last manoeuvre and were getting zeroed.  This is because the rule book says that the downwind turn must be in the box.

The view of many is, that the electrics have arrived.  Those who want a chance in the finals should seriously consider them.

Other than that, it was a very well run contest and there was to truly great flights.

rgds

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.f3a.us/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20040906/3514655a/attachment.html