Transcript 2007 F5J Overview - Welcome to SRAC.com

Seattle Area Soaring Society
2007 F5J Overview
Topics
 What is F5J?
 Current activities
– Worldwide
– Northwest
 Categories
–
–
–
–
Speed 400
Outrunner Class (“Albuquerque” Rules)
7 Cell
Unlimited
 Competitions
What is F5J?
 Broad category for thermal duration,
electric powered sailplanes
 Not yet an official FAI category
 Different classes range from simple,
inexpensive setups to state-of-the-art
very high performance planes
 Competitions are great fun and much
simpler to run than Thermal Duration
– No winches
– Man-on-man is easy to coordinate
F5J Evolution
 New technologies in electric RC are benefiting F5J
– Brushless motors
– Lipoly cells
 Benefits
– Lighter e.g. equivalent outrunner class plane is 5oz
lighter than a speed 400 plane
– Much simpler maintenance
– More accessible for beginners
– No more expensive than older setups
F5J Activities
 Still relatively casual in the US
 “Big” Competitions
– Nats
– Alberquerue F5J WC
 Internet
– x5J on RCGroups
 Local
– SASS 2007 F5J Season
– SRAC Duration Contests
F5J Classes




Speed 400
Outrunner (“Albuquerque” Rules)
7 cell (Limited Rules)
Unlimited
F5J – Typical Speed 400 and
Outrunner Planes
F5J – “Out-of-the-Box” ideas for
Speed 400 /Outrunner planes
F5J – Speed 400
 Original inexpensive setup and still popular today
– However, Outrunner class is rapidly taking over
– In one big contest last year, Outrunner entrants
outnumbered Speed 400 2.5:1 even though Outrunner
had only been introduced the year before
 Speed 400 can motor
– Gearbox allowed
 7 or 8 cell Nicad or Nimh cells
F5J – Outrunner Class
 Goal of this design was a 50% better climb rate using
simpler, more efficient technology that is no more
expensive
 Same planes as Speed 400
 Inexpensive setup
– Simple brushless outrunner motor with long life (many seasons)
 28mm diameter and 16mm length
 Hacker A20-20L is by far the most popular at the moment
 EFlight xxx is also a good choice (Galaxy has these)
– No gearbox
– Lipo batteries
 2s (2 cells in series) pack limit
 Twice the capacity of typical Speed 400 packs
 No need to recharge to optimize performance
– Overall setup is ~5 oz lighter than a Speed 400
F5J – Outrunner Class
 Inexpensive yet high performance setup:
Cost Comparison for Speed 400 and Outrunner Class Setups
Speed 400
Outrunner
Motor
Gearbox
Speed Controller
$
$
$
30 Limited life - 3 Motors
60 Cosmotech
40
$
$
$
Batteries
$
24 8 cell 1100
$
Total
$
154
Hacker A20-20L including
105 speed controller
2100 mAhr pack (twice the
capacity of the Speed 400
50 pack)
$ 155
F5J – 7 Cell
 Sometimes being referred to as “Limited”
 MANY competitions now allowing either 7
Nicads/NiMh or 2 Lipol Cells
 No airframe limitations so a wide range of planes
can compete effectively. Most common is large
floaters e.g. AVAe
F5J Unlimited
 The ultimate in airframe and power plant
technology. No limits on airframe or power plant!
Arc welders with wings …
 Top contenders draw >>100 Amps and climb
vertically and almost a mile/minute
 Typical planes are e-converted unlimited winchlaunch planes such as Pikes, Graphites, etc.
F5J Competition Format
 Very similar to winch-launched competitions
 Man-on-Man makes this a lot of fun
 Launch phase
– Fixed or pilot-determined motor run time
– Pilot-determined makes for more exciting competition
 Duration Task
– 5, 7, 10 minutes just like TD
 Landing Task
– Land at 10:00 for example on the spot
– Just like TD (except everyone is landing at the same
time!)
F5J Summary
 Rapidly growing new category with
emphasis on fun
– Very accessible to first-time competition/F5J
pilots
 Highly competitive planes not much more
expensive than winch-launched sailplanes
 SASS ‘07 F5J Season will be a blast
 Get your planes ready!!
 Dave and Trevor are ready to help