We are stil alive. Late nights and early mornings. The guys missed out on the finals of which two rounds were flown today and the last ne on Saturday.
Day 13 – Friday
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Day 5 -Thursday – Second Practice Day
Off through the forest to our practice field for most of the day. A good day’s practice was had.
We were also joined by the entire Thai team, who we offered the use of our practice site. Not a big issue for us as the team is one person, Niwat Tirawat. He drove straight from the airport to the practice field and then proceeded to rebuild his model on a sleeping bag and also repair his fuselage which was crushed in transit. He went to the last worlds and had his model damaged so badly in transit that he did not get to fly at all. He is the only F3C pilot in Thailand as all the former pilots have gone to 3D. He is camping at the event site and main aim is not to come last, which having seem him fly is not likely if he gets his rounds done.
Day 4 – Wednesday – First Practice Day.
Headed out after breakfast to the practice field we found yesterday and after the customary comedy of arguing wether or not the pilots circle is square with the flags we got underway.
Had a good days practice and two of the vans were converted to generaters for the day which worked out OK. The pilots had enough flying for the day around 3:00 so it was back to the hotel via the shortcut through the forest.
Then Brendan led a walking tour to the old part of town wher he stayed last time and yet just like the bomber field it is no more. Pretty much abandoned due the new mall near our hotel which was followed by KFC which was an interesting ordering experience.
Day 3 – Tuesday – Where are the Batteries?
Day 3 started with the assembly of the helis and a visit to the local Bunnings equivalent for some tools and gear we needed followed by a drive to the event site to have a look around and find out about our batteries which had be retained by Polish Custom which is a whole other drama.
No joy with the batteries which were still in transit, so returned to the hotel to finish off the helis and wait for advice from the freight company that the batteries had been delivered. They finally arrived and it was a quick run with Paul to the event site to pickup the batteries and then a couple of hours of assembly installing all the connectors and mounting up the pack on the trays. The weird part was sitting on the floor of the outside area of the hotel bistro soldering up the packs so as not to setoff the smoke alarms in the room
Once we got the packs charged it was off to the nearest practice field to shakedown the helis and the batteries. The field was not real good with long grass and very rough but did the job. Then it was a drive through the polish country side to try and find the practice site Brendan flew at in 2006. Got there no problem but someone had built no one but two huge factories on it so with the guys headed back to the hotel to fix the issues we found with the helis.
Paul and myself went on an exploring mission to find the orher practice fields which we managed to eventually find a good one followed by a shortcut through a polish forest to get back around 9:30 and pick up the requested pizzas on the way. Polish pizza is served with a tub of tomato sauce which we were not fans of.
Hotel is starting to fillup with the Austrian team here as well now.
Tommorrow will be a full practice day.
Day 1 and 2 – Travelling to Wloclawek.
Well that was an interesting day. Sydney to Dubia to Warsaw. Little over flying at the moment after 24 hours flying but can recommend Emirates and the Airbus 380. Plenty of room, smooth, nice food and no dramas or delays and all the gear got here without damage and we had alot of gear. Most of us were in our team shirts which created quite a few queries about where we were going etc.
Then the real adventure started.
Pick up the vans near the airport which had the steering wheel on the the wrong of the car and manual then back to the airport to pickup everyone and the gear, roundabouts are still a bit wierd. Then regrouped at the local Maccas, freee wifi is good.
Then the group got splilt due to a misunderstanding when we left and it was just me and Rex in one van and Brendan and Mick in another van. Major GPS issues which had us trying the a freeway that is not finished yet which involved a return to the same Maccas to go where to know. More on the unfinished freeway later. Ignored the GPS for a while and then it got us onto the best road I have probably ever seen. Cruised most of the way to Wloclawek with speedo around the 140kph mark which is the local freeway speed limit.
Got to the hotel with no problem. Quite nice but a bit hot as they seem to think it sould be the same temprature as a shoping mall. Did a shopping trip last night which was a bit ofn fun and then had dinner at the hotel follwed by sleep.
Tommorow, will be interesting as our batteries are still stuck in Customs in Warsaw but that will hopefully be here tommorow.
2013 FAI World Championships for Model Helicopters
Off to Wloclawek in Poland in July for the 2013 FAI World Championships for Model Helicopters.
Link to the event website is www.rc-heli-wch2013.pl
Link to the Australian Team Website is at www.f3c.com.au
Officially, I am one of the team mechanics which means I get to drive a van and carry the bags. It should be a good couple of weeks apart from getting all six helicopters plus spares, tools and charging gear there safely which will take bit of a packing.
Wuffy and Kenneth are making the trip to support the team as well. I have threatened that they will have to go as padding around the gear to make for getting to fly for free.
Day 49 – Sale to Wagga Wagga – 685 km – 20054 km Total.
Well thats done then. Had a cold and slightly wet ride through Melbourne with a bit of unusual route but made it through. Saw my first blue sky in since Townsville on the run to Wodonga.
Stopped into CSU at Thurgoona as GT was not in a meeting for a change and then heading for home. Got into town about 4:30 and well thats done.
Bit weird after 7 weeks to be sitting at home typing this. Still have to take some photos of the bike before I unpack it for the last time and then comes the fun bit of cleaning it and all the gear. Will be a bit strange not having to get up in the morning and pack the bike. The bike has been faultless as to me the chain and tyre issues are consumable items and the only other work was a couple of oil changes and two headlight bulbs. Once its had the major service it is due for, I am quite confident it could do it again but maybe not me.
Then there is the job of sorting out the photos. Not sure how many I took but the smaller card is reporting 1,863 images and I have the two bigger cards to go so it may take a while. I will post some more when I get them sorted out a bit.
And it case your wondering, I am already thinking about the next trip although the next few will be days and not weeks.
The Lap is done.
Crossed over our start point about 10:40 so the lap is done. Now just the not very warm ride home.
Day 48 – Uladulla to Sale – 625 km – 19369 km Total.
Headed out of Uladulla after a quick Macca’s breakfast. Cold again with the difference today being that it kept getting colder as the day progressed.
Also had some very light showers that made the road in the twisty bits quite interesting as the rear tire leans a bit more towards offroad than the usual Tourance I use, so not sure how far to trust this one. The road for most of the day was in heavy forest and quite undulating and twisty. That plus very little other traffic at least the ride was entertaining. Apart from the weather it was quite good day.
Got to Sale just after 4 and with the heavy cloud it was getting dark and even colder so called it a day. Reverse cycle air-con in the room has been getting a workout since I got here.
Off to Melbourne in the morning and most likely be home tommorow night unless the weather goes really bad.
Day 47 – Kempsey to Uladulla – 686 km – 18744 km Total.
Early start this morning and you guessed it very cold and it stayed that way nearly all day.
The goat track, sorry Pacific Highway was much better today and dual carriageway most of the way to Sydney but had some random speed limits and limit changes with vey limited signage that could only be the result of bad drugs or the use of dice but they would be good for profits, oops make that, “road safety” as in road safety camera.
Had a good run through Sydney until Wuffy told Kenneth that we were in the Harbour Tunnel at which point Kenneth got in panic about being under the water and what if it leaked but he got over it pretty quickly when we got out the other side.
After we got out the north side of Sydney, we took the Grand Pacific Drive, but only after I found out we were exempt from the $11 Royal National Park daily park use fee as we were just riding through. It was stupidly busy for the first bit due to a fun run but got clear of the traffic after that and had pretty much a solo run through the park You could not see much past the edge of road as the vegetation was so thick and tall but it was a great bike road even if the speed limits was just plain silly at times with lower limits on the open bits and higher one on the really twisty bits. Was still fun on a fully loaded bike but had to be careful not to scrape the center stand too much. After the park into was along the coast and the bridges around the cliffs. I think half the population of Sydney was there as cars and people every where so could not really stop to get any decent photos. Kenneth had never seen hangliders before we saw them flying above the cliffs just outside the park.
The Royal and the Grand Pacific Drive are two places, I will most likely come back and explore a bit more when the weather is a bit warmer as it would be a good short trip.
After that it was back onto the Pacific Highway again which was dual carriage way for a while and then it reverted to goat track again. Was going to stay in Nowra but things seem pretty full so kept going to Uladulla and have a room with ocean views. Had a excellent seafood platter at the Bowling Club for tea thanks to the recommendation of the motel owner.
Off towards Melbourne along the coast in the morning and it looks like it will be another cold day on the bike. Really in commute mode now, due to the weather and starting to get a bit tired of some things apart from the actual riding.
Still need to get to Melbourne as it is not a true lap until we get back to Melbourne and exit the ring road onto the Hume where we started from. Pretty sure Wuffy is not the first dog to do a lap but Kenneth may when be the first drop bear, sorry Koala to do a lap. Must remember to explain the whole drop bear thing to Kenneth sometime.