Oz Report

Flytec 6030 beta firmware update

I'll be using it in competition this week, in spite of the recommendation from Steve (Indian Harbor Beach, FL)

Steve Kroop at Flytec USA writes:

Flytec 6030 v3.25 Release Notes

• Four User-fields option with larger font size
• Bigger direction arrows in compass
• Vario Response Delay settings simplified (0-4) where 0=fast and 4= slow.  I recommend a setting of 3 to start (with a vario lift threshold of 4 ft/min or 2cm/s)
• Bug fix: Set waypoint of the actual position with long press WP key (confirm with F1 “Add Wayp”.  This is possible anytime the GPS is acquired (on the ground, in flight with or without active route).
• Bug fix: Alt1/Mrk key doesn’t save a Waypoint in the waypoint list anymore.  Instead it sets a marker in the E record in the IGC file
• Battery threshold for segment 8 reduced.
• Flight date derived from the first valid fix in the IGC file.
• GNSS Altitude set to 0 in case of 2D fixes
• Baro Alti is based on 1013.25hPa
• Bug corrected in input of southern latitude coordinates
• SMS-Bluetooth function activated (module and unlock code required)
• Bug fix: in drawing circles of CTR’s in the map mode.
• Polar table increased to 250 km/h
• Erroneous characters in Info line removed.
• User pressure offset for the correction of the pressure sensor

There are also two text corrections that I requested in this version (1) Daily Thermal Averager was changed to Thermal Averager (there was nothing Daily about it ;-) and (2) Format memory was changed back to Init EEPROM to better reflect what that function does.

Yes, the arrow is much bigger (and conflicts with the NSEW direction arrows as the compass rose didn't get any bigger).  I'll have to see about the ghost arrow (for the next waypoint after the one pointed to).  I also don't know yet about the little arrows that go next to the big arrow when you are headed on the right track.  These are very important and were much missed in the last firmware versions.

Bigger user fields are now available as on the 5030.  I stuck with the regular smaller ones as I can see them well enough.  I'll use the large fonts on one screen (the start circle screen).

You still can't get rid of the speed slider on the right to get even more space for the all important arrow and speed ring.  I sure wish that they would allow this option.

I would love to hear from any readers who activate the SMS/Bluetooth feature.  I have a Bluetooth cell phone.  I don't see any documentation available for this feature from Flytec.

This is beta firmware, not generally released yet.

I flew with the 6030 with the updated firmware on Monday, the first task of the Bogong Cup.  The two arrows are much easier to see.  They do conflict somewhat with the other symbols in the compass rose.  I don't see the two side arrows that used to appear when you were on the "right" course.

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Forbes, Joerg's pictures

The Forbes Flatlands (Forbes airfield)

Joerg Bajewski sends these photos of Forbes:

More photos from Joerg here.

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Forbes, a look back

Was it the greatest meet ever? (Forbes airfield)

The weather was amazing.  Yes, I've been to many great competitions in Australia and the US.  But right now the Forbes Flatlands in 2008 eight feels like one of the best ever.

Vicki Cain did a great job organizing.  All the pieces were in place especially all the great volunteers who served as ground crew.  Vicki was great at getting the launch issues sorted out and making sure that Bill Moyes was happy.  He wanted three launch lines, and as we had enough ground crew, that made it possible.  It was much nicer to reduce the people pressure on each line.

The tug pilots were great.  Leroy towed me up a bunch and I'll say that he said that he loved towing me.  That's because I was always willing to get off in lift.  Other pilots seemed to demand their 600 meters.  On the last day after a minute or two of towing we were at 200' AGL, when he finally got to the lift (it was sparse at first on that day in the blue).  Then I found 800 fpm on the vario (while on tow).  It stayed that way to 900' AGL when I pinned off.  I just wasn't ready to pin off at 200'.

The Russian girl (21 and studying Physics) had some great flights.  Making goal on two days.  She wasn't in the meet, came as a driver, but with Bobby Bailey's favorable attention got some early tows and then just went for it.  She more than doubled her personal best.

Numerous pilots had personal bests and Rob Clarkston made his first goal as did other pilots.

The New South Wales Regional Atmospheric Soaring Prediction web site is the best RASP I've seen so far.  It was instrumental in helping the meet run well.  Bernard Baer and John Whitney have done an excellent job with it.  More on it later.

http://ozreport.com/ozweather.php

No major injuries and no deaths unlike last year.  One pilot dislocated his shoulder.  He was an inexperienced aerotow pilot but caused the problem on landing.

Eight day meet with eight days of flying.  One "rest day" with a "short" task of only 143 kilometers.

The town supports the meet.  The Vandenberg hotel is very nice to us.  I'm hoping for DSL instead of a satellite wireless connection next year.  Vicki says that she will organize the meet again in 2009.

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2008 Bogong Cup, day five, task two

The Victorian RASP forecast saves the day (Mystic Hill)

The task and flight.

The results.

The RASP graphs were very complicated today with a "front" passing through and significant wind changes in the offing (but you're never exactly sure when it is going to happen).  The wind forecasts (there are three for each hour, surface, boundary layer average, and top of the boundary layer) show west winds with south wind nearby until 5 PM when the south winds come on strong and would make it very difficult to make it back to Mt. Beauty.  This forecast for strong southerly winds at 5 PM and even more later, cause the task committee to call a task with a goal to the north northeast.

The forecast for west winds gets us to the Emu launch, which was the first difficult choice.  The winds at Mt.  Hotham to our south are out of the north (which RASP doesn't get right) and they continue to be north westerly until 2:30 PM when they suddenly switch to the south.  Of course by then we have already made all of the decisions and they are based on the winds being west and then turning south late in the day.

On launch at Emu there is a northwesterly flow, which means from the right and not straight up the launch.  This causes delays and concerns that it is not safe to launch.  To the south we see high lenticular clouds and roll clouds with cu's underneath coming our way.  It looks unsafe in the air and the safety committee puts the task on hold.

The high clouds come over us and the launch conditions settle down a bit.  We put off three free flyers and talk with Steve Gayle, one of the free flyers.  He tells us that the winds are 15 mph out of the northwest and the lift is rough.  But later he informs us the the lift has smoothed out and he is climbing to 10,000'.  One of the other wind techs has landed and reports southerly winds on the ground.

We decided that the task is doable and set a start gate open time of 3:30 PM.  The task is to go 41 km to the north (against a north westerly cross wind), come back 20 km to a turnpoint, then go back to the first turnpoint, before heading to the east northeast to goal, 108 kilometers.  We are just starting at hour later than we had planned to.

I'm the eleventh pilot to launch after coming in eighth on the first task.  The launch itself was fine but I get turned ninety degrees just as I got out of the slot and was headed for the trees.  I banked the glider to the left and got out in the clean air.

There was just zero sink near launch after I launched so I headed north to the next spur.  Oops, nothing there neither.  I headed out toward the valley following another pilot.  After losing 1,200' he hit something and I joined him.  This thermal would take us at 400 fpm to almost 10,000'.

The wind was coming out of the northwest at 10 to 17 mph so we three pilots (including Joerg) were drifting back away from the launch and away from the edge of the start circle that was toward the first turnpoint.  All the other pilots looked to be struggling and way getting low (relative to us).  It looked like we the kings of the world as everyone else struggled.

Still we were eight kilometers from the edge of the start circle.  I headed up wind toward the edge of the start circle but I had misjudged how fast I could get there.  I still had 2.5 km to go when the start window opened.  But the real kicker was the guys that had looked so low had found good thermals and were now super high.  I was at 8,100', but they were much higher than that.  It looked to me like they weren't going to take the first start time as they were still circling and it was getting late.  I was hoping that they would all wait for the second start time and give me a chance to get high again.  Of course, 8,100' is plenty high unless everyone else is higher.

Finally five minutes after the window opened they all left and I decided to go with them even though I was relatively low.  Only later did I find out how really high some of them were.  I should have waited and gone with Balasz, Attila and Jonny.

The race down the ridge to the north was racy enough with me following the leaders from about 4,000' below them.  I found a few good thermals, but there was plenty of little stuff along the ridge line.  Whenever you found a good thermal you drifted back to the east of the ridge line and had to battle back to get over it and into the good air.

I made the turnpoint with all the high guys, but I was down to 3,000' AGL.  I ran the ridgeline back to the second turnpoint, but had to stop when I was 900' AGL and worked 200 fpm which turned into 700 fpm and got me back to almost 8,000'.  Attila, Jonny and Balasz had started the second start time and were already catching up.

Getting back to the third turnpoint (which was the same as the first one), had me coming in low.  Scott Barrett was 6 km ahead.  Information from him and Belinda at the turnpoint got me to the turnpoint and then to a thermal to the east.  This one was 25 km from goal and was strong enough that it got me high enough to go on final glide.

Forty three pilots made goal.  The final glide was downwind.  Mine averaged 48 mph.

1.	Attila Bertok	Moyes Litespeed S5	02:10:07	939
2.	Mario Alonzi	Aeros Combat L	02:16:40	917
3.	Lukas Bader	Moyes Litespeed RS4	02:11:31	904
4.	Balazs Ujhelyi		02:15:08	851
5.	Jon Jnr Durand	Moyes Litespeed RS3.5	02:16:54	830
6.	Steve Blenkinsop	Moyes Litespeed S3.5	02:18:58	807
7.	Rohan Holtkamp	Airborne C4 13	02:19:34	800
8.	Phil Schroder		02:19:43	799
9.	Oliver Barthelmes		02:29:14	771
10.	Artur Dzamikhov	Aeros Combat L13	02:22:33	770

The RASP model really made our day today.  It is competing with the "local knowledge and experience" guys (who use correlations and statistical averages, sort of) for predictions about the day.  It just has some much more to say, that it overwhelms them.

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