Cloud Tramp Postal Competition 2003
My thanks to all who took part in this lowkey ’fun ’ contest - with 54 entrants and supporters it has made a significant move forward from the 2002 event and ... with 352 people taking part in the Mimloct Mass Launch this year .... hopefully interest and participation will continue to grow into the future. I classify ’supporters’ as those who made the attempt to compete but were unable to complete their five flights and I hope that they will return next year and have more success with their Cloud Tramps. It was pleasing to have substantial support from Norway and Sweden, which boosted the international support to a total of six countries.
It’s readily apparent that everyone had a lot of pleasure with their CT’s and, rather than take segments from individual replies and blend them into a general report, I’m reproducing some comments in the fliers’ own words. However, many have shown that this very simple, basic airplane can be trimmed out for consistent flights in excess of one minute, which is probably more than Charles Grant expected from a design that saw its origins way back in the ’30’s., but I have to remark on that of Mike Thomas who has perhaps the only Cloud Tramp fitted with a dethermaliser ... not an affectation but a very necessary item as the model turns in regular flights of two minutes or more before being so terminated. I have watched some flights captured in full on video and it’s most impressive to see his model soar for such long periods before the d/t kicks in, and he is a most worthy winner of the contest.... but others also turned in some very impressive thermal flights, as will be seen below.
Mike commented that he flew on one of those rare warm, calm days when gentle lift was in abundance – almost a ’standing thermal’ and he took full advantage of this, both with the CT and other models flown in the WorldWide Postal classes.
Ole Torgerson, Norway:- On Saturday 9. Aug. some members of the local model airplane club met to fly the Postal Competition. A nice, pleasant afternoon with thermals and downdrafts. The families came with us and we had a picnic with food and plenty of flying. What can be better?
Mike Myers, California:-The weather was warm--about 80 F at 0900, headed much higher during the course of the day. The sky was blue and there was barely a breath of a breeze--ideal conditions for flying the Tramps.
Kent Joseffsson, Sweden:- This afternoon I went down to the field with my Cloud Tramp and I
experienced some nice upwinds in my third and fourth take offs.
Charlie Hendrickson, Florida:- Water standing on much of field.... The trim went out as the plane absorbed moisture. I really don't want to lose this model just yet.
Al Pardue, Alabama:- Small field and windy but I had fun.
Alex Cameron, UK:- Pete and I had another good flying session at Epsom on Sunday, this time I flew my CT. The last three flights used a longer motor, 28 inch long 4 x 1/8 TAN2, putting on 1400 turns. Model was looking good, but the last flight was launched into a big hole! Weather hot and calm.
Jim Lehrmam, Kansas:- Commenced flying in lightly overcast skies which soon became solid overcast and a light drizzle was falling by the time I made my fifth flight – perhaps the weather accounted for my less than spectacular times…
Terry Tomlinson, Australia:- “The 14 minute plus flight caught a thermal that took the Cloud Tramp up until it was just a speck to the east. Then it started to descend and drift back, and at 10 minutes was about 40 feet up and 10 yards out. As I walked over to retrieve it another thermal took over and away it went to the east again and this time it didn't stop, o.o.s. at 14 minutes 44 seconds. After this the thermals moved on as the results show.”
Pat Seale, Wisconsin:- Ann and I were off to get times in for the Cloud Tramp postal this mid
morning. Arrived at the flight site we used in the 2001 mass launch; the athletic field was in use by the high school football squad so we drove down the hill to a small memorial park and checked it out. I don't know why we hadn't realized before what a great spot for small planes it is. After three hours of pure fun, three blown motors, and one bent prop shaft we headed for home. Our times do not reflect all the fun we had. You would have thought we were OOS on every flight. I had a ball listening to Ann talk to her CT urging it on. At one point she remarked "I feel warm air so lets get to winding. A thousand turns please". She would be watching a flag not to far from us and waiting for the air temperature to change. I think she is hooked. When I told Ann I thought I should make a new prop for her CT to get it to climb faster she said I was not to mess with it. Just do the proper maintenance was all that was necessary. This, without a doubt, was the most fun I've had flying all season. This free flight stuff is going to get me yet. Plain poetry in motion up there in the sky.
Joseph Pengilley:- I just got thru with flying my Cloud Tramp and timed all the five flights. Boy O Boy when I arrived to my flying site it seemed to have good lift so I started out with just a practice flight and timed it at about 1 1/2 minutes not as good as would like to see with a 1 minute motor run. So I did one more test flight before starting the offical flights................I should have made this one offical, it screamed straight up almost and ended up at 10 minutes 30 seconds, so of course I wound up for another so I could time this one .. well as you know it didn’t do as expected ......lol.
Stan Pearson, UK…. To my shame I have mislaid the letter that Stan wrote in his inimitable style.. it will surely come to hand after I’ve sent this out … but he always has fun whatever small model he is flying on a local field nearby (sadly slated for building devopment) in the evenings, often accompanied by his wife, June, who also has a score in the results. Sorry, Stan …..
Bert Whitehead, UK .. not only flew but encouraged a dozen other CT-owners to compete – thanks for the support, Bert. Amongst the scores submitted one must note that Jane Sanders became a ‘supporter’ solely because her CT took off forever for more than three minutes on her first .. and only .. flight.
Once again, I thank you all for taking part and I hope you’ll come back.. with at least one friend … and do it again next year. Spread the word! Everyone had fun, which is the sole purpose of this event and which makes the running of it a pleasure for me. If you submitted scores on behalf of other people, please pass a copy of this report/scoresheet on to all of them so that they are aware of their standings and the level of participation.
A final note…. There is an identical-format CT event running in the WorldWide Postal Competition, into which all of your scores have been automatically seconded. This contest closes February 29th 2004 so there is plenty of time to yet encourage others to enter and fly …. and if you choose to fly again and better your present score then I’ll substitute the new one accordingly. Now that’s a great opportunity for many though I hesitate to challenge Mike Thomas to better his times … he might just do that ….. !
Thanks again, everyone ….. Jim Moseley
Cloud Tramp 2003 * indicates discarded longest/shortest flights.
1. Mike Thomas CN 194 175 111* 258 280* = 627
2. Pete Cameron UK 94 123 67* 89 183* = 306
3. Les Sayer CN 64* 113 118* 81 100 = 294
4. Ricky Millette CN 77 71* 112 102 279* = 291
5. Joseph Pengilley USA 102 80* 85 102 178* = 289
6 Richard Barlow CN 90 97* 83 92 39* = 265
7. Kent Josefsson Sweden 48* 69 162* 102 76 = 247
8. Jean Sayer CN 117* 62* 79 103 64 = 246
9. Alex Cameron UK 80 45* 90 179* 71 = 241
10. Ken Taylor UK 76 67* 75 81* 77 = 228
11. Orville Olm CN 68 71 66* 83 96* = 222
12 Terry Tomlin Australia 884* 77 66 69 50* = 212
13. Henry Hill USA 63 71 93* 47* 76 = 210
14 Daniel Millette CN 86* 62 70 54* 75 = 207
15 Lindsey Smith UK 57 56 45* 94* 92 = 205
16 Jim Moseley CN 61* 64 80* 70 66 = 200
17 Ann Seale USA 51* 59 62 75 81* = 196
18 Les Sayer CN 58 68 69 81* 55* = 195
19 Bert Whitehead UK 67 69* 60* 66 61 = 194
20 Bud Matthews USA 71 58 53* 79* 62 = 191
21 Dave Rumball UK 82* 69 59 53* 61 = 189
22 Pat Seale USA 60* 62 62 63 116* = 187
23 Don Smith USA 65 54* 62 68* 59 = 186
24 Art Swift USA 75* 60 58 63 55* = 181
25 Don Butman USA 66 60 48* 67* 54 = 180
26 Roland Frid Sweden 62 83* 53 42* 64 = 179
27= Ole Torgesen Norway 113* 68 33* 55 49 = 172
27= Al Pardue USA 46* 50 76* 60 62 = 172
29 John Andrews UK 57 39* 68 43 130* = 168
30 Jane Smith UK 58* 46* 53 56 58 = 167
31= Havard Amlie Norway 58 49* 53 36 25* = 166
31= J.Lumsden UK 63 53 50 48* 97* = 166
33 Bengt Hoglund Sweden 48 79 21* 37 218* = 164
34= Martin Amlie Norway 68* 52 46 42* 63 = 161
34= Stan Pearson UK 41 40* 67 69* 53 = 161
36 Tor Bortne Norway 68* 53 47 44* 60 = 160
37 Stan Pearson UK 39* 54 53 51 67* = 157
38 Ron Boots USA 32* 48 56 49 66* = 153
39 P. Lumsden UK 43 60 49 87* 31* = 152
40 David Feather USA 50 48 38* 48 52* = 146
41 Charlie Hendrickson USA 60* 54 38* 41 49 = 144
42 Ingvar Claesson Sweden 33* 37 61* 47 51 = 135
43= Mike Myers USA 27* 29 45 62* 59 = 133
43= Chris Sanders UK 101* 32* 33 61 39 = 133
45 Ian Lover UK 26* 45 42 41 65* = 128
46 Don Martin USA 43 49* 47 36 25* = 126
47 Geoff Stubbs UK 35* 34 23* 29 35 = 98
48 June Pearson UK 35 43* 20 34 9* = 89
49 Svein O. Olstad Norway 20* 23 36 37* 25 = 84
50 Ted Smales UK 16 30 12* 34 35* = 80
51 Sten Bergwall Sweden 23* 25 28 31* 23 = 76
52 Mike Parker UK 24 17* 19 22 31* = 65
“Supporters”
Jane Sanders UK 190 o.o.s. …. = 190
Kjell-H Braten Norway 49 = 49
