La Coupe Des Barons 2021

[Ron Gray]

Oh dear, this isn’t sounding good!

[J D 8]

 You made it with your navigator out of action. Just enjoy the flying and the camaraderie of fellow flyers.

  The furthest I have driven this year is the 32mls to our flying field, so well done.

[David Davis]

Saturday 12th June 2021. Der Tag!

 

Despite being tired I could not sleep easily. I found the noise of the hotel's airconditioning quite disturbing, (I had no problems the following night,) but I awoke early feeling a little stressed, and I cut myself shaving! Having realised that I was not going to bleed to death I went down for breakfast leaving the hotel at 07.15. I had checked with the receptionist as to the direction of Jonage and off I went. Pilots were expected to register between 07.30 and 08.30. Now I am not used driving in big cities and you cannot just pull in to the side of the road to check your bearings in a big city, but an hour later I realised that I was off course. I had been following a road parallel to the one I needed. Out came the Sat Knave.  It took me to Jonage in ten minutes and as I entered the town I saw a number of permanent signs, low down on the side of the road. One of them said "Aeromodelisme." The Club Modelisme Jonage operates in a park where you can also paricipate in other activities such as boating, rowing, sailing, canoeing and horse riding. I got there at 08.30, stress levels fairly high.

 

As I'd expected none of my four colleagues had arrived nor were they to arrive. I thought that it was rude of them not to cancel their entries. I realise that two of them are going through a difficult period in their lives but a brief email saying that they would not attending this year's event would not have required much effort. 

 

Having paid my 15€ for my four-course lunch I found myself without an assistant or "mechanic" as we say in La Coupe. I went up to Vincent Saffioti, the founder of the modern Coupe Des Barons and the pilot of the Number 1 Baron himself, Le Grand Tomio resplendent in his Japanese tee shirt and Kamikaze headband, and I asked for his assistance! He willingly gave it. I was honoured to have such a distinguished gentleman as my mechanic!

 

The concours d'elegance took place with all of the models lined up in their groups. I have never seen so many fine looking Barons and became convinced that mine would finish last! In the event, along with several othe entrants it finished eleventh. Perhaps the judges were impressed by my cable operated elevators a la Nieuport fighters of the Great War.

 

There had been some reallocation of groups and because only about fifty-five pilots had actually turned up so the number of groups was reduced to seven.  I was now flying as No 4 pilot in Group 4. I was no longer flying alongdide Laurent Jaquot who won the event in 2018. Indeed most of the hot shots were grouped together in Group 7.

 

Caisse Baguettes.

 

And so the competition began with Caisse Baguettes, knocking over 1 metre high balsa wood sticks. After the first two groups had flown there was some problem with the organsation and we all waited for an hour in the blazing sun while things were sorted out. To be fair it was the first time that the Jonage Club had organised the event. While the third group was in the air I prepared my Baron. I ran up the engine and found that it required two clicks leaner to run cleanly in that southern French air!

 

Once it was our turn to fly, the drill was for all of the i/c engine pilots to start their engines and to get airborn. Then the electric powered machines took to the air. Two toots on the air horns and we could start trying to knock over the sticks. The engine, a Thunder Tiger 54, started straight away turned over by my old starter to which I had recently fitted a 2200 mAh LiPo.  Vincent carried the model to the take off point and guided me to my pilot's position. It was obvious that I had a well set up model this year even though it was less stable than I really wanted. I was usually too high for the sticks but I did manage a touch and go in the middle of the broken sticks and that was worth points. Two toots on the air horns signified the end of the round. I had finished with an intact model, a well set-up engine and some points for a touch and go. I watched the other groups fly. Several ploughed in of course but that is the way with La Coupe Des Barons.

 

Pylon race.

 

Same drill as before, i/c models start up and take off followed by the electrics. Two toots and "Gentlemen, you have a race!" in English over the PA. I was concerned that the the 6oz SLEC red fuel tank might not be enough for five minutes of full throttle flight but I need not have worried. I completed 19 circuits. It would have been 20 but I had a cut. The best I've ever done was 23 in 2018 when my other Baron was powered by an electric motor. Perhaps if I'd used an 11x7 or 11x8 instead of the 12x6 I had fitted I could have has a faster model, but changing props to one of an unknown quality in the middle of a competition is not a good idea.

 

Laurent Jacqout put in his usually metronomic high speed performance his OS 35 AX squealing with delight through its tuned pipe. There was another pilot, a young man I had noticed before but never seen fly, who was flying an electric powered Baron at a speed which appeared to be twice as fast as anybody else in his group. It was a breath-taking performance until he ran out of electricity and had to land. I believe that both he and Laurent Jacquot put in over fifty circuits.

 

Then we all stopped for lunch. Sea food paella. Very nice but I don't have a very big appetite these days.

 

I'll leave things for now. but give you a report on the afternoon's activities later. Suffice it only to say that I was pleased. I was still in the competition with some points on the board!

 

Some pictures of Barons for you before the flying side of the competition began.

 

PS.

The blue model in the first picture is that of Laurent Jacquot.

 

The model in the Japanese scheme in the second picture is the No 1 Baron belonging to Vincent Saffiotti who dreamt up the idea of La Coupe Des Barons. In keeping with the spirit of the event, his mate, Christian Bolis has made his model, the No 2 Baron, the blue model in the picture and repeated in the third picture, resemble a Douglas Dauntless! I didn't note the name of the pilot of the other Baron in the picture but he's always there or thereabouts in the results.

 

Baron 223 has a nose shaped to look like a German WW1 Albatross fighter.

 

The mechanic of the pilot of the Baron in the Brazilian colours was a strikingly good looking woman who may well have been Brazlian for all I know!

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by David Davis

[Graham Davies 3]

Enjoying this David, do please continue!

[Ace]

A good read and nice pictures giving a real flavor of the day - so far. 

[Ron Gray]

Great stuff David, looking forward to the next instalment.

[David Davis]

I am putting off doing more important things but thought I might as well summarise the day then do those things. You can tell that I'm a single man at the moment!

 

Der Tag.  Saturday 12th June 2021. La Coupe Des Barons. The Afternoon.

 

La Chasse aux Renards.

 

So having had some lunch and having restricted myself to just one little bottle of beer we all got ready for the Chasse aux Renards in which a trainer slowly pulls a streamer around the sky and you have to try to cut the streamer or at least touch it. There were two trainers on the ground waiting for their chance to fly if a streamer was cut. The tug pilots were all young lads and initially they were flying too fast for the Barons but by the time it was my turn to take to the air they seemed to have things sorted out. Furthermore, it seemed that although they had the tugs on the ground, they were not ready to go and some time was lost while streamers were attached to the tugs. This resulted in the contest director having to stop the clock while streamers were attached. As I have already said, this was the first time in which the Jonage Club had organised the event so allowances must be made.

 

The survivors of the first three groups took to the air. One guy proved to be a natural at the event and managed to cut two streamers which became tangled up in his model so he was towing two streamers about! Oh how we laughed!

 

The hot shots threw themselves into the event, scorching round the sky like demons until they smashed into another hot shot's model or into the plodding Baron of some also-ran to the raucous alcohol-fuelled cheers of the spectators! You'll be able to see this when the official video is released. In either case there was balsa wood all over the place! Oh how we smirked! Both of the Jacquots were out in this way and so was the pilot of the high-speed electric model mentioned above in the Pylon section and several of the mighty were amongst the fallen.

 

Vincent and I were becoming a team by now and I took off and waited for the starting signal then dived onto the streamer but missed it. The next five minutes were spent in throwing Bertie through some evolutions which he'd never experienced before but I had no success. I normally manage to get a cut or touch but not this time. Then again no-one else did from my group. I cannot recall the tug having to be replaced. So I made a good landing and watched the following rounds.

 

The Group 7 round featured Vincent Saffioti and his mate Christian with his Corsair No 2 Baron. Part way through the round Vincent's model, in a dive smashed straight through Christian's model snapping the fuselage in half in mid air! More raucous cheers coupled with sheer surprise ensued. Vincent's model was only superficially damaged and with a little wood, glue and gaffer tape it was ready for the next round.

 

So was I.

 

La Limbo. The final round.

 

This year the Jonage Club enlarged the obstacle or "goalpost" to fifteen metres wide instead of the ten metres at Ste Marie d'Alloix.  As the Baron has a wingspan of less than 1.6 metres and the height of the cross bar is four metres why is it so difficult to fly through? I think that the answer is that in all of the rounds you become more and more anxious as time goes on. In other words you are more likely to crash in the fifth minute than in the first. If the state of my sweaty palms was anything to go by that is the case! Furthermore, did we get more nervous with each round? We all knew that the Limbo was waiting for us and likely to harvest a good crop of Barons.

 

I watched the first rounds as people smashed their models to pieces. Some of the better pilots were urged to try "Un Looping." Two or three succeeded. The only time I've seen it done.

 

Then got my Baron ready. With Vincent's help  I was in the air and at my pilot's post. Two toots on the air horn and we were off. I found myself in a good position, downwind of the goalpost at a moderate speed, a good height and straight and level. I flew straight into the left-hand upright! Immediately afterwards the Brazilian Baron smashed into the same post at such a speed that the fuselage flew on for at least another ten metres!

 

So that was me out of the competition. Damage is not extensive. Firewall broken away. Dint in the wing leading edge, splits in the fuselage. Nothing which cannot be repaired with wood time and glue. I watched the later rounds. Vincent crashed into a post after a few successful passes so all that remained was the allocation of prizes.  Only 9 models survived the competition unscathed. It was the most destructive Coupe Des Barons on record! Great fun though!

 

I looked at the results and found that I had finished in 39th position. Better than I've ever done but in view of the smaller entry about the same standard. 

 

In La Coupe Des Barons there is a prize for the winner of the Concours D'Elegance, a prize for the pilot who knocks over the most baguettes, a prize for the pilot who flew the most circuits in the pylon race, a prize for the best pilot in the Chasse aux Renards and a prize the pilot who has the most limbo passes. The overall points are totted up and prizes are given to the first  three. Consequently it is possible to win two or more prizes.

 

My "Prix Quatre Temps" or Four-Stroke Prize, a big box of balsa wood, is an unofficial prize which I give to the leading pilot in the overall results who uses a fourstroke engine. You are not going to win La Coupe Des Barons with a four-stroke. I waited until all the first five prizes had been allocated then thought, " Well the next stage is announcing the overall winner, the runner up and the third place man, perhaps he had not realised that I was waiting to give my prize." At this stage he had switched off the microphone. I took my opportunity. I walked up to him and asked him who was the winner of the four-stroke class.

 

"You!" he replied.

 

I gave the wood to the second placed four-stroke user.

 

The pictures below are of the survivng Barons and of Vincent and his mate Christian after Vincent had wrecked his model.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by David Davis

[Ron Gray]

Another excellent report David and, from the sounds of it, another great Coupe.

 

Will you still continue to go after you’ve moved ‘back here’?

[David Davis]

12 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:

Another excellent report David and, from the sounds of it, another great Coupe.

 

Will you still continue to go after you’ve moved ‘back here’?

Oh yes. Miss Blue Eyes is keen to be my mechanic again next year and I've suggested that she could fly herself the following year. A pink and purple Baron perhaps.

 

The event will be held at Ste Marie d'Alloix next year. The two clubs will alternate the organisation in subsequent years.

 

Trish and I will regard La Coupe as the high point of a summer holiday!

 

PS. There was one other survivor. The bloke who finished his model with the red and white diagonal stripes on the leading edge of the wing, pictured earlier, had his motor cut in the limbo and he glided to a landing.

[Graham Davies 3]

Fabulous report David, and well done indeed.

 

This really does sound a great way to spend a day.

 

Graham

[J D 8]

 Yes, great report David. Lot's of new barons to be madeand plenty for repair. Cheers John.

[McG 6969]

... some great tournament report, David. 

 

Well done, young man...

Looking forward to Trish & you having that 'summer holiday' next year.

 

Cheers

Chris

[David Davis]

La Coupe Des Barons 2021. A Few Reflections.

 

The event was well enough organised bearing in mind that it was the first time that the Jonage club had run the event. Everybody was very friendly. I suppose that I am becoming something of a feature of the event now, sole Englishman, donor of the fourstroke prize etc.

 

The Engine. Thunder Tiger 54 FS.

 

I am particularly pleased with the reliability of the engine. I have at least seven OS fourstrokes which would be eligible for La Coupe ranging from a 40 to several 52s. If they weren't good engines I would not have bought them but the Thunder Tiger has proved more reliable. This is by no means a criticism of OS who are, after all the industry standard but my OSs have been waiting patiently in their boxes for me to use them for several years. I should have at least stripped and cleaned the carburetter before fitting the engine to a model. This probably accounts for the running problems. Furthermore, I bought the Thunder Tiger new and all of the OSs second hand so that has to be borne in mind. I have quietly become a fan of Thunder Tiger engines. I have a 91FS in a Senior Telemaster, another waiting for a model to be available and Don Fry has recently given me a 46 PRO two stroke for the club's trainer. It's a shame that they are no longer made but if you are in the market for a used mid-sized four stroke I would recommend a Thunder Tiger 54 unreservedly.

 

Bertie and Boris Baron.

 

If you have been following this thread you will know that I have two Barons, one in British markings, Bertie, and the other in Russian markings, Boris. Boris was built from a kit and is completely as the designer intended. With Bertie I changed the wing construction from a multi-spar system to a more conventional D box with supporting spar. I reinforced the spars with carbon fibre and this has resulted in a stronger, lighter wing. However, in an attempt to make the model more manoeuvrable I reduced the dihedral. I used the dihedral of the Super 60 as a template but the Super 60 has a different wing planform and a thicker wing section. The result of these changes is a less stable model which is not as pleasant to fly as the stock model. I recovered the wing for the competition and thought about cutting it up and reverting to a stock dihedral but discovered that I'd made such a good job of glueing everything together that it would have been easier to build a new wing! Perhaps I'll do that anyway. I have two Barons to repair and a year to do it in. Neither is substantially damaged but both require the firewalls to be glued back into place. Maybe I'll put the Thunder Tiger into Boris. It's not as straight forward process as it sounds but possible!  

 

Flying Standards at La Coupe Des Barons.

 

I have been flying r/c models for thirty-three years but I'm not a highly accomplished pilot. In my youth I flew free flight models which has given me some understanding of basic aerodynamics. I can take off, fly a few aerobatic manoevres and land pretty well but that's about it.

 

The standard of flying at La Coupe ranged from the excellent to the execrable! Of the excellent flyers I could never hope to emulate their performance but some of the others were downright dangerous! Quite a large crowd had gathered near the safety fence. I got talking to three families with young children who had come out for the day to watch the events. As there was no club gazebo for me this year, I took shelter in the shade of a small tree which was also being used for the same purpose by these families on the other side of the safety fence.  Some pilots lost track of their models and were flying above the crowd. Some pilots crashed for no apparent reason miles away from the action. Nerves? Disorientation? I'm sure I don't know. One model's wing even came off in flight! I don't suppose there is much that the organisers can do about it except perhaps insist that everybody has their Brevet A, the equivalent of the BMFA A Certificate.

 

Conclusion.

 

It was nice to see that five of the founder members of La Coupe Des Barons had entered. Vincent and Christian with their nos 1 and 2 Barons, tEvan and laurent Jacquot with 3 and 4 and Leonard Brunori with No 5. They all crashed but so did I!

 

I had a great time and intend to be back next year but at seventy-three none of this is a given. I made a horlicks of the journey back home but I managed to buy some boxes of Moulin A Vent and Macon Villages en route and I drove through some of the most spectacular scenery France has to offer.

 

I'll leave you with pictures of the wreckage.

[Ace]

Brilliant - you obviously had a great time and thanks for sharing what was a really enjoyable experience ???

[McG 6969]

Great report, David.

Thanks.

 

A bit of a shame to see all those wreckages though...

 

Reminds me that I still have my unfinished Svenson Vicomte on the backburner...

 

Cheers

Chris

[Ron Gray]

Excellent David, thanks for sharing it all with us. Here's to next year!

[J D 8]

 Pretty sure several bitsa barons could be made from all wreckage.  Great report and look forward to seeing official video should you be able to post. Cheers, John.

[David Davis]

Official pictures here:  https://anticdreams.zenfolio.com/p1056181841

 

The official video will be available in due course.

[Chris Walby]

Thanks for all the posts and very entertaining to read, personally I don't have an problem with all the damaged models as its a competition and these things happen. Everyone who enters I an sure understands that there is a risk that they might crash or get taken out by another model. There are about 5 of us that fly foamboard (FT Versers) with streamers in combat and what's surprising is how difficult it is to get close to another model in flight. Its a real mindset change for me to fly a model while constantly trying to work out where other models are as normally its quite easy to stay away at the other end of the patch or climb above other traffic. As they say practice makes perfect all the best in the future with the repairs, retesting and next year's competition.

[J D 8]

The aircraft are much the same as per rules but the variety of pilots is good fun.

I like the optimist who thinks he can launch his sidewinders through the propeller arc.

[David Davis]

On 14/06/2021 at 07:57, Ron Gray said:

Oh dear, this isn’t sounding good!

Oh ye of little faith! ?

[Ron Gray]

As it turned out, you are right David!

[Don Fry]

On 15/06/2021 at 09:48, J D 8 said:

 Pretty sure several bitsa barons could be made from all wreckage.  Great report and look forward to seeing official video should you be able to post. Cheers, John.

Cheers JD8. I now have a mind worm of what the Frankenstein Baron will look like.

[David Davis 2]

The video of the event has been released. Check out the Brazilian model at 4.05 and 10.13, the high speed yellow model at 8.40, the mid-air at 14.53, the  Baron towing two ribbons cut from the tug at 15.43 and Vincent Saffioti's No 1 Baron smashing into his mate's No 2 Baron at 16.50!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS3P3dN8H_o

[J D 8]

 All good fun David, thanks for sharing. That limbo sure is carnage, the one that takes the wing off but the fuzz still rolls along the ground penguin style tickled me. ?  Cheers. John.