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UK F3A Team Member
Keith Jackson
I started flying radio
controlled model aircraft in 1981 at the Chingle Hall Model Club, near
Preston in Lancashire. I’m not really sure what got me interested in
models to begin with but I do remember seeing some R/C gliders flying on
the nearby Rivington Pike hill and being fascinated by them. Anyway R/C
gear was not great in the early 80’s and I went through quite a few models
before settling down to a Gangster 52 / HP 40 Silver star with a tuned
pipe of course! That was a great model and was the first occasion when I
set out to learn to do four point rolls. Course I’m still learning now
which is the thing about F3A; you never do the same manoeuvre twice! Later
I progressed to a Gangster 63 / Webra 61, which was one of the great
engines of the day. I spent quite a few years just messing around with
different and invariably home built models before almost abandoning the
hobby whilst I went off to University. Models to that point also included
a Dave Hardaker Lightning / Webra 61, Hanno Prettner Magic / ST61, Dave
Smith Dalotel / YS 60FR and an own design based on the Wolfgang Matt
Joker.
I returned properly to model aircraft in 1995 after moving to Motherwell
in Scotland to work as an Acoustics Engineer at Tannoy Loudspeakers Ltd.
The model that caught my eye was a Mike Delacole Chilli Breeze. I scratch
built this using the foam wings from the RCM&E plans service whilst living
in a bedsit. I opted to use the Irvine 36 engine with the standard exhaust
for ease of use. I tissue covered the fuselage and filmed the wings in
Solarfilm and the resulting model weighed just under four pounds. This was
such a good model to fly being well powered and reasonably straight; at
48” span, it was to small to not build well!
I joined the local club in Hamilton and met a chap called Fraiser Cairns
who introduced me to “proper” aerobatic flying. To that point I’d merely
flown all around the sky doing manoeuvres in no particular order, but
flying one after the other and in a distinct area in the sky was something
altogether different. This was just flying the Sportsman schedule; no
turn-arounds, just centre manoeuvres. It was great! I loved the new
challenge; after years of aimless flying here was something that I could
really get my teeth into. Together we practiced a bit and then decided to
go to an Aerobatic meet in Cumbernauld. This was a revelation and I saw
fantastic models I’d never even imagined. It was the start of the use of
2m models and YS fourstroke 120AC’s. The noise from these beautiful
engines was amazing and totally different from anything I’d heard before.
I also met for the first time Steve Burgess who was an aerobatic legend by
that time, Malcolm Harris and the Balfour family. Steve was flying a Fresh
Aire / YS 120AC and the performance of this model was phenomenal. Malcolm
flew a Summit 120, David Balfour I think was flying a DSM Saphire and
Angus Balfour a DSM Zenith / YS 91AC. This event I think more than any
other, captivated my interest in a way that all the other flying I’d done
for years earlier had missed.
I was pretty successful with the Chilli Breeze and went on to fly it
though the aerobatic season up to the SAA Nationals. Moving up to FAI
class shortly after saw me fly the Chilli Breeze into the ground whilst
out-flying the battery capacity! A sad moment for me. After being
model-less, Fraiser came to my rescue with the loan of an old Dalotel to
which I fitted my equally aging YS 60. Shortly afterwards I moved down to
Southampton to study at the ISVR. At the time the GBRCAA ran a couple of
Sportsman events for new pilots, which I entered on-route to Southampton!
Again these competitions were a great way to see what was involved in
aerobatic flying. I joined the GBRCAA in 1996 and flew a second Chilli
Breeze / Irvine 36, Daltoel / YS 60 and a later a DSM Excelsior 177 / YS
91AC through the season. Practising prior to the Nats in 1996 saw me again
out-fly the battery pack (on the last manoeuvre of the last schedule of
the day), two days before the competition. I was devastated and had to
force myself to fly the Chilli Breeze once more. By the end of the year I
managed to obtain promotion to FAI class (Masters, as it was known then).
Over the Winter I scratch built my own 2m model, Keyfish which at the time
of design was powered by an original YS 120 (pre AC!). It was pretty light
being balsa / foam / Solarfilm and weighed just 9 ¼ pounds and compared to
everything else I’d flown to then, flew pretty well. Engine problems
dogged me all through that season until I managed to obtain one of the new
YS 140 FZ engines. This transformed the model giving me true vertical
performance for the first time.
I attended the 1997 BMFA Nats and whilst flying there was fortunate to be
asked by the committee to stand in for UK Team member Dave Smith, who was
supposed to be entering the World Championships in Poland few days later.
Mad panic preparation was all that I remember of those few days before
leaving for Warsaw. I do remember a very helpful practice session with
John Mee / Peter Brett and flying into darkness on the last manoeuvre of
the last session of the day …!
Since then I’ve attended a number of internationals and am now just ready
to set of for the World Championships in Argentina.
In recent years I’ve been lucky enough to have flown an Angels Shadow II,
which is an all moulded composite airframe made by Techno Hobbies in
Russia. This was actually one of the very first composite F3A designs back
in 1999 and is built backwards in the mould starting with the clear coat,
then paint, epoxy, glass and then any balsa structure. The mould is then
pressed together to produce a blemish free, fully painted airframe. This
airframe has been re-engined three times since 2003 when I originally
bought it having used a YS 140 L, 140 DZ “Dingo” and lately the YS DZ
160. For guidance I now use the Futaba 14 MZ radio and mostly digital
servos (9150: ailerons, 9151: rudder, 9102: elevator).
More recently I acquired Angus Balfour’s Astral XX and this to is a
composite model produced by Extreme Flight. Designed by Naruke it features
an Anhedral tailplane and flies very well. This is also fitted with a YS
DZ 160 and uses a similar R/C setup as the Angels Shadow.
This year has seen an unprecedented level of support for the team from the
GBRCAA committee and members, in terms of training, financial support and
motivational talks! It really helps me as a team member to know that the
association is supporting me in my efforts and it is very much
appreciated. In addition the BMFA have also contributed significantly to
the considerable expenses of sending a team half way across the world to
Argentina, and by providing funds to allow a number of training sessions
throughout the year. In recompense I do hope we as a team can do well and
achieve a respectably high ranking.
Keith Jackson
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