The Curare Trio: Me on the left with my Schweighofer Curare ARF (glow), Ingmar Svensson (middle, third place) with his scratchbuilt Curare, and Ola Maltesson on the right (5th place) with his new Schweighofer electric Curare.
The Swedish/Norwegian border cup is back, and our Swedish neighbours hosted a three day F3A event at Lilla Anrås airfield just outside Fjällbacka on the beautiful Swedish west coast. The event started with an informal retro-F3A meeting on Friday. Designs older than 20 years were allowed to enter the competition. Electrics were allowed, but got a 10 % penalty due to “the silly noise”…
Ola Maltesson getting ready for his third flight, Conny Åquist carries his Curare
The nostalgic event was hosted by Mikael Nabrink, Ingmar Svensson and Conny Åquist. The “Curare Cup Normal” schedule was flown, and it worked well. It’s easy to fly but hard to master, so there’s something in it for everyone.
Ingmar Svenssons immaculate Curare with Webra 61
Three pilots flew Curare. Two were Schweighofer ARFs. Ola Maltesson flew his brand new electric Curare, and former World Championship contestant (1989) Ingmar Svensson flew his immaculate model built from MK plans. He used an old Graupner 6014 radio from the 1980, converted to 2,4 Ghz, and a Webra Speed .61 engine. Truly nostalgic! Ingmar flew the most precise figures, but had fuel tank problems and had to land dead-stick after two short flights. He came in third place following his great third flight.
Ola Maltesson used his new electric Schweighofer Curare to win 5th place
I flew my glow-powered Curare, and it performed well for the first two rounds, despite having undergone hasty repairs to the cowling and having a cracked exhaust header. I also damaged the nose gear two days before, so I had to fly with it locked down (nobody noticed!). In the final round the engine quit with ruined ball bearings, and I had to land dead stick. It was a worthy end to its hard life with full throttle and much Nitromethane – I won the contest and could take home the fabulous Asano wooden prop signed by Hanno Prettner.
First price – Asano propeller signed by Hanno Prettner