DVD Review
Par Boris Bataillé
Introduction |
|
A few weeks ago, Pierre was looking for people to review one of the RadioCarbonArt DVDs entitled “High Performance Thermal Soaring”. As I used to practice F3J back as a teenager and that I just got back in F3B recently, I thought it could be interesting. I am more or less in the academic teaching myself due to my current PhD studies in aerodynamic so I always welcome knowledge sharing initiatives. I received a few days later the DVD by mail from Paul Naton. To be fully honest, I got the DVD for free. You may think this would lead me to be indulgent along the review process but this is forgetting my natural French ability to criticize anything. So I can guaranty to provide subjective criticism all along this article. Anyway, the online price of this DVD is $24.95 so let’s go through it and see if it’s worth it! |
|
First Impressions |
|
What you get is a standard plastic DVD box with the DVD inside. I got a review copy so I can’t comment on the quality of the packaging. It should be good though judging from what I read on some RC forums threads. The DVD is region free so that it should play on any of your hardware. I watched it on a PS3 connected to a LCD screen giving me a good idea of picture quality and user interface through remote control. No criticisms here, as the picture quality is really great even when up scaled and menus are very well designed. DVD content consists in the main movie divided into 20 scenes clearly labeled and directly accessible through the scene selection menu. Some extras are added and include other Radio Carbon Art DVD previews as well as a very interesting short presentation by Paul Naton of his own setups for thermal gliders. Sound is also good and voices are clearly understandable even when recorded in outdoor environment. |
|
Core Value |
|
I
won’t list and comment every piece of information provided along the scenes
as it would be a total spoiler and not as interesting as the original source.
I especially appreciated the overall logic in the development beginning
with weather and air reading, going on with glider performance and settings
and ending with flight demonstrations that synthesize all the previous topics
in a very efficient and entertaining way.
Every important definition or notion is illustrated with clear illustrations. Additional sources of information are suggested such as websites for weather forecast and other Radio Carbon Art DVDs that cover more specifically some technical points such as CG setting. It is important to remind that this DVD focuses on thermal soaring, as you may have guessed from the title. This is well covered but on the other hand it means that some topics won’t be discussed. And this brings me to my first criticism: you won’t find any information on tow technique neither on landing settings. I know they are not properly part of thermal soaring but they are often linked to it at least for F3J and F3B category. So if you were not sure about it, this DVD is not a F3J dedicated product but indeed an advanced guide on how to thermal like the best glider pilots. |
|
|
|
Every technical notion is supported by a clear sketch / Chaque notion technique est illustrée par un dessin très clair |
|
Speaking about the best glider pilots: soon after the technical parts about thermal handling, the guest star of this DVD appears in the person of David Hobby. He brings a very precious mix of personal experience and general technique on how to thermal efficiently more from a pilot point of view. His explanations are very clear thanks to his use of a small paper F3J model in order to illustrate every idea. He then flies a F3J glider in order to show how to apply all the previous advice in real flight. The videos of the flights are just good enough to indeed see the glider rise or sink and its speed variations. I liked the fact that the flights where the thermal seeking does not go so well were also kept as it shows quite well sinking conditions effects on the glider attitude. However it should be said that David Hobby tends to fly more often in lift than in sink. His comments on how he pilots during the flights are also very valuable. |
|
David Hobby is a great virtual coach / David Hobby est un grand coach virtuel |
|
Verdict |
|
Overall I really enjoyed this DVD. Although I think I am a decent thermal pilot, I did learn new things or got confirmations of things I was not sure about. For instance the wind vector method is very clearly introduced and then demonstrated in flight by David Hobby. This is something I didn't use so much and that should help me improving my skills. Same thing applies to thermal frequency. This is why I would recommend this DVD to new and intermediate competitors. It should also be good for RC pilots flying gliders just for fun even if they may find a few points a little bit too technical. On the other hand, I guess that advanced or expert F3J pilots may already know a lot of what is explained in this DVD. They could still use this DVD as a nice screen saver for their LCD screen during the cold winter and enjoy the virtual company of David Hobby who seems to be a very friendly pilot. A second personal criticism would be the fact that the DVD presents almost only the hows of thermal soaring and very few about the whys. This maybe irrelevant to a lot of pilots but I quite enjoy understanding the theory behind a practical result. And I must say that some explanations seemed obscure to me such as the fact that an aft CG glider would have a nose up attitude compared to a forward CG glider. A strange assertion about the effect of earth rotation on the choice of clockwise or anti-clockwise circling left me a little bit sceptical. I remember from school that earth rotation does affect the way the main wind rotates as the altitude rises but I'm a bit skeptical about the effect of this on a RC glider. In the end I can confirm that "High Performance Thermal Soaring" DVD is worth its $24.95 as it brings a lot of precious information about settings and thermal techniques. David Hobby experience sharing is also extremely valuable. In case you're short on Christmas gift ideas it may still be time to fix that. |
|
Flight sessions are well shot enabling to notice lift and sink / Les vols sont bien filmés permettant de voir les changements de portance |
|
Pros:
Cons:
|
|
PS: I'd like to personally thank Pierre and Paul for giving me the opportunity to review this DVD, as it's the first time I get to watch this kind of product. |
|
|
|
Copyright
© 1998 - 2008 Planet-Soaring.com
No commercial use or publication (e.g. on other
www or ftp sites, print media) without the written consent from the author(s)