Carracho F3B

The Carracho F3B, what can I say about this glider. I had just got rid of an X models ION , I still had my Acacia 1 but I felt the need for a true F3B machine. I put a 'wanted' post on some F3B forums and BMFA . I had a few replies but there was a chap from the Northampton area that had 2 Carracho F3B's . We did a bit of brief negotiating over the telephone and agreed a price for the pair of them subject to condition

Yellow One..Mine



White One.. Robs, Now the Mighty HUDDS!

















Myself and ROB ended up at the vendors house, he had a garage at the bottom of the garden where he was building a real aeroplane. It transpired that he used to be a member of the British F3B team and was also a personal friend of the 'Mighty Gilbert' aka Pete Cubitts.Seemed like the sort of bloke I would be happy to buy a glider from. He had used both these Caracho's in the European championships in Austria 2006. They were both damaged but very well repaired so myself and Rob decided we would take on each. Mine Yellow, his white. We then made tracks back to the West Country.

Carracho at Westbury ,Parked up

The Carracho F3B turned out to be probably the best designed glider that I have ever owned. It was very strong and yet light, and had been designed with some very clever features. The ballast was simply 4 bars, 2 brass and 2 aluminium, these could be used in any rotation and simply slotted in. The wing was a 2 piece wing that fitted beautifully onto a solid wing joiner with a very natty plug system

Crow on, Ready for Landing

 The Carracho to fly was a joy. This glider would float around in nothing at all, it became affectionately known as the thermal sniffer due to its ability to sniff out lift. When there was a decent breeze and the nose was lowered it had a great turn of speed. The control surfaces were big and had big throws which led to some monumental square loops and crow braking even crows would be jealous off!


One of the fondest memories of this glider before it became The Wigwams (Mark Wickham) was the day we went winching for the first time. A few of us went to some old dis used school fields and the Mighty Gilbert aka Pete Cubitts brought along a winch. We spent the day having an absolute ball learning this new skill, it was a legendary day



Preparing for Winching, Spot the Legend that is ''THE GILBERT"

























This is a video(WATCH IT) of the mighty Gilbert guiding me through my first ever F3B winch Launch, it was a fantastic / terrifying experience all wrapped up in one. The Gilbert is a man of few words ( at times ) but the ones that the he does use are worth listening to...
I knew this was a good glider when I spent an age trying to track down the manufacturer in order to buy a brand newie, unfortunately he was only able to offer me the moulds for the glider. He wasn't aware of my motto....You build it, I fly it!!


Martin