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Bogdan

Bogdan

Challenge F1A-F1B-F1C

1. France 8657
2. Lithuania 8601
3. Israel 8399

Full list

Danijel · Član Pridružen/-a: 27.10. 2008, 18:35 Prispevkov: 66

Cestitam celotni ekipi in srecno vrnitev domov.
Se vidimo v Korenici....

Bogdan

From SEN 2328
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The World Champs is over

We don’t need to publish the results they are on the organizer’s web site at

http://www.faif1abc.com/2-3/

If we look just at the flying one the big surprises was that a number of the strong countries, for example USA and Russia did not make it to the podium. Same with the top flyers, quite a number dropped the critical rounds 4 and 5 where the thermal conditions were very tricky. The hot weather and sometimes difficult retrieval conditions favored teams with young sportsmen who were in good shape and well organized. The F1A flyer who are typically in the best physical condition had to do 2 days of chasing before flying their event.

We sometimes forget that FAI events are competitions for FLYING model airplanes and all classes had people do well with airplanes that were “not the very latest with all the hot gadgets” We saw simple F1Cs do well and straight tow F1As make the fly off. Not every F1B had an all carbon wing either.

We are not familiar with that field but understand that the prevailing wind is a southerly. Certainly the field was set up that way. But during the event the wind blew in just about every other direction and often towards the east where there the most difficult retrieval conditions. The organizer did not react quickly enough if at all to those conditions.

The Mongolians have expressed disappointment at the quality of the timer keeping. At their event they recruited, equipped and trained a very capable group of young people. In addition they did great job of managing the timekeepers with regular reviews and meeting throughout the event. Here many other sportsmen had similar experiences with substandard timing at this event compared with Mongolia. The only example of time keeper cooperation I saw was the time keepers all clocking off their stop watches at the same time even when they were not watching the model. Too many of them did not use the binoculars and had no tripods for the long flights.

It appeared that the facility used for the banquet and awards ceremony was overwhelmed by the number of participants and the temperature. I’m not sure how many people attended but I only saw 3 waiters serving, not enough for several hundred people. You could not see the awards presentation nor the entertainment. There was no raised stage like we saw in France.

The entry fee for such an event are high at 300 Euros per person plus 50 for helpers and 50 for the banquet so the total funds available were probably well in excess of 100,000 euro and we did not see that reflected in the support of the operational, ceremonial or social aspects of the event. Perhaps the CIAM should review the accounting before the upcoming Euro Champs in 2019. Woodhouse for auditor!?

It is very easy to be critical of the organizer and much of the criticism comes people who have not organized such an event themselves. A few SEN issues back we talked about the future of F1C and in that piece I made a comment that “We have met the enemy and he is us”. Hungary was the only bidder for this Champs as Macedonia another possible bidder withdrew. So the CIAM did not make a bad decision, they made the only decision. So if you don’t like the people who run a particular World or Euro Champs, step up.

The Woodhouses

From: Michael Woodhouse

Sir,

I wish to emphatically deny that the Woodhouses that were constructed on the site are not related to me or any of my extended family. Comments such as thick as two short planks will be ignored as will any other thoughts about wooden out-houses.

However thanks to the organisers asking for the top models in each of the three classes to be delivered to the Woodhouse I am now in possession of a winning fleet of models that I could use at a future championships.

He would (wood) say that wouldn’t he?

Thanks for the well ordered covering of the event from which I’m now trying to recover! 40C an unheard number in the UK.

Michael Woodhouse

Bogdan

From Sen 2329
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World Championship Escrow Account?

From: aram schlosberg

World Championships should not run for profit. Giving the apparent large gap between the fees collected from participants plus supporters in the just completed World Championship and the low related expenses such as the absence of inflatable boats or additional bridges to negotiated the canal that wound through the site. Instead, we should escrow all fee payments into a suitable FAI account in the future. The organizers would receive a certain portion of the funds for their upfront expenses. The rest will be dispersed based on reasonable receipts submitted by the organizers following the event. The residual, if any, should be returned proportionally to participants and supporters.

Aram

Bogdan

Zanimiva mnenja o prvenstvu na FB / Interesting points of view about WCh on FB
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Domas Fliecher
Something from a supporter of this WCH: the WCH should be the best and importand contest.... best organisation, best banquet and best airfield.... what did we found in Hungia: a great airfield, only interrupted by a dirty channel.... what did the organizers? setting the starting pole near to this channel, so that many modell are landed in water! also a starting line in parallel ton wind direction.... i never did see anything else.... one round in F1C stopped 5 minutes too early..... no exactly information about time schedule and results.... and so on and so on.... and then the costs: only for entering the airfield 50,- Euro for supporters???? then 50,- Euro for a "banquet"???? on the "banquet" no light, but dirty, hot and bad air and only one drink for free.... the dinner ver small and absolutely cheap! (the meals on the airfield where much more better!) and a dancing show like i get a feeling being in Arabia! Sorry: the complete event looks like only making profit for the organizers! An event like this is absolutely unworth to a WCH in freeflight! As i told in the beginning: a WCH should be THE HIGHLIGHT of the year! this event was only payment for nothing! sorry!!! I feel very sad!
Všeč mi jeKomentiraj
Damjan Žulič $$€€......Money is the first.... €€$$
Domas Fliecher such organizers are going to bury the freeflight.....
Gerhard Aringer When I have some time I will give some real impression from a competitor. Result of this HIGH-LIGHT of the year is:
1. Luca and me will not compete in ECH next year, if the contest will stay at that organization (or better money-makers!!!)..
2. No more contest we will visit in HUNGARY!

It was very interesting to see, that different countries have to pay different fees for contest banquet and access to the field!
Ismail Sarioglu I did not attend the banquet and waited for the ceremony in Szeged.
Me and a friend have sit at the best restaurant around, ordered a steak and a goose leg, drunk 3 cokes, a beer and a Zwack and a sweet , had our coffee and paid 21.Eu for two.
When we returned at 20:00, for ceramony, main dish was still served and people were trying to eat it with the help of light from GSM.
After 2010 EuroChamp in Vize, the Banquet price was 30 Eu if I am not wrong.
With that money, we offered as much as you can eat and as much as you can drink. More important, we hosted all timekeepers for free.
Ron Kreetz As I said before this event: 'moneypickers......'
Domas Fliecher Yes - and for me as a supporter 100,- euro payed - for entering the airfield and this shit banquet.... and no gift for remembering this event... this is the only positive thing... so i can forget this week very quickly.... in the future no contest with this organizers and only WC-contests if nothing will be changed in the future!
Yong Gil Park End of the F1H tournament on August 6th, we used the car to find the Model. And our car crossed the field.

So we paid 500 Euro for the penalty.
Because Organizer said my team can not participate in the compititions if I do not pay a fine.

Of course, we did not do well. But a lot of cars came into the field, but I did not ask anyone to pay a fine.

So the beer at the banquet is what we bought. 😉
Riho-Ats Saatväli At this point looks like next year they will have empty competitors list and field Very Happy

Gerhard Aringer We will do offical protest against ORGANIZATION, .... Need some time to come down to prepare all documents without any emotion, only facts
Miha Lemut I wasn't in Hungary, but just by listening all you guys and wathcing the photos from the field I can say that I am very much dissapointed at the whole thing... I was in the Juniors ECH this year in Macedonia and I can tell you that it was 10x times better in every possible way, although the banquet price was not that high, it is a poor country and there were still some minor problems, but they were all solved correctly and in time... And why was that so? Because there is one great guy organizing the whole event and he won't sleep for three nights in a row if something is not going as planned and if there is a problem... So, Zdravko Todoroski - please contact the organizers of WCH in Hungary this year and help them realize how moronic and foolish was their organization of the competition...
Domas Fliecher seems there where two different competitors on start: the top-stars (they could drive by car and getting no restriction) and the normal starters: they have to pay for every mistake and whatever else.... i hope next year the airfield will be clean and out of all free flight members! This all is MAFIA! It is shocking, that one of the organizers get 500,- Euro for this!!!! They are not police men!!!

Bogdan

From SEN 2330
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Observations on FAI F1 World Champ 2017

From:ismail.s.sarioglu

Dear Roger,
Here are my observations on F1ABC WC 2017;

1. Timetable Model processing was scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.F1C was scheduled for Wednesday, F1B Thursday and F1A Friday. Ceremony and banquet schedule started Saturday at 18:30.Monday, the field and nearby towns were hit by heavy wind and rain and field was accessible only Tuesday afternoon, which should be the official training day.
Had the wind & rain hit the field at one of the competition days, we had no reserve day to recover.
The normal schedule is, as you all know, Sunday and Monday model processing, starting Tuesday and having a real reserve day for disasters like this.

2. F1B - First Round Thursday, the organiser opened 1st F1B round at 07:00, as scheduled. Yet, the wind was already around 7 m/s and the start line was barely 500 m from the trees. The first wave wend into air under these conditions for 240 sec max. Roughly, a third maxed, the other third were behind the trees an out of sight and the last third landed before the trees in downwind. After a wave of protests of teams with non-max scores, the round was NULLIFIED .Everyone had to fly again. Many teams, including Turkey, with maxes has written their protest, requiring that maxes to be counted, but the organiser was LOST on the field and FAI Jury, in-sight, routing them to missing organiser. He became visible again around afternoon. I have never, ever seen something like this...

3. Fly Offs Two wave 1st flyoffs started at 17:00 and 17:30. Thermal activity was present and strong during this hours. In F1B and F1C, if you catch the thermal in this 10 min. window, and have no other trouble, you maxed the 1st FO. If you missed the thermal, due something like a broken rubber, you had no chance.

4. Timekeepers Timekeeper were almost 80% girls and boys from a high school in Szentes. I doubt, if they were taken to the field before World Cup event at Saturday. They did their best and improved day by day. Yet they had trouble with binoculars and had no tripods or monopod. Out of sight cases and timing the wrong model was not uncommon.

5. Banquet The banquet was scheduled at 18:30-20:00, before price giving ceremony. The price was 50.Eu (something like $60) It was in the lunch room of a local high school. I chose not to attend the Banquet and me and a friend has gone to the best local restaurant in the town. We had a goose dish, a beef, 2 cokes, a beer and a Unicum Zwack and also sweets. We payed 21.EU TOTAL for two. When we returned for the ceremony at 20:00, main dishes from a gathering company was still served, under CANDLE Light, because the electricity of the room was gone. The ceremony started at 21:00When we organised EU Champ 2010 in Vize, banquet was 30.Eu. It was at a restaurant with a garden, specialized on wedding dinners. You could eat and drink as much as you can and food was good. More important, all of our timekeepers were our guest, enjoying the same menu. Also Turkish Team was guests of organization. We gained or lost no money.
I sincerely HOPE, that the organiser does not repeat this mistakes in the EC 2018, which he also will organize.

Best Wishes,
Ismail Sarioglu

Bogdan

Ruski forum - zaključno poročilo Sergeja Makarova s prvenstva se končuje tako:
Russian forum - Sergey Makarov's final report from the championships finishes like this:

...В следующем году здесь в Венгрии запланирован чемпионат Европы. Мы с Михаилом Кочкаревым планируем отправить в ФАИ так называемую жалобу от имени национального аэроклуба с указанием многих нарушений кодекса. Надеемся, это послужит на пользу в будущем.

http://www.ramsf.ru/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6275&p=65906#p65906

Bogdan

Ismet Yurtseven published this in the Free flight geoup on FB
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As a F1B participant, my personal opinion about 2017 Budapest FF World Cup and 2017 FF WCh

August 5, 2017 – August 13, 2017 Szentes – Hungary

First of all, I congratulate all of the winners. Their victory which was achieved by them in very difficult conditions is very valuable.

Budapest Cup
Closing date for applications was too early (June 1, 2017). After this date, the organizer started to accept the applications with penalty (Entry fee became 50-Euro). This was not fair.

It was a big mistake to organize the whole contest in one day. There were more than 200 competitors on the field. This increased risk of dangerous accidents. In addition, there were 6 fliers in each pole. For this reason, the round durations were 90 minutes. There was one-hour lunch break. After 11:00 o’clock the weather was very hot and dangerous for us. Probably, to reduce the cost and to make it easier, organizer thought to finish everything in one day.

In a windy weather, organizer announced the flying time for the first round as 5 minutes. For most of us, it was the first fly on this field. Many models were on the trees, channel and bog. Some of them were broken. This was a cruel decision.

What was the purpose of organizing a huge competition in one day and in a windy weather opening the first round with 5 minutes max? Maybe killing the people and the models!!!

2017 FAI Free Flight World Championships

Opening ceremony
Opening ceremony was in the garden of small hotel. It was far to Szentes. There was nobody from public. There was not any ceremony show. There was only a one simple banner. The opening ceremony should be in a central part of the town/city or in a historic place, there should be show, there should be posters, banners to advertise the contest to public and to make the contest unforgettable for the fliers. France 2013 is the best example.

Registration and processing
It was again in the same hotel as opening ceremony. Why it was not in school in Szentes? Giving a plastic ring to carry on the hand for the whole duration of the championships was crazy idea. May be it was because printing badge with photo requires some effort and cost. Probably, giving a plastic ring was the cheapest and easiest way. But it was useless, terrible and unrespectable.

The gift was the cheapest and the simplest one given so far. There was not any characteristic of it for our memories.

Requesting 50-Euro from the spectators was not fair. One of our friends who came to participate in Budapest Cup paid another 50-Euro just to be a spectator of F1A contest. Because of this extra cost, some of our friends who participated in Budapest Cup returned back to Istanbul.

Contest schedule
Contest days were starting from Wednesday. There was not a regular reserve day. As you know, Friday should be reserve day and Saturday should be used for emergency cases. As a matter of fact, Saturday weather was not good to open a round. If the Friday was like Saturday, F1A contest could not be done!!!

Field
Field was not good enough to carry on a World Championships. Furthermore, the organizer used it in the worst way. Organizer set the center of the contest (parking, buffet, organization cottages, starting line, etc.) to the 2900 meters north of the main entrance of the field. Just behind of this location, there were high trees and some old barracks. Starting line was just 250 meters in front of the trees. From the starting line, north and north-west directions were not so visible. It was very obvious to lose the models behind the trees and stop time keeping. Organizer tried to use a fixed start line; he did not consider the wind direction. All three days, generally, the wind was from south and south east directions through the trees.

Depending upon the wind direction, organizer should be ready to start the round from at least three different starting places.

Just before the opening ceremony on Sunday, a very strong wind and rain came to the field. Road into the field was blocked. Entrance and test flights were forbidden by the organizer on Monday. Organizer did not show any effort to keep the road into the field open. Participants found an alternate way into the field.

F1B Day
All the weather forecast sites was showing the wind direction from SSE (south, south-east) which was the direction from starting line directly to the trees, buffet and parking place. I went to the field about 05:45 am. The wind speed was about 3-5 m/s and the forecasted direction was correct. Starting line was very close to the high trees, buffet, car parking, and some very old barracks (about 250 meters). Organizer did not take any action against this situation.

First official round of the contest was opened at 07:00 am. The wind was 5-7 m/s and the direction was through trees. Max time was 4 minutes. Unfortunately, jury only watched this catastrophic situation.

Including me, some people started at the beginning of the round. I did a very clear max. I retrieved the model from almost 2.0 km. far from the starting line.

While I was returning, I heard the announcement of fully cancellation of the round. The jury said the round was totally cancelled and all the fliers would fly again. I disappointed very badly and for me, this catastrophic, crazy, unfair, unacceptable decision was the end of the contest.

I participated in many competitions and I have never seen such a wrong decision. The jury may be given the right of cancellation but in any case it was unfair.

Starting line was moved 400 m. down to south direction afterwards. The new max time was set to 3 minutes and the first round was re-opened at 08:50

I wanted that situation to be recorded in the Jury WCh report. I summarized the incident on a paper and with 50-Euro, I tried to give it to Jury. Jury did not accept and sent me to the contest director. But the contest director was not visible on the field. Around the start line, I did not see him until the end of fifth round. Unfortunately, there was not a contest director from the first round to the fifth round. I don’t know if he was around in the fly-off rounds.

In the second round, Jury member Mr. Wilhelm Kamp was at my pole and waiting me with a chronometer. Why? Was the time keepers not good enough!!! For me, the reason was my attempt to give a protest for the cancellation of the first round results. Clearly, he applied a psychological pressure on me.

In my opinion, F1B day was a total catastrophe and scandal.

Other issues:
Fly-off rounds were started at 5.00 pm. I think this was too early.
There was not a separate prize giving and closing ceremony open to public; it was organized in the 50-Euro banquet. The prize giving and the closing ceremony should be in the town/city center or in a special place and should be open to public.

Although the official name of the organizer and the contest director was Mr. Laszlo Patocs, the actual organizer and the contest director of this contest was Anita Gorocs. But, what was her experience in free flight?

Conclusion
There were bad field, hot and windy weather, penalties, threats, prohibitions, catastrophic mistakes and decisions, but there was no respect to participants.

One big contest was killed by the organizer, contest director and jury all together.

What a shame!!!

Bogdan

From SEN 2336:
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2017 USA FAI Free Flight Team Manager Report. Aug 18, 2017

Jim Parker, Manager
Randy Secor, Assistant Manager
Jace Pivonka, Jr Assistant Manager

F1A: Rene Limberger, Mike McKeever, Brain Van Nest
F1B: Alex Andriukov, Blake Jensen, Charlie Jones
F1C; Ed Carroll, Richard (Fast) Mathis, Faust Parker

After months of model development, test flying, fund raising, T-shirt design and fabrication, along with the team uniforms, entry forms, airline and rental cars and motel reservations, the USA FAI FF team members started to depart late July- early August for Szentes, Hungary for the World Championships.

All model boxes arrived on time and in good shape less some repairable damage to Brian Van Nest’s (F1A) fuselage. Alex Andriukov was the first to arrive and test flew at the World Championship (WC) field before it was officially opened. The flying field was a European Union (EU) preservation area and so the WC organizer had set rigorous field access and use requirements. The field was initially believed to be very good by European standards, in fact it was large, mostly flat with short grass but with surrounding sunflower and corn fields which, in parts, were being harvested. However, the flight line was set up within 500 meters of a meandering water-filled canal too wide to jump across. Also nearby was a swampy area with nearly impassable reeds. This became an issue for many, although we were relatively fortunate with only one model (Alex’s) landing in a canal with several close misses and Blake’s one retrieval from the swamp. We quickly utilized the provided maps that showed the location of the existing bridges. The organizer also constructed a floating bridge that was located in what was said to be the dominate chase direction. Parts of the field were very rough from hardened cattle hoof prints and cracked surface.

F1A and B flyers started practicing on Tuesday and Wednesday and F1C on Thursday after we secured fuel, thanks to the Israeli team for loaning us some fuel. Weather report was for 20-year high temperatures over the next few days, and hot it was! Friday practice went well.

Saturday was the Budapest Cup and we were met with 4-5 meter per second (m/s) wind toward the corn and sunflowers. First round was 5 minute max…we were surprised it was not changed to 4 minutes due to the wind and chase direction. Many dropped like myself. Those that made the 5 minutes landed deep in the sunflower and corn. At the end most agreed it was one of the toughest 5 rounds we’ve ever flown with feel-like temp of 109 degree F. The only USA flyer max-outs were Alex and Jace in F1B. Alex made the first fly off (FO) round and Jace dropped some. Alex won the contest but we were unable to find his model in the sunflower field despite looking until 9:00 pm. He found the model the next day in good shape.

It was clear from the Budapest Cup that approximately ¾ of the timers were inexperienced. They came from a local high school and were paid 4 euro a day. This was unlike Mongolia that used young, non-modelers who received detailed instruction in a class-like setting, practiced timing flights, and became proficient timers. Many of the young Hungarian timers were at a loss and depended on the flyer’s timer. Only one timer had a tripod and all but two refused to use our binoculars on tripods. The many of the WC timer’s binoculars, while meeting the FAI requirements, were old and beat up. The inexperienced timers would become a factor for us and many other teams.

About half the USA team rested on Sunday and half did a short practice. The 6 pm Opening Ceremony was simple and short. It did enable all to get back for dinner at one of many wonderful restaurants. And then it rained.

Similar to Lost Hills, the road to the field became a muddy mess and the field was closed on Monday. That evening Randy and I attended the manager meeting where, in addition to the usual business, the organizers committed to work on the road to make it passable by 8:00 am Tues the next morning.

Tuesday morning, Randy Secor, Ed, and I arrived at the field entrance at 5:30 to assess the access to the field. We found a Brit, coming from the field and reporting the road was blocked by a French car. After an hour or so, some with 4-wheel drive braved a path. In the larger van we had, we decided to try an alternate route which got us to a suitable testing location. I messaged the rest of the USA team and they left for the 30 minute drive. The F1C guys and Alex chose to come to the test area where we were and others braved the muddy road and got to the WC field. Everyone completed testing around noon. That evening we went to registration and model processing that went without incident. Non-removable wrist bands were placed on all the flyers and supporters, part of the organizer’s field control plan. These bands were uniquely numbered and were checked by the timers before each official flight.

F1C, Wednesday
First time in my 40 years of WC experience that the F1A, F1B, F1C flying order was not used. F1C was the first to fly. Randy and Bob Piserchio were the air pickers. First round was cool, slight breeze with three, 4 minute maxes, although the height at 4 minutes was not as much as we would expect. Round 2 and 3 brought more USA maxes but the air was getting tricky. USA models and fliers were looking good. Faust and Richard maxed. Ed flew the third position, climbed slightly to the left but got a good recovery. It looked to be a max but the location over the canal had down air and the flight was about 30 seconds short. An older, experienced timer then told me it was an overrun. With electronic timers and knowing Ed had not made any changes, I was surprised with the over run. I took it as gift and got Ed ready to re-fly. At about 2.5 to 3.0 sec into the climb, Ed’s folder left wing unfolded, the engine cut and the right unfolded. We hoped the model would recover but it did not and spiraled down in about 12 sec. The timer came and told me this was an over run too. I decided not to contest / protest the over run. I did discuss this with one of the Jury members. The inexperienced timers were timing to the model’s bunt and not giving the flyer the “benefit of the doubt” when definitive motor run could not be determined due to other motors running nearby. Ed joined the club that I’m in but no one wants to be a member: zero at the WC. Fourth round, 3 USA maxes. Air was tricky, very few big thermals. In the new 5 round format, the 5th round is a 4 minute max. We had an advantageous pole position with the breeze almost straight down the line. Usually you’d expect models upwind to launch into air and to be followed by many models marking the air. This was not the case, only batches of 4-5 would go at a time. The ones with perfect patterns, recovery, and glide would stay high, while others clearly were dropping in the same air. We were 35 minutes into the round when good air came with many engines running when Faust launched. It was a great pattern, good recovery---timer says over run. I insisted they time the flight, easy 4 minutes. We grabbed the Jury member and via a verbal “contest” got the overrun reversed. Faust was in the FO. Air went flat again. Minutes went by with two to fly. I considered changing the flying order but decided against it. Richard was given the go sign, pattern slightly left, again over the canal area, no positive air, and the model descended, clocked off at just over 3 minutes. Ed flew with 3 minutes left and maxed. There were 29 in the FO.

We had several hours of break before the FO. Many went to the nearby town to cool off. The organizers decided to use the split-group FO method. This was controversial in that in previous WC, the organizers planned for roughly 30 to 35 poles with 3 timers, often getting experienced timers from each of the teams. Most of the flyers believe a 30 flyer FO is reasonable and the split FO should not have been used for the F1C FO.

Faust drew group 2. Group 1 flew at 5 pm, only 2 made the 6 minute max. We had an advantageous pole position. Good air came and up wind models looked good. Faust unfortunately had a non-optimum launch and recovered lower than usual and not in the good air. He did 202 sec. Seven out of group 2 made maxes so that resulted in Faust not getting seeded to the next FO. Three non-maxes were seeded from group 1 to the next FO. Alan Jack of Great Britain just missed getting seeded to the next FO by 1 sec in that he did not achieve the 75% of the top score of his group (i.e. 360 seconds x .75 = 270 seconds). Faust placed 23rd. The Canadians celebrated that night with Yury Shvedenkov winning the next FO with a 398-sec flight.

USA teamwork both at the line and with the downwind chase crew were exceptional. A special thanks to Jace Pivonka, our Jr Assistant Manager, who through the generous donations to the USA team was able to come with the team. Jace is a 2-time Jr team member, long distance high school runner, and all round great guy now starting his university studies. Equal thanks to Andrew Barron, the unseen downwind hero, who gave up 3 days of his time to solely help the USA team. The USA team thanks you all the more. Our other supporters were a big benefit as well with thanks to Tiffaney, Julie, Janna, Geralyn, Maryann, Tatiana, Amber, Ryan, Bob, Chuck and Siggy. I have to give accolades to Randy Secor who perfectly filled in my lacking F1C knowledge and experience and for the world class USA T-shirts and uniforms, along with Steve Galbreath for the team logo design and cards. Finally, thanks to all that donated to this team.

F1B, Thursday
The day started with 3-4 m/s breeze and was slightly overcast. Our pole was near the organizers camp with the breeze over the canal and trees. Tiffaney O’Dell assisted the flyers with air picking. Alex flew first, great climb as usual, looked to be an easy 4 minute max, but the air again over the canal was bad and Alex’s model dropped. We had a more experienced timer who did the 10 second count when the model went behind a tree, and who restarted the 10 count when he saw the model reappear, just enough for the max. Blake’s flight was a bit better, maxing before going below the tree line. We heard an announcement that the first round was to be re-flown after a flight-line repositioning. A protest had been accepted that the nearby trees presented an unfair situation to those on poles near the trees. We were not happy with two recorded maxes. The team managers gathered and demanded an explanation. Ian Kaynes, jurist, explained that the previous precedence from other WCs of keeping the max scores and allowing those that had not maxed to re-fly along with those that had not yet flown, was no longer valid. FAI rules had been clarified that allowed only a round to be cancelled, delayed, or re-flown. The jury decided the fairest was for the round to be re-flown and the max time changed from 4 minutes to 3 minutes. So Alex and Blake had to fly round 1 again. They maxed, as did our third flyer, Charlie. Tony Mathews of Canada was hurt by this ruling in having made the 4 minute max but dropped the 3 minutes re-flight. Air continued to be tricky. Because of the breeze, very little flapping was seen under dropping models. USA was stringing up maxes. In the 4th round, Blake’s model power stalled twice due to the small, turbulent thermal. Worse was that the model was pointed upwind when the prop folded and the subsequent slow turn put the model out of the lift, resulting in a 31 second drop. The 5th round was a 4-minute max. Again, Alex climbed well but missed the small thermal, got pushed into down air, and unbelievably landed at 108 seconds. Charlie flew next and maxed to make the fly off. Blake changed models and made his last max.

Thirty nine made the FO, and so using the split flyoff made more sense. Charlie drew group 2. Group 1 had 19 flyers, 5 maxed. In group 2, several models launched. Charlie may have been 20-30 seconds late and did not get into the better air. He did 321 seconds, a good score, perhaps enough to be seeded to the fly off. Information was not readily available, so we waited. There were 7 maxes in Charlie’s group 2 and only 5 in Group 1, so Charlie did not make it to the FO. Charlie place 16th.

The popular winner was Stepan Stepanchuk of the Ukraine with the next FO time of 401 seconds.

F1A, Friday
Forecast was more wind. The morning started with 3 to 4 m/s. Glider guys had a strong start, all maxes thru round 3. The wind came up. Mike towed well in the wind, went down wind, and was in control. My experience from the Budapest cup was that the thermals in the wind were much more difficult to determine than at Lost Hills. I believe Mike let a thermal through and the ensuing back fill was too much and Mike had to release the towline to save the model. Brian was next, he waited on the ground, picked a lull, and attempted a straight up and off but did not have the speed for the LDA launch. The model bunted over and recovered at 40 meters. Brian used the RDT (allowed by the rules) and we held our breath--- 18 second, he got a re-flight. Rene towed well in the wind and maxes. Mike was ready for re-flight. We waited for a lull. As I launched him, the wind kicked in and pulled the model hard to the right. Mike was unable to get the model back and I watched, reliving my similar experience at the 2011 Argentina WC of taking a zero. Another F1A World Champion, Mikhail Kochkarev, entered the WC zero club on this round as well. Now Brian re-flew. He changed to a short flapper because his short carbon model he had been flying had something loose in the fuselage. He towed in a relatively calm, he circled twice and launched, not one of his best but into one of the best thermals of the day to max. Round 5 was delayed an hour, the wind speed did drop some but the max time was reduced from 4 minutes to 3 minutes. All three maxed with Rene’s flight being one of the highest of the competition. USA had two in the FO, 28 total. Again the use of the split FO was questionable.

Rene drew group 1, Brian drew group 2.
Rene towed at the start of the round and went down wind. He was side by side with Per Findahl, two time WC and excellent windy condition flyer. Some models launched up wind and looked great. Rene launched, followed by Per maybe 20 sec later. Per missed the air. Rene’s model fought to ride the thermal, going in and out, sometimes stalling a bit. He looked as if he would just make the 6 minutes, when the model fell off to the side and disappeared behind a distant tree line, 20 seconds short but well of above the 75% time requirement for possible seeding to the next FO.

We were able to repair Brian’s model so he went back to his previous model. Brian waited on the ground when the FO started. The air got better. He wanted to go but another model was towing just in front. That model launched, then Brian towed. He did two circles and got a good launch but the delay resulted in not getting into the lift. He did 273 seconds, just making the 75% of the top time for a possible FO position.

Then we waited. In this situation with our two flyers in separate groups and not maxed, only one would maybe go to the next FO. It all depended on the times of the other flyers. If you do not max and you are in the group with the most maxes, you do not go to the FO.
That was the case for Brian. Still hopeful for Rene, a big USA cheer went up when Rene’s name was announced for the next fly off.

Rene got out his long, all-carbon flapper and put in two test flights. First was a good launch, with a bit of “over the top” at bunt. We agreed he could add a bit more cruise time. Next test was spectacular, 118 meters. He was ready.

The wind dropped as the FO start neared. Rene had the most upwind pole. At the start, he towed up wind and was free of traffic. Wind continued to drop, a lull perhaps. Rene set up higher than expected for the lower wind speed and did not generate the speed he had earlier. He missed the launch, recovering at a disappointing 70 to 80 meters. About then several models at the other end of the line (100 meters) launched and appeared to have some air. Rene’s 232 second flight placed him 9th. Igor Bombek of Croatia won with a flight time of 433 seconds. Previous world Champion, Robert Lesko of Croatia, was second.

And just like that, the 2017 FA FF World Championship flying was over. Out of the 9 USA team members, 5 have had the joyful experience of being on previous WC podiums receiving their awards. Not this year. The following days were spent thinking of “that one bad thermal pick, bad launch, should have flown model X, etc”. That’s free flight, the highs are splendid and lows are painful. This is what makes every team unique, talented individuals coming together for two weeks to measure their metal against the best of the world.

Next day Jace and I went to the field and made two flights each. It was rather windy, it was surreal….. Just hours before that the best FAI FF flyers covered the field, but then all but one tent was gone. I picked up some parts from my friends Sergey and Mikhail and had a time to chat. This never gets old.

We gathered and went to the banquet and awards ceremony that evening. It ranked low of the many WCs I’ve attended, most agreed. I did have the opportunity to hand out USA -Lost Hills stickers promoting the USA 2019 FAI FF WC. The feedback was enthusiastic. At the end of the evening, I had the privilege along with Chuck Etherington, USA Team Selection Chairman and USA CIAM representative, to accept the FAI Flag from the Hungarian Organizers.

A small group has started the initial planning for the USA 2019 WC. One of the key elements of a successful WC is qualified, experienced time keepers. Please consider reserving the time around the 2019 Columbus Day October holiday to come and be part of this great experience. We are hoping that many of the 60 or so ex-USA Jr Team members will want to come and time at the WC, perhaps even introducing their kids to this wonderful sport they excelled at in their teenage days.

Jim Parker

Bogdan · Objavljeno: 07 Sep 2017 08:57 Naslov sporočila:

Avstralec Malcolm Campbell običajno na tekmovanjih posname veliko fotografij. Tudi tokrat je bilo tako, le da je bil precej zaposlen s pomočjo pri vračanju modelov.
Australian Malcolm Campbell usually takes a lot of photos on competitions. This was the case this time, too, except that he was quite busy helping with model retrival.

Slovesnosti / Ceremonies
https://www.flickr.com/photos/motor-racing-photography/sets/72157685696778531

Tekmovalni del / Competition part
https://www.flickr.com/photos/motor-racing-photography/sets/72157688698089625

Bogdan · Objavljeno: 13 Dec 2017 06:56 Naslov sporočila:

Poročilo FAI žirije o Svetovnem prvenstvu F1ABC 2017:
FAI Jury report on 2017 F1ABC World Championships:

http://www.freeflightnews.org.uk/champs/ch17/WC17AJR.HTM

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SSL certifikati | Spletne aplikacije na klik | Brezplačna spletna stran (Website Builder) | WordPress gostovanje
Spletne strani, brezplačna izdelava in namestitev | Poceni letalske karte | Letalske karte | Poceni hoteli