On 26-27 May 1984, 23 pilots from six nations met at the MFC Hechingen for the second international Hohenzollern Cup. The new F3A manoeuvre program was to be completed for the first time with international participation. Ralph Müller was there:
Report:
The International Hohenzollern Cup in the F3A class took place for the second time this year.
This was the first international competition in which the new manoeuvres had to be flown. This year, there were ‘only’ 23 participants in total, but six nations were represented. The reason for the low number of participants may have been that the new program mentioned above had to be flown and the date at the end of May was apparently too early for some pilots.

By the evening, almost all the participants had arrived and it was noted that there were many who had also taken part in the 1st International Hohenzollern Cup Flying Competition in 1983.

To summarise what happened: not much was new. There were a number of newly constructed model teams competing, but the technology has not changed. The flying style has inevitably become somewhat slower and not quite as spacious.

The title defender was Wolfgang Matt from Liechtenstein, who also used his tried and tested ARROW this year, had equipped it with a long-stroke engine and was thus able to reduce the basic speed of the model quite a bit compared to previous times.

Other competitors in the World Championships were pilots Kowarz (A), Schweiker (D), Dockendorf (L), all of whom had brought new models to the starting line. In the case of Dockendorf and Kowarz, these are still relatively small machines (Schweiker has a completely newly designed model with a wingspan of 1.75 m that fits into the current standard size range of the new F 3 A models).

The most striking newcomer at this first international meeting of F3A pilots was the model of Ralph von Brause and Rainer Seubert. We have already presented the enlarged model Grand PAPILLON by Peter Wessels in detail in the last issue of Modell.

The model from Wessels is technically the most elaborate. The tuck-in surfaces and tuck-in tail make the whole thing very easy to transport. This is also necessary for a span of 1.90 m, since you usually take two models with you to a competition.

The long-stroke engines are clearly dominant, with the exception of four Webra-Racing Longstroke engines. The exceptions are Rossi Longstroke in the models from Erwin Müller, Ernst-Peter Kattelmann and Ewald Trumpp.
In order to reduce the basic speed of the models and to increase their climbing ability, propellers with a larger diameter are being used in contrast to last year.

Regarding the optimal pitch of the respective propeller, we are still in the experimental stage. For example, Wolfgang Matt had mounted an 11 x 10 two-blade propeller, while Rainer Seubert and some others in the Bundesliga use the three-blade propeller developed by Rainer Seubert, which is specially designed for longstroke engines.

A Bartels 12 x 9 and a Metterhausen 12 x 8 were also on display. Ernst-Peter Kattelmann’s model is somewhat out of the ordinary: he flies an enlarged SULTAN 6, with the wingspan increased to 1.75 m and the wing tip depth also increased (to 25 cm).

Unfortunately, no judge was available in Hechingen to act as a so-called ‘whistle man’. This means that a judge sits with a whistle immediately behind the pilot, who, if the model leaves the window, indicates this to the other judging judges with a whistle. A corresponding point deduction must then be made. Opinions about the new program differ widely. Some of the pilots welcome the fact that something fundamentally new has been created, but the majority regret the abolition of the old program.
The reason why this new program was created, namely that it was necessary to avoid, under all circumstances, sweeping out to perform the manoeuvres, which could potentially cause noise pollution for local residents, is actually absurd, as is the often heard opinion that the model aerobatics program should be based on the aerobatics program for full-size aircraft.

On the one hand, I simply object to the claim that the model aircraft class is a copy of the large aerobatic class – I believe that this is a completely independent category.
On the other hand, as far as noise pollution is concerned, it is already a well-known fact that an optimised F 3 A model is not noisy. On the other hand, I dare to doubt that the slightly greater distance in the turning manoeuvres would result in less noise pollution for residents. The reason for this is quite simple: you no longer fly so far away, but you do fly higher up.

The extent to which the sound of the engine can still be heard depends on the wind and landscape conditions. The effort required to hold a competition has increased enormously. You no longer need five judges, but rather ten or five judges and five scribes.
No one is able to judge a program that is flown in a continuous sequence and also write down the points. The biggest disadvantage of this whole story, however, is undoubtedly the fact that this program is extremely difficult to fly, can hardly be mastered by newcomers at the first attempt and, if there is no experienced man in the corresponding club to provide help and advice, it will be so difficult for those interested in this class to get started that there is a risk of not having enough new blood in the future.

My comments are based on the fact that at this year’s state championship in Baden-Württemberg, there were only six participants at the start, believe it or not. As far as I know, there has never been anything like this before. Compared to last year, this is a decline of more than 50%.<br />The gentlemen responsible should think about this and should have thought about it before creating the new program. What use is it to us if we no longer have pilots in 10 years’ time because no one is interested in flying such a difficult program, or because the task set for the newcomer is far too difficult from the outset.

In terms of technology, at least as far as the models are concerned, there may have been a step backwards. Everyone now knows that a controllable pitch propeller has never been essential for precise flying. However, with the new program, it is completely impossible to operate such a thing during flight manoeuvres.

98% of the models are still equipped with a retractable landing gear, but the additional weight has shifted in favour of the two-legged landing gear. This was to be expected, however, since take-off and landing are no longer judged and the extra weight of a nose wheel does not necessarily have to be carried around, especially since lighter models are required for the program to be flown now, or rather, these are simply advantageous because their flight speed is much more constant than a heavier model, which always picks up speed in the downward sections of the figures.

Well, we will see what the current season brings; the highlight of the year 84 in terms of aerobatics is certainly the European Championship in Genk from 11-16 September, after which we will all certainly be much the wiser, at least as far as developments, materials and models are concerned.
Text: Ralph Müller
Photos: Franz Stenzel