F3A Aerobatic World Championship 1969, Lemwerder / Germany: We have revised the report and the photos. We have ‘spiced up’ the old photos with special image processing. Some of them are Super B photos from the World Championships, which took place 55 years ago. We need your help: do you have any information on the unlabeled photos?
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The only F3A World Championship ever held in Germany took place in Bremen-Lemwerder in 1969. The then F3A pilot Walter Schmitz reported on this World Championship in the September 1969 issue of Modell. Thanks to various contemporary witnesses, we were able to publish 76 photos of this unique event.
Walter Schmitz: I have photos, results lists and notes in front of me and I don’t really know where to start. In addition to the World Championship in RC I, there was also an international competition for model airplanes, and it would go beyond the scope of this magazine if I were to report on all the events of these seven days down to the smallest detail.
In 1965 in Genk (Belgium), 35 model airplane pilots from 13 nations took part in the world championships. In Corsica (1967) there were 41 participants from 17 nations and this year there were 67!!! participants without the “naturals” from 25 nations. A mammoth competition that gave rise to the worst fears in terms of time.
Und nun mitten in’s Geschehen. Bis auf ganz wenige übereifrige Helfer hatte man großes Verständnis für die Zuschauer. Sie konnten so nahe wie nie zuvor bei einer Weltmeisterschaft an die Piste heran. Sogar in die Flugzeughalle, wo alle Modelle untergebracht waren, konnte man mit einigem Geschick gelangen.
The participants were accommodated in various hotels in Bremen. Every morning at around 7 a.m., buses from Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke arrived to pick up the participants etc. and take them to Lemwerder, which is 28 km from the city center.
The participants were accommodated in various hotels in Bremen. Every morning at around 7 a.m., buses from Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke arrived to pick up the participants and take them to Lemwerder, which is 28 km from the city center. The actual program then began at 8 a.m. each day. The site conditions were excellent and the Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke provided all the support they could.
In this respect, thanks to the weather gods, it was a really successful World Championships. In general, everything on site was much better than rumored beforehand. The only thing I had to criticize during the competition days was that two full days were set aside for training and only three days for the four runs.
My fears in this regard, which I already outlined in one of the previous issues, were confirmed. I will come back to this later.
The training days dragged on a bit. Somehow the excitement of previous world championships was missing.
Sometimes there was not a single start for over half an hour.
The training flights only took place at one launch site, while the actual competition was flown on two runways at the same time. In terms of time, there really would have been no problem limiting the training to one day and flying only one round on each day.
Bulgaria, the GDR, Finland, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Poland appeared at a world championship for the first time. Compared to the last World Championships in Corsica, Canada and Japan have now reappeared.
The Bulgarians had not registered with the FAI at all. They simply showed up in Bremen. They were actually admitted and included in the competition. One thing can be said at this point: The standard of performance compared to previous world championships has not improved in any way despite the much larger contingent.
In various conversations with model pilots and spectators, it became clear that over 50% of the participants had not yet reached the performance standard required to take part in a world championship.
But what does that mean, even just being there is something. And after all, an event like this serves to promote international understanding in the broadest sense.
I had Chris Sweatmann from South Africa visiting me a few days after the World Championships. Apart from a lot of model flying chatter, we went on a boat trip on the Rhine. Chris is now in England, has taken part in a competition there and is still writing to me full of enthusiasm about the Rhine tour.
I am sure that this will be a lasting memory for Chris and that he will now be able to report on Germany in a completely different way in his home country of South Africa than if he had only got to know this confined space at the airfield. The airfields are almost all the same, and you don’t need to come to Germany from South Africa, Japan or wherever; then we can meet in the desert.
Surely the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs would not have refused funding if the German Aero Club had been willing to arrange an appropriate get-together after the World Championships in Germany.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the training of the individual teams. I watched almost all of them and was of course particularly excited about the “new” nations such as Mexico, the GDR, Ireland etc.
Mexico was the one that surprised me the most. Since California, the stronghold of RC model flying in the USA, is right next to Mexico and you can always read in American magazines that well-known model pilots from the States go to Mexico and take part in competitions there, I would have expected the Mexicans to at least match the performance standard of the USA boys.
As they explained to me, they have to contend with completely different conditions. Mexico is around 2000 meters above sea level and the air is much thinner at this altitude.
They need to have at least 25 0/0 castor in the fuel; not for lubrication, but for cooling, and also build their models very light. The thin air simply does not carry as well. You can read in the technical data that the model weights of the Mexicans are considerably less than 3 kp.
You could also see from the models that the Mexicans prefer flying to building. The models did not have the familiar finish of the Americans. The Japanese also had some very light models, which, as in Sweden in 1965, had an excellent finish.
Unfortunately, Nippon’s sons were plagued by bad luck. A week before the world championships, they had been guests at the Simprop company in Harsewinkel and had trained there, losing two models in a crash. Now this continued. Suddenly Yuji Olki’s plane turned upside down and crashed vertically. Result = total loss.
Now they only had 2 machines left in the competition. They had come to Germany with 5 models; each had brought a model as hand luggage. That was of course very unfortunate. Yuji Oki was, as Fritz Bosch told me, their best man.
It was pleasing and particularly welcomed by many that our East Germans took part in a world championship or even a competition in the West for the first time. Having been observers in Sweden in 1965, we had actually hoped to welcome them as participants in Corsica in 1967.
Now they appeared in Bremen as a complete team. One of the few bipod models was flown by Lutz Schramm, probably the best man in the East German team. Erich Wenisch and Ronald Fischer, the other two members of the GDR team, used the Simprop Digi-4, while Lutz Schramm used the Varioprop from Grundig.
He usually flew the first figures of the program cleanly and skillfully until he made a small mistake. Then the thread broke, the mistakes piled up and it was clear that he lacked international experience.
Our team’s training took place in the evening. There was a very light crosswind, exactly 90° to the slope. Everyone started individually; 15 minutes were available for everyone. At a previous team captains’ meeting, it had been announced that all figures, regardless of wind direction, must not be flown above the spectators under any circumstances.
Even if the individual figures fly in or out over the barrier, the figure is to be awarded 0 points. Even stricter, if the figure flies over the spectators three times, the participant is disqualified. And the requirement of the jury or judges: The figures must be placed in a rectangular window with a maximum height of 45°, regardless of the wind direction.
Our team tried to meet this requirement during training, and everyone was amazed to discover that it wasn’t that easy. It turned out to be somewhat incomprehensible to me that neither Wilbert Schönfeld, Alfons Wester nor Heinz Elsässer had trained with crosswind.
Since the last two years, and especially since the international judges’ course in Hirzenhain at Easter 1968, placement has been a top priority. This cost Wilbert Schönfeld the world championship title, but more on that later.
Our team’s particular style of flying large figures was not suitable for crosswinds. In addition, the high fuselages of “Prestige” and “Zerberus”, the models of Wilbert Schönfeld and Alfons Wester, had a disadvantageous effect. Mäxi II, Heinz Elsässer’s model, was not at such a disadvantage. In general, Heinz made a very good impression during training.
Compared to the previous reviews of his flying this year, this was a considerable improvement in performance. After the training he was on a par with Wilbert for me, and only then did our late starter Alfons arrive, who was still visibly nervous. After the official training session shortly before dark, I drove to a military training area with Alfons and Wilbert to do some more crosswind training flights.
It became clear that a changeover was no longer possible (in style) and we could only hope that the wind would come exactly alongside the slope. Alfons still had a lot of luck that evening.
In this confusing terrain with only a small landing area, the engine stopped in the horizontal eight. That had never happened before. Although it was almost dark, we started again. Horizontal eight – engine off. And the same again. Thanks to the fact that he was so well prepared, he was able to switch to his replacement model immediately. After quickly assembling the replacement model, he had to start it again.
He had to fly this plane in the competition the next day, and it was impossible to train early in the morning because there had been thick fog for days until around 8 o’clock in the morning. That’s how it is, dear model pilots, when you take part in a world championship. Excitement and nerve-wracking moments right up to the last moment.
All in all, it is no exaggeration to say that our team was able to fly in training. Maxey Hester’s “Zlin 526” was equipped with a two-leg retractable undercarriage (2 x MK nose gear!!). Despite the concrete runway, it made first-class take-offs and landings on “two legs”. And then, what does the aircraft look like in the air with the landing gear retracted! Very big class!
Incidentally, Maxey Hester won the American championships with this Zlin 526 “Akrobat” 8 days before Bremen; here he only took 4th place – but first in flying.
In general, the “naturals” have a great chance in the future. They were clearly the public’s favorite. The spectators wanted to see the models and were really enthusiastic about them. The RC-I pilots are really about the pilots. People want to see a Phil Kraft, for example, but his Kwik Fly is of secondary importance. So the motto for the future is: good pilot and the most lifelike model possible and you’re guaranteed first place.
The actual competition in RC I then began on Friday. Wilbert Schönfeld was the first German participant. He started very early in second place on runway 2. The weather was slightly hazy with a light wind, but thankfully it was blowing right towards the runway. Pierre Marrot, another favorite, started at the same time on runway 1. Wilbert’s engine started immediately. As he doesn’t have a steerable nose wheel, he has to carry the machine to the middle of the runway.
Bruno Giezendanner arrives as an observer. Then the start. He pulls the machine away from the runway very easily so that you can’t tell where the wheels have left the ground. It was a nice start. The only small mistake was that he let the right wing hang a little. Then he retracts the landing gear. Only he and Bruno Giezendanner have equipped their models with retractable landing gear. Then comes the double turn, which he has had a bit of trouble with recently.
But it works excellently, and that gives Wilbert security. No mistakes in the combined Immelmann. The upward loops are moved slightly backwards. He flies them with the engine throttled back in the downward phase, very large, but smooth and balanced. The downward loops are also successful. It makes a good impression when the machine pushes away downwards with the engine throttled.
The three fast reels are like being pulled by a string. The slow roll also works very well; very cleanly controlled with rudder. Like most pilots, it makes the same mistake with the roll circle, namely falling through or sinking after the first turn. The pilot himself does not see it or only sees it too late, as this figure is started above him. Then he didn’t get back exactly to the starting point of the figure.
Until then the worst figure. The male then succeeds moderately well. The horizontal eight is not particularly well placed. The second circle is smaller and the model does not return to the intersection. The Cuban eight is again very classy. Good placement and very nice, smooth turning at the intersection.
Flawless for me. The standing figure eight is also cleanly placed, but the lower circle is a little too small. Very nice, flawless straight inverted flight. Then it happens with the inverted eight. The first circle is already a big drop and the second circle is much too big.
Unfortunately, this was the worst figure of this round (and unfortunately one with the highest multiplier). He then flies the hat again without any mistakes. Cleanly placed, nice turn, clean transition into inverted flight, thighs the same length, no mistakes. During the spin, he gets into the figure badly and at the end the machine overspins slightly. So not flawless. The landing approach is actually a little too high. During the cross take-off, he first drops too much and then intercepts too suddenly. The aircraft should fall steadily but evenly. The landing is then spot on. Clean. Result 1316 points.
Heinz Elsässer is the next member of our team to start. In the meantime, the sun has come out and the wind is blowing diagonally towards the slope. Heinz seems to have forgotten everything he showed in training. He places very, very badly. He flies the upward loop very close and low; the downward loop far out and much too high. The result of this flight was 1146 points.
Alfons Wester is the last starter of the German team. Like Wilbert Schönfeld, he also places the model on its back to start the engine (hanging engine). Then he and his helper Erich Müller carry the model to the center of the runway. The take-off is unsteady; first left-hanging, then right-hanging.
The double turn is flown far too close to the judges. Then the flight becomes somewhat calmer. The three fast rolls are flown very cleanly. Slight failure on the slow roll. The same mistake as everyone else on the roll circle, a slight fall after the first turn.
Then comes a successful male, and you immediately notice in the next figures that Alfons has become much calmer. The figures become cleaner and more balanced. The entry and exit are flown emphatically straight. As a result of this flight, the computer calculates 1233 points.
All in all, a good result for the German team.
By the way, something else about the scoring. Each individual figure was scored by 5 judges. The calculation was done by computer, which immediately deleted the highest and lowest score for each individual figure. This has never happened before. If anything at all was crossed off, it was the highest or lowest run or the highest and lowest total score of a run.
I think the new system is very advantageous. Unfortunately, computers that work as quickly and correctly as in Bremen are not available everywhere. Immediately after each figure, the score for each individual figure and finally the overall score for the flight appeared on a display board for the spectators to see.
The second round began in the late afternoon, and Wilbert Schönfeld was again one of the first to take off. Unfortunately, I was unable to watch Pierre Marrot’s flight, who took off at the same time on the other runway. He flew 1421 points and thus took the lead ahead of Schönfeld.
Wilbert Schönfeld was unable to improve in the second round and achieved a score of 1291. The second round was then completed on Saturday morning.
Compared to the first round, there had been some noticeable shifts Bruno Giezendanner had dropped back from 2nd to 6th place. How did that happen? I watched his flight. It was just as clean and correct as the previous and subsequent flights.
He only flew at a slight angle to the runway, as he also wanted to fly into the wind. But the decisive factor was probably the tough, or rather overly tough, team of judges on runway 1. 1030 points were simply not enough for this flight. On the second day, the Piste 1 team scored much lower than on the previous day and all those participants who only completed their second round on Saturday were at a disadvantage.
Mr. Willi Grass from the German Aero Club tried to talk me out of this opinion. But this example here with Bruno Giezendanner shows how right I was with my comments. Sure, some things are corrected if you can fly four rounds and cancel the worst one. But that is not an argument for splitting the rounds and flying them on two different days.
Alfons Wester was able to improve to 3rd place with a calm, clean flight. Phil Kraft was already in 4th place. However, it should be noted here that the audience was not at all happy with his performance in the first flight and the points he received for it.
However, I have to say that his second round was much better than his first. He really deserved the 1275 points. He showed here that he is a very experienced pilot who knows all the tricks of the trade. He had to fly on runway 1 in this second round and he knew exactly what these judges wanted to see.
Despite the wind blowing at 90° and not just slightly towards the runway, he placed all his figures exactly in front of the judges, despite the crosswind. He even flew the little man, which I would never have thought possible, at right angles to the wind. And he succeeded. From this point of view, the score of 1275 points is okay.
Wolfgang Matt was once again very unlucky. After he had started an excellent flight and the intermediate results suggested a flight well over 1300 points, the engine stopped in the middle of the hat. All of a sudden, without warning. There was no interception with the throttle, nothing at all.
As long as the new Super Tigre is not yet properly run in, it happens from time to time that it suddenly stops at full throttle without warning.
The third round did not bring much news. The wrong score from the day before was corrected by a good performance. Wilbert Schönfeld was back in the lead, as Pierre Marrot only achieved 1182 points. Bruno Giezendanner flew the highest round of the entire World Cup with 1444 points – with the “good” judges on runway 2. There is no doubt that it was more difficult to get points on runway 1.
And now the math was done everywhere. Who can still beat whom? Who has a chance of coming first? Wilbert Schönfeld had missed his chance in the third run. He had only managed to score 1283 points on piste no. 2 due to his poor positioning – at an angle to the piste and very far out. Now he still had to go to piste 1 and it was unlikely that he would be able to improve there.
Pierre Marrot only needed to score 1226 points on runway 2 to oust Wilbert Schönfeld from first place.
Bruno Giezendanner had to go to piste 1 again and needed 1145 points to overtake Wilbert Schönfeld. Phil Kraft still needed 1287 points, which was also expected of him after his previous improvement. Alfons Wester didn’t really have any chance of moving forward, because after three consistent flights with 1233, 1280 and 1229 points, there was no real chance.
And then came the fourth round. Pierre Marrot and Wilbert Schönfeld were again the first of the favorites to start at the same time. Pierre Marrot scored 1257 points, beating Wilbert Schönfeld by 31 points. He was only able to score 1197 points on runway 1.
I can’t say whether his flight was really that bad, because I had watched Pierre Marrot’s flight this time. I was told afterwards that he really hadn’t flown well. He had missed his chance on the third pass.
Heinz Elsässer then made a nice flight and achieved 1211 points, which earned him 7th place in the final result. – And then came Bruno Giezendanner. He had to go to runway 1, to the hard judges, who had only given him 1030 points in his previous flight. He asked me beforehand: “What should I do to be scored correctly?”
I could only advise him to fly straight to the runway and serve the figures in the window, regardless of the wind. He did it afterwards and what I hadn’t expected happened, he got the points he deserved. 1411 points on runway 1.
This put him unbeatably in the lead. Phil Kraft, who came next, would have to fly over 1450 points to oust Bruno from the top spot. That is simply not possible. In the fourth round, Phil Kraft then flew 1362 points and secured the runner-up world champion title.
Alfons Wester was the last of the top group to take off on runway 2, flying very cleanly and very smoothly; probably his best flight. The computer reported 1424 points.
The highest score of the last day. Alfons thus moved up from 5th to 3rd place. The joy was naturally great, as it was now clear that Germany could win the team ranking. All three German participants were at the front of the leading group of 67 participants from 25 nations.
Congratulations to Bruno Giezendanner, the likeable world champion from Switzerland, and to our three model pilots Heinz Elsässer, Wilbert Schönfeld and Josef Wester.
Want more photos? Here you go:
Fotos vom gleichzeitig stattgefundenen F4C Scalewettbewerb
Photos of the F4C scale competition that took place at the same time
Overview
Place Name | Plane | Country | R/C | Engine | Total |
1 Bruno Giezendanner | Marabu | Switzerland | Digi-Fly | Webra 61 | 4156 |
2 Philip 0. Kraft | Kwik Fly | U.S.A. | Kraft | Enya 60 | 3965 |
3 Josef Wester | AW40 | W. Germany | Varioprop | ST.G.60 | 3937 |
4 Pierre Marrot | Styx | France | Radio Pilote | Rossi 60 | 3921 |
5 Wilbert Schoenfeldt | Prestige | W. Germany | Simprop | ST.G.60 | 3890 |
6 Wolfgang Matt | Super Star | Liech. | Simprop | ST.G.60 | 3618 |
7 Heinz Elsaesser | Mäxi | W. Germany | Robbe Digi | ST.G.60 | 3602 |
8 Richard Brand | Spitfire | S. Africa | Logictrol | ST.G.60 | 3599 |
9 James Kirkland | Citron II | U.S.A. | Pro-Line | Lee 61 | 3551 |
10 James Whitley | Daddy Rabbit | U.S.A. | Pro-Line | ST.G.60 | 3437 |
11 Harold Tom | Marlin | Canada | Kraft | Veco 61 | 3389 |
12 Poju Stephansen | Maximum 9 | Norway | Kraft | H P60 | 3382 |
13 Mike Birch | Moon Glow | U.K. | Skyleader | Merco 61 | 3373 |
14 Fredi Schenk | Kwik Fly mod. | Switzerland | Digi-Fly | Veco 61 | 3179 |
15 Don Mackenzie | Cougar | S. Africa | Logictrol | ST.G.60 | 3138 |
16 Isao Matsui | Maku II | Japan | O.S. Digital | O.S.60 | 3119 |
17 Denis Hammant | Spectre | U.K. | Skyleader | Merco 61 | 3101 |
18 M. Bruls | Baby Kompromiss | Netherlands | Simprop | ST.G.60 | 3063 |
19 Chris Sweatman | Lady Luck | S. Africa | Logictrol | ST.G.60 | 3060 |
20 Graziano Pagni | Morris HF | Italy | Logictrol | ST.G.60 | 3019 |
21 Kurt Saupe | Flipper II | Switzerland | Digi-Fly | Rossi 60 | 3010 |
22 Joshihiro Ikejiri | Pearl | Japan | 0.S. Digital | O.S.60 | 2985 |
23 Stuart Foster | Equaliser | U.K. | Sprengbrook | Merco 61 | 2980 |
24 Ronald Chapman | Orig. | Canada | C.R.C. | Veco 61 | 2894 |
25 Jesper von Segebaden | Super Mustfire | Sweden | Micronic | ST.G.60 | 2889 |
26 Guy Hardy | Mini Delphin | France | Simprop | ST.G.60 | 2853 |
27 Heinrich Sekirnjak | Flipper II | Austria | Dirigent 6 | Rossi 60 | 2787 |
28 Jean-Claude Cousson | Styx | France | Radio Pilote | Rossi 60 | 2786 |
29 Georges Haegemann | Zimeken | Belgium | Radio Pilote | Rossi 60 | 2778 |
30 Franz Schachinger | Akrobat | Austria | Graupner TX14 | HP61 | 2641 |
31 Gugielmo Reda | Orig- | Italy | Robot | ST.G.60 | 2622 |
32 Hannu Ruhelae | Phantom | Finland | P.C.S. | Webra 61 | 2576 |
33 J. Van Vliet | Libra | Netherlands | Simprop | ST.G.60 | 2559 |
34 Heinz Sekirnjak | Akrobat | Austria | Dirigent 6 | Rossi 60 | 2556 |
35 Koos Tromp | Flits | Netherlands | Microprop | Webra 61 | 2518 |
36 Bo Bergstedt | Bolly | Sweden | Digiplex | Enya 60 | 2481 |
37 Warren Hitchcox | Firebird | Canada | C.R.C. | Veco 61 | 2384 |
38 Jean-Pierre Gobeaux | Zimeken | Belgium | Radio Pilote | Rossi 60 | 2346 |
39 Knut Aker | Skarabe | Norway | Nortrol | ST.G.60 | 2326 |
40 Roberto Guzmann | Sun.Fly 4 | Mexico | Orbit | ST.G.60 | 2305 |
41 Luciano Reineri | Kiki | Italy | Logic Bell | Rossi 60 | 2302 |
42 Tore Paulsen | Skarabe | Norway | Heathkit | Webra 61 | 2277 |
43 Elias Villegas | Sun-Fly 4 | Mexico | Orbit | Webra 61 | 2230 |
44 Lutz Schramm | Orig. | E. Germany | Varioprop | ST.G.60 | 2146 |
45 Salo Feiner | Sun-Fly 4 | Mexico | Orbit | ST.B.60 | 1948 |
46 Robert Troy | Moon Glow | N. Ireland | Kraft | Merco 61 | 1927 |
47 Milan Vostry | Orig. | Czechoslovakia | Simprop | Enya 60 | 1918 |
48 Norbert Bertemes | Mäxi | Luxembourg | Simprop | ST.G.60 | 1752 |
49 Bert-Erik Stoevling | Kwik Fly | Sweden | Telepilot | Enya 60 | 1745 |
50 Jiri Michalovic | Orig. | Czechoslovakia | Simprop | Fox 59 | 1745 |
51 Erik Jensen | Crusader | Denmark | Orbit | Rossi 60 | 1594 |
52 Kaj Robert Hansen | Crusader | Denmark | Controlaire | ST.G.60 | 1584 |
53 Frederick Buick | Swinger | N. Ireland | Kraft | Merco 61 | 1522 |
54 Paul Behm | Flipper II | Luxembourg | Simprop | Rossi 60 | 1507 |
55 John Dible | Org. | Ireland | Simprop | Merco 61 | 1317 |
56 Sylwester Kujawa | Pegus | Poland | Grundig TX14 | ST.G.60 | 1220 |
57 Ronald Fischer | Orig. | E. Germany | Simprop | 0.5.60 | 1203 |
58 Pierre Hoffmann | Orig. | Luxembourg | Simprop | Merco 61 | 1153 |
59 Jiri Havel | Orig. | Czechoslovakia | Varioprop | M.V.V.S.60 | 1114 |
60 Jens Jorgensen | JJ 85 | Denmark | Bonner | Webra 61 | 981 |
61 Petti Reinas | Maximum 9 | Finland | Microprop | O.S.60 | 851 |
62 Karl-Heinz Wenisch | Orig. | E. Germany | Simprop | 0.S.60 | 759 |
63 Alfred Laline | Flipper II | Belgium | Microprop | Rossi 60 | 294 |
64 Emil Karlev | Bulgaria | 20 |
Images: Günter Hoppe, Giuseppe Ghisleri, Classicpattern
Text: Walter Schmitz