1977 was the year of aerobatic competitions. First Bill Bennet invited us to the Circus Circus in Las Vegas, and then the 10th F3A World Aerobatic Championships took place in Springfield, USA. Helmut Drexler was there, here is his report:

How time flies, at first we couldn’t wait, and now, after the first official World Championships in RC gliding in the F3B class in South Africa in spring, the second major model flying event of this year, the 10th World Championships in the F3A class (RC-1, powered aerobatics) in Springfield/Ohio USA, is already over.

The days of the championship at Springfield Municipal Airport were once again full of excitement. The intense heat (it was almost 40° in the shade) and the high humidity made things difficult for the pilots and their engines.

As an outsider, when I took a closer look at the scene, I immediately noticed a noticeable hectic pace and remembered the statement of a team manager. He told me that high demands are placed on a pilot who wants to achieve something in such a championship and that he has to give up many things. This type of model flying is hardly a hobby any more. The increasingly noticeable commercial influence is particularly unpleasant (see Las Vegas, where the winner receives 10,000 dollars).

In addition to the honour of being allowed to take part and to have been there, or even to have successfully taken part, such a championship is of course also about valuable trophies, medals and certificates. The following trophies, medals and certificates were awarded: In the team classification: 1st FAI trophy to the team leader of the first-placed team.

An FAI certificate for each member of the first-placed team. 3. AMA trophies for each member of the first three teams in the team classification. In the individual classification: 1. the FAI trophy (King of the Belgians trophy) to the new world champion. 2. the FAI Gold Medal to the new World Champion. 3. the AMA trophy to the new world champion. 4. the FAI silver medal to the runner-up. 5. the AMA trophy to the runner-up.

6. the FAI bronze medal to third place. 7. the AMA trophy to third place. 8. the AMA trophy for fourth place. 9. the AMA trophy for fifth place. 10. the AMA trophy to the sixth, provided 6 participants flew in the fly-off. I will now try to describe the development of the World Championship in chronological order, at least where we are particularly interested. 29 June On the huge grounds of the Springfield Municipal Airport near Springfield/Ohio, the venue for the 10th World Championship in RC Aerobatics, two launch sites have been prepared for the RC pilots about one kilometre apart, which are already occupied by training pilots early in the morning.

The sun is already showing that it will give us a hot day. The wind, which is relatively strong and constantly changing direction, is sometimes even at right angles to the piste. It is also so stubborn that the models are getting a real battering. Under these conditions, it is hardly possible to fly the programme cleanly.

As no points are awarded during training, everyone is in high spirits. The German participants are training at another model aerodrome near Dayton.

The weighing of the models begins at midday. It’s very warm, the sun is really good for us (and beer is not yet available). In the evening, the transmitters are checked and approved at the university.

1 June Transmitter delivery in the morning, followed by further training flights. In between, the volume of the engines is measured using a special device. The opening ceremony with speeches by the dignitaries and subsequent flag-raising by the team managers takes place at around midday. The following training flights are flown according to the drawn order.

Towards evening, a storm comes up, a tornado with a thunderstorm in its wake (the weather report on TV spoke of tornado and thunderstorm). What comes from the sky is no longer rain, the clouds seem to be poured out. In between, there are flashes of lightning followed immediately by thunderclaps of unknown volume. The streets become torrents.

The storm that flooded the streets of Springfield yesterday evening did not spare the airfield either. On the contrary, the large tents in which the models were set up during the day (but thankfully not last night), and in which the exhibiting companies had set up, were knocked over and torn apart by the storm.

The sturdy tent poles are totally bent and hardly usable. It just looks terrible. On top of that, of course, there is the sodden ground, in which we get stuck with our car in the morning.

Two hours later, however, the sun has already dried the ground again. However, the clean-up work and setting up new tents took a little longer. The storm and its consequences have understandably caused difficulties for the entire organisation. The first official run can only begin shortly after 9am. Rhett Miller, USA, 19 years old and already a 4-time champion in the USA, is the first pilot to start on piste 1 and has to abort after the M figure. Why? You won’t believe it, the neutralisation spring for the aileron on the control stick of his transmitter was broken.

His meagre haul for this round is a whole 860 points. What bad luck! Who ever heard of a neutralisation spring breaking? Luis Castaneda irus Mexico, 49 years old, is the first to start on piste 2 and scores only 2910 points. Tsugutaka Yoshioka, Japan, 30 years old, world champion 1973 in Gorizia/Italy, 4th in Bern 1975, Japanese champion 1973, 1974 and 1976, scores 6855 points on piste 1. Ren6 Schumacher from Switzerland will start on piste 2.

He is 32 years old. Schumacher scores 4564 points with his flight. David (Dave) Brown, USA, 31 years old, third at the 1975 World Championships in Bern, scores 6655 points on runway 1. Dave Brown will certainly be the talk of the town. Jean Merseh, Luxembourg, 27 years old, takes off on runway 2 and scores 4470 points for his flight.

Gerald Shaw, Canada, 31 years old, 2nd in the 1975 Canadian Championship, achieves 4550 points on runway 1. The biggest favourite of this World Championship, Hanno Prettner from Austria, 25 years old, 8-time champion in Austria, 3-time winner in Las Vegas, 2nd place in the 1975 World Championship in Bern, shows a great flight with extremely precisely flown figures and thus deservedly scores 7510 (!) points, as it turns out later, the highest score of this round.

Tetsuji Okumura, Japan, 26 years old, fifth at the World Championships in Bern, starts 5th on piste 1 and achieves 6220 points. Andre Laffite, France, 42 years old, 1st in the 1972 French Championships, scores 5520 points on piste 2. Ivan Kristensen, Canada, 30 years old, 3-time Canadian champion, takes off on runway 1 and scores 6365 points with his flight. Dr Dieter Fritz takes off on runway 2 at about the same time as Kristensen.

The 28-year-old Austrian, who was second in the Austrian championship, scores 5875 points with his flight. Giichi Naruke, Japan, 27 years old, third in the 1976 Japanese championship, takes off on runway 1 and scores 6495 points with his flight.

Benito Bertolani, Italy, 39 years old, Italian champion from 1970 to 1973, takes off on runway 2 and scores 6580 points. Warren Hitchcox, Canada, 53 years old (my respects), 4-time champion in Canada, flies on runway 1 and scores 4885 points.

Emil Giezendanner, 36 years old, brother of two-time world champion Bruno Giezendanner from Switzerland, starts on runway 1 and scores 4435 points for his flight. Bruce Turner, New Zealand, 23 years old, two-time champion in New Zealand, scores 5095 points on runway 2. Alejandro Benitzer, Mexico, 19 years old, 4th in the 1976 Mexican Championships, scores 4050 points on runway 1. Mark Radcliff, USA, 22 years old, 6th in the World Tsugutaka Yoshloka, Japan, the 1973 World Champion in Gorizia, multiple Japanese Champion (centre) in the 1975 Championships in Bern, scores 7035 points with a good flight.

Norbert Matt, Liechtenstein, 23 years old, brother of the great Wolfgang Matt, 8th at the 1975 World Championships in Bern, starts on runway 1 and scores 5025 points. Brian Green, Australia, 42 years old, Australian champion in 1969 and 1973, starts on runway 2 and scores 5355 points with his flight. Ferdinand Schaden, Austria, 42 years old, starts on runway 2 and scores 4670 points. The Dutchman Jan van Vliet, 41 years old, 13 times champion in Holland, starts on runway 1, but his model malfunctions during the flight and even crashes. Van Vliet has to settle for 3915 points.

As a result of the crash, the nose of the fuselage is badly damaged and the wing is cracked. The Australian Tom Prosser, 40 years old, four-time champion in Australia, takes off on runway 2 and scores 5685 points with his flight. The Swede Benny Kjellgren, 23 years old, Swedish champion in 1974, 1975 and 1976, 11th place at the 1975 World Championships in Bern, scores 5220 points on runway 1. William Wauters, Belgium, all of 17 years old, starts on runway 2. Unfortunately, he is unlucky. His model crashed immediately after take-off and could only be saved with difficulty by an off-piste landing.

As it turned out later, a servo cable had loose contact. The score is of course 0. Paul Behm from Luxembourg starts on Piste 1. The 29-year-old Behm, who was champion in Luxembourg in 1976, scored 3355 points. Jeff Tracy, Australia, 33 years old, 1st in the 1976 Australian championship, starts on runway 2 and scores 6120 points.

Guiseppe Bertolozzi, Italy, 22 years old, 13th at the 1975 World Championships in Bern, scores 5420 points on runway 1. Harald Neckar from Germany, 26 years old, 4th at the 1973 World Championships in Gorizia, 6th at the 1976 European Championships, starts on runway 2 and achieves 6870 points with a rapid flight. Christian Bossard, France, 27 years old, 2nd in the French championship, starts on runway 1 and scores 3830 points for his flight.

Michael Lynch, New Zealand, 25 years old, 3rd in the New Zealand championship, starts on piste 2 and scores 5265 points. Erik Toft, Denmark, 3 years old, the only Danish participant and multiple Danish champion, starts on piste 1 and scores 3160 points.

Günter Hoppe, probably the most consistent German pilot for years, 36 years old, 1976 German Champion and 3rd in the European Championship, as well as 4th in Las Vegas, takes off on runway 2 and shows a very good run. Unfortunately, the nose wheel collapses after the model touches down. The judges seem to be having a bit of a headache with the scoring.

The model had landed perfectly. Martin MacIntosh, England, 29 years old, 2nd in the English championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976, flies on runway 2 and scores 5810 points. Günter Metterhausen from Germany, 38 years old, takes off on runway 2 and scores 6035 points for his flight. After Metterhausen, Jan van Beek from Holland, 33 years old, takes off and scores 4100 points on runway 1. David Hardaker from England, 31 years old, English champion in 1971, takes off on runway 2 and scores 6110 points. Ernst Totland, 26 years old, Norwegian champion in 1974 and 1976, takes off on runway 1 and scores 3705 points for his flight.

Wolfgang Matt, Liechtenstein, 29 years old, world champion in Bern in 1975 and one of the best RC pilots in the world for many years, takes off on runway 2 and once again demonstrates with precision and his usual aplomb that he did not just become world champion by chance. However, fate does not seem to want such a flight to be completed flawlessly.

In the standing eight, the engine stops because the spark plug breaks (as Wolfgang Matt later explained) and the result of this unfinished run is 4570 points. When I think about the fact that it can be down to one spark plug whether the pass is rated high or low, I believe that it would not be so far-fetched to reintroduce cylinder heads with 2 spark plugs.

John Brink, South Africa, 35 years old, 1973 and 1977 champion in South Africa, starts on piste 1 and scores 4455 points, while Terry Cooper, England, 33 years old, already English champion, scores 5880 points on piste 2. Liam Ward, Ireland, 42 years old, 2nd in the Irish Championship, is on piste 1, has difficulties and scores 0 points. Ruggero Pasqualini, Italy, 30 years old, 3rd in both the 1973 and 1976 Italian Championships, starts on Piste 2 and scores 5815 points.

Ivan Olivier, South Africa, 22 years old, 3-time champion in South Africa, starts on runway 1 and scores 5475 points with his flight. At around the same time, 31-year-old Bruno Giezendanner from Switzerland takes off on runway 2. The former world champion (1969 and 1971) and 10-time Swiss champion, shows a good round and scores 6240 points. The Swede Kennth Holm, 32 years old, Swedish champion in 1973 and third in the Swedish championship in 1976, achieves 5140 points. Alberto Florez, 31 years old, Peruvian champion in 1975 and 1976, the only participant from Peru, and Jean Tonner, Luxembourg, 27 years old, start next on runways 1 and 2 and receive 3200 and 4295 points respectively for their flights.

2 July The 2nd round starts on time with Bruce Turner from New Zealand on runway 1. Turner achieves 4810 points with his flight. Mark Radcliff, USA, and Norbert Matt, Liechtenstein, are next to take off on runway 1 and 2 respectively. While Radcliff scores 7315 points, Norbert Matt has to be content with 6755 points. Tsugutaka Yoshioka, Japan, and Gianfranco Terenzi, San Marino, are next on the two pistes, scoring 6620 (Yoshioka) and 1120 points (Terenzi) with their flights. Ferdinand Schaden from Austria achieves 3445 points. Benny Kjellgren from Sweden scores 6995 points.

The young Belgian William Wauters, who had the misfortune of being unranked in the first round, only scored 565 points because his engine stopped shortly after the start. Guiseppe Bertolozzi, Italy, scored 6220 points. Jeff Tracy, Australia, and Christian Bossard scored 5920 (Tracy) and 6145 points (Bossard). Harald Neckar from Germany shows a great flight, which also earns him 7190 points. Günter Hoppe from Germany starts on runway 1 and probably shows his best flight at this championship. The take-off and the figures are just as flawless as the approach and landing. Unfortunately, however, his landing is already outside the time limit (time is over) and is no longer scored. Nevertheless, he still receives (and unfortunately only) 6830 points for this flight.

The team stopwatch was to blame for this result, as it had a previously unrecognised fault and stopped after just 11 ‘2 minutes. Günter Metterhausen on runway 1 gets 6155 points. Ernst Totland from Norway takes off and has to abort his flight immediately because of interference (or a fault in the equipment). He scores 310 points. Wolfgang Matt starts 16th on runway 1, shows a very good flight and gets 7725 points. Liam Ward from Ireland is no longer at the start, his difficulties must be greater. Terry Cooper from England and Ivan Olivier from South Africa score 5280 and 7040 points respectively.

Bruno Giezendanner from Switzerland shows a good flight and is awarded 7005 points. John Cunningham, South Africa, scores 5760 points with his flight. Rhett Miller scores 7795 points for an outstanding flight. Luis Castaneda from Mexico lands in a tent roof because the engine stops after the spin. He simply couldn’t get the model round. While the canopy was ripped open, nothing happened to the model. David (Dave) Brown, USA, achieved 7880 points with a very good flight. Rene Schumacher from Switzerland scores 5895 points for his flight, while Gerald Shaw from Canada achieves 6065 points.

Tetsuji Okumura from Japan takes off on piste 2 and scores 7365 points with a really good flight. Hanno Prettner, the Austrian pilot who has become a favourite due to his successes in recent years, takes off on runway 1 and completes his programme with such precision that you can’t help but get excited.

Prettner receives 8070 points for this flight. The Canadian Ivan Kristensen causes a surprise. He receives 8195 points for his great flight and is therefore automatically promoted to the favourites. Andre Laffite from France and Giichi Naruke from Japan then take off.

Laffite scores 5575 points while Naruke collects 7645 points for a fantastic flight. Dr Dieter Fritz from Austria scored 6765 points on runway 1 and Warren Hitchcox from Canada scored 6740 points on runway 2. The last three pilots in this round, Benito Bertolani from Italy, Emil Giezendanner from Switzerland and Tore Paulsen from Norway, scored 7040 (Bertolani), 6295 (Emil Giezendanner) and 5060 points (Paulsen) with their flights.

In the evening after the round, Paul Behm from Luxembourg demonstrates skilful helicopter flights with Jet-Ranger and Alouette. He even performs loops. 3 July The day of the third round shows few changes in the rankings. Harald Neckar shows once again that he can fly. Unfortunately, the one upper arc of figure M is not quite successful. The landing, which only takes place in a 30 metre circle, also contributes to the reduction in possible points.

I sometimes had the impression that his model wasn’t flying completely straight and therefore needed a lot of trimming. Neckar scores 7280 points for this flight. Günter Hoppe shows another of his great launches. As he takes off for the next figure, his model suddenly goes into a spin, it looks as if it is being disturbed. Apart from the landing approach, which unfortunately also has a small glitch, the rest of the flight is flawless as usual.

Hoppe scores 7440 points for this round. Metterhausen begins his round with some excitement. His engine stalls once again after starting and has to be restarted. Apart from the one upper arc of figure M, which was a little unclean, his flight was flawless.

The landing, which unfortunately only took place in a 30 metre circle, was also very good. Metterhausen was awarded 6835 points for this flight. On runway 2, it was Wolfgang Matt’s, Liechtenstein, turn to show a precision in his round that could only be bettered by himself, and he was awarded (only) 7830 points. Bruno Giezendanner, Switzerland, scores 7250 points for a very good flight on piste 2. Rhett Miller, USA, shows a very good flight and is awarded 7965 points on runway 1.

Jean Tonner from Luxembourg flies on runway 2 and scores 4910 points. Dave Brown, USA, achieves 8220 points for an outstanding flight on runway 1, making him worthy of the championship. Ivan Kristensen, Canada, the surprise from the second round of this championship, achieves 7995 points on runway 1 with a very good flight. Hanno Prettner, Austria, achieves 8345 points on runway 2 with his usual Prettner precision and is increasingly crystallising as the winner of this championship.

Giichi Naruke from Japan shows a very good flight on runway 1 and achieves 7600 points. Andre Laffite, France, achieves 6380 points with a good flight on runway 2. Tsugutaka Yoshioka, Japan, achieves only 7730 points on runway 2 with what I consider to be a very good flight. Jan van Vliet from the Netherlands flies on runway 1 and achieves 6170 points. Ferdinand Schaden achieves 5940 points. Guiseppe Bertolozzi from Italy is the last to take off on runway 1 and achieves 7130 points with his very good flight.

During the lunch break and in the evening after the round, some interesting interludes were presented. Bob Violett’s Navy Sky Hawk with fan drive, which flies amazingly fast, and the Cessna from Eastcraft Speciality Products, which has a built-in electric starter that can be switched on from the transmitter at the touch of a button (even in the air), as well as the fantastic helicopter demonstrations with Jet Ranger and Alouette by Paul Behm from Luxembourg, were of particular interest.

Unfortunately, his Ranger crashed because the spark plug broke and the engine stopped. Here too, a cylinder head with 2 plugs could have saved the model. The team from Ireland came up with a great idea when they organised an event in the evening after the

Irish coffee for all those present, immediately creating a cheerful atmosphere. The lively stand-up party was further enlivened by the huge amount of ice-cold beer, cola and Seven Up donated by the American friends. 4 July This day must bring the decision. The 4th and final round is tackled with vigour. The six best pilots, who still have to fly the final fly-off to determine the final ranking, are as good as certain unless something totally crazy happens.

They probably include Hanno Prettner, Austria, Dave Brown, USA, Wolfgang Matt, Liechtenstein, Ivan Kristensen, Canada, Mark Radcliff, USA and Rhett Miller, also USA. The two Japanese pilots Yoshioka and Okumura, who in my opinion were always rated a little low, could theoretically still cause a surprise. On runway 2, the first pilot from the group of favourites, Rhett Miller, USA, takes off and achieves 7195 points with a less than convincing flight.

Nevertheless, his overall score is enough to be able to take part in the fly-off. David (Dave) Brown, USA, also the favourite, achieves 7990 points with a very good flight on runway 2. Even if he does not reach the score of his third round, he is among the 6 pilots for the fly-off. Tetsuji Okumura, Japan, originally one of the favourites for some, scores 7485 points and is therefore eliminated as a fly-off competitor.

Hanno Prettner, the big favourite from Austria, shows the precision in his figures that he is known for from many competitions right from the start. In the second half of his round, however, he seems to be a little nervous and no longer flies quite as precisely as in the first half. The judges don’t seem to notice the change, at least not in terms of scoring.

He scores 8705 points for this flight. Ivan Kristensen, Canada, who has also been one of the favourites since his second round, which earned him 8185 points, flies on piste 2 and scores 7640 points. Even if he does not reach his performance from the 3rd or even the 2nd round, it is always enough for the fly-off. Mark Radcliff, USA, one of the favourites, brings new excitement when he takes off on piste 1. How will he fly? His excellently flown round earns him 8100 points.

Tsugutaka Yoshioka from Japan (who became world champion in Gorizia in 1973), who took off on runway 1, once again showed a very good flight, scoring 8060 points. By the way, his rolls never cease to amaze me. Unfortunately, his points are no longer enough to qualify for the fly-off. The Austrian Ferdinand Schaden starts on piste 1 and only achieves 3365 points, which is not at all in line with his level of performance.

He had difficulties with his engine, which suddenly wouldn’t start. He was only able to start his run after losing a considerable amount of time. Harald Neckar (Germany) starts on runway 1 and scores 7035 points. The flight is virtually faultless. Unfortunately, the engine stopped after the spin, so that Neckar could only turn his model round quickly and land it. The landing takes place in a 15 metre circle, but it doesn’t help.

The chance of getting another high score is of course gone. Günter Hoppe (Germany), now our great hope, takes off on runway 1. His flight was excellent and earned him 7895 points. Although he was able to improve well, he was of course no longer able to catch up with the leaders. Our Günter Metterhausen takes off on runway 1, shows a very good flight and is awarded 7370 points. John Brink from South Africa is the last pilot to take off on runway 2 and scores 6015 points for his flight, while David Hardaker from England and Wolfgang Matt from Liechtenstein take off on runway 1.

Hardaker receives 7405 points for his very good run. Wolfgang Matt, the 1975 world champion, once again shows one of his great flights and, surprisingly, only receives 8510 points. After the four rounds, the worst of which is cancelled, the six best pilots from these rounds have to fly a fly-off to determine the final ranking.

This fly-off, which is flown in two rounds, the best of which is added to the result of the three best previous rounds, provides further excitement. The starting order and the results of the two fly-off rounds are shown in the following table. Kristensen’s 800 points are not a spelling mistake. His engine stopped. Fly-off heat 1 classification Ivan Kristensen, Canada 15 160 Dave Brown, USA 16 075 Wolfgang Matt, Liechtenstein 16 100 Mark Radcliff, USA 15 345 Rhett Miller, USA 15 675 Hanno Prettner, Austria 16 375

Round 2 Total score Dave Brown 16 165 40 255 (2) Rhett Miller 15 780 38 735 (5) Mark Radcliff 15 515 38 485 (6) Hanno Prettner 16 325 41 395 (1) Wolfgang Matt 16 130 40 195 (3) Ivan Kristensen 800 38 990 (4) Immediately after the fly-off flights have finished and the final results have been determined, the award ceremony will take place. As at the opening ceremony, the dignitaries give their speeches, in which they talk about model flying in general, the role of model flying associations in promoting international understanding in particular and, of course, the achievements of the participants.

The award ceremony begins with the team classification. The first team to climb the podium is the team from Germany. They achieved third place with 64,130 points. The Japanese team follows in second place with 67,545 points, while the American team is on the top step, having earned first place with 70,015 points. In the individual classification, Wolfgang Matt from Liechtenstein (40,195 points) in third place, Dave Brown from the USA (40,255 points) in second place and Hanno Prettner from Austria (41,395 points) as world champion climb the podium.

At the end of this all in all great event, the AMA organised a banquet. They met at Wittenberg University (where some of the participants were staying), where they then ate together. At 10 p.m. we left the university for the Ramada Inn (a well-known motel) for the final RCWC party. The world championship in Springfield, Ohio, USA, was over. “Modell” would like to congratulate Hanno Prettner, the new world champion.

All the other pilots, whether they were successful or not, also contributed to the success of the championship. Our special congratulations go to the German team, which took third place in the team ranking. Our team also placed very well in the individual classification: 10th Günter Hoppe, 12th Harald Neckar, 16th Günter Metterhausen. So far, Canada, South Africa and Mexico have applied for the next World Championship in RC-1. I have learnt that Mexico has the best chances.

Text Helmut Drexler

Photos: Erich Gilik, RC Modeller, Benito Bertolani, Paolo Daporto, FMT

Results list