This report is about the F3A World Championship in Acapulco, Mexico. Thanks to Phil Stevens and Gerard Werion for the great photos. It’s photos like these that really bring a report to life. I spent ages looking for photos.
Here is the early word from the 1 2th RC Aerobatics World Championships in Acapulco, Mexico. Our reporter dictated this “diary” during the event to give us a feeling of the competition “as it was happening.” Hanno Prettner took top honors once more, as did the U.S. team.
I THOUGHT ID GET a head start on this article on the plane headed for Acapulco. As I’m sitting here. I’m pondering the very first World Championships and our U.S. team at that time:Bob Dunham from the West Coast, Ed Kazmirski from the Midwest, and Harold deBolt from the East Coast.
The first championship meet was held in Switzerland over 20 years ago (1960). We selected a team in the U.S. at that time with one member from the East, one from the West, and one from the Midwestern states.
As RC modelers, we have a great deal to be grateful or to all these contestants worldwide.
They have certainly advanced the state of the art for Radio Control aircraft as we know it today.
The tremendous strides that we have had-the development of radio equipment, engines, aircraft, sound control, propeller design and all ofit-has come through the dedication of these competitors who demand the utmost in reliability and performance.
The fun flier out at the field that may have never been able to attend one of these competitions is the big benefactor.
There is another end of this garne that is extremely rewarding; seeing all the old friends from all over the world that I’ve made.
I’m anxiously looking forward to see what has betat developed by way of new equipment, new designs, improvement in flying techniques and styles.
I’m now at the Marriott Hotel in Acapulco: that’s the headquarters for this met. I have already seen a number of friends. It was a pleasant surprise to see Ed and Louise Izzo.
They are going to be helping out the one contestant from New Zealand. Ed is team manager for New Zealand. assisted by Lou, and I understand Joe Bridi is going to give them a hand.
Even though there are different languages among the participants. we all speak a common language.
Tbc goodwill and common interest in RC is universal. I think if we could change our politicians into RC-fliers. we could solve a lot of problems in the world today.
I chcckcd with the U.S. tcam; thcy havc becn out practicc-flying for several days now, and everything is working rine. They say the Field is excellent.
We’re at sea level here. so they are not going to have the altitude problems that some were concemed about; engines seem to be running line. and the air is good and solid.
Thc officials are going to be very strict about the noisc level at this meet so well see how that comcs out.
Tomorrow ( Wednesday) is the official opening day: there is going to be one round of practice flying for each contestant, then the opening ceremonies of the meet.
I saw my good friend Steve Helms. He sure has been busy since the Masters. He has built two new aircraft— Arrows with the variable pitch prop setup.
Steve is quite confident about this development.
Talked to Hanno Prettner and looked over his aircraft.
I believe he has a Webra carburetor on it. He has done a lot of work to reduce the noise level of the aircraft. He is using a variable pitch prop.
Wolfgang Matt is also using the variable pitch prop. The entire German team is using three-bladed props to get the diameter down, and that in turn reduces the prop noise.
Thursday. the first day of official flying. is absolutely beautiful weather. The wind is no more than 5 mph.
Is coming in a little bit in the face, off to the right for the fliers.
We were a little bit late in getting out to the field. The road from Acapulco out to this military base is very treacherous, and a truck loaded with lumber overturned and blocked up traffic for miles.
The general impression of the flying is that it’s extremely smooth. The first light I saw was Hanno Prettner, using his variable pitch prop.
He uses it through all the maneuvers, he goes into reverse pitch on the straight down maneuvers, into high pitch on the rolling maneuvers, and I believe intermediate pitch on the vertical maneuvers such as the Figure “M.”
He is constantly changing pitch and rpm depending on the attitude of the airplane, which gives, of course, a very constant speed.
Steve Hels has nown. His night was very solid. Mark Radclifrs Night was right in there too.
Dave Brown flies late in the day. There is some concern about passing the decibel sound rating They are checking it one meter from the aircraft.
The maximum reading is 105 decibels. and if you’re over that you have to be retested, after which you are given the chance to correct it.
If on the second flight you have not corrected the problem. you are disqualified for the meet: so this has really gotten “the boys” attention.
I have seen one contestant. Greg Marsden from Canada. over the 105 max. He read a 107. and he will be retested. He did put in an excellent flight.
There are quite a few inverted engines with the tuned pipes mounted underneath. Some of the contestants are turning their aircraft over to start them.
Yoshioka (Japan) did this and his engine quit. I believe in the last maneuver it was out of fuel. It was an excellent flight, but that engine quitting an that last maneuver will cost him
dearly.
Hanno Prettncr’s engine is inverted. and he Starts the aircraft from an upright position. It ran very consistently.
He is definitely using a Supertigre engine with Webra Dynamix carburetor. and he is using hoch a tuned pipe and a mini-muffler in back of the pipe all this is ducted out the bottom of the aircraft.
His is one of the quietest aircraft here. Yoshioka’s aircraft b very quite. I think that’s the biggest general impression I have of the flying.
Ivan Kristensen (Canada) has put in an excellent early in the day he is in first place at 1,284. but many of the big names have not flown yet In general, the Canadian team looks very strong.
We haven’t seen Dave Brown fly yet. He flies in the afternoon.
Aircraft here are pretty much typical designs. as they have evolved in the last few years. There are many Arrows, Curares, Magics and Phoenixes and modifications of these designs.
The most impressive as far as workmanship. finish and attention to the finest detail, are the Japanese aircraft.
The hours that they put into these aircraft must be amazing. Everything is accurate, right to the finest detail; even their shipping boxes are like pieces of furniture.
We are starting to get some of the results. These arc all unofficial. The way it stacks up at the end of the first day of flying. we are really feeling great: the U.S. team is in top shape.
Right now we are both in first platt as a team and first platt in the individual competition. It goes like this: Dave Brown is in first platt at 1.368. Hanno Prettner (Maria) is 1.339. Wolfgang Matt (Liechtenstein) 1.330. Ivan Kristensen (Canada) 1.284. Mark Radcliff (U.S.) 1.272. Gunter Hoppe (Germany) 1.269. Akiba (Japan) 1.245. Greg Marsden (Canada) 1.238. Steve Helms (U.S.) 1.222. and Bertram Lossen (Germany) 1.214.
lt looks right now, from first glance. that the team standings arc the U.S. first. Canada possible second. and Germany third: but that’s only my first guess. Flying has ended at about 2:00, so we are looking forward to getting back to the Marion and a swim out in that beautiful Acapulco Bay.
The weather for the second day has Wen just fabulous, like die first day. There has been literally no wind. As usual it`s been hot, real hot.
I`ll give you the good news first. Dave Brown’s sound level readings of 107 yesterday have been rechecked, and he is now safe, so we don’t have to worry about that.
Now I`ll give you the bad news. Dave tried to rewrite the rules for the Rolling Triangular Loop: the judges didn’t agree with him, and that kind of tone up what would have been an excellent second flight.
That dropped him from first place yesterday to third place. Wolfgang Matt had a real boomer: 1.403. the highest flight of the meet so far. That puts him in first place. using the best of the two scores from circle one and circle two.
The anal results will be tabulated prior to the flyoff. which will probably lcms with adequate cooling.
The third day of competition, Saturday has also been an excellent day for weather. For the Americans it was not such a hot day.
Dave Brown started out first thing this morning, and in the middle of his Figure “M” the ailerons quit working. He aborted the flight and brought the aircraft down safely.
Later on, after taking the aileron servo apart, he found that the pinion in the main gear had slipped. “Why couldn’t it have happened last weck or next weck and not this week?” he said. especially since he’s been using that ‘same servo since 1977 without even so much as changing a pot.
Davc’s misfortune was followed by Wolfgang Matt, whose engine quit early in the flight. The order has switched around some what.
The Gormans really turned it on, as did Hanno Prettner. Prettner put in the highest flight of the day with a 1.431. which moves him to first place; Wolfgang Matt moves down to second place; Lossen moved to 3rd place; Dave Brown moved down to 4th place; Gunter Hoppe remained in 51h place: Bertolani moved up to 6th Place: Bruno Giczendanner dropped hack from 6th place to 7th place; Steve Helms remained in 8th place: and Mark Radcliff dropped from 7th place to 9th place.
That moved the Germans ahead of the Americans for the team standing by a narrow margin.
The third highest flight of the round was turned in by Ivan Kristensen of Canada, but that still kept him in 11th place. That replaced his highest score. His lowest score, hopefully. will be better tomorrow in the competition.
You can sec from the scores and die final tabulation just how intense this competition is developing. Hanno Prettner used the variable pitch propeller quite effectively. and his flying is very, very smooth.
The Germans are all using Ihres bladed propellers. and their flying is also exceptionally smooth. Our boys, in general, put in excellent flights. They were not paid by the judges as high as I though they should have been, but that’s what makes competition, and they are raring tu go tomorrow to move up those scores.
Dave still has an excellent crack at knocking off Hanno Prettner, because he has a very high single flight and needs another good one to bring him up. He has the 3rd highest individual score in the competition to date.
The fourth and final day we statt off with Steve Helms putting in his best single flight, 1,333. That moves him to a tic for sixth place with Ivan Kristensen, so they’ll both be in the flyoffs as of now. Mark Radcliff had his work out out for him toset in the flyoffs. He came through with 1,355, his best flight of the competition, and that moved him into 5th place.
That moves both Ivan and Steve Helms down to a sie for lth place, and out of the running for the final flyoff. We are anxiously waiting for Dave Brown to fly, to sec if 1w can pull back up from his fourth place alter having bad luck in the second and third rounds.
He has checked out his aileron servo. and he is using his number one airplane (a Tipoare) rather than go to his back- up aircraft, because 1w is confident that he has found the trouble. Dave has just completed his flight. It was one of the finest flights I’ve ever seen. Dave certainly knows how to pour it on when his back is against the wall. He turned in a flight of 1,422. which was the highest of the day, Hanno Prettner turned in a 1.410.
So the standings for the tour rounds are: Hanno Prettner. 2.841: Dave Brown. 2.790: Wolfgang Matt. 2.733; Lossen. 2.656: Mark Radcliff. 2.629: and Gunter Hoppe. 2.615. You can see how close the scores are. We are anxiously awaiting the flyoffs. The remarkable flying of all flute of our team members. all of !hem putting in their best flights of the meet in the 4th round. pul the tcam into a solid first placc.
This part of the competition determines the Team standings. The way it ended up. the U.S.A team is 1 st with 8.021. Germany. 7.795, Japan 7.613. Austria 7.552. Canada 7,477. and Italy 7,224. into the flyoffs.
The score from two of the tour rounds is counted as half of your flying, and the best flyoff score counts for the remaining half. Dave Brown still has a chance to overtake Hanna Prettner in the fin als. There is a 5 -point difference between Dave and Hanno. We are using all eight judges. and all scores count from the judges.
Prettner finished up with 2.893. Dave put in 2.818. Wolfgang Matt 2.836. The highest flight of the entire competition was put in by Lossen with a 2.911 . That’s over 1.455 points. if you were to compare that to the earlier competition. and that was one whale of a flight.
Incidentally, Lossen has just turned 20 years old. and he is someone to wasch. He reminds mc of Rhett Miller. He stands there like a statue: the only thing that moves is his head and of course. those magic thumbs. Mark Radcliff had some bad luck on the first flight when 1w flopped out on the Figure “M” at the stall turn portion: the same thing happened to Gunter Hoppe.
After the Flyoffs, the order remained exactly the same as the competition originally ended up, which teils me that the judging was pretty well balanced throughout the competition. Chief Judge, Doc Edwards did a superb job of running it. Travis McGinnis from the U.S. was there under the scorching sun, and he commented that he has seen some of the finest flying that he has ever witnessed in all his years of judging, and he feels that the results are a fair representation.
Hanno Prettner uses all the bells and whistle in his flying. Dave Brown uses a very basic setup: I don’t think he even uses mix hart control. He uses an exposed pipc. nothing closcd in. Dave’s o real sportsman: even when he has problems he keeps right on smiling.
I don’t know what his guts were doing at the time, but from the outside he sure looked collected We can be proud of hüll for the job he has done. Our team members have certainly come through again in Dying colors.
Tony Bonetti. our new National Champ, showed up at the competition. and were talking together afterwards about just what changes would make in our aircraft for next year. We both agreed that the dcsigns we are flying right now are prctty basic, and the way to improvc is to work on sntall details and lots of practicc.
The list of winners shows that there is a widerange ofgood combinations. and it’s the one that docs the practicing and gets h is act together that’sgoing to do the winning. Bctty and Suc Stream hclped with the tabulating. Thcir sunny dispositions and competencewert very reassuring in this important job.
The banquet was something of a disappointment. lt started latc and then the etwa the entire group to go out to the beach, so I finally called it quits and wem to bed. I heard later there was a bomb scare rumor which fouled up the banquet. The Mexican people have pull forward a good hard effort. and their desire to please and do a super job arc certainly to he respected. The memories of Acapulco arc going to stick with us all. The beauty of their country is something to behold.
Text Ed Keck, thanks to Jay Smith, Model Aviation
Fotos Classicpattern, Gerard Werion, Phil und Iris Stevens
Results list
