The year is 1987 – what a luck. The Australian participant, Chris White, and the Finn Ahti Yliriesto provided us with great photos. Ahti also filmed some of the flights. The films can be seen on Youtube, we have included the links in the report. Thanks to Jay Smith, chief editor of the AMA magazine Model Flying for the report by Ron Chidgey.
Report: The top FAI F3A RC Pattern competition marked its 15th running this year in France with over 70 competitors from many nations competing for the titles.
AVIGNON—in the south of France: What a nice place for a World Championships. The City is a walled one with a lot of Old World charm, and it is the center of a month-long art festival each summer. Tourists were everywhere, swelling the town’s population from 90,000 inhabitants to over 300,000 during the month of August. I was sure hoping they wouldn’t all show up at the flying field.
When I arrived in Avignon a few days before the start of the RC Acrobatics World Championships, I thought I was back in Lincoln, NE. Gosh, was it windy,
The French call it the Mistral or the Father of Winds. They named it right, because it was clearly the Daddy Rabbit of all winds.
I drove out to the flying site, the Avignon Municipal Airport, and found Jean Claude Lavigne, the contest director, doing his best to get things set up in the face of the Mistral.
Anytime someone would mention the wind, Jean Claude would just shake his head. He was surely worried. He told me that the records showed no wind for the first week in August going back 10 years.
Locals said that typically we could expect the wind to blow a steady 20 to 30 knots around the clock—and to continue for either three, six, or nine days, then suddenly stop.
That was an Friday, so a three-day Mistral wouldn’t be too bad. It would be over before the contest started. Six days would make it into the practice day and the first day of official flying—a real challenge— arid Jean Claude and I didn’t even want to think about nine days!
As it turned out, the Mistral let up some for Tuesday, the day of official practice, but it came back with a vengeance for Wednesday’s official flying.
Then, sure enough, it stopped Wednesday night, the sixth day. and the weather was nearly perfect for the rest of the contest. I guess when all the air in northern France has blown down the Rhone Valley to the Mediterranean, the wind has to stop.
The Avignon airport, with a 100 x 4,000-ft. runway, was a good World Championships site. Two flight lines were laid out with a back-to-back arrangement rather than the usual side-by-side way.
One flight line was used for morning flights with one group of judges. The other flight line was to be used after a noon break for afternoon flights with the second group of judges. This arrangement works out very well, though some fliers liked it and some didn’t.
It made for a long day for the Jury and some of the officials; flying started at 6:30 a.m. and the last flight of the day wasn’t off until nearly 8:00 p.m.
The spectators and contestants could see all the flying, since only one model was in the air at a time.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Hanno Prettner flies
The successful demonstration of the hack to-hack setup may make some smaller sites viable for major competitions in the future, so I’m pleased the French used this arrangement (though not sure why they did, as the runway was also long enough for side-by-side sites).
For the competitor’s standpoint, it means that one had better be equally proficient flying either left to right or right to left.
The organizers did a beautiful job of coordinating model flights with full-scale aircraft flights so that the airport wasn’t completely closed down, although operations were slowed somewhat. This demonstration may also help in securing future sites. Tuesday, the official practice day, was clear and sunny with light breezes all day.
However, the day began with an unfortunate accident. A large flat-bed truck was used to transport team members and their models to the morning flying site situated at the north end of the runway.
The Japanese team drew first up for practice, so they were loaded on the truck for the short ride to the site. For some reason the truck driver hit the brakes suddenly, and people began to tumble.
Fortunately no one was hurt, but when the dust settled it became known that two beautiful models were severely damaged. Former World Champion Tsugutaka Yoshioka’s arid Hajime Hatta’s No. 1 models were both definitely out of the contest.
A dark cloud suddenly descended on the competition, because the final results would forever be in doubt with these traditionally strong competitors forced to use their backup models. Tragic!
But I admire the Japanese tremendously. They didn’t rant and rave as a lot of us would have done. They just picked up their No. 2 models and proceeded to outperform almost everyone.
The second team spot isn’t too bad a place to finish in. It seems that practice day is the time to sort out problems—all kinds.
Radio interference was the next problem to be faced. About mid-morning Chris White of the Australian team suddenly crashed.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Bertram Lossen flies
He was on 72,240 MHz, the same frequency the entire U.S. team was on. There was no question that it was interference from an outside source.
The French were recording, the output of the spectrum analyzer, and the chart clearly showed a spike at 72.240 MHz at the time of the crash. The U.S. practice slot was shortly after the Australian’s—but needless to say, our guys declined to fly.
Werner Groth of West Germany, a fellow jury member, told me that the F38 Sailplane World Champion ships in Germany the previous week had experienced similar interference problems. Their monitoring equipment had picked up music and voices from Radio Moscow, also on 72.240 MHz, apparently the result of a strong skip signal.
Australian Chris White and the Americans were granted a practice slot at the end of the day, which gave them time to change frequencies and get things working properly.
On Wednesday, the first day of official flying, the Mistral returned in full force.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Chip Hyde flies
The wind was very near the FAI limit of 12 meters / second (26,8 mph) for most of the day. Chip Hyde flew early and had a nice flight before the start of the strongest winds.
He flew a good line at about 180 meters out and high enough to avoid a tot of the ground turbulence—but not far enough to be severely downgraded.
It was a good strategy. Bertram Lossen of West Germany, the reigning European champion, and Hanno Prettner of Austria, the reigning World Champion, flew back-to-back flights (the luck of the draw!), with Prettner doing the better job of coping with the wind.
The high winds blew Lossen in too close and over the line a number of times; he wasn’t too pleased, though he was happy to have that flight behind him.
Tony Frackowiak had a nice flight in the first round but flew too high for his spin entry, lost orientation, and recovered exactly 180° off heading for a zero.
Ivan Kristensen of Canada and Giichi Naruke of Japan both flew solid flights in the wind, but Ivan’s was a bit too far out, and he didn’t receive the score he is accustomed to.
Wolfgang Matt of Liechtenstein flew near the end of the morning flight schedule: he held his position well for a good score.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Hajime Hatta Flies
At the end of the first half round, the standings were Prettner (380), Matt (362), Hyde (355). Lossen (347), and Kristensen (346).
Frackowiak’s zero maneuver probably lost him 3rd or 4th place at this point. The second half of the flight order got into action after the lunch break. The long break was necessary to allow some full scale traffic in and out of the airport, a small price to pay for the use of such a nice facility.
The afternoon half round also broke in the second group of five judges. The pilots were scheduled to flip-flop thee second day to complete the second half of the first two rounds.
Early up in the afternoon was Dave Patrick of Canada, who put in a super flight in the wind. His airplane was rock steady in spite of the severe turbulence. Unfortunately, he wasn’t rewarded with the score that a lot of us thought he deserved.
Steve Helms put in what looked to be the high flight of the afternoon, but near the end of the day Tobias Schultz of Germany had a good flight to nudge ahead.
At the end of that long windy afternoon, the standings for the second group were Schultz (343), Helms (338), Pascal Malfait of France (337), Hejime Hatta of Japan (326), and Peter Wessels of Germany (326).
For some teams, Wednesday night was the time for some serious strategy discussions.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Gijime Naruke flies
It was obvious to those who watched most of the flights that some of the likely contenders (Germans, Japanese, Austrians and Matt) were flying a lot closer in than they did in Flevohof in 1985 or even, so I`ve been told, in La Garde in 1986,
They flew pretty much up and down the 150-meter line just as the Sporting Code describes for maximum points. On the other hand, the U.S. team flew farther out but finished the first day in pretty good shape.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Gijiche Naruke flies
Helms was second in his group and Hyde third in his. Frackowiak also scored well and was in ninth place even with a zero on his spin (K=-4).
Kristensen also flew near the 250-meter line and was in fifth place in the group with Hyde and Frackowiak. It was difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions at this point because of the high winds.
Most of the teams I talked with just decided to continue flying their normal style—waiting to see what the next day would bring.
The winds stopped dead on Thursday, the second day of official flying. It was a perfect day for F3A.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Wolfgang Matt flies
The pilots reacted, too, with some of the best flying I’ve ever seen. With better conditions a better reading of the judges was possible, and it was becoming evident that flying near the 150-meter line was certainly worth more points than flying near the 200-meter lines.
The American, Canadian, and Australian teams were all feeling the pressure and a certain amount of frustration. The day ended with Hyde, 6th; Frackowiak, 10th; and Helms, 12th after two rounds. It wasn’t a hopeless situation, but it was one requiring some adjustment in positioning if all were to make it to the finals.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
The surprise here was that Austria, mainly due to the strong support Heinz Kronlachner (10th) gave Prettner, had pushed the U.S. team into fourth place and out of the running for the bronze medal.
At this point Kristensen was in 5th place. The perfect weather continued through Friday and Saturday for the third and fourth rounds with very light winds and very warm temperatures. The flying just got better.
This was the point in the competition where consistency began to pay off. Prettner and Matt flew very consistently and just didn’t make any big mistakes.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Team Finnland Ahti Yliriesto
I did see some individual flights that were just as good, maybe better, than Prettner’s and Matt’s. Naruke’s and Hyde’s fourth round flights were particularly outstanding.
But to win you must be in the groove every flight so that when the judges are primed to give out the points, you are ready to reap the harvest.
A good example was Helm’s fourth round flight. It was a beauty. li especially appreciated it because I knew how much Steve had to adjust from his normal wide open style. He used throttle very effectively and flew a line about 175 meters out. His score, though, was a lot lower than he deserved.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Peter Wessels flies
I’m sure that pan of the reason was that Steve had not “primed” the judges with a consistent presentation in prior rounds. It simply took him four rounds to adjust close to the groove the judges were looking for. At the end of four rounds of preliminary flying, the national flavor of the top 10%, those who had flown their way into the finals, was much the same as two years previous in Flevohof.
This year it was three from West Germany, two from Japan, and one each from Austria, Liechtenstein, and . the U.S. In 1985 a Canadian, Ivan Kristen sen, replaced one of the Japanese. individually going into the finals, the standings were:
1.Hanno Prettner, Austria, 3000
2.Wolfgang Matt, Liechtenstein, 2934
3.Bertram Lossen, Germany, 2898
4.Hajime Hatta, Japan, 2862
5.Giichi Naruke, Japan, 2827
6.Chip Hyde, U.S.A., 2805
7.Tobias Schulz, Germany, 2791
8.Peter Wessels, Germany, 2785
The final team standings were calculated at this point, as the finals flights have. no bearing on the team results.
Team placings:
1. F.R. Germany. 8474 points
2. Japan, 8462 points
3. Austria, 8331 points
4. U.S.A.. 8082 points
5. China, 7950 points
A final is mandatory in F3A World Championships but only counts 40% of the total score. It is possible for a competitor to improve his position if he flies extremely well, but it isn’t likely unless someone else has a problem.
The perfect weather continued through Sunday, and this time no one had a problem. Everyone, and I mean all eight of the finalists, flew extremely well.
One round was scheduled for midmorning and one for early afternoon. In the morning round Naruke was first off and set a mark I didn’t expect many to best.
It was a fantastic flight. But then came one beautiful flight after another, it was just too close to call.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Planes and pilots at the pit
To rank fliers of that caliber, you simply must sit in the chair and judge each and every maneuver.
The second round in the afternoon was almost a duplicate of the morning round. The only real boo-boo I saw was Naruke`s avalanche.
His snap button stuck, and he did a perfect two-snap avalanche instead of the normal one snap. No, it wasn’t worth extra points!
Chip Hyde had an excellent flight in this round. It stood out, and I think the judges will still remember that flight in 1989.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Show flight Delta Mirage
But at the end of the day, Hanno Prettner had out-pointed the other seven finalists in both rounds.
Therein lies a lesson for all aspiring World Champions. Hanno does it not by always being the most impressive, but by always being technically correct and so disgustingly consistent.
The final standings were the same as after the preliminary rounds. Through 20th place, they looked like this (scores for the top eight being the finals points):
1.H. Prettner, Austria, 5000
2.W. Matt, Liechtenstein, 4893
3.Lossen, Germany, 4869
4.H. Hatta, Japan, 4794
5.G. Naruke, Japan, 4780
6.C. Hyde. U.S.A., 4745
7.T. Schulz, Germany, 4693
8.P. Wesseis, Germany, 4673
9.T. Yoshioka, Japan, 2772
10, H, Kronlachner, Austria, 2755
11.Y. Ton, China, 2751
12.Kristensen, Canada, 2743
13.M. Di Biaggio, Italy, 2709
14.0. Patrick, Canada, 2873
15.K. Binks, U.K., 2662
16.S. Helms, U.S.A., 2656
17.M. Fan, China, 2644
18.P. Malfait, France, 2636
19.N. Bossum, Norway, 2622
20.A. Frackowiak, U.S.A., 2621
The awards ceremony was held on the field after all the scores were checked and double checked. It was an impressive affair with lots of politicians to make lots of speeches.
But the thing that stood out was that the French took the time to honor each and every one of the 76 competitors with an award – a nice gesture, indeed, and very much appreciated.
A wine and cheese buffet, complete with white tablecloths, had been set up on the field.
It was really the polishing touch to a beautiful day.
The closing banquet that night was kind of anticlimactic, it will be remembered mostly for the warm and friendly (and sometimes gushy) farewells.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Default. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Quique Somenzini show flight
Before it was over I got the chance to invite everyone to the U.S. for the 1989 F3A World Champs along with F3B (Soaring), F3C (Helicopters), and F3D (Pylon)!
I get excited just thinking about it is going to be quite a show. The 15th World Championships for F3A is now a part of modeling history.
It was a fine competition with hte best flying I have ever witnessed. Thanks to both Jean Claude Lavigne and the FFAM for a week of fellowship I’ll never forget. To the U.S. team: Fellows, you flew great–a lot better than the scores indicate. I’m proud of you. Now, with a new maneuver schedule effective next year, I think it’s time to push the reset button and get ready for 1989.
Text: Ron Chidgey
Images: Chris White, Ahti Yliriesto
Results
