Opening Comments by Bob Hunt
Event overview
For the first time in 20 years, the FAI Control Line World Championships (CLWC) was contested in the United States. Between July 4 and July 10, the best control-line modelers on the planet made their way to AMA's International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, to compete in the four FAI F2 events at the 23rd CLWC:
- F2A — Speed (A)
- F2B — Aerobatics (B)
- F2C — Team Race (C)
- F2D — Combat (D)
The last CLWC held in the States was in 1984 at Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was a great success, but even then many competitors felt that the expense and hassle of traveling to the U.S. was excessive.
Attendance and travel issues
The question this year was, would they attend? The current world situation, especially regarding security, added to the problem. Traveling in large groups with lots of support equipment used to be fairly easy—not so today. Heightened airport security and luggage restrictions have added to the frustration of trying to get delicate, trim-sensitive models to a site safely and on time.
But attend they did. There were 304 competitors, team managers, mechanics, and helpers from 28 countries, plus numerous supporters.
Visa problems and assistance
The only real drama was that a few members of the Chinese, Ukrainian, and South African teams had visa issues. Special arrangements had to be made through the State Department to quickly cut a bunch of red tape to allow the Chinese to get to the meet in time to compete.
The only Chinese team member who received his visa in time—F2B junior competitor Yaokun Wang—arrived on AMA's doorstep Monday, July 6, with his luggage but no room reservations or transportation. AMA President Dave Brown took Yaokun under his wing, put him up for the night, and then helped him with billeting and transportation until the rest of his team arrived.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
