RADIO CONTROL SCALE - 2004/12
By Stan Alexander
Stan Alexander 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211 E-mail: onawing@mindspring.com
Overview
By some modelers' standards, the best-kept secret in the scale community is the FAI Scale World Championships. This column covers the 2004 edition held in Deblin, Poland, July 23–August 1, and the team who went there to represent the United States of America, AMA, their local clubs, and all of us. This might get your competitive and patriotic juices flowing to try this "Olympics of Scale Competition."
Some potential competitors and the more curious scale modelers think it's too expensive to go to a World Championships. That isn't true. If you are going as a competitor and don't take someone, such as a spouse, with you, the World Championships would cost you roughly the same as going to a regional scale contest. With a traveling partner, the same event will cost you an extra airplane ticket and lodging. Some members of this year's team who didn't take their wives said they weren't out any expenses!
Costs and Fundraising
The reason for the relatively low cost of an international contest such as the World Championships is the funds raised for the team and help from AMA. The Scale SIG—the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers—helped raise money, as did Team USA, Team Manager Lloyd Roberts, and a host of sponsors. There was a great deal of fundraising going on in the two years leading up to the event.
To participate, you must have a current passport, build your own model, and have a model box (to transport the model in). The F4C aircraft weight limit is 15 kilograms (33 pounds), effective January 2005. An extra 0.03 pound is allowable, but you don't want to be that close to the limit if you can help it. Some modelers have been seen gutting their models' scale pilots and cockpit interiors to adhere to the weight limit. Fuel isn't counted as weight.
Event Organization and Sponsors
This year the Aero Club of Poland held one of the most elaborate World Championships in recent years. Corporate sponsors included, but were not limited to: LOT Airlines, Lufthansa, Graupner, Filar, Ford, Citroen, Skoda, Konspol, and BossAR. Patrons and the cooperation of the Polish Air Force were also essential, including Brigadier General Tadeusz Kuziora, General Ryszard Olszewski, Aero Club of Poland President Jan Tadeusz Karpinski, and Polish Confederation of Sports President Andrzej Krasnicki. Special thanks go to Dorota and Pawel Wlodarczyk, who worked for several years to make this event go off as well as it did.
The whole team drove to Chicago and flew LOT Polish Airlines to Warsaw on a Boeing 767, with all of the boxes in the hold. US team member Manny Sousa helped the team obtain a sort of passport for the model boxes that stated they would take the contents back out of the country that they brought in. This smoothed the way through customs, in Warsaw and at home.
Event Atmosphere and Socials
The event lasted a complete week and went at a more relaxed pace than typical US contests. Tours for families, dinners, and parties are part of the event and experience, similar to an Olympics. Many competitors miss the importance of the social events at a World Championships; these are rare opportunities to meet and talk to people from many other countries. Most people speak at least some English and will try even if you don't speak their language.
Events were held almost every night or at special times during the week. Everyone ate in either the enlisted cafeteria or the officers' cafeteria, and the food and service were very good—pretty much whatever you wanted to eat and drink. The beer in Poland is stronger than ours, at roughly 8%.
Competition Format and Documentation
F4C RC Scale is what I lovingly refer to as "Museum Scale," and the models are as good as you will see anywhere in competition. The static portion of the competition requires you to prove—with at least three different photos of the prototype—that there was or is such a full-scale aircraft. That is the minimum needed to compete—not to win! Many modelers submit six to eight pages of documentation, along with detail photos and multiviews.
Only one model flies at any given time, which allows the modeler and the judges to concentrate on the aircraft and its engine sound. No one is starting an engine in your ear while you are trying to fly. Models were transported around the site by golf cart, which had a special attachment to accommodate models of all sizes.
Flying and Judging
The flying portion of the event assigns K (difficulty) factors to different maneuvers, including takeoff and landing, which had the highest K factors this year. You want to make sure you make a great takeoff and landing—especially in the wind. If conditions allow at an FAI Scale event site, pilots are permitted to take off and land into the wind. It's impossible at some US sites, but when room allows it's a big advantage for the competitors.
The judges also give points for a realistic flight and maneuver choice. All competitors this year knew exactly where and when their models would be static-judged and flown; the Aero Club of Poland kept a strict time limit on all aspects of the event. This allowed the contestants to sit back and watch the rest of the competition (many took notes) or take a short trip for the day.
Typical Flight for an Aerobatic/Fighter Aircraft
- Takeoff
- Straight Flight
- Figure Eight
- Descending 360-Degree Circle
- Option: Roll
- Option: Immelmann Turn
- Option: Split S
- Option: Half Cuban Eight (purpose-built aircraft such as an Extra 300 would be expected to fly the full Cuban Eight)
- Option: Touch-and-Go
- Approach and Landing
Results and Highlights
- First place: Andreas Luthi (Switzerland) — Bücker Jungmeister (biplane)
- Second place: Max Merckenschlager — Grumman F7F Tigercat
- Third place: Hans Ammann (Switzerland) — Curtiss Jenny (biplane)
Biplanes have dominated the top 10 places in recent championships. The highest-scoring jet this year was Australian David Law’s de Havilland Vampire Mk T.35 two-seater, which finished in an impressive seventh place.
There were only two crashes this year: Italian team member Cesare Cordella’s Macchi MC.200 Seta and US team member Charlie Baker’s Rawdon T-1. Crashes are rare in this contest, and the aircraft that did crash had internal problems.
Aircraft Represented
A variety of aircraft competed, including:
- CAC 25 Wirraway
- Halberstadt CL.IV
- Zlin 526 Akrobat Special
- Avro 504K
- Bristol Fighter
- Antonov An-2
- Potez 62 (French transport)
- P-61 Black Widow
- Several Tiger Moths
- Liberty Sport biplane
- Morane-Saulnier AI
- Ki-27 Nate
- Beechcraft TC-45
- SBD Dauntless dive bomber
- de Havilland DH.1
- Miles Hawk Major
- Fournier RF-4 motor glider
- Druine Turbulent
- Fw 190A-6
- North American Harvard Mk II
- de Havilland DH.4
- Vultee BT-13
- Saab 91C “Safir”
- Culver Cadet
Next Championships and Contacts
The next Scale World Championships will be held July 14–23, 2006, in Norrköping, Sweden. This competition is only held every two years. For more information about Norrköping, check www.destination.norrkoping.se.
For more information about the USA FAI Team Selection for Scale, contact Scale Team Selection Committee Chairman Mike Gretz at mdgretz@netins.net or me at the address in the column header.
Resources
For a download of the latest FAI Sporting Code and a complete listing of the 2004 World Championships results and photos, go to www.scaleaero.com/amascale.html and click on “Tech Resources,” “FAI,” “CIAM,” “CIAM Documents,” “FAI Sporting Code,” “Section 4 (Aeromodelling),” then “Scale Model Aircraft Competitions—FAI.” The file is about 446 kilobytes and is in Adobe Acrobat format.
You can also request a copy from AMA at (765) 287-1256. Contact Lisa Johnson in the Competition Department at extension 231.
’Til next month, fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
