Scale World Championships
Radio Control and Control Line's best compete in Perigueux, France
By Darlene Frederick
Overview
Perigueux is located in beautiful wine country in the south of France. Our Radio Control and Control Line teams met in Paris for a final flight to Bordeaux, where we were bussed to Perigueux.
Unfortunately, for many we left behind, it was a day of grave concern: TWA Flight 800 from New York crashed shortly after takeoff the day we left for the World Championships. We were oblivious to the whole tragedy until we arrived in Perigueux the following day. Fortunately, none of our team was on that flight.
Travel and arrival
Our travel arrangements were made with Air France for the most part by Cathy Bernstine at Perkins Travel in Sandusky, Ohio. Air France transported our airplane boxes and all but one of our team members. After a few delays we were together in Perigueux for the competition. All of the model boxes arrived unharmed.
Venue and schedule
The event was held at the Perigueux-Bassillac Airport near Perigueux. The airport was not totally closed for the competition; flying had to be held up at least twice a day for incoming and outgoing traffic (a minor inconvenience).
Our days were long. Transmitters had to be turned in at 7:30 a.m. daily. Flying was from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. The two-hour, seven-course lunches were served from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Seven-course dinners were served from 8:30-10:30 p.m. The food was delicious; it was prepared by a local cooking school. We truly had authentic French meals — a gastronomical delight.
Radio Control flying began on Sunday afternoon after the opening ceremonies. Static judging started after the first group of flying was well underway. Static time typically ran from 20-30 minutes per airplane.
Control Line static also started on Sunday, with flying not starting until Wednesday. A provisional event, Large Scale, was held at this World Championship. It was static-judged starting on Monday with flight beginning on Wednesday.
Participants and officials
- Eighteen countries competed:
- Radio Control — 8 countries
- Control Line — 7 countries
- Large Scale — 3 countries
- Static was judged by three judges; flight by five judges.
- The weather was mostly OK, with a few downpours that delayed flying. Wind became a problem Thursday during the last round of flying. The last few fliers were given the option to re-fly on Friday; after the first flier declined, the rest followed suit.
- One flier's score sheets were destroyed.
Results
#### Radio Control (F4C)
- Max Merckenschlager (Germany) — Albatros D.Va
- Max outscored the static by a few points; his flying ability won him the top flight scores. Three rounds were flown.
- Vladimir Handlík (Czech Republic) — Caudron G.III
- Vladimir was the first-place winner two years ago in Arnhem, Netherlands.
- Andreas Lüthi (Switzerland) — Nieuport 28
U.S. team highlights:
- Ray Torres — 8th (Beechcraft)
- Kim Foster — 9th (Sopwith Pup)
- Wayne Frederick — 25th (Fokker D.VIII)
The U.S. team placed fourth overall in Radio Control.
#### Control Line
- Marian Kazirod (Poland) — Avro Lancaster (repeated as first-place winner)
- Vasiliy Kromin (Australia, originally from Russia) — Antonov An-14
- Valery Kramarenko (Ukraine) — Antonov An-26
U.S. placements:
- Steve Ashby — 4th (Dornier 17)
- Jack Sheeks — 10th
- Dale Campbell — 14th (Spitfire Mk d.9a)
The Ryan STA helped the Control Line team secure third-place honors overall.
Control Line team members provided assistance with engine problems. Yasufumi Sugawara, Manager, Marketing & Sales, OS Engines, Japan, also assisted.
#### Large Scale (provisional)
- Static judged starting Monday; flight beginning Wednesday.
- Exhibition and large models were notable during the event.
Exhibition flying
Exhibition flying included some giant aircraft:
- An Air France Airbus A340 model, built and flown by Henri and Mireille Wild, made several realistic flybys.
- Later in the week the Guerdat Team showed up with a Hercules C-130 (650 cm; 21 feet 4 inches wingspan).
Rules and future championships
The 1998 F4C (Radio Control) World Championships will be held in late April/early May and will be hosted by South Africa. With new rule changes going into effect in January 1997, we hope to see an influx of new competitors vying for a spot on the US team:
- Weight limit raised from 7 kg to 10 kg (22 pounds).
- The flight bonus has been eliminated, which should open up the spectrum of aircraft competing in the future.
For details on the 1998 World Championships and rules, contact the Competitions Department at AMA Headquarters.
It is unclear where the Scale Control Line event will be held. In the past it has been held with Radio Control Scale, but there is some talk that it will be held in conjunction with the Control Line events to be held in Russia in 1998.
Conclusion
The World Championships is a wonderful event and a grand opportunity to see how the rest of the world enjoys our hobby. See you at the next F4B/F4C team trials and World Championship.
Acknowledgments
The US FAI F4B/F4C teams would like to thank our major supporters for their contributions, which made it possible for the teams to compete at the 1996 Scale World Championships. We could not compete at all without the support of the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
Other major contributors included:
- Pacer Technology (Herschel Worthy)
- Futaba Radio Corporation (Steve Helms)
- Horizon Hobbies / JR Radios (Mike Stokes)
- Mid Hudson R/C Society
- United Scale and Pattern Judges Association
- Bob Underwood and the National Association of Scale Aeromodellers
- Many others who gave their time and money to make our teams' participation possible.
Darlene Frederick
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
