COMPETITION IS the heart of Indoor FF Duration. There are more
than a few who fly just for fun (I’ll visit some of those topics in
upcoming columns), but most compete in one form or another.
Whether it’s a local, national, or World Championships event, or
it’s working to improve your personal best, Indoor FF Duration is all
about learning and growing, and then putting the results to the test of
a stopwatch. For many it is not about the end point of winning or
losing, but the journey of practice, preparation, and improvement.
This month I’ll explore some competition-oriented events with a
report on the 2004 F1D World Championships (WC) held in Slanic-
Prahova, Romania; an announcement of the new National Free Flight
Society (NFFS) National Cup program; and a look into the New
Jersey “Local Scene.”
2004 F1D WC: This is a duration contest. And I’m not just referring
to how long the models stay up. I mean the physical and mental
endurance required: years of working to earn a spot on the team,
months of preparation and practice, days of airline and bus travel,
hours in the creeping cold of the mine, and agonizingly long minutes
stressing over competition flights.
This is supposed to be fun? You bet! Welcome to Extreme Indoor:
the F1D WC!
The big news of 2004 is US contestant Jim Richmond’s repeat of
the previous year’s win to take his eighth WC title. This amazing feat
started in 1968, with a period of four consecutive wins from 1984 to
1990.
These, and his many other victories, lead some to believe that Jim
can just take his models out and win effortlessly whenever he
chooses. Having flown with him, I know the truth to be more
impressive.
In addition to the requisite perfection of process and elimination of
weak points, Jim has—through countless competitions, test flights,
and experiments—accumulated a vast mental database of all kinds of
conditions and techniques.
It makes me think of Tiger Woods
propped up at an awkward angle on the face
of a steep sand trap, chipping perfectly onto
the green. I mean, how many times do you
face a situation like that? But Tiger probably
practiced it hundreds of times.
In a similar way, when the going gets
tough, it seems that Jim frequently has some
experience or test results that he can call on.
It doesn’t always spell out a dominating
advantage, but it usually provides just
enough edge to come out ahead.
Further, it certainly isn’t effortless but
rather the result of quiet but dogged
determination. Case in point, the morning
after Jim lost the first two WC rounds to
hang-ups and launch problems, we noticed
him missing from our regular team breakfast.
There were no answers to loud knocks on his
hotel-room door.
It turns out that he had eaten early and
was already down in the mine, hard at work
to correct the previous day’s problems. This
ended up being the day he put up the two
flights that took home the trophy.
A moral is that no matter how good you
get, you always have to work to keep your
competitive edge. I also like the implication
that our activity is complex enough to
provide continuous challenges. Winning one
John Kagan, 20100 Killians Grv., Strongsville OH 44149; E-mail: [email protected]
FREE FLIGHT INDOOR
A look into the dim salt mine in Slanic-Prahova, Romania—the site of the 2004 F1D
World Championships. Photo by Slobodan Midic.
Model Box of the Month: Polish national Max Zaluska’s models
are works of art and his support equipment is built like fine
furniture. A rising star in Indoor FF, he holds Autogiro national
records.
Doug Schaefer and Brett Sanborn enjoy one-two finish in Junior
F1D WC. Aurel Simpetrean (Romania) was third. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond (USA), Lutz Schramm (Germany), and Dezso
Orsovai (Hungary): the top three F1D WC finishers. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond prepares for his winning flight in the mine. Midic photo.
day, in one site, and in one set of conditions
doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it on
another.
Jim, for having a talent for pulling out
wins under trying conditions, I salute you!
USA’s Doug Schaefer also repeated his
previous year’s victory as Junior World
Champion—the only Junior ever to win
more than once. He showed fine form
despite having his preparation time limited
by schoolwork, band practice, Eagle
Scouts, and college applications.
To make matters worse, he suffered
through a severe bout of food poisoning
that forced him to miss a round on the
second day of competition (and generated a
great amount of concern for his health).
However, he showed youthful resilience
and bounced back for the final day.
Doug led the US Juniors to their second
consecutive team title. His teammates were
first-time WC participants Brett Sanborn
and David Rigotti, who are also top-notch
students and Eagle Scouts. In addition to
performing well, these young men carried
themselves in a mature and respectable
manner. Well done!
The US Senior team (Steve Brown, Tom
Sova, and I) placed second behind the
Romanians. Tom was remarkably well
prepared for his first WC. His nicely built
model box contained five thoroughly tested
and trimmed models, and his flights were
strong and consistent, earning him a
respectable eighth-place finish.
Steve Brown, a three-time World
Champion, suffered the effects of a lack of
practice sites. His models had launched
properly at the Moscow, Idaho, contest, but
frustratingly tucked and rolled under the
higher power required in the salt mine. He
was forced to back off tons of torque at
launch and was only able to climb twothirds
of the way up. His models still
cruised beautifully and produced times of
just less than 30 minutes.
I was involved in some interesting
controversy on my second-round flight. My
model landed with a leading time of 36:27,
but the motor had dropped off in flight
somewhere near the end. The rules state
that timing stops when the model drops a
part, but the timers hadn’t seen it and timed
the model all the way to the ground!
Another team protested the flight, and the
FAI jury was convened. They couldn’t
agree on a resolution, and I was forced to
refly the round.
The reflight launch had a small stall and
didn’t get all the way up but still ended
with a 36:02; it won me the Ernest Kopecki
Longest Single Flight perpetual trophy.
Unfortunately I was unable to put up a
decent backup flight (ask me sometime and
I’ll tell you the whole sob story), but I
ended up in an acceptable fourth place.
Special thanks to Rob Romash, who did
a bang-up job as team manager for the
Senior team, the Junior team, and the
defending World Champion. Many
“invisible” hours of work went in
beforehand to make sure the trip went off
smoothly.
Rob was a one-person assembly line
during the meet, ushering one team member
after another out to the launch area,
counting down the initial minute of flight,
holding a steering balloon at the ready, and
clearing out the launch setup. He calls
himself an “F1D caddie,” comparing the
task to those of his high-end PGA
counterparts.
It certainly helps to have a
knowledgeable assistant at the ready.
Thanks, Rob!
Indoor National Cup: Indoor FF does not
revolve around F1D alone. (Hey, what?)
There are many different categories that
Indoorists (a term for those who fly Indoor
FF models, coined on the Indoor mailing
list by Italian F1D champion Fabio
Manieri) enjoy and many contests in which
to fly them. In support of this, I’m helping
announce the new Indoor National Cup
sponsored by the NFFS.
This program mirrors the successful
Outdoor National Cup, and its goal is to
foster competition and participation at
contests, large and small, by awarding
points for placings in sanctioned events
and recognizing an overall annual
champion.
Four cups will be awarded: an Indoor
Glider cup and an Indoor Rubber cup each
for Juniors and Open/Seniors (combined).
The Glider events are Indoor Standard
Catapult Glider, Indoor Unlimited Catapult
Glider, and Indoor Hand Launched Glider
(IHLG). Senior/Open Rubber events are
Mini-Stick, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
For Juniors, the Rubber events will be
Science Olympiad Wright Stuff Division
April 2005 151
B, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
Certificates will be awarded to the first
five places for each cup, and there will be a
perpetual trophy for each champion. The
awards ceremony will be held during this
year’s US Indoor Championships/Nats.
CDs, please sanction your contests via
the procedure described in the program.
The more contests that are participating,
the more fun this will be. CDs and
competitors can find the complete official
program on the NFFS Web site (listed at
the end of this column).
Recognition goes out to NFFS Indoor
Committee Chairman (and IHLG worldrecord
holder) Jim Buxton for
spearheading the effort, Larry Coslick
(Indoor FF Duration legend) for hashing
out the rules and program document, and
Don Slusarczyk (multiple National
Champion) for taking on the assistantadministrator
duties.
The New Jersey “Local Scene”: Rob
Romash, MiniStick National Champion
and president of the East Coast Indoor
Modelers, said:
“The New Jersey Indoor scene has
several nice sites to choose from. First off
is Hangar #1 in Lakehurst. This site, hosted
by the East Coast Indoor Modelers
(ECIM), is the oldest flying site in the
country—in continuous use for the past 78
years. The hangar is 175 feet high, 240 feet
wide, and 800 feet long, and offers the only
Category IV site in the world in which you
can fly every weekend, all year long.
“Hangar 1 is now, in large part, an
Indoor RC site where the boys with radios
show up like clockwork every Saturday
morning. It’s a great thing for the FF part
of the club as this provides fantastic
visibility to the base. Don’t worry: there is
plenty of room for both FF and RC, and
their batteries start to run down about
noontime—right when the air starts getting
good.
“ECIM has record sanctions every other
weekend from May until September. There
are also three AA contests in the hangar
every year. The first is the Pete Andrews
Memorial Contest, held on Memorial Day
weekend—a good last practice for USIC.
“The second, and largest, is the Super
Spectacular Indoor Blowout, held during
the Fourth of July weekend. At this contest
you will find the biggest names in the
hobby such as Walt Van Gorder, Ray
Harlan, John Kagan, Max Zaluska, Alan
Cohen, Stan Chilton, and Jim ‘the Man’
Richmond, just to name a few. Heck, even
I will be hanging out. To help attract more
contestants, I am attempting to have the
local Hooters girls assist with timing.
“The last contest is the Labor Day
weekend contest—a nice last event before
the winter building season sets in. Flying in
the hangar is a bit dependent on the
weather outside, but if conditions are right,
monster times are the norm. ECIM
membership is mandatory for access to the
active military base. You will need a
current ECIM ID card as well as an active
AMA membership.
“Another South Jersey site is a small but
tight and sweet gym in Marlton. The South
Jersey Silent Flyers hosts an Indoor fly-in
every 3rd Wednesday from 7 p.m. till
whenever, during the winter months.
“This group is headed up by a very
enthusiastic John Jenks. Rumor has it that
he has secretly been working on his Indoor
building skill set and will trounce anyone
who challenges him in this space. This gym
is 22 feet high with a close-set wood truss
ceiling that only a MiniStick can get
through, so it is like a flat bounce type for
anything bigger. There is an indoor RC
presence here, too. They alternate every 25
minutes between FF and RC and it works
very well.
“The final site is the Teaneck Armory.
Here you will find Don Ross, of Flying
Models’ ‘Cross Files’ fame, and a great
bunch of guys every Wednesday from 10
a.m. till 2 p.m. This site has a 35-foot girder
ceiling and the floor space of a full soccer
field. FF flies on one side and indoor RC on
the other—again a good compromise.
152 MODEL AVIATION
“There is an indoor RC presence in all
of these sites, and as this side of our
hobby has increased in popularity, it has
helped open up flying opportunities for
the FF crowd. The savvy Indoor FF guys
see this as an advantage and make sure the
right people get on board to get and keep
FF in these sites. That about wraps up the
main scene here in the lovely Garden
State.”
Spectator FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions): Just for fun, I’m going to
include one frequently asked spectator
question per column. Send me your
favorites. This quarter’s question: “What
are all the balloons for?”
Although the big, bright balloons add
to the festive atmosphere of an Indoor FF
contest, they are not just for decoration.
They are used for two important functions:
retrieval and steering.
Most big sites have open girders which
can snag models that are flown too high.
Balloons are used to nudge models free.
This sometimes requires intricate
contraptions taped to the balloon to cut
strings or reach into remote crevices.
The balloons are also used to steer
models in flight. Using the string holding
the balloon, a competitor can “catch” a
model behind the propeller, but in front of
the wing, and move it to a new location.
This is done to avoid drifting into a wall
or to prevent a midair with another model.
There is a set of rules that governs
steering and its timing implications.
Thank you to those who wrote me kind
messages about my first column (there
was only one person so far who was
dissatisfied). As I continue, I know it will
be impossible to hold a 99% approval
rating—I will surely write things that
some won’t agree with—but please trust
that my heart is in the right place.
’Til next time. MA
Sources:
NFFS
www.freeflight.org
Indoor National Cup Administrator Jim
Buxton
[email protected]
New Jersey Local Scene contacts:
Lakehurst
Rob Romash
(719) 359-6999
[email protected]
www.ecim.net
Marlton Gym
John Jenks
(856) 983-7024
www.sjsf.org
Teaneck Armory
Don Ross
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/04
Page Numbers: 149,150,151,152
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/04
Page Numbers: 149,150,151,152
COMPETITION IS the heart of Indoor FF Duration. There are more
than a few who fly just for fun (I’ll visit some of those topics in
upcoming columns), but most compete in one form or another.
Whether it’s a local, national, or World Championships event, or
it’s working to improve your personal best, Indoor FF Duration is all
about learning and growing, and then putting the results to the test of
a stopwatch. For many it is not about the end point of winning or
losing, but the journey of practice, preparation, and improvement.
This month I’ll explore some competition-oriented events with a
report on the 2004 F1D World Championships (WC) held in Slanic-
Prahova, Romania; an announcement of the new National Free Flight
Society (NFFS) National Cup program; and a look into the New
Jersey “Local Scene.”
2004 F1D WC: This is a duration contest. And I’m not just referring
to how long the models stay up. I mean the physical and mental
endurance required: years of working to earn a spot on the team,
months of preparation and practice, days of airline and bus travel,
hours in the creeping cold of the mine, and agonizingly long minutes
stressing over competition flights.
This is supposed to be fun? You bet! Welcome to Extreme Indoor:
the F1D WC!
The big news of 2004 is US contestant Jim Richmond’s repeat of
the previous year’s win to take his eighth WC title. This amazing feat
started in 1968, with a period of four consecutive wins from 1984 to
1990.
These, and his many other victories, lead some to believe that Jim
can just take his models out and win effortlessly whenever he
chooses. Having flown with him, I know the truth to be more
impressive.
In addition to the requisite perfection of process and elimination of
weak points, Jim has—through countless competitions, test flights,
and experiments—accumulated a vast mental database of all kinds of
conditions and techniques.
It makes me think of Tiger Woods
propped up at an awkward angle on the face
of a steep sand trap, chipping perfectly onto
the green. I mean, how many times do you
face a situation like that? But Tiger probably
practiced it hundreds of times.
In a similar way, when the going gets
tough, it seems that Jim frequently has some
experience or test results that he can call on.
It doesn’t always spell out a dominating
advantage, but it usually provides just
enough edge to come out ahead.
Further, it certainly isn’t effortless but
rather the result of quiet but dogged
determination. Case in point, the morning
after Jim lost the first two WC rounds to
hang-ups and launch problems, we noticed
him missing from our regular team breakfast.
There were no answers to loud knocks on his
hotel-room door.
It turns out that he had eaten early and
was already down in the mine, hard at work
to correct the previous day’s problems. This
ended up being the day he put up the two
flights that took home the trophy.
A moral is that no matter how good you
get, you always have to work to keep your
competitive edge. I also like the implication
that our activity is complex enough to
provide continuous challenges. Winning one
John Kagan, 20100 Killians Grv., Strongsville OH 44149; E-mail: [email protected]
FREE FLIGHT INDOOR
A look into the dim salt mine in Slanic-Prahova, Romania—the site of the 2004 F1D
World Championships. Photo by Slobodan Midic.
Model Box of the Month: Polish national Max Zaluska’s models
are works of art and his support equipment is built like fine
furniture. A rising star in Indoor FF, he holds Autogiro national
records.
Doug Schaefer and Brett Sanborn enjoy one-two finish in Junior
F1D WC. Aurel Simpetrean (Romania) was third. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond (USA), Lutz Schramm (Germany), and Dezso
Orsovai (Hungary): the top three F1D WC finishers. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond prepares for his winning flight in the mine. Midic photo.
day, in one site, and in one set of conditions
doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it on
another.
Jim, for having a talent for pulling out
wins under trying conditions, I salute you!
USA’s Doug Schaefer also repeated his
previous year’s victory as Junior World
Champion—the only Junior ever to win
more than once. He showed fine form
despite having his preparation time limited
by schoolwork, band practice, Eagle
Scouts, and college applications.
To make matters worse, he suffered
through a severe bout of food poisoning
that forced him to miss a round on the
second day of competition (and generated a
great amount of concern for his health).
However, he showed youthful resilience
and bounced back for the final day.
Doug led the US Juniors to their second
consecutive team title. His teammates were
first-time WC participants Brett Sanborn
and David Rigotti, who are also top-notch
students and Eagle Scouts. In addition to
performing well, these young men carried
themselves in a mature and respectable
manner. Well done!
The US Senior team (Steve Brown, Tom
Sova, and I) placed second behind the
Romanians. Tom was remarkably well
prepared for his first WC. His nicely built
model box contained five thoroughly tested
and trimmed models, and his flights were
strong and consistent, earning him a
respectable eighth-place finish.
Steve Brown, a three-time World
Champion, suffered the effects of a lack of
practice sites. His models had launched
properly at the Moscow, Idaho, contest, but
frustratingly tucked and rolled under the
higher power required in the salt mine. He
was forced to back off tons of torque at
launch and was only able to climb twothirds
of the way up. His models still
cruised beautifully and produced times of
just less than 30 minutes.
I was involved in some interesting
controversy on my second-round flight. My
model landed with a leading time of 36:27,
but the motor had dropped off in flight
somewhere near the end. The rules state
that timing stops when the model drops a
part, but the timers hadn’t seen it and timed
the model all the way to the ground!
Another team protested the flight, and the
FAI jury was convened. They couldn’t
agree on a resolution, and I was forced to
refly the round.
The reflight launch had a small stall and
didn’t get all the way up but still ended
with a 36:02; it won me the Ernest Kopecki
Longest Single Flight perpetual trophy.
Unfortunately I was unable to put up a
decent backup flight (ask me sometime and
I’ll tell you the whole sob story), but I
ended up in an acceptable fourth place.
Special thanks to Rob Romash, who did
a bang-up job as team manager for the
Senior team, the Junior team, and the
defending World Champion. Many
“invisible” hours of work went in
beforehand to make sure the trip went off
smoothly.
Rob was a one-person assembly line
during the meet, ushering one team member
after another out to the launch area,
counting down the initial minute of flight,
holding a steering balloon at the ready, and
clearing out the launch setup. He calls
himself an “F1D caddie,” comparing the
task to those of his high-end PGA
counterparts.
It certainly helps to have a
knowledgeable assistant at the ready.
Thanks, Rob!
Indoor National Cup: Indoor FF does not
revolve around F1D alone. (Hey, what?)
There are many different categories that
Indoorists (a term for those who fly Indoor
FF models, coined on the Indoor mailing
list by Italian F1D champion Fabio
Manieri) enjoy and many contests in which
to fly them. In support of this, I’m helping
announce the new Indoor National Cup
sponsored by the NFFS.
This program mirrors the successful
Outdoor National Cup, and its goal is to
foster competition and participation at
contests, large and small, by awarding
points for placings in sanctioned events
and recognizing an overall annual
champion.
Four cups will be awarded: an Indoor
Glider cup and an Indoor Rubber cup each
for Juniors and Open/Seniors (combined).
The Glider events are Indoor Standard
Catapult Glider, Indoor Unlimited Catapult
Glider, and Indoor Hand Launched Glider
(IHLG). Senior/Open Rubber events are
Mini-Stick, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
For Juniors, the Rubber events will be
Science Olympiad Wright Stuff Division
April 2005 151
B, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
Certificates will be awarded to the first
five places for each cup, and there will be a
perpetual trophy for each champion. The
awards ceremony will be held during this
year’s US Indoor Championships/Nats.
CDs, please sanction your contests via
the procedure described in the program.
The more contests that are participating,
the more fun this will be. CDs and
competitors can find the complete official
program on the NFFS Web site (listed at
the end of this column).
Recognition goes out to NFFS Indoor
Committee Chairman (and IHLG worldrecord
holder) Jim Buxton for
spearheading the effort, Larry Coslick
(Indoor FF Duration legend) for hashing
out the rules and program document, and
Don Slusarczyk (multiple National
Champion) for taking on the assistantadministrator
duties.
The New Jersey “Local Scene”: Rob
Romash, MiniStick National Champion
and president of the East Coast Indoor
Modelers, said:
“The New Jersey Indoor scene has
several nice sites to choose from. First off
is Hangar #1 in Lakehurst. This site, hosted
by the East Coast Indoor Modelers
(ECIM), is the oldest flying site in the
country—in continuous use for the past 78
years. The hangar is 175 feet high, 240 feet
wide, and 800 feet long, and offers the only
Category IV site in the world in which you
can fly every weekend, all year long.
“Hangar 1 is now, in large part, an
Indoor RC site where the boys with radios
show up like clockwork every Saturday
morning. It’s a great thing for the FF part
of the club as this provides fantastic
visibility to the base. Don’t worry: there is
plenty of room for both FF and RC, and
their batteries start to run down about
noontime—right when the air starts getting
good.
“ECIM has record sanctions every other
weekend from May until September. There
are also three AA contests in the hangar
every year. The first is the Pete Andrews
Memorial Contest, held on Memorial Day
weekend—a good last practice for USIC.
“The second, and largest, is the Super
Spectacular Indoor Blowout, held during
the Fourth of July weekend. At this contest
you will find the biggest names in the
hobby such as Walt Van Gorder, Ray
Harlan, John Kagan, Max Zaluska, Alan
Cohen, Stan Chilton, and Jim ‘the Man’
Richmond, just to name a few. Heck, even
I will be hanging out. To help attract more
contestants, I am attempting to have the
local Hooters girls assist with timing.
“The last contest is the Labor Day
weekend contest—a nice last event before
the winter building season sets in. Flying in
the hangar is a bit dependent on the
weather outside, but if conditions are right,
monster times are the norm. ECIM
membership is mandatory for access to the
active military base. You will need a
current ECIM ID card as well as an active
AMA membership.
“Another South Jersey site is a small but
tight and sweet gym in Marlton. The South
Jersey Silent Flyers hosts an Indoor fly-in
every 3rd Wednesday from 7 p.m. till
whenever, during the winter months.
“This group is headed up by a very
enthusiastic John Jenks. Rumor has it that
he has secretly been working on his Indoor
building skill set and will trounce anyone
who challenges him in this space. This gym
is 22 feet high with a close-set wood truss
ceiling that only a MiniStick can get
through, so it is like a flat bounce type for
anything bigger. There is an indoor RC
presence here, too. They alternate every 25
minutes between FF and RC and it works
very well.
“The final site is the Teaneck Armory.
Here you will find Don Ross, of Flying
Models’ ‘Cross Files’ fame, and a great
bunch of guys every Wednesday from 10
a.m. till 2 p.m. This site has a 35-foot girder
ceiling and the floor space of a full soccer
field. FF flies on one side and indoor RC on
the other—again a good compromise.
152 MODEL AVIATION
“There is an indoor RC presence in all
of these sites, and as this side of our
hobby has increased in popularity, it has
helped open up flying opportunities for
the FF crowd. The savvy Indoor FF guys
see this as an advantage and make sure the
right people get on board to get and keep
FF in these sites. That about wraps up the
main scene here in the lovely Garden
State.”
Spectator FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions): Just for fun, I’m going to
include one frequently asked spectator
question per column. Send me your
favorites. This quarter’s question: “What
are all the balloons for?”
Although the big, bright balloons add
to the festive atmosphere of an Indoor FF
contest, they are not just for decoration.
They are used for two important functions:
retrieval and steering.
Most big sites have open girders which
can snag models that are flown too high.
Balloons are used to nudge models free.
This sometimes requires intricate
contraptions taped to the balloon to cut
strings or reach into remote crevices.
The balloons are also used to steer
models in flight. Using the string holding
the balloon, a competitor can “catch” a
model behind the propeller, but in front of
the wing, and move it to a new location.
This is done to avoid drifting into a wall
or to prevent a midair with another model.
There is a set of rules that governs
steering and its timing implications.
Thank you to those who wrote me kind
messages about my first column (there
was only one person so far who was
dissatisfied). As I continue, I know it will
be impossible to hold a 99% approval
rating—I will surely write things that
some won’t agree with—but please trust
that my heart is in the right place.
’Til next time. MA
Sources:
NFFS
www.freeflight.org
Indoor National Cup Administrator Jim
Buxton
[email protected]
New Jersey Local Scene contacts:
Lakehurst
Rob Romash
(719) 359-6999
[email protected]
www.ecim.net
Marlton Gym
John Jenks
(856) 983-7024
www.sjsf.org
Teaneck Armory
Don Ross
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/04
Page Numbers: 149,150,151,152
COMPETITION IS the heart of Indoor FF Duration. There are more
than a few who fly just for fun (I’ll visit some of those topics in
upcoming columns), but most compete in one form or another.
Whether it’s a local, national, or World Championships event, or
it’s working to improve your personal best, Indoor FF Duration is all
about learning and growing, and then putting the results to the test of
a stopwatch. For many it is not about the end point of winning or
losing, but the journey of practice, preparation, and improvement.
This month I’ll explore some competition-oriented events with a
report on the 2004 F1D World Championships (WC) held in Slanic-
Prahova, Romania; an announcement of the new National Free Flight
Society (NFFS) National Cup program; and a look into the New
Jersey “Local Scene.”
2004 F1D WC: This is a duration contest. And I’m not just referring
to how long the models stay up. I mean the physical and mental
endurance required: years of working to earn a spot on the team,
months of preparation and practice, days of airline and bus travel,
hours in the creeping cold of the mine, and agonizingly long minutes
stressing over competition flights.
This is supposed to be fun? You bet! Welcome to Extreme Indoor:
the F1D WC!
The big news of 2004 is US contestant Jim Richmond’s repeat of
the previous year’s win to take his eighth WC title. This amazing feat
started in 1968, with a period of four consecutive wins from 1984 to
1990.
These, and his many other victories, lead some to believe that Jim
can just take his models out and win effortlessly whenever he
chooses. Having flown with him, I know the truth to be more
impressive.
In addition to the requisite perfection of process and elimination of
weak points, Jim has—through countless competitions, test flights,
and experiments—accumulated a vast mental database of all kinds of
conditions and techniques.
It makes me think of Tiger Woods
propped up at an awkward angle on the face
of a steep sand trap, chipping perfectly onto
the green. I mean, how many times do you
face a situation like that? But Tiger probably
practiced it hundreds of times.
In a similar way, when the going gets
tough, it seems that Jim frequently has some
experience or test results that he can call on.
It doesn’t always spell out a dominating
advantage, but it usually provides just
enough edge to come out ahead.
Further, it certainly isn’t effortless but
rather the result of quiet but dogged
determination. Case in point, the morning
after Jim lost the first two WC rounds to
hang-ups and launch problems, we noticed
him missing from our regular team breakfast.
There were no answers to loud knocks on his
hotel-room door.
It turns out that he had eaten early and
was already down in the mine, hard at work
to correct the previous day’s problems. This
ended up being the day he put up the two
flights that took home the trophy.
A moral is that no matter how good you
get, you always have to work to keep your
competitive edge. I also like the implication
that our activity is complex enough to
provide continuous challenges. Winning one
John Kagan, 20100 Killians Grv., Strongsville OH 44149; E-mail: [email protected]
FREE FLIGHT INDOOR
A look into the dim salt mine in Slanic-Prahova, Romania—the site of the 2004 F1D
World Championships. Photo by Slobodan Midic.
Model Box of the Month: Polish national Max Zaluska’s models
are works of art and his support equipment is built like fine
furniture. A rising star in Indoor FF, he holds Autogiro national
records.
Doug Schaefer and Brett Sanborn enjoy one-two finish in Junior
F1D WC. Aurel Simpetrean (Romania) was third. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond (USA), Lutz Schramm (Germany), and Dezso
Orsovai (Hungary): the top three F1D WC finishers. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond prepares for his winning flight in the mine. Midic photo.
day, in one site, and in one set of conditions
doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it on
another.
Jim, for having a talent for pulling out
wins under trying conditions, I salute you!
USA’s Doug Schaefer also repeated his
previous year’s victory as Junior World
Champion—the only Junior ever to win
more than once. He showed fine form
despite having his preparation time limited
by schoolwork, band practice, Eagle
Scouts, and college applications.
To make matters worse, he suffered
through a severe bout of food poisoning
that forced him to miss a round on the
second day of competition (and generated a
great amount of concern for his health).
However, he showed youthful resilience
and bounced back for the final day.
Doug led the US Juniors to their second
consecutive team title. His teammates were
first-time WC participants Brett Sanborn
and David Rigotti, who are also top-notch
students and Eagle Scouts. In addition to
performing well, these young men carried
themselves in a mature and respectable
manner. Well done!
The US Senior team (Steve Brown, Tom
Sova, and I) placed second behind the
Romanians. Tom was remarkably well
prepared for his first WC. His nicely built
model box contained five thoroughly tested
and trimmed models, and his flights were
strong and consistent, earning him a
respectable eighth-place finish.
Steve Brown, a three-time World
Champion, suffered the effects of a lack of
practice sites. His models had launched
properly at the Moscow, Idaho, contest, but
frustratingly tucked and rolled under the
higher power required in the salt mine. He
was forced to back off tons of torque at
launch and was only able to climb twothirds
of the way up. His models still
cruised beautifully and produced times of
just less than 30 minutes.
I was involved in some interesting
controversy on my second-round flight. My
model landed with a leading time of 36:27,
but the motor had dropped off in flight
somewhere near the end. The rules state
that timing stops when the model drops a
part, but the timers hadn’t seen it and timed
the model all the way to the ground!
Another team protested the flight, and the
FAI jury was convened. They couldn’t
agree on a resolution, and I was forced to
refly the round.
The reflight launch had a small stall and
didn’t get all the way up but still ended
with a 36:02; it won me the Ernest Kopecki
Longest Single Flight perpetual trophy.
Unfortunately I was unable to put up a
decent backup flight (ask me sometime and
I’ll tell you the whole sob story), but I
ended up in an acceptable fourth place.
Special thanks to Rob Romash, who did
a bang-up job as team manager for the
Senior team, the Junior team, and the
defending World Champion. Many
“invisible” hours of work went in
beforehand to make sure the trip went off
smoothly.
Rob was a one-person assembly line
during the meet, ushering one team member
after another out to the launch area,
counting down the initial minute of flight,
holding a steering balloon at the ready, and
clearing out the launch setup. He calls
himself an “F1D caddie,” comparing the
task to those of his high-end PGA
counterparts.
It certainly helps to have a
knowledgeable assistant at the ready.
Thanks, Rob!
Indoor National Cup: Indoor FF does not
revolve around F1D alone. (Hey, what?)
There are many different categories that
Indoorists (a term for those who fly Indoor
FF models, coined on the Indoor mailing
list by Italian F1D champion Fabio
Manieri) enjoy and many contests in which
to fly them. In support of this, I’m helping
announce the new Indoor National Cup
sponsored by the NFFS.
This program mirrors the successful
Outdoor National Cup, and its goal is to
foster competition and participation at
contests, large and small, by awarding
points for placings in sanctioned events
and recognizing an overall annual
champion.
Four cups will be awarded: an Indoor
Glider cup and an Indoor Rubber cup each
for Juniors and Open/Seniors (combined).
The Glider events are Indoor Standard
Catapult Glider, Indoor Unlimited Catapult
Glider, and Indoor Hand Launched Glider
(IHLG). Senior/Open Rubber events are
Mini-Stick, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
For Juniors, the Rubber events will be
Science Olympiad Wright Stuff Division
April 2005 151
B, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
Certificates will be awarded to the first
five places for each cup, and there will be a
perpetual trophy for each champion. The
awards ceremony will be held during this
year’s US Indoor Championships/Nats.
CDs, please sanction your contests via
the procedure described in the program.
The more contests that are participating,
the more fun this will be. CDs and
competitors can find the complete official
program on the NFFS Web site (listed at
the end of this column).
Recognition goes out to NFFS Indoor
Committee Chairman (and IHLG worldrecord
holder) Jim Buxton for
spearheading the effort, Larry Coslick
(Indoor FF Duration legend) for hashing
out the rules and program document, and
Don Slusarczyk (multiple National
Champion) for taking on the assistantadministrator
duties.
The New Jersey “Local Scene”: Rob
Romash, MiniStick National Champion
and president of the East Coast Indoor
Modelers, said:
“The New Jersey Indoor scene has
several nice sites to choose from. First off
is Hangar #1 in Lakehurst. This site, hosted
by the East Coast Indoor Modelers
(ECIM), is the oldest flying site in the
country—in continuous use for the past 78
years. The hangar is 175 feet high, 240 feet
wide, and 800 feet long, and offers the only
Category IV site in the world in which you
can fly every weekend, all year long.
“Hangar 1 is now, in large part, an
Indoor RC site where the boys with radios
show up like clockwork every Saturday
morning. It’s a great thing for the FF part
of the club as this provides fantastic
visibility to the base. Don’t worry: there is
plenty of room for both FF and RC, and
their batteries start to run down about
noontime—right when the air starts getting
good.
“ECIM has record sanctions every other
weekend from May until September. There
are also three AA contests in the hangar
every year. The first is the Pete Andrews
Memorial Contest, held on Memorial Day
weekend—a good last practice for USIC.
“The second, and largest, is the Super
Spectacular Indoor Blowout, held during
the Fourth of July weekend. At this contest
you will find the biggest names in the
hobby such as Walt Van Gorder, Ray
Harlan, John Kagan, Max Zaluska, Alan
Cohen, Stan Chilton, and Jim ‘the Man’
Richmond, just to name a few. Heck, even
I will be hanging out. To help attract more
contestants, I am attempting to have the
local Hooters girls assist with timing.
“The last contest is the Labor Day
weekend contest—a nice last event before
the winter building season sets in. Flying in
the hangar is a bit dependent on the
weather outside, but if conditions are right,
monster times are the norm. ECIM
membership is mandatory for access to the
active military base. You will need a
current ECIM ID card as well as an active
AMA membership.
“Another South Jersey site is a small but
tight and sweet gym in Marlton. The South
Jersey Silent Flyers hosts an Indoor fly-in
every 3rd Wednesday from 7 p.m. till
whenever, during the winter months.
“This group is headed up by a very
enthusiastic John Jenks. Rumor has it that
he has secretly been working on his Indoor
building skill set and will trounce anyone
who challenges him in this space. This gym
is 22 feet high with a close-set wood truss
ceiling that only a MiniStick can get
through, so it is like a flat bounce type for
anything bigger. There is an indoor RC
presence here, too. They alternate every 25
minutes between FF and RC and it works
very well.
“The final site is the Teaneck Armory.
Here you will find Don Ross, of Flying
Models’ ‘Cross Files’ fame, and a great
bunch of guys every Wednesday from 10
a.m. till 2 p.m. This site has a 35-foot girder
ceiling and the floor space of a full soccer
field. FF flies on one side and indoor RC on
the other—again a good compromise.
152 MODEL AVIATION
“There is an indoor RC presence in all
of these sites, and as this side of our
hobby has increased in popularity, it has
helped open up flying opportunities for
the FF crowd. The savvy Indoor FF guys
see this as an advantage and make sure the
right people get on board to get and keep
FF in these sites. That about wraps up the
main scene here in the lovely Garden
State.”
Spectator FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions): Just for fun, I’m going to
include one frequently asked spectator
question per column. Send me your
favorites. This quarter’s question: “What
are all the balloons for?”
Although the big, bright balloons add
to the festive atmosphere of an Indoor FF
contest, they are not just for decoration.
They are used for two important functions:
retrieval and steering.
Most big sites have open girders which
can snag models that are flown too high.
Balloons are used to nudge models free.
This sometimes requires intricate
contraptions taped to the balloon to cut
strings or reach into remote crevices.
The balloons are also used to steer
models in flight. Using the string holding
the balloon, a competitor can “catch” a
model behind the propeller, but in front of
the wing, and move it to a new location.
This is done to avoid drifting into a wall
or to prevent a midair with another model.
There is a set of rules that governs
steering and its timing implications.
Thank you to those who wrote me kind
messages about my first column (there
was only one person so far who was
dissatisfied). As I continue, I know it will
be impossible to hold a 99% approval
rating—I will surely write things that
some won’t agree with—but please trust
that my heart is in the right place.
’Til next time. MA
Sources:
NFFS
www.freeflight.org
Indoor National Cup Administrator Jim
Buxton
[email protected]
New Jersey Local Scene contacts:
Lakehurst
Rob Romash
(719) 359-6999
[email protected]
www.ecim.net
Marlton Gym
John Jenks
(856) 983-7024
www.sjsf.org
Teaneck Armory
Don Ross
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/04
Page Numbers: 149,150,151,152
COMPETITION IS the heart of Indoor FF Duration. There are more
than a few who fly just for fun (I’ll visit some of those topics in
upcoming columns), but most compete in one form or another.
Whether it’s a local, national, or World Championships event, or
it’s working to improve your personal best, Indoor FF Duration is all
about learning and growing, and then putting the results to the test of
a stopwatch. For many it is not about the end point of winning or
losing, but the journey of practice, preparation, and improvement.
This month I’ll explore some competition-oriented events with a
report on the 2004 F1D World Championships (WC) held in Slanic-
Prahova, Romania; an announcement of the new National Free Flight
Society (NFFS) National Cup program; and a look into the New
Jersey “Local Scene.”
2004 F1D WC: This is a duration contest. And I’m not just referring
to how long the models stay up. I mean the physical and mental
endurance required: years of working to earn a spot on the team,
months of preparation and practice, days of airline and bus travel,
hours in the creeping cold of the mine, and agonizingly long minutes
stressing over competition flights.
This is supposed to be fun? You bet! Welcome to Extreme Indoor:
the F1D WC!
The big news of 2004 is US contestant Jim Richmond’s repeat of
the previous year’s win to take his eighth WC title. This amazing feat
started in 1968, with a period of four consecutive wins from 1984 to
1990.
These, and his many other victories, lead some to believe that Jim
can just take his models out and win effortlessly whenever he
chooses. Having flown with him, I know the truth to be more
impressive.
In addition to the requisite perfection of process and elimination of
weak points, Jim has—through countless competitions, test flights,
and experiments—accumulated a vast mental database of all kinds of
conditions and techniques.
It makes me think of Tiger Woods
propped up at an awkward angle on the face
of a steep sand trap, chipping perfectly onto
the green. I mean, how many times do you
face a situation like that? But Tiger probably
practiced it hundreds of times.
In a similar way, when the going gets
tough, it seems that Jim frequently has some
experience or test results that he can call on.
It doesn’t always spell out a dominating
advantage, but it usually provides just
enough edge to come out ahead.
Further, it certainly isn’t effortless but
rather the result of quiet but dogged
determination. Case in point, the morning
after Jim lost the first two WC rounds to
hang-ups and launch problems, we noticed
him missing from our regular team breakfast.
There were no answers to loud knocks on his
hotel-room door.
It turns out that he had eaten early and
was already down in the mine, hard at work
to correct the previous day’s problems. This
ended up being the day he put up the two
flights that took home the trophy.
A moral is that no matter how good you
get, you always have to work to keep your
competitive edge. I also like the implication
that our activity is complex enough to
provide continuous challenges. Winning one
John Kagan, 20100 Killians Grv., Strongsville OH 44149; E-mail: [email protected]
FREE FLIGHT INDOOR
A look into the dim salt mine in Slanic-Prahova, Romania—the site of the 2004 F1D
World Championships. Photo by Slobodan Midic.
Model Box of the Month: Polish national Max Zaluska’s models
are works of art and his support equipment is built like fine
furniture. A rising star in Indoor FF, he holds Autogiro national
records.
Doug Schaefer and Brett Sanborn enjoy one-two finish in Junior
F1D WC. Aurel Simpetrean (Romania) was third. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond (USA), Lutz Schramm (Germany), and Dezso
Orsovai (Hungary): the top three F1D WC finishers. Midic photo.
Jim Richmond prepares for his winning flight in the mine. Midic photo.
day, in one site, and in one set of conditions
doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it on
another.
Jim, for having a talent for pulling out
wins under trying conditions, I salute you!
USA’s Doug Schaefer also repeated his
previous year’s victory as Junior World
Champion—the only Junior ever to win
more than once. He showed fine form
despite having his preparation time limited
by schoolwork, band practice, Eagle
Scouts, and college applications.
To make matters worse, he suffered
through a severe bout of food poisoning
that forced him to miss a round on the
second day of competition (and generated a
great amount of concern for his health).
However, he showed youthful resilience
and bounced back for the final day.
Doug led the US Juniors to their second
consecutive team title. His teammates were
first-time WC participants Brett Sanborn
and David Rigotti, who are also top-notch
students and Eagle Scouts. In addition to
performing well, these young men carried
themselves in a mature and respectable
manner. Well done!
The US Senior team (Steve Brown, Tom
Sova, and I) placed second behind the
Romanians. Tom was remarkably well
prepared for his first WC. His nicely built
model box contained five thoroughly tested
and trimmed models, and his flights were
strong and consistent, earning him a
respectable eighth-place finish.
Steve Brown, a three-time World
Champion, suffered the effects of a lack of
practice sites. His models had launched
properly at the Moscow, Idaho, contest, but
frustratingly tucked and rolled under the
higher power required in the salt mine. He
was forced to back off tons of torque at
launch and was only able to climb twothirds
of the way up. His models still
cruised beautifully and produced times of
just less than 30 minutes.
I was involved in some interesting
controversy on my second-round flight. My
model landed with a leading time of 36:27,
but the motor had dropped off in flight
somewhere near the end. The rules state
that timing stops when the model drops a
part, but the timers hadn’t seen it and timed
the model all the way to the ground!
Another team protested the flight, and the
FAI jury was convened. They couldn’t
agree on a resolution, and I was forced to
refly the round.
The reflight launch had a small stall and
didn’t get all the way up but still ended
with a 36:02; it won me the Ernest Kopecki
Longest Single Flight perpetual trophy.
Unfortunately I was unable to put up a
decent backup flight (ask me sometime and
I’ll tell you the whole sob story), but I
ended up in an acceptable fourth place.
Special thanks to Rob Romash, who did
a bang-up job as team manager for the
Senior team, the Junior team, and the
defending World Champion. Many
“invisible” hours of work went in
beforehand to make sure the trip went off
smoothly.
Rob was a one-person assembly line
during the meet, ushering one team member
after another out to the launch area,
counting down the initial minute of flight,
holding a steering balloon at the ready, and
clearing out the launch setup. He calls
himself an “F1D caddie,” comparing the
task to those of his high-end PGA
counterparts.
It certainly helps to have a
knowledgeable assistant at the ready.
Thanks, Rob!
Indoor National Cup: Indoor FF does not
revolve around F1D alone. (Hey, what?)
There are many different categories that
Indoorists (a term for those who fly Indoor
FF models, coined on the Indoor mailing
list by Italian F1D champion Fabio
Manieri) enjoy and many contests in which
to fly them. In support of this, I’m helping
announce the new Indoor National Cup
sponsored by the NFFS.
This program mirrors the successful
Outdoor National Cup, and its goal is to
foster competition and participation at
contests, large and small, by awarding
points for placings in sanctioned events
and recognizing an overall annual
champion.
Four cups will be awarded: an Indoor
Glider cup and an Indoor Rubber cup each
for Juniors and Open/Seniors (combined).
The Glider events are Indoor Standard
Catapult Glider, Indoor Unlimited Catapult
Glider, and Indoor Hand Launched Glider
(IHLG). Senior/Open Rubber events are
Mini-Stick, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
For Juniors, the Rubber events will be
Science Olympiad Wright Stuff Division
April 2005 151
B, F1L, and Limited Pennyplane.
Certificates will be awarded to the first
five places for each cup, and there will be a
perpetual trophy for each champion. The
awards ceremony will be held during this
year’s US Indoor Championships/Nats.
CDs, please sanction your contests via
the procedure described in the program.
The more contests that are participating,
the more fun this will be. CDs and
competitors can find the complete official
program on the NFFS Web site (listed at
the end of this column).
Recognition goes out to NFFS Indoor
Committee Chairman (and IHLG worldrecord
holder) Jim Buxton for
spearheading the effort, Larry Coslick
(Indoor FF Duration legend) for hashing
out the rules and program document, and
Don Slusarczyk (multiple National
Champion) for taking on the assistantadministrator
duties.
The New Jersey “Local Scene”: Rob
Romash, MiniStick National Champion
and president of the East Coast Indoor
Modelers, said:
“The New Jersey Indoor scene has
several nice sites to choose from. First off
is Hangar #1 in Lakehurst. This site, hosted
by the East Coast Indoor Modelers
(ECIM), is the oldest flying site in the
country—in continuous use for the past 78
years. The hangar is 175 feet high, 240 feet
wide, and 800 feet long, and offers the only
Category IV site in the world in which you
can fly every weekend, all year long.
“Hangar 1 is now, in large part, an
Indoor RC site where the boys with radios
show up like clockwork every Saturday
morning. It’s a great thing for the FF part
of the club as this provides fantastic
visibility to the base. Don’t worry: there is
plenty of room for both FF and RC, and
their batteries start to run down about
noontime—right when the air starts getting
good.
“ECIM has record sanctions every other
weekend from May until September. There
are also three AA contests in the hangar
every year. The first is the Pete Andrews
Memorial Contest, held on Memorial Day
weekend—a good last practice for USIC.
“The second, and largest, is the Super
Spectacular Indoor Blowout, held during
the Fourth of July weekend. At this contest
you will find the biggest names in the
hobby such as Walt Van Gorder, Ray
Harlan, John Kagan, Max Zaluska, Alan
Cohen, Stan Chilton, and Jim ‘the Man’
Richmond, just to name a few. Heck, even
I will be hanging out. To help attract more
contestants, I am attempting to have the
local Hooters girls assist with timing.
“The last contest is the Labor Day
weekend contest—a nice last event before
the winter building season sets in. Flying in
the hangar is a bit dependent on the
weather outside, but if conditions are right,
monster times are the norm. ECIM
membership is mandatory for access to the
active military base. You will need a
current ECIM ID card as well as an active
AMA membership.
“Another South Jersey site is a small but
tight and sweet gym in Marlton. The South
Jersey Silent Flyers hosts an Indoor fly-in
every 3rd Wednesday from 7 p.m. till
whenever, during the winter months.
“This group is headed up by a very
enthusiastic John Jenks. Rumor has it that
he has secretly been working on his Indoor
building skill set and will trounce anyone
who challenges him in this space. This gym
is 22 feet high with a close-set wood truss
ceiling that only a MiniStick can get
through, so it is like a flat bounce type for
anything bigger. There is an indoor RC
presence here, too. They alternate every 25
minutes between FF and RC and it works
very well.
“The final site is the Teaneck Armory.
Here you will find Don Ross, of Flying
Models’ ‘Cross Files’ fame, and a great
bunch of guys every Wednesday from 10
a.m. till 2 p.m. This site has a 35-foot girder
ceiling and the floor space of a full soccer
field. FF flies on one side and indoor RC on
the other—again a good compromise.
152 MODEL AVIATION
“There is an indoor RC presence in all
of these sites, and as this side of our
hobby has increased in popularity, it has
helped open up flying opportunities for
the FF crowd. The savvy Indoor FF guys
see this as an advantage and make sure the
right people get on board to get and keep
FF in these sites. That about wraps up the
main scene here in the lovely Garden
State.”
Spectator FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions): Just for fun, I’m going to
include one frequently asked spectator
question per column. Send me your
favorites. This quarter’s question: “What
are all the balloons for?”
Although the big, bright balloons add
to the festive atmosphere of an Indoor FF
contest, they are not just for decoration.
They are used for two important functions:
retrieval and steering.
Most big sites have open girders which
can snag models that are flown too high.
Balloons are used to nudge models free.
This sometimes requires intricate
contraptions taped to the balloon to cut
strings or reach into remote crevices.
The balloons are also used to steer
models in flight. Using the string holding
the balloon, a competitor can “catch” a
model behind the propeller, but in front of
the wing, and move it to a new location.
This is done to avoid drifting into a wall
or to prevent a midair with another model.
There is a set of rules that governs
steering and its timing implications.
Thank you to those who wrote me kind
messages about my first column (there
was only one person so far who was
dissatisfied). As I continue, I know it will
be impossible to hold a 99% approval
rating—I will surely write things that
some won’t agree with—but please trust
that my heart is in the right place.
’Til next time. MA
Sources:
NFFS
www.freeflight.org
Indoor National Cup Administrator Jim
Buxton
[email protected]
New Jersey Local Scene contacts:
Lakehurst
Rob Romash
(719) 359-6999
[email protected]
www.ecim.net
Marlton Gym
John Jenks
(856) 983-7024
www.sjsf.org
Teaneck Armory
Don Ross
[email protected]