138 MODEL AVIATION
F1D World Championships report
Free Flight Indoor John Kagan
[[email protected]]
Also included in this column:
• Call for Junior F1D team
candidates
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. Sunlight shining through the many elliptical windows
on the roof challenged F1D WC participants.
NEWS FLASH: US F1D fliers win team
Gold, individual Bronze, and Junior
individual Gold and Silver at 2008 World
Championships (WC)!
For the first time since 1998, this event
featured a challenging new site: the 90-foot
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. As does
any great championship venue, it provided its
share of challenges.
Most apparent was the heat, peaking at a
stifling 97° inside. The saunalike
temperatures had many surprisingly longing
for the cold Romanian salt mine of the
previous WC contests.
Also challenging were the multitude of
round magnifying-glass windows that
covered the ceiling. As the sun crossed the
sky, the windows beamed hot spots across
the floor, creating difficult drift patterns
and strong low-level turbulence. These sundriven
spotlights also wreaked havoc on the
rubber motors, causing many to break at
low torque on the winding stooge or, worse,
on the model during flight.
Most dramatic were the four vents
surrounding the large, white disk in the
center of the ceiling. They looked
innocuous enough—barely visible dark
patches nestled between the girders—but
quickly made their presence known and
became a source of terror. Their first victim
was a 35cm model during the start of the
International Open (IO) contest that
preceded the WC.
The airplane had been circling gently
across the roof, when it was pulled to a stop
and then drawn slowly back and upward. It
looked like an alien abduction scene
straight out of a Hollywood movie. The
model began trembling and, whoosh, it was
gone.
Exclamations of “Did you see that?”
echoed around the room. This horrific
scene (for the aircraft, at least) repeated
itself at least eight times during the
remainder of the event.
But for every hurdle, a solution was
waiting to be discovered. We worked to
beat the heat by packing the promotersupplied
refrigerators with bottles of water
and soda.
A team with experience at the site chose
lightweight sports jerseys as its team
uniform. Many others shed clothing, flying
in shorts and not much else. (You haven’t
lived until you’ve competed in the midst of
shirtless World Champions.)
The contest organizers studied
conditions during the IO “precontest” and
then scheduled the WC rounds for the lowdrift-
and low-sunlight-intensity portions of
the day, from late in the afternoon until
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:50 PM Page 138
January 2009 139
Justin Young repeated as Junior World
Champion. He dominated the field with a
33:24 and a 32:50. Brett Sanborn photo.
Tim Chang was the Junior Silver medalist.
Trouble finding an alternate damaged the
team’s standing. Sanborn photo.
Above: The author’s model approaches a dreaded ceiling vent.
Like a Hollywood movie abduction scene, models were severely
crippled by that obstacle. Jim Young photo.
Left: Doug Schaefer flew a 34:24 in Round Four and a 33:30 in
Round Six to finish in fifth place. Sanborn photo.
At Camp USA, the author is in the foreground and support Lou Young chats with Tim
Chang. Indoor temperatures were in the 90s throughout competition. Romash photo.
Jim Richmond finished fourth. Competitionmode
testing proved to be a crucial asset.
Rob Romash photo.
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:51 PM Page 139
midnight. This format made meals and
transportation a bit more difficult, but the
opportunity to fly in great air was well
worth the hassle.
In addition, we quickly learned to deal
with the vents by plugging them with
steering balloons if our models ventured
near. Picture tossing a ham sandwich into
the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner before it
sucks up your prize-winning dust bunny (or
something like that).
But despite—or possibly because of—
these hurdles, Hall 1 proved to be an
excellent world-class venue. The challenges
kept us on our toes, but the site was
eminently flyable in the end. Once we
identified the best air times, most of the top
flights required only a steer or two.
And as much as the heat traumatized the
fliers, it eked out a touch more energy from
the motors. No less than four competitors
ended up topping the Category III world
record, set a year ago in the neighboring
Hall 3.
Most of the US team arrived early. After
a day of practice, festivities began with the
IO, which served as a warm-up for many of
the WC competitors and organizers.
Brett Sanborn, Junior team manager and
Senior team alternate, planned to compete
seriously in this event before switching to a
support role. After some promising partialmotor
flights, he looked poised to dominate.
However, his best model was the second
sacrifice to the vents, ending up jammed in
the opening and clearly visible when the
light hit it right. And that was just the start
of his troubles. Broken motors, steering
mishaps, timer difficulties; it was a tough
experience. But, hey, that which does not
kill us makes us stronger, right?
Jim Richmond, defending Champ Larry
Cailliau, and I used the contest to do some
competition-mode testing. It was a great
opportunity to see how we stacked up
against the rest of the field, some of whom
had flown in this location before.
Jim and I ended up in fourth and third
place, respectively. That bode well for the
WC, even though we knew everyone’s times
would surely improve.
Senior Doug Schaefer and Junior Justin
Young forewent official IO flights in favor
of more dedicated testing. Our other Junior,
Tim Chang, was scheduled to arrive a few
days later. He did, but his luggage didn’t.
It cost Tim valuable practice time, but
everything was eventually delivered and he
was good to go. Then came the anxiously
awaited main event.
Doug Schaefer flew first in the opening
round but suffered the combined effect of
ground turbulence and model with a
borderline launch. The airplane stalled and
touched down just after the attempt window,
earning him the contest’s shortest flight:
1:13. Undaunted, Doug bounced back in the
second round with a decent 32:19, showing
he was still in the game.
After morning practice the second day,
Doug was passing his model over the railing
to me, when my finger snagged on his
motorstick bracing and broke it. He was
forced to replace the wire before the next
round.
But Doug but was happy to discover that
the model launched better after the repair. I
guess some stuff does happen for a reason.
Doug’s great pair of team times—34:24 in
Round Four and a 33:30 in Round Six—
earned him fifth place individually.
Jim Richmond started with a nice 34:56,
which was the second best time of the first
round and one of six flights that surpassed
the world record. Then the troubles began;
vision problems with the white ceiling,
Mylar balloon, and sunlight conspired
against him, and he lost three flights in a
row to botched steers.
With only two rounds remaining to get a
good second flight, I asked the FAI Jury
members if they would allow Jim to have a
proxy steerer. I hadn’t asked him about it yet
and wasn’t sure he’d even go for it, but I
figured it wouldn’t hurt to get the Jury’s
opinion first.
A doctor’s note describing the
requirement for a proxy is normally
required, but the Jury concluded that the
empirical evidence (Jim had proven steering
skill but was clearly unable to see his model
properly) was as definitive as any note. I
passed the news along and he said, “Heck
yeah!” and chose me to proxy. I was happy
to oblige, and we set off to fly Round Five.
The US team was in second place, behind
Great Britain, and Jim needed only a 23-
minute flight to get us into first place.
Individually, he needed close to 36 minutes
to get onto the podium. In true team spirit,
Jim chose to put up a safe flight for the
team first and then let it all hang out in the
final round.
The Round Five attempt did require a
couple of steers, but it stayed a safe distance
from the ceiling and the stronger drift zone.
My steering broke a couple of ribs near the
root of one of the delicate propeller blades,
which introduced a slight wobble but didn’t
seem to affect the flight much. The model
landed at 33:10—more than enough to boost
the team into a commanding lead.
Jim was sure to put up a burner in
Round Six, and I prepared to do a bunch of
steering at the ceiling. As I feared, the
model quickly got to the white disk and
began drifting off to the side. I plugged the
vent as the model circled by, and then I
grabbed it and steered it back to the
“upwind” side of the building.
Everything was looking great and the
flight had all the earmarks of another
famous Richmond last-round comeback.
All we had to do was wait for the propeller
to fold and then sit back and see if the
watch showed enough time at the end.
So we waited—and waited and waited.
The propeller started the little hitch that
indicated that it was ready to fold, but for
some reason it didn’t flip when Jim
planned. Instead, it annoyingly waited until
the model had lost the majority of its
altitude.
It held on for a respectable 32:42, which
wasn’t enough to move Jim up. He was left
in fourth place individually, but he did his
work for the team win.
My contest began with a 34:27 and a
34:15. I knew those wouldn’t be good
enough to win, but they were solid team
times and I could spend the next four
rounds on more selfish interests.
Brett Sanborn and I stayed late the first
day, mapping then-second-place Lutz
Schramm’s Round Two flight. We took
propeller rpm readings every two minutes
and then tabulated and analyzed the data to
determine his variable-pitch-propeller
settings. They correlated closely with the
strategy I had chosen and provided
valuable corroboration.
During practice on the second day, Brett
and I spent even more time with the rpm
watches and my airplanes. I was getting
minor improvements but finally decided
that I needed more pitch at the end of the
flight.
My variable-pitch hubs do not have a
low pitch adjustment, and twisting the
spars would change the other parameters
(high pitch and preload) that we had
worked so hard to tune in.
Therefore, I chose the crude tweak of
stuffing paper shims in the hinge gap.
Violà! Rounds three and four bumped up to
35:38 and 35:15, moving me within
striking distance—15 seconds out of
second place and 30 seconds out of first.
My fifth-round slot coincided with the
peak sun intensity of the day, and I learned
a valuable lesson. I don’t know how the
Outdoor fliers do it, but I found it
impossible to wind motors in direct
sunlight. They wouldn’t take anything
close to their normal energy, and I was left
with a pile of broken motors. I finally got
one wound and, while I signaled to the
timers, it broke on the stooge.
In hindsight, this would have been a
great time to choose a different tactic. But
in the heat of competition, I forged on and
launched a flight. Just as I was about to
steer halfway through, the motor broke and
disassembled the airplane in several key
locations. I lost the round and suffered a
significant setback with my best model.
I decided that my best chances were
with the airplane I had spent so much time
on, so I dug in, managed to repair all the
damage before lunch, and got one short test
flight. I was up last in the final round and,
under a bit of time pressure, managed to
get the flight off.
It had the turns and launch torque I
wanted, but too many variables had
changed and it landed with only 34:01. I
was disappointed I didn’t do better, but I
was happy to earn an individual podium
spot and share the team win.
Defending World Champ Larry Cailliau
had his own set of hurdles to overcome.
Recent eye surgery had left his vision a
little blurry, and the heat seemed to affect
him more than most. He also lost a couple
of flights to steering problems, once
ripping a large hole in his model’s wingtip.
Brett Sanborn sprung to action and
neatly patched the wing so that Larry could
stick with the airplane he had chosen. He
finished seventh with a decent 34:06 and
32:20.
Ivan Treger of Slovakia won (and set a
world record) with a 36:23 and 35:25. His
models were deceptively simple but had a
rock-solid launch and flight pattern. Ivan
recently won the F1E WC too. Amazing!
Germany’s Lutz Schramm was second
with 36:18 and 35:01. His airplanes were
marvels of German engineering, featuring
elliptical polyhedral, molded carbon
propeller blades, adjustable hollow carbon
wing posts, and a bevy of other technical
innovations.
In the Junior camp, defending World
Champ Justin Young dominated the field
with a 33:24 and a 32:50, taking his second
consecutive WC title. Any pair of his top
four flights was good enough for the win.
He had to look over his shoulder, though,
because teammate Tim Chang was a threat.
Tim had some promising partial-motor
flights on practice days, but launch
problems and the rest of Hall 1’s
challenges kept him from converting. Still,
he managed a pair of 30s to edge in front of
a competent (and competitive) Gabriela
Kaplanova of the Czech Republic. They
finished second and third respectively.
Thus Justin and Tim kept the Junior
Gold and Silver streak alive at the WC;
they made up the fifth straight team to
accomplish the feat. It’s great to see that kind
of talent in the pipeline.
Team manager Rob Romash and Junior
team manager Brett Sanborn kept us
organized, helped us fly, and made tough
decisions when required. Rob even sported an
updated version of his “F1D caddy”: a beltmounted
holster for essential tools such as
ZAP and scissors.
He and Brett were Johnny-on-the-spot,
saving US team members and anyone else
within range more than a few times. Hats off
to you guys!
The Serbian organizer, Ljubomir
Radosavljevic, and CD Vladimir Zivanovic
did an awesome job too. The contest was
disciplined and strict but flexible when
warranted—truly world class.
The city and people of Belgrade were
fantastic. There had been some concern about
recent political unrest, but we found Serbia to
be friendly, safe, and fun. I thoroughly
enjoyed myself, and I know my teammates
did too. With the next F1D WC already
scheduled for Belgrade in 2010, now’s the
time to start vying for a spot on the team.
Go to page 171 of this issue to see the full
results of this year’s F1D WC. Additional
photos are on page 170.
Call for F1D Juniors: Despite Justin’s and
Tim’s exceptional performances, the streak
of Junior team titles ended at this WC.
After the three other program participants
dropped out for various reasons, the team
was left with just two members. That was
too much of a deficit to overcome.
A last-minute replacement had been
snatched from the Science Olympiad ranks
and brought up to speed by Junior Team
manager Brett Sanborn during an
exhausting few weeks. The new flier
wasn’t going to be an individual contender,
but he had potential to provide critical help
for the team.
It seemed like a no-brainer to take him.
He demonstrated his aptitude in the
Science Olympiad and at a contest in
Lakehurst, New Jersey; the funds had been
allocated; and all other interested
candidates already had the opportunity to
step forward.
But apparently there had been heartburn
over replacements for other FAI teams, and
the AMA’s FAI Executive Council denied
the request. Many people, here and abroad,
wrote letters and made calls expressing their
support for a replacement Junior, but the
council was adamant.
Reasons given included concern about
ever-increasing FAI team costs and not
having enough time to alert the entire AMA
population, thus potentially bypassing some
other interested party (although that
requirement exceeds what was done for the
original team finals).
I believe in being fair and honorable in
our team selection, but we shifted too far
away from the primary objective of sending
the best team to represent the US in
international competition. Ours was the only
Junior team of the six that did not have a full
three members.
A pair of 13:35 flights from a third US
flier would have vaulted the team from last
to first. To put that in context, the last-place
finisher in the contest had a 21 and a 22.
But that’s in the past. Let’s hope it was a
one-time thing and that the Junior program
never experiences 60% attrition again.
It was suggested that the Indoor FF
community look inward to figure out what
failed. However, with the Junior Program’s
phenomenal success (five World
Champions, five Silver medalists, four team
World Champions, and graduates who have
become national record holders, National
Champions, Senior team members, etc.),
using the words “fail” and “Junior F1D team
program” in the same sentence is off target.
It would be great to have even more
Juniors involved. But in the meantime, let’s
at least keep doing what has worked so well
and ramp up a minimum of four or five
Junior team candidates every two years.
The 2008-2009 F1D team-selection cycle
is already in progress. If you are a, or know
of a, Junior who will be 18 or younger for
the entire year of 2010, has an interest in
Indoor FF, and would enjoy a largely funded
trip to represent the US in international
competition (how would that sound on a
college application?), consider trying out for
the US Junior F1D team. You can contact
me at my E-mail address for details.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/01
Page Numbers: 138,139,140,142,144
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/01
Page Numbers: 138,139,140,142,144
138 MODEL AVIATION
F1D World Championships report
Free Flight Indoor John Kagan
[[email protected]]
Also included in this column:
• Call for Junior F1D team
candidates
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. Sunlight shining through the many elliptical windows
on the roof challenged F1D WC participants.
NEWS FLASH: US F1D fliers win team
Gold, individual Bronze, and Junior
individual Gold and Silver at 2008 World
Championships (WC)!
For the first time since 1998, this event
featured a challenging new site: the 90-foot
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. As does
any great championship venue, it provided its
share of challenges.
Most apparent was the heat, peaking at a
stifling 97° inside. The saunalike
temperatures had many surprisingly longing
for the cold Romanian salt mine of the
previous WC contests.
Also challenging were the multitude of
round magnifying-glass windows that
covered the ceiling. As the sun crossed the
sky, the windows beamed hot spots across
the floor, creating difficult drift patterns
and strong low-level turbulence. These sundriven
spotlights also wreaked havoc on the
rubber motors, causing many to break at
low torque on the winding stooge or, worse,
on the model during flight.
Most dramatic were the four vents
surrounding the large, white disk in the
center of the ceiling. They looked
innocuous enough—barely visible dark
patches nestled between the girders—but
quickly made their presence known and
became a source of terror. Their first victim
was a 35cm model during the start of the
International Open (IO) contest that
preceded the WC.
The airplane had been circling gently
across the roof, when it was pulled to a stop
and then drawn slowly back and upward. It
looked like an alien abduction scene
straight out of a Hollywood movie. The
model began trembling and, whoosh, it was
gone.
Exclamations of “Did you see that?”
echoed around the room. This horrific
scene (for the aircraft, at least) repeated
itself at least eight times during the
remainder of the event.
But for every hurdle, a solution was
waiting to be discovered. We worked to
beat the heat by packing the promotersupplied
refrigerators with bottles of water
and soda.
A team with experience at the site chose
lightweight sports jerseys as its team
uniform. Many others shed clothing, flying
in shorts and not much else. (You haven’t
lived until you’ve competed in the midst of
shirtless World Champions.)
The contest organizers studied
conditions during the IO “precontest” and
then scheduled the WC rounds for the lowdrift-
and low-sunlight-intensity portions of
the day, from late in the afternoon until
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:50 PM Page 138
January 2009 139
Justin Young repeated as Junior World
Champion. He dominated the field with a
33:24 and a 32:50. Brett Sanborn photo.
Tim Chang was the Junior Silver medalist.
Trouble finding an alternate damaged the
team’s standing. Sanborn photo.
Above: The author’s model approaches a dreaded ceiling vent.
Like a Hollywood movie abduction scene, models were severely
crippled by that obstacle. Jim Young photo.
Left: Doug Schaefer flew a 34:24 in Round Four and a 33:30 in
Round Six to finish in fifth place. Sanborn photo.
At Camp USA, the author is in the foreground and support Lou Young chats with Tim
Chang. Indoor temperatures were in the 90s throughout competition. Romash photo.
Jim Richmond finished fourth. Competitionmode
testing proved to be a crucial asset.
Rob Romash photo.
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:51 PM Page 139
midnight. This format made meals and
transportation a bit more difficult, but the
opportunity to fly in great air was well
worth the hassle.
In addition, we quickly learned to deal
with the vents by plugging them with
steering balloons if our models ventured
near. Picture tossing a ham sandwich into
the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner before it
sucks up your prize-winning dust bunny (or
something like that).
But despite—or possibly because of—
these hurdles, Hall 1 proved to be an
excellent world-class venue. The challenges
kept us on our toes, but the site was
eminently flyable in the end. Once we
identified the best air times, most of the top
flights required only a steer or two.
And as much as the heat traumatized the
fliers, it eked out a touch more energy from
the motors. No less than four competitors
ended up topping the Category III world
record, set a year ago in the neighboring
Hall 3.
Most of the US team arrived early. After
a day of practice, festivities began with the
IO, which served as a warm-up for many of
the WC competitors and organizers.
Brett Sanborn, Junior team manager and
Senior team alternate, planned to compete
seriously in this event before switching to a
support role. After some promising partialmotor
flights, he looked poised to dominate.
However, his best model was the second
sacrifice to the vents, ending up jammed in
the opening and clearly visible when the
light hit it right. And that was just the start
of his troubles. Broken motors, steering
mishaps, timer difficulties; it was a tough
experience. But, hey, that which does not
kill us makes us stronger, right?
Jim Richmond, defending Champ Larry
Cailliau, and I used the contest to do some
competition-mode testing. It was a great
opportunity to see how we stacked up
against the rest of the field, some of whom
had flown in this location before.
Jim and I ended up in fourth and third
place, respectively. That bode well for the
WC, even though we knew everyone’s times
would surely improve.
Senior Doug Schaefer and Junior Justin
Young forewent official IO flights in favor
of more dedicated testing. Our other Junior,
Tim Chang, was scheduled to arrive a few
days later. He did, but his luggage didn’t.
It cost Tim valuable practice time, but
everything was eventually delivered and he
was good to go. Then came the anxiously
awaited main event.
Doug Schaefer flew first in the opening
round but suffered the combined effect of
ground turbulence and model with a
borderline launch. The airplane stalled and
touched down just after the attempt window,
earning him the contest’s shortest flight:
1:13. Undaunted, Doug bounced back in the
second round with a decent 32:19, showing
he was still in the game.
After morning practice the second day,
Doug was passing his model over the railing
to me, when my finger snagged on his
motorstick bracing and broke it. He was
forced to replace the wire before the next
round.
But Doug but was happy to discover that
the model launched better after the repair. I
guess some stuff does happen for a reason.
Doug’s great pair of team times—34:24 in
Round Four and a 33:30 in Round Six—
earned him fifth place individually.
Jim Richmond started with a nice 34:56,
which was the second best time of the first
round and one of six flights that surpassed
the world record. Then the troubles began;
vision problems with the white ceiling,
Mylar balloon, and sunlight conspired
against him, and he lost three flights in a
row to botched steers.
With only two rounds remaining to get a
good second flight, I asked the FAI Jury
members if they would allow Jim to have a
proxy steerer. I hadn’t asked him about it yet
and wasn’t sure he’d even go for it, but I
figured it wouldn’t hurt to get the Jury’s
opinion first.
A doctor’s note describing the
requirement for a proxy is normally
required, but the Jury concluded that the
empirical evidence (Jim had proven steering
skill but was clearly unable to see his model
properly) was as definitive as any note. I
passed the news along and he said, “Heck
yeah!” and chose me to proxy. I was happy
to oblige, and we set off to fly Round Five.
The US team was in second place, behind
Great Britain, and Jim needed only a 23-
minute flight to get us into first place.
Individually, he needed close to 36 minutes
to get onto the podium. In true team spirit,
Jim chose to put up a safe flight for the
team first and then let it all hang out in the
final round.
The Round Five attempt did require a
couple of steers, but it stayed a safe distance
from the ceiling and the stronger drift zone.
My steering broke a couple of ribs near the
root of one of the delicate propeller blades,
which introduced a slight wobble but didn’t
seem to affect the flight much. The model
landed at 33:10—more than enough to boost
the team into a commanding lead.
Jim was sure to put up a burner in
Round Six, and I prepared to do a bunch of
steering at the ceiling. As I feared, the
model quickly got to the white disk and
began drifting off to the side. I plugged the
vent as the model circled by, and then I
grabbed it and steered it back to the
“upwind” side of the building.
Everything was looking great and the
flight had all the earmarks of another
famous Richmond last-round comeback.
All we had to do was wait for the propeller
to fold and then sit back and see if the
watch showed enough time at the end.
So we waited—and waited and waited.
The propeller started the little hitch that
indicated that it was ready to fold, but for
some reason it didn’t flip when Jim
planned. Instead, it annoyingly waited until
the model had lost the majority of its
altitude.
It held on for a respectable 32:42, which
wasn’t enough to move Jim up. He was left
in fourth place individually, but he did his
work for the team win.
My contest began with a 34:27 and a
34:15. I knew those wouldn’t be good
enough to win, but they were solid team
times and I could spend the next four
rounds on more selfish interests.
Brett Sanborn and I stayed late the first
day, mapping then-second-place Lutz
Schramm’s Round Two flight. We took
propeller rpm readings every two minutes
and then tabulated and analyzed the data to
determine his variable-pitch-propeller
settings. They correlated closely with the
strategy I had chosen and provided
valuable corroboration.
During practice on the second day, Brett
and I spent even more time with the rpm
watches and my airplanes. I was getting
minor improvements but finally decided
that I needed more pitch at the end of the
flight.
My variable-pitch hubs do not have a
low pitch adjustment, and twisting the
spars would change the other parameters
(high pitch and preload) that we had
worked so hard to tune in.
Therefore, I chose the crude tweak of
stuffing paper shims in the hinge gap.
Violà! Rounds three and four bumped up to
35:38 and 35:15, moving me within
striking distance—15 seconds out of
second place and 30 seconds out of first.
My fifth-round slot coincided with the
peak sun intensity of the day, and I learned
a valuable lesson. I don’t know how the
Outdoor fliers do it, but I found it
impossible to wind motors in direct
sunlight. They wouldn’t take anything
close to their normal energy, and I was left
with a pile of broken motors. I finally got
one wound and, while I signaled to the
timers, it broke on the stooge.
In hindsight, this would have been a
great time to choose a different tactic. But
in the heat of competition, I forged on and
launched a flight. Just as I was about to
steer halfway through, the motor broke and
disassembled the airplane in several key
locations. I lost the round and suffered a
significant setback with my best model.
I decided that my best chances were
with the airplane I had spent so much time
on, so I dug in, managed to repair all the
damage before lunch, and got one short test
flight. I was up last in the final round and,
under a bit of time pressure, managed to
get the flight off.
It had the turns and launch torque I
wanted, but too many variables had
changed and it landed with only 34:01. I
was disappointed I didn’t do better, but I
was happy to earn an individual podium
spot and share the team win.
Defending World Champ Larry Cailliau
had his own set of hurdles to overcome.
Recent eye surgery had left his vision a
little blurry, and the heat seemed to affect
him more than most. He also lost a couple
of flights to steering problems, once
ripping a large hole in his model’s wingtip.
Brett Sanborn sprung to action and
neatly patched the wing so that Larry could
stick with the airplane he had chosen. He
finished seventh with a decent 34:06 and
32:20.
Ivan Treger of Slovakia won (and set a
world record) with a 36:23 and 35:25. His
models were deceptively simple but had a
rock-solid launch and flight pattern. Ivan
recently won the F1E WC too. Amazing!
Germany’s Lutz Schramm was second
with 36:18 and 35:01. His airplanes were
marvels of German engineering, featuring
elliptical polyhedral, molded carbon
propeller blades, adjustable hollow carbon
wing posts, and a bevy of other technical
innovations.
In the Junior camp, defending World
Champ Justin Young dominated the field
with a 33:24 and a 32:50, taking his second
consecutive WC title. Any pair of his top
four flights was good enough for the win.
He had to look over his shoulder, though,
because teammate Tim Chang was a threat.
Tim had some promising partial-motor
flights on practice days, but launch
problems and the rest of Hall 1’s
challenges kept him from converting. Still,
he managed a pair of 30s to edge in front of
a competent (and competitive) Gabriela
Kaplanova of the Czech Republic. They
finished second and third respectively.
Thus Justin and Tim kept the Junior
Gold and Silver streak alive at the WC;
they made up the fifth straight team to
accomplish the feat. It’s great to see that kind
of talent in the pipeline.
Team manager Rob Romash and Junior
team manager Brett Sanborn kept us
organized, helped us fly, and made tough
decisions when required. Rob even sported an
updated version of his “F1D caddy”: a beltmounted
holster for essential tools such as
ZAP and scissors.
He and Brett were Johnny-on-the-spot,
saving US team members and anyone else
within range more than a few times. Hats off
to you guys!
The Serbian organizer, Ljubomir
Radosavljevic, and CD Vladimir Zivanovic
did an awesome job too. The contest was
disciplined and strict but flexible when
warranted—truly world class.
The city and people of Belgrade were
fantastic. There had been some concern about
recent political unrest, but we found Serbia to
be friendly, safe, and fun. I thoroughly
enjoyed myself, and I know my teammates
did too. With the next F1D WC already
scheduled for Belgrade in 2010, now’s the
time to start vying for a spot on the team.
Go to page 171 of this issue to see the full
results of this year’s F1D WC. Additional
photos are on page 170.
Call for F1D Juniors: Despite Justin’s and
Tim’s exceptional performances, the streak
of Junior team titles ended at this WC.
After the three other program participants
dropped out for various reasons, the team
was left with just two members. That was
too much of a deficit to overcome.
A last-minute replacement had been
snatched from the Science Olympiad ranks
and brought up to speed by Junior Team
manager Brett Sanborn during an
exhausting few weeks. The new flier
wasn’t going to be an individual contender,
but he had potential to provide critical help
for the team.
It seemed like a no-brainer to take him.
He demonstrated his aptitude in the
Science Olympiad and at a contest in
Lakehurst, New Jersey; the funds had been
allocated; and all other interested
candidates already had the opportunity to
step forward.
But apparently there had been heartburn
over replacements for other FAI teams, and
the AMA’s FAI Executive Council denied
the request. Many people, here and abroad,
wrote letters and made calls expressing their
support for a replacement Junior, but the
council was adamant.
Reasons given included concern about
ever-increasing FAI team costs and not
having enough time to alert the entire AMA
population, thus potentially bypassing some
other interested party (although that
requirement exceeds what was done for the
original team finals).
I believe in being fair and honorable in
our team selection, but we shifted too far
away from the primary objective of sending
the best team to represent the US in
international competition. Ours was the only
Junior team of the six that did not have a full
three members.
A pair of 13:35 flights from a third US
flier would have vaulted the team from last
to first. To put that in context, the last-place
finisher in the contest had a 21 and a 22.
But that’s in the past. Let’s hope it was a
one-time thing and that the Junior program
never experiences 60% attrition again.
It was suggested that the Indoor FF
community look inward to figure out what
failed. However, with the Junior Program’s
phenomenal success (five World
Champions, five Silver medalists, four team
World Champions, and graduates who have
become national record holders, National
Champions, Senior team members, etc.),
using the words “fail” and “Junior F1D team
program” in the same sentence is off target.
It would be great to have even more
Juniors involved. But in the meantime, let’s
at least keep doing what has worked so well
and ramp up a minimum of four or five
Junior team candidates every two years.
The 2008-2009 F1D team-selection cycle
is already in progress. If you are a, or know
of a, Junior who will be 18 or younger for
the entire year of 2010, has an interest in
Indoor FF, and would enjoy a largely funded
trip to represent the US in international
competition (how would that sound on a
college application?), consider trying out for
the US Junior F1D team. You can contact
me at my E-mail address for details.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/01
Page Numbers: 138,139,140,142,144
138 MODEL AVIATION
F1D World Championships report
Free Flight Indoor John Kagan
[[email protected]]
Also included in this column:
• Call for Junior F1D team
candidates
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. Sunlight shining through the many elliptical windows
on the roof challenged F1D WC participants.
NEWS FLASH: US F1D fliers win team
Gold, individual Bronze, and Junior
individual Gold and Silver at 2008 World
Championships (WC)!
For the first time since 1998, this event
featured a challenging new site: the 90-foot
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. As does
any great championship venue, it provided its
share of challenges.
Most apparent was the heat, peaking at a
stifling 97° inside. The saunalike
temperatures had many surprisingly longing
for the cold Romanian salt mine of the
previous WC contests.
Also challenging were the multitude of
round magnifying-glass windows that
covered the ceiling. As the sun crossed the
sky, the windows beamed hot spots across
the floor, creating difficult drift patterns
and strong low-level turbulence. These sundriven
spotlights also wreaked havoc on the
rubber motors, causing many to break at
low torque on the winding stooge or, worse,
on the model during flight.
Most dramatic were the four vents
surrounding the large, white disk in the
center of the ceiling. They looked
innocuous enough—barely visible dark
patches nestled between the girders—but
quickly made their presence known and
became a source of terror. Their first victim
was a 35cm model during the start of the
International Open (IO) contest that
preceded the WC.
The airplane had been circling gently
across the roof, when it was pulled to a stop
and then drawn slowly back and upward. It
looked like an alien abduction scene
straight out of a Hollywood movie. The
model began trembling and, whoosh, it was
gone.
Exclamations of “Did you see that?”
echoed around the room. This horrific
scene (for the aircraft, at least) repeated
itself at least eight times during the
remainder of the event.
But for every hurdle, a solution was
waiting to be discovered. We worked to
beat the heat by packing the promotersupplied
refrigerators with bottles of water
and soda.
A team with experience at the site chose
lightweight sports jerseys as its team
uniform. Many others shed clothing, flying
in shorts and not much else. (You haven’t
lived until you’ve competed in the midst of
shirtless World Champions.)
The contest organizers studied
conditions during the IO “precontest” and
then scheduled the WC rounds for the lowdrift-
and low-sunlight-intensity portions of
the day, from late in the afternoon until
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:50 PM Page 138
January 2009 139
Justin Young repeated as Junior World
Champion. He dominated the field with a
33:24 and a 32:50. Brett Sanborn photo.
Tim Chang was the Junior Silver medalist.
Trouble finding an alternate damaged the
team’s standing. Sanborn photo.
Above: The author’s model approaches a dreaded ceiling vent.
Like a Hollywood movie abduction scene, models were severely
crippled by that obstacle. Jim Young photo.
Left: Doug Schaefer flew a 34:24 in Round Four and a 33:30 in
Round Six to finish in fifth place. Sanborn photo.
At Camp USA, the author is in the foreground and support Lou Young chats with Tim
Chang. Indoor temperatures were in the 90s throughout competition. Romash photo.
Jim Richmond finished fourth. Competitionmode
testing proved to be a crucial asset.
Rob Romash photo.
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:51 PM Page 139
midnight. This format made meals and
transportation a bit more difficult, but the
opportunity to fly in great air was well
worth the hassle.
In addition, we quickly learned to deal
with the vents by plugging them with
steering balloons if our models ventured
near. Picture tossing a ham sandwich into
the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner before it
sucks up your prize-winning dust bunny (or
something like that).
But despite—or possibly because of—
these hurdles, Hall 1 proved to be an
excellent world-class venue. The challenges
kept us on our toes, but the site was
eminently flyable in the end. Once we
identified the best air times, most of the top
flights required only a steer or two.
And as much as the heat traumatized the
fliers, it eked out a touch more energy from
the motors. No less than four competitors
ended up topping the Category III world
record, set a year ago in the neighboring
Hall 3.
Most of the US team arrived early. After
a day of practice, festivities began with the
IO, which served as a warm-up for many of
the WC competitors and organizers.
Brett Sanborn, Junior team manager and
Senior team alternate, planned to compete
seriously in this event before switching to a
support role. After some promising partialmotor
flights, he looked poised to dominate.
However, his best model was the second
sacrifice to the vents, ending up jammed in
the opening and clearly visible when the
light hit it right. And that was just the start
of his troubles. Broken motors, steering
mishaps, timer difficulties; it was a tough
experience. But, hey, that which does not
kill us makes us stronger, right?
Jim Richmond, defending Champ Larry
Cailliau, and I used the contest to do some
competition-mode testing. It was a great
opportunity to see how we stacked up
against the rest of the field, some of whom
had flown in this location before.
Jim and I ended up in fourth and third
place, respectively. That bode well for the
WC, even though we knew everyone’s times
would surely improve.
Senior Doug Schaefer and Junior Justin
Young forewent official IO flights in favor
of more dedicated testing. Our other Junior,
Tim Chang, was scheduled to arrive a few
days later. He did, but his luggage didn’t.
It cost Tim valuable practice time, but
everything was eventually delivered and he
was good to go. Then came the anxiously
awaited main event.
Doug Schaefer flew first in the opening
round but suffered the combined effect of
ground turbulence and model with a
borderline launch. The airplane stalled and
touched down just after the attempt window,
earning him the contest’s shortest flight:
1:13. Undaunted, Doug bounced back in the
second round with a decent 32:19, showing
he was still in the game.
After morning practice the second day,
Doug was passing his model over the railing
to me, when my finger snagged on his
motorstick bracing and broke it. He was
forced to replace the wire before the next
round.
But Doug but was happy to discover that
the model launched better after the repair. I
guess some stuff does happen for a reason.
Doug’s great pair of team times—34:24 in
Round Four and a 33:30 in Round Six—
earned him fifth place individually.
Jim Richmond started with a nice 34:56,
which was the second best time of the first
round and one of six flights that surpassed
the world record. Then the troubles began;
vision problems with the white ceiling,
Mylar balloon, and sunlight conspired
against him, and he lost three flights in a
row to botched steers.
With only two rounds remaining to get a
good second flight, I asked the FAI Jury
members if they would allow Jim to have a
proxy steerer. I hadn’t asked him about it yet
and wasn’t sure he’d even go for it, but I
figured it wouldn’t hurt to get the Jury’s
opinion first.
A doctor’s note describing the
requirement for a proxy is normally
required, but the Jury concluded that the
empirical evidence (Jim had proven steering
skill but was clearly unable to see his model
properly) was as definitive as any note. I
passed the news along and he said, “Heck
yeah!” and chose me to proxy. I was happy
to oblige, and we set off to fly Round Five.
The US team was in second place, behind
Great Britain, and Jim needed only a 23-
minute flight to get us into first place.
Individually, he needed close to 36 minutes
to get onto the podium. In true team spirit,
Jim chose to put up a safe flight for the
team first and then let it all hang out in the
final round.
The Round Five attempt did require a
couple of steers, but it stayed a safe distance
from the ceiling and the stronger drift zone.
My steering broke a couple of ribs near the
root of one of the delicate propeller blades,
which introduced a slight wobble but didn’t
seem to affect the flight much. The model
landed at 33:10—more than enough to boost
the team into a commanding lead.
Jim was sure to put up a burner in
Round Six, and I prepared to do a bunch of
steering at the ceiling. As I feared, the
model quickly got to the white disk and
began drifting off to the side. I plugged the
vent as the model circled by, and then I
grabbed it and steered it back to the
“upwind” side of the building.
Everything was looking great and the
flight had all the earmarks of another
famous Richmond last-round comeback.
All we had to do was wait for the propeller
to fold and then sit back and see if the
watch showed enough time at the end.
So we waited—and waited and waited.
The propeller started the little hitch that
indicated that it was ready to fold, but for
some reason it didn’t flip when Jim
planned. Instead, it annoyingly waited until
the model had lost the majority of its
altitude.
It held on for a respectable 32:42, which
wasn’t enough to move Jim up. He was left
in fourth place individually, but he did his
work for the team win.
My contest began with a 34:27 and a
34:15. I knew those wouldn’t be good
enough to win, but they were solid team
times and I could spend the next four
rounds on more selfish interests.
Brett Sanborn and I stayed late the first
day, mapping then-second-place Lutz
Schramm’s Round Two flight. We took
propeller rpm readings every two minutes
and then tabulated and analyzed the data to
determine his variable-pitch-propeller
settings. They correlated closely with the
strategy I had chosen and provided
valuable corroboration.
During practice on the second day, Brett
and I spent even more time with the rpm
watches and my airplanes. I was getting
minor improvements but finally decided
that I needed more pitch at the end of the
flight.
My variable-pitch hubs do not have a
low pitch adjustment, and twisting the
spars would change the other parameters
(high pitch and preload) that we had
worked so hard to tune in.
Therefore, I chose the crude tweak of
stuffing paper shims in the hinge gap.
Violà! Rounds three and four bumped up to
35:38 and 35:15, moving me within
striking distance—15 seconds out of
second place and 30 seconds out of first.
My fifth-round slot coincided with the
peak sun intensity of the day, and I learned
a valuable lesson. I don’t know how the
Outdoor fliers do it, but I found it
impossible to wind motors in direct
sunlight. They wouldn’t take anything
close to their normal energy, and I was left
with a pile of broken motors. I finally got
one wound and, while I signaled to the
timers, it broke on the stooge.
In hindsight, this would have been a
great time to choose a different tactic. But
in the heat of competition, I forged on and
launched a flight. Just as I was about to
steer halfway through, the motor broke and
disassembled the airplane in several key
locations. I lost the round and suffered a
significant setback with my best model.
I decided that my best chances were
with the airplane I had spent so much time
on, so I dug in, managed to repair all the
damage before lunch, and got one short test
flight. I was up last in the final round and,
under a bit of time pressure, managed to
get the flight off.
It had the turns and launch torque I
wanted, but too many variables had
changed and it landed with only 34:01. I
was disappointed I didn’t do better, but I
was happy to earn an individual podium
spot and share the team win.
Defending World Champ Larry Cailliau
had his own set of hurdles to overcome.
Recent eye surgery had left his vision a
little blurry, and the heat seemed to affect
him more than most. He also lost a couple
of flights to steering problems, once
ripping a large hole in his model’s wingtip.
Brett Sanborn sprung to action and
neatly patched the wing so that Larry could
stick with the airplane he had chosen. He
finished seventh with a decent 34:06 and
32:20.
Ivan Treger of Slovakia won (and set a
world record) with a 36:23 and 35:25. His
models were deceptively simple but had a
rock-solid launch and flight pattern. Ivan
recently won the F1E WC too. Amazing!
Germany’s Lutz Schramm was second
with 36:18 and 35:01. His airplanes were
marvels of German engineering, featuring
elliptical polyhedral, molded carbon
propeller blades, adjustable hollow carbon
wing posts, and a bevy of other technical
innovations.
In the Junior camp, defending World
Champ Justin Young dominated the field
with a 33:24 and a 32:50, taking his second
consecutive WC title. Any pair of his top
four flights was good enough for the win.
He had to look over his shoulder, though,
because teammate Tim Chang was a threat.
Tim had some promising partial-motor
flights on practice days, but launch
problems and the rest of Hall 1’s
challenges kept him from converting. Still,
he managed a pair of 30s to edge in front of
a competent (and competitive) Gabriela
Kaplanova of the Czech Republic. They
finished second and third respectively.
Thus Justin and Tim kept the Junior
Gold and Silver streak alive at the WC;
they made up the fifth straight team to
accomplish the feat. It’s great to see that kind
of talent in the pipeline.
Team manager Rob Romash and Junior
team manager Brett Sanborn kept us
organized, helped us fly, and made tough
decisions when required. Rob even sported an
updated version of his “F1D caddy”: a beltmounted
holster for essential tools such as
ZAP and scissors.
He and Brett were Johnny-on-the-spot,
saving US team members and anyone else
within range more than a few times. Hats off
to you guys!
The Serbian organizer, Ljubomir
Radosavljevic, and CD Vladimir Zivanovic
did an awesome job too. The contest was
disciplined and strict but flexible when
warranted—truly world class.
The city and people of Belgrade were
fantastic. There had been some concern about
recent political unrest, but we found Serbia to
be friendly, safe, and fun. I thoroughly
enjoyed myself, and I know my teammates
did too. With the next F1D WC already
scheduled for Belgrade in 2010, now’s the
time to start vying for a spot on the team.
Go to page 171 of this issue to see the full
results of this year’s F1D WC. Additional
photos are on page 170.
Call for F1D Juniors: Despite Justin’s and
Tim’s exceptional performances, the streak
of Junior team titles ended at this WC.
After the three other program participants
dropped out for various reasons, the team
was left with just two members. That was
too much of a deficit to overcome.
A last-minute replacement had been
snatched from the Science Olympiad ranks
and brought up to speed by Junior Team
manager Brett Sanborn during an
exhausting few weeks. The new flier
wasn’t going to be an individual contender,
but he had potential to provide critical help
for the team.
It seemed like a no-brainer to take him.
He demonstrated his aptitude in the
Science Olympiad and at a contest in
Lakehurst, New Jersey; the funds had been
allocated; and all other interested
candidates already had the opportunity to
step forward.
But apparently there had been heartburn
over replacements for other FAI teams, and
the AMA’s FAI Executive Council denied
the request. Many people, here and abroad,
wrote letters and made calls expressing their
support for a replacement Junior, but the
council was adamant.
Reasons given included concern about
ever-increasing FAI team costs and not
having enough time to alert the entire AMA
population, thus potentially bypassing some
other interested party (although that
requirement exceeds what was done for the
original team finals).
I believe in being fair and honorable in
our team selection, but we shifted too far
away from the primary objective of sending
the best team to represent the US in
international competition. Ours was the only
Junior team of the six that did not have a full
three members.
A pair of 13:35 flights from a third US
flier would have vaulted the team from last
to first. To put that in context, the last-place
finisher in the contest had a 21 and a 22.
But that’s in the past. Let’s hope it was a
one-time thing and that the Junior program
never experiences 60% attrition again.
It was suggested that the Indoor FF
community look inward to figure out what
failed. However, with the Junior Program’s
phenomenal success (five World
Champions, five Silver medalists, four team
World Champions, and graduates who have
become national record holders, National
Champions, Senior team members, etc.),
using the words “fail” and “Junior F1D team
program” in the same sentence is off target.
It would be great to have even more
Juniors involved. But in the meantime, let’s
at least keep doing what has worked so well
and ramp up a minimum of four or five
Junior team candidates every two years.
The 2008-2009 F1D team-selection cycle
is already in progress. If you are a, or know
of a, Junior who will be 18 or younger for
the entire year of 2010, has an interest in
Indoor FF, and would enjoy a largely funded
trip to represent the US in international
competition (how would that sound on a
college application?), consider trying out for
the US Junior F1D team. You can contact
me at my E-mail address for details.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/01
Page Numbers: 138,139,140,142,144
138 MODEL AVIATION
F1D World Championships report
Free Flight Indoor John Kagan
[[email protected]]
Also included in this column:
• Call for Junior F1D team
candidates
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. Sunlight shining through the many elliptical windows
on the roof challenged F1D WC participants.
NEWS FLASH: US F1D fliers win team
Gold, individual Bronze, and Junior
individual Gold and Silver at 2008 World
Championships (WC)!
For the first time since 1998, this event
featured a challenging new site: the 90-foot
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. As does
any great championship venue, it provided its
share of challenges.
Most apparent was the heat, peaking at a
stifling 97° inside. The saunalike
temperatures had many surprisingly longing
for the cold Romanian salt mine of the
previous WC contests.
Also challenging were the multitude of
round magnifying-glass windows that
covered the ceiling. As the sun crossed the
sky, the windows beamed hot spots across
the floor, creating difficult drift patterns
and strong low-level turbulence. These sundriven
spotlights also wreaked havoc on the
rubber motors, causing many to break at
low torque on the winding stooge or, worse,
on the model during flight.
Most dramatic were the four vents
surrounding the large, white disk in the
center of the ceiling. They looked
innocuous enough—barely visible dark
patches nestled between the girders—but
quickly made their presence known and
became a source of terror. Their first victim
was a 35cm model during the start of the
International Open (IO) contest that
preceded the WC.
The airplane had been circling gently
across the roof, when it was pulled to a stop
and then drawn slowly back and upward. It
looked like an alien abduction scene
straight out of a Hollywood movie. The
model began trembling and, whoosh, it was
gone.
Exclamations of “Did you see that?”
echoed around the room. This horrific
scene (for the aircraft, at least) repeated
itself at least eight times during the
remainder of the event.
But for every hurdle, a solution was
waiting to be discovered. We worked to
beat the heat by packing the promotersupplied
refrigerators with bottles of water
and soda.
A team with experience at the site chose
lightweight sports jerseys as its team
uniform. Many others shed clothing, flying
in shorts and not much else. (You haven’t
lived until you’ve competed in the midst of
shirtless World Champions.)
The contest organizers studied
conditions during the IO “precontest” and
then scheduled the WC rounds for the lowdrift-
and low-sunlight-intensity portions of
the day, from late in the afternoon until
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:50 PM Page 138
January 2009 139
Justin Young repeated as Junior World
Champion. He dominated the field with a
33:24 and a 32:50. Brett Sanborn photo.
Tim Chang was the Junior Silver medalist.
Trouble finding an alternate damaged the
team’s standing. Sanborn photo.
Above: The author’s model approaches a dreaded ceiling vent.
Like a Hollywood movie abduction scene, models were severely
crippled by that obstacle. Jim Young photo.
Left: Doug Schaefer flew a 34:24 in Round Four and a 33:30 in
Round Six to finish in fifth place. Sanborn photo.
At Camp USA, the author is in the foreground and support Lou Young chats with Tim
Chang. Indoor temperatures were in the 90s throughout competition. Romash photo.
Jim Richmond finished fourth. Competitionmode
testing proved to be a crucial asset.
Rob Romash photo.
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:51 PM Page 139
midnight. This format made meals and
transportation a bit more difficult, but the
opportunity to fly in great air was well
worth the hassle.
In addition, we quickly learned to deal
with the vents by plugging them with
steering balloons if our models ventured
near. Picture tossing a ham sandwich into
the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner before it
sucks up your prize-winning dust bunny (or
something like that).
But despite—or possibly because of—
these hurdles, Hall 1 proved to be an
excellent world-class venue. The challenges
kept us on our toes, but the site was
eminently flyable in the end. Once we
identified the best air times, most of the top
flights required only a steer or two.
And as much as the heat traumatized the
fliers, it eked out a touch more energy from
the motors. No less than four competitors
ended up topping the Category III world
record, set a year ago in the neighboring
Hall 3.
Most of the US team arrived early. After
a day of practice, festivities began with the
IO, which served as a warm-up for many of
the WC competitors and organizers.
Brett Sanborn, Junior team manager and
Senior team alternate, planned to compete
seriously in this event before switching to a
support role. After some promising partialmotor
flights, he looked poised to dominate.
However, his best model was the second
sacrifice to the vents, ending up jammed in
the opening and clearly visible when the
light hit it right. And that was just the start
of his troubles. Broken motors, steering
mishaps, timer difficulties; it was a tough
experience. But, hey, that which does not
kill us makes us stronger, right?
Jim Richmond, defending Champ Larry
Cailliau, and I used the contest to do some
competition-mode testing. It was a great
opportunity to see how we stacked up
against the rest of the field, some of whom
had flown in this location before.
Jim and I ended up in fourth and third
place, respectively. That bode well for the
WC, even though we knew everyone’s times
would surely improve.
Senior Doug Schaefer and Junior Justin
Young forewent official IO flights in favor
of more dedicated testing. Our other Junior,
Tim Chang, was scheduled to arrive a few
days later. He did, but his luggage didn’t.
It cost Tim valuable practice time, but
everything was eventually delivered and he
was good to go. Then came the anxiously
awaited main event.
Doug Schaefer flew first in the opening
round but suffered the combined effect of
ground turbulence and model with a
borderline launch. The airplane stalled and
touched down just after the attempt window,
earning him the contest’s shortest flight:
1:13. Undaunted, Doug bounced back in the
second round with a decent 32:19, showing
he was still in the game.
After morning practice the second day,
Doug was passing his model over the railing
to me, when my finger snagged on his
motorstick bracing and broke it. He was
forced to replace the wire before the next
round.
But Doug but was happy to discover that
the model launched better after the repair. I
guess some stuff does happen for a reason.
Doug’s great pair of team times—34:24 in
Round Four and a 33:30 in Round Six—
earned him fifth place individually.
Jim Richmond started with a nice 34:56,
which was the second best time of the first
round and one of six flights that surpassed
the world record. Then the troubles began;
vision problems with the white ceiling,
Mylar balloon, and sunlight conspired
against him, and he lost three flights in a
row to botched steers.
With only two rounds remaining to get a
good second flight, I asked the FAI Jury
members if they would allow Jim to have a
proxy steerer. I hadn’t asked him about it yet
and wasn’t sure he’d even go for it, but I
figured it wouldn’t hurt to get the Jury’s
opinion first.
A doctor’s note describing the
requirement for a proxy is normally
required, but the Jury concluded that the
empirical evidence (Jim had proven steering
skill but was clearly unable to see his model
properly) was as definitive as any note. I
passed the news along and he said, “Heck
yeah!” and chose me to proxy. I was happy
to oblige, and we set off to fly Round Five.
The US team was in second place, behind
Great Britain, and Jim needed only a 23-
minute flight to get us into first place.
Individually, he needed close to 36 minutes
to get onto the podium. In true team spirit,
Jim chose to put up a safe flight for the
team first and then let it all hang out in the
final round.
The Round Five attempt did require a
couple of steers, but it stayed a safe distance
from the ceiling and the stronger drift zone.
My steering broke a couple of ribs near the
root of one of the delicate propeller blades,
which introduced a slight wobble but didn’t
seem to affect the flight much. The model
landed at 33:10—more than enough to boost
the team into a commanding lead.
Jim was sure to put up a burner in
Round Six, and I prepared to do a bunch of
steering at the ceiling. As I feared, the
model quickly got to the white disk and
began drifting off to the side. I plugged the
vent as the model circled by, and then I
grabbed it and steered it back to the
“upwind” side of the building.
Everything was looking great and the
flight had all the earmarks of another
famous Richmond last-round comeback.
All we had to do was wait for the propeller
to fold and then sit back and see if the
watch showed enough time at the end.
So we waited—and waited and waited.
The propeller started the little hitch that
indicated that it was ready to fold, but for
some reason it didn’t flip when Jim
planned. Instead, it annoyingly waited until
the model had lost the majority of its
altitude.
It held on for a respectable 32:42, which
wasn’t enough to move Jim up. He was left
in fourth place individually, but he did his
work for the team win.
My contest began with a 34:27 and a
34:15. I knew those wouldn’t be good
enough to win, but they were solid team
times and I could spend the next four
rounds on more selfish interests.
Brett Sanborn and I stayed late the first
day, mapping then-second-place Lutz
Schramm’s Round Two flight. We took
propeller rpm readings every two minutes
and then tabulated and analyzed the data to
determine his variable-pitch-propeller
settings. They correlated closely with the
strategy I had chosen and provided
valuable corroboration.
During practice on the second day, Brett
and I spent even more time with the rpm
watches and my airplanes. I was getting
minor improvements but finally decided
that I needed more pitch at the end of the
flight.
My variable-pitch hubs do not have a
low pitch adjustment, and twisting the
spars would change the other parameters
(high pitch and preload) that we had
worked so hard to tune in.
Therefore, I chose the crude tweak of
stuffing paper shims in the hinge gap.
Violà! Rounds three and four bumped up to
35:38 and 35:15, moving me within
striking distance—15 seconds out of
second place and 30 seconds out of first.
My fifth-round slot coincided with the
peak sun intensity of the day, and I learned
a valuable lesson. I don’t know how the
Outdoor fliers do it, but I found it
impossible to wind motors in direct
sunlight. They wouldn’t take anything
close to their normal energy, and I was left
with a pile of broken motors. I finally got
one wound and, while I signaled to the
timers, it broke on the stooge.
In hindsight, this would have been a
great time to choose a different tactic. But
in the heat of competition, I forged on and
launched a flight. Just as I was about to
steer halfway through, the motor broke and
disassembled the airplane in several key
locations. I lost the round and suffered a
significant setback with my best model.
I decided that my best chances were
with the airplane I had spent so much time
on, so I dug in, managed to repair all the
damage before lunch, and got one short test
flight. I was up last in the final round and,
under a bit of time pressure, managed to
get the flight off.
It had the turns and launch torque I
wanted, but too many variables had
changed and it landed with only 34:01. I
was disappointed I didn’t do better, but I
was happy to earn an individual podium
spot and share the team win.
Defending World Champ Larry Cailliau
had his own set of hurdles to overcome.
Recent eye surgery had left his vision a
little blurry, and the heat seemed to affect
him more than most. He also lost a couple
of flights to steering problems, once
ripping a large hole in his model’s wingtip.
Brett Sanborn sprung to action and
neatly patched the wing so that Larry could
stick with the airplane he had chosen. He
finished seventh with a decent 34:06 and
32:20.
Ivan Treger of Slovakia won (and set a
world record) with a 36:23 and 35:25. His
models were deceptively simple but had a
rock-solid launch and flight pattern. Ivan
recently won the F1E WC too. Amazing!
Germany’s Lutz Schramm was second
with 36:18 and 35:01. His airplanes were
marvels of German engineering, featuring
elliptical polyhedral, molded carbon
propeller blades, adjustable hollow carbon
wing posts, and a bevy of other technical
innovations.
In the Junior camp, defending World
Champ Justin Young dominated the field
with a 33:24 and a 32:50, taking his second
consecutive WC title. Any pair of his top
four flights was good enough for the win.
He had to look over his shoulder, though,
because teammate Tim Chang was a threat.
Tim had some promising partial-motor
flights on practice days, but launch
problems and the rest of Hall 1’s
challenges kept him from converting. Still,
he managed a pair of 30s to edge in front of
a competent (and competitive) Gabriela
Kaplanova of the Czech Republic. They
finished second and third respectively.
Thus Justin and Tim kept the Junior
Gold and Silver streak alive at the WC;
they made up the fifth straight team to
accomplish the feat. It’s great to see that kind
of talent in the pipeline.
Team manager Rob Romash and Junior
team manager Brett Sanborn kept us
organized, helped us fly, and made tough
decisions when required. Rob even sported an
updated version of his “F1D caddy”: a beltmounted
holster for essential tools such as
ZAP and scissors.
He and Brett were Johnny-on-the-spot,
saving US team members and anyone else
within range more than a few times. Hats off
to you guys!
The Serbian organizer, Ljubomir
Radosavljevic, and CD Vladimir Zivanovic
did an awesome job too. The contest was
disciplined and strict but flexible when
warranted—truly world class.
The city and people of Belgrade were
fantastic. There had been some concern about
recent political unrest, but we found Serbia to
be friendly, safe, and fun. I thoroughly
enjoyed myself, and I know my teammates
did too. With the next F1D WC already
scheduled for Belgrade in 2010, now’s the
time to start vying for a spot on the team.
Go to page 171 of this issue to see the full
results of this year’s F1D WC. Additional
photos are on page 170.
Call for F1D Juniors: Despite Justin’s and
Tim’s exceptional performances, the streak
of Junior team titles ended at this WC.
After the three other program participants
dropped out for various reasons, the team
was left with just two members. That was
too much of a deficit to overcome.
A last-minute replacement had been
snatched from the Science Olympiad ranks
and brought up to speed by Junior Team
manager Brett Sanborn during an
exhausting few weeks. The new flier
wasn’t going to be an individual contender,
but he had potential to provide critical help
for the team.
It seemed like a no-brainer to take him.
He demonstrated his aptitude in the
Science Olympiad and at a contest in
Lakehurst, New Jersey; the funds had been
allocated; and all other interested
candidates already had the opportunity to
step forward.
But apparently there had been heartburn
over replacements for other FAI teams, and
the AMA’s FAI Executive Council denied
the request. Many people, here and abroad,
wrote letters and made calls expressing their
support for a replacement Junior, but the
council was adamant.
Reasons given included concern about
ever-increasing FAI team costs and not
having enough time to alert the entire AMA
population, thus potentially bypassing some
other interested party (although that
requirement exceeds what was done for the
original team finals).
I believe in being fair and honorable in
our team selection, but we shifted too far
away from the primary objective of sending
the best team to represent the US in
international competition. Ours was the only
Junior team of the six that did not have a full
three members.
A pair of 13:35 flights from a third US
flier would have vaulted the team from last
to first. To put that in context, the last-place
finisher in the contest had a 21 and a 22.
But that’s in the past. Let’s hope it was a
one-time thing and that the Junior program
never experiences 60% attrition again.
It was suggested that the Indoor FF
community look inward to figure out what
failed. However, with the Junior Program’s
phenomenal success (five World
Champions, five Silver medalists, four team
World Champions, and graduates who have
become national record holders, National
Champions, Senior team members, etc.),
using the words “fail” and “Junior F1D team
program” in the same sentence is off target.
It would be great to have even more
Juniors involved. But in the meantime, let’s
at least keep doing what has worked so well
and ramp up a minimum of four or five
Junior team candidates every two years.
The 2008-2009 F1D team-selection cycle
is already in progress. If you are a, or know
of a, Junior who will be 18 or younger for
the entire year of 2010, has an interest in
Indoor FF, and would enjoy a largely funded
trip to represent the US in international
competition (how would that sound on a
college application?), consider trying out for
the US Junior F1D team. You can contact
me at my E-mail address for details.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/01
Page Numbers: 138,139,140,142,144
138 MODEL AVIATION
F1D World Championships report
Free Flight Indoor John Kagan
[[email protected]]
Also included in this column:
• Call for Junior F1D team
candidates
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. Sunlight shining through the many elliptical windows
on the roof challenged F1D WC participants.
NEWS FLASH: US F1D fliers win team
Gold, individual Bronze, and Junior
individual Gold and Silver at 2008 World
Championships (WC)!
For the first time since 1998, this event
featured a challenging new site: the 90-foot
Sajam Hall 1 in Belgrade, Serbia. As does
any great championship venue, it provided its
share of challenges.
Most apparent was the heat, peaking at a
stifling 97° inside. The saunalike
temperatures had many surprisingly longing
for the cold Romanian salt mine of the
previous WC contests.
Also challenging were the multitude of
round magnifying-glass windows that
covered the ceiling. As the sun crossed the
sky, the windows beamed hot spots across
the floor, creating difficult drift patterns
and strong low-level turbulence. These sundriven
spotlights also wreaked havoc on the
rubber motors, causing many to break at
low torque on the winding stooge or, worse,
on the model during flight.
Most dramatic were the four vents
surrounding the large, white disk in the
center of the ceiling. They looked
innocuous enough—barely visible dark
patches nestled between the girders—but
quickly made their presence known and
became a source of terror. Their first victim
was a 35cm model during the start of the
International Open (IO) contest that
preceded the WC.
The airplane had been circling gently
across the roof, when it was pulled to a stop
and then drawn slowly back and upward. It
looked like an alien abduction scene
straight out of a Hollywood movie. The
model began trembling and, whoosh, it was
gone.
Exclamations of “Did you see that?”
echoed around the room. This horrific
scene (for the aircraft, at least) repeated
itself at least eight times during the
remainder of the event.
But for every hurdle, a solution was
waiting to be discovered. We worked to
beat the heat by packing the promotersupplied
refrigerators with bottles of water
and soda.
A team with experience at the site chose
lightweight sports jerseys as its team
uniform. Many others shed clothing, flying
in shorts and not much else. (You haven’t
lived until you’ve competed in the midst of
shirtless World Champions.)
The contest organizers studied
conditions during the IO “precontest” and
then scheduled the WC rounds for the lowdrift-
and low-sunlight-intensity portions of
the day, from late in the afternoon until
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:50 PM Page 138
January 2009 139
Justin Young repeated as Junior World
Champion. He dominated the field with a
33:24 and a 32:50. Brett Sanborn photo.
Tim Chang was the Junior Silver medalist.
Trouble finding an alternate damaged the
team’s standing. Sanborn photo.
Above: The author’s model approaches a dreaded ceiling vent.
Like a Hollywood movie abduction scene, models were severely
crippled by that obstacle. Jim Young photo.
Left: Doug Schaefer flew a 34:24 in Round Four and a 33:30 in
Round Six to finish in fifth place. Sanborn photo.
At Camp USA, the author is in the foreground and support Lou Young chats with Tim
Chang. Indoor temperatures were in the 90s throughout competition. Romash photo.
Jim Richmond finished fourth. Competitionmode
testing proved to be a crucial asset.
Rob Romash photo.
01sig5.QXD 11/24/08 12:51 PM Page 139
midnight. This format made meals and
transportation a bit more difficult, but the
opportunity to fly in great air was well
worth the hassle.
In addition, we quickly learned to deal
with the vents by plugging them with
steering balloons if our models ventured
near. Picture tossing a ham sandwich into
the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner before it
sucks up your prize-winning dust bunny (or
something like that).
But despite—or possibly because of—
these hurdles, Hall 1 proved to be an
excellent world-class venue. The challenges
kept us on our toes, but the site was
eminently flyable in the end. Once we
identified the best air times, most of the top
flights required only a steer or two.
And as much as the heat traumatized the
fliers, it eked out a touch more energy from
the motors. No less than four competitors
ended up topping the Category III world
record, set a year ago in the neighboring
Hall 3.
Most of the US team arrived early. After
a day of practice, festivities began with the
IO, which served as a warm-up for many of
the WC competitors and organizers.
Brett Sanborn, Junior team manager and
Senior team alternate, planned to compete
seriously in this event before switching to a
support role. After some promising partialmotor
flights, he looked poised to dominate.
However, his best model was the second
sacrifice to the vents, ending up jammed in
the opening and clearly visible when the
light hit it right. And that was just the start
of his troubles. Broken motors, steering
mishaps, timer difficulties; it was a tough
experience. But, hey, that which does not
kill us makes us stronger, right?
Jim Richmond, defending Champ Larry
Cailliau, and I used the contest to do some
competition-mode testing. It was a great
opportunity to see how we stacked up
against the rest of the field, some of whom
had flown in this location before.
Jim and I ended up in fourth and third
place, respectively. That bode well for the
WC, even though we knew everyone’s times
would surely improve.
Senior Doug Schaefer and Junior Justin
Young forewent official IO flights in favor
of more dedicated testing. Our other Junior,
Tim Chang, was scheduled to arrive a few
days later. He did, but his luggage didn’t.
It cost Tim valuable practice time, but
everything was eventually delivered and he
was good to go. Then came the anxiously
awaited main event.
Doug Schaefer flew first in the opening
round but suffered the combined effect of
ground turbulence and model with a
borderline launch. The airplane stalled and
touched down just after the attempt window,
earning him the contest’s shortest flight:
1:13. Undaunted, Doug bounced back in the
second round with a decent 32:19, showing
he was still in the game.
After morning practice the second day,
Doug was passing his model over the railing
to me, when my finger snagged on his
motorstick bracing and broke it. He was
forced to replace the wire before the next
round.
But Doug but was happy to discover that
the model launched better after the repair. I
guess some stuff does happen for a reason.
Doug’s great pair of team times—34:24 in
Round Four and a 33:30 in Round Six—
earned him fifth place individually.
Jim Richmond started with a nice 34:56,
which was the second best time of the first
round and one of six flights that surpassed
the world record. Then the troubles began;
vision problems with the white ceiling,
Mylar balloon, and sunlight conspired
against him, and he lost three flights in a
row to botched steers.
With only two rounds remaining to get a
good second flight, I asked the FAI Jury
members if they would allow Jim to have a
proxy steerer. I hadn’t asked him about it yet
and wasn’t sure he’d even go for it, but I
figured it wouldn’t hurt to get the Jury’s
opinion first.
A doctor’s note describing the
requirement for a proxy is normally
required, but the Jury concluded that the
empirical evidence (Jim had proven steering
skill but was clearly unable to see his model
properly) was as definitive as any note. I
passed the news along and he said, “Heck
yeah!” and chose me to proxy. I was happy
to oblige, and we set off to fly Round Five.
The US team was in second place, behind
Great Britain, and Jim needed only a 23-
minute flight to get us into first place.
Individually, he needed close to 36 minutes
to get onto the podium. In true team spirit,
Jim chose to put up a safe flight for the
team first and then let it all hang out in the
final round.
The Round Five attempt did require a
couple of steers, but it stayed a safe distance
from the ceiling and the stronger drift zone.
My steering broke a couple of ribs near the
root of one of the delicate propeller blades,
which introduced a slight wobble but didn’t
seem to affect the flight much. The model
landed at 33:10—more than enough to boost
the team into a commanding lead.
Jim was sure to put up a burner in
Round Six, and I prepared to do a bunch of
steering at the ceiling. As I feared, the
model quickly got to the white disk and
began drifting off to the side. I plugged the
vent as the model circled by, and then I
grabbed it and steered it back to the
“upwind” side of the building.
Everything was looking great and the
flight had all the earmarks of another
famous Richmond last-round comeback.
All we had to do was wait for the propeller
to fold and then sit back and see if the
watch showed enough time at the end.
So we waited—and waited and waited.
The propeller started the little hitch that
indicated that it was ready to fold, but for
some reason it didn’t flip when Jim
planned. Instead, it annoyingly waited until
the model had lost the majority of its
altitude.
It held on for a respectable 32:42, which
wasn’t enough to move Jim up. He was left
in fourth place individually, but he did his
work for the team win.
My contest began with a 34:27 and a
34:15. I knew those wouldn’t be good
enough to win, but they were solid team
times and I could spend the next four
rounds on more selfish interests.
Brett Sanborn and I stayed late the first
day, mapping then-second-place Lutz
Schramm’s Round Two flight. We took
propeller rpm readings every two minutes
and then tabulated and analyzed the data to
determine his variable-pitch-propeller
settings. They correlated closely with the
strategy I had chosen and provided
valuable corroboration.
During practice on the second day, Brett
and I spent even more time with the rpm
watches and my airplanes. I was getting
minor improvements but finally decided
that I needed more pitch at the end of the
flight.
My variable-pitch hubs do not have a
low pitch adjustment, and twisting the
spars would change the other parameters
(high pitch and preload) that we had
worked so hard to tune in.
Therefore, I chose the crude tweak of
stuffing paper shims in the hinge gap.
Violà! Rounds three and four bumped up to
35:38 and 35:15, moving me within
striking distance—15 seconds out of
second place and 30 seconds out of first.
My fifth-round slot coincided with the
peak sun intensity of the day, and I learned
a valuable lesson. I don’t know how the
Outdoor fliers do it, but I found it
impossible to wind motors in direct
sunlight. They wouldn’t take anything
close to their normal energy, and I was left
with a pile of broken motors. I finally got
one wound and, while I signaled to the
timers, it broke on the stooge.
In hindsight, this would have been a
great time to choose a different tactic. But
in the heat of competition, I forged on and
launched a flight. Just as I was about to
steer halfway through, the motor broke and
disassembled the airplane in several key
locations. I lost the round and suffered a
significant setback with my best model.
I decided that my best chances were
with the airplane I had spent so much time
on, so I dug in, managed to repair all the
damage before lunch, and got one short test
flight. I was up last in the final round and,
under a bit of time pressure, managed to
get the flight off.
It had the turns and launch torque I
wanted, but too many variables had
changed and it landed with only 34:01. I
was disappointed I didn’t do better, but I
was happy to earn an individual podium
spot and share the team win.
Defending World Champ Larry Cailliau
had his own set of hurdles to overcome.
Recent eye surgery had left his vision a
little blurry, and the heat seemed to affect
him more than most. He also lost a couple
of flights to steering problems, once
ripping a large hole in his model’s wingtip.
Brett Sanborn sprung to action and
neatly patched the wing so that Larry could
stick with the airplane he had chosen. He
finished seventh with a decent 34:06 and
32:20.
Ivan Treger of Slovakia won (and set a
world record) with a 36:23 and 35:25. His
models were deceptively simple but had a
rock-solid launch and flight pattern. Ivan
recently won the F1E WC too. Amazing!
Germany’s Lutz Schramm was second
with 36:18 and 35:01. His airplanes were
marvels of German engineering, featuring
elliptical polyhedral, molded carbon
propeller blades, adjustable hollow carbon
wing posts, and a bevy of other technical
innovations.
In the Junior camp, defending World
Champ Justin Young dominated the field
with a 33:24 and a 32:50, taking his second
consecutive WC title. Any pair of his top
four flights was good enough for the win.
He had to look over his shoulder, though,
because teammate Tim Chang was a threat.
Tim had some promising partial-motor
flights on practice days, but launch
problems and the rest of Hall 1’s
challenges kept him from converting. Still,
he managed a pair of 30s to edge in front of
a competent (and competitive) Gabriela
Kaplanova of the Czech Republic. They
finished second and third respectively.
Thus Justin and Tim kept the Junior
Gold and Silver streak alive at the WC;
they made up the fifth straight team to
accomplish the feat. It’s great to see that kind
of talent in the pipeline.
Team manager Rob Romash and Junior
team manager Brett Sanborn kept us
organized, helped us fly, and made tough
decisions when required. Rob even sported an
updated version of his “F1D caddy”: a beltmounted
holster for essential tools such as
ZAP and scissors.
He and Brett were Johnny-on-the-spot,
saving US team members and anyone else
within range more than a few times. Hats off
to you guys!
The Serbian organizer, Ljubomir
Radosavljevic, and CD Vladimir Zivanovic
did an awesome job too. The contest was
disciplined and strict but flexible when
warranted—truly world class.
The city and people of Belgrade were
fantastic. There had been some concern about
recent political unrest, but we found Serbia to
be friendly, safe, and fun. I thoroughly
enjoyed myself, and I know my teammates
did too. With the next F1D WC already
scheduled for Belgrade in 2010, now’s the
time to start vying for a spot on the team.
Go to page 171 of this issue to see the full
results of this year’s F1D WC. Additional
photos are on page 170.
Call for F1D Juniors: Despite Justin’s and
Tim’s exceptional performances, the streak
of Junior team titles ended at this WC.
After the three other program participants
dropped out for various reasons, the team
was left with just two members. That was
too much of a deficit to overcome.
A last-minute replacement had been
snatched from the Science Olympiad ranks
and brought up to speed by Junior Team
manager Brett Sanborn during an
exhausting few weeks. The new flier
wasn’t going to be an individual contender,
but he had potential to provide critical help
for the team.
It seemed like a no-brainer to take him.
He demonstrated his aptitude in the
Science Olympiad and at a contest in
Lakehurst, New Jersey; the funds had been
allocated; and all other interested
candidates already had the opportunity to
step forward.
But apparently there had been heartburn
over replacements for other FAI teams, and
the AMA’s FAI Executive Council denied
the request. Many people, here and abroad,
wrote letters and made calls expressing their
support for a replacement Junior, but the
council was adamant.
Reasons given included concern about
ever-increasing FAI team costs and not
having enough time to alert the entire AMA
population, thus potentially bypassing some
other interested party (although that
requirement exceeds what was done for the
original team finals).
I believe in being fair and honorable in
our team selection, but we shifted too far
away from the primary objective of sending
the best team to represent the US in
international competition. Ours was the only
Junior team of the six that did not have a full
three members.
A pair of 13:35 flights from a third US
flier would have vaulted the team from last
to first. To put that in context, the last-place
finisher in the contest had a 21 and a 22.
But that’s in the past. Let’s hope it was a
one-time thing and that the Junior program
never experiences 60% attrition again.
It was suggested that the Indoor FF
community look inward to figure out what
failed. However, with the Junior Program’s
phenomenal success (five World
Champions, five Silver medalists, four team
World Champions, and graduates who have
become national record holders, National
Champions, Senior team members, etc.),
using the words “fail” and “Junior F1D team
program” in the same sentence is off target.
It would be great to have even more
Juniors involved. But in the meantime, let’s
at least keep doing what has worked so well
and ramp up a minimum of four or five
Junior team candidates every two years.
The 2008-2009 F1D team-selection cycle
is already in progress. If you are a, or know
of a, Junior who will be 18 or younger for
the entire year of 2010, has an interest in
Indoor FF, and would enjoy a largely funded
trip to represent the US in international
competition (how would that sound on a
college application?), consider trying out for
the US Junior F1D team. You can contact
me at my E-mail address for details.