2004 FAI Control Line World Championships-2004/11

FOR THE FIRST time in 20 years, the FAI Control Line World
Championships (CLWC) was contested in the United States.
Between July 4 and July 10, the best CL modelers on the planet
made their way to AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center in
Muncie, Indiana, to compete in the four FAI F2 events at the 23rd
CLWC: A (Speed), B (Aerobatics), C (Team Race), and D
(Combat).
The last CLWC held in the states was in 1984 at Westover Air
Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was a great
success, but even then the world competitors felt that the
expense and hassle to travel to the US was excessive.
The question this year was, Will they attend? And
the current world situation in respect to security
added to the problem. Traveling in large groups
with lots of support equipment used to be fairly
easy—not so today. Heightened airport security
and luggage restrictions have added to the
frustration of trying to get delicate, trim-sensitive models to a site
safely and on time.
But attend they did. There were 304 competitors, team
managers, mechanics, and helpers from 28 countries, plus
numerous supporters.
The only real drama was that there were visa issues for a few
members of the Chinese, Ukrainian, and South African teams.
Special arrangements had to be made through the State Department
to quickly cut a bunch of red tape to allow the Chinese to get to the
meet in time to compete.
The only Chinese team member who received his visa in time—
F2B Junior competitor Yaokun Wang—arrived on AMA’s
doorstep Monday, July 6, with his luggage, and he had no room
reservations or transportation. So AMA President Dave
Brown took Yaokun under wing and put him up for the
night, and then helped him with billeting and
transportation until the rest of his team arrived.
The US FAI CL team assembled before the opening ceremonies for a group picture. Photo by Bob Hunt.
by Dave Mark
F2A: Thirty-Three Speed fliers from
around the world competed in this CLWC,
and 15 North American Speed Society
(NASS) members volunteered their time
to perform the jobs required for
competition at this level.
Sunday, July 4, NASS members
prepared the site for the Speed event. The
Nats Racing circle, located to the west of
the Speed circle, was used for line layout,
fuel dispensing, tank flushing, pull-testing
safety straps and wires, and staging fliers
before their turn to enter the circle.
Height markers were installed at four
points around the circle. AMA supplied a
stand for the height judge—Al Kelly—and
it was adjusted so that his eyes were at the
exact level required by FAI rules. Four
people timed flights with stopwatches
along with the Trans Trace electronic
timing system that Goran Olsson designed.
Model processing was Monday, July 5,
at Cardinal Hills Country Club. The
aircraft were weighed, and then the
engines were marked to identify which
ones would be used in competition.
Control handles and safety straps were
checked to verify compliance with the
rules, and the models’ wings and stabilizer
areas were measured.
All of this data was entered into a
computer program that Bill Lee designed
and wrote. The software used the
measurements to compute areas and
indicate whether or not the models
conformed to the rules. All airplanes
processed that day were in compliance.
After the models were processed, the
software randomly mixed the contestant
list and created the flight order for the first
day of competition. Then it shuffled the
list by thirds to create the contestant orders
for the second and third days. It ensured
that no one flew at the same time each day.
A printout showed the order and flying
time for each pilot for each round of
competition. In F2A, fliers are assigned a
time to fly and are allowed six minutes to
complete the task.
F2A
The event was scheduled to start at 9
a.m. Tuesday. On the first day of flying,
equipment was checked to ensure that each
worker had the tools required for the job.
It was learned that there were no
instruments to measure line diameter.
AMA was to provide measuring devices,
and they were located at the tech impound
area.
The site technical inspector, Carl
Dodge, was contacted, and he said that the
equipment supplied was inadequate. US
team member Will Naemura saved the
day; he loaned a set of digital micrometers
that measured to 50 millionths.
The first modeler to fly was Peter
Halman of Great Britain. As we began
measuring his lines, Jo Halman—Great
Britain’s team manager—pointed out that
the line-length and pull-test method did
not conform to FAI standards. The linelength
measuring system was modified,
measured with a steel tape, and marked to
everyone’s satisfaction.
The pull test was to use a load cell that
NASS supplied. The problem with the
load cell was the method of anchoring it to
supply a strong point to pull against. This
Two-time World Champion Luis Parramon’s winning model. He represented Spain.
Speed champions past and present (L-R): Arnold Nelson, Carl Dodge, Bill Wisniewski
(all of the US), Peter Halman, Luis Parramon, and Jean Magne.
New Zealand’s Bill Bell puts up a flight.
Yes, he flies in his bare feet!
November 2004 21
was changed by adding a two-line flying
handle to the cell and using that to pull the
model, which was also accepted. Each
model was pulled three times, and the
safety strap was also pulled three times.
Peter Halman was ready to draw from
the 5-gallon container of PowerMaster fuel
for his first flight, when another difference
between US and European modelers
became apparent; many of the Europeans
use small 2- to 3-ounce bottles to fuel their
models.
The 5-gallon tank had a large spigot, so
a funnel was needed, but none could be
found. To correct this, the outside of a fuel
syringe was used as a makeshift funnel. At
this point we were 25 minutes behind
schedule and ready to fly.
Peter Halman set the pace with a good,
clean 292.3 kph run. World Champion
Luis Parramon of Spain was next, and his
flight raised the mark to 295.6 kph. No
other fliers came close to those speeds the
first day. Ten competitors took reflights
after they could not get their equipment to
run in the Muncie air on their first
Luis Parramon is caught at speed during
his event-winning flight. The air density
Dave Mark (L) pull-tests Jean Magne’s (R) model. Tom Brown steadies load cell. made tuning difficult.
This is the dedicated and hardworking F2A event crew. Their names and the jobs they performed are in the text.
Continued on page 28
by Curt Contrata
Les McDonald (L) was the 1976, 1980, and
1982 world champ, and Bill Werwage was
the 1970, 1972, and 2004 world champ.
F2B: There were 61 modelers from 23
countries competing for the F2B world title.
This was only the second time the CLWC has
been held in the US. The US hosted its first
WC in 1984, after an uninterrupted streak of
seven consecutive F2B wins spanning 14
years. China won that year and—with the
exception of 1986 and 1992—has won ever
since. Going into this year’s competition, the
US and China were tied at eight wins apiece,
and only three other countries had also won:
Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Russia, each
twice.
The contest format involves two rounds of
qualifying during four days; each round takes
two days to complete. At the end of the
qualifications, each flier’s best score is used
to determine the 15 fliers who advance to the
finals.
The first day of qualifying started with
cool air and a gentle breeze—but only for the
first couple of fliers. The wind slowly
increased throughout the day and continued
to blow for the next two days of
qualifications.
The winds subsided for the second half of
the second round, on the fourth day. With the
better conditions, those who were lucky
enough to fly that day had a much better
chance of advancing to the finals. As it turned
out, 10 of the 15 finalists had flights on Day
Four.
In spite of the winds, US team members
Ted Fancher, Paul Walker, Bill Werwage,
and Rob Gruber had great qualifying flights.
Ted flew first in the first round and had
terrific air, but the early flight draw hurt his
first-round scoring chances. He flew his
beautiful, original Final Edition design
powered by a RoJett .61.
The rest of the US team had terrible
conditions, and each flew as though the wind
was not a factor. Their flying and their
models’ performances were extremely
impressive. Paul flew a Saito 72-powered
Miss America Mustang of his own design,
Bill Werwage had his piped PA .61-powered
P-47 Razorback, and Rob Gruber flew a
Randy Smith-designed Dreadnought with a
piped PA .61.
The diversity of models, engines, and
flying styles was the talk of the contest.
The winning US team (standing left to right): Paul Walker, Ted Fancher, Junior
champion Rob Gruber, and (kneeling) overall champion Bill Werwage.
F2B
There were a fair number of piped models,
long two-strokes, and four-strokes. There
were good and bad examples of each
approach, and it was a great opportunity to
see them all in action under the same
conditions. They all seemed to work fine in
perfect air, but some worked better than
others in the wind.
Equipment and flying ability were put to
the test when the winds blew, and the
Americans never hurt for power. This really
helped in the wind because the models that
were down on power were pushed around
quite a bit and struggled to get through the
pattern. It was impressive how well those
fliers dealt with their aircraft slowing down
and speeding up throughout the maneuvers. It
was common to see models wind up
Randy Smith congratulates Bill Werwage on his high-scoring final flight as Bill cleans
off his original-design, piped PA .61-powered P-47 Razorback.
extremely fast on consecutive rounds and
have each leg of the Square Eights flown at
different speeds.
In good air, the Discovery Retro .60-
powered models have a pleasant, smooth
sound that presented well. When watching
these models fly, they give the impression of
a slow, smooth pattern. The downside is that
they suffer in vertical performance by slowing
when climbing and speeding up rapidly
downhill.
The longer-stroke engines also have
difficulty penetrating the wind, especially in
the overheads. Even in a light breeze, models
drifted on vertical portions of square
maneuvers. These attributes were common
among all of this type of engine, including the
hand-built ones.
Of the models using this type of power,
the ones that Andrai Yatsenko of Ukraine
produced seemed to be the most competitive.
Several of his airplanes were flown in the
competition, and all were take-apart models
that assembled in just 10 minutes from a 10 x
17 x 32-inch box.
With the four-strokes, there were three
approaches. Paul Walker ran a Saito 72 that
muscled its way around with an impressive
growl. His model was fast, and his style was
aggressive as he powered his way through the
wind.
The French Rémi Beringer Saito 56
models flew fast in level flight and slowed
dramatically in parts of some maneuvers.
With the combination of model design and a
four-stroke’s running characteristics, their
models appeared to rotate on their propellers.
The French models had exceptionally long
tails and gave me the impression of sliding
through turns as they followed their noses. To
get an idea of how they looked, hold a pen in
its center. Imagine it to be the profile of a
Stunt model, and fly it through a loop. Now
hold it by the nose and pull it through a loop
as if it is rotating on the nose, letting the tail
drag behind. Do a few squares and let the tail
whip as it follows the nose.
Defending and five-time World Champion
Xinping Han of China
and teammate Anlin
Niu ran Saito 56
engines. There was
nothing remarkable
about their designs or
approach; everything
with their program
was conservative and
consistent.
In the finals, it was
a fight to the finish
between Bill
Werwage, Rémi
Beringer, and Xinping
Han. Rémi led after
the first round and
flew third in the final
round. Bill flew next
and posted the highest
score of the contest,
taking the lead.
Xinping flew 14th in the last round and put up
his best flight of the week.
It was a long wait as the scores were
added, followed by big smiles on the
American team members’ faces. In the end,
Rémi was third, Xinping was second, and Bill
finished in first place. Rob Gruber flew to a
well-deserved first place in Junior, and with
the support of Paul Walker and Ted Fancher,
the US team finished in first place, sweeping
all of the Gold Medals in this category.
Congratulations to all, including US Team
Manager Keith Trostle.
Rémi Beringer of France flew to a well-deserved third-place
finish with his attractive Gee Bee Sportster powered by a Saito
56 engine.
Retiring champ Xinping Han of China does some image practicing
before his last flight. He finished in second place.
A nervous US team watches Xinping’s final flight. L-R: first
alternate Bob Hunt, Bill Werwage, Paul Walker, Ted Fancher.
Roland Surugue actually cools the model with a bit of kerosene during a pit stop.
Tim Gillott services his team’s model during eliminations. He is
running a modified Nelson engine in a homemade airplane.
British team of Steven Smith and Colin Brown process one of
their models. Dave Rolley, John Ballard, and Tom Knoppi watch.
F2C: This event provided a unique
opportunity for many in the US to see some
of the best in Team Race compete. Although
there was a noticeable decrease in the
number of competitors at this WC and the
reigning World Champion did not attend,
there was still competition at a level unseen
in this country.
The people who helped run this event
should receive a big round of applause for
doing an excellent job. The timekeepers and
people in the line-check area were great.
Event Director Tom Fluker kept those present
on their toes and ran a smooth and orderly
WC event.
John Ballard probably walked five miles.
His responsibilities were impounding
airplanes and checking them for compliance
when fast times were turned in the heat races
and semifinals, and checking all three
airplanes at the conclusion of the final. It
takes a team to run these events, and this
group was outstanding.
Although the Jury members missed some
calls and made some I disagreed with, they
did an excellent job overall. Their consistency
was superb, and that is what you look for
from a Jury as a competitor. They are unable
to please everyone, but they did a hard job
and showed no favoritism.
The US contingent of Lenard Ascher,
Aaron Ascher, Stewart Willoughby, Bob
Oge, Tim Gillott, and Todd Ryan did not
F2C
have the strong performances that were
expected on their home turf.
Finishing 15th overall, Team Ascher was
only able to post one respectable time—
3:23.00—and two substandard times:
3:50.80 and 3:40.40. Team Ryan/Gillott
finished 22nd overall with a disqualification
(DQ), a did not finish (DNF), and a 3:38.00.
Team Willoughby/Oge finished 30th overall
and was unable to post a time, with a DNF
on Lap 1, a DQ, and a DNF at Lap 79. The
Americans were no threat in the team or
individual standings with some disappointing
performances.
After Round One of the competition,
the quick time went to the Russian team of
Yury Shabashov and Vladimir Ivanov with
3:15.90. Second quickest after the first
round were the two French teams of Pascal
Surugue/Georges Surugue and Fabrice
Picard/Claire Perret, posting strong
3:17.70s.
During Round Two, Teams Surugue and
Picard/Perret lost performance but still safely
made the semifinals. Team Shabashov/
Ivanov garnered a DNF at 49 laps. However,
other teams improved their performances
from Day One during this round. The
Swedish team of Bengt-Olof Samuelsson
and Kjell Axtilius posted a 3:17.00. Team
Steven Smith/Colin Brown of Great Britain
posted a 3:18.40, and the Russian team of
Victor Averine/Victor Martchenko posted a
3:18.00.
The third and last elimination round was
do or die for most of the teams to make the
semifinals. The three French teams took
advantage, with Surugue/Surugue posting
3:15.60, Thierry Ougen/Roland Surugue at
3:16.70, and Picard/Perret at 3:19.90.
The Ukrainian team of Valeriy
Kramarenko/Yuriy Chayka posted 3:17.10 to
secure a spot in the semifinals. Team
Smith/Brown of Great Britain upped its
second-round performance to 3:16.40, and
the Russian team of Andrey Yushchenko/
Victor Yugov took advantage of its last
chance with a strong 3:16.70.
by Dave McDonald
Ukrainian pair was second at 7:02.00, and
the Russians were third with 185 laps. The
team Gold Medal went to France, Russia
captured the Silver, and Great Britain earned
the Bronze.
From a performance standpoint, it is
apparent that the Americans are lagging
behind. Many of the outstanding teams
turned lap times in the 16.7- to 17.0-second
range in three-up traffic. That is extremely
good and maybe getting to the point where
speeds should be decreased because the
ability of most pilots is now behind that of
the equipment.
F2C is becoming a young person’s sport,
but there are few young people getting into
the fray. From a development standpoint,
F2C is coming full circle with retractable
landing gear emerging. Walt Perkins used
them many years ago. Other innovations are
the carbon wings, which are being fabricated
in molds to provide a known airfoil from
wing to wing.
The French team employed the carbon
wing and retracts during this contest.
Although they were not used on the same
model, when coupled they could prove to be
the next big step in performance.
Carbon fuselages are appearing again.
The old Vorobiev models were carbon, but
they lacked the good front ends for the
engines to be attached to. The newgeneration
airplanes do not have that
handicap.
Racing is racing. Whether it is F2C or
NASCAR, it is a team event. Just as a
NASCAR team needs a good pit crew, a
good pitman is as valuable as a good pilot in
F2C. With the normal pit stop lasting less
than three seconds, many races are lost in the
pits.
Pilots are bringing models in faster, and
a good, hot landing is free time that will not
be made up during the race if it’s lost. This
requires new innovations in wing
technology to allow the airplanes to be
caught at the higher speeds and not suffer
any failures that many of the older models
experienced.
As in other racing events, the teams with
the resources, the desire, and the ability rise
to the top in performance. The goal of a
sanctioning body is to keep technology in
check for safety and preservation of the
event. The FAI had discussed the increase in
line diameter for next time, but the talk now
is that it is being held off for at least another
cycle.
For the near future, the speeds and
performance will only increase. The limiting
factor will be how good the pilot and pitmen
are. If you want to get involved in worldclass
F2C, you must be willing to sacrifice
other events, time, and money, and be totally
committed to the event. If you are unwilling
or unable to make these sacrifices, everyone
at the World Championships level will see
your lack of performance.
For the Americans, there is always next
time!
The teams that moved on to the semifinals
were Surugue/Surugue, Ougen/Surugue,
Picard/Perret, Shabashov/Ivanov,
Averine/Marchenko, Yushchenko/Yugov,
Kramarenko/Chayka, Samuelsson/Axtilius,
and Smith/Brown. The teams whose hopes
were dashed were relegated to sitting on the
sidelines for another two years, until the
next WC.
The semifinal rounds were hotly
contested, with Surugue/Surugue posting a
world record of 3:09.06. This is
impressive, even if the race was only twoup
after one of the teams was disqualified.
No matter how many are in the circle, a
3:09.00 shows that this team has the
advantage of youth and takes the event
seriously and to a level that is not achieved
by most of the teams.
Other strong first-semifinal-round
performances were by Shabashov/Ivanov at
3:11.50 and Kramarenko/Chayka at 3:15.30.
These times would hold up, and these would
prove to be the teams that would do battle
for the World Championship!
The second semifinal round only had one
really good time—a 3:16.10—which
Ougen/Surugue posted. Other times ranged
from 3:23.00 to 3:28.00. These would not be
the times the teams were hoping for to move
on to the exciting final.
The last race, for the title, was between
the teams of Surugue/Surugue, Shabashov/
Ivanov, and Kramarenko/Chayka. It was
incredibly close until the latter stages; the
French and Russians were roughly equal in
airspeed, with only one lap between them.
However, the Russians were fouled out at
Lap 185, leaving the French with a
comfortable lead over the Ukrainians. At
this point the die was cast.
The French went on to capture the
individual title with a time of 6:42.70, the
Georges Surugue releases his model under Roland Surugue’s watchful eye in the final.
It was close with the Kramarenko model, which is taking off from its pit stop.
The French team of Pascal and Georges
Surugue with their winning model. It
features a composite wing that they made. Russian Vladimir Ivanov releases his model after a three-second pit stop.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Juniors Ben Johnson of the United Kingdom and Olga Soshnina
of Ukraine fly well during their matchup.
Mark Rudner (L) of the United States and Juan Carlos Frias of
Spain watch each other’s airplanes during a match.
Russians Boris Faizov (L), Igor Trifonov do battle. Center Marshal Vernon Hunt looks on.
F2D
F2D: The CLWC always has exciting events.
This year, FAI Combat had 57 competitors
from 18 countries. Team USA was composed
of Ron Colombo of Michigan, David Owen
of Tennessee, and Mark Rudner and Junior
Holden Hill of California. Mike Willcox of
Texas was also present to defend his World
Champion title.
It had been 20 years since the US hosted a
CLWC, and coincidentally it had been 20
years since we had a Combat World
Champion defending his title. Tom Fluker Jr.
was the first American Combat pilot to attain
the title.
The 2004 WC afforded all Combat pilots
ample opportunities to practice, given the
numerous official and unofficial practice
circles. In past years, a lack of practice
facilities has presented a problem that has put
some teams at a disadvantage. The Combat
pilots as a whole appreciated the facility that
AMA provided them.
Thanks to Pat Willcox for making the
Combat event thoroughly professional. He
made sure there were plenty of black and
orange vests to distinguish the teams while
out in the circle, streamers to last the entire
contest, fuel bottles with filters for the
competitors, extra practice fuel, quality field
preparation, judges, timers, and pit workers.
The result was a contest that ran smoothly
and without too many protests.
Judges were Andy and Bobby Mears,
Larry Driskill, Roy Glenn, Chris Gay, and
Roy Krupa. In the pits, Pat recruited Howard
Shenton and Doug and Jean Powell to hand
out fuel and do line measurements, venturi
checks, and pull-testing.
Sheila Cranfill did an amazing amount of
work to get all of the matches posted and
registered in the visible-to-the-contestant
computer. This allowed the competitors to
view the results of each match shortly after
they were entered.
The F2D FAI judges were Rob Olijve of
the Netherlands, Ingemar Larsson of Sweden,
Vernon Hunt of the United Kingdom, and
Mack Henry of the United States.
The first round of the competition did not
go so well for the US, with Mike, Mark, and
Holden taking losses from Xavier Riera of
France, Stanislav Chornyy of Ukraine, and
Dominykas Zubas of Lithuania. Ron and
David did get through the first day with wins
by beating Ivan MacKenzie of Canada and
Swedish Junior Mikael Sjölund.
Mike’s loss was particularly difficult to
take because there was evidence of a second
cut that the judges failed to see. This situation
is hard to fix since it is the equivalent of a ball
or a strike call in a baseball game. I commend
him on his composure during this difficult
situation.
The second day proved to be better for
Mike, Mark, and David, who posted wins.
Holden took his second loss when he went up
against Russian Junior Alexander Shalaev
and was out of the competition without ever
really being able to show the skill that got
him on the team. Ron took a loss against
former World Champion Mervyn Jones of the
United Kingdom.
On Day Three, Mike and Mark continued
winning, beating current European Champion
Audrius Rastenis of Lithuania and Juan
by Rich Lopez
Photos by the author
Carlos Frias of Spain respectively.
Meanwhile, Ron took his second loss flying
against Peteris Brokans of Latvia. David
suffered his first loss while flying eventual
third-place finisher Boris Faizov of Russia.
Round Four was also flown on the third
day, giving Mike and Mark opportunities to
register their third wins. David was not so
fortunate and fell at the hands of
Volodymyr Vesich of Ukraine; this loss put
him out of the competition.
Volodymyr had unique models that
utilized a molded Kevlar LE with a molded
carbon-fiber engine mount. I had seen this
design at the European Championships in
2003, but this was its first appearance at a
WC. The disadvantage is the lack of engine
adjustability for model-balancing purposes.
At this point in the contest it was
surprising that the Latvian team had not yet
suffered a loss. The Russian team was also
looking good; three of the four members
were still in the hunt, with only one loss
among them.
Round Five was good for Mike and
Mark, who posted their fourth wins against
pilots Leonardo Silva of Mexico and
Aleksandrs Prokofjevs of Latvia. Round
Six moved Mike and Mark closer to the top
as they posted their fifth wins against
Alexander Shalaev and Laura Leino of
Finland. At this point there were only seven
pilots left, and it looked promising for the
Americans.
However, it was not to be. Mike and
Mark took their second losses at the hands
of podium finishers from Russia. With
Mark, Mike, and Mervyn Jones out of the
picture, Peteris Brokans was the only non-
Russian in the final four. Igor Trifonov,
Alexander Shalaev, and Boris Faizov swept
the top spots, finishing first, second, and
third respectively. Alexander Shalaev will
be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
He was extremely close to being the first
Junior- and Open-class champion at the
same contest.
There is no new engine technology to
report. The Moscow-made AKMs appeared
to have a slight edge over the strong Foras
manufactured in Ukraine and the Russianmade
Zorros. All three run consistently fast
and are competitive in the hands of a good
pilot.
Jari Valo takes great care in balancing
and shaping propellers to get maximum
performance from his Zorros. A few teams
used Cyclons and Redkos. Volodymyr
Vesich used a Zalp engine. The entire
Russian team used AKMs; with their sweep
of the top spots, it is hard to argue which is
the best engine.
Singapore’s team consisted entirely of
Juniors. Although they did not fair so well,
they learned a great deal and will be back
better prepared to challenge those countries
that have been flying for many more years.
We missed the Dutch and the Germans this
go-round, but they will probably return in
2006.
Team USA can be proud of its
fourth-place finish. This WC will be
remembered as the year the Russians
conquered the world in Combat. I hope
that someday the US team will be able
to return the favor. MA
Igor Tukabayev and Igor Milenin prepare Ukrainian team member Volodymyr Vesich’s
Kevlar-leading-edge models. Notice the molded engine mounts.
Lithuanians Linas Peckys (L) and Audrius Rastenis discuss preparations for a match.
Competitive Finnish pilot Timo Forss has been training his two sons to fly Combat.
attempts. At the close of competition
Monday, 14 competitors had zeros for
their times.
The Russian team members—Sergey
Kostin, Dmitry Alyabev, and Konstantin
Fedotov—posted zeros, to many fliers’
surprise; it had been rumored that Dmitry
had turned 303.0 in Russia before the
meet.
The weather stations that modelers
used showed many shifts in altitude
density and humidity during the day,
making it difficult to tune the engine
setup.
The second day of flying, Wednesday,
started on time at 9 a.m., with all
equipment problems in the past. Jean
Magne of France posted a 291.0 kph using
a Halman Special engine. That speed held
as fastest of the day until Luis Parramon
flew at 11:28 with a 291.5 kph.
Many contestants were still having
setup problems, and 12 took reflights
when they could not get official flights on
their first attempts. US team member Will
Naemura turned a 288.4 kph on his
reflight, which put him in eighth place.
Nine fliers took zeros for the day, and five
still had not posted times for the meet.
Thursday was scheduled for practice,
and both circles were available. The
British team practiced for more than 10
hours, trying to figure out the correct
setup. They took readings from their
Oregon Scientific weather station all day
and made many equipment changes,
logging every move as the day progressed.
Continued from page 21
F2A Near the end of the practice session,
British team member Ken Morrissey said
that of all the world meets the British
team had attended, the Muncie site set the
record for unpredictable air. He said that
they would make an adjustment in their
models and then look at the weather
station to see that every reading had
changed.
The Russian team members were
having similar problems with their
equipment. They made many practice
flights and were still shaking their heads
at the end of the day. Sole Lithuanian
competitor Sigitas Snukiskis had posted
two zeros during the first two rounds. He
also spent many hours on the practice
circle and was not even able to get his
model to come on the pipe.
The final round of competition was
Friday, during which all three Junior
fliers posted their fastest times. British
team member Matthew Hart turned a
282.6 kph for second as a Junior and 15th
overall. Scott Matson of the US turned
269.0 kph for third as a Junior and 29th
overall. Luca Grossi of Italy was the 26th
contestant that day and had to refly, but
everything came together for him on his
second attempt; he turned a 285.9 kph,
for first as a Junior and 12th overall.
Sigitas Snukiskis took his flight, and
the model came on the pipe for a clean
but slow run at 223.1 kph. When his
model landed, everyone stood and
cheered for him.
Peter Halman’s final flight increased his
speed to 292.5 kph. Next, Luis Parramon
upped his time to the highest of the meet:
295.9 kph. The electronic timer that Bob
Fogg ran showed that Luis’s model gained
speed on each lap of the flight.
British team members Ken Morrissey
and Paul Eisner posted speeds of 289.0
kph. Those numbers put the British team
in first place, with the highest combined
total up to that point in the day.
The 27th person to fly that day was
French team member Jean Magne. His
flight tied with Luis Parramon’s, at 295.9
kph. Data for Jean’s flight showed that it
also built speed with each lap.
Luis Parramon’s faster flight in the
second round placed him in first and Jean
Magne in second; no others came close to
their speeds during the meet. At this
point, the British team sat in the third,
fourth, and fifth positions, with six fliers
to go and eight reflights waiting.
Jean Marc Aube of France took his
scheduled flight as 32nd contestant of the
day and turned a 290.2 kph, which put
him in fourth place.
The reflights started after a short
break. Jari Valo of Finland made it all
come together on his last chance for an
official attempt; he had taken two zeros in
previous rounds. His flight came in at
289.5 kph, for a jump into fifth place.
Todd Ryan of the US turned a 286.9
kph on his reflight, which moved him to
ninth place behind teammate Will
Naemura. Todd’s flight moved the
American team into third place.
Jean Marc Aube’s and Jari Valo’s
flights pushed British fliers Ken
Morrissey into sixth place and Paul Eisner
into seventh place.
The sum of each team member’s
highest speed determines the team
standings. Great Britain finished first with
a 870.5, France was second with 868.4,
and the US was third with 858.0.
The following volunteers made the
event happen: Bill Lee (software and
general event management), Barry Tippett
(event director and timing), Bill Hughes
(circle marshal), Bob Fogg (Trans Trace
timing system), Al Kelly (height judge),
Al Stegens (timing), Chris Montagino
(timing), Larry Tennen (timing and model
impound driver), Tom Brown (line
diameter and length), me (pull test), Bob
Taipale (tabulation), Arnie Nelson (data
input to log flight), Joe Brownlee (data
input to log flight), Dick Yatson (time
posting), Al Jones (fuel dispensing), and
Joey Mathison (fuel flush and holdingarea
marshal).
This contest was completed with no
formal protests. Many commented that it
had been years since that had happened.
All contestants placed official flights,
which was another first in years.