Author: Jim T. Graham
Edition: Model Aviation - 2015/03
Page Numbers: 83,84
,

Born to Fly - 2015/03

Jim T. Graham — [email protected]

Help support the USA F3P team!

In March 2015, the US will debut a team at the F3P World Championship, to be held in Warsaw, Poland. What is F3P?

  • F: Flying model
  • 3: Radio Control
  • P: Indoor Aerobatics

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) class F3P is an aerobatic event for radio-controlled airplanes flown indoors. Sending a team to a competition such as this is expensive. The team needs donations for this year and in following years. Learn how to help support the team at the end of this column.

The 2015 team consists of modelers you might already have heard of: RJ Gritter, Devin McGrath, Ryan Clark, and junior competitor Joseph Szczur. The team manager is Dave Lockhart.

Joseph Szczur

Joseph is from Chantilly, Virginia. He is 15 years old and has been flying RC for the last 10 years. He has been competing for five years. His mentors include his father Don, Andrew Jesky, Quique Somenzini, and Gernot Bruckman. He enjoys F3P because it’s challenging. He also likes International Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) flying, 3-D, FAI, RC Aerobatics (F3A), and RC cars.

Joseph Szczur’s competition placements

  • 2008 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — 10th place, Intermediate
  • 2009 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — Best Junior, F3A
  • 2010 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — Second place, Advanced
  • 2011 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — First place, Advanced
  • 2011, 2012 — Invited to and competed in the Electric Tournament of Champions (ETOC)
  • 2012 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — 10th place, F3A
  • 2012 Mocksville IMAC Classic — First place, Sportsman
  • 2014 Northeast Ohio Electric Festival (NEF) — Seventh place, F3P Team Trials (top Junior)

He also holds a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do.

RJ Gritter

RJ is 23 years old, from Greensboro, North Carolina, and is a regular at many large RC events. He attends North Carolina State University where he studies aerospace engineering. His mother is a certified flight instructor, airline transport pilot, and an aviation journalist and author. His father is an aerospace engineer and test pilot who has been involved with test programs for Questair Venture aircraft and the HondaJet. His parents have set several records for time to climb, speed, and altitude in the Venture. Competition is in RJ’s blood.

RJ has flown full-scale airplanes most of his life and got his first .40-size glow trainer when he was 12. He was first invited to compete at the ETOC in 2007. He started designing indoor competition models, and in 2009 RJ debuted his Freestyle design, the MX-2. It was released by Fancyfoam and became a very popular indoor Freestyle model—it is also the most popular thread on RCGroups in the Indoor/F3P section with more than 150,000 views. In 2013, RJ became the ETOC champion. He has participated in nearly every major F3P competition in the US since 2009, never placing lower than third.

RJ Gritter’s competition placements

  • 2011 Holiday Electric Festival — First place, Aeromusical
  • 2012 Holiday Electric Festival — First place, Aeromusical
  • 2012 Holiday Electric Festival — Third place, F3P
  • 2012 E-Fest — Second place, F3P
  • Seven invitations to the ETOC — 2010–2013, finalist
  • Six invitations to Extreme Flight Championships (XFC)
  • 2012 XFC — Fourth place
  • 2013 ETOC — First place
  • 2014 XFC — Fourth place
  • 2014 NEF — First place, F3P Team Trials

Ryan Clark

Ryan is 21 years old and is from Canton, Michigan. He has been flying RC for 10 years and started competing in 2008. He attends Eastern Michigan University and studies aviation flight technology. He plans to become a professional pilot after graduation.

His first contest was the 2009 ETOC and he has competed in numerous IMAC/Freestyle events and indoor competitions. He enjoys FAI F3P because it combines Pattern-style flying and indoor aircraft. His other hobbies include hockey, bowling, golf, and full-scale aviation.

Ryan Clark’s competition placements

  • 2009 ETOC — Seventh place
  • 2009 IMAC North Central Regional Finals — First place, Intermediate and Freestyle
  • 2009 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — First place, Intermediate
  • 2010 ETOC — Seventh place
  • 2010 IMAC North Central Regional Finals — First place, Advanced
  • 2010 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — First place, Advanced
  • 2010 XFC — Tenth place
  • 2011 ETOC — Fourth place
  • 2011 XFC — Eighth place
  • 2012 ETOC — Fifth place, E-X Games
  • 2014 NEF — Third place, F3P Team Trials

Devin McGrath

Devin, 26, is from Rochester, New York. He has been involved in aeromodeling for 15 years. He enjoys flying anything, including indoor competition models, scale warbirds, discus launch gliders, giant scale aerobatics, helicopters, and more. He has competed in RC since 2006 and enjoys F3P the most.

Devin is attracted to F3P because he can control all aspects of his performance—from airplane design and building to piloting.

Devin McGrath’s competition placements

  • 2012 E-Fest — First place, F3P
  • 2012 ETOC — Second place
  • 2012 XFC — Eighth place
  • 2013 Eastern Canadian Championships — First place
  • 2013 E-Fest — First place, Freestyle contest
  • 2013 E-Fest — First place, Aerobatic Air Race
  • 2013 E-Fest — First place, Gauntlet
  • 2013 ETOC — Fourth place
  • 2014 E-Fest — First place, Aerobatic Air Race
  • 2014 E-Fest — First place, Gauntlet
  • 2014 NEF — Second place, F3P Team Trials
  • 2014 XFC — Fifth place

Dave Lockhart

Dave is from Medford, New Jersey. He started flying RC when he was six. He has been competing in the FAI F3A class since 1999 and was one of the first pilots in the US to fly FAI F3P indoor Pattern. He has organized some of the largest F3P events in the US, including the 2014 US F3P Team Trials.

Dave also flies gliders, sport, aerobatics, 3-D, and fun-fly airplanes. He enjoys Pattern because it is driven by technology, innovation, and creativity.

Dave Lockhart’s competition placements and accomplishments

  • 1985 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — Top Junior, Sportsman
  • 1988 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — Top Senior, Advanced
  • 1998 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — First place, Masters
  • Eight-time US RC Aerobatics Nationals F3A finalist
  • 2008–2010 Keystone Indoor Electric Fly — First place, F3P
  • 2009 South African Nationals — First place, F3A
  • 2011 US RC Aerobatics Nationals — First place, F3A
  • 2012 Eastern Canada Championships — Second place
  • 2013 ETOC — Fifth place
  • 2013 Eastern Canada Championships — Second place, F3P
  • 2014 Ohio Electric Festival — Fifth place
  • 25-time Pattern Champion, Northeastern US Region

The Aircraft

There are strict rules about what can be flown in an F3P competition. Airplanes are allowed to be up to 2 meters (78.74 inches) in wingspan and length, and weight cannot exceed 300 grams (10.58 ounces). Electric motors cannot be more than 42 volts. Construction materials typically used are foam, carbon fiber, and Mylar. As of 2014, the average F3P model is about 39 inches long, with a 34-inch wingspan, and weighs approximately 70–125 grams (2.5–4.4 ounces).

Two-cell LiPo batteries (with the occasional one-cell battery) are used by most competitors, with the top models using counter-rotating coaxial motor systems. Some aircraft at the 2015 World Championships are expected to weigh slightly less than 40 grams, powered by a one-cell LiPo. Aircraft powered by a two-cell LiPo will weigh roughly 60 grams.

Help the USA F3P Team

By donating to the US F3P team, you are helping get the pilots and their gear to the competition in Poland. The Flying Giants online forum has helped promote the cause by matching donations. Use the GoFundMe link in the Sources listing to submit contributions.

There will likely be another F3P Team USA in future years, so any unused funding will go toward that team.

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.