EIGHT-DAY COMPETITION DRAWS TOP FREE FLIGHT PILOTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
FABULOUS FEBRUARY 2012 by Don DeLoach
Eleven individual Free Flight World Champions were among the approximately 200 international competitors at Lost Hills, California, February 11–19, 2012. Among those were a four-time champion and three three-time champions — undoubtedly some of the greatest Free Flight (FF) participants of all time.
The eight-day competition festival known as "Fabulous February" is actually six contests in one:
- Issacson (Ike) Winter Classic — a multifaceted tapestry of FF events including AMA and Nostalgia (1950s) events, entry-level events such as P-30 and E-36, and unique Ike-only events: compressed air and FAI-style Catapult Glider.
- Kiwi Cup of New Zealand — held concurrently with the Ike weekend; the first of three FAI World Cups for F1A, F1B, F1C, F1P, and F1Q.
- Pan American Cup of Canada — a World Cup for the same classes, held the following Tuesday.
- Two World Cups for F1E (Slope Soaring Gliders) — held on Thursday.
- Max Men International — the main event held Friday through Sunday; the largest FF gathering in North America and second in attendance only to the AMA Outdoor FF Nats.
FF Luminaries
Among those attending were many of FF's most revered figures:
- Thomas Køster (Denmark) — the only individual to have won all three major international events (F1B Rubber in 1965, F1C Power in 1977, and F1A Towline in 1979).
- Bill Gieskieng — legendary F1C designer who reunited with Køster in the Kiwi Cup; it was his first trip to a major international contest in three decades.
- Oleg Kulakovsky and Alex Andriukov — Ukrainian-born designers who have revolutionized F1B Wakefield Rubber; their models and parts have been used by many top competitors.
- Eugene Verbitsky (Ukraine) — a leading F1C (2.5cc glow power) designer and three-time individual World Champion (1987, 1993, 2011).
- Artem Babenko (Ukraine) — two-time World Champion and elite F1C designer/builder.
- Per Findahl (Sweden) — two-time F1A World Champion.
- Other former world champions in attendance: Mike McKeever (USA), Stepan Stefanchuk (Ukraine), Matt Gewain (USA), Victor Stamov (Ukraine), Mikhail Kochkarev (Russia), and Sergey Makarov (Russia).
- Issacson CD Norm Furutani — third World Cup winner from 1989, now retired from international F1B flying and enjoying AMA, Old-Timer, and Nostalgia events.
Maxes and Flyoffs
Major FAI Free Flight contests are scored on the total time accrued over seven (or five, or three) individual flights. Each flight has a maximum target time or "max"; excess duration above the max is not counted.
- F1A, F1B, F1C, F1E, F1P, and F1Q events typically consist of seven 1-hour rounds with a standard max of 3 minutes.
- Ties after regulation flying are resolved by sudden-death, head-to-head flyoffs. Flyoffs feature extended maxes (typically 5 to 10 minutes) and shortened launch windows (usually 10 minutes). Flyoffs are often the most dramatic moments in FF competition.
The Flying
The balmy mid-winter California weather is the main draw for the world's best Free Flighters to California's Central Valley in February. The first weekend (Issacson/Kiwi World Cup) offered short-sleeve temperatures and light winds.
Kiwi Cup — F1C Power
- Field: 21 starters; 14 made the seven-round maxout and entered flyoffs.
- Flyoffs: Five advanced to the 5-minute round; then fewer to the 7-minute round.
- Results: Ed Carroll (USA) won, Artem Babenko (Ukraine) placed second, Reinhard Truppe (Austria) placed third.
Kiwi Cup — F1A
- Field: 56 starters, including five Juniors.
- Progression: 27 maxed out over regulation rounds; 11 advanced from the 5-minute round into the decisive 7-minute flyoff.
- Flyoff: The final 10-minute dead-air flyoff the next morning included 19 competitors representing 11 countries (several former world champions among them).
- Results: Roland Koglot (Slovenia) won with an incredible 9:09; Sergey Makarov (Russia) placed second at 8:06; Victor Stamov (Ukraine) finished third at 7:58. Many regarded this as one of the greatest flyoffs in Max Men history.
Max Men — F1B and F1C (Saturday/Sunday) F1B (Wakefield Rubber)
- Field: 49 starters (including three Juniors) from 15 countries.
- Regulation: Only 14 scored the max-out; many competitors dropped multiple rounds.
- Flyoffs: A 5-minute flyoff saw 13 of 14 make the max; the decisive 7-minute flyoff was held Sunday morning and proved challenging (no maxes).
- Results: Alex Andriukov (USA), three-time World Champion, won with 6:25. Stepan Stefanchuk (Ukraine) was second; the remainder of the top five were Americans clustered between 5 and 5½ minutes.
F1C (Power) at MaxMen
- Field: 23 starters from 10 countries.
- Regulation: 16 maxed out; 15 of those advanced via the 5-minute flyoff, necessitating a Sunday morning final.
- Final: Few expected a 10-minute max from F1C models, but Artem Babenko (Ukraine) dethermalized at 10:00 to take the win.
- Results: Artem Babenko (Ukraine) first, Don Chesson (USA) second with 9:46, Ron McBurnett (USA) third with 8:40. Several top fliers managed only 4–6 minutes due to poor launches.
If you are even a casual fan of Free Flight and international air sports competition, make plans to attend Fabulous February. The anticipated dates for 2013 were February 9–17. Nowhere else in the western hemisphere will you experience so many aeromodeling cultures and languages on a common flightline.
Free Flight forever!
—Don DeLoach [email protected]
SOURCES
- NFFS — www.freeflight.org
- Boomer design — www.cbmodeldesigns.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
