F3A World Championship
by Jim Quinn
History was made at AMA's International Aeromodeling Center on August 1, 2011. A historic sixth win for one competitor and a first-time-ever first place for another made the F3A World Championship spectacular.
The historic sixth win came when Christophe Paysant-LeRoux of France was crowned F3A World Champion. Christophe won the event in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, and is the current F3A World Champion.
The first-time-ever win goes to Marco Mazzucchelli of Italy, who was crowned Junior World Champion. A Junior World Champion must be less than 19 years old and at least four countries must be represented at a World Championship for a Junior competitor to be so named.
AMA salutes and congratulates these two deserving RC pilots.
Pilot and aircraft processing at the event was thorough. Each airplane was weighed, measured, and checked for fail-safe operations before it was allowed to fly in the F3A World Championship. After an airplane passed all the tests, stickers were applied to each removable part of each airplane. Only stickered parts could be used during the competition, and only airplanes registered to that individual pilot could be flown; there was no swapping of parts or airplanes between pilots.
Along with pilot and airplane processing, there was much activity for the judges. Michael Ramel served as president of the jury and was responsible for preparing the 20 judges. Each judge needed to be knowledgeable about the sequences to be flown and consistent with the other judges in scoring maneuvers. The judges spent countless hours in classroom preparation, as well as judging demonstration flights. After each flight, judges discussed maneuvers and assigned scores. By the end of Monday’s flight training, the judges were well prepared for competition flights.
Greg Hahn, AMA's Technical Director, was the Master of Ceremonies for the opening ceremony. On Monday afternoon at 5 p.m., Greg announced each country by name as teams proudly carried their country's flag onto the parade grounds while their national anthems played. It was moving to see the 31 teams in a semicircle. Words of welcome were delivered by AMA Executive Vice President Mark Smith and the mayor of Muncie, Indiana, Sharon McShurley. Michael Ramel officially opened the 2011 F3A World Championship. The opening ceremonies ended with an all-American country barbecue.
On Tuesday morning, July 26, the first round of competition flying began. For the next four days, each pilot flew one round per day of the preliminary sequence (P-11). During these days, airplanes received a sound test before each flight. After each flight the pilot drew a marble from a bucket containing five marbles—four white and one black. If the black marble was drawn, a full technical inspection was conducted on that pilot's airplane; if a white marble was drawn, the pilot was free to leave the flightline and prepare for the next flight. All electric-powered airplanes were weighed after each flight.
There were highs and lows during the World Championship. The team from Norway celebrated a personal high when Alexander Heindel and his wife Jeanette marked their first wedding anniversary on Sunday, July 24. Their low came on Tuesday, the first day of flying, when Henning Jurkjend's motor did not sound right during the sound check. When Henning throttled up for his first flight, his speed control failed, shorting out the motor and battery pack. Henning's airplane was damaged beyond repair; it was his only processed airplane for the contest. He had traveled from the Arctic Circle to compete and was grounded because of an electrical problem.
As at all contests, some adjustments were made on the fly. When the early morning sun bothered Benoit Paysant-LeRoux, his father Jacques improvised a shade using duct tape, a tent pole, and the top from a Styrofoam ice chest to block the sun from Benoit's eyes.
Weather was a concern throughout the week. Although there were threats of major storms, none materialized during flying hours. On the other hand, the heat was intense. One of the jury members, Jim Eichenberg, recorded the asphalt temperature under the judges' feet at a high of 151°F. One judge developed blisters on his feet; another's footwear stuck to the pavement. The only thing hotter than the asphalt at AMA's IAC was the flying.
A World Championship is the only place you can meet and converse with previous World Champions. Wolfgang Matt of Liechtenstein, Gilichi Naruke of Japan, Chip Hyde of the U.S., and France's Christophe Paysant-LeRoux, the reigning World Champion, were all in attendance.
World Championship contests bring people together from around the world. Teams bring souvenirs of their country to share with new-found friends in the host country; for example, the team from Colombia brought friendship bracelets in the colors of their national flag to share. National pride was also evident: some members of the Canadian team stayed in AMA's campground and proudly displayed Canada's flag at their campsite—and on the bottom of their airplanes.
Saturday, July 30, was reserved as a rain date if needed. Because the weather cooperated, Saturday turned out to be a free day of practice for the semifinal pilots. The judges returned to the classroom to review the finals sequence (F-11). Michael Ramel led the discussion, and judges observed demonstration flights, discussed each maneuver, and analyzed scoring. After the morning of instruction, the judges toured the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and attended the Jet World Masters being conducted there.
After four preliminary rounds, the field was reduced to 30 pilots for the semifinals. These 30 pilots flew two flights on Sunday; the sequence changed to F-11 for the semifinals. The final classification would be based on the best F-11 sequence and the average of a pilot's three best P-11 sequences to determine the 10 finalists for the last day of flying on Monday, August 1.
On Sunday evening, the 10 finalist pilots met to select two Unknown sequences—sequences that had never been seen before. Pilots took turns selecting maneuvers under the rules of the F3A Sporting Code. Only stick airplane practice flights were permitted; pilots were not allowed to practice these Unknown sequences in any other manner, including on a simulator.
Monday morning, August 1, dawned perfect for flying. After two rounds of F-11 and two rounds of Unknowns, a new World Champion would be named. The best F-11 and the best Unknown flight for each pilot would determine the winner. After 40 flights, scores were normalized to a maximum of 1,000 points per round.
Andrew Jesky of Team USA was in third place going into the final rounds; out of a possible 2,000 points, Andrew was less than 49 points behind first place. Christophe Paysant-LeRoux (France) won round one of F-11 for 1,000 points. Tetsuo Onda (Japan) won round two, the first Unknown, for 1,000 points and also won round three, the second round of F-11, for another 1,000 points. Round four, the second Unknown, was won by Christophe Paysant-LeRoux for an additional 1,000 points. Both Christophe and Tetsuo scored the maximum 2,000 points, resulting in a tie for first place.
The jury referred to the FAI Sporting Code, Section 5.1.9, which states that in the case of a tie, the semifinal score will determine the classification. The semifinal results showed Tetsuo Onda with a score of 1,964.34 and Christophe Paysant-LeRoux with a score of 2,000, making Christophe the reigning World Champion for an unprecedented sixth time.
Greg Hahn emceed the closing ceremonies. Michael Ramel crowned Christophe Paysant-LeRoux as World Champion and Marco Mazzucchelli as Junior World Champion. Michael Ramel also named Team USA as the first-place team. Led by team manager Albert Glenn, Team USA's pilots were Andrew Jesky, Chip Hyde, and Brett Wickizer.
Event staff and organizers received high praise. Dave Guerin and his crew were recognized for their superior effort. Ron Morgan, competition director, and Al Williamson, RC manager, oversaw an event many international competitors described as "like coming to heaven." Many commented that "this is an incredible flying site."
Greg Hahn had one final duty as AMA's Technical Director: he emceed the Monday evening banquet at the Horizon Convention Center, where dinner, speeches, awards, and farewells took place. Many pilots will see each other before the next World Championship, but it will not be until 2013 in South Africa that such talent assembles again for another World Championship.
Every competitor, support crew member, staff member, and fan should be proud; all were part of an incredible piece of RC history.
Notable results
- World Champion: Christophe Paysant-LeRoux (France) — sixth title
- Junior World Champion: Marco Mazzucchelli (Italy)
- Team winners: Team USA (pilot roster: Andrew Jesky, Chip Hyde, Brett Wickizer; manager: Albert Glenn)
Sources
- F3A World Championship — www.modelaircraft.org/events/f3awc2011.aspx
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
