F3C World Championships 2005
By S. Michael Goza
The 2005 F3C World Championships (WC) was held in Zamora, Spain, August 4–14. Zamora is approximately 100 miles northwest of Madrid. It is a dry, hilly part of the country situated near the border of Portugal. Although Zamora is arid, it is extremely picturesque, with century-old buildings lining the river.
I was the US team manager for the 2005 WC. Since I was very busy during the trip, this article concentrates more on our team experiences than on the event itself.
Team USA
- Curtis Youngblood (pilot)
- Wayne Mann (pilot)
- Len Sabato (pilot)
- Dave Youngblood (mechanic)
- Dwight Shilling (mechanic)
- Don Wade (mechanic)
- S. Michael Goza (team manager)
- Denise Mann (supporter)
- Sandy Sabato (supporter)
Everyone except Curtis and Dave began the trip to Zamora on July 31. Curtis and Dave followed later because Curtis had been at the 3D Masters helicopter competition the week before and needed a short break.
The main group arrived in Madrid on August 1, where we met Juan Carlos of Speed Hobbies. He was very helpful before our team arrived and extraordinarily helpful after we arrived!
Our first problem was getting our models out of customs. FedEx had generously shipped our aircraft—a total of 300 pounds of equipment—safely to Madrid, but Spanish customs wanted to keep them a bit longer.
Have you ever wondered what it takes to travel overseas to a contest of this magnitude? For us it took four helicopters, extra engines, spare parts, tools, radios, blades, and other items for each pilot. When you break something in the field, you have to be able to fix it and you can’t count on the local hobby shop. There might not be one for 100 miles!
After much begging and some phone calls with Juan Carlos’s help, we collected our boxes, loaded up the vans, and headed down the road with Juan Carlos in the lead. The team was greeted by a 3-kilometer dirt road that ended at the Posada Dehesa Congosta hotel (www.dehesacongosta.com) and a crew of friendly people. Juan, the owner, met us and was a joy throughout the entire trip. He bent over backward to help the team with all our needs. The Posada is beautiful and is located next to the Duero River, set on roughly 2,000 acres of land.
After getting settled in, the first order of business was to check out the WC venue and pick a practice site on the Posada property. The crew was not too thrilled with the practice-field locations; the area was dirt and rock, and the practice field quickly gained the nickname “Flintstone Field.” When we saw the WC field, however, we were pleased. It was situated on top of a large hill with a nice paved runway. The runway was to be one of the flightlines. The other flightline was a dirt area approximately 100 yards away; this field was immediately nicknamed “Mars.” A carpet was placed over the area, but it was incredibly dusty. Luckily the pilots had to fly off that surface for only two of the days.
We spent the next few days practicing and getting the Flintstone Field shipshape. With the help of Juan and Carlos, the Spanish team manager, we found a practice location that matched the main field’s wind and sun conditions. During that time Curtis and Dave arrived to learn that the fuel they had shipped two-and-a-half weeks earlier had not arrived.
Since I had been aware of the problem ahead of time, I was able to scrounge up some fuel before they arrived. Curtis’s fuel showed up roughly halfway through the competition. Next time we'll need to ship fuel three weeks in advance and check on it often!
Official practice was held the day before the contest started, as were the opening ceremonies. It was impressive to see 76 pilots from 28 countries lined up on the tarmac. I was exceptionally proud to carry the flag for the US team during its processional onto the field.
Competition format and schedules
The contest consisted of all competitors flying Schedule A for the first four days. Schedule A was considered the preliminary rounds and determined the team standings. Schedule B was harder and was flown by the top 20% of the pilots during the finals.
Schedule A rounds were split between two flightlines due to the number of competitors. Flightline A scored Round One and Flightline B scored Round Two. The next day the pilots switched flightlines, completing the two rounds. Because of the field orientation and the sun’s position, start times were staggered: one flightline ran from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the other ran from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. This system caused discrepancies in weather between flightlines and rounds, but it is unavoidable for a group this size. I commend the Zamora organizers for running a tight ship on the flightlines—rounds started and finished on time, which was impressive considering there were almost 80 pilots.
The average of each pilot’s top three Schedule A rounds carried over to the finals as a flight score. That, along with the four Schedule B scores (one of which would be dropped), determined the new World Champion.
Maneuvers
Schedule A
- Vertical Rectangle 1
- Nose In / Tail In Horizontal 8
- Vertical Triangle with 180 and 360 Pirouettes
- Two Consecutive Axial Rolls
- Two Consecutive Inside Loops
- Inside Loop with Half Rolls
- Rolling Stall Turn with 540 Stall Turn
- Push Over with 360 Pirouette
- Autorotation with 180 Turn
Schedule B
- Vertical Rectangle 3
- Circle with Two 360 Pirouettes
- Triangle with Two 360 Pirouettes
- Roll Reversal
- One Loop with Straight Roll
- Cuban Eight
- Double Rolling Stall Turn
- Cobra Roll with Half Rolls and Outside Flip
- Pullup with 360 Inverted Pirouette
- Autorotation with Two 90 Turns
Competition summary
The US team had strong performances during the calm conditions of Rounds One and Two. The Japanese team also flew strongly. Young Hiroki Itou (16) was particularly impressive—this was his first WC and his hovering was very smooth.
After two rounds Japan was in first place and the US was in second. Individually, after the preliminary rounds Hiroki Itou was first, Curtis Youngblood was second, and reigning World Champion Manabu Hashimoto (Japan) was third.
Day Three brought high winds and everyone struggled. It was the day we discovered Hiroki Itou’s Achilles heel: wind. His performance was not as impressive in those conditions. Day Four started with rain and wind; that day of competition was canceled due to weather. Luckily a rain day was built into the schedule, and the contest continued the next day in calm conditions that held for the remainder of the event.
At the end of the preliminary rounds Japan captured first place in the team standings, the USA was second, and Italy was third. The US pilots had flown well, and I was proud of them.
We then moved into the finals. The finals consisted of three Schedule B rounds: Round 1 and Round 2 on one day and Round 3 on the following day. All of the US pilots were in the finals, and the pressure was palpable.
The first round of Schedule B went well, but the second round was not great for Wayne Mann. While he was in the ready box, a section of the carpet the organizers had laid came up and got into his helicopter’s tail rotor. This disrupted his concentration. Wayne switched to his backup machine and put in some good hovering, but when he transitioned to his backup’s upstairs maneuver the engine leaned out and he had to abort the flight.
We considered filing a protest about the carpet damaging Wayne’s model. The organizers fixed the field immediately after his flight, and we ultimately invalidated the protest because we had chosen to fly a backup model—by switching to the backup, we were effectively claiming it was equivalent to the primary. In hindsight, we should have stopped and filed the protest immediately. It was a disappointing lesson, but a valuable one.
After all the rounds were finished there was a new World Champion: Hiroki Itou of Japan. He flew superbly throughout the contest and showed great calm under pressure.
The US team members performed well in the finals. Curtis Youngblood finished in fifth place, Wayne Mann was seventh, and Len Sabato earned the 11th spot. I was extremely proud of all the team members and the effort they put into this contest.
To give you an idea of their dedication, each team member flew several hours each day and burned approximately three cases of fuel during the event. Most people don't burn that much in a year—and that doesn't include all the practice and fuel used before travel. The amount of dedication is phenomenal.
I thank everyone who selected me to be team manager. It was an experience I will not forget, and it was an honor to represent the US at an international event. Being part of a team at the World Championships has been a dream of mine for quite some time.
I also thank all the individual and corporate sponsors that made this possible. Fielding a team at an international event is an expensive endeavor.
Corporate sponsors included:
- FedEx
- Powermaster Fuels
- Morgan Fuels
- Rick's RC Helicopters
- Horizon Hobby (JR)
- FX Aeromodels
- Duralite Batteries
- RC Helis Plus
- Model Helicopter Technique
- Miniature Aircraft
- Hobbico (Futaba / Great Planes)
- YS Performance
- Century Hobby Products
- Model Avionics
- Boca Bearings
- SR Batteries
- Du-Bro Products
- Xero G Helinnovations
While in Spain I wrote a daily diary for the team web page. If you would like to read it, go to www.usaf3c.com and follow the link. You can also get the final scores at wc2005-f3c.helcom.es.
Onward to Poland in 2007! Go Team USA!
Mike Goza [email protected]
2005 F3C World Championships Results
Team
- Japan
- USA
- Italy
- Austria
- France
Individual
- Hiroki Itou (Japan)
- Scott Gray (Canada)
- Minoru Kobayashi (Japan)
- Manabu Hashimoto (Japan)
- Curtis Youngblood (USA)
- Shinya Kunii (Japan)
- Wayne Mann (USA)
- Rüdiger Feil (Germany)
- Bernhard Egger (Austria)
- Ennio Graber (Switzerland)
- Len Sabato (USA)
- Oliver Wessel (Germany)
- Patrick Kessler (Switzerland)
- Pascal Brianchon (France)
- Fabio Livi (Italy)
- Massimo Livi (Italy)
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
