Futaba XFC - 2008/09
by Ben Lanterman
THE 7TH ANNUAL Extreme Flight Championships (XFC) was held at AMA’s National Flying Site at Muncie, Indiana, Friday, June 13–Sunday, June 15. Last year was windy and challenging for the contestants, but this year promised to be even more interesting.
A major weather front that had spawned tornadoes and severe weather across Iowa was due to come across this part of Indiana Friday. However, as I began writing this Thursday, the weatherman on the local TV station promised that the conditions would be great on Saturday and Sunday.
The XFC is an invitation-only competition and, as such, features some of the finest pilots flying some of the best airplanes and helicopters. Modern competition model pilots have sponsors, which enables them to practice and improve.
Not all invited pilots are able to attend the event, so there are provisional slots for which any pilots can try out. They must fly for the event promoters at the XFC site to be accepted into the competition.
This year, in addition to the airplane and helicopter competitions, Team and Night Fly events were on the XFC schedule. The Team models could be airplanes, helicopters, or a combination, and they were flown simultaneously to music. It was a great addition to the contest. It indicated a maturation of our sport and was a delight to watch.
The Night Fly event was for the brave souls with great eyesight. Scores were based on audience reaction.
Friday morning, Mother Nature played a game of "tease the pilots." Several flights were made in fairly good conditions, and then came the light rains and one total downpour. Every time it seemed like the rains might let up and a couple flights were made, a cloud dumped rain on the already soaked region.
It isn't easy to run for the tents in the pit areas with a Giant Scale Aerobatics airplane. The announcer inserted a bit of humor as the pilots scurried to the shelters with a cry of "Run Forrest, Run!" The rain let up Friday evening, and several more flights were made.
Saturday was perfect, with low temperatures and enough wind to keep the spectators cool but give the pilots a challenge. They spent the morning flying the Known maneuver sequence for airplanes and helicopters. The aircraft types alternated, which allowed the audience to get a great idea of how the different flying machines presented to the judges.
The pilots performed their Freestyle maneuvers in the afternoon in a wind that blew hard enough to challenge anyone. Several airplanes landed extremely hard after shedding some necessary flight surfaces in flight.
Some helicopter pilots pushed the lower-altitude envelope so hard that the inevitable gust of wind caused collisions with the runway. They came to compete, and they did!
Saturday was also the first presentation of the Team competition. We were treated to a helicopter-and-airplane team and several pairs of helicopters.
Two helicopters performing maneuvers that complemented and mirrored each other with a great deal of accuracy was amazing to watch. There aren't too many sports in which this kind of timing is required, and to do it with a model airplane or helicopter is a tribute to the state of the art and the pilots' skills. It would be interesting to see three or more models team up next year.
The Saturday Night Fly brought out a large variation of model types and lighting technology. Mark Fadely was good enough to provide me with some excellent imagery since I experienced technical difficulties. There were basic models with little lighting and helicopters with LEDs on the fuselage and rotors that looked great in the air. A Giant Scale airplane had lights on the wing and stabilizer tips that illuminated the entire model as if it were carrying its own sunlight.
The Night Fly winner put together a show of cutting ribbons, fireworks, and something that involved removing part of the aft of the airplane with a collision with ribbon supports (it was hard to tell in the dark), which was unplanned but interesting.
Following the Night Fly, we were treated to a great fireworks show that would have made the trip worthwhile on its own. It was a wonderful end to a good day.
Sunday morning was beautiful and clear, but the wind increased throughout the day. The top 10 qualifiers in each discipline started from scratch, and the flight order was determined by chance. There were five airplane flights alternating with five helicopter flights. The overall grouping performed Known maneuvers in the morning, followed by Unknown maneuvers.
The pilots pulled out all the stops. To make things more challenging, the wind varied enough to play a large part in the final results, but top pilots tend to overcome those kinds of obstacles.
An overall impression of the airplane flying included extremely low-level knife-edge flying, elegantly presented hovering, rolls that varied from one during a large horizontal circle to dozens in a small circle, a slow roll so low and straight that the organizers had to have prestrung a track to fly on, and maneuvers that started and stopped with total precision.
An overall impression of the helicopter flying included similar maneuvers, plus moments when the helicopter behaves unpredictably approximately 3 feet off the ground; it is impossible to describe in words. Come next year and watch for yourself.
If you are older than 18, you might be out of your prime helicopter competition years. The generations of pilots brought up with Game Boys and Xboxes are flying now.
It would be nice if helicopter designers came up with full-fuselage machines instead of the pod-and-boom types. They would look so much better, and they would still be competitive if everyone had to use them.
The awards ceremony was held Sunday afternoon at the field. It is sad to tell competitors that they didn't win the XFC, but they should keep in mind that they have a couple things the rest of us don't: a plaque to show that they competed in the contest and their fellow pilots' respect.
The top three in airplanes and helicopters are shown in a photo accompanying this article. I watched them fly during several days and photographed each of their flights. I agree with the judges' decisions (not that they are worried about that), with the caveat that on any day at any contest the pilots' order might change. They are that consistent and good, but they can't control the weather.
I have a couple suggestions for all pilots who might consider flying in this kind of event, in which music and flying are presented as a package to a judge. I saw some good and some bad performances at the XFC.
Pilots should take time in the winter months to watch an ice-skating competition. The skater's coach is like a pilot because they have the same problem: making their skater/airplane perform in front of judges.
Coaches face the same kinds of challenges pilots have. They need changes in the tempo of presentation, the correlation of presentation with music, and the blending of the music itself. Watch them and evaluate what you are doing.
I recommend that enthusiasts mark their calendars for the dates of the 2009 XFC event and stop by that weekend. The audience will surely be rewarded with some of the finest and most extreme flying entertainment our sport has seen.
More of the hundreds of photos I took during the XFC will be posted on my photo Web site. Sit down with a cold beverage and watch them in "Slideshow" mode; many of them are sequenced to be viewed in that manner.
There are also several videos on YouTube. One truly conveys how much of a party the night-flying event really was.
Ben Lanterman [email protected]
XFC 2008 Top 10
AIRPLANES
- Andrew Jesky
- Jason Noll
- Kelly Gerber
- Chris Maier
- Yuri Higuchi
- Tim Fulk
- Jason Danhakl
- Terry Hahn
- Nick Maxwell
- Manuel Santos
HELICOPTERS
- Dominik Haegele
- Bobby Watts
- Nick Maxwell
- Colin Bell
- Scott Gray
- Alan Szabo
- Jamie Robertson
- Daniel Jetschin
- JaeHong Lee
- Jason Krause
Sponsors:
- Futaba
- AMA
- Great Planes
- Desert Aircraft
- RunRyder
- Carden Aircraft
- SKS Video Productions
- JTEC Radiowave
- Miniature Aircraft
- RCGroups/Knife Edge Software
For a complete list of standings, supporting sponsors, and more information about the XFC, visit www.futaba-rc.com/xfc-rc/.
Sources: More photos by Ben Lanterman — http://public.fotki.com/benlanterman/
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
