President’s Perspective
2004/10
Dave Brown, AMA president
This operation could well use the phrase "Bet you can't attend just one." The Secretary General has determined that the subject of this column can be addictive.
As I write this column, the 23rd Control Line World Championships (CLWC), held this year in Muncie, Indiana, has just concluded and the accompanying euphoria has begun to settle. If you have never attended a World Championships event, you are missing one of the great thrills in aeromodeling. This one certainly provided more than its share of excitement.
Before the first official FAI function, we held a ceremony to dedicate the new CL facility at the AMA International Flying Site to Willie McCool, pilot of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Willie's father and longtime AMA member Barry McCool and I unveiled the monument, and I presented him with a plaque to commemorate the occasion.
It was a touching ceremony, attended by many people from around the world. The atmosphere was at once solemn and festive. Barry shook hands with hundreds and knew many of the modelers in the crowd by reputation. I later found out that Barry had even been pressed into service earlier in the day to help as a judge in RC Combat, the last AMA Nats event before the Worlds started. It was fun to see him giving autographs as well as collecting them.
Opening ceremonies always send a chill up my spine, because you see representatives from all participating nations march into the ceremony, carrying their national flags. (I've noticed that aeromodelers don't march very well.) The camaraderie between the participants is obvious; every team is met with cheers from the crowd and the other teams. When a team arrives at its place on the field, it's great to see the hugs, high fives, and general glee shown by those who arrived before them. This is a display of sportsmanship unlike most you will ever see.
It's a party atmosphere, yet it has a formal structure that makes it elegant. A barbecue meal, a concert, and fireworks completed the evening, and all of the teams helped us celebrate Independence Day. After that party, I realize why the FAI mandates a practice day when the teams are allowed to fly on the official circles. The FAI seems to think the practice day is to give the competitors a chance to use the facilities in preparation for the contest, but I think it is a day to recover from the opening ceremonies.
Official practice day provides time to process all competitors' models, and the day is full. Typically FAI rules are restrictive, so measuring the specifications of each model is an extensive task when there are several hundred competitors, each with a number of models.
When the competition started on day three of the Worlds (July 6), it was a four-ring circus, with Speed, Aerobatics, Team Racing, and Combat going on simultaneously:
- Speed (F2A)
- Aerobatics (F2B)
- Team Racing (F2C)
- Combat (F2D)
Those who were supporting a particular country's competitors scurried between the various venues to watch their countrymen perform, while some spectators remained at the same venue all day, soaking up the competition. Each team had a team manager who ran between venues, ensuring that his or her team had what it needed. Barnum & Bailey has nothing on this show. One thing you notice is the number of people greeting each other with hugs and exuberance. Why is this? The Worlds are a semiannual "family reunion," with new members welcomed each time it is held.
A snack-food advertisement uses the line, "Bet you can't eat just one." This event could well use the phrase "Bet you can't attend just one." I met a person who claimed to have attended every CLWC in history, following this circus all around the world. Among the spectators, officials, and competitors were people who had flown in each of the previous CLWCs.
Four days of qualifying flights in three of the four events brought us to the final day and the air was electric. We set a world record in Team Race (F2C), and even the Americans were beginning to refer to the events by their FAI designations.
The F2A event normally doesn't have a final competition, so we added a best-of-the-best event. The Champion's Cup was dedicated to the previous three Speed World Champions, who were all in attendance. During this event, a world record was set that started the day off with a bang.
A great 200-lap final followed for F2C, and the event did not disappoint anyone. In the final F2D matches, the Russians made a clean sweep of all three places, but did so in a unique way: a Russian woman won third place and Russia's junior competitor took the silver.
F2B was the last event to be completed, and for most of us—including those from around the world—the win by Bill Werwaage was the crowning glory. Why was this so special? As a young competitor (28 and 30 years old), Bill won the World Championships in 1970 and 1972. Now, 34 years after his first time as World Champion, he was again crowned World Champion.
Awards, Banquet, and Afterglow
The awards banquet is always a memorable experience at a Worlds. We could only seat 550 in the banquet facility, so banquet tickets became a hot commodity. Fortunately, while the banquet was sold out early, some people chose to give up their tickets so that others might attend.
In one instance, someone turned in a pair of tickets and an announcement was made that there were two tickets available. A rush to the trailer occurred and the tickets were sold to the first person in line. The second person in line pleaded that he was trying to get a ticket for a former two-time World Champion! What was funny was that the person who had gotten the tickets turned around and it was Les McDonald, a three-time World Champion. Fortunately, the two-time World Champion eventually got a ticket.
At the last minute we were offered the use of the auditorium adjacent to the banquet hall for the actual awards ceremony. The additional capacity of that facility allowed all who wanted to see the awards presented to attend. Even if they were unable to go to the banquet, many people were welcomed to the party after the awards.
The party was something else; the facility had to make several trips to replenish the supply of wine and other refreshments. We had arranged buses to transport everyone to and from the awards banquet and ceremony so the safety of our guests was not in question. The last bus departed the facility well after midnight, loaded with happy people celebrating the winners, the event they had experienced, and the lifelong friends they had made.
Is it addictive? I don't know any other way to describe it. I've been to quite a few World Championships and I can assure you that I have not been to my last. It's an experience you will never forget, and it results in the establishment of a lifetime of memories and friends.
A future article on the World Championships will include the complete results.
'Til next month.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
