President's Perspective
Dave Brown, AMA president
The French did a fabulous job of running this event ...
THERE IS a lot going on, and a lot to report this month.
I went to the Control Line (CL) World Championships in Landes, France to evaluate what we would need to do if we host this event in the United States in 2004.
It was quite an eye-opener. It is a tremendous effort in logistics alone, to say nothing of the competitive events themselves. Just feeding a crowd that size is a monumental task.
There are between 1,000 and 1,200 people involved, including the officials, competitors, and supporters. The number of competitors alone is approximately 400, and that doesn't include the team managers or the pit-crew people for the Combat event.
I was told that the French organizational list had 75 people supporting the event, but I came to the conclusion that we would need closer to 100 people to do the job—not including the specific event judges.
The French did a fabulous job of running this event, despite horrible weather. It rained constantly for nearly the whole week, not letting up until the last day.
I really pitied the large number of people who were staying in tents in the camping area. It became a real quagmire. Getting through the "parking lot" that led to and from the site was bad enough, but the camping area was simply a sea of mud. In a few areas, they attempted to provide "bridges" of wooden pallets, but even those were swallowed up.
In spite of the weather, the event generally ran as scheduled. The people really deserving sympathy were the CL Aerobatics judges, who endured the rain for the entire event without a chance to get a break. It was hard enough for the contestants in Stunt, where they had to fly despite the weather to get the event in, but each day those judges were out there all day.
The hit of the event was Paul Walker's B-17 in CL Precision Aerobatics. To witness that model pull into the first maneuver (a Reverse Wingover) with its four purring engines is an absolutely awesome sight.
The crowd's reaction to this model was phenomenal, and its performance was competitive in this event. With a few breaks, I think it could have won the event on its flying merit.
I heard someone comment that it wasn't the first time the French had cheered on a B-17 in the air over their country.
About an hour before one of Paul's flights, I heard a warning device blare in town. It was exactly the sound of an air-raid siren, and I wish I could have arranged for it to be sounded about the time he took off!
I witnessed two incredible world records in Team Race.
I was sitting in the grandstand for the event, and I saw the most amazing pit stop I have ever witnessed. About half the people in the grandstand groaned because they thought it was a missed catch, but those groans turned to cheers when they realized the model came out running.
I know this sounds impossible, but I'm really not sure the model ever came to a complete stop. Catch it, fuel it, start it, and launch it—all in one motion. It was absolutely amazing. That's how you do 100 laps, including two pit stops, in three minutes and 12 seconds with a model that has a 7 cc fuel tank!
The United States teams represented as well, and they can hold their heads high. I was proud of them. "Go hogs" became my battle cry for our Combat pit crew, who slogged in the mud to do a great job.
Thanks for a great time, guys.
Will we host the 2004 event? Good question. It will take a coordinated effort among all of the Special Interest Groups if we are to pull it off. There are two sites under consideration:
- Oshkosh, WI
- Muncie, IN
Each has its pluses and minuses, so the decision will hinge principally on where the organizational help is.
Back from France, I headed for California and the Radio Control Electric World Championships. It was another great event. If you think these electric models just float around the sky, you have another thing coming!
The performance of these models is incredible, with speeds approaching 200 mph—and this is the Soaring event (FSB)! Actually, that is the reported terminal velocity when they zoom through the imaginary limbo pole to start the duration portion of the flight.
This multi-stack Soaring event is really interesting. I wish more people would have a chance to see it and give it a try.
Electric Pylon Racing (F5D) is another surprise, in that the performance is astounding. The fast time was 1:11, and that is incredible for a standard Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) pylon course, which is virtually the same as our "long" course.
These models (both classes) will make believers out of those who doubt that the propeller makes a substantial part of the noise. I am quite sure these models are louder than the typical F3A RC Pattern model! (That's not to say they are really loud, but they are not silent.)
'Til next month.
Dave
Dave Brown AMA president [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
