112 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Aerobatics Eric Henderson
The US’s new ambassador for RC Aerobatics
Quique Somenzini proudly hoists aloft
the FAI F3A World Champion trophy
that he won in Argentina.
Every F3A pilot needs a caller/helper, and
20-year-old Ryan Smith traveled to the
World Championships to help Quique.
The 2007 US F3A World Championships team consisted of (L-R) veteran Jason
Shulman and new members Quique Somenzini and Andrew Jesky.
THE CHINESE say that “A journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step.”
In the case of the new FAI F3A World
Champion—Quique Somenzini—you could
say that it began with his first takeoff in
1977! Quique (pronounced “Key-Kay”)
flew a long journey to win the individual
World Championship back for the US in
2007.
When asked about how he got into RC
and competing, Quique said he owed
everything to his father, Mario. He was not
only supportive, but he also taught Quique
how to handle both success and failure like
a gentleman. Mario passed away in 2004
while Quique was competing in the Tucson
Aerobatic Shootout in Arizona.
Quique has tremendous credentials; he is
a winner in many forms of aerobatic flying.
He is a four-time US pilot in FAI F3A
Aerobatics, and he has been in the top 10 in
eight World Championships, earning an
impressive three second places.
Last year Quique stood on the podium as
the individual World Champion. That
journey has covered much more than 1,000
miles. He earned that world title every step
of the way.
In other categories, Quique is a fourtime
Tournament of Champions competitor,
a three-time Don Lowe Masters competitor
and winner, a two-time Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout competitor, and a Freestyle
Champion and Extreme Flight
Championships Champion.
Married in Chile in 2001, and thinking
of his family’s future, Quique came to live
and work in the US. He had been here more
than 20 times with his hobby/competition
and was drawn—as were so many before
him—to the land of opportunity.
Quique has made his home in the US
and is raising his American-born children in
Ohio. He runs an RC model business with
Wayne Ulery and represents JR in testing its
products and as a Team JR member.
Once you are a US resident, you qualify
to pay US taxes, perform military service,
and, in many cases, are eligible to represent
the US in a host of sporting events, etc.
Almost the only thing you can’t do is vote
or become the American president. The
AMA recognizes US residency as a
qualification that makes pilots eligible to be
selected for the USA world team(s).
There were two ways Quique could have
made it to the 2007 F3A World
Championships. He could have taken the
relatively easy route of representing
Argentina. However, he felt strongly that
because his home was in the US, he should
take the more difficult and risky path of
attempting to qualify through the US Team
Trials.
(Christophe Paysant-Le Roux [CPLR]—
the multiple and 2005 World Champion—
chose to qualify for his country in a similar
way. I’ll have more about the effect of that
parallelism later.)
A dozen or so pilots in the US are more
than capable of making it onto the team. In
addition, there is the talent of already wellestablished
and repeat team members Chip
Hyde, Sean McMurtry, and Jason Shulman.
After the 2007 US Team Trials, we had
two new members on the team. Jason
Shulman was still there with his effervescent
talent, but there was the addition of Quique
Somenzini and the young but talented
Andrew Jesky.
To give you a feel for the level of
competition for the team positions, the next
three spots were filled with pilots who had
résumés that included multiple US
championship titles, a dozen appearances on
the US world team, and a couple World
Championships trophies. You had to be
better than the best to make the US team in
2007!
Following is the interview I did with
Quique after the World Championships.
EH: How did you prepare for the 2007
Worlds?
QS: First of all I chose the right airplane.
My model was the Euphoria Oxai biplane,
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:26 AM Page 112
1,690mm wingspan, 1,970mm length, 1,350 square inches,
weight 4.88 kilograms with a YS 170. Receiver battery is a 4.8
mAh NiMH, radio is a JR 12X. Servos: ailerons, 3421 SA x 4;
elevator, 9411SA; pull-pull rudder, 8611SA.
Preparations take a very long time. They began with me
setting up four planes that match as close as possible. The idea
to make them very, very identical. With four planes that are the
same, there is still a number 1, 2, 3, and 4. The favorite being
No. 1.
EH: How often did you practice?
QS: I practiced every day. In the morning I would fly three or
four flights, and then in the afternoon I would fly three or four
flights. Sometimes this would be to set up the planes, the radios,
and the engines.
With the airplanes working, my practice would be first flight,
a P-07, or an F-07 to simulate a real contest. I’d fly them my
best and land. Then a second flight where I would do the same.
On the third flight, I would isolate any problems and fix them.
EH: How do you practice the Unknown schedules?
QS: The FAI has a list of all the possible maneuvers that can be
chosen for a Finals Unknown schedule. I practice all the hard
and unusual maneuvers until I can do them. Ryan Smith—who is
only 20—was my caller when I practice here and in Argentina. I
use all of the previous Unknown schedules to give me a taste,
and sometimes I make up my own.
EH: Tell me about the Preliminary rounds.
QS: I had a very shaky start and did not fly until 11 a.m. There
was a strong wind blowing from behind, which made it very
hard to take off. The plane kept looking at the judges. Everyone
had hard conditions, so I suppose it was fair.
Let’s take a moment to review how an F3A World
Championships competition is structured and scored. It really is
two contests: a four-round team championship and a six-round
Finals contest.
Approximately 140 pilots fly the Preliminary schedule for
four rounds. The best three results per flier of the four rounds are
added to produce a complete position list for all the competitors.
From the Preliminary-round position list, the top scores of three
pilots per country are added to determine which national team
wins the trophy.
You are allowed to send three pilots per country to the World
Championships in addition to the current World Champion, who
is invited back on an exemption. This is great for the exempt
pilot, but the snag is that his or her
Preliminary points do not count toward
his or her country’s team. If you enter as a
team member, your points will count
toward the team trophy.
CPLR, the 2005 champion, qualified
by entering the Team Trials for his
country. It paid off for France because in
2007 the team results were:
1) France
2) US
3) Japan
EH: How did the team championship
competition work out?
QS: At the end of the Preliminaries,
Japan, France, and the USA were all in
the running for the title. After the
computer had taken away all the highs
and lows and normalized the scores, the
totals gave victory to France.
EH: How was morale on the US team
after that?
May 2008 113
Ex-World Champion Christophe Paysant-Le Roux with his son,
alongside new World Champ Quique Somenzini with his sons. Will
the sons fly against each other one day?
The 10 best F3A pilots in the world in 2007, and three of them are from the US.
QS: This year it was very good. We practice as a team. In
Argentina the spirit was very good. Jason flew the best that I have
seen him fly in any competition. Andrew flew strongly and
exceeded expectations in his first time with a USA team.
Everyone treated this USA team very well.
After the Preliminary rounds, the contest changes into a
Semifinals-and-Finals format. The top 20 finalists enter the
Semifinals and are whittled down to 10 Finalists who then
compete in a different format for the title of F3A individual World
Champion.
The Semifinals is a “three-score” round in which each pilot
begins the day with a carryover of his or her normalized score
from the Preliminaries. Then the contestants fly only two rounds,
but they have to use the F-07 “Finals” schedule. There are fewer
maneuvers in the Finals schedule, but they are significantly harder
to fly.
Then the best two scores are taken from a pilot’s Semifinals
carryover and/or his or her two flights that day. All US team
members made it through to the top 10 in 2007.
EH: Were you confident that you would make the Finals out of the
top 20 pilots from the Prelims?
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:32 AM Page 113
114 MODEL AVIATION
QS: When you fly against the best in the
world, you have no time to be confident. I
was just happy to make it into the Finals.
One round, we used too much time to get
my plane in the air because the wind kept
moving my plane on the runway. It took
too long to position the plane, so I ran out
of flying time and lost my landing points.
In another round, I had an engine with
dirt in it so I had to change planes while
the clock was running. This left me only
six minutes to complete the whole
schedule. I had to use my No. 2 backup
plane and you could say that was why I’m
in the Finals.
The following were the top 10 pilots
after the Semifinals.
1) CPLR
2) Tetsuo Onda
3) Quique Somenzini
4) Jason Shulman
5) Sebastiano Silvestri
6) Yoichiro Akiba
7) Stephane Carrier
8) Andrew Jesky
9) Koji Suzuki
10) Benoit Paysant-Le Roux
EH: What do you remember about the
Finals?
QS: This was the strongest competition I
was in. All top 10 pilots brought their “A”
game. I had a good draw and flew right
after Onda. Two biplanes flew back to
back. Then, in another round, three
followed each other. Jason flew very well
and CPLR was very good when his plane
was in the air. Onda has come up to the
top.
EH: When did you know you had won?
QS: You don’t believe that you have won
until you stand on the podium with the
trophy and you hear “The Star-Spangled
Banner” play and see your flag in the
middle. This was a great day.
After the dust had settled, the 2007 F3A
World Championships results were:
1) Quique Somenzini
2) CPLR
3) Tetsuo Onda
4) Jason Shulman
5) Sebastiano Silvestri
6) Koji Suzuki
7) Stephane Carrier
8) Andrew Jesky
9) Yoichiro Akiba
10) Benoit Paysant-Le Roux
It is special that the two French
brothers were in the Finals. Also
significant was that all members of the
French, US, and Japanese teams made it
to the Finals. This was a hard-fought
finale to a great competition in which
nobody was allowed to win two rounds to
get a perfect 2,000 to take the World
Champion title.
EH: What would you do differently?
QS: I now know that it is important to
practice other things—not just flying. I
should practice what happens on the
ground, in the wind, and how to change
planes when the clock is ticking.
EH: You flew with the new JR 12X at the
World Championships. We both fly Mode
1. Do you still need that radio?
QS: When I do not need it anymore, I
will call you!
I am familiar with Quique’s journey to
the US, having immigrated here in 1982.
I know what it feels like to leave my old
country, England, behind and start a new
family and a new life in a different
country.
What I will never know is what it feels
like to be originally Argentinean, fly in
an F3A World Championships in
Argentina representing the US, and win
on top of all that!
It takes a special person to do what
Quique has done. Not only has he brought
the title to the US, but he has done it with
style and class. We are so fortunate to
have a new ambassador for RC
Aerobatics flying our flag. MA
FLIGHT GLOW
■ Fully Automatic
■ No set-up, no servo reversal
■ Progressive heating
■ Full off at 1/4 throttle
■ Turn off with engine kill
■ Red LED when driver on
$39.95 plus shipping & handling
C-TRONICS,Inc. P.O. Box 192, Ramsey, NJ 07446 201 818-4289 www.c-tronicsinc.com
C-TRONICS ON BOARD GLOW DRIVERS
FLIGHT GLOW II
All of the features of
FLIGHT GLOW PLUS:
Tri-Color LED
Green–good driver battery
Orange–low driver battery
Red–driver on
Flashing Red–very low battery or
disconnected plug wire
Specify connector (Futaba, JR-Hitec-Airtronics) $49.95 plus shipping & handling
All units complete with plug connector and 1900 MA/HR battery
Work with single or twin engines* and twin cylinder*
(*requires additional battery and plug connector)
Dealer inquiries invited. Simple,Safe,Secure.
Visit our website
for full details
and to see our
other RC products!
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:33 AM Page 114
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/05
Page Numbers: 112,113,114
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/05
Page Numbers: 112,113,114
112 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Aerobatics Eric Henderson
The US’s new ambassador for RC Aerobatics
Quique Somenzini proudly hoists aloft
the FAI F3A World Champion trophy
that he won in Argentina.
Every F3A pilot needs a caller/helper, and
20-year-old Ryan Smith traveled to the
World Championships to help Quique.
The 2007 US F3A World Championships team consisted of (L-R) veteran Jason
Shulman and new members Quique Somenzini and Andrew Jesky.
THE CHINESE say that “A journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step.”
In the case of the new FAI F3A World
Champion—Quique Somenzini—you could
say that it began with his first takeoff in
1977! Quique (pronounced “Key-Kay”)
flew a long journey to win the individual
World Championship back for the US in
2007.
When asked about how he got into RC
and competing, Quique said he owed
everything to his father, Mario. He was not
only supportive, but he also taught Quique
how to handle both success and failure like
a gentleman. Mario passed away in 2004
while Quique was competing in the Tucson
Aerobatic Shootout in Arizona.
Quique has tremendous credentials; he is
a winner in many forms of aerobatic flying.
He is a four-time US pilot in FAI F3A
Aerobatics, and he has been in the top 10 in
eight World Championships, earning an
impressive three second places.
Last year Quique stood on the podium as
the individual World Champion. That
journey has covered much more than 1,000
miles. He earned that world title every step
of the way.
In other categories, Quique is a fourtime
Tournament of Champions competitor,
a three-time Don Lowe Masters competitor
and winner, a two-time Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout competitor, and a Freestyle
Champion and Extreme Flight
Championships Champion.
Married in Chile in 2001, and thinking
of his family’s future, Quique came to live
and work in the US. He had been here more
than 20 times with his hobby/competition
and was drawn—as were so many before
him—to the land of opportunity.
Quique has made his home in the US
and is raising his American-born children in
Ohio. He runs an RC model business with
Wayne Ulery and represents JR in testing its
products and as a Team JR member.
Once you are a US resident, you qualify
to pay US taxes, perform military service,
and, in many cases, are eligible to represent
the US in a host of sporting events, etc.
Almost the only thing you can’t do is vote
or become the American president. The
AMA recognizes US residency as a
qualification that makes pilots eligible to be
selected for the USA world team(s).
There were two ways Quique could have
made it to the 2007 F3A World
Championships. He could have taken the
relatively easy route of representing
Argentina. However, he felt strongly that
because his home was in the US, he should
take the more difficult and risky path of
attempting to qualify through the US Team
Trials.
(Christophe Paysant-Le Roux [CPLR]—
the multiple and 2005 World Champion—
chose to qualify for his country in a similar
way. I’ll have more about the effect of that
parallelism later.)
A dozen or so pilots in the US are more
than capable of making it onto the team. In
addition, there is the talent of already wellestablished
and repeat team members Chip
Hyde, Sean McMurtry, and Jason Shulman.
After the 2007 US Team Trials, we had
two new members on the team. Jason
Shulman was still there with his effervescent
talent, but there was the addition of Quique
Somenzini and the young but talented
Andrew Jesky.
To give you a feel for the level of
competition for the team positions, the next
three spots were filled with pilots who had
résumés that included multiple US
championship titles, a dozen appearances on
the US world team, and a couple World
Championships trophies. You had to be
better than the best to make the US team in
2007!
Following is the interview I did with
Quique after the World Championships.
EH: How did you prepare for the 2007
Worlds?
QS: First of all I chose the right airplane.
My model was the Euphoria Oxai biplane,
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:26 AM Page 112
1,690mm wingspan, 1,970mm length, 1,350 square inches,
weight 4.88 kilograms with a YS 170. Receiver battery is a 4.8
mAh NiMH, radio is a JR 12X. Servos: ailerons, 3421 SA x 4;
elevator, 9411SA; pull-pull rudder, 8611SA.
Preparations take a very long time. They began with me
setting up four planes that match as close as possible. The idea
to make them very, very identical. With four planes that are the
same, there is still a number 1, 2, 3, and 4. The favorite being
No. 1.
EH: How often did you practice?
QS: I practiced every day. In the morning I would fly three or
four flights, and then in the afternoon I would fly three or four
flights. Sometimes this would be to set up the planes, the radios,
and the engines.
With the airplanes working, my practice would be first flight,
a P-07, or an F-07 to simulate a real contest. I’d fly them my
best and land. Then a second flight where I would do the same.
On the third flight, I would isolate any problems and fix them.
EH: How do you practice the Unknown schedules?
QS: The FAI has a list of all the possible maneuvers that can be
chosen for a Finals Unknown schedule. I practice all the hard
and unusual maneuvers until I can do them. Ryan Smith—who is
only 20—was my caller when I practice here and in Argentina. I
use all of the previous Unknown schedules to give me a taste,
and sometimes I make up my own.
EH: Tell me about the Preliminary rounds.
QS: I had a very shaky start and did not fly until 11 a.m. There
was a strong wind blowing from behind, which made it very
hard to take off. The plane kept looking at the judges. Everyone
had hard conditions, so I suppose it was fair.
Let’s take a moment to review how an F3A World
Championships competition is structured and scored. It really is
two contests: a four-round team championship and a six-round
Finals contest.
Approximately 140 pilots fly the Preliminary schedule for
four rounds. The best three results per flier of the four rounds are
added to produce a complete position list for all the competitors.
From the Preliminary-round position list, the top scores of three
pilots per country are added to determine which national team
wins the trophy.
You are allowed to send three pilots per country to the World
Championships in addition to the current World Champion, who
is invited back on an exemption. This is great for the exempt
pilot, but the snag is that his or her
Preliminary points do not count toward
his or her country’s team. If you enter as a
team member, your points will count
toward the team trophy.
CPLR, the 2005 champion, qualified
by entering the Team Trials for his
country. It paid off for France because in
2007 the team results were:
1) France
2) US
3) Japan
EH: How did the team championship
competition work out?
QS: At the end of the Preliminaries,
Japan, France, and the USA were all in
the running for the title. After the
computer had taken away all the highs
and lows and normalized the scores, the
totals gave victory to France.
EH: How was morale on the US team
after that?
May 2008 113
Ex-World Champion Christophe Paysant-Le Roux with his son,
alongside new World Champ Quique Somenzini with his sons. Will
the sons fly against each other one day?
The 10 best F3A pilots in the world in 2007, and three of them are from the US.
QS: This year it was very good. We practice as a team. In
Argentina the spirit was very good. Jason flew the best that I have
seen him fly in any competition. Andrew flew strongly and
exceeded expectations in his first time with a USA team.
Everyone treated this USA team very well.
After the Preliminary rounds, the contest changes into a
Semifinals-and-Finals format. The top 20 finalists enter the
Semifinals and are whittled down to 10 Finalists who then
compete in a different format for the title of F3A individual World
Champion.
The Semifinals is a “three-score” round in which each pilot
begins the day with a carryover of his or her normalized score
from the Preliminaries. Then the contestants fly only two rounds,
but they have to use the F-07 “Finals” schedule. There are fewer
maneuvers in the Finals schedule, but they are significantly harder
to fly.
Then the best two scores are taken from a pilot’s Semifinals
carryover and/or his or her two flights that day. All US team
members made it through to the top 10 in 2007.
EH: Were you confident that you would make the Finals out of the
top 20 pilots from the Prelims?
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:32 AM Page 113
114 MODEL AVIATION
QS: When you fly against the best in the
world, you have no time to be confident. I
was just happy to make it into the Finals.
One round, we used too much time to get
my plane in the air because the wind kept
moving my plane on the runway. It took
too long to position the plane, so I ran out
of flying time and lost my landing points.
In another round, I had an engine with
dirt in it so I had to change planes while
the clock was running. This left me only
six minutes to complete the whole
schedule. I had to use my No. 2 backup
plane and you could say that was why I’m
in the Finals.
The following were the top 10 pilots
after the Semifinals.
1) CPLR
2) Tetsuo Onda
3) Quique Somenzini
4) Jason Shulman
5) Sebastiano Silvestri
6) Yoichiro Akiba
7) Stephane Carrier
8) Andrew Jesky
9) Koji Suzuki
10) Benoit Paysant-Le Roux
EH: What do you remember about the
Finals?
QS: This was the strongest competition I
was in. All top 10 pilots brought their “A”
game. I had a good draw and flew right
after Onda. Two biplanes flew back to
back. Then, in another round, three
followed each other. Jason flew very well
and CPLR was very good when his plane
was in the air. Onda has come up to the
top.
EH: When did you know you had won?
QS: You don’t believe that you have won
until you stand on the podium with the
trophy and you hear “The Star-Spangled
Banner” play and see your flag in the
middle. This was a great day.
After the dust had settled, the 2007 F3A
World Championships results were:
1) Quique Somenzini
2) CPLR
3) Tetsuo Onda
4) Jason Shulman
5) Sebastiano Silvestri
6) Koji Suzuki
7) Stephane Carrier
8) Andrew Jesky
9) Yoichiro Akiba
10) Benoit Paysant-Le Roux
It is special that the two French
brothers were in the Finals. Also
significant was that all members of the
French, US, and Japanese teams made it
to the Finals. This was a hard-fought
finale to a great competition in which
nobody was allowed to win two rounds to
get a perfect 2,000 to take the World
Champion title.
EH: What would you do differently?
QS: I now know that it is important to
practice other things—not just flying. I
should practice what happens on the
ground, in the wind, and how to change
planes when the clock is ticking.
EH: You flew with the new JR 12X at the
World Championships. We both fly Mode
1. Do you still need that radio?
QS: When I do not need it anymore, I
will call you!
I am familiar with Quique’s journey to
the US, having immigrated here in 1982.
I know what it feels like to leave my old
country, England, behind and start a new
family and a new life in a different
country.
What I will never know is what it feels
like to be originally Argentinean, fly in
an F3A World Championships in
Argentina representing the US, and win
on top of all that!
It takes a special person to do what
Quique has done. Not only has he brought
the title to the US, but he has done it with
style and class. We are so fortunate to
have a new ambassador for RC
Aerobatics flying our flag. MA
FLIGHT GLOW
■ Fully Automatic
■ No set-up, no servo reversal
■ Progressive heating
■ Full off at 1/4 throttle
■ Turn off with engine kill
■ Red LED when driver on
$39.95 plus shipping & handling
C-TRONICS,Inc. P.O. Box 192, Ramsey, NJ 07446 201 818-4289 www.c-tronicsinc.com
C-TRONICS ON BOARD GLOW DRIVERS
FLIGHT GLOW II
All of the features of
FLIGHT GLOW PLUS:
Tri-Color LED
Green–good driver battery
Orange–low driver battery
Red–driver on
Flashing Red–very low battery or
disconnected plug wire
Specify connector (Futaba, JR-Hitec-Airtronics) $49.95 plus shipping & handling
All units complete with plug connector and 1900 MA/HR battery
Work with single or twin engines* and twin cylinder*
(*requires additional battery and plug connector)
Dealer inquiries invited. Simple,Safe,Secure.
Visit our website
for full details
and to see our
other RC products!
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:33 AM Page 114
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/05
Page Numbers: 112,113,114
112 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Aerobatics Eric Henderson
The US’s new ambassador for RC Aerobatics
Quique Somenzini proudly hoists aloft
the FAI F3A World Champion trophy
that he won in Argentina.
Every F3A pilot needs a caller/helper, and
20-year-old Ryan Smith traveled to the
World Championships to help Quique.
The 2007 US F3A World Championships team consisted of (L-R) veteran Jason
Shulman and new members Quique Somenzini and Andrew Jesky.
THE CHINESE say that “A journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step.”
In the case of the new FAI F3A World
Champion—Quique Somenzini—you could
say that it began with his first takeoff in
1977! Quique (pronounced “Key-Kay”)
flew a long journey to win the individual
World Championship back for the US in
2007.
When asked about how he got into RC
and competing, Quique said he owed
everything to his father, Mario. He was not
only supportive, but he also taught Quique
how to handle both success and failure like
a gentleman. Mario passed away in 2004
while Quique was competing in the Tucson
Aerobatic Shootout in Arizona.
Quique has tremendous credentials; he is
a winner in many forms of aerobatic flying.
He is a four-time US pilot in FAI F3A
Aerobatics, and he has been in the top 10 in
eight World Championships, earning an
impressive three second places.
Last year Quique stood on the podium as
the individual World Champion. That
journey has covered much more than 1,000
miles. He earned that world title every step
of the way.
In other categories, Quique is a fourtime
Tournament of Champions competitor,
a three-time Don Lowe Masters competitor
and winner, a two-time Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout competitor, and a Freestyle
Champion and Extreme Flight
Championships Champion.
Married in Chile in 2001, and thinking
of his family’s future, Quique came to live
and work in the US. He had been here more
than 20 times with his hobby/competition
and was drawn—as were so many before
him—to the land of opportunity.
Quique has made his home in the US
and is raising his American-born children in
Ohio. He runs an RC model business with
Wayne Ulery and represents JR in testing its
products and as a Team JR member.
Once you are a US resident, you qualify
to pay US taxes, perform military service,
and, in many cases, are eligible to represent
the US in a host of sporting events, etc.
Almost the only thing you can’t do is vote
or become the American president. The
AMA recognizes US residency as a
qualification that makes pilots eligible to be
selected for the USA world team(s).
There were two ways Quique could have
made it to the 2007 F3A World
Championships. He could have taken the
relatively easy route of representing
Argentina. However, he felt strongly that
because his home was in the US, he should
take the more difficult and risky path of
attempting to qualify through the US Team
Trials.
(Christophe Paysant-Le Roux [CPLR]—
the multiple and 2005 World Champion—
chose to qualify for his country in a similar
way. I’ll have more about the effect of that
parallelism later.)
A dozen or so pilots in the US are more
than capable of making it onto the team. In
addition, there is the talent of already wellestablished
and repeat team members Chip
Hyde, Sean McMurtry, and Jason Shulman.
After the 2007 US Team Trials, we had
two new members on the team. Jason
Shulman was still there with his effervescent
talent, but there was the addition of Quique
Somenzini and the young but talented
Andrew Jesky.
To give you a feel for the level of
competition for the team positions, the next
three spots were filled with pilots who had
résumés that included multiple US
championship titles, a dozen appearances on
the US world team, and a couple World
Championships trophies. You had to be
better than the best to make the US team in
2007!
Following is the interview I did with
Quique after the World Championships.
EH: How did you prepare for the 2007
Worlds?
QS: First of all I chose the right airplane.
My model was the Euphoria Oxai biplane,
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:26 AM Page 112
1,690mm wingspan, 1,970mm length, 1,350 square inches,
weight 4.88 kilograms with a YS 170. Receiver battery is a 4.8
mAh NiMH, radio is a JR 12X. Servos: ailerons, 3421 SA x 4;
elevator, 9411SA; pull-pull rudder, 8611SA.
Preparations take a very long time. They began with me
setting up four planes that match as close as possible. The idea
to make them very, very identical. With four planes that are the
same, there is still a number 1, 2, 3, and 4. The favorite being
No. 1.
EH: How often did you practice?
QS: I practiced every day. In the morning I would fly three or
four flights, and then in the afternoon I would fly three or four
flights. Sometimes this would be to set up the planes, the radios,
and the engines.
With the airplanes working, my practice would be first flight,
a P-07, or an F-07 to simulate a real contest. I’d fly them my
best and land. Then a second flight where I would do the same.
On the third flight, I would isolate any problems and fix them.
EH: How do you practice the Unknown schedules?
QS: The FAI has a list of all the possible maneuvers that can be
chosen for a Finals Unknown schedule. I practice all the hard
and unusual maneuvers until I can do them. Ryan Smith—who is
only 20—was my caller when I practice here and in Argentina. I
use all of the previous Unknown schedules to give me a taste,
and sometimes I make up my own.
EH: Tell me about the Preliminary rounds.
QS: I had a very shaky start and did not fly until 11 a.m. There
was a strong wind blowing from behind, which made it very
hard to take off. The plane kept looking at the judges. Everyone
had hard conditions, so I suppose it was fair.
Let’s take a moment to review how an F3A World
Championships competition is structured and scored. It really is
two contests: a four-round team championship and a six-round
Finals contest.
Approximately 140 pilots fly the Preliminary schedule for
four rounds. The best three results per flier of the four rounds are
added to produce a complete position list for all the competitors.
From the Preliminary-round position list, the top scores of three
pilots per country are added to determine which national team
wins the trophy.
You are allowed to send three pilots per country to the World
Championships in addition to the current World Champion, who
is invited back on an exemption. This is great for the exempt
pilot, but the snag is that his or her
Preliminary points do not count toward
his or her country’s team. If you enter as a
team member, your points will count
toward the team trophy.
CPLR, the 2005 champion, qualified
by entering the Team Trials for his
country. It paid off for France because in
2007 the team results were:
1) France
2) US
3) Japan
EH: How did the team championship
competition work out?
QS: At the end of the Preliminaries,
Japan, France, and the USA were all in
the running for the title. After the
computer had taken away all the highs
and lows and normalized the scores, the
totals gave victory to France.
EH: How was morale on the US team
after that?
May 2008 113
Ex-World Champion Christophe Paysant-Le Roux with his son,
alongside new World Champ Quique Somenzini with his sons. Will
the sons fly against each other one day?
The 10 best F3A pilots in the world in 2007, and three of them are from the US.
QS: This year it was very good. We practice as a team. In
Argentina the spirit was very good. Jason flew the best that I have
seen him fly in any competition. Andrew flew strongly and
exceeded expectations in his first time with a USA team.
Everyone treated this USA team very well.
After the Preliminary rounds, the contest changes into a
Semifinals-and-Finals format. The top 20 finalists enter the
Semifinals and are whittled down to 10 Finalists who then
compete in a different format for the title of F3A individual World
Champion.
The Semifinals is a “three-score” round in which each pilot
begins the day with a carryover of his or her normalized score
from the Preliminaries. Then the contestants fly only two rounds,
but they have to use the F-07 “Finals” schedule. There are fewer
maneuvers in the Finals schedule, but they are significantly harder
to fly.
Then the best two scores are taken from a pilot’s Semifinals
carryover and/or his or her two flights that day. All US team
members made it through to the top 10 in 2007.
EH: Were you confident that you would make the Finals out of the
top 20 pilots from the Prelims?
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:32 AM Page 113
114 MODEL AVIATION
QS: When you fly against the best in the
world, you have no time to be confident. I
was just happy to make it into the Finals.
One round, we used too much time to get
my plane in the air because the wind kept
moving my plane on the runway. It took
too long to position the plane, so I ran out
of flying time and lost my landing points.
In another round, I had an engine with
dirt in it so I had to change planes while
the clock was running. This left me only
six minutes to complete the whole
schedule. I had to use my No. 2 backup
plane and you could say that was why I’m
in the Finals.
The following were the top 10 pilots
after the Semifinals.
1) CPLR
2) Tetsuo Onda
3) Quique Somenzini
4) Jason Shulman
5) Sebastiano Silvestri
6) Yoichiro Akiba
7) Stephane Carrier
8) Andrew Jesky
9) Koji Suzuki
10) Benoit Paysant-Le Roux
EH: What do you remember about the
Finals?
QS: This was the strongest competition I
was in. All top 10 pilots brought their “A”
game. I had a good draw and flew right
after Onda. Two biplanes flew back to
back. Then, in another round, three
followed each other. Jason flew very well
and CPLR was very good when his plane
was in the air. Onda has come up to the
top.
EH: When did you know you had won?
QS: You don’t believe that you have won
until you stand on the podium with the
trophy and you hear “The Star-Spangled
Banner” play and see your flag in the
middle. This was a great day.
After the dust had settled, the 2007 F3A
World Championships results were:
1) Quique Somenzini
2) CPLR
3) Tetsuo Onda
4) Jason Shulman
5) Sebastiano Silvestri
6) Koji Suzuki
7) Stephane Carrier
8) Andrew Jesky
9) Yoichiro Akiba
10) Benoit Paysant-Le Roux
It is special that the two French
brothers were in the Finals. Also
significant was that all members of the
French, US, and Japanese teams made it
to the Finals. This was a hard-fought
finale to a great competition in which
nobody was allowed to win two rounds to
get a perfect 2,000 to take the World
Champion title.
EH: What would you do differently?
QS: I now know that it is important to
practice other things—not just flying. I
should practice what happens on the
ground, in the wind, and how to change
planes when the clock is ticking.
EH: You flew with the new JR 12X at the
World Championships. We both fly Mode
1. Do you still need that radio?
QS: When I do not need it anymore, I
will call you!
I am familiar with Quique’s journey to
the US, having immigrated here in 1982.
I know what it feels like to leave my old
country, England, behind and start a new
family and a new life in a different
country.
What I will never know is what it feels
like to be originally Argentinean, fly in
an F3A World Championships in
Argentina representing the US, and win
on top of all that!
It takes a special person to do what
Quique has done. Not only has he brought
the title to the US, but he has done it with
style and class. We are so fortunate to
have a new ambassador for RC
Aerobatics flying our flag. MA
FLIGHT GLOW
■ Fully Automatic
■ No set-up, no servo reversal
■ Progressive heating
■ Full off at 1/4 throttle
■ Turn off with engine kill
■ Red LED when driver on
$39.95 plus shipping & handling
C-TRONICS,Inc. P.O. Box 192, Ramsey, NJ 07446 201 818-4289 www.c-tronicsinc.com
C-TRONICS ON BOARD GLOW DRIVERS
FLIGHT GLOW II
All of the features of
FLIGHT GLOW PLUS:
Tri-Color LED
Green–good driver battery
Orange–low driver battery
Red–driver on
Flashing Red–very low battery or
disconnected plug wire
Specify connector (Futaba, JR-Hitec-Airtronics) $49.95 plus shipping & handling
All units complete with plug connector and 1900 MA/HR battery
Work with single or twin engines* and twin cylinder*
(*requires additional battery and plug connector)
Dealer inquiries invited. Simple,Safe,Secure.
Visit our website
for full details
and to see our
other RC products!
05sig4.QXD 3/25/08 9:33 AM Page 114