Radio Control Aerobatics - 2010/11
Albert and A.C. Glenn [[email protected]]
Highlights from the ETOC
The 2010 ETOC was held at Central Catholic High School in Toledo, Ohio. At the end of the first night of competition, R.J. Gritter was leading the pack, followed closely by Jason Noll, Donatas Pauzoulis, Seth Arnold, Gernot Bruckmann, Andrew Jesky, and Ryan Clark. This group comprises the top indoor fliers in the world.
Donatas was able to attend this event after many years of trying to get a visa to leave his home country of Lithuania and come to America. It was a treat to see him fly in person after having viewed videos he posts.
Ryan Clark is an up-and-coming competitor on the indoor scene. He made his debut at last year's ETOC, in which he finished eighth.
The highlight was R.J. Gritter, who used a thrust-vectoring, variable-pitch motor during his Freestyle routine. That allowed him to do some unbelievable maneuvers with the Fancy Foam Models MX-2, which he designed.
Probably 70% of the competitors used variable pitch, and all of them were able to do a consistent nose-down hover; that is amazing to see in person. The precision airplane of choice seemed to be the Fancy Foam Models Osiris V1.
In the final round the four finalists performed one Known routine and one Freestyle routine to determine the champion. Andrew Jesky put up what many thought was the best Known performance of the weekend.
R.J. put in another awesome Freestyle, but it wasn't enough to beat Gernot Bruckmann, whose flawless Freestyle helped him earn the title of 2010 ETOC Champion. Final standings for the top four were:
- Gernot Bruckmann — 2010 ETOC Champion
- Andrew Jesky — 2nd place
- R.J. Gritter — 3rd place
- Donatas Pauzoulis — 4th place
R.J. also took home the awards for the highest-scoring Freestyle routine and the highest-scoring Known round. This was the first time one person earned both of those titles in the same contest.
2010 Nats / F3A Team Trials
The 2010 Nats/F3A Team Trials were exciting. Pilots were well prepared and ready for a long week of competition, and the reigning F3A National Champion returned to defend his title.
The Nats started off gloomy, with practice on Sunday occurring between numerous rain showers. Monday morning began well with the completion of the first two rounds of FAI F3A and Advanced.
After those rounds, standings included:
- Advanced: Joseph Szczur in first, followed closely by Riley Kissenberth (2009 Intermediate National Champion).
- F3A: Mark Leseberg in the lead, followed closely by Andrew Jesky, Chip Hyde, Jason Shulman, and Brett Wickizer.
Masters and Intermediate competition got underway that afternoon. Tony Frackowiak, the 2009 Masters National Champion, led Masters. Rene Grebe led Intermediate, followed closely by Keith Hoard and Anthony Claridge.
On Tuesday some standings changed:
- Andrew Jesky moved up to first place in F3A.
- Riley Kissenberth moved up to take the lead in Advanced, with Joseph Szczur still close behind.
After Day Two of Intermediate, Rene Grebe remained in the lead, with Keith Hoard close behind. Tony Frackowiak still led Masters but faced tough competition from Stephen Byrd, David Snow, Marcio Jorge, Arch Stafford, George Asteris, and Chris Odom.
Wednesday opened the Semifinals for the top 20 F3A pilots. Eleven pilots made the Finals:
- Andrew Jesky
- Chip Hyde
- Jason Shulman
- Mark Leseberg
- Dave Lockhart
- Chad Northeast
- Brett Wickizer
- Don Szczur
- Pete Collinson
- Mike Klein
- Matt Kimbro
Masters took the top eight pilots into the Finals:
- Tony Frackowiak
- Stephen Byrd
- Arch Stafford
- Marcio Jorge
- George Asteris
- Jerry Budd
- David Snow
- Chris Odom
Final class champions:
- Intermediate National Champion: Keith Hoard
Followed by Charles Simmons, Rene Grebe, Mark Carey, Anthony Claridge, Houston Schweitzer, Larry Kaufman, and Andrew Taylor.
- Advanced National Champion: Riley Kissenberth
Followed by Joseph Szczur, Brian Clemmons, Robert Condra, George Miller, Adam Mendonca, Victor Diaz, and Larry Kaufman.
When the dust settled after the F3A Finals, Andrew Jesky emerged as the National Champion and team captain for the 2011 US F3A team. Chip Hyde finished a close second and Jason Shulman finished third, rounding out the other two team members. Brett Wickizer was the alternate.
There was a hard-fought battle for the Masters title, but Tony Frackowiak prevailed as the 2010 National Champion, followed by Stephen Byrd and George Asteris. George's model had suffered a midair collision just the day before, and he had to finish the contest with a borrowed airplane.
The Nats brought out a few new models, including the Visa designed by Chip Hyde. Following is a short write-up he provided on the background of the airplane.
The Visa SMF was designed from the ground up by 13-time US National Champion and multiple-time World and TOC Champion Chip Hyde in conjunction with Marcelo Columbo, 10-time Argentinean Champion.
The Visa is the next step in the long line of winning pattern planes dating back to the 1980s (Jekylls), 1990s (Dr. Jekyll/Hydeout) and 2000s (Hydeaway/Eclipse/Double Vision/Scandalous/Genesis and Passport).
The Visa is a purpose-built electric-only design that is an extension of the Passport. We took all the good things and kept them while incorporating several new, revolutionary design and building techniques.
With the Visa, everything you see is there for a reason: to make this the lightest, most rigid pattern model to date. With curves in all the right places, it flies as good as it looks. This model has already been chosen by top flyers such as Sean McMurtry, Mike Klein, Todd Blose, Dan Landis, and Glen Watson, to name a few, because they can see the Visa is geared toward one thing only: the serious pattern flyer.
The Visa is available in the United States from Chris Moon at F3A Unlimited, and it can also be obtained from CA Model in Argentina.
While practicing with Brett Wickizer just before the Nats this year, he introduced us to a new starter from Max Blase at B&P Associates.
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