Radio Control: Soaring
F3B TEAM NEWS. Team Manager Randy Spencer sent the latest scoop on preparations for the World Championships that will be held in the Netherlands August 27 through September 2. In April Joe Wurts and Daryl Perkins started practicing with their new F3B Eagles. Last month's column featured Mark Allen's latest kit offering, the Thermal Eagle, which uses the same fuselage. Mark anticipates having F3B Eagle kits available in the near future. Specs are: 111.5-inch wingspan RG 15 airfoil
1991 RC Soaring World Championship
At TERLET, the Netherlands, in the last week of August 1991, U.S. fliers Joe Wurts and Daryl Perkins broke 10 years of European dominance in F3B competition. Joe became the World Champion for 1991 and Daryl placed second in the Individual standings. Larry Jolly finished 26th. The U.S. team placed third in a field of 22-23, if Finland's one-man team is counted. This ranks as the biggest sports upset since the U.S. Olympic hockey team won the Lake Placid meet. The FAI-recognized class of RC Soaring known as F3B is more popular in Germany, Austria, Britain, and Holland than in the U.S., and the Europeans had grown used to outclassing our fliers at the biennial World Championships. This year's contest will go down as a turning point.
Radio Control: Soaring
LOTS OF VARIED and interesting news to pass on this month! Let's start with Robin Lehman's report on scale flying in Switzerland. All Soaring enthusiasts love seeing big scale gliders, but in Europe they seem to build them bigger and fly them more actively than we do. Robin, a Big Apple dweller, will have an extensive article in an upcoming Model Aviation. This is a preview: "There is a group of enthusiasts who meet twice a year in Switzerland. They call themselves, `Interessengemeinschaft Grossegler' (Those interested in large gliders). I just happened to be in Switzerland when the IGG had one of their get-togethers at an airport in Belp, just south of Bern. They spent two solid days airtowing gliders.
Radio Control: Soaring
THE GROB 103 ACRO monster scale ship built by Dan Troxell has to grab your attention! Everybody loves big gliders and this 1:2.4 scale Grob is about as large a one as you'll ever see. Dan, from Laguna Hills, California, is known for favoring these big scale jobs and kindly sent a description of the project: "The odyssey of the monstrous Grob 103 Acro began in September 1990 with a visit to my brother in Brussels, Belgium. After a day visiting, he and I headed south to explore the legendary flying sites of Germany and search for those outrageous models. We were not disappointed.
Radio Control: Soaring
U.S. F3B team fundraising is now in full swing. Soaring enthusiasts no doubt know that the United States has sent a team to the F3B World Championships, held every other year since 1977. The 1991 World Champs will be in August in the Netherlands, with nearly 30 countries competing. Making up our U.S. team are the top three finishers at the team selection finals held in Denver last Labor Day-Larry Jolly, Daryl Perkins and Joe Wurts, all from the Los Angeles area. These guys are definitely world-class fliers. I believe they have an excellent shot at winning the World Champs team trophy, something we have never done. It'll be a proud day for all American Sailplaners if they can pull it off!
