Radio Control: Soaring
UPDATE on F3B World Champs. Assuming it's about the first of February when you read this, it will be just 4 1/2 months until our F3B team departs for Germany to compete in the Sixth World Championships. Much remains to be done, mainly raising enough money to get our guys over there-and back, too! The AMA supplies funding for transportation and entry fees, but the bulk of the money has to come from kind-hearted philanthropists (like yourself). There's an address at the end of this short report; please send your contributions there. Assistant Team Manager Tom Thompson provided the following personal information so you could get a better feeling for exactly who you will be assisting:
Radio Control: Soaring
TOM THOMPSON of Albuquerque, our F3B assistant team manager and fund-raising chairman, dropped in over the Christmas holiday to give us the latest team news. For those who may not have heard, our team of Steve Work, Rich Spicer, and Steve Lewis will represent the U.S.A. against about 29 other countries this summer in Osnabruck, West Germany. This is the "Olympics" of RC Soaring. The competition will be from July 24 through August 2. Fliers will be world-class; equipment-both aircraft and radios-will be state-of-the-art. Moneywise, the F3B World Championships don't rank with the America's Cup, but the effort is just as important to us Sailplaners as the Cup was to the New York Yacht Club. Just as all the Cup syndicates raised much of their funds from the public, our team needs the support of our great Sailplane community to make the best possible showing in Germany. Donations will get you some nice souvenirs:
Radio Control: Soaring
UPDATE: During the IMS Show in Pasadena in January, the U.S. F3B team members met with the AMA's Executive Council and many industry representatives. Reports are that the meetings were very upbeat and positive. Depending upon funds raised, there is a good chance that our team will have eight members-three more than previously announced. This is very important because if, in an AMA contest, success rests 80% on the pilot and 20% on the plane, in the World Champs it's more like 1/3 pilot, 1/3 plane, and 1/3 support crew! For each flight, two winches have to be put out, working time and flight time must be tracked, re-launches must be considered (and done)-plus, all the other planes in the flight group have to be monitored to see how they are doing. The pilot has to concentrate on his flight. He can't be distracted by trying to "manage" it, too. This takes a lot of organization-and good, well-trained people. Our guys will do a great job!
Radio Control: Soaring
F3B TEAM update. How many of you were as proud of Dennis Connor and his Stars and Stripes crew in the America's Cup races as I was? As soon as the fourth race was completed, the inflatable tender came alongside and passed over the American flag to fly on S&S's transom. I admit I felt a thrill-and this was 2:00 a.m. Denver time! The America's Cup analogy is appropriate because it is commonly agreed that Dennis and the Sail America syndicate not only came up with the fastest boat, but their preparation and crew work were the best. They also spent a lot of money! You will be happy to learn that our F3B team is going after the 1987 World Championships with the same businesslike approach. I have seen copies of the team's biweekly Activity Report, and I can tell you they are covering all the bases. The Team intends to go to Osnabruck as prepared and organized as Connor went to Freemantle-but on a much smaller budget!
RC Soaring at Toledo
THE 33RD ANNUAL Toledo Radio Control Exposition was held April 10-12. Hosted by the Weak Signals RC Club, this expo is the oldest and largest RC trade show and modeler get-together in the U.S. I'm sure everyone who has been in this activity any time at all knows about it. For many years I've heard about all the stuff to see, the tremendous crowds, and the abysmal weather. The stories are nearly all true, but this year the weather was quite spring-like. I had to return to Denver to confront a snow storm!
