World Aerobatic Championships 2013 – Johannesburg
After a few venue hiccups the World Championships took place at the Midvaal Racetrack near Meyerton. On my arrival I was warmly welcomed by some of my old fellow-flyers and friends. As the days and the competition progressed, I was meeting more and more old friends from abroad and locally. Some of these I had not seen for more than 30 years.
The organisers had the two flight-lines in place with all systems ready to go. With the flight-lines being 1-1/2 kilometres apart, lots of activities was happening between the two flight-lines. The ferrying of judges, score sheets, food, drinks, pilots, callers, managers etc., to and fro from the flight-lines, kept the organisers on their toes. All this, a massive task as it all had to comply with the F.A.I. International Rules. F.A.I. officials were on hand to observe an ensure that the proceedings function correctly. Noise metres and weighing equipment were regularly calibrated. Bob Skinner, John Brink and their hard-working team are to be complimented for a job well done under trying conditions.
At the end of the first round it was obvious that the majority of the competitors were flying at a very high standard. Only a few percentage points separated the top 20 or so pilots. The weather throughout the competition was cold and miserable with cross-winds blowing continuously cross-line. Some of my friends were blaming me for having brought along the bad weather from the Cape ??? What amazed me was how well the pilots coped with the strong cross-winds. The models kept their line as if there was no wind at all. Credit to the pilots and callers. Flying styles varying from very slow and close-up with the use of the contra-rotating props used by Silvestri, Mayr, Mazzuchelli and Peloni leading the way. Very graceful and pretty to watch. The faster-flying styles of Peysant Le Roux (4-stroke), Onda (4-stroke), Jesky (elec.), Shulman (elec.) and Matt (elec.) seem to have a slight edge in those strong windy conditions in the end.
From the technology point of view there was lots to see and many new innovations. This year there were many bi-planes, tri-planes, contra-rotating props, 3-bladed props, 4-bladed props and beautifully finished and decorated designs that flew very quietly.
Motor-wise electrics dominated but more and more 4-strokes are appearing again, such as the latest Y.S.-types. On the radio side it was virtually all Futaba with the odd J.R. here and there.
Model designs variations was to be seen across the board but they all flew well as they all appeared to have the right ingredients built into their designs which is required for precision arobatics these days. Many discussions took place amongst reputed pattern pilots as to how to become a successful pilot with the conclusions being:
- choose a reputable design (mono-wing, bi-wing or tri-wing)
- choose the best power–to-weight ratio (electric or 4-stroke)
- trim the model properly for all manoeuvres
- choose a reputable radio with mixing facilities and good servos
- choose a knowledgeable caller
- practise a lot and fly in many competitions
As the days and the rounds went by the mood in the S.A. camp grew stronger in anticipation of a good result. We were not to be disappointed as our junior, Ruston Dugmore, (his father was a control-line fundi) put in a tremendous final round to win the World Junior F3A title; South Africa’s first ever acrobatic world champion. Jubilations and celebrations were running high in the S.A. camp and reached a crescendo a few hours later when we all learned that Ruston had made the final fly-off as well, beating all 3 his more illustrious seniors. Ruston is also the first South African to reach the fly-offs at a world champion F3A championships. Wow what a day (!) as more news filters through that South Africa placed 8th out of 30+ nations. This is the highest placing for many a long year, beating powerful countries such as England, Canada, Australia, Argentina, China and the likes. That evening the booze flowed freely in celebrations. The only one not indulging, of course not, he had to have a clear head for the fly-off the next morning!!
The fly-offs (finals) were eagerly awaited and we were not to be disappointed. The standard of the 20+ finalists was awesome. They fly close-up, big manoeuvres and stay in the box. Their throttle, line and crosswind management is brilliant. The final scores and results are all on the Samaa/Maasa web-sites for all to see. More good news was received during the finals that another S.A. junior, Jason Webber, had won the World Junior Gliding Champs in Germany a week earlier. S.A. aeromodeling has made us all proud. So ended a most enjoyable 10 day programme where I and my fellow-model flyers and friends namely Peter Aldridge, Deon van Zyl, Stuart Nix, Nazeem Harris, Kobus Malan, Ossie Parenzi, Christo Rust, Andre China, Francois Viljoen, Dirkie van Rhyn jr. (ex-member living in Jhb.) watched and experienced the best the world and South Africa had to offer.
Christo Rust, our chief national judge, was on the same flight as I was on the way back to Cape Town. We pondered over how successful the Transvaal aeromodeling community has been over the years. They have in recent times staged numerous world championships. All our Springbok teams that participated in aerobatics, gliding, scale, pylon, jets, indoor and helicopters, all came from the Transvaal. A sad state of affairs for us Cape Townians who in the past produced a number of junior national champions. Also, 20+ years ago the Cape produced a number of aerobatic and scale champions. Going 40+ years back our earlier free-flight and R/c teams were all predominantly from the Western Cape. As Christo and I chatted I realised that during those past years we had the likes of Andy Anderson, Willie Krynauw, Johnny Bothma, Chippy Wannenburg, Len Salter, John Lightfoot and Chris Sweatman. These were all truly strong leaders, sportsmen and visionaries. They loved involvement as leaders and were highly successful in their various leadership roles. They say that life moves in cycles; lets hope our flying cycle will start to show an upward trend inspired by the recent successes achieved by our numerous Transvaal counterparts who have made us all proud.
John Calefato
After a few venue hiccups the World Championships took place at the Midvaal Racetrack near Meyerton. On my arrival I was warmly welcomed by some of my old fellow-flyers and friends. As the days and the competition progressed, I was meeting more and more old friends from abroad and locally. Some of these I had not seen for more than 30 years.
The organisers had the two flight-lines in place with all systems ready to go. With the flight-lines being 1-1/2 kilometres apart, lots of activities was happening between the two flight-lines. The ferrying of judges, score sheets, food, drinks, pilots, callers, managers etc., to and fro from the flight-lines, kept the organisers on their toes. All this, a massive task as it all had to comply with the F.A.I. International Rules. F.A.I. officials were on hand to observe an ensure that the proceedings function correctly. Noise metres and weighing equipment were regularly calibrated. Bob Skinner, John Brink and their hard-working team are to be complimented for a job well done under trying conditions.
At the end of the first round it was obvious that the majority of the competitors were flying at a very high standard. Only a few percentage points separated the top 20 or so pilots. The weather throughout the competition was cold and miserable with cross-winds blowing continuously cross-line. Some of my friends were blaming me for having brought along the bad weather from the Cape ??? What amazed me was how well the pilots coped with the strong cross-winds. The models kept their line as if there was no wind at all. Credit to the pilots and callers. Flying styles varying from very slow and close-up with the use of the contra-rotating props used by Silvestri, Mayr, Mazzuchelli and Peloni leading the way. Very graceful and pretty to watch. The faster-flying styles of Peysant Le Roux (4-stroke), Onda (4-stroke), Jesky (elec.), Shulman (elec.) and Matt (elec.) seem to have a slight edge in those strong windy conditions in the end.
From the technology point of view there was lots to see and many new innovations. This year there were many bi-planes, tri-planes, contra-rotating props, 3-bladed props, 4-bladed props and beautifully finished and decorated designs that flew very quietly.
Motor-wise electrics dominated but more and more 4-strokes are appearing again, such as the latest Y.S.-types. On the radio side it was virtually all Futaba with the odd J.R. here and there.
Model designs variations was to be seen across the board but they all flew well as they all appeared to have the right ingredients built into their designs which is required for precision arobatics these days. Many discussions took place amongst reputed pattern pilots as to how to become a successful pilot with the conclusions being:
- choose a reputable design (mono-wing, bi-wing or tri-wing)
- choose the best power–to-weight ratio (electric or 4-stroke)
- trim the model properly for all manoeuvres
- choose a reputable radio with mixing facilities and good servos
- choose a knowledgeable caller
- practise a lot and fly in many competitions
As the days and the rounds went by the mood in the S.A. camp grew stronger in anticipation of a good result. We were not to be disappointed as our junior, Ruston Dugmore, (his father was a control-line fundi) put in a tremendous final round to win the World Junior F3A title; South Africa’s first ever acrobatic world champion. Jubilations and celebrations were running high in the S.A. camp and reached a crescendo a few hours later when we all learned that Ruston had made the final fly-off as well, beating all 3 his more illustrious seniors. Ruston is also the first South African to reach the fly-offs at a world champion F3A championships. Wow what a day (!) as more news filters through that South Africa placed 8th out of 30+ nations. This is the highest placing for many a long year, beating powerful countries such as England, Canada, Australia, Argentina, China and the likes. That evening the booze flowed freely in celebrations. The only one not indulging, of course not, he had to have a clear head for the fly-off the next morning!!
The fly-offs (finals) were eagerly awaited and we were not to be disappointed. The standard of the 20+ finalists was awesome. They fly close-up, big manoeuvres and stay in the box. Their throttle, line and crosswind management is brilliant. The final scores and results are all on the Samaa/Maasa web-sites for all to see. More good news was received during the finals that another S.A. junior, Jason Webber, had won the World Junior Gliding Champs in Germany a week earlier. S.A. aeromodeling has made us all proud. So ended a most enjoyable 10 day programme where I and my fellow-model flyers and friends namely Peter Aldridge, Deon van Zyl, Stuart Nix, Nazeem Harris, Kobus Malan, Ossie Parenzi, Christo Rust, Andre China, Francois Viljoen, Dirkie van Rhyn jr. (ex-member living in Jhb.) watched and experienced the best the world and South Africa had to offer.
Christo Rust, our chief national judge, was on the same flight as I was on the way back to Cape Town. We pondered over how successful the Transvaal aeromodeling community has been over the years. They have in recent times staged numerous world championships. All our Springbok teams that participated in aerobatics, gliding, scale, pylon, jets, indoor and helicopters, all came from the Transvaal. A sad state of affairs for us Cape Townians who in the past produced a number of junior national champions. Also, 20+ years ago the Cape produced a number of aerobatic and scale champions. Going 40+ years back our earlier free-flight and R/c teams were all predominantly from the Western Cape. As Christo and I chatted I realised that during those past years we had the likes of Andy Anderson, Willie Krynauw, Johnny Bothma, Chippy Wannenburg, Len Salter, John Lightfoot and Chris Sweatman. These were all truly strong leaders, sportsmen and visionaries. They loved involvement as leaders and were highly successful in their various leadership roles. They say that life moves in cycles; lets hope our flying cycle will start to show an upward trend inspired by the recent successes achieved by our numerous Transvaal counterparts who have made us all proud.
John Calefato
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