Jury Report on Free Flight European Championships 1984 F1A F1B F1C
FAI Jury
Ian Kaynes | Great Britain | President |
Pierre Chaussebourg | France | Member |
Srdjan Pelagic | Yugoslavia | Member |
Dates
August 27th to September 2nd
Location
Livno, Yugoslavia
Entry Fee
A high fee of US $300 per person was charged for competitors and supporters, covering food and accommodation for six days. This was particularly high when compared with a regular cost of $8 per night for a double room in the hotel at Livno. This acted to reduce the overall participation. The organisers had not met the requirements of the Sporting Code to split the entry fee into two parts, for competing and for accommodation plus food. Two nations, not requiring the official accommodation, paid only half the fee in advance. After much discussion, the organisers allowed these two nations to participate at a reduced entry fee.
Participation
The hotel accommodation was of good quality. The fees for additional nights of accommodation were rather high. Main meals were taken in a restaurant at the mine head and adequate facilities were available in the mine during the day. A coach service was provided for the short distance from the mine to the hotel.
Accommodation
Most competitors were housed at a hotel 60km, one hour driving time, from the flying position. The hotel food and accommodation and the food on the flying field were good by local standards.
Flying site
The site must be the best field ever used for any free flight championships. It consists of a vast flat area covered with short grass and there were weather conditions which were ideal for free flight.
Weather
Weather was excellent, winds were light.
Competition
The events ran very smoothly and exactly to timetable throughout the three days. The size of the site was shown by the successful use of a fixed starting line at the centre of the field, including fixed positions for timekeeping and nearby tents for organisation headquarters. After flying in a good variety of conditions ranging from gentle lift to strong thermals, 18 competitors reached the flyoff for F1A, 8 for F1B and 16 for F1C The latter two events had some problems of timekeepers prematurely loosing sight of models in the longer flyoffs, but these appeared to have had little influence on the final results order. It was notable that both F1A and F1B classes were won by the respective defending European Champions.
World Championships
The same organisers are working on plans to host the 1985 World Free Flight Championships at the same site. The Jury has made suggestions for improvements after the experiences of this European Championships. These concern mainly the split entry fee, the high cost of entry and the budget for the event, as well as the desirable range of accommodation facilities and some detailed aspects of organisation of the contest.
Conclusion
The Jury wishes to thank the Aero Club of Yugoslavia and the Aeroklub “Izet Kurtalic” of Visoko for running a successful European Free Flight Championships.