Jury Report on 2004 Free Flight Junior World Championships F1A F1B F1J/P
FAI Jury
Ian Kaynes |
GBR |
FFSC Chairman |
Pierre Chaussebourg |
FRA |
CIAM 1st Vice President and delegate of France |
Cenny Breeman |
BEL |
FFSC member |
Dates
Location
The Championship were organised under the auspices of the French Federation Aeromodelisme at Moncontour, France
Information
3 bulletins were issued in advance of the event which together gave full details of the event.
Participation
20 countries participated in the Championship, with 54 flying in F1A, 29 in F1B and 20 in F1J/P, including the defending champions flying independently all three categories.
Accommodation
Accommodation options included a holiday village or camp site in Moncontour or hotels in the region, all were satisfactory.
Food
Meals were available centrally, with breakfast and lunch served on the flying field and dinner in Moncontour. The food was excellent. Arrangements were modified to support flying on the reserve day, with breakfast and a very good hot lunch served on the field.
Opening Ceremony
This was held on the sports field in Moncontour with the teams marching to the field from the town hall.
Model Processing
In accordance with the Sporting Code, on the preparation day models were checked against the certificates and each component was identified with a sticker. During the competition facilities were available to competitors for checking weights and towlines. The required 20% of models were checked during the competition. The winning models were processed after the event. No problems were found in any of the models checked.
Timetable
The flying timetable had rounds of 55 minutes with 5 minutes break between rounds. A longer break was scheduled for lunch time and between round 7 and the start of flyoffs.
Flying site
The championships were flown on farm fields covering an ample area. The crops had been arranged so that almost all fields had been harvested by the time of the Championships. Tents had been erected for model processing and meals. For most of the time the launch line was positioned within easy reach of these tents. Spectator areas were marked by lines upwind and downwind of the starting line. Enforcement of the limit on people allowed in the starting area was not always rigorous: this would be aided by issuing clear identifiers (e.g. armbands) to the team mangers and their assistants.
Competition
The contest director controlled the competition effectively. Start and finish of each round were indicated precisely with a sound on the loudspeaker, and also making announcements of the time remaining in the round. A scoreboard was maintained and kept up to date during each round.
Timekeeping ran smoothly, with only a very few incidents (see protest). Timekeepers were provided with good tripods. Most timekeepers used their own binoculars when these were of a better standard than the ones provided.
F1A was held in pleasant weather. 5 competitors reached the flyoff and a clear result was achieved with one round of flyoff.
F1B began in very good weather but during the day the wind increased. After lunch the start of flying was delayed and the launch line was moved upwind to provide more space in the strong wind (at least 7 m/sec). The final two rounds were completed and it was decided to hold the flyoff the following morning. This was successfully completed in a single round to a 10 minute maximum, all models were seen to the ground in a wind of only 3 m/sec.
F1J/P started after the completion of the F1B flyoff. The start of round 3 was delayed because of an approaching storm and wind increased to 7 m/sec by the time the round was started, and during the round there was more rain. Flying was stopped until after the lunch break, during which time there was a severe storm followed by pleasant weather. However another storm arrived before flying could commence. Round 5 was flown in wind close to the 9 m/sec limit. A team managers meeting was called and it was decided to continue the remaining two rounds the following morning. These were flown in good weather and followed by a flyoff for 3 competitors (all from USA: 2 team members and the defending champion). A maximum of 7 minutes was set and a clear result obtained with the single flight, only one competitor achieving the maximum.
Weather
The weather during some rounds of F1B and F1J/P had been very difficult and the junior competitors are to be commended for the way in which they handled the challenge.
Closing Ceremony and prizegiving
This was another good ceremony, similar to the opening ceremony and held on the Moncontour sports field. Results were distributed at the prize-giving. The FAI medals and diploma were awarded, together with cups and trophies provided by the organisers. In addition the new Challenge Gabriel Robinet trophy was awarded to the F1A winner. The trophy has been engraved to show all the F1A winners since the first Junior World Championship in 1988. The prize-giving was followed by a banquet in a local restaurant, but was marred by slow service that made it an excessively long meal.
Protests
One official protest was submitted during the championships: Slovenia protested against the time recorded on one flight. Discussion with the timekeepers confirmed the official time and the protest was rejected.
Conclusions
It was notable that a large number of competitors, managers and supporters expressed their thanks for the good organisation despite the poor weather. The jury wish to thank the FFAM for organising a very successful championships.