Jury Report on 2008 Indoor Free Flight World Championship F1D for Seniors and Juniors
FAI Jury
Gerhard Wöbbeking |
Germany |
President |
Ian Kaynes |
Great Britain |
Member |
Srdjan Pelagic |
Serbia |
Member |
Dates
Location
Belgrade, Serbia
Accommodation
In regard of the changed schedule, the organisers managed to provide very good hot dinners instead of hot lunches. A cultivated restaurant was built up in the circular outer part of the hall, very convenient for the competitors. For accommodation particularly two hotels had been recommended.
Flying site
First time the organiser was able to provide the big hall No. 1 of the Belgrade Fair. The huge building of the 60ties is an architectural concrete marvel in the shape of a lens, with a diameter of more than 100 meters. The flat centre of the ceiling offers a usable height of 27, 5 meters; the construction pattern includes 5500 round windows to lighten the inside. Cubicles for all teams had been built around the flying field, which is about one and a half meter lower than the circular outside. When visited in 2007, a huge central construction for spotlights and loudspeakers dominated the centre and made indoor flying almost impossible. This construction had been removed on time and is not going to be installed again. Now it’s probably the best Cat. III site known so far in Europe, and available for indoor events always in August. To prevent of draught, the doors must kept close. The heat inside than may exceed the outside temperature, but caused no major problems during the World Champs.
To reduce influence of the sun, the TM meeting agreed a time frame with flying at night. Two rounds of 3.30 hours were scheduled per day, and a break of two hours. Round 1 and 3 started at 15.00 h; with respect of the banquet on the third day of competition, the fifth round started at 10 h in the morning. Neither the early nor the late flying hours revealed any significant advantage or disadvantage; an analysis of the best flights showed an almost equal distribution. Two world records of Lutz Schramm (36:18 min) and then, beating him by the margin of 5 seconds, Ivan Treger (36:23 min) were flown in round 1 and round 2. Both outstanding performances show as well the good quality of the site.
Participation
The event attracted 38 competitors from 14 nations in the senior category, including the World Champion of 2006. There were ten full senior teams, and 17 juniors competed out of six teams.
Contest organisation
There was a Team Managers’ meeting and a timekeepers’ meeting, all of which were attended by the Jury. The timekeepers were young, mainly students of the University, and very dedicated to their tasks. As a result, there were no protests.
During the Team Managers’ Meeting incorrect steering and rule SC4 F1 3.4.7.b) had been discussed: “Continued disregard of the timekeeper’s warning will result in a terminated flight.” The FAI Jury insisted that it’s not the timekeeper who may terminate the flight, leaving such a decision to the discretion of the Contest Director. However, the fears of incorrect steering occurred to be almost superfluous. The CD has been asked by the Jury as well to announce the rounds etc. using a megaphone; after the removal of the central construction, no loud speaking system seems to be available any more. The measurement systems for checking of models and rubber weight were precise and enabled a good work flow. During the contest, a discussion arose because of a misunderstanding of rule SC4 F1 3.4.9 “…the timekeepers shall continue to time the flight for ten seconds after translational movement has ceased.” It took some effort to explain to the complaining team, that the ten seconds have to be subtracted of the total flight time.
Opening and Closing Ceremony
A short opening ceremony took place outside the hall, with a group of girls aged around eight performing disco-type dances. Seldom had a local government official got that warm applause like Mr. Goran Kreclovic, who – as the Minister of Sport of Belgrade town – supported efficiently the removal of the central obstacle in the hall. The closing ceremony on the same spot was more or less in the dark. Two FAI trophies could not be awarded to Ivan Treger: Neither the trophy for the World Champion nor the trophy for the best single time arrived in time from the previous holders from USA. The ceremony was followed by a superb banquet in the restaurant of the Aeroclub of Serbia.
Conclusion
Thanks to very good preparations and a good conduct of the competition the Serbian Aeroclub and its volunteers accomplished magnificent World Championships. CIAM owes to thank for a great event.