Jury Report on Free Flight Junior World Championships 2016 F1A F1B F1P
FAI Jury
| Srdjan Pelagic | SRB | President |
| Per Findahl | SWE | Member |
| Dimko Spiroski | MKD | Member |
Dates
Location
Prilep, Macedonia
General Comments
The flying field Malo Konjare is a sporting airport located about 9 km west from Prilep on the road Prilep ‘ Krusevo at the altitude of about 600 meters. It is a large, grass covered area without any obstacles surrounded with vegetable fields excellent for aeromodelling competitions. Therfore it is hosting aeromodelling free flight competitions including F1ABC World Cups for years. It is much better than some flying fields earliery used for EuF1ABPChs and is recommended for such events in future, too. Overall organization of the event was successful and in accordance with the standards for such events.
Information
There were three Information Bulletins and a professionally prepared WEB site www.wjchamp2016.prilepcup.info which contained all necessary information.
Participation
2016 FAI Junior World Championships for Free Flight Model Aircraft in Classes F1A, F1B and F1P was participated 84 junior competitors from 22 countries from America, Asia and Europe (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Korea, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Ukraine and USA). Nine of them competed in two classes and only one (Dmitro Merzilakov – UKR) in all three classes. Participation per classes was:
| Class | Teams | Individuals |
| F1A | 19 | 47 |
| F1B | 13 | 32 |
| F1P | 5 | 15 |
| Total | 37 | 94 |
Accommodation
The flying field was in a popular tourist area so a lot of hotels were at disposal to the participants. The Championships HQ was in House of Culture in Prilep, but most of the participants were accommodated in nearby hotels ( Hotel Atlas, Hotel Cristal Palace etc). Prices for boarding and lodging were very acceptable. Breakfast and lunch was provided for judges and competitors in the field who required that, but some officials and competitors preferred breakfasts and lunches at their hotels which the time table for competition allowed. Free bottled drink water was available for everybody at the flying field during the whole day. Participants used their own cars for transportation to the flying field.
Flying site
Flying field Malo Konjare is between towns Prilep and Krusevo 130 km south west from Skopje, capital of FYR Macedonia. It is well known for aeromodelling free flight competitions including F1ABC World Cup events for more than 20 years. At the entrance of the field is a hangar and the aeroclub’s office surrounded by trees where there was a tap water for refreshment which was brought by participants in big plastic bottles for face washing and refreshment to the flying field, where were located two toilets.
Weather
Weather was sunny and warm but not too hot with temperatures from 20 C in the morning to 26 C to 32 C in the afternoon. Wind speed changed from 0 to 4 m/s with some bursts of up to 6 m/s on the first day. The wind speed was changing during the day so in the last round is was frequently low but thermals were strong.
Competition
Weather conditions were good for flying, but not easy for competitors who ran after models, because of the high temperature and a very dry air. Timekeeping was very correct. The participating teams provided some foreign timekeepers especially in fly-offs, which contributed to the impartial timekeeping.
Data Processing
Results lists were written by hand during all rounds. Placing lists calculated by laptop computers were posted at the championship’s web site. Current informations were posted at the information board close to the starting line. Scores during the rounds were presented on a portable scoreboard. Web site master was Zarko Stamenov.
Opening and Closing Ceremony
Opening ceremony and closing ceremonies were at the town center at the so called Stone Stage. They were nice and short with some speeches and folk dances. The Award Ceremony was a part of the Closing Ceremony on the last day. Winners were awarded with the FAI diplomas and medals and with the cups donated by the organizer with some gifts and souveniers. In addition to that there were awarded seven FAI Perpetual Trophies. The cup French Challenge went to Russia as the best overall team in all three classes. The closing banquet at Laki restaurant with a swimming pool was fine and friendly with tasty food and drinks.
Protests
There were no official protests.
Excursion
The last day was for relaxation. There were no organiyed excursions but the participants were advised which locations in the surrounding to visit because Prilep is very well known for its historical background. Also town Bitola and very attractive lakes Ohrid and Prespa were not to far and were visited by some participants on that day or after the championships.
Observations
The FAI Jury made the following remarks during these events:
a) The flying field was large, flat and with no obstacles so there was no need for reposition of the starting line during the whole Championships;
b) Lack of experience in organization of the Cat 1 events caused a short delay at the beginning of the first competition day, but later everything went fluently;
c) There was one attempt of teft of a Slovak F1A model by a local people, but the organizer reacted very quickly and with the assistance of the MKD police the model was found and returned to the owner in terms of one hour, which was greeted by all participants;
d) All local officials in the field were very experienced modellers and they did their jobs without any tension, so the whole event passed in a very pleasant atmosphere and there was no protests or complaints.
e) There were no gift shops, restaurants and other facilities which sometimes are present in Cat 1 events and contribute to its image, but the organizer provided everything necessary to conduct this event very correctly. They did it with a great enthusiasm and it was appreciated by all participants.
Conclusions
a) 2016 FAI Junior World Championships for Free Flight Model Aircraft in Classes F1A, F1B and F1C held in Prilep (MKD) were conducted in accordance with required standards for such events and were successful.
b) This flying field is excellent for the FAI FF Cat 1 events and is recommended for organization of such events in future, too;
c) There is a very important omission in the FAI SC4. Number of flights in Cat 1 events for Classes F1A, F1B and F1C was reduced from 7 to 5 with max in the first and last round of 4 minutes, but for F1P it was unchanged and stayed 7 flights of 3 minutes. So juniors competed under more difficult conditions that shall seniors do. This must be corrected in the SC4 edition 2017.