Jury Report on Free Flight World Championships 1983 F1A F1B F1C
FAI Jury
| Sandy Pimenoff | Finland | President |
| Ian Kaynes | Great Britain | Member |
| N3 | C3 | Member |
Dates
September 28 to October 5
Location
Goulburn, NSW, Australia
Participation
13 countries were represented by 38 competitors plus the defending Champion.
Accommodation
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.
Flying site
The flying site in the salt mines at Slanic is very different from the other venues used for FlD competitions, having a high ceiling and a constant cool temperature.
Competition
An adequate number of officials and timekeepers were always at hand for a smooth execution of the contest, only crowd control was inadequate.
The F1A contest on October 1st was completed in fair conditions, although the wind increased considerably in the afternoon.
The F1B contest on October 2nd had to be interrupted after 4 rounds because of a wind speed consistently over 9 meters/second and gusting up to 15 meters/second.
F1C on October 3rd had a delayed start because of low cloud. In spite of this, some models disappeared during climb due to the limited visibility. Further postponements were therefore deemed necessary by the Jury, which also gave reflights to competitors that had gone out of sight during the climb.The seven rounds were completed in the face of appalling conditions, with high winds, torrential rain at times, and low temperatures. It was not possible to do the fly-off, however due to approaching darkness.
The reserve day, October 4th, was therefore necessary for completing the world championship with the remaining rounds in F1B (no fly-off necessary) and fly-off in F1C. The weather remained appalling.
Protests
There were two official protests, both disallowed by the Jury.
Conclusion
The weather was probably the worst ever for a world championship. It could have been foreseen that this would occur at the time and place chosen for the event. The field was less than ideal for the competition in these conditions. In future, more consideration should be given to the suitability of weather and venue. However, this was a well run, successful championship and the organisers should be congratulated on this in the difficult circumstances.