National Free Flight Society

Jury Report on JUNIOR Free Flight World Championships 2018 F1A F1B F1P

FAI Junior World Championship class F1A 2018

FAI Jury

Ian Kaynes GBR President
Per Findahl SWE Member
Sotir Lazarkov BUL Member

Dates

August 6 – 10 2018

Location

Pazardzhik, Bulgaria

Information

Three bulletins were published given full details of the event.

It was stated in the bulletins that online informal results of the championships would be made available on the web site. However, there was no update on the web site after publication of bulletin 3 and no results during the period of the competition.

Participation

There 46 competitors in F1A from 16 nations, 29 competitors in F1B from 12 nations, and 16 competitors from 6 nations.

Accommodation

Most competitors stayed at the Hotel Trakia in Pazardzhik which was also the organisation base. The accommodation and food were good

Flying site

The flying site was centred on an old airfield near Chernogorovo about 15km north of Pazardzhik, The field was a grass field with generally open countryside around it. To the west of the field there were a few areas of crops, dense growth and a water channel which could hamper model recovery in that area.

Weather

The weather was constant for the whole week:- dry, mainly sunny with maximum temperature typically 31C and winds no more than 3 m/s varying in direction during the day.

Competition

Model processing was carried out efficiently with stickers to mark the registered models.

At the team managers meeting it was explained that cars should be in the parking area and not near the line, although equipment could be taken to the line by car before the start. It was agreed that for F1A the model boxes and tents should be placed outside the ends of the start line.

The first competition was for F1A and it started a few minutes late as the organisation got up to speed, the only such delay during the championships. After the first round the line was rotated slightly to face the wind. The first round was flown to a four minute maximum and three minute maxima were used for the remaining rounds. The maximum was not extended on another round in view of the likely small size of the flyoff. After the seven rounds there was a flyoff between three flyers. It was flown from a position further upwind and the result was decided in a single round with one flyer making the maximum.

F1B began with a start line close to the cars and hangar. After the first round it was moved upwind, undertaken efficiently with just 30 minutes required to move all the equipment and start the second round. This start position was used for the remainder of the championships. Again the first round was flown to a four minute maximum and other rounds three minutes. In this class five reached the flyoff, two of these were eliminated in the first flyoff. A result was obtained in the second flyoff in which one flyer made the eight minute maximum. The rubber motors from the flyoff models were weighed after the flight and the models checked the following day.

F1P was flown exactly to schedule and at the end of the rounds there were three competitors for the flyoff. Since the five-minute maximum for the first F1P flyoff is shorter than that for F1A and F1B, the flyoff was started earlier than the other days in order to give the possibility of three rounds during the evening. In order to avoid staying late on the field when insects become a problem, the models of the three flyoff competitors were processed before the flyoff. This entailed no risk with F1P models since there is no possibility to change the wing span or wing area and all models were considerably heavier than the required minimum weight. One competitor was eliminated in the first flyoff. The start of the second flyoff was delayed slightly from the scheduled time to wait for the return of one competitor’s model. The result was decided in this flyoff with one competitor flying the maximum time.

Timekeeping

During the F1A rounds there were two complaints that timekeepers had timed the wrong model. In one case the timekeepers acknowledged there may have been an error and so that competitor was allowed a reflight. Apart from that the timekeeping was smooth and efficient for the championships

Opening and Closing Ceremony

The ceremonies were held in a town centre park close to the Hotel Trakia. Both were pleasant, concise and efficient. The closing ceremony was followed by the banquet in Hotel Trakia.

Protests

There were no protests

Conclusions

The Jury thank the Bulgarian Aeromodelling Federation for a very successful Junior World Championship.