SEN 3254
- USA Team Report from Junior World Champs
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USA Team Report from Junior World Champs
The 2024 FAI Free Flight Jr. World Championships Report By Cathryn Mah
Flash: US F1B Team takes gold, Reema Bharadwaj places second, Tia Zheng places third, and Emrick Smith places third!
We arrived in Krusevo, a very small town in the mountains of North Macedonia. The whole town could be seen from the balcony of the hotel. It is quiet in the day with narrow cobblestone streets and lots of neighborhood dogs wandering about and kids running about freely. It transforms at night with everyone out and about and loud music thumping all night long.
As the team members began to trickle in, those who arrived earlier enjoyed the
dslower morning with a breakfast buffet (complete
with ajvar (a local red pepper spread), gibanica (a layered cheese pastry), beignets, a variety of sausages and cheeses, cucumbers, tomatoes, and fresh peaches and plums) and some shopping for field supplies like coolers, chairs, water bottles, and snacks.
Starting the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 2, we headed to the field for our first practice. Everyone was excited and ready to fly. We got some good flights in but practice was cut short by abrupt strong winds and rain that sent everyone scrambling to pack up their gear and a security car to come shoo everyone off the field. Back to the hotel where we had dinner of shopska salad (chopped cucumber and tomato with grated feta) and mini meat kebabs, followed by playing ping-pong, pool, and air hockey in the hotel game room. This was to become the place for the competitors to unwind every night.
Saturday, Aug. 3, was the day that dedicated practices started in earnest, leaving for the field at 5:30am. We had a full morning of flying and trimming our planes. We then headed to Prilep for more supplies as better-equipped stores were identified. Afterwards most of the group went to explore nearby Lake Krusevo where some swam with Coach Tim and then later played basketball with Coach Sevak. Early dinner of Macedonian salad (which was like the shopska salad but with the addition of chopped peppers) and tavce gravce (a baked bean dish that is the national dish of North Macedonia) and bed.
Sunday, Aug. 4, we headed to the field early in the morning for a full day of practice. It was a tough day with high unrelenting temperatures (mid 90’s which sustained the rest of our time there), some broken planes, a total lack of bathroom facilities, and a bout of dehydration. However, all the fliers had some great flights. The day gave everyone a good idea of what to expect during the competition days and some lessons were learned.
Monday, Aug. 5, was another long day for the F1A and some of the F1B group out on the field practicing and trimming planes. We met kids from other teams including Sweden, Romania, Germany, and Israel. In the evening, the Coaches gave the team a pep talk and some World Champs swag (the tshirt was particularly welcome as everyone’s supply of clean clothes was starting to dwindle).
Tuesday, Aug. 6. Some of the F1A competitors and the F1P competitor went to the field again for practice to trim some new and repaired planes. In the evening everyone headed out to the Opening Ceremonies in Prilep. It was very cool to see all the teams and flags filling the town square and the feel of camaraderie amongst all. The kids from every team were excited to take pictures with competitors from other countries. One teammate suffered a bout of low blood sugar that was swiftly taken care of by the Mayor of Prilep (who is a doctor) and the local medical staff (a big thank you to Prilep medical services!), so they missed out on the hip-hop dance number by the local children’s dance studio, presentation of the Prilep Cup awards, and the shout out from the Mayor and cheers from the crowd when the Mayor relayed that they were okay. They were back in time to see the fireworks over the town square though.
Wednesday, Aug. 7. F1A day.
The morning started off cool and calm and port-a-potties were delivered to the field. All 3 competitors started off with strong maxes for the first round. John Kim’s primary model’s rudder broke forcing him to fly his back up for the remainder of the day. The temperature rose very quickly as the sun came up. Round 2, Anat Goldstein had another max. Both Johnny Mah-Gersting and John Kim fell short of maxes. Round 3, Anat got a max thanks to the team coming together under Ittai Kohavi’s leadership to aggressively chase and flap until the last second. Johnny and John’s planes missed maxes again, much to the frustration of the competitors. The air was tough to read and the team was beginning to understand why there were fewer competitors in the flyoffs in the Prilep Cup than expected. Round 4, Anat missed a max. Johnny got a big max. John got a max with the help of flapping from not only the entire US team, but also the coach from the Germany team! This trend of teams from different countries supporting each other continued throughout the competition. Round 5, all 3 competitors had huge maxes. Round 6, Anat had a big max. Johnny had to wait for air that was constantly changing which resulted in a chaotic change of sides with crossed lines everywhere. Noa Goldstein stepped in to coordinate all the teammates to protect Johnny’s line so that he could get a launch off quickly for a max. With less than 5 minutes to go in the round, John quickly followed with a launch into a thermal for a max. Round 7: Anat goes in with a max. Johnny waited for air as Noa kept him pumped up in the 90+ degree heat and with the help of his teammates flapping, got a max. John had a huge launch but it didn’t quite catch big air and unfortunately ended up hitting a tripod, breaking his model. The results were not what the team was hoping for, but the competitors showed true sportsmanship throughout the day and the team really came together to support each other in every way. Big lessons were learned about reading the air as the coaches looked ahead to the next day of competition.
Thursday, Aug. 8. F1B Day.
The team came to the field with a renewed sense of focus, armed with new knowledge of the fickle Prilep air. Other teams seemed to have also learned from the prior day’s events as the number of mylars more than doubled on the flight line.
Round 1, all 4 competitors started the day with big maxes. The rest of the team was ready to flap, but it wasn’t necessary. It has been said that “flapping is for the flappers” and that seems to ring true. The flappers just really want to help their teammates in any way they can and because they cannot control thermals, this is the next best thing. Like yesterday, the heat started to ramp up along with the unpredictable winds. Round 2, Ittai waited a while to pick air, and with time running out for the other 3 competitors, he had a great launch, but did not max. Adith Alagiri went next and also waited a bit for air. By this time, teams from all different countries were running around all over the flight line and field flapping wildly. Adith had a great launch for a max. Tia Zheng went third and with vigorous flapping from everyone, eked out a max. With not much time remaining, Reema Bharadwaj had a great glide into a max. Round 3, Adith had a quick max to start the round. Tia also followed with a max. Ittai waited for good air to return but as time was running out, he allowed Reema to go third. Reema was able to get off a great launch for a max. Ittai followed the exact same signs and conditions as Reema’s flight but unfortunately his flight was short of a max. Round 4, Adith was on a roll with another big max to start the round. Tia’s motor broke so Reema stepped in to fly second and got a max. Tia returned to the flight line and launched a max. Ittai followed with a picture-perfect max. Round 5, Adith maxed again. Tia launched into big air for a max. Reema’s plane launched a little sideways but caught a thermal for a max. Ittai launched directly into a huge thermal for a max. Round 6, Adith launched another max. Tia’s flight just missed a max by 7 seconds due to a stall in turbulent conditions. Reema’s plane started slow but caught a big thermal for a max. Ittai had another big max. By now the two most rookie flyers, Adith and Reema, were feeling quite nervous and excited. Round 7, Adith launches into fat air for a big max and Reema followed suit, setting them up to participate in the fly-offs. Tia had a beautiful launch for a max with the whole team flapping. Ittai had a great launch and an easy max with the US, German, and Israeli teams all flapping together to support him. Together, with the help of some friends, the USA team clinched the Team Gold medal!
The team had a bit of break before fly-offs and took the time to hydrate, rest, take refuge in the shade and fuel up with fresh fruit and snacks. A shoutout is in order for Yael Kleefeld who showed the rest of us newbie supporters how to take care of the team by keeping us stocked with precious ice and fruit. I think many in the flying community have been fed a snack or two by her over the years. Watermelons are plentiful in North Macedonia and it just has to be said that every single peach was perfection and we ate tons of them.
Ittai shared his veteran skills, knowledge, and supplies with Reema and Adith as they prepared for the flyoffs. Together, Ittai and Tia assisted them with the winding of their motors and prepping their planes. It truly was a team effort! Soon enough, it was flyoff time. Both Reema and Adith had a great launches and flew well over 5 minutes but missed the 6 minute max time. It was a grand achievement for both flyers and both vowed to win it next time.
Another dinner at the hotel – by this point almost all dishes on the menu have been ordered and people were starting to reach their limit of salty cheeses, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
Friday, Aug. 9. F1P Day.
The last day of the competition and only one competitor, Emrick Smith, representing the USA. As the majority of team was finished with their competitions, the general mood was more relaxed and the entire team was ready to flap. Downtime was filled with finishing off the snacks and fruit supply and playing the NY Times online minigames (Connections was particularly tough that day).
Round 1, Emrick had a great launch but missed the max due to timer issues that resulted in only a 5 second motor run instead of the allowed 7 seconds. Round 2, Emrick launched and the entire team went out to flap to secure a max. Round 3, the first attempt was an overrun so Emrick got a second chance. He switched planes and got a giant max. Round 4 was an easy max for Emrick and luckily for his plane, it veered from its original course thereby avoiding landing in a field filled with cows. Round 5, Emrick had a great launch but due to timer issues experienced another short motor run and missed the max. Round 6 was a massive max. Flapping was unnecessary, but some flapping was done anyhow. Flapping is for the flappers. Emrick finished Round 7 with another huge max, garnering 3rd place overall for F1P! A great finish to the World Championship competitions!
The team donated their locally purchased gear to the Macedonian Team and headed back to the hotel to relax. The younger contingent and Coach Tim stayed in Krusevo and had dinner together in a restaurant in town and the older contingent and Coach Sevak headed to Prilep for their Beer Fest.
Saturday, Aug. 10.
The morning started off with a breakfast buffet in the hotel which was a nice change from the cheese sandwiches on the field. Then some local sightseeing. There was exploration of some of the shops and tasting of local candy (Krusevian lokum), visiting the Makedonium monument (a very space-aged looking building with modernist artforms representing the Ilinden Uprising on a hill overlooking the city), and watching paragliders launch themselves into the air to catch their own thermals (Krusevo is a top spot for paragliding in Europe).
The evening was the Closing Ceremony, Awards, and Banquet. We were thrilled to learn that Reema Bharadwaj won silver for women’s F1B and Tia Zheng won bronze for women’s F1B. Team USA (Adith Alagiri, Reema Bharadwaj, Ittai Kohavi, and Tia Zheng) won Gold for F1B. Emrick Smith won bronze for F1P. After the awards ceremony, all the competitors from all the teams got busy greeting each
other and making connections and trading tshirts and trinkets. This was a lot of fun and we saw kids trading shirts literally off their backs! The festive mood carried on with all the competitors getting on the dancefloor and dancing the night away together.
Sunday, Aug. 11.
One final breakfast all together and then everyone went their separate ways. It was quite a memorable adventure for all. For the younger competitors, they’ve identified areas in which to grow and have already made goals for the next world championships. For the older competitors, Anat and Ittai, they are about to embark on their biggest adventure yet – college (Harvard for Anat and MIT for Ittai)! We wish you both the best and hope you make all your dreams come true!
A BIG thank you to everyone in the flying community that has supported the team in one way or another. We are honored and humbled by your generosity.
It cannot be emphasized enough that all of this was made possible by the efforts of Team USA’s coaches, Sevak Malkhasyan and Tim Batiuk. They have a vision. They built a team from experienced free flight families as well as families just getting to know the sport. Tim and Sevak were able to spark and foster interest in the sport with their enthusiasm and tireless mentorship. Through their efforts, the juniors developed a high level of competency and achieved great success in the sport. Their continued efforts will help the sport to grow as a whole and engage a new generation of free flighters.
Editor’s comment.
This report appeared on FB under National Youth Aviation Academy – NYAA. And there it included some photos so if you are a FB or instagram person you can find those there.
This report from a Team family member is excellent because it not only covers the flying but everything else that goes around a World Champs and captures the spirit of the event and the team. We know the effort needed to report on an event like this so special thanks to Cathryn too for the excellent journalism
SEN #@%$ or 3253
Looks like the wires got crossed somewhere down the production of SEN 3253 and some of you got a SEN with some repeated info. Sorry about that.
Re: Q in SEN 3253
From Paul Seren
Hello Roger, some information to Arams questions to F1Q:
We just had 3 Worldcups in France. All of them were flown by 3J/g. Flyoffs with 2J/g.
Not all participants reached the Fly off due to thermal situation. Sometimes models from 150 m after engine run descended very rapidly.
Less the the half of competitors reached the Fly off.
But I also agree, that 2 J/g would be more challenging than the current rules.
My opinion: let us have a view to the World champs with the current rule. Do not change the rules now.
The adjustment could happen the Year after WC.
Paul
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Roger Morrell