F1D Team Trials
by Don Slusarczyk
don@slusarczyk.com
The USA F1D Team Trials were held June 24-26, 2017, at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Those who qualified for the team selection program had the opportunity to fly in the finals and vie for a position on the US team that will compete in the 2018 F1D World Championship for Indoor Model Aircraft. The championship will be held in the atrium of the West Baden Springs Hotel in West Baden, Indiana, in March 2018.
The Team Trials are flown in a three-day format with three rounds per day (nine total rounds) and the best two flights are scored. This year, the scores for the rounds were posted live online, allowing those who did not attend to keep track of the flight times and team placements as they were happening.
I was unable to attend, so I had the web page open on my cellphone the entire time, checking to see how the contest was going. Thanks to Jake Palmer for setting that up and for working with the university to prepare the site to host the Team Trials.
After three days of competition, the 2018 team emerged. In first place, with a two-flight total of 56:05, was Brett Sanborn, who has been on the F1D team in previous years. In second place, only 17 seconds behind, was Jake Palmer. This is Jake’s first time on the Senior F1D team. He was on the Junior F1D team in 1986. John Kagan, who is a past F1D world champion and has also been on the team several times, came in third place.
The team selection was not only for the adults, but also for the Junior F1D team. The members of the 2018 Junior F1D team are Joseph Szczur, Ross Clements, and Chris Luo. The Junior and Senior F1D teams will join Yuan Kang Lee (the current defending World Champion) at West Baden for the upcoming World Championships.
Rules Change Proposals
The time for new Indoor Free Flight (FF) rules proposals is at hand. The AMA is accepting rules proposal changes from now until March 15, 2018.
The proposals that are accepted will be for changes that will go into effect in the 2019-2020 rule book. The AMA website has an online form for submitting proposals, as well as a printable form that can be mailed to AMA Headquarters.
Contest Board Updates
The Indoor Contest Board has gone through some changes throughout the past year. The main difference is that longtime chairman, Walt Van Gorder, who has been the District III representative since I have been flying Indoor FF, has stepped down from that position. Thanks to Walt for his many years of service to the Indoor FF community.
Walt’s departure left a void in District III, along with a previous void in District II. The District II position was filled by Tom Iacobellis. The District III position has been filled by none other than your “Free Flight Indoor” columnist!
After the Indoor FF Contest Board was full again, a new chairman was elected. I am proud to say that I was elected as the new chairman. I hope to serve the Indoor community well throughout the upcoming years.
One of the chairman’s duties is to approve Indoor FF records as they are set. This got me thinking about having an easily accessible online collection of the currently existing Indoor record-setting aircraft designs. There are more than 200 existing Indoor records, and the price for having the AMA copy records at $5 apiece is cost prohibitive.
I am asking the Indoor community for help in creating this record-setting collection. If anyone has set an AMA Indoor record (no matter how long ago it was) and that record is still current in the AMA National Records listing, please send a copy or a scan of your three-view aircraft drawing so that it can be stored in digital format. The goal is to have them available on the Indoor News and Views website for download.
Updates on Flying Sites
A few months ago, I was copied in on an email from EAA’s Bob Campbell regarding the removal of a fan from the Eagle Hangar at the EAA facility in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This unit has been the bane of many modelers who attend the EAA Family Flight Fest at the EAA Aviation Museum. With its wire mesh guards, it was a model magnet. At more than 40 feet in the air, it is difficult to retrieve any model unfortunate enough to get stuck on top of it.
Larry Loucka’s Mashup model was the latest catch during the last EAA Flight Fest, held March 18-19, 2017. The model was left behind because he was unable to retrieve it, but it is now safe, and the offending fan is gone! Thanks to the EAA for going that extra mile to accommodate modelers.
Mike Kirda reported that he moved some of the lights in a large center section of Hangar #3 at the Rantoul National Aviation Center, in Rantoul,
Illinois, to produce a better area for ceiling bumping. My dad and I attended a June contest there, and the open area made a difference. Mike has also added some LED lighting to illuminate that space, as well as above the areas where tables are set up.
