PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE
FAI COMPETITION TAKES CENTER STAGE IN THE US
By Rich Hanson, AMA President | richh@modelaircraft.org
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESSFUL 2024 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) F2 World Championships for Control Line Model Aircraft, held at the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) in Muncie, Indiana, a dedicated troop of electric motor glider enthusiasts, led by Steve Manganelli, planned and held the 2024 F5B World Championship for Electric Model Aircraft. Hosted by the Southwest Soaring Society (SWSS), the event was held November 8-15, 2024, in Maricopa, Arizona.
F5B is one of a host of competitive events that have blossomed in the past few years with advancements in LiPo batteries and electric motor technology, and the enthusiasm for the Multitask Electric Motor Glider event is no exception. Steve and his organizing committee are to be commended for spearheading interest in this exceptional aeromodeling discipline and bringing the world championship event to AMA and the US. The following was provided by Steve:
Saving F5B
The FAI competition class F5B, Multitask Electric Motor Glider, has evolved into a 150 mph blast straight up in 2 seconds, a glide between two parallel planes 150 meters apart for 200 seconds, and then a 10-minute glider duration ending in a spot landing. The 2024 F5B World Championship was held in Maricopa, home of the SWSS, last November.
The previous F5B World Championship was held in Japan in 2018. The 2020 competition was lost to COVID, and the team wasn’t yet ready for 2022. In between, we lost our connection to Electric Pylon Racing (now F3E), which sided with F3D (engine-powered Pylon Racing), and that had mixed effects. Now, any field large enough to run an F5B Glider event was big enough, but half of the revenue to support the infrastructure was lost. Our community was apprehensive about going it alone!
We were hoping that a Western European bid for a world championship would materialize in the spring of 2023, but since none did, we knew the class was subject to FAI decertification if no world championship was held in six years. The US contingent, consisting of Artie Means, Lenny Keer, Steve Neu, Jeff Keesaman, and myself, considered what it would take to put on a US F5B-only event.
We had the combined Glider/Pylon Racing World Championships in 2000 and 2010, the latter at the IAC in Muncie. Although Muncie has administrative resources and other advantages, the contest official staffing was problematic.
We knew of a dedicated glider flying site with an enthusiastic group in the suburban Phoenix area with a field named the Silent Wings Ranch. We connected with club officials (who were agreeable) and made the 350-mile scouting trek from San Diego after Christmas 2023. After several Distance course placements and minding the sun (which needed to be at our backs), we settled on a course that placed the far turn plane roughly 200 feet into the adjoining desert scrub.
Fortunately, site owner and RC modeler Justin Rizor had access to the lot and used his tractor to mow down a sight line. We also surveyed club-owned tents, chairs, tables, outhouses, and the other things that we could borrow at no cost.
With a field in hand, a bid to the FAI was made, and eventually, enough participants/countries registered to conduct a recognized world championship. I have to thank AMA’s Colleen Pierce, who helped me through all of the administrative details, including official bulletins, accepting the entry fees in foreign currencies, and paying my bills to the FAI in Swiss francs!
While my partners worried about their airplanes, I worried about trophies, souvenirs, flagpoles, caterers, national anthems, sighting devices, the official program, and more tents, tables, and chairs. We had it all so, thanks to Artie Means, and we filled up a U-Haul trailer in San Diego and brought it with us.
Our goal of having the Distance course erected on November 6 was met as promised. On November 7, the teams piled in for Distance course practice as the tents, chairs, and tables were deployed in anticipation of the two-day, four-round Silent Wings Open precontest, which preceded
opening ceremonies and the eight-round world championship. Austria’s Karl Wasser landed on top of the podium, followed closely by Switzerland’s Thomas Waeckerlin and Germany’s Heiko Greiner. The stage was set for the event, and what a performance we had!
Each round is normalized to 1,000 points, with the worst round dropped after three rounds. At the conclusion of Round Seven, with 6,000 points possible, Heiko led Thomas by just 0.1 point! With reverse-rank flight order, Heiko and Thomas would be the last two pilots to fly Round Eight, each scoring the same 49 laps in Distance. Both were in the air at the same time in Duration.
After both pilots made their 10 minutes and stuck their landings, a slight difference in penalized motor time allowed Thomas to overtake Heiko and win the contest by 3-1/2 points! Karl filled the individual podium in third place.
In the Team category, Switzerland was on top, followed by Team Germany and Team Australia, the latter including Junior Owen Sokolov, whose flying skill surpassed an adult on the team. The US team finished respectively in 11th, 15th, 18th, and 22nd places, finishing fourth in the Team competition. (See www.gliderscore.com for details.)
The trophies and medals were handed out at the closing banquet, which was held at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Resort, with accolades to the winners and hypothesis for the location of the next F5B World Championship.
With local infrastructure and resources, an F5B-only world championship is financially viable (with a little help from NeuMotors; thanks, Steve Neu).
I want to recognize my wife, Michelle, who officiated all 12 rounds of both contests at the BASE A Distance course, the most critical officiating position in the contest. Thanks to camp host and six-day timer Phil Brister (on the cover of the November 2024 Model Aviation); timer Jim; site owner and gracious purveyor of chow and dust control, Justin Rizor; SWSS President Ken Becker; jurors Narve Jensen and Jim Allen; plus a cadre of others.
Keep ’em safe, keep ’em flying, and continue to enjoy this great hobby!
