Jury Report on 2012 Indoor Free Flight World Championship F1D for Seniors and Juniors

FAI Jury

Gerhard Wobbeking	GER	President
Srdjan Pelagic	SRB	Member
Mihail Zanciu	ROU	Member

Dates

August 8 to 13, 2012

Location

Belgrade, Serbia

Participation

The 2012 F1D World Championships for Seniors and Juniors were organised by the Aeronautical Union of Serbia as the executive organizer with Nikola Borovac as Contest Director. The event attracted 37 competitors from 16 nations in the senior category and 17 juniors out of seven national teams. Never before in history so many countries supported an F1D WCh! Seniors and juniors flew alongside within the 6 rounds, distributed to three days as usual.

Accommodation

Most teams found accommodation in Hotel “M”, which granted much better quality than the originally offered Hotel “N”, at the same price. And first time a contract had been made with the restaurant at the river Sava close by, which during the past years already had been visited privately by the competitors. It offered very good luncheons in fresh air and in a lovely holiday’s atmosphere and was place of the opulent banquet as well.

Flying site

For the fifth time Serbia was able to provide the big hall No. 1 of the Belgrade Fair. The huge building of the 60ties is an architectural concrete marvel in the shape of a lens, with a diameter of more than 100 meters. The flat centre of the ceiling offers a usable height of 27,5 meters; the construction pattern includes 5500 round windows to lighten the inside. Tables for the teams surround the floor which is lowered by one meter and free of any obstacles. Timekeepers have a perfect view from above. Competitors regard the big hall as the best Cat.III site known so far in the world. It is available for indoor events in August and will be venue for the European championships 2013. One drawback of the impressive building is the heat inside which may exceed the outside temperature. During the WCh the sky was often overcast, reducing the heat inside. Little drifts remain and made steering necessary to prevent models from hang-ups, causing several ruined flights.

Contest organisation and protests

There were both, a Team Managers’ meeting and a timekeepers’ meeting, all of which attended by the Jury. Most timekeepers were experienced with freeflight and very dedicated to their tasks. As it was not possible providing all 21 teams any time with one pair of timekeepers, organisation made use of 3.A.3.6 (Indoor Free Flight Organisers Guide): “Alternatively all timekeepers may be kept in a central pool and called forward as required for each competitor as he has been processed ready for flight.” That caused immediately a protest of the French Team Manager which was rejected by the Jury referring to the wording of SC4 Vol F1 Annex 3. After some grumbling of a few competitors at the beginning timekeeping went smoothly and correctly during the whole event and at the end, competitors said goodbye with a thankful applause. As the Contest Director was first time in that duty, the right places for the measurement systems for checking of models and rubber weight had to be determined with help of the Jury, basing of the experiences in the past, and the systems had to be adjusted. After that, they enabled a good work flow. The announcement system had some difficulties to be heard everywhere in the huge hall but caused no serious misunderstandings.

Schedule and Performance

In the past, competitors asked for flying late even during the night in order to avoid turbulence caused by sunshine. That led to difficulties in the organisation as timekeepers weren’t able to catch their last train or bus home. In 2012, the bulletins (2 were published) stated official flights between 9 and 13 h and between 15 and 19 h. The results of the afternoon flights were definitely better on average, but the statistic might be influenced as well by the improvement of the trimming of the models during the day. Lutz Schramm flew both winning flights in round 3 and 4 within one day, gaining three world records. Several national records for Cat.III sites were achieved as well, for instance British and Australian ones.

Opening and Closing Ceremonies

A nice opening ceremony took place outside the hall, with groups performing traditional Serbian dances. To avoid a prize giving in the dark, the closing ceremony took place within the hall. All three perpetual trophies could be awarded; even the Langley Cup for the best Senior team, that had been missed since 2008, appeared. It needs repairing and went back to the United States.

Conclusion

FAI owes to thank the Aeronautical Union of Serbia and especially their President Labud Bulatovic for a great event. International Championships in Exhibition Hall 1 in Belgrade will remain a highlight in history of free flight indoor.