The F4C Scale World Championships 

A Personal Perspective

Having made the UK Scale Team (I really do not know how!) I thought I would share the experience of competing at international level with you. You will have read more general reports in the modelling media so rather than repeat all of that I thought I might take a more personal perspective and relate the bits that did not make the media, including some of the more contentious issues that arose!

The journey got off to an awful start before we even got onto the ferry! Somehow, we managed to elect ourselves for security checks and were directed into a large shed full off uniforms. I could only suspect they thought we were smuggling some UK refugees out to mainland Europe so they could get better medical treatment, education and benefits! The young lady inspected the back of the car but before I could stop her grabbed hold of the tailplane of the Pup and gave it a smart tug upwards. Why she did this I have no idea but my strangled cry of “Please, don’t do that!” was too late and there was an ominous crack!

No apology at all, so cursing Dover’s security staff we set off. The journey was  uneventful (except one of the cars broke down in Germany and had be swapped for another) until we hit the Polish roads. Now they have a strange and unnerving way of overtaking. The main roads are 4 lanes wide but two of these are hard shoulders so leaving a basic single carriageway road up the centre. Because the roads are so busy, to overtake there are two choices: either hurtle up to the guy in front with the intention of ramming him so forcing him onto the hard shoulder or pull out into the opposite carriageway and force the oncoming cars onto the opposite hard shoulder! In spite of the apparent dangers, it seemed to work – that was until four lorries were abreast when one of them ended up in a field! Needless to say we did not partake in this ridiculous game although we found ourselves unwilling victims on several occasions.

The Polish organisation was excellent and the reception astounding. A full size flypast and display by the Polish “Red Arrows” and Poliparkov 2 roaring overhead at very low level opened the proceedings. Although the speeches were protracted, they included the Minister of Sport relaying a message from the Polish Prime Minister, which indicates the level of commitment they have to these events. Also, they closed down the airbase operations for us so we were not interrupted; can you imagine a front line RAF unit doing that?

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I decided to opt for a practice flight but prior to doing that we thoroughly checked the back end of the Pup to try and track down the source of the cracking noise from when the aircraft was mishandled in Dover. However, in spite of our efforts we could find nothing wrong which was really disconcerting, as something had definitely given up.

The practice flight was undertaken in very turbulent conditions and it was dreadful. Nerves were already starting to get frayed! Graham Kennedy, the team manager, was under the impression that lack of power from the OS Gemini was not helping and consequently, we re-tuned the engine in just enough time to check it out before our allocated time expired. It was a lot better on the second flight although the model still seemed very twitchy for some reason which I put down to my fingers or maybe undiscovered damage?

The following day none of us were flying so we took advantage of the copious quantities of free beer and Polish vodka at the evening BBQ. Incidentally, Polish vodka is not permitted for export due to its strength! The organisers had arranged a singing competition between the teams and their supporters. Following much discussion we decided to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” headed up by Neil Tidey of Laser Engines. The result was judged clapometer style and when it came to us the applause was deafening and we didn’t even cheer ourselves! Clear winners although that was the only thing we were to win. A rendition of Ilkley Moor followed this on the way home, which was joined in by the Russian team who oddly enough knew the words!

Dave Knott was first off from the UK team with his Hurricane and we were all disappointed with his score. It appeared to be a very solid flight but the judges thought otherwise. This trend of quirky judging occurred throughout the competition and caused a lot of adverse comment. Some erratic flights scored well and some good flights scored badly. One of the competitors took off with a Tx switch in the wrong position resulting in him having an excess of down elevator. His flight was reminiscent of a roller coaster ride and even he was surprised by the generosity of his flight score, which indicated the judges were blind, incompetent or corrupt!

My first flight was preceded by me trying to get my nerves and heart under control. Then disaster struck just as I was preparing to fly! I switched on the Tx followed by the flight pack only to witness all of the servos run to their extremities before centring but not before there was the distinct sound of servo gears stripping. The rudder servo sounded awful but was still operating so I made the decision to go. Had it been any other control I would have not flown but nevertheless, was still conscious that I was taking a risk with the aircraft. Strangely, after take off and the level flight manoeuvre I forgot about everything and had no problems with nerves.

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However, as soon as the flight was over the adrenaline kicked in and my hands were shaking so much that I could barely control them. The rudder servo was also in the same state by then – barely controlling the rudder! I was a bit disappointed with my flight score but it was a solid start and given that I was flying at an international competition was reasonably content with it. We never found out why the servos ran to their extremities and it has not happened since.

My second flight, following a change of the rudder servo, was undertaken in the pouring rain, along with the other competitors flying on that day, in spite of our protests that is was unsafe to do so. The organisation would not budge stating there was nothing in the FAI Sporting Code about flying in the rain; wind and visibility yes, but not rain. This brought the riposte from the Australian team manager: “It also says nothing about bloody bush fires but we use our common sense!” However, common sense did not prevail and we had to fly or lose the round.

Oddly enough this round produced some of the best flight scores, including my own. Although raining it was relatively calm with no turbulence at all. I thought my flight to be one of the best I have ever done in my life and was very disappointed to hear that it had only gone up by some 50 points on my previous score of 1401. However, I took solace in that I had got another solid mark to go towards the team score and there was always round 3 to improve things as the worst flight is dropped.

In the meantime the static judging was underway and I was called up. This is where my problems really started and were to have repercussions for my third flight. The chief static judge would not believe that my 3 views were accredited published drawings (although I produced the originals) and said my model could not be judged! The FAI jury intervened and corrected him although by then he had lost his Mediterranean composure and consequently his irritability was reflected in my static score, which was dreadful. This really knocked the team score back. I accept that the model has its faults and it was clear that the build standard and engineering was not to the top models’ standard, but nevertheless felt harshly treated.

Once again, there were questions asked by a number of the teams about the static judges’ abilities. We heard on the grapevine that they would never be used again but if it was true it was too little and too late. There was also a huge delay between the completion of the static judging and the issuing of the results during which some results were “corrected” as a result of a “computer error” although this was not satisfactorily explained to the team managers. Was it coincidence that all of the corrected results were corrected upwards and favoured the famous names? This left a very sour taste within the majority of teams.

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Unfortunately, I did not discover what my static mark was until just before I was due to fly in the third round. In this situation, my feelings work one of two ways: either I perform really well or things go to rats! I started the flight with grim determination that it was going to be the very best flight ever and concentrated like mad. The take off run was terrific, the climb out straight and then I started to turn right instead of left. A panic prompt from Graham, who was calling for me, sorted the situation but it really rattled me that I had made such a stupid mistake and this showed in the rest of my flight. It was awful but surprisingly it only scored 100 points or so less than my best flight. Notwithstanding, I felt I had really let the team down and it was the lowest moment of the week for me.

Other areas of controversy throughout the week.

The winner’s model was weighed after its last flight and found to be overweight. This led to formal protests being entered by several teams although the UK team stayed out of this on the grounds there was no need to get involved. Clearly, the model had been overweight throughout but only the last flight was disqualified on the basis that it had only been weighed after the last flight. This decision was protested by the same teams who had submitted the first protest but not surprisingly was rejected by those very people who were being protested against! There were rumours that an appeal would go to the FAI but I have heard no more on this.

Another area of controversy which caused mayhem was that it was announced at the team managers’ initial meeting that if a model was aerobatic it would not be permitted to fly the non aerobatic options and that the judges would strictly enforce this. This rule has been around as long as I can recall but has not always been as strictly implemented as should have been. Confusion ensued.

Two aircraft were zeroed on many of their manoeuvres including the Czech Avro 504K, which was deemed as aerobatic by the judges although it had always been flown as a non-aerobatic aircraft in previous international competitions. The Czechs went absolutely ape and the UK Team ended up getting the blame for it! We asked the Czechs why this was so and they said they were told by the Chief Flying Judge that the UK team had protested. This was not so (although we all secretly believed the Avro to be areobatic and agreed with the judges) and the Chief Judge denied he had said this. Anyway, a diplomatic incident was thankfully averted and we all ended up friends over Polish vodka.

However, a couple of aerobatic aircraft still opted to fly non-aerobatic options and got away with it. This caused even more noise from the Czech team who stated they would not be attending international championships in future.

Finally, the last bit of controversy was when the head of the FAI Jury congratulated “nearly all” of the teams for their sportsmanlike behaviour in his closing speech. Clearly, this was targeted at the teams who protested the overweight model and the FAI Jury. This caused even more upset and I believe one of the teams boycotted the banquet as a result.

In spite of the trials and tribulations it was a terrific week on the social front and we made a lot of new friends. Entertainment from the folk singers and (Pole?) dancers accompanied by traditional folk instruments was second to none and the Polish National Opera and an ensemble selected from their national orchestra entertained us at the closing banquet. The fireworks display closed off a splendid evening.

Would I go again? At this time I am reluctant to repeat the experience but time will tell.

The first reason is very much a personal one; I found the stress and responsibility of competing as part of a team too much. Letting just yourself down is far easier and I now know what it must be like if you drop the baton in a relay race! The second is that the international scene is at best inept and it requires a huge overhaul. Not surprisingly, I am not the first to discover this and it goes a long way in probably explaining why some of the famous UK scale flyers no longer compete at international level.

Notwithstanding, I will still continue to compete nationally and will continue to enjoy my flying – after all that is what it is really all about!

Mike Goldby

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P.S.    I have since stripped the back end of the Pup to determine the cause of the “crack”. It was just a fuselage diagonal brace that had sprung at one end.