FAI Free Flight World Cup 2024

1. Allard van Wallene (NED)

2. Adam Krawiec (POL)

3. Tereza Vosejpkova (CZE)

Advance information

Facebook (SPZG Cup, Antoon van Eldik Memorial) and internet site http://freeflight-krosno.vxm.pl

Schedule of competition

5 rounds + 1 altimeter fly off the next morning.

Duration of rounds

60 minutes followed by 30 minutes break. Fly off in F1A and F1B, 4 minutes max and altimeter due to high wind speeds and risk of models hitting downwind wind turbines or farm. R1 9.00-10.00, R2 10.30-11.30, R3 12.00-13.00, R4 14.00-15.00, R5 15.30-16.30, FO next day 07.30/07.45

Breaks between rounds

30 minutes

Maximum durations in each round

First 2 rounds for F1A,B and Q was 180 seconds, rounds 3 and 4 150 seconds and 240 seconds for round 5 to allow maximum use of the field.

Interruptions and delays

30 minutes break from 13.30 to 14.00 for serving of free soup and bread

Weather and visibility

The morning conditions were cold (5 C) with max. 5 m/s. Temperature rose to 12 C. Cloudy all day. Wind increased to 9 m/s after round 2.

Flight line - changes of position

None.

Number of starting poles

F1A: 12, F1B 6 and F1Q: 4, F1C: 1

Number of competitors per pole

Maximum 6 per pole

Local rules or deviations from Sporting Code

Deviations from the Sporting Code: No official timekeepers.

Observations on timekeeping

The organisers have tried to comply with sporting code rule F1.2.1b, where it is mandatory to have two timekeepers per flight. For this, each group consisted of 6 pilots. Two pilots were allowed to start in parallel with the remaining 4 pilots acting as time keepers. The models could then be retrieved during the half an hour breaks. However, it turned out in practice, this rule could not be enforced. The following scenarios could occur:
-1 pilot retires, doesn't find his model in time, has some repairs to do or other irregular events making this ilot being absent from the starting pole. This means only 5 pilots are left. With three pilots being occupied for a single flight (1 flyer, two timekeepers), the two other pilots would not be able to fly in parallel due to a lack of sufficient timekeepers.
-any group with less than 6 pilots would face the same issues.
In conclusion, this rule can't be used when there are no official timekeepers available and was therefore not enforced. Furthermore, there is also a lack of capacity to check if all flights were made by the rules, in particular those made with just a single timekeeper. As a result, mistakes are being made, most times 'to the benefit of the pilot'.

Prize-giving and issue of results - confirm organisers provide results with full names, nationalities and number of juniors

On-field results posted on large manual scoreboard. Pictures of scoreboard posted on Facebook. Prize giving Sunday after the competitions.

Any incident or accident

One pilot's altimeter (Tomasz Jeziorny) did not record a graph although upon checking its functionality it appeared to be functional. This pilot then used the M&K electronic timer altimeter to convince the contest director to use the altitude from this uncertified device. The jury had to correct his result to zero, as this is not compliant with the sporting code.

Protests

No protests