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The British Team this year is Mark Christy, Dave Wilshere and Mark Tilbury, with Peter Christy as Team Manager. Mark C has won practically everything in sight this year, including the F3C at the British Nationals in August.
Peter Christy, Team Manager for the British Team, is sending us regular reports with photographs. We'll put these up on a daily basis if possible, so by the time the competition is finished we should have a complete report on line.
Peter Christy's christy@ibm.net (Pictures are linked to larger versions)
This morning the hire cars arrived, and I now know that hell is driving in Ankara. Compounded by an engine that cuts every time you lift your foot off the throttle, this has nearly led me to a nervous breakdown. However, we may be better off than the Americans, as they landed in Istanbul on Tuesday, intending to drive to Ankara. They must be mad - this is being written on Wednesday night and they still haven't arrived here. Perhaps they are still in Customs; the Finnish team apparently had their models impounded for three days, and it took the Japanese nearly all night to get their models through customs. We've just heard that an Austrian entrant has had his models impounded, and we have also heard of one competitor (who had better remain anonymous!) who managed to get his models through by liberally sprinkling $100 bills about!
Mark Tilbury (right) suggesting that Mark Christy is rabbiting (talking) too much... The non-appearance of the Americans has caused problems for Dave Wilshere and Mark Tilbury, as they are relying on the Americans for their fuel. We have managed to buy some Byron (American) fuel locally, but at a cost of $50 US per gallon - and that's an undersized US gallon, not Imperial. It seems to work OK, though it smokes a lot! (24% oil)
Thick plume of smoke from the Byron fuel with 24% oil
A gathering of X-Cells, with Dave Wilshere's distinctive canopy decoration Using the Byron fuel, Mark Christy has managed to get some preliminary setting up done. Mark Tilbury finally succumbed to temptation, and ran a couple of tanks through his spare machine. Interest amongst local flyers has been high. There is a Turkish team, and the two members we have met are flying Hirobo Tsurugis. One of the photos show the two Marks with a Turkish team member. A third photo shows the UK X-Cell contingent discussing momentous issues with other competitors, with Mark Christy in the background fuelling his Eagle.
The Tarmac being laid on top of nice short grass Finally, as we were practising today, the organisers decided to lay some asphalt for the flight lines. This despite the site being fairly level short grass! Perhaps they don't have mowers out here.......
Things are looking up! The Americans arrived today with fuel for Mark Tilbury and Dave Wilshere. Everybody is now happy except Wayne Mann, whose models are still in limbo somewhere in Germany.
The local flyers are extremely hospitable, and have been doing everything possible to assist. One of them managed to find a practice site for the Americans away from the crowded official site. In return for the loan of some equipment, we were invited along to share.
Dwight Schilling (US) working on his helicopter
Mark Christy working on his Eagle The practice site is a bit of motorway, currently under construction, but aside from the odd stray cow or inquisitive construction worker, it is well isolated. Both the Americans and ourselves have managed to get quite a bit of practice in today - it's amazing what you can achieve when you don't have to worry about the other flyers and frequency control. Tonight (Thursday) at the hotel, various other teams have arrived including the Swiss, the Swedes, and an Australian (36 hours travelling......he looked shattered) It is going to be busy at the site tomorrow!
The Americans setting up a square on the motorway(!) The traffic remains a nightmare, but the hire car company have changed our car for one that keeps going. This has eased the strain considerably.
Things are beginning to look up...
Sunday - September 7 (official practice day)
Team practice has gone well. Mark Tilbury in particular has improved considerably over his performances earlier in the season, and is running neck and neck with Mark Christy. Team spirits are high, and tomorrow the competition starts in earnest.
There are a remarkable number of juniors flying in this event. A junior by definition is under 18 at the start of the year. This group includes Mark Christy, Scott Gray from Canada, Juan P.Esterlizi of Argentina, Javier Valdeolmos of Spain, and a young man from Finland aged only 14! (I'll get his name tomorrow) Despite the achievements of these youngsters, the FAI is refusing to sanction a separate Junior classification. They weren't even aware that there were any juniors competing, which makes you wonder why we fill in so many forms...
Official practice was interesting. The Japanese look very strong, and must be favourites for the team prize. The Americans are patchy. When they are good, they are very, very good, but some of the team seem to be struggling for consistency. Some famous European names are looking very uncertain with the new schedule, and we could well see some new names coming to the fore this time round. Naturally we hope that some of them will be British, but only time will tell.
Sensui of Japan is running a new engine made by JR ( Is there nothing this company doesn't make?) (Ed: Yes, a gyro with Heading Lock!) and it provides ballistic performance. Most of the models here would be familiar to British pilots, but the new Kalts being flown by Wayne Mann look very promising, and have some interesting design features.
Hopefully I'll be able to post the round one placings late Monday evening.
Monday - September 8 (competition day 1)
Mark Christy is happy with his score, but even one of the judges said that neither Graber nor Bennsteiner should have beaten/equalled him. Bernnsteiner nearly crashed. (Ed: Readers will note that Peter could be biased! :-) )
Mark Tilbury was harshly judged following an engine stammer. He flew much better than his score indicates and should have been higher. Dave Wilshere was generously scored - even he was surprised to be placed that high!
The Japanese are completely dominating the event with two pilots scoring over 300 points, and the third only just short of the magic 300.
Peter Christy
To Be Continued
We hope for more results tomorrow (Tuesday September 9), but in the meantime, good work Peter.
Well done to all the Teams, but of course, particularly to the British contingent. Keep it up lads!!
Wayne Mann practising, with Curtis in the background. Mark Tilbury and his model... ... and at the hover. Tuesday - September 9 - (Second round)
Good rounds by Hashimoto and Sensui keep Curtis out of the top slot. The Japanese are definitely the class act of this Championship, with the Americans struggling to keep up. Dwight Shilling was much improved on this round.
Mark Christy is a bit disappointed, as most observers felt today's round was better than yesterday's. The judges obviously didn't agree! Percentage is better than Monday, as the winning scores were lower, but some of the middle rank pilots managed to pull good rounds out of the hat, overtaking him.Scott Gray managed to slip past by 1 point, but Mark was a bit late with his roll, usually one of his better manouevres.Can Mark fight back? Watch this space!
Dave Wilshere had a good round spoilt when he completely blew the pull-back. This was traced to the model having been set up to do it in the other direction. This has now been sorted! Mark Tilbury had a miserable round, and was clearly very uncomfortable in the air. However, tomorrow is another day, and it ain't over till the fat lady sings!
... and thanks to Peter again for his continuing reports. We've had some complimentary email too, thanks for those. :-)
The Argentine team discussing the finer points of Hirobo Eagles with
Mark ChristyOnly a short update tonight as the organizers have failed to photocopy the round 3 full list, and we have to be up at 4.30 tomorrow morning (Thursday) - we're flying very early!
Round 3 UK placings for today were, 10th (Mark Christy), 12th (Mark Tilbury) and 29th (Dave Wilshere). The first 9 places included 4 Americans, 3 Japanese, 1 Swiss & 1 German. Scott
Gray of Canada was 11th. Curtis won the round with Hashimoto 2nd.
Dave Wilshere hovering at the official practice on Sunday Mark Christy chilling out before his official practice - a millenium ago on Sunday The British team had a much better day today. Mark Christy needed a good round to stand a chance of getting to the fly-off, and managed a good score. He was beaten only by the Americans, Japanese, Patrick Kessler of Switzerland and Johann Hoenle of Germany. He managed to beat both Daniel Graber and Scott Gray by a comfortable margin.
Mark Tilbury had a much better day. He seems to have finally shaken off the engine problem that has been plagueing him since he got here. He managed a very presentable 12th place, despite a strong wind, and is much happier tonight. Dave Wilshere is still languishing in the doldrums. He was unlucky today, as the wind sprang up just as he went to fly, which did him no favours.
Curtis has finally won a round, and his score of 310 comfortably beat Hashimoto's 303. Wayne Mann also had a good round, beating Kobayashi.
After 3 rounds, we now have enough data to work out a provisional order, so here are the first 15 places:
Third Round Scores & Provisional Placings
Mark Christy needs another good round to be sure of a place in the fly-off. He can't afford any mistakes. Mark Tilbury has a mathematical chance of making the fly-off, but will really have to pull a stormer out of the hat to do it!
After the days flying, young Javier Valdeolmos of Spain (17 yrs old) put on a stunning 3D display with his CSM equipped Futura. He is currently laying 48th overall, but has a lot of talent. He is clearly more at home doing 3D than FAI. His sideways Cuban-8 and looping-loop were particularly noteable.....Bob Johnston, watch out!
And finally, some pictures of Wednesday's Round
Hashimoto in the ready box The fuselage'd Eagles of Stefano Lucci (Italy) Mark Christy waiting in the ready box Mike & Mary Farnan (Australia) Mark Tilbury flying, watched by judges and me (team manager) V.P.Mutovaara (Finland), only 14 yrs old
Thursday September 11 - Fourth (and last) Round
The Turkish pilots & assistants A brief explanation of the Normalised Scoring System
The winner of each round is awarded 1000 marks, and the following pilots a percentage of that 1000. So if the winner of the round scores 315 points, every score is multiplied by a factor of 1000/315. For example, Hashimoto has won 3 out of 4 rounds so he carries the maximum of 1000 points through to the fly-off. The 3 fly-off rounds are also normalised to 1000 points for the winner, and taken with the results from the preliminary rounds. Of the 4 x 1000 point totals, each pilot throws away the worst round, and the remaining three are used to calculate the winner.
4 of the 5 juniors: Esterlizi (Argentina), Christy (Great Britain) Gray (Canada) & Murtovaara (Finland) Paddle/stiffeners on the Dutch Futuras Team Results and Overall Placings after Round 4
Hirobo pilots and their machines (Ed: Well, who'd have guessed that Mark Christy flies Hirobo machines... :-) ) Ed: Tomorrow (Friday) sees 3 more rounds in the Fly-Off, so we'll all be out of our misery then, but I won't get to bed any earlier!
Friday September 12 - Flyoff day
Well, the World Champs are over, and we have a new World Champion. Hashimoto of Japan, flying a Hirobo Eagle, won the title with a narrow victory over Curtis Youngblood, with Sensui taking third place. Beyond that it gets more complex, as the official results for round 3 had glaring errors in the arithmetic, and had to be returned for a recount! Mark Christy came in 11th, a first class performance for a 17 year old flying his first World Championship.
Mark Christy (left) and Peter Christy, Father and Team Manager, pictured at the UK's Hirobo Cup recently. The two models are almost identical Hirobo Eagle II's with `EX' upgrades, though the models are not to full `EX' specification. Mark uses the OS61SXH - WC, running on 20% Nitro Formula Irvine fuel with the ubiquitous Hatori 666 muffler. Main blades are the popular Miniature Aircraft carbon fibre `tapered symmetricals', 69 cm in length. Radio gear starts with the JR PCM10SX, and uses 4231 servos on the aileron, elevator and throttle. The more powerful 4000 servo controls the collective, with a 2700 servo/3000 gyro on the tail rotor (with `EX' blades). The flying of the Japanese pilots can only be described as brilliant. During the final round, the crowd got right behind Hashimoto, cheering and appauding every manouevre. Curtis' style seems very odd with the new schedule. Whilst it it technically correct it looks odd, and is not particularly pleasant to watch.
The Japanese completely dominated the event, and whilst the Americans were pretty good, they lacked the consistency of the Japanese. The Swiss and German teams were also strong, with Kessler of Switzerland particularly impressive.
Both Graber and Hoenle received zeroes in the first flyoff round for performing the 180 degree pirouettes on the triangle in the same direction. Mark Christy steadily improved throughout the flyoffs, but not by quite enough to make the top ten. In the course of the contest he managed to beat a number of big names, including Dwight Shilling (twice) and Wayne Mann (once). He also managed to score two 9.5s in one round. Although these were eliminated as the highest scores, it remains no mean achievement at this level. Dwight Shilling was awarded a 10 for one manouevre (auto, I think), again, quite an achievement!
The Brazilian Team The new JR engine in Sensui's model
For Mark Christy, it was his first time flying the "B" schedule in front of judges. His first round was a little shaky, but under the tutorship of Mark Tilbury and dad, Pete Christy, his scores steadily improved, and his final round was the best he has ever flown, beating some big names in the process. Unfortunately it was too late to improve his overall standing, but to beat people like Danny Graber at your first World Champs is no mean achievement.
Soren Ostergaard of Denmark Mark Christy being
interviewed by EurosportsAfter the main presentation, a special unofficial presentation was made to the five Junior pilots flying at the WCs. Despite the enormous amount of form filling prior to the Champs, both the FAI and the local organizers seemed unaware that there were any juniors flying here, and when they were made aware, were unwilling to do anything about it - I found this incredible! Any other sport that found itself with 5 juniors flying in a World Championship contest would shout it from the rooftops, but our beloved FAI didn't even want to acknowledge they existed. We therefore organized a `whip round', with each team contributing 1 million Turkish Lira (about 4 quid or $6!). This raised about 100 pounds in total, enough to buy some mementos for the juniors. In addition, each received a card signed by all the pilots in the fly-off, and were presented with their trophies by the new World Champion Hashimoto, outgoing World Champ, Cliff Hiatt, Curtis Youngblood and Sensui.
Hashimoto on the podium with Curtis & Sensui waving a Hirobo flag signed by all the Hirobo pilots in the contest The Junior pilots . L-R Javier Valdeolmos (Spain), Mark Christy (Great Britain), Scott Gray (Canada), Juan Esterlizi (Argentina), and kneeling in the foreground 14 yr old Vescu Mutovaara (Finland) Returning to the hotel for the formal presentations and banquet, we were first herded out to the swimming pool to listen to incomprehensible and interminable speeches, and then crammed into a tiny area for what seemed like hours, to await the banquet. They wouldn't even open the bar! Since most of us had been up since 5 am, tempers were running pretty high. Eventually the Brits could stand it no longer, and left for McDonalds, followed shortly after by the Americans. As the evening wore on, a steady stream of competitors trickled down from the banquet to McDonalds 'till in the end, the banquet must have been deserted!
The British, Americans and a couple of Scandinavians boycotting
the official banquet, and eating in McDonalds!The World Champs are now over and all that remains is to pack the models up and head for home. At least we don't have to be up at sunrise tomorrow...
Pete Christy.
Not only are Peter, Mark and the models back safely, but I met up with them just a couple of days after their return and collected a load more photographs. I've selected 15 to put online, have a look via this link
W3MH Home Page
Copyright Lance Electronic Publishing & Peter Christy 1997
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