Scale competitions, like other sports, have their own Super Bowl. The 2024 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft is the Super Bowl for RC and Control Line (CL) Scale around the world.
The US hadn’t sent a team for the past 12 years; however, in the past few years, National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA) President Mike Barbee, as well as Allen Goff took up the torch to bring the US team to the World Championships, with teams in F4B CL Scale, F4H RC Scale, and one entry in F4C. F4C is what I call "Museum Scale," and it is the top of all of the different classes. The team selection for 2024 was held last year at the 2023 AMA Scale Nats, where the team and new team manager, Steve Eagle, were chosen.
Ploieşti, Romania, was this year’s location, which was also the location for the 2016 World Championships. Team USA started preparing more than two years before, choosing the team and raising money, including through sponsors, to be able to afford to attend. After the team was selected, they also continued to work on their documentation, which is step one when building and flying a competition model. Raising money for the team was a monumental effort, considering the US sent a team of seven modelers and the team manager.
In F4H and F4B, the static judges have a maximum 20-minute timeframe to judge the models at 5 meters. In F4C, the judges sometimes take as long as 1.5 hours to complete their task, but 45 minutes is generally the average time. These judges review craftsmanship at zero feet and can do anything except touch the model.
The US team members were impressed with the quality of the models present, as well as the other competitors’ willingness to tell how they built their masterpieces for the championships. New friends are gained from around the world at a championship competition. Tim Dickey was able to sit down with the chief static judge for F4C and talk with him at length about what could help his static score in 2026, in addition to any improvements that could be made.
Peter Bauer built a Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander, which is a twin-transport type of model with flaps and fixed gear. He had a wedding photographer shoot his photos because the prototype is located in a museum in Scotland. He selected this type of aircraft because of the twin-engine option and the flap option in flight. The Islander has a simple color scheme, which was easy to document and replicate. With his and his caller/wife Kathy’s win, as well as Mike McHenry’s fifth-place finish with his Piper L-4 Grasshopper and Allen Goff’s sixth-place finish, Team USA took first place. This was the first time I can ever remember a first-place finish for a US team in F4B.
In F4H, we had many, many different types of construction—scratch-built, plans-built, kits, almost-ready-to-cover aircraft, ARFs, and a few that were simply brought by a pilot who was trying to gain experience at an event such as this. Everything under the sun—from jets, World War I types, aerobatics, warbirds, and civil types—was present.
In the static area, Team USA did great, especially for its first time out with new models at the World Championships. Team USA really worked on its static side, especially on the documentation for the models.
Romanian customs didn’t release the U.K. team’s models until Tuesday of the event. As soon as they were released and set up, they were judged so that they could get their flights in. The logistics of building a model box and transporting that box with the model disassembled halfway around the world is just one of the tasks that a competitor must overcome for the competition.
Team USA also added one team member from Finland to the roster while at the event. Mika Jylha brought his Gloster Gamecock to compete with and learn about the competition. He purchased his model, which he made clear in his declaration, and suffered the loss of points. He was there to learn, as everyone who attends should be. Ben Andrus and Mika called for and helped each other, and Mika was adopted by Team USA. This is just another short tale of friendship and camaraderie at the championships.
Team USA Sponsors
- CH Ignitions
- JR Americas
- RC Stands
- Legend Hobby
- Desert Aircraft
- ElectroDynamics
- Toys Forever Models & Hobbies
- Mike Barbee Family
- CY Models (Texas Warbirds)
- Warbird Pilots
- Scale RC Engines
- RCScaleBuilder.com
- CBC Warehouse LLC
- Peter Fynn Family
- Tim Dickey Family
- Brian L. Peterson Family
- National Association of Scale Aeromodelers
- Brian and Bonnie O’Meara Family
- Westerville Model Aeronautics Association
- Fellowship of Christian Modelers
- Fibertech Plastics
- National Balsa
- Valley View RC
- Vogelsang Aeroscale
- Hostetler’s Plans
- Aircraft Documentation Services
The F4H class had 37 entries. Ben, with his scratchbuilt Grumman G-164 Ag Cat, finished third in static, but the model’s performance in flight was hampered by wind and finished in 14th place.
Although Jack Buckley and his 1/4-Scale Fairchild 24R had ignition problems during the event, he still managed to finish 15th. Mike Barbee rounded out the US team with a 20th-place finish with his Hawker Fury Mk.I.
First place went to Reto Senn, from Switzerland, with a turbine-powered de Havilland Vampire jet; Reto also had the high static score. The Swiss went on to win the Team Gold as well, with Gunther Markus flying his Mitsubishi Zero fighter to a sixthplace finish and Gody Fischer finishing 15th with his Pilatus PC-6 Porter.
With 26 entries in F4C, the US had one competitor, Tim, who flew his Waco UEC Cabin model built to 1/4 scale. Tim finished fifth in static and eighth overall at the close of the competition. This was quite an accomplishment for Tim’s first time at a World Championships, to say the least. There were some gremlins in his model during the week that probably kept him out of the top five overall.
As the old saying goes, "The cream always comes to the top," and it’s so in FAI competition. David Law won in F4C with his Pitts S-2B model that he’s been campaigning for more than 10 years. It has been modified, rebuilt, and probably refinished at some point. David has access to the full-scale aircraft, and in F4C, that’s a must if you want to finish in the top tier of the class.
David won by just 21 points overall, with second place going to Andreas Luthi from Switzerland, who was flying a 1/3-scale Bücker Jungmann (the only Swiss entry in F4C). David has earned several secondand third-place finishes throughout the years, but this year, he took home the gold. His wife, Mel, also competed in the F4H class with a Decathlon and was the only woman in the competition.
In an overview, the event was a success, despite a number of challenges with the Federatia Romana de Modelism. The director of the competition was let go two days before we arrived. The F4 Scale subcommittee members, officials, and judges saved the event and made every effort to ensure that it was a good competition.
F4B Class Team USA Final Standings
Team USA came in first place. The F4B class changed its static rules to use the same rules as F4H. Modelers have responded well to this change, and we look forward to renewed interest in this class.
- First place: Peter Bauer, with caller Kathy Bauer, flying a Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander
- Fifth place: Mike McHenry, flying a Piper L-4H
- Sixth place: Allen Goff, flying a Nieuport 17
F4H Class Team USA Final Standings
Team USA came in fifth place, just out of fourth.
- 14th place: Ben Andrus, flying a Grumman G164 Ag Cat
- 15th place: Jack Buckley, flying a Fairchild 24R
- 20th place: Mike Barbee, flying a Hawker Fury
F4C Class Team USA Final Standing
Tim flew his Waco UEC Cabin model to an eighth-place finish. This is quite an accomplishment for his first time at a World Championships competition. Tim’s static score was fifth overall.
The 2026 Team USA selectionwill take place next year at AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, on July 15-17, following the 2025 AMA Scale Nats on July 11-14 at the same site. I hope to see you all there!
SOURCES:
2024 FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft
www.fai.org/news/winners-2024-fai-f4-world-championships-scale-model-aircraft-romania
www.fmrd.ro/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-fai-bulletin-03-.pdf
Comments
Add new comment