The Ties That Bind
2022 FAI F3D/F3E
World Championships for Pylon Racing Model Aircraft
By Rachelle Haughn [email protected] Photos by the author
Pilots and callers fight for the fastest times. (L-R): Wim Lentjes and his son, Bram, of Belgium, and Steve Hughes and Andrew Wall of Team Australia
Julio M. Quevedo (L) hugs his son, Julio Q., after finding out they made it to the F3D finals.
Czech Republic team members throw their hats in the air to celebrate winning the F3E Team contest. Team Australia finished second and Team USA placed third.
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In the span of one day, a model aircraft pilot competing in a world championships could experience a wide range of emotions and feelings: nervousness, excitement, heart-pounding adrenaline racing through his or her veins, relief, happiness, and defeat.
Oh, the sadness of defeat … in the last seconds of the race when you accidentally make a mistake.
This range of emotions was demonstrated at the starting line of the 2022 FAI F3D/F3E World Championships for Pylon Racing Model Aircraft.
On July 13, the final day of this world championships, RC Pylon Racing pilots gave thumbs up to their fellow competitors before the heats began, high-fived those who finished well, and later embraced and consoled those who knew that a tiny mistake had squelched their dreams of becoming world champions. One pilot said, "No, no, no" in agony because of a cut he made, as the trailer whisked him back to the tents.
Team USA pilot AJ Hemken teases Robbert Van Den Bosch, of the Netherlands, before the start of the F3D Super Finals.
An airplane keeps up its speed between pylons.
Such emotions are not typically displayed in public by a group of men, teenagers, and boys, but the World Championships brought them to the surface. In the end, after all of the medals and plaques were handed out, the pilots from 12 countries were one big family.
Some of the pilots were literally family. A handful of countries competing at the World Championships had father-and-son teams. In some cases, both the fathers and the sons competed. In others, one flew while the other called. The fathers and sons appeared to have close bonds, and disagreements between them were rare.
One family, Emil and Gunnar Broberg, was also close when it came to their scores. Emil finished in first in F3D with a score of 634.27, while his father, Gunnar, finished not far behind him in third place with a score of 653.53 (the lowest score wins). They beamed at each other while standing on the podium as Sweden’s national anthem played on a speaker. Gunnar looked up at his son with pride in his eyes, while Emil returned the gaze, still in disbelief that he was now a world champion.
"I think we’ll remember this experience for the rest of our lives," Gunnar said after he realized that his son would soon receive a medal as the world champion in F3D. Gunnar also stated that competing with his son was amazing, and Emil echoed that the experience was unforgettable.
In addition to the Brobergs, other family teams included Tyler and Warren Mees of Australia, Chris and Matt Wood of Australia, Andreas and Leonas (age 13) Kaiser of Germany, Dan and Jack Kane competing for Team Brazil, Wim and Bram Lentjes of Belgium, Julio Q. and Julio M. Quevedo of Guatemala, and Simon and Thomas Nyholm of Sweden. The other countries represented at the World Championships included Canada, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, the US, and Venezuela.
The 2022 FAI F3D/F3E World Championships for Pylon Racing Model Aircraft took place July 8-13 at the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) in Muncie, Indiana. Rain drenched some of the pilots at the opening ceremony, but the competition wrapped up on a warm, sunny summer day.
RC Pylon Racing aircraft competing in F3D are fueled by liquid, such as glow fuel, and powered by internal combustion engines. These are push-launched/released from a starting line on the ground. F3E racers are powered by electric motors and hand-launched. At the 2022 Pylon Racing World Championships, 29 individuals competed in F3D and 12 in F3E.
Joris Crevecoeur, of the Netherlands, launches an F3E aircraft for pilot and fellow teammate Peet Doddema. Joris had a smile on his face throughout the contest.
Not all families that launched from the flightline area made it to the podium by finishing in first, second, or third places, but every father-and-son team seemed to soak in each moment of the contest and enjoy the special time that they had together.
"Pylon is a team sport. What better way than to team up with family?" stated Julio M. "It’s a great quality time that we spend together [competing]. I did this with my father."
Julio Q. began flying when he was 7 years old, and at age 10, he competed in his first international contest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he won the Sport Quickie event.
"It was fun because a friend of his won fast time. The helmet was bigger than their heads," Julio M. said of his son and his son’s friend.
Matt started flying at the ripe old age of 4. He began competing with his dad, Chris, in F3D in 2016. He was the 2019 Junior World Champion in F3D and he competed as a Senior in the Muncie contest.
"It works good," Matt said about competing with his father, Chris.
"It’s good because there’s trust involved," Chris added. At the World Championships in Muncie, Matt was the pilot and Chris was his caller and mechanic. The duo also enjoys participating in competitions in Queensland, Australia.
Like Matt and Chris, Dan chose to call for his son, Jack. Unlike the Aussies, however, Jack got into RC Pylon Racing somewhat later in life. The 22-year-old began flying Pylon roughly four years ago. "He basically said, ‘Hey, can I try this?’ right before Nats," Dan explained. Jack had been practicing on a flight simulator. "So then we went out to the field with a little foamie and I said, ‘If you can take off and land, you can do it.’ It was a scramble for a week, and he flew at the Nats. He progressed very quickly," Dan stated.
Spending time at RC Pylon Racing contests has been the norm for Jack. At age 2, he attended his first RC Pylon Racing World Championships in Switzerland, where he watched his father compete. Throughout the years, Dan has competed in a total of five world championships and served as the team manager for Team USA twice. He decided that the time was right to take a step back from the spotlight and let his son shine.
"He’s doing extremely well," Dan said of his son, while the World Championships contest was still taking place.
All of the pilots and callers who competed in the 2022 FAI F3D/F3E World Championships for Pylon Racing Model Aircraft.
Emil Broberg, of Sweden, placed first in F3D, while his dad, Gunnar, finished third.
"I guess it’s incredibly interesting because I did this with my father (the late Dan Kane Sr.). I helped him when I was younger. Here I am trying to mentor and teach the small things [to Jack]. It’s actually pretty cool."
Flying at the flat, vast IAC was a new experience for many of the pilots. Some had never previously ventured to the US.
"AMA is a great place to be," Gunnar said. Emil and Gunnar belong to a small aeromodeling club in Sweden that has several Pylon Racing pilots.
"Just to get one of us here with equipment is a big deal," Chris stated. "Just to get to the state line is a big deal." The trip from Brisbane, located near the Sunshine Coast in Australia, to Muncie included more than 23 hours of flying. In Queensland, there are approximately 14 RC Pylon Racing pilots who fly near the country’s east coast.
"It’s definitely awesome," Matt stated about the IAC.
"Everybody is family" Chris added. "Everybody is super friendly here," Matt said.
In Guatemala, there are three large flying fields near where the Quevedos live and roughly 150 modelers. The father and son are the only ones who fly F3D RC Pylon in Guatemala, Julio M. stated. "We fly in the area close to the sea where the ground is level and clear. We have really good facilities," he said about his club’s flying site. "We can have the [pylon] poles up year-round. We love it. So, when you do what you love, what else can you ask for?"
Team Czech Republic pilots Tomas Andrlik (L) and Jiri Novotny attempt to find Jiri’s name on the perpetual trophy. Jiri won the 2017 F3D World Championships in Sweden.
Warren Mees, of Team Australia, holds up an airplane for the judges so that it is easier to identify in the air during the Super Finals.
A Czech Republic competitor launches an F3E aircraft while Dan Kane (Team Brazil) prepares to launch.
A pilot fuels up his airplane to compete in the F3D Super Finals contest. After the winners of the F3D and F3E contests were determined, pilots raced to see who could achieve the fastest time around the four pylons.
Not only is the IAC slightly different from where the teams were accustomed to flying, the culture is different.
Coming to Muncie for the World Championships was Matt’s first trip to the US. "We’ve been to Walmart every day," Matt commented. He and his father stayed in an Airbnb near Walmart and roughly 7 minutes from the IAC. Australia does not have stores similar to Walmart. After the contest ended, they planned to visit Chicago then fly to Los Angeles before returning to Australia.
Throughout the contest, the fathers and sons cheered, hugged, and laughed with each other. In F3D, Julio M. finished in 15th place, with his son in 22nd place. Matt finished 20th in F3D. Jack Kane placed seventh in F3E. Despite not placing as high as the Brobergs, all of the fathers were proud of what their sons had accomplished in the contest.
"This was a fun, excellent experience," Dan said.
"I’m extremely proud of him," Dan added.
"I’ve always done it with him, so if I did it with someone else, it would be weird," Matt stated about flying RC Pylon Racing with his father. "It’s good father-and-son bonding," Chris added.
Shortly before Emil was crowned the winner of F3D and Team Sweden swept the F3D team contest, he and his father tried to sum up their experience at the World Championships. "I’ve never been this happy," Emil stated. "It’s hard to wrap my head around it," his father added. "It’s a long dream come true," said Emil.
Other notable achievements at the World Championships included Team USA Junior Leo Nordell setting a new Junior world record in F3D. Team Czech Republic took first in F3E, and Tomas Ciniburk, of the Czech Republic, won the individual F3E contest.
SOURCES:
FAI World Championship Live Results
www.nmpra.net/LiveEvents/livewc22.php
National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA)
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