US rookie team member Gary Underwood placed sixth hes preparing Canadas Mike Thomas ninth place final launch second-round flighta personal-best 4501 round flight 4253 8554 total 40 Model Aviation OR FREE FLIGHT ZEALOTS need no maps get Moscow Idahosite 18th biennial World FiD Championship Take plane either Spokane WA Portland OR travel 81 miles south about 400 east north look Big Thing hill atop University Idaho campus Impossible miss itthe worlds largest half-barrel clearspan hunk architecture Kibbie Dome 400 x 400 x 147 feet plunked down up incongruous Great Buddha removed Times Square Alaska Airlines hauled San Diego den evergreen Portland tarmac waiting Hertz Ford became ride east along dazzling-to-surreal Columbia Gorge endless rolling carpet landscape dotted mixed high-tech crops ranging hops grapes vast wheatfields under harvest poplar forests tomorrows paper products fish hatcheries windsurfing centers huge apple orchards course roaring big rigs nearly seamless PDX hinterlands likewise dotted quaint friendly villages culminating Moscow interesting competition practice sessions opening ceremony about unfold Thirty-four competitors representing eleven national teams managers coaches supporters families model boxes cameras other gear made similar voyages Kibbie Dome albeit vastly longer distances Jet lag unfamiliarity US hub cities did seem much factor sheer bulk benign flying conditions once inside Big D left awestruck Given warmish mid-to-high 90s windy weather window low-pressure system just passed through area Champs began August 5-8 weather inside venue nearly ideal temps high 70s humidity running 16 35% augured well intense highperformance meet no disappointed Shortly after early morning timers meeting CD Bob Stalick honked horn three-day six-round-format contest Canadas Jack McGillivary first up almost signal did magnificent 4557an face opener such thing Indoor discipline generous applause model landed People Indoor much like recognizing great performance Met Philharmonic Finnish airline pilot Pentii Nore followed McGillivary 4037 also landing generous applause going some kind great flying agreed 10 am Round idea firmed seven flights exceeding 40 minutes posted also number high 30samong Cezar Banks US 3930but rest heavily favored American team flew conservatively Richard Doig 3837 Gary Underwood solid 4231 January 1997 41 Tomas Merkt Germany talks over former world champions Erv Rodemsky center Bud Romak Tomas placed fifth six flights exceeding 42 minutes Edmund Liem Canada launches best flighta 3945 helped secure third place team Shigeyoshi Nonaka Japan makes delicate tailboom adjustment during Round Three just prior personal-best flight 3914 Defending World Champion Steve Brown unauspicious start motor crawl over prop hook brought airplane down bits piddling 1207 Although first-round results promising Indoor venues best conditions outside ideal relatively calm moderate temps humiditywhich case beginning Championships Manager Andrew Tagliafico shut down vents windows several days prior meet except fans operate continuously cool massive laminated hoops/beams fonn Domes end supports could explode super-hot afternoons some turbulence drift trap unwary models/pilots Conditions predicted improve Round Two much-improved Rounds Three Four following day frontal winds diminished Top US team flier Cezar Banks spent considerable time outside arena before flights checking conditions assess best launch windows FlD near-science Indeed conditions start Round Two palpably better German Romanian teams favored launches eastern end floor light drift having developed towards warmer west end Eventual third-place medalist Rene Butty SWI stunned 4626 German teams best finisher fifth place Thomas Merkt did personal-best 4232 smiles got better 4522 later meet Steve Browns repeat chances faded very promising flight terminated 3719 well up about 125 feet motor parted company airplanea no-no rules Gary Underwood US continued impress 4501 personal high Round Two yielded eight flights 40 minutes no less six 39 pressures teams individuals increasing point US contingent holding firm first never really challenged rest way though Richard Doig plagued minor glitches sub-par times Individual Championship standings less well-defined several fliers seconds apart competition closed Day As predicted second-day conditions much better gloves came off speak Steve Brown regained form 4822 Banks answered 4847 both flights perfectly centered 37 just below lighting units 110 feet warm therefore buoyant part Dome Jake Palmer US sole Junior entry youngest-ever FlD WC entrant banged curtain rods 135 feet hung up 1222 later retrieved airplane rods lowered 20 feet Gary Underwood suffer same indignity 42 Model Aviation 4About FID FiD model specifications call wingspan maximum 65 cm 2559 inches projected minimum weight gram minus required rubber motor Thats 28 ounce 453 pound airplanes marvels simplicity grace although seem desperately fragile quite robust through use boron tungsten other exotic materials Recent innovations variable pitch/diameter propellers advent very high energy storage potential FAI Tan II rubber have led new levels performance just event seemed have stumbled endless plateau World Championships effective forums design new techniques perfecting old techniques best best no question 4John Oldenkamp US Team Manager Bob Randolph left supporter Rob Eberle center Gary Underwood shade eyes check progress Garys Round Three flight h, sign Carla Kunz Cezar Banks US placed second sixth time eight Indoor World Champs appearances Outstanding 4950 4847 led US team Round Four 1402 nothing could tarnish outstanding first WC performance really Round Three saw nine flights 40minutes-plus two 39 US team brink dominance individual title mano mano between defending champ Steve Brown gameface-on-at-all-times Cezar Banks eighth WC leading whole bunch minutes Rene Butty Thomas Merkt challenging point contest half-complete odds still spread widely ante went up higher Round Four no less 10 flights well excess 40 minutes put upthe capper being Banks monumental curtain-rod-brushing close-to-the-wall encounter non-steered cliffhanger 4950 landed within inches end zone extra-point-kick curtain Landing 847 pm cheers large gallery tracking flight bleacher seats Somewhere arena Steve Brown working 4918 gem two rivals went bed Banks leading almost full minute Whats 60 seconds between friends lot respect nothing else two full four-hour rounds remaining next day much offing Meanwhile rest worlds best continued toilsome upwards some down Mike Thomas CAN high time 4301 did Rene Butty 4801 Cornelius Mangalea boosted Romania s third-place team score solid 4330 Although team first-place award pretty much bag US after four rounds steady flying led Banks Underwoods outstanding efforts firstplace Individual award still question Rene Butty could haul off worldbeater literally Banks/Brown confrontation watch Round Five crop ten 40-minuteplus flights Gary Underwood put up 4447 clinch sixth overall Dezso Orsovai HUN racked 4302 nail down 10th Jake Palmer added credibility Junior Indoor World FlD Champion title flying 3702 Richard Doig vindicated himself somewhat high 4126 week No apologies needed flight sealed US team first-place effort Steve Brown must have seen something rest contestants overlooked made carefully calculated off-center launch about 10 am absolutely no fanfare Stealth viewpoint appeared model acting sort punybut having never flown microfilm model let alone FlD could tell front end whopping winning 5029 flight first 50 flight FlD WC history because airplane never got above notorious curtain rods January1997 43 just spent hundreds maybe thousands dollars countless hours building latest hand-crafted masterpiece step left between flying field step everyone will look covering job Youve bought favorite covering plugged iron dont have Coverite Pocket Thermometer next step could bring disaster top covering manufacturers strongly recommend using tiny inexpensive incredibly accurate tool Place sole iron watch needle spin around dial stops irons true temperature Now simply adjust iron setting exact temperature recommended covering manufacturer achieve optimal covering results Coverites Pocket Thermometer takes guesswork out covering may mean difference between creating work art becoming target jokes Remember nothing funny about expensive ugly airplanes C0VERITE Ds buedEacus eyThough 0 ea Panes Mode D am Company P0 Boo 902 Champagn 6 826902 never apparent danger spending what seemed like hours hanging around lighting bars could easily dubbed sneakiest flight week although Brown gentleman would deny thathaving announced before launch really well model Aw shucks Brown elected fly Round Six Banks having done 44 42 airplane somewhat off peak burst both times now sitting second no chances remaining Final score Banks 9837 Brown 9947 Two remarkable scores repeat World Champion other sixth-time silvermedalist also led US team another first place Gold Gold As defending World Champion Steve Brown flew individual flight times did count toward US team total Browns final-day heroics race third-place team honors took several bounces between Romanians Canadians British having sewn up second US early last two rounds crucial deciding thirdand possible government subsidies victors once back home Twelve 40 flights marked Round Six best being Thomas Merkts GER 4527 Bernard Hunts UK 4522 Canadians Mike Thomas Edmund Liem posted 4253 3945 respectivelyenough overcome 219 deficit vault past Romanians 25204 24912 swing nearly five minutes under rather stressful final-round pressures Again generous applause filled monster hall everyone began picking up airplanes support gear trips back whence cameand chance contemplate 1998 biennial FiD championships tentatively held Nagoya Japan site 1984 World Championships Special thanks Andrew Tagliafico Clarence Mather Cezar Banks supplied information used preparing article overall high praise behalf attendees meet organizers putting exciting friendly very accommodating show 96 FiD World Championships * DIELS ENGINEERING INC PO BOX 263 AMHERST 0H16 44001 FOCKE-WULF TA-152H 1124 scale 23-11116 span Rubber powered fine flight scale model long wing version FW-190 German WW2 fighter END OF YEAR SALE Special Sale Price $20 plus $4 shipping Sale ends January 151997 Catalog $2 tree order AOL DIELSENGR COMPUSERVE 73474141 3 44 Model Aviation nce Iron-on Covering
