2023 F3B WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

BY Stuart Hamilton

The 2023 F3B Glider World Championship commenced on Monday the 24th of July at the full-size gliding club Sonderjysk Flyveklub, Hellavadvej 28, Rodekro, in Denmark. The club was a fantastic field to host the World Championship as the grassed area was large and the trees surrounding were low. Thanks to Tim Kullack we had logistical support from team Germany with provision of winches, turnarounds, batteries and equipment. Tim also organized a helper Thomas Merzhauser whose vision, guidance, air calling, and support was invaluable to making Gav and my first World Championship experience and adventure something we will treasure for eternity. Gav's son Josh Tilson also came along to support his dad and the team. Josh worked tirelessly all week the same as Thomas to give John, Gav and I every chance to experience success. As a team we all worked very hard for each other with minimal mistakes and radiated a positive vibe which I feel other teams were envious they were not a part of. The local and surrounding F3B community were so nice, welcoming and supportive running a superb competition. The competitors from all countries were a pleasure to interact with, share the same passion and exercised great sportsmanship. The Danish food was amazing and mostly everyone spoke English which made it very easy. A big thankyou to the MAAA for their support too.

With the commencement of the competition, we were subject to windy and sometimes rainy conditions for the majority of the week. The father and son team of Gav and Josh Tilson were a well-oiled machine in the duration task with Josh supporting his dad via calling. I was super proud of the duo as Gav was always landing his glider on time and mostly in position which was not easy given the sometimes-gusty winds. John Skinners experience and competitive prowess shone through also in this task which was a pleasure to watch. For me I was super thankful to have Gav calling and guiding me which also brought me success in this task. Unfortunately, my ears are painted on sometimes and I do my own thing which seemed to meander me into the sink. I had to battle it out a few times with a landing seeming imminent where I got away or maintained just above the shrubs to achieve the time and make myself feel happy. It was a highlight of the competition for me to receive praise for my never say die efforts from some of the officials and competitors. On the last days of competition, the wind was light, and the sun was coming out which made it a pleasure to fly in better conditions.

The distance tasks were quite a battle amongst all competitors. The air was generally surprisingly good given the predominately windy, cold and wet conditions. John was the standout in this task for the Aussie team. His experience and drive saw him give the other competitors the best run for their money. For me I really focused my energy on this task and flew to the end of the four-minute lap period but was always finishing with lap quantities in the middle of the group. Gav unfortunately felt pain in this task with a considerable amount of bad luck to start. He clawed some credibility back in the later rounds which was great to see as a team. I really enjoyed being a part of the team aspect constituting the desire to help a teammate achieve the most laps in the best parts of the sky.

The final speed tasks were quite tough to be consistent in the varying conditions. Due to the nature of this task, it was generally selected when the winds were up there. When the wind was up this made it quite tricky with severe turbulence from the shrubs on the edge of the strip. A few pilots crashed low and fast as a result. One of them was me was with my Pitbull 1 but it was in the latter light wind conditions where I came out of the second turn projecting down too much and proceeded to land flat at high speed into the longer grass. Surprisingly not much damage! Gav worked really hard in this task under the competitive pressure to bring his speed scores down to a respectable level. It was great to share this aspect with him! John flew fantastic in speed with most scores in the 16 second range. The speed task I found most interesting in regard to how much launch height some competitors were achieving and their different style of the downhill race which resulted with times in the 13 second range sometimes. Inspirational!

Although three F3B tasks constitute a round, there was the task of competing in the Erik Dahl Challenge on Wednesday afternoon which was a nice break from the main event. We were organized in groups of three to make three identical chuck gliders out of a few balsa sheets and skewers. On completion there would be a fly off and the first glider to land each time would result in elimination of the pilot. John Skinner ended up winning with his ribbed under cambered wing glider where he worked closely with Martin Herrig on the development. John won a crate of 30 beers which was promptly shared amongst the Aussie team in celebration of good times. More beers ensued at the completion of the competition on the Friday whilst packing up. Later that evening we shared some beers with the Austrian Team back at the hotel. This was also another highlight as the Austrians were right up there on the final results with Bernhard Flixeder becoming the F3B World Champion for 2023. The prize giving and following banquet with amazing food was a great way to finish off a fantastic week of competition.