A note from Stan Alexander regarding F4B international competition (4/2/09)

Last week the CIAM voted to kill the F4B class in international scale competition. Received this word from Narve Jensen this past weekend.

We can still run the F4B class at anyone's National Championships as well as at regional events. F4B will still be in the rule book from my understanding.

I still believe that when the East European countries quietly supporting their F4B teams and the numbers for the past several European Championships were either very lowor the event had to be canceled due to lack of participation spelled its doom. The lack of entries for the upcoming summer European Championships caused the Norwegian Aeroclub to cancel the event also.

We can still run the event at our National Championships and it can still be run at regional events but it will not be considered for international world championships at this time. It's my understanding the event will still be in the Sporting Code rules and regulations. I believe we would have to see some strong numbers of competitors to reverse the decision taken last week.

This is a problem we are beginning to see in all scale categories, both RC and CL around the world, it isn't isolated to Europe or the USA. Our F4B entries are probably some of the strongest anywhere. In indoor FF scale and other indoor FF events we are starting to see significant decreases in competitors as we age.

The worldwide economy, airline fees as well as tickets, and other factors have in my view led to this. Take a new modeler under your belt and get him interested, we need all we can get!

Sincerely,
Stan Alexander

2008 Scale FAI Championship Results.
This just in! We have the results for the 2008 World Scale Championships, plus a few photos as well.
Individual results in F4B class
Team results in F4B class
Individual results in F4C class
Team results in F4C class

Several photo galleries of the 2008 World Champs: Click here

What is the CIAM?
Click to find out what the CIAM is and what it stands for.

FAI Sporting Code
Click here to have access to the FAI Sporting code.

---

Synopsis of FAI Class F4 Scale
The FAI/CIAM Scale classes involves the art of illusion, that is to create and build a model of a full size aircraft and to fly this model in a manner that to the best of the modellers ability illustrates the way the full size aircraft flew. This require research int the history of the original, craftsmanship in both technical drawings and in building the model and further precision in controlling the model while going through the manoeuvres typically for the full size aircraft.
The size of the scale model varies a great deal, the main governing rule is that of the maximum allowed weight, and at present this weight limit is 15 Kg for radio-controlled models and 6 Kg (7kg for multi-engined) on line-controlled models .
The Scale competition is composed of two parts, the first part is the Judging of the quality of the model’s outline or look-alike compared with the full size aircraft, and also the craftsmanship in the building and finishing of the model. The model is scrutinised by a panel of three judges, giving scores from 0 to 10. Each competitor has to declare any parts of the model he have bought ready made and the judges will adjust their score accordingly.
The second part of the competition is of course the flying of the model. The flying is done in three rounds. In international competition today we have mainly two different classes for flying, one is where the pilot is controlling the model by two or more wires from a handle to the model and the model flies around him in a circle and we call this class Control-Line Scale. The Pilot controls the altitude, attitude and engine through his handle. The other scale class controls the model through a remote radio control system and these models have the same control and manoeuvrability as the full size aircraft.
Both classes have to fly a certain set of compulsory manoeuvres and a set of manoeuvres of their own choice. This is done in front of five judges and the aim is to present the model behaving as close to the full size aircraft as possible.
The final placing in the competition are determined by a combination of the building and flying skills, that is the sum of the static score and the average of the two best flying rounds are added to make the final score.

• Airborne Media
• Brodak Manufacturing

AMA "FAI White Book" available as a .pdf
Online now is what refer to as the AMA's "White Book". This 24 page booklet covers the AMA's procedures governing the sponsorship of FAI Teams.

• Criteria for Establishing/Sponsoring/Funding FAI teams
• AMA responsibilities
• Team Selection Contest details
• Team Funding
• World Championship Team responsibilities
• etc.

Click here to download.

2007 USA FAI F4B gallery online!
Online now is a new photo gallery taken during this year's 2007 USA FAI F4B Championsips in Muncie, Indiana. Clicking the link below will bring up the gallery in a new window.

Mark Lanterman photos

2006 World Championships galleries online!
Online now are new photo galleries taken during this year's 2006 World Championships in Sweden. Clicking the links below will bring up the gallery in a new window.

Stan Alexander photos
Dale Campbell photos
Petter Jensen photos