2003 AAA Challenge Contest

 

       

 

The 2003 AAA Challenge Contest was held March 8th and 9th at the Birmingham RC Heli Club flying site in Birmingham, Alabama. The  CD for the event was Don Wade.

 The event was established to help raise funds for the USA Team’s trip to Japan, and also to provide a formal setting for the team members to practice together under contest conditions before the Worlds.

 The weather turned out to be beautiful, with temps in the mid 70’s, and moderate winds. For the northern pilots (Dwight and Len), it was a welcomed reprieve from the harsh winter in their home state of Illinois, and offered them a chance to get their models (and their thumbs) tuned up after the winter overhauls.

 

After 3 official rounds of A Schedule, and 3 of B Schedule, the Final FAI results were as follows:

 

1st: Wayne Mann:     4972.642

2nd: Len Sabato:       4972.461

3rd: Dwight Shilling:  4877.940

4th: Gordie Meade:   4337.332

5th: Don Wade:         3238.956

 

 The event turned out to be a battle to the very end between Wayne and Len for the top position. Each pilot won 3 of the 6 rounds, and when the scores were tabulated, Wayne edged out Len for the top honors by only .181 (less than 2/10ths of a point) normalized points out of more than 4900! That’s the closest finish that anyone could remember since Robert Gorham edged out Cliff Hiatt for a spot on the 1991 USA Team by .500. 

 

Len was again flying his original design Vigor CS “Eclipse” model that was showcased in the articles section of this site.  Len’s Eclipse is now powered by the new YS91ST Heli engine, running a total rotor disc of 64” with a new lower gear ratio. Len is also now running the new PowerFlite 3000ma Lithium Polymer battery packs regulated to 4.8v.

 Wayne and Dwight were flying the new Kyosho Caliber 90 models, using a combination of YS80ST and YS91ST engines. While Dwight’s model was reasonably stock, Wayne had 1 model with a self-designed non-CCPM control system that was similar to the Kalt Zeus design.

 

        Click on photo to enlarge:

 

Len and his Vigor Eclipse during a practice flight.

Wayne Mann and his Caliber during an official flight.

Dwight Shilling and his Caliber 90 during an official flight.

Len poses with his JR Vigor CS/Eclipse and PCM10X system.

 

 

 

Mann, Sabato, and Shilling will represent the USA at the upcoming 2003 World F3C Heli Championships to be held June 1st through the 8th in Ishikawa Japan. The event will be held at the new Noto Airport, located 200 miles from Osaka.

 Each team member will be practicing hard over the next few months so they will be prepared to do battle for the World Team and individual titles.

 

As you can imagine, sending 4 Pilots (Curtis included) and support staff to this event is not an easy task financially. Although the AMA and corporate sponsors help with these expenses, the Team is also working to raise funds in the form of Apparel and Raffle ticket sales. Time is running out, so please support your USA F3C team now.

 

For more information on the USA Team, and how you can offer your support, please visit their website at: www.usaf3c.com. The site lists the stats on the team, as well as a section on team apparel and sponsorship/raffle information.

 

For more information on the 2003 World F3C Championships, visit the official site at:

www.rc-tech.co.jp/f3cwch2003