Draft:2024 F3J World Championship - Norway

The Federation Aeronautique International (FAI) F3J world championship is a multi-day sports competition between teams of pilots that fly radio-controlled motorless aircraft, commonly known as RC Sailplanes. The 2024 World Championship will be held in Elverum, NORhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:2024_F3J_World_Championship_-_Norway&action=edit, on the Starmoen Flyplass Airport.

The teams are assigned by Country, and each country has its team selection process. The United States of America, for example, hosts an Open F3J Competition to find the top pilots. F3J has two team divisions, Juniors (under 18) and Seniors (18 and older). Each participating country can enter a Junior team and a Senior team. An FAI team is composed of three male pilots and one female pilot. The FAI Aeromodelling Commission, (CAIM), is run by a multinational organization that is governed similarly to the Olympics and the World Games. A sailplane is launched on a monofilament tow line. A winch powered by a 12v battery pulls the towline through a pully placed about 150 meters away from the pilot. The pilot’s performance scores are a combination of two measurements: the pilot’s flight duration for the round measured to tenths of a second and, upon landing, the distance of the sailplane’s nose to the center pin of a circular target. The flight duration begins when the pilot releases the sailplane from their towline and ends upon landing. The FAI scorekeeper tracks the pilot performance scores for each round and converts them into points which are combined to create the team’s total point score. The teams vie for the World Championship Team Trophy. The top individual pilots earn entrance to the individual championship event. This event is held after the team competition and decides the individual world champion. Gold, silver, and bronze awards are presented in both the Junior and Senior divisions and further separated by male and female competitors.

The Contest: Each day the contest director selects a start time. Once started the pace is nonstop, as there are no timeouts. From the first flight to the last flight at the end of the day, each country’s team members work together to help improve their teammates’ scores. Before the event, the contest director organizes the contestants into groups within each round and creates an audio file. Early in the morning, the contest director starts the competition by playing the pre-recorded announcement of preparation times and task periods (the window of time to complete the flight). The public address announcement automatically calls the pilots in the group to prepare for the sounding of the start horn for the task period. The pilots begin their flights. The official observer starts a watch once the pilot leaves the towline and stops the watch upon landing to record the duration of the flight. Pilots try to acquire the most flight time in one flight within the flight task period. The flight duration and landing accuracy define the pilot’s performance. The pilot with the best performance in the group wins the group within the round, earning 1000 points. Each pilot in the group will be assigned points based on their performance compared to the best-performing score in their group. The team members' points are combined team championships. Here is how a competition day plays out: The pilots use the preparation time to prepare themselves for the start horn. The sailplane is launched at the horn. The shorter the launch, the more time the pilot will have available to maximize their flight time in the flight task window. The pilots align their sailplane to land on the bullseye at the very end of the window time to maximize their flight score, but before the closing horn sounds. There is a steep penalty for landing after the horn. The challenge is finding currents of rising air called thermals to keep the sailplane aloft for as long as possible within the flight time window all while arriving at the bullseye and landing before the closing horn. The pilots train their senses to interpret micrometeorological movements of air. They refine their motor skills to efficiently and eloquently cooperate with Mother Nature to extend the flight time. Finally, the pilots and crew are teammates creating an aerial artistry, as the Sailplane’s nose is aligned with the bullseye at the closing horn.

Practice is the cornerstone of success, the Eastern Soaring League officers host contests.