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An Austrian <strong>com</strong>petitor<br />
in front of his tent.<br />
One of the distinct advantages<br />
international hand launch <strong>com</strong>petitions<br />
have over F3J or F3B is how little support<br />
is really needed to run a world class<br />
event. The teams can be quite small (in<br />
<strong>com</strong>parison to the army that attended<br />
the seven pilots from the US F3J team<br />
in Turkey). And the outlay for a stable of<br />
models can be significantly less allowing<br />
<strong>com</strong>petitors from across the globe to be<br />
Belgian/French <strong>com</strong>petitor<br />
Yves De Vriendt<br />
<strong>com</strong>petitive. Additionally, a hand launch<br />
contest can be run just about anywhere<br />
there are a group of pilots and a couple<br />
of acres of open grass.<br />
Obviously there is an advantage to a well<br />
designed and manufactured aircraft,<br />
but even at the elite level of the German<br />
Open, the top two pilots were flying<br />
planes they had built themselves.<br />
USA <strong>com</strong>petitors, L to R: Bruce<br />
Davidson, Adam Weston, and Paul<br />
Anderson discussing strategies<br />
for a round... Like: “Be sure to be<br />
ready when the round starts.”<br />
<strong>Apr</strong>il 2009 31
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