MAAA Wingspan

23 MAY WING SPAN MAAALogo. “The prop was located by some fellow competitors who then commented that, that particular prop was very inefficient. Suddenly a new prop was passed to Owen for his model from the Belgium team.” Round four saw Bill step up the model’s performance, improving conditions with the fitting of an 10S battery and a new prop. This resulted in an improved flight score, unfortunately the Watt/mins were well above the 1750 limit and thus a 114-point penalty was deducted. “Round five was not good for Bill, having a motor/ESC failure, most likely due to the bad decision the day before and another low score.” said Brett. “Owen had a power step up too, with a 9S battery fitted and a new prop. He started putting in personal best scores, with some coaching from the entire flight line and sponsorship. I was still working through his setup, making small improvements and flying consistently.” On the fourth and final day Bill finished 19th, Brett finished as top Aussie in 14th place, while Owen continued his personal best scores finishing 22nd out of 23 competitors- a real credit to Owen and his ability at such a young age. The F5B World Champs was ultimately taken out by Gerben van Berkum, who won six of the seven rounds after a dropped score. Gerben also won the Takikawa Cup, giving a clean sweep to the Netherlands. “Gerben was the only competitor for the Netherlands and is definitely the man to beat at the moment. He also mentored Owen with coaching and support from the very start- a fantastic opportunity for a junior competing in their chosen sport to get such quality time with the best in their game,” said Brett. “There were three Junior competitors: Martin Neudorfer from Austria, who won the junior event and placed third outright; Lucas Cantoni from Switzerland, who placed second and was 6th outright and Owen, who placed third Junior.” Brett also said that his son is very keen to continue in F5B and that he’s certain he will become a top competitor in the near future. “The event was brilliantly run, in typical Japanese fashion with an abundance of helpers- anytime you needed anything attended to it was done,” he said. “Japan as a country, naturally is wonderfully efficient, clean and the hospitality is fantastic. It made the whole trip very enjoyable and very easy on that front. Special thanks must also go to Steve Manganelli, the F5B Contest Director and to Rose Hamilton, who was our official helper. “Overall, we came away from the world champs with a lot more knowledge and enthusiasm for F5B.” Another great event that clearly demonstrated all the fun and camaraderie of our thrilling sport. FEBRUARY WING SPAN