PHOTO: LISA ZOLDAK
The finalists for the Team Trials for the 2015 World Championship (at left). Pictured left to right, AC Glenn, Ryan Clark, RJ Gritter, Devin McGrath and Dave Lockhart. The U.S. F3P Team members for 2015 (above) from left to right are Ryan Clark (3rd), RJ Gritter (1st), Devin McGrath (2nd) and Joseph Szczur (Junior).
PHOTO: RON LOCKHART
to reinforce the airframe. The lightest air- plane was the self-designed Ares of Nicolas Pietu (France). The Ares was constructed of carbon fiber rods and mylar covering (no foam) and weighed a scant 78.5 grams. The “average” plane measured approximately 33 inches in span and 39 inches in fuselage length and weighed between 90 and 110 grams (3.2–3.9 ounces).
The planes flown in Akron covered a pret- ty wide range, largely due to the number of older planes flying at the event. The Sports- man class was won by Ron Lockhart, flying an older 2009 F3P design, the Deluxe V3. Ron’s plane weighed in at 138 grams and proved that in the entry level classes, prac- tice and consistent flying are more impor- tant than having the latest and greatest lightweight plane. Harry Ells won the Inter- mediate class with his 116-gram Spies. Har- ry’s Spies was a carefully built stock kit from DonatasDesign. Harry used a lightweight power system consisting of a Glavak motor and carbon fiber prop.
The F3P class included some truly world class planes. As evidence of the rapid pro- gression of F3P airframes, almost half the F3P planes weighed less than Gernot’s 2013 Trivia, and three weighed less than Nicolas’ 2013 Ares. The lightest planes were the pair of Anubis flown by Devin McGrath and RJ Gritter. Constructed from custom kits (cut by Fancy Foam) of milled foam skeletons cov-
ered in mylar and carbon fiber tube reinforce- ment, they weighed only 68 grams. Dave Lockhart flew a 72-gram Spies constructed from a modified DonatasDesign kit. Even at these very light weights, the airplanes still use counter-rotating propellers, digital ser- vos and ball links in the control linkages. Every part of the airframe and equipment is scrutinized for opportunities to save weight. Carbon fiber micro tubes are used in place of carbon fiber rods. Foam structures are either milled (reducing the thickness to fractions of a millimeter) or “windowed” and covered with mylar film. Servo and receiver cases are either removed, drilled, or sanded to remove weight. Standard silicone jacket- ed radio wire is replaced with thin gauge magnet wire which is directly soldered to eliminate connector weight.
Eight of the sixteen pilots were using counter-rotating propeller systems from Kimmo Kaukoranta, Alexey Lantsov, and Glavak. Single prop setups were dominated by the Hacker A10-15S and Glavak carbon fiber propellers. By far, the most popular ser- vo was the JR DS188, followed by Dymond D47, Hitec 5035, and Power HD DSP 33. Li- Pos included varieties of Hyperion, Turnigy Nanotech, Thunder Power, Gens Ace, and OptiPower ranging from 120 to 250mAh and all were flying 2S packs. Speed controls in- cluded Castle Creations, YGE, and Turnigy. DonatasDesign was the most popular kit
manufacturer, followed by Fancy Foam. De- tails of the team pilots’ planes and setup are shown in the included table.
Results
At the conclusion of the AP-15 rounds, Joseph Szczur was overall in 7th place, and secured the Junior spot on the Team. Ben Batts just missed the top 5, and shared warmup flight duties for the finals with Joseph. The top five of AC Glenn, Dave Lockhart, Ryan Clark, Devin McGrath, and RJ Gritter advanced to the finals. After the AF-15 finals flights, AC moved up to 4th, but the top 3 remained the same. Ryan Clark was solid in 3rd place with Devin McGrath in 2nd, only 20 points (out of 3,000) behind Team Captain RJ Gritter (1st). This will be a very strong team for the U.S. in 2015. Additional information on the event, in- cluding pictures, videos, and full results, re- garding the Akron F3P contest can be found online at
http://tinyurl.com/lkuxcsj. Specific rules for F3P competition can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/m4jwy9b under the head- ing for “F3 Aerobatics.” Additional thanks go to the sponsors of the event, AMA, Bowker Aircraft (carbon fiber hardware kits), Castle Creations (50% off coupons), DonatasDesign (Citrino and Arrow V6 kits), Fancy Foam (MX3 kit), JR Americas (3 DS188 servos), NEF, NSRCA, and Progressive RC (Sidekick Charging station to be raffled).
U.S. F3P 2015 World Championship Team Specs
Pilot: From:
Airplane: Designer:
Manufacturer: Construction: Prop: Motor: ESC: Lipo: Radio:
Receiver: Ail servo: Rud servo: Elev servo:
Weight (gm, RTF): FLYING MODELS
DEVIN MCGRATH New York Anubis
McGrath/Gritter Fancy Foam
3mm Dep, Mylar, CF Kimmo CF/Mylar x 2 AP03x2 YGE7 x 2
Hyperion 2s120 Futaba 14sg Futaba R2106GF Futaba 3154
Power HD DSP 33 Power HD DSP 33 68
RJ GRITTER North Carolina Anubis
McGrath/Gritter Fancy Foam
3mm Dep, Mylar, CF Kimmo CF/Mylar x 2 AP03x2 YGE7 x 2
Hyperion 2s120 Futaba 14sg Futaba R2106GF Futaba 3154
Power HD DSP 33 Power HD DSP 33 68
RYAN CLARK Michigan Elanor
Alan Goljevscek AlanRCFly
3mm Dep, Mylar, CF Lantsov 10” CF x 2 Lantsov CC Phx 10
Hyperion 2s120 Futaba 8FG Super Futaba R6004FF JR DS188
Power HD DSP 33 Power HD DSP 33 80
JOSEPH SZCZUR Virginia Excel V1
Scott Barnhart SBModels 3mm Dep, CF GWS 8x4.3 SF E-flite Park 250 CC Tbird 9
Hyperion 2s180 Spektrum DX18 Spektrum AR6100 JR DS188
Spektrum A2010 Spektrum A2010 98
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