Tournament of Champions Las Vegas

Last November, the 4th Tournament of Champions took place in Las Vegas. Connoisseurs consider this event the most challenging test for model aerobatic pilots, as the organizer invites only the top twenty pilots in the world. The aerobatic routines are incomparably more difficult than the official World Championship routines (FAI) and include numerous combinations featuring “snap rolls.” Only a small fraction of the participants in an FAI World Championship would be able to navigate their models safely through these complex maneuvers. Most pilots were therefore forced to use models in Las Vegas that were specifically designed for these maneuvers. Here, eleven-time Swiss champion Bruno Giezendanner of Pfäffikon once again had a trump card to play with his World Championship model, the “Scorpion,” as this aerobatic model is suitable for all aerobatic maneuvers thanks to its outstanding flight characteristics and required no modifications whatsoever.

Above:
Founder and sponsor of the tournament:
Walter L. Schroder, New York. Editor-in-chief
and publisher of the world’s largest model
airplane magazine: *Model Airplane
News*, founded in 1929.

Right:
Competition in Las Vegas. Runway
: 30 x 250 m. On the runway are Wolfgang
Matt (2nd place) and mechanic Max
Eichmann.

Windsock: durable, made of lightweight nylon fabric, 120 cm tall, two-tone, includes mounting hardware.
Pole system: 3 m tall, collapsible to 1 m; no longer screwed together, but rather snapped together (tent-style system), 100% rust-free, exceptionally sturdy.

67.-

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Available at specialty retailers or from:

Clemens Ribler Hitzlisbergstr. 10 CH-6006 Lucerne

The aerobatic maneuvers performed here by the event organizer clearly demonstrate how meticulously the organizers handle even the smallest details. Some of these maneuvers are also slated to be included in the new FAI program. However, the exact definitions are currently missing from that program.

1. Prettner H., Austria
2. Matt W., Liechtenstein
3. Brown D., USA
4. Hoppe G., West Germany
5. Kristensen I., Canada
6. Giezendanner B., Switzerland
7. Bertolani B., Italy
8. Radcliff M., USA
9. Helm S., USA
10. Tracy J., Australia
Bonetti T., USA
12. Naruke G., Japan
13. Kraft P., USA
14. Koger D., USA
15. Donohue D., USA
16. Salkowski B., USA
17. Okumura T., Japan
Kugel F., USA
19. Chidgey R., USA
20. Brink J., South
Africa 21. Caslaneda L., Mexico
22. Cooper T., England

Top right: Bruno Giezendanner’s mechanic, R. A. Penrod, served as team manager for the once again successful U.S. team (1st place, team standings) during the 1977 World Championships.

Bottom left: Two beaming former world champions: Phil Kraft, USA (left), and Bruno Giezendanner (right). Together with Wolfgang Matt, no fewer than three former world champions were on the starting line.

Bottom right: Günther Hoppe, West Germany, proved his class in Las Vegas as well, although—much like Bruno Giezendanner—things didn’t quite go as he’d hoped at the World Championships.