Let's all go to F3A school!

Our contact with Massimo Selva—a pilot who competed in the 2009 F3A World Championships in Portugal—dates back to last season, when some GAL members wanted to update their model fleet with impressive, state-of-the-art aircraft. As an enthusiast of aerobatics in the broadest sense—and not merely a purist within the F3A category—Massimo Selva gladly shares his experience during workshops designed for both those new to the F3A category and experienced pilots. The group gathered in Lodrino over the weekend of April 13–14, combining the date that usually hosts the friendly F3A competition organized by GAL at the field with a day of theoretical and practical training. On Saturday morning, in front of about ten pilots, Massimo Selva presented the topic of tuning an F3A model—an essential starting point for bringing out the best in both the model and the pilot. This is a more or less labor-intensive initial phase in which all possible adjustments are made to a model in this category—from wing sweep angles, individual tailplane and motor settings, to the center of gravity, all the way to setting the travel of moving parts under various flight conditions (“linear” aerobatic flight, spins, and snap-rolls, as well as individual scenarios). Once the introduction was over, everyone headed to the field for the practical session, first focusing on the general aspects of an aerobatic program (flight space, figure setup, precision, and consistency) and then flying one of the competition programs (“Regional” or “Interregional”) with valuable advice from Massimo, who guided each pilot individually during their flight. The day ended with a sense of satisfaction and enthusiasm among all participants, who were ready to tackle the competition the following day.

It’s one of the races that kicks off the season, with a good number of pilots from across the Alps also taking part. On Sunday, April 14, our friends from the Lucerne group accepted the invitation and joined the local pilots, all eager to compete against champion Massimo Selva, who flew in the “Interregional” category for the occasion.

In the “Regional” category, Martin Sauter took the win, ahead of the promising Pietro Ghisletta and Christian Righini, all from the GAL. In the “Interregional” category, Massimo Selva secured the maximum points across the three heats; Martin Schön from the Lucerne group placed second, followed by Guido Bianchi of the GAL. An extensive photo gallery from the event is available on the GAL website at www.gal.ch.

gt, photo by fa