2023 F3P World Championships, Lithuania

The Swiss team is proud to have achieved its goal 100 percent. The dedication shown over the past few years has paid off with participation in this World Championship in Lithuania. These include: the 2015 World Championship in Poland, the 2017 World Championship in France, the 2019 World Championship in Greece, and—since 2016, 2017, 2018, 19, 20, 22, and 23, we have organized the Swiss Open Indoor Master, which has established itself in the scene (see report in the last MFS). The Swiss team is well known, and we’ve been able to improve our performance year after year. This also includes regular participation in World Cups abroad, such as last fall’s Jonava Challenge, which took place in Lithuania in the same arena as the World Championships. The travel and time commitments should not be underestimated. This is especially true for Sylvain Pasini, who achieves top results in both categories—F3P and AFM—thanks to his flying and technical skills.

Sylvain and Philipp qualified to compete in the World Championships, and since Arnaud Carrard and Sandro Veronelli were unable to attend due to work commitments, Ruedi Gallati, with Therese as his assistant, stepped in.

After much back-and-forth, we decided to make the 1,800-kilometer trip in two vehicles. Sylvain and Philipp in a van, taking two days, packed with five boxes of models. Ruedi and Therese, taking three days in a car, with one model and ten kilograms of raclette cheese. Advantage: no need to rent a car once we get there, and we have everything we need,

If, immediately after the first round, the pilot is informed by the judge that he has been rated too low compared to the pilots who followed, one would hope that the judge had maintained this strict standard throughout the entire round. The judges also need to find their rhythm; the pilots do this during practice flights, and the judges do so in the first rounds. This makes it all the more important to be able to deliver the best flights right from the start. Four five-minute flight sessions—and delivering your best performance precisely during those times—is the big challenge. In practice, individual maneuvers might go a little better. At a World Championship, however, it’s crucial to

to bring out their best performance at a specific moment. As we stated at the last SOIM, our goal was to get two pilots into the F3P finals and to finish third in the team standings. We are proud that we succeeded in this, and we owe it not least to the fantastic support and advice from the many volunteers who do such great work behind the scenes—whether at the SMV, in the FAKOs, or in the clubs.

It’s amazing to see how imagination, aviation and artistic talent, and technical expertise come together here. Flight maneuvers synchronized to music, light shows with LEDs on the model, and—seen for the first time with Jeffrey and Maxime—even on streamers. Gernot released balloons and Markus dropped parachutes; Derk produced smoke—in the form of powdered sugar—that was ejected from a tube by a backward-spinning propeller at just the right moment to the tune of the 007 theme song, earning him 4th place. Donatas took off backward from a box, accompanied by a cloud of confetti—the judges had to take all this and much more into account as they evaluated the performances. Finally, Donatas won over the home crowd with his “old” routine. Gernot took second place thanks to his precisely executed maneuvers. He was followed by Jeffrey, Maxim, and Sylvain in fifth place; all in all, they showcased the widest range of attractions.

Not much has changed in F3P. Gernot, Sylvain, and Lukas are now using Glavak’s counter-rotating propulsion system with a 20-inch propeller (52 cm in diameter). This is designed to provide even better braking during descent.

Most AFM models are now also built using carbon/Maylar and 4D technology (a motor that pivots parallel to the rudder). The unreliable pitch control systems are gradually being phased out and replaced by controllers with reverse rotation. Thanks to Glavak’s 1.2 g lightweight propellers, reverse rotation achieves nearly the same level of agility.

If there had been a ranking at the Nations Dinner, it would have mirrored the Nations standings. In that case, we would have taken first place with our raclette—which was unbeatable. Second place would have gone to the white wine from Alsace, and third place to the Sacher Torte from Vienna. What this also reflects is the excellent cooperation among the top nations: it just works.

F3P

• 1st Place: Gernot Bruckmann (AUT)
• 2nd place: Donatas Pauzuolis LIT
• 3rd Place: Jeffrey Durochat FRA
• 6th Place: Philipp Schürmann SUI
• 10th place: Sylvain Pasini (SUI)
• 21st place: Ruedi Gallati (SUI)

AFM

• 1st place: Donatas Pauzuolis (LIT)
• 2nd place: Gernot Bruckmann (AUT)
• 3rd place: Jeffrey Durochat FRA
• 5th place: Sylvain Pasini (SUI)

Team

• 1st Place: France
• 2nd place: Austria
• 3rd place: Switzerland

Sylvain and Philipp set out on Sunday morning to cover the 2,012 km in 18.59 hours at an average speed of 106 km/h and with a fuel consumption of 7.7 L/100 km, and arrived home at 4 a.m. the next morning. For Ruedi and Therese, Monday unfolded as expected, with traffic jams and—less expected—snowstorms and heavy downpours, followed by blue skies, and finally, after 1,797 km at 104 km/h and a fuel consumption of 6.9 l/100 km, the “gray on gray” landscape familiar from Lithuania gradually gave way to “green on gray.”

It was an honor for the Indoor Team to represent Switzerland in Lithuania—we’ll cherish these memories forever. Thank you!

https://f3plithuania.eu/