Peter Bauer's 2024 World Champion model.
By Fred Cronenwett
The F4B Control Line Scale World Championships happens every even year, and the team trials happen the year before the World Championships happen. The F4B team has three members, so the three pilots who place with the top three overall points in the team trial will earn a spot on the team. The pilot in the 4th place position will be an alternate in case anyone (1st thru 3rd place position) is unable to attend the World Championships.
The static judging on June 10th was done to determine who is going to earn a spot on the 2026 F4B team that will be in the UK. However, we need the overall score to determine who that will be. After the flight points are complete on Sunday, we will know who will qualify to be on the team.
The static score can not be revealed until the pilot has completed an official flight, so we won't know who got the top three static scores until Sunday. With F4B competition the static score only represents 1/3 of the total score. The flying score accounts for 2/3 of the total points that are available. So, the F4B event is dominated by the flying points. To do well, you need to put in great flying points, but also have a solid static score.
The AMA Sport scale event is similar to the F4B Control Line Scale event. The AMA event, however, requires that the pilot is the builder of the model. In F4B, the pilot does not need to be builder of the model. This allowed Pete Mazur to fly an Almost Ready to Fly (ARF) in this year's F4B team trials.
Kathy Bauer and Pete Mazur are flying a model they did not build for the team trials. If they earn a spot on the F4B team, they would fly a different model in the 2026 World Championships.
It is also worth noting that the F4B event does allow for ARF models to be flown, but with a point deduction during static judging. If the pilot decides to fly an ARF, they need to understand there is a point deduction.
Now for a sneak peek at the 1/2a scale model that Keith Trostle is flying, which is a North American AJ Savage. Kieth put in a practice flight on Thursday afternoon in preparation for the flying on Friday.
Dave Whitney had the updated version of the Line Master 2.4 GHz control line handle that has a trigger for throttle and four channels for items like retracts, flaps, and other features.
All of the action for Friday, July 11th will be at Site 6 for the static judging of the AMA events and then fly round 1 of the AMA events. As soon as the static judging is complete, we will move right into the flying portion.
