MAAA Wingspan

26 WING SPAN NOVEMBER Aftermuch travel and a long seasonof flying, Gary Pope foundhimself in 4th position for a three-man teamto the 2019WorldChampionship, to be held in Lost Hills, California inOctober 2019. “I was determined to domy utmost to make the team. My last opportunities to do sowere theDalby comps inmid- September and the Kotukuand Sierra cups to be held in Lost Hills inOctober 2018,” saidGary. “I had resolved to enter all of these. All I needed tomake the teamwas five consecutive [maximumscores], and these competitions theoretically provided four opportunities to achieve my goal.” Unfortunately, Gary’s trip toDalbywas fruitless. “On the practice day the outer wing hinges onmy two bestmodels (geared Slava Folders) failed and I couldnot repair themin time for the comp,” continues Gary. “As it turned out, it didn’tmatter as the compswere effectively blown out by highwinds. Thus, two of four opportunities to get on the teamwere gone. Thiswas disappointing, however, I still had two chances tomake the team- provided I could get the goodmodels repaired in time. To add tomywoes, I received some extremely distressing personal news on the drive home to Sydney. I had 12 days to deal with this upsetting news and get the good models repaired and trimmed before departure to theUS.” Ina classic case of aeromodelling camaraderie, a friend came tohelp. “Thankfully, Terry Bond came to the fore andwe repaired the hinges under his calmand confident guidance,” continues Gary. Gary packedhis bags andnewly restoredmodels and caught the shuttle to the airport early Tuesdaymorning of October 2. It was at this point that things began to turnaround for him. “After nearly a year of frustration, reversals, unexplainedhiccups and a successionof unkind events, serendipity returned and things started to fall into place,” he says. PractiseDay in the Lost Hills Arriving in the Lost Hills after his flight, Garywas excited to join the other competing Aussie pilots- Roy, Albert, Craig and Vin for some practise flying. “The #38 SlavaGeared Folder (the sibling of #37: the 2015WorldChampion) went well after a few flights. It is a superb model. The #10 SlavaGeared Folder (fixedwing converted to foldingwing) went well after half a dozen flights. This is anexcellentmodel but not as good as #38,” continues Gary. “Next was the Straight DriveBabenko Style series 1 Folder. I cobbled this from bits and pieces, so it is not a true factory Babenkomachine. It was troublesome, I thinkmainly due to the fact that I got the CGwrongwhenputting it together. By the end of the day it was ok and shouldhave been capable of a few three minutemaxes in calmair.” Morning Fly-off For a 10-minutemorning fly-off in calm morning air, Garymade a good launch, withhismodel spearing into the sky at a great rate and settling into a lovely glide. “All was perfect inmyworld. After a long and very slow flight it was lost out of sight. My time-keeper counted off the obligatory ten seconds, stopped the clock at eightminutes 36 seconds and gavememy time of eightminutes and 26 seconds. I hit theDT button,” continues Gary. It wasn’t long afterwards that Gary learnt he hadwon the contest. “I was stunned. Ina single competition I hadmade the Australian team, won my first F1C Fly-off andwonmy first F1C WorldCup competition,” says Gary. “Imustmention the great competitive companionship shownbyMikeRoberts during this day. It was a pleasure to simultaneously flywith and against Mike. Mike also did a super job of retrievals onhismotorbike. I should also acknowledge the patience and insights provided over the years bymy F1Cmentor-former WorldChampionRoy Summersby.” TRAVEL STORY: THE KOTUKU CUP IN A CLASSIC CASE OF AEROMODELLING PROWESS, GARY POPE TELLS US HOW HE OVERCAME THE ODDS IN LOST HILLS, CALIFORNIA TO WIN HIS FIRST F1C WORLD CUP COMPETITION