Lithuanian F3P Championships 2009

I was honored to be invited to the 2009 Lithuanian Open F3P Competition. The venue for the event was a fantastic sports centre in the town of Kaslu Roda, situated about 120Km from the capital city of Vilnius.
Snow was on the ground and temperatures were -10 degrees C, so it was a change from our milder temperatures at home in Northern Ireland.
From leaving my home in Dungannon it took me 9 hour to reach Vilnius. On arrival my friend Donatas was waiting and it was off to his home and a bite to eat and then to the Friday night indoor flying.
These boys know how to enjoy their flying. I was very pleased to be flying one of the Worlds best indoor pilots planes, the Deluxe and SUltimate by Donatas Pauzuolis. This really was a very kind offer, as he also was flying the same planes in the competition and if I had a smashed, them Donatas was also out of the competition.

SUltimate

Saturday morning we left Donatas’s home in Vilnius and traveled 120KM to the competition venue. Flying started at so it was an early start.
On first impressions, I was amazed at the professional way in which this event was organized and also the standard of flying and equipment. The pilots had the best of the best equipment! FlightPower, Vytas motors, Hacker, AXI, Castle Creations, Dymond, Hitec and JR servos.

There was a mix of planes from the top manufactures plus some beautiful home designed planes. Saturday was a fantastic day for me as I really had no pressure and enjoyed the days flying of F3P-A schedules and also my favorite, The Aeromusical. We flew until 11pm Saturday!
I was greatly surprised to find out that I had placed 2nd in the Aeromusical and 3rd in the F3P-A schedules. I had spent 4 months preparing my AM and the judges seemed to like the music and flying.
Now the pressure was really on! All the competitors stayed at the local Hotel and what a night of fun we had.
Sunday was finals day. Flying started at 10am.

The cameras were in place from Lithuanians top broadcasting company, (the news report can be viewed here, you need to FastForward a bit.)

I didn’t fly as well on the final day as I would have wished for , but I was still very pleased . I returned to Northern Ireland after 5 days in Lithuania a very proud man.
The Federation of Aero modelers Lithuania have invited me to there National Competition weekend 2009 plus next years 2010 indoor F3P Championships.

I really am looking forward to returning to Lithuania.

Final results –

F3P-AM

F3P-A

F3P-B