The 2024 F2 World Championships for Control Line Model Aircraft attracted a remarkable turnout, featuring 199 pilots from 30 countries vying for podium positions amidst challenging winds. Held from 12 to 17 August 2024, in Muncie, Indiana, USA, the event highlighted the local knowledge of American pilots, who secured team medals in all four classes.

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• Full results

119 pilots competed in four classes

The prestigious championship displayed a great diversity of talent, featuring 19 junior competitors and 8 female athletes among the participants.

Antonis Papadopoulos, President of the FAI Aeromodelling Commission (CIAM), stated:

“Congratulations to all the pilots and a heartfelt thank you to the organisers for hosting such a fantastic competition! It has been inspiring to witness so many talented modellers showcasing their skills in this event.

“I am especially delighted to see women achieving impressive rankings. We hope that outstanding performances like Natalia Dementieva’s silver medal in the highly competitive F2D combat class will encourage even more women to join us in the future.”

Conditions for flying were perfect for the qualifying rounds, with ‘stunt heaven’ weather giving the pilots opportunity to show off their skills.

The weather took a turn for the worst for the finals, with gusts causing some wild take-offs and pushing up manoeuvre speeds which ensured a thrilling show for spectators but a challenge for the pilots who were unaccustomed to windy weather.

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Frank Kruijff  from The Netherlands

RESULTS F2A Speed Model Aircraft

F2A legends, father and son Alex and Ivan Valishev, successfully defended their titles against France’s speed demon Matthieu Perret, which contributed to the team champion medal.

F2A - Speed Model Aircraft

1. Alexander Valishev (USA)
2. Ivan Valishev (USA) 
3. Matthieu Perret (FRA)

F2A, Speed Model Aircraft – Team (top picture)

1. USA
2. France
3. Germany

RESULTS F2B Aerobatics

Wild winds caused a leaderboard shuffle, but experience pilots Valliera and Hernandez gained advantage over the two outstanding Chinese pilots; Letong beating teammate Yang onto the podium.

F2B – Aerobatics

1. Marco Valliera (ITA)
2. Orestes Hernandez (USA)
3. Xu Letong (CHN)

F2B, Aerobatics – Junior

1. Letong Xu (CHN)
2. Gabriel Alimov (USA)
3. Buyandorj Dashdori (MGL)

F2B, Aerobatics – Team

1. China
2. USA
3. Japan

RESULTS F2C Team Racing

The lead was snatched from the Surugues by the Polish team by just 0.7 seconds after an engine problem, but with two teams on the podium, France managed to gain the overall team medal ahead of their Polish opponents.

F2C - Team Racing

1. Mariusz Fedan / Wojciech Lesiuk (POL)
2. Pascal Surugue / Georges Surugue (FRA)
3. Alexandre Gauthier / Thomas Villeboeuf (FRA)

F2C, Team Racing – Team

1. France
2. Poland
3. USA

RESULTS F2D Combat

Defending champion Jussi Forss reigned supreme but with an excellent opponent in Natalia Dementieva, however USA’s overall performance rewarded them as overall team champions.

F2D – Combat

1. Jussi Forss (FIN)
2. Natalia Dementieva (DEN)
3. Austin Minor (USA) 

F2D, Combat – Junior

1. Austin Minor (USA)
2. Sofija Rastenis (LTU)
3. Sergey Vardanyan (ARM)

F2D, Combat – Team

1. USA 
2. Finland
3. Denmark

Three up action with Big Murray Wilson from Australia, Jacco De Ridder (Netherlands), and Dave Fisher (USA) battle it out in the center.

Photo credits: picture 1,2: Fred Cronenwett; picture 3-4: Charlie Johnson