The first Hong Kong F3F Open was held in Ma On Shan east-facing slope from 4 to 6 November 2005. This is the first time we organized an international F3F contest in Hong Kong. There were 21 pilots participating in the race of whom three are from Korea and two from Taiwan. The detailed contest information is given here. Despite of last minute dropouts, late arrivals and marginally wind conditions, the race was successfully completed with 8 rounds of contest. Unlucky, we would say, if the contest was held two days earlier, we would have howling wind through out the contest. Here is a brief account of the race:

Day 1

The weather was fine with consistent wind of 6-8m/s in the morning and it was dropped to about 3-4 m/s in the afternoon. Due to the late arrival of the Korean team only 18 pilots participated in the race in the first day. Henry was the unluckiest guy of the day, his Aris went into a spin after a hard-pull turn! The skin near the wing joint was torn off and it would be out of service for a while. Poor chap, he didn't have a spare plane on site, so no contest for him today! Stanley took the lead and got a 42s in round 0 which was however not counted into the result. Then, in round 1 he got a 50.36s which was soon replaced by a 49.47s by Ah Pong and this record held for the rest of the contest as the wind gradually died down in the next two days! Well done, Ah Pong, and good tactic to win the fastest time award too! Four rounds of contest were completed in the first day with Stanley taking the lead and the fierce-fought second place by Ah Fai..

Day 2

The weather was really hot, 29C with brilliant sunshine! In fact, we believe it was the hottest record in November in history -  the weather God showed no merci to our fellow pilots, all of us got sunburn somehow! The wind was weak and varied between 2 to 4 m/s. The thermal activities were strong.  Bad luck to Lee Joon from Korea, in testing the slope for his first HK flight, his Acacia II plunged into the ground due to the problem of radio interference. Nose cone was damaged and he had to use his teammate's plane for the rest of the contest. Angus got a good start and took round 5. Lee Seung Kuk of Korea claimed round 6 with a 59.50s - really impressive as this is his second flight in HK! Stanley took round 7 by a large margin and Ah Wai took round 8 under marginal wind conditions.. The progress of the race was slowed as the wind speed varied a lot. Finally, only 4 rounds of contest were completed. Again, Stanley continued to take the lead.

Day 3

The air was dead still in the morning. After a pilot briefing in Ma On Shan car park, we decided to move the whole camp to the southern slope in Fei Ngo Shan as the southerly wind was expected to pick up a bit in the afternoon. We arrived there at about 9:30am and found that the wind wasn't there, but there were very strong thermals. So a few pilots pulled out their DLGs and started to play with them. Our Korean guests were good at that too! After about a two-hour wait, the southerly wind was gradually building up to about 2-3 m/s. However, by the time we wanted to set up the course, the road leading to the southern slope was temporary closed by the hiking team with hundred of school kids passing by and it was unknown when it will be opened. So we called a pilot meeting at 12:30pm to decide the next move. After presenting with a few options, the race was unanimously called off and the results from the past two days stand as the final results.

Banquet

The contest banquet and the award ceremony were held in Star Seafood Restaurant in Shatin. Although the wind was disappointing, we still have a lots of thing to talk about. Good food under a friendly environment marked the enjoyment faces of our fellow pilots and guests. The Korea team were particularly interested in organizing a Korean F3F Open possibly in Cheju Island next year. Wow! wonderful, we would definitely send a HK team there.

The organizer wishes to thank the following sponsors:

Windrider Aviation Co. Ltd
Waigo Model
WindFeel R/C Model
Radar Company Ltd
Stephen Chan
Stanley Chan

Finally, the organizer wishes to thank all the helpers who made this event a success.

Organization: Stanley Chan
Contest Director:  Ken Ma
Treasurer and Chief Judge: Stephen Chan
Contest Equipment: Cheng Chung Ming, Y.C. Lui
Catering: Alex So, Au Chi Fai
Guest Reception: Chester Tai, Henry Chan, and Ken Ma
Contest Support: Pauline, Mrs. Mak
Judge Team: Alexis Lip, Chan Wai Ching, Willy Lim, Lo Po Chung, Vincent, Cheung Pak Sui
                    Tong Kin Man, Ricky Wong, and many more
 

The results of the race are shown below. For detailed score sheet, click here.

Individual Results

Team Results

Sponsored Prizes:

Photo Album

Setting up the tent and the CD area

Setting up the Bases

Ken, our CD, is busy in preparing the schedule

Everybody is watching the first demo flight

Ah So's brand-new RaceM has yet to be maidened

Sharp contrast of the contest sticker

Ah Kin shows off a victory sign - let's see

Lo Wah is very interested in Ah So' RaceM

Our CD, Ken Ma and Chief Judge, Stephen

 
Ah Wai is checking the wind condition

Johnson is helping to launch C.M.'s Demo

Ah Kin seems not so happy with his performance today!

A call for start is issued

San Yi's is helping to launch Rico's Sting

AKFF team seems not a good combination - Angus, why you are not having picture with you teammates?

Ah Fai's powerful launch of NYX

Lee Seung Kuk and Chang Ki Sung of the Korean Team

The Korean team joined the contest a day later. They performed very well in the second-day contest

Stanley's Aris has a big scar on it

Stanley is so happy with this round result

Ah Kin powerful launch of NYX

Lo Wah is quite new to F3F and but he performed very well - we better watch out for him!