At the end of the month the skies over Mallow, Co Cork, will buzz with model aircraft as more than 600 enthusiasts gather for the World Championships for Model Aerobatic Aircraft. This is held under the auspices of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.
Against strong opposition from Spain and Poland, the Model Aeronautics Council of Ireland was successful in its application to host the championships, and the Cork racecourse at Mallow was considered a perfect venue with its level and well-prepared surfaces.
The council spent two years preparing its application, according to the event's director, Mr Finbar Constant, who says all is now in readiness for the arrival of the participants from 40 countries.
The participants will assemble in Mallow on August 24th, and the finals will be flown on August 30th and September 1st. Throughout the week the championships will be open to the public.
This will be a spectacular event as the model aircraft are put through their paces by deft handlers who have to control the machines as they pull Gvalues of 10 plus at times.
The event is a biennial competition to select the world champion and country team champions. The competitors are a special breed who use the most up-to-date technology.
They are committed sportsmen who spend all of their available time sharpening their skills in the performance of aerial ballet.
For a week they will battle it out through preliminary rounds flown before five sets of judges. These experts, from 20 countries, are gifted with the patience to sit looking skywards for long hours and know how to evaluate the artistic and technical merit of the manoeuvres performed by the two metre models flying at speeds of up to 100 m.p.h.
The development of these models in recent years has been phenomenal. Nowadays they are constructed largely from materials which emerged from the technology of space exploration. Radios are masterpieces of sophistication.
"Resulting from all of this, the performance of these models in the hands of such experts is breathtaking," says Mr Constant.
The reigning world champion, Christophe Paysant le Roux, from northern France, will be in Mallow to defend his title. Teams from China, Argentina, Israel, the US, Korea, Japan and Uzbekistan will be among those participating.
The Irish team is Noel Barrett, Ray Keane and Barry Smith. Each team has three "fliers" with back-up, including manager, mechanics, mentors and supporters.
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