IMAC Nordic activity and Championship 2019

Hi all

Our friends in the Nordic countries are taking the IMAC scene in a very serious way by conducting more and more IMAC contests throughout their countries, Denmark, Norway and Sweden are entering a new era in their IMAC  clubs.

Here are some pictures and a full report from Kristian, IMAC Denmark president.

Thank you for flying IMAC

IMAC Nordic Championship scores and other contests

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/943

Sweden

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/847

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/888

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/846

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/843

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/845

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/844

Denmark

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/917

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/922

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/941

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/946

Norway

http://www.mini-iac.org/Event-Results/EVT/817

IMAC Nordic Championship 2019 – Denmark

In the Scandinavian countries we a long tradition of competing against each other in various sports. This is also the case in IMAC, where Denmark, Norway and Sweden have held Nordic Championships since 2010.

In 2019 the hosting country was Denmark, and I had the privilege and honor to be the coordinator and Contest Director of the event, held at Lindtorp Airfield – a full-size airfield with 1200 meters of tarmac runway as well as very nice indoor facilities. The facilities also gave plenty of room for camping, and a camp for each national team was created just behind the flight line.

A total of 30 pilots from Denmark (6), Norway (10) and Sweden (14) participated in the event, where the registration was open for all known classes and freestyle. All pilots were chosen by the respective national teams based on the results from the national competitions in 2018.

The airfield was open from Monday 19^th of August for training until Wednesday 21^st of August. The training was carried out on 2 flight lines, one in each end of the runway. The competition started Thursday 22^nd of august with flying known programs for all classes. All competition flights were carried out from one flight line in the center of the runway. Unknowns were distributed Thursday and Friday evening prior to flying the next day. One round of freestyle was also flown both Friday and Saturday. The last known round was flown Saturday late afternoon, and afterwards the preparations for the 3-course banquet and prize ceremony was started. All classes flew 4 known rounds and 2 unknown rounds throughout the competition, as well as 2 Freestyle rounds.

The area around Lindtorp Airfield is normally fairly windy, which was also the case during the training and the first day of competition. The runway is east-west, and the wind was coming from south and southwest. Some pilots were challenged by landing in crosswind on tarmac, but after some flights and guidance, all landings were successful. No crashes or accidents occurred during the competitions, only a couple of engine failures during training.

During Thursday we managed to get a little bit ahead of the time schedule, but unfortunately it started to rain in the late afternoon, so day 1 of the competition was actually terminated within the time schedule. The time schedule was constantly communicated to pilots and assistants through the well-known “big mouth” – a megaphone.

Friday started a little less windy than Thursday, and the wind had turned to southwest. Additionally, very fine rain caused a delay of 1 hour to the first planned round. After the rain stopped, the pilots were eager to get started, as the weather conditions had improved, and everybody seemed to have lost the first nerves and were eager to get the rounds carried out. The big mouth was still in use, but less intensive as Thursday.

Saturday was the last day of the competition, and heavy fog delayed the first round for 1½ hours. When the fog cleared, the rest of the day was filled with sunshine, high temperature and almost no wind, which is rare to experience in Lindtorp.

It was a real pleasure to host the competition, as all team managers and members together with me shared a vision to carry out a professional event with good aerobatics combined with a friendly and respectful atmosphere. I really enjoyed my short walks through the Swedish and Norwegian camps, where we had some good chats about present and future for IMAC in both Scandinavia and the rest of Europe.

A very positive angle of the Nordic Championship was the group of young pilots – all 6 from Sweden. They went into the competition with high professionalism, powerful personalities and the playful attitudes of young people. When the “In the box” was called by them, no-one had any doubt that one the young guys had entered the box – it takes some personality to yell at the – well – “older youth”. It was a very nice experience, and I hope they will stick to the world of IMAC in the future – as they are the future.

Kristian Pade Nielsen

President, IMAC Denmark

Photo list:

1. All pilots and most of the airplanes participating in the Nordic Championship 2019

2. The flags of the 3 nations participating waving over Lindtorp Airfield

3. All pilots had their own designated pitch for parking their aircraft.

4. A view over the pit area.

5. Line-up area prior to take-off-

6. Contest Director takes a worried look at the weather forecast-

7. Trophies and medals for the prize ceremony.