28 Aug 2024

Female pilots shine at the 2024 FAI F1E European Championship for Free Flight Slope Soaring Gliders

Female pilots at the 2024 FAI F1E European Championship for Free Flight Slope Soaring Gliders in Czechia at the end of August showed outstanding performances to gain podium positions in both junior and senior categories: Laura Kožuchová of Slovakia won the overall junior classification and Nadiia Arkhypska of Ukraine was second in the senior category.

Between 19 - 23 August 2024 in the hills of Litoměřice and Rana, north-west of Prague in Czechia, a total of 58 competitors enjoyed the late summer weather for the free flight championship. Their aircraft are controlled by the earth's magnetic field, conventionally with a bar magnet that actuates a head rudder, or electronically via a sensor and servo. Over the five flights, the aim was to achieve maximum times of four to five minutes, as the skilled competitors adjusted their aircraft's speed to the windspeed, and its flight direction to the wind direction and the slope structure.

Ideal conditions prevailed on the junior flight day, with two fly-offs necessary before the winners were decided. The team classification went to France, and the new junior champion is Laura Kozuchova - her second time at winning the title, as she gained a gold in 2016. Nectarie Totan of Romania came second in the junior category, followed by France's Omar Al Saloum.

The seniors had a tougher time, with the wind often blowing across the slope, making it very difficult to achieve the maximum times. In the end, only two starters reached the fly-off. The winning team came from Romania and the new F1E European champion is Poland's Czesław Ziober, with Nadiia Arkhypska of Ukraine gaining a silver medal ahead of Ivan Tréger of Slovakia who was awarded a bronze. The defending champion Konrad Zurowski gained position eleven.

FAI F1E European Championship for Free Flight Slope Soaring Gliders

Of the 37 seniors and 21 juniors, the women's participation was so strong that a complete, separate women's classification with titles and medals was possible: there were eight female participants from eight different nations and six junior females from five nations.