THE F3D F.A.I. Class:

Pictured here is Barry Murphy with one of his FAI F3D Designs. This is the International Pylon Class as flown in World Championships.

Hereunder are the rules related to this class. These rules have been shorten by myself and reworded to make a better explanation. If you are serious - a full set of rules are available via the FAI rules book Called the Sporting Code 1993 Section 4.c Paragraph 5.2.

• ENGINES - Max 6.6 cc

• COURSE - Leg 180 meters - Base 40 meters

• SILENCER - Tuned pipes are allowed

• PROPELLERS - Only Wooden or Continuous Fibre construction

• SPINNER - Metal round nosed

• FUSELAGE -

  • Height 175 mm

  • Width 85 mm

  • Cross Sectional Area 100cm2

  • All measurements to be at the same section of the fuselage.

• COWLS- Must enclose the engine - Only 1cm of the engine is allowed to protrude

• LANDING GEAR-

  • Two or three wheel design

  • Min Track 150 mm

  • Minimum Diameter of wheel - 57 mm - Minimum 12 mm thick for at least 1/3 of the diameter.

• COCKPIT - The model must feature a cockpit - can be painted on.

• WING-

  • Total lifting area Wing & Stab 34 dm2 (No Delta planform allowed).

  • Minimum span 1150 mm.

  • Thickness of wing just outboard of fillet Minimum 22 mm at root.

  • Wing must have a constant taper of thickness from root to tip sections.

• WEIGHT - Minimum 2200 g Max 3000

• FUEL - 80% Methanol - 20% Castor Oil (No Synthetics)

• RACE -

  • 10 laps are raced

  • Only one helper is allowed - this is usually the Caller.

  • F3D is a team event (Pilot and Caller)

  • In the event of a cut 10% is added to the offenders score.

  • If a person gets two cuts or more in a race his time is recorded as 200 seconds (A very severe penalty I must say!)

  • Scores are calculated in seconds

  • After four rounds are flown - the worst heat time is eliminated from the total score

  • After nine rounds are flown - the two worst heat times are eliminated from the total score

  • The winner is the person with the lowest total score (All heat times added together-excluding those eliminated)