Final FPV race in Kropivnitsky UADR Challenge 2017 Stage 5: Airport Riots

Holding the stages in the city of Kropivnitsky became a real challenge for the Ukrainian Drone Racing Association. The first attempt to hold the 3rd stage of UADR Challenge 2017 in July at the airfield of the Ukrainian Drone Racing Association in Malaya Viska failed, as the stormy wind began to tear down the track elements and tents, after which it was impossible to continue the race. The Air Festival, within the framework of which the stage was held, was also over before the announced time.

Kirovograd Flying Academy NAU did not give up hope of hosting the drone racing championship. As a consequence, the Academy together with UADR decided to hold the 5th final stage of UADR Challenge 2017, directly on the territory of the Flight Academy in Kropivnitsky.

But the competition was again threatened with disruption due to unfavorable weather forecasts. A strong storm was coming to Ukraine, and a storm warning was announced in the central and western regions for the days of the stage on October 7-8. Wind strengthening could reach 25-30 meters per second.

Despite the disappointing forecasts, many pilots still agreed to go to the stage. As a result, 34 pilots took part in the final race of the season. It is important to note that for the whole season in each Ukrainian championship participated at least 30 pilots, which is a great success for Ukrainian drone racing, which continues to develop and popularize in our country.

Video from UADR Challenge 2017 Stage 5: Airport Riots by FlyMod Squad

FlyMod Squad arrived in Kropivnitsky at 4 am, so until 9.00 we had to sit in Kropivnitsky station, which did not make the best impression. Later, when we arrived at the place of the competition at the Flight Academy, we saw the large-scale preparation for the World of Drones festival.

The Aviator's Alley looked very elegant

UADR tents were already waiting for pilots.

Clouds were gathering over the spectacular track set up by UADR. The track was located on the territory of the open-air museum, which had collected a large number of decommissioned aircraft under its wing. Due to this fact, in addition to the standard FPV gates, mazes and flags, real airplanes and helicopters acted as obstacles. The way along the track lay under turbines, wings and over fuselages of three big airplanes: AN-12, IL-76 and AN-24. A helicopter was also involved, under the tail beam of which a small gate was installed.

The main dominant feature of the track was the Soviet IL-76 heavy military transport airplane

Against the background of FlyMod flags was a pink Yak-40 UR-DWC. It was operated by the Ukrainian UGA, Zaporizhzhya JSC. Produced in December 1975. Registered on December 22, 1975, as USSR-87987. In 1993 it was transferred to the airline "Airlines of Ukraine". In 2004 it was transferred to Aero-Charter (ACR). Registered as UR-DWC. In 2011 it was donated to KLA NAU. In 2012, it was installed in the museum of KLA NAU, instead of Yak-40 UR-UAS.

Another impressive exhibit of the CLA NAU museum is the An-12 "09 Red" (9901103). It was operated by the USSR Air Force. It had the flight number "09 red". After decommissioning it was transferred as a training aid to Kirovograd VLUGA (since 1993 GLAU). In May 2011, it became an exhibit of the museum of KLA NAU. The museum was opened to the 65th anniversary of CLA NAU on October 28, 2011.

And the last in the chain of obstacles was An-24 - turboprop passenger airplane for small and medium length lines.

A bit of post-apocalyptic landscapes

It is safe to say that the course of the 5th stage became the fastest and the largest for the whole season.

The briefing and walkthrough of the course was interesting not only for the information about the course of the competition, but also for the fact that everyone had an opportunity to have a close look at the aircraft.

UADR tried to take into account the previous mistakes, especially the problems related to the video signal. This time triple patch antennas from GEPRC were used at the Groundstations, and before the stage it was announced about strict technical requirements for pilots. Quadcopters with a video transmitter of no more than 25mW and only with a cloverleaf antenna were allowed to compete.

In addition to quadrocopters the spectators could be surprised by a hexacopter and a high-speed FPV machine.

Due to forecasts and impending storm, the organizers decided to hold qualification and competition in one day. An extremely ambitious and dangerous decision. Initially it was supposed to conduct flights at least up to Top 8, and the remaining part was to be postponed to the next day. But such reassurances turned out to be in vain. The stage was exemplary, without unnecessary hiccups, nerves and running around. There was enough time for each pilot to make two qualification flights. The main part of the races under the usual Double Eliminations system also took place without hurry.

Qualification results, two pilots failed to make it to the Top 32.

Congratulations with the victory in UADR Challenge 2017 Stage 5: Airport Riots Victor Dzenzel. The places in the final were distributed as follows:

• 1. Victor Dzenzel (QuadRAT Team)
• 2. Alexander Mazur
• 3. Ilya Lukashchuk (QuadRAT Team)
• 4. Nikolay Podakov (Air's Crew)

Tournament table and points distribution

According to the results of the five stages, QuadRAT team took revenge and took the lead in the team standings, and Nikolay Podakov (Air's Crew) became the undisputed leader of UADR Challenge 2017.

Final table of the season

In general, the event was held in a pleasant and friendly atmosphere. Thank you to the Ukrainian Drone Racing Association for an excellent season. Looking forward to next year and new competitions.

Text: Vyacheslav Tregubov

Photo: Vyacheslav Tregubov, Grigory Soroka

Video editing: Denis Perevozchikov

Share: