World Games 2013: Time to shine for AeroMusicals

AeroMusicals, an Aeromodelling discipline that combines aerobatic skills, flying precision and music, will have a great opportunity to promote itself at the World Games 2013 which will take place from 25 July to 4 August 2013 in Cali, Colombia. Two world-class AeroMusicals pilots will showcase their sport in front of thousands of spectators and TV viewers for 5 days, in between the Ju-Jitsu and Wushu events, at the Coliseo Evangelista Mora.

Andres Leoni from Spain and Alan Goljevscek from Slovenia will show the beauty of AeroMusicals by flying their aircraft to music, while Colombian presenter Jorge Lozano will commentate on the figures and explain the basics of the sport to give the crowd and the viewers at home the bug for Aeromusicals and Aeromodelling.

The demonstration will take the form of a competition where the two pilots will compete against each other. Each round will comprise one flight per pilot and include introduction, preparation, take-off, two minutes flight and landing, for a total duration of 10 minutes per round. There will be as many rounds as the timetables of Wushu and Ju-Jitsu allow.

“AeroMusicals is a discipline which has great potential. It is fun, spectacular and dynamic; it involves music, demands artistic skills and can be practised by people of all ages. Over the last few years it has become increasingly popular and such exposure will certainly reinforce this trend and encourage many more people to take up this sport,” FAI Senior Sports Manager Rob Hughes said.

About Aeromusicals

The AeroMusicals pilot flies his aircraft to music of his own choice, but incorporating both dynamic and softer parts. A flight routine is designed to fit to the chosen music while incorporating various aerobatic elements so as to evoke the mood created by the music piece.

Flying AeroMusicals requires a very high degree of aerobatic skills and the utmost precision and coordination. A well-polished routine requires many tens of hours of practice to achieve excellence. Competition pilots usually design a new routine every year.

A unique feature among artistic and choreographic sports, AeroMusicals allow the pilot to be simultaneously the actor and the spectator of his sport as he can witness the action in exactly the same way judges and spectators witness it. This enhances the sense of achievement derived from this highly competitive sport spreading across the world and mixing junior, senior and female pilots into one single competition class with no advantage granted to any of them.

The aircraft used for AeroMusicals performance are purpose-designed, radio controlled miniature aeroplanes capable of remarkable manoeuvrability. The wingspan is normally slightly less than one metre and they are constructed from a special foam material resulting in a flying weight of less than 200 grams.

With such a low mass they are particularly suitable for safe indoor competition and provide the pilot with great potential to create very special manoeuvres. The propulsion is from miniature electric motors powered by lightweight rechargeable batteries. The electronic (radio control) equipment uses the latest and best available miniaturisation technology. Remarkably, the combined weight of the servomechanisms required to operate the controls, electronic components and the battery weigh less than fifty grams. The competitors have improved the performance by careful reduction in weight, an improvement in power to weight ratio and great attention to detail in the construction and finish.

About Airsports at The World Games

The World Games are organised and governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA), under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The 2013 edition will take place in Cali, Colombia, over a period of 11 days from July 25 to August 4 2013. 32 official sports feature in the programme, including Parachuting Canopy Piloting and Paragliding Accuracy, while AeroMusicals (Aeromodelling) is present as a demonstration sport. The Parachuting and Paragliding competitions will run concurrently on the same site, for maximum spectator interest, from 1 to 4 August 2013. Some 66 competitors (36 for parachuting and 30 for paragliding) gained entry to the Games.

• The World Games 2013 dedicated pages on the FAI website
• List of selected athletes for Parachuting Canopy Piloting
• List of selected athletes for Paragliding Accuracy
• List of officials and selected athletes for AeroMusicals