Michelle Goodrum

The First lady to fly in the Multitask Radio Controlled Gliding (F3B) World Championships.

Michelle Goodrum is on her way to the 1997 F3B World Championships. This is a trully unique achievement as it will make her not only the first lady to represent South Africa in F3B but also the first female pilot to fly at an F3B World Championship. The 1997 world championships will be the tenth aneversary of the class on a world championship level. It will also be forming part of the first ever World Air Games.

At the time of writing Michelle has only been flying in this male dominated sport for three years and four months. In this time she has gone from a complete novice to the 1996 South African National thermal soaring Champion. She also came second in the 1996 F3B National Championships , beating all of the previous (1995 and 1993) South African F3B team members along the way.

After having been only a helper at the 1995 World Championships Michelle was featured in the top German gliding magazines ('Aufwind and FMT') and received a notable mention in others.

Since the 1995 World Championships, after noticing the good prospects of being a member of the 1997 team Michelle undertook a trip to Germany, Italy and Sweden during 1996 so that she could participate in international competition and thus be better prepared. In the first competition in Italy she didn't fare so well but in Sweden she was in the middle of the field. At both competitions she was the only lady competitor and we were the only husband and wife team. Since then she has again appeared in 'Aufwind' and I am sure she will after the World Championships. All other model magazines would miss out if the didn't at least mention her which means there is a good chance that even if she doesn't become World Champion she will be given considerable coverage. Since flying in Sweden Michelle's speed times have improved by 15% and will improve further by September 1997. She came second by only 2 points in the South African F3B National Championships and is the South African National Thermal Champion for 1996.

Michelle flies with Futaba FC28 (version 1) Radio controlled which is a top of the range computer radio . In order to further improve her skills we are trying to introduce computers into our training program. These will be used to acquire data of launches and in statistical analysis of flights, thus pinpointing problem areas which require more intense training. We have recently received sponsorship of a pressure reading data logger for the analysis of the launch but still require a laptop or notebook for analysis of the data.

F3B is the Formula 1 of the radio controlled gliding classes. It is a High-Tech class without technological limits. The contests are a tremendous challenge, thrilling, and ask for power of endurance and team spirit. The technical challenge is tremendous; after years of evolution the models are capable of flying in extreme situations.

South African F3B Team Page Index.

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