Aero modelling sport has been around since man first started to put his dreams of air flight into practice. Also known as model aircraft competitions, participants compete with fully functional miniature aircraft, that are self-designed and built and controlled by remote. The objective of competitions is to finish a course as fast as possible or achieve maximum flight time, which sometimes involves flying the aircraft for several hours.
Aero modelling does not fit in the definition of a real sport as it is not a human physical activity, but is included on this list of sports due to similarities to other flying sports.
The aircraft may resemble scaled down versions of full scale aircraft, while others are uniquely designed. There are also models which resemble flying animals.
There are several classifications of model aircraft competitions, which are:
- Outdoor Free Flight - Flights that have no external control after launch. Competitions are conducted outdoors.
- Indoor Free Flight - Free flights that are specially designed for indoor competitions.
- Remote Control (RC) Pylon Racing - Flights used are radio controlled. The competition involves racing on a course that has three pylons arranged to form a triangular course, a quarter mile in length. Races are conduct for a fixed number of laps. The full scale version is Air Racing.
- Remote Control (RC) Soaring - Involves radio controlled flights. There are two types of soaring, slope soaring and thermal soaring.
- Control Line - The aircraft is controlled by the flier by using a pair of lines connected to the aircraft.
- Electric - Involves flying of electric powered model aircraft.
Model Aircraft World Championship is a major annual international event, which lasts for seven days and has participants for over 32 countries around the world. The event has competitions for all classifications of model aircraft.
Similar Sports
- Drone Racing — competitors race with specially built multi-rotor drones around a natural or specifically designed course (not a sport)
- Air Racing — Air racing is a sport involving airplanes competing over a fixed course low to the ground.
- Aerobatics — sport aerobatics involves aircraft maneuvers such as rolls, loops, stall turns (hammerheads), and tailslides.