THE HISTORY
In the early
part of 1987, the Cebu Aeromodelers Club members decided to hold a competition
with other modelers in the country. At that time, there was very minimal
communication between modelers around the country. Mr. Rico Gandionco then
suggested to bring up the competition agenda to Mr. Obi Mapua, who was already a
known modeler in Manila. Mr. Mapua happen to have in his possesion a trophy
given to him from the Davao modelers thru Mr. Bert Perez. This trophy was given
by JR to the Davao modelers who were unable to hold a competition and they
forwarded it to Mr. Obi Mapua. The first competiion was around October 1987 with
Manila and Cebu aeromodelers participating.
It was decided by the Manila and Cebu group to
call the JR trophy the CEBU GOLD CUP and the winner with the
highest overall score would have his name engraved in the base of the cup and
that the winner will have to defend his name the following year. Also, it was
decided at that time, whoever wins this trophy for three consecutive years, he
will keep the trophy for good. The competition date for the second year was
moved to May in order to minimize the chances of rain and to allow aeromodelers
with family members with school age children to participate.
The competition in the first 3 years was named
FUN FLY which consisted mostly of Fun-fly events with Precision Aerobatics as a
part of the competition. The increasing interest in Precision Aerobatics or
Pattern Flying became apparent in the following years of the competition. The
Cebu Club decided to adjust the format of the competition due to modeler
interest in pattern flying. In recognizing this interest in 1990, the
competition was renamed PHILIPPINE NATIONAL AEROMEDELERS TOURNAMENT during
the 4th year of competition. The succeeding years of competition saw the
classification of modelers into 3 different classes and was later changed to NOVICE,
SPORTSMAN, ADVANCED and FAI. The Cebu Gold Cup
in now awarded to the winner of the FAI class. A scale event was included in
this competition sometime in 1994 with a few participants. The next few years
will show if there is general interest in scale flying. There is also a planned
pylon race in the near future provided a safe place can be located.
The Cebu competition has always been supported
by JR Remote Control of Japan. The brief history has shown that JR would support
a budding competition provided its organizers can also render advertising
support to its sponsor. The succeeding years of competition saw the
participation of OS Engines, Thunder Tiger and other model related companies.
Also, the success of this competition would not have been possible if not for
the support of all the modelers in the Philippines. Lastly, the continued
interest in pattern flying should be supported in order to prepare our future
modelers to compete in the FAI International World Championships. |