FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft Starts July 9

Lausanne, Switzerland, 1 July 2026 – The 2026 FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft runs from 9-18 July in Buckminster, Great Britain with a record competitor turnout.

Hosted by the British Model Flying Association (BMFA) at their headquarters, the National Centre for Aeromodelling, organisers will welcome 23 competing nations from five continents, with 111 competitors expected: an increase of 35 from the previous record. Three countries will make their international debut: Iran, Colombia and Luxembourg.

Pilots will display their immaculately crafted models (small scale versions of real aircraft) and perform flight demonstrations to showcase manoeuvres illustrating how the original aircraft would fly. There are three classes in the event:

F4B (Control Line Scale Aeroplanes)
F4C (RC Scale Aeroplanes)
F4H (RC Stand-off Scale Aeroplanes)

The reigning champions will all be competing in the hopes of defending their titles: F4B Peter Bauer (USA), F4C David Law (AUS) and F4H Reto Senn (SUI).

President of the FAI Aeromodelling Commission (CIAM), Antonis Papadopoulos, will be present at the event in the Jury panel. He comments:

“We are thrilled to be welcoming a record number of competitors to the FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft – a historic occasion for this sport.

“With five continents represented, three new national teams, and junior and female participants competing, the F4 community is clearly thriving. We wish all competitors the best of luck!”

The event will be covered extensively online through FAI social media channels and those of the BMFA.

Event schedule

7-9 July: training
10-17 July: competition flights
17 July: closing ceremony

About F4 Scale Models

Competitors in this class of aeromodelling are meticulous researchers, skillful engineers as well as talented pilots. They present a reduced-scale model version of a real-life aircraft to the judges, then fly it in a way which illustrates as closely as possible how the original full-size aircraft would fly.

There are two parts to the competition:

Static: Each pilot presents to their static model to the panel of judges who scrutinise the craftsmanship and accuracy against the original aircraft. Scores between 0-10 are awarded for accuracy, colour and markings among other factors. Pilots must declare any parts which have been ready-made.
Flight: During the three rounds of flight demonstration before the judges, pilots fly compulsory manoeuvres plus a set of manoeuvres of their own choice chosen from a list in the FAI Sporting Code. Tasks include straight-level flying laps, taxiing, take-off, landing, and realism in flight, eg. engine tuning, smoothness of flight.

The points from each of the two tasks are combined: the sum of the static round and the average of the best two flying rounds give the final score.

With the opening ceremonies of the 2026 FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft set for July 10 in Buckminster, United Kingdom, Team USA has been hard at work managing the complex logistics of transporting their aircraft and equipment to the competition site. Most team crates measure approximately 6′ x 3′ x 2′ and weigh more than 125 pounds, making the challenge of shipping them overseas, navigating customs inspections, and keeping costs reasonable a significant undertaking.

We are pleased to report that seven of the nine Team USA crates have already arrived safely, with the remaining two scheduled to arrive before the start of competition.

The 2026 F4 World Championships are shaping up to be a record-breaking event in several categories: