The 2026 F2 World Championships Have Come to a Close

By Melvin Schuette

On Friday, May 8, everything ended. F2A (Speed) flew its last round; F2B (Aerobatics) flew its last round of the top fifteen fly off; F2C (Team Race) flew its second semifinal and final races; and F2D (Combat) flew its final matches to determine the overall winner. The last thing official to be done was the closing ceremony and the awarding of the trophies.  

Alex Valishev won first in F2A with a speed of 308.1 kph. This is the third time in a row that Alex has won the F2A World Championships. Bill Hughes turned a speed of 302.4 kph, putting him in third place, until the last F2A fight of the championships by Matthieu Perret, who turned a 303.1 kph, knocking Bill into fourth place. Bill said that if any one beat him, he hoped Matthieu was the one to do it. Patrick Hempel ended up in fifth place with a personal best speed of 298.1 kph. The USA F2A team took home the F2A Team Trophy, which they will have to bring with them to the 2028 F2 World Championships in Landres, France. 

Friday, the final day of competition, turned out to be the windiest day of the week. Orestes Hernandez won both the F2B World Cup and the World Championships. His final score in the World Championships was 2275.06. David Fitzgerald finished sixth, with a score of 2194.57, and Paul Walker finished eighth with a score of 2183.18. Angstrom Eberenz took third in the Junior division with a score of 2065.28. The USA F2B team took second in the team category. 

The USA did not send a F2C Team Race team this year. Hopefully, we will send one to the 2028 World Championships. 

Junior Combat uses a contestant’s win-lose record to determine their placement in the contest. This was a double elimination contest, which means that you needed to be defeated twice to be eliminated from the contest. Junior team member Sam Londke finished second in the Junior category and tied for sixth place overall, with a record of four wins and two losses. Dave Fischer tied for sixth place overall, with a record of four wins and two losses. Chuck Rudner finished twelfth overall, with a record of two wins and two losses. Both Anna and Andy Minor tied for twenty-seventh, with a record of zero wins and two losses. The USA Combat team finished second in the team category. 

After all of the competition was over and the awards were given out and speeches were made, a banquet was held. Everyone had a chance to talk to old and new friends alike and say their final goodbyes until they meet again at the next World Championships.