Spectacular skills at the Helicopter World Cup 2019
Spectators witnessed the incredible navigation and control skills from the international crews at the fourth and final stage of the Helicopter World Cup 2019 in Poland’s Lososina Dolna Airfield.
A total of 14 crews flying R-44 and Mil-2 helicopters participated in the nail-biting final stage, representing the nations of Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.
Two categories and two classes
In the two classes – Masters and General – the pilot and navigator teams race in two different events, the Fender Slalom, in which the crew must dip a rubber weight on a long rope into barrels placed along the course, and the Slalom, in which the crews carry a bucket of water on a rope around a course without spilling any.
Maria Mus and Jakub Malec (POL) in the Slalom
General Class competition
The Russian duo Andreyi Baraev and Vadim Sazonov who came second in both categories, took the top spot overall. They were followed in second place by Vladyslav Musiienko and Igor Sokolov of Ukraine who came first in slalom but third in fender. The women’s crew of Elena Prokofyeva and Diana Riiazova from Russia who have had great success this season gained third place.
The nation cup mirrored the top two places and Czech crew Jaroslav Holub and Jakub Horacek took third place.
Masters Class competition
The top three masters crews managed to take up exactly the same positions on the podium as in the HWC 2018!
For the nation cup, the formidable duo Yury Yablokov and Konstantin Podoinitsyn took gold, followed by Mikita Laptseu and Vladzislau Kurs of Belarus and the Polish Szamborski brothers, Marcin and Michal, who won the General Class in 2018 came in third position.
Participants in Stage 4 HWC 2019 in Poland
The Polish stage of the HWC 2019 was organised by the Polish Helicopter Association “Helisport” and Aeroclub Podhalanski with CIG FAI, and the visitors were treated to freestyle flight displays by Maria Mus, member of the Polish national team, who piloted the Bo-105 helicopter and freestyle champion Garry Georkov of Russia who flew a modernised Ukrainian Mil-2 with new engines.
results General Class
- Baraev Andreyi - Sazonov Vadim (RUS)
- Musiienko Vladyslav - Sokolov Igor (UKR)
- Prokofyeva Elena - Riiazova Diana (RUS)
- Russia (Baraev Andreyi - Sazonov Vadim)
- Ukraine (Musiienko Vladyslav - Sokolov Igor)
- Czech Republic (Holub Jaroslav – Horacek Jakub)
- Yablokov Yury - Podoinitsyn Konstantin (Russia)
- Sotnikov Maxim - Aleh Puajukas (Russia)
- Degtyar Viсtor - Vasiliev Petr (Russia)
- Russia (Yablokov Yury - Podoinitsyn Konstantin)
- Belarus (Laptseu Mikita - Kurs Vladzislau)
- Poland (Szamborski Marcin – Szamborski Michal)
Images: N. Sotnikova