Roston’s love for all things aviation was born when he was only three years old as a young boy he spent a lot of time with his grandfather and he was a model flyer. He started flying control line planes at the age of 4 and was SA Junior Control Line Aerobatics Champion in 2006, 2007 and 2008. It didn’t take long for Roston to master the art of Radio flying he proved to have natural talent and by the age of nine he started flying competitions. He started RC Aerobatics when he was 11 and he is presently the SA Junior Indoor Model Aerobatics champion.
In August 2013, Roston came 24th in the competition and was placed in first the junior position at The World Air Sports Federation’s World F3A Championships for aerobatic model aircraft. Once again in 2015 Roston made it to the World Championships where he managed a very respectable 49th overall position and 7th in the junior competition. The South African team came 12th overall.
In November this year the South Africans hope to compete in the 30th FAI world F3A championships in Argentina, to make this a reality they will need some sponsorship. The estimated cost per team member will be in the vicinity of R75000 each and unfortunately this has to be raised by the team. The team consists of 3 pilots and a team manager. The team chosen to compete in Argentina are Roston Dugmore, Andre Stockwell, Clinton Carter Brown and team manager Grant Brook.
The rules of F3A modelling is similar to that of full-size aerobatics, the competitors have a box in which they have to fly a number of predetermined manoeuvres. They are judged on the precision of the execution of the manoeuvres. There are also limits on the size of the aircraft used, the aircraft wingspan may not exceed 2000mm and norther may the length, it may not be more than 5 kg in weight.
Roston took his love for aviation a step further when he matriculated and immediately started his PPL which he achieved, he is now studying for his commercial Pilots licence. Roston is a member of the EAA’s Chapter 322 and also a very strong supporter of the Young Eagles project, Roston himself was one of the Young Eagles not too long ago.
We wish Roston and the Team the Greatest Success in Argentina, if anyone is interested in sponsoring the team please feel free to contact me on editor@flightlineweekly.co.za and I will forward you all their contact details.
