Team trials lead to competition in Australia

Six men smiling, wearing medals and "USA" shirts, standing under a pavilion.

F2D Control Line Combat

Photos by the author

As seen in the February 2026 issue of Model Aviation.

Five people pose outdoors, two wearing "USA" shirts, three with medals. — **01.**(L-R): Cary Minor, Andy Minor, Aleksey Toponov, Austin Minor, and Anastasia Minor.

Two people smiling; one carries the other holding a model airplane, standing on grass. — **02.**Andy Minor and Anastasia Minor celebrate a great day of flying.

F2D is the classification for the international FAI Control Line (CL) Combat event. This event is designed to eliminate as much luck as possible, and talent usually rises to the top if you have a team that is good at communicating, which will likely ensure that your team also finishes well at the end of a tournament.

On July 3, 2025, we had the obligatory Team Trials meeting and, as usual, we had a great time! Dave Edwards went over any and all possible scenarios. From the very beginning of the tournament, Dave and Arlene Mears helped every step of the way! On July 4, the F2D Team Trials started with a bang!

Rylan Ritch and I were matched in the first round of the Team Trials. We were both going full-tilt boogie, and the first match ended in a rematch with both airplanes destroyed. The next rematch was another ugly brawl that ended in yet another rematch. Rylan and I had both gone through four airplanes, and still no winner had emerged at this point. The second rematch also had a little carnage, but I managed to get the win this time. The rounds started rolling, and a couple of people were standing out. One of them was no surprise— Mark Rudner is always in the mix at the Team Trials.

This is where the preparation of equipment and practice meet up and either the Combat gods smile on you or you’re a pit person for the rest of the trials. Mark was looking good and flying hard with each "W" in the win column. The other standout was Dave Fischer— he has put a lot of effort into his equipment and a lot of practice, but he has never made Team USA in F2D. Dave flew smart and used his equipment to earn a spot on the team!

My Team Trials was great. My pit crew and my math wizards helped me to win several matches! Austin Minor totally saved me a couple of times because of his speed. Alexsey Toponov was the main mechanic for all of the Minors. He was very instrumental in coaching Anastasia Minor and taking her from an okay pilot to a "Wow, where did this come from?" pilot.

I made the team. Anastasia also made the team as the top Junior, as well as the top competitor in the Women’s category. Austin is the defending Junior World Champion, and he is also a bronze medalist, taking third overall in the last F2D World Championship. I know I am bragging, and I do not usually do this as the author of an article, but there will be three Minors on Team USA who will head to Australia in 2026. The US has not had a podium finish in more than 20 years!

Seven people holding model planes and plaques on a grassy field. — **03.**The 2025 AMA Nats winners. Travis Machen (far R) was the top Junior and flew really well as a new pilot. Anastasia Minor (far L) was the top Senior. Cary Minor took first place, Bill Maywald was second, Andy Minor was third, Chuck Rudner was fourth, and Jeff Johnson was fifth.

Men wearing medals, standing under a blue-roofed canopy, dressed in red USA shirts. — **04.**The 2026 USA F2D Worlds team is (L-R): William Maywald (third alternate), Rylan Ritch (second alternate), Chuck Rudner (first alternate), Mark Rudner (team member), Dave Fischer (team member), and Andy Minor (team member).

As soon as all of the excitement was over for the Team Trials, the Nats began. There were more entries for the CL Combat Nats than in the Team Trials because only US citizens could enter in the Trials. Some of the people who entered the Nats were top-tier pilots. The format also went from triple elimination to double elimination. The Nats would be even harder to get a top-three finish in!

Anastasia backed up her performance by going deep into the next F2D tournament to finish as the top Senior. Cary Minor, who ran into a few hiccups in the Team Trials, came out swinging. His push was nothing short of amazing as he ended up winning and becoming the 2025 National Champion.

Bill Maywald and Chuck Rudner, who are the US F2D team’s alternates for the Worlds, did amazing in the Nats. Bill finished in second place and Chuck finished in fourth, while Jeff Johnson finished in fifth place and I finished in third.

I think this will be a strong F2D team for the US in the next F2 World Championships for CL Model Aircraft, which will be held in Perth, Australia, on May 2-8, 2026.