F3F since 2013
Active in international F3F competition since 2013, with direct experience in training, racing, material choices and setup work.
About VENTARES
Development, competition and practical aircraft building.
VENTARES combines aircraft development, prototype work, workshop experience and international F3F competition practice. The goal is not just another catalogue product, but an aircraft that works at the slope, in competition and in everyday handling.
Who is behind it
VENTARES is the model aircraft brand of Erik Schufmann.
The brand grew out of practical work on high-performance F3F aircraft: designing, building, testing, improving and flying again. The experience comes not only from CAD, mould making or workshop work, but also from many years at the slope and in international competitions.
VENTARES is aimed at pilots looking for precise, robust and modern aircraft concepts, with clear design decisions, clean integration and practical details.
World Cup winner 2015
F3F World Cup winner in the Czech Republic in 2015. Competition pressure, weather windows and structural margins shape the development work.
Team Vice World Champion 2022
2022 F3F Vice World Champion in the team ranking with the own GRANE concept. Own designs were not only built, but used under competition conditions.
Development line
From GRANE through Mamba GT to TAIPAN
TAIPAN is not an isolated design. It is the result of several development stages in performance-oriented F3F flying: own aircraft concepts, practical competition experience, prototype work and continuous refinement.
2019
GRANE
Development of an own F3F model with a clear focus on slope performance, robustness, handling and competition use.
2022
F3F Vice World Champion — team ranking
Use and refinement of own concepts in international competition. The experience from training, setup work and competition flying directly informed later developments.
2024
Mamba GT
Co-development work on a modern high-performance model and further experience in airfoil choice, layout, structure and production details.
Today
TAIPAN F3F
The current experience leads into TAIPAN: a purpose-built F3F aircraft with practical construction, high structural capability, clean production and a clear competition focus.
Development line
From GRANE via Mamba GT to TAIPAN.
GRANE
Own development work focused on F3F practice, competition use and structural reserves. The experience from GRANE is an important foundation for later concepts.
Mamba GT
Further development and co-development experience with modern high-performance sailplanes. The focus: clean aerodynamics, practical buildability and reproducible results.
TAIPAN F3F
TAIPAN brings together experience from design, workshop work, slope flying and competition into a focused F3F aircraft aimed at performance and practical usability.
Organisation
Organising competitions means understanding the scene.
In addition to flying, event organisation is part of the experience: the 2018 F3F World Championship and the F3F World Cup Germany since 2019. This creates a broad view of pilots, aircraft, procedures, transport, service, spare parts and the expectations of international competition pilots.
This closeness to the scene helps prevent products from being developed past the real requirements.
Workshop and prototypes
Practical aircraft-building experience instead of theory alone.
VENTARES stands for a close connection between design and hands-on work. Prototypes, details, servo installation, ballast, transport protection and repair questions are not seen in isolation, but as part of a complete aircraft system.
Especially in F3F aircraft, performance often comes from the sum of many clean decisions: wing layup, tailplanes, fuselage access, cable routing, servo frames, finish, visibility and ballast concept.
Approach
TAIPAN is intended to be fast, robust and understandable.
The aircraft are developed from real slope racing requirements: good visibility, high structural margins, clean servo integration, practical ballast capacity and reliable competition usability. Every detail should have a purpose and help the pilot in use.
Visibility
Clear designs and strong contrast support orientation in fast F3F flight.
Structural margins
The structure is aimed at high loads, ballast use and competition conditions.
Practical usability
Transport, bags, servo installation, spare parts and setup questions are considered from the beginning.
Insights
From the slope to the workshop and back.
