18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/11
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,24,25,26,27,30,31,32,33,36,37,38,40,41,43,45,46,47
18 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Nationals
by MA and NN Staff
NO MATTER WHAT aviation interest you
have, you are invited to participate in the AMA
Nationals. The best in aeromodeling attend on a
regular basis, but the wonderful thing about our
Nats is that it welcomes fresh competitors to learn
from these experts. Those who attend this event
can attribute their growth in the activity, and
beyond, to what they experience there.
Daily activity of the nearly-six-week event
is well documented in the NatsNews (NN)
newsletter. We welcomed those reporters to sum
up the experiences so we can showcase our 2010
heroes. Their accounts follow.
Indoor FF: What an exhausting week. Tom
Iacobellis used Saturday’s Pro/Am as good practice
and reigned in Sunday’s Limited Pennyplane
(LPP) class with just less than 16 minutes. Bill
Gowen, Brett Sanborn, and Tom Sova had flights
exceeding 15 minutes, taking the next three spots.
Continued on page 40
November 2010 19
Heroes flock
to Muncie
every year
Top: Lou Scavone (L) and Chris Gay (R) mix it up in CL FAI F2D
Combat. Watching expert Combat pi lots compete is a
breathtaking experience.
Above: Curtis Warnette eyes a tiny balloon-launched glider.
The FF Indoor Nationals welcomed a large number of young
new pilots.
Above: Darrell Sprayberry hauls his 1/4-scale electricpowered
Bell Long Ranger back to the pitting tent
after a round of RC Helicopter. Static scores were
tight this year.
Opposite page: Peter Baumeler launches Gordon
Buckland’s Wood Duck into the 12th and final round of
RC Two-Meter Soaring competition.
20 MODEL AVIATION
Below right: In CL Scale, three static judges are
assigned per model; two confer on the
documentation presented and the other
analyzes craftsmanship.
Bottom right: Numerous knife-edge
performance enhancements were observed in
RC Aerobatics. Dave Lockhart’s Brio
incorporated vertical and horizontal additions.
Below: Brenner Sharp debuted his
contrarotating power system. A
Hacker C50 inrunner motor turns
two custom 22-inch propellers in
opposite directions, canceling the
P-factor.
Below left: Mark Leseberg shows
his dedication to competition. He
started the F3A contest in the lead
and made an impressive run for a
team seat in the finals.
Richard Schultz’s Sikorsky S-7 features scale
mechanics hard-mounted to a T-Rex 600E
frame. The hoist is a working segment of his
flight schedule.
These competitors in the final race of Texas Quickie Rat
displayed great sportsmanship. CL Racing is a sport in
which fans can see outstanding leadership and camaraderie.
Photos by MA and NN Staff
November 2010 21
Photos by xxx
Brett Sanborn (L) and Ralph Ray debate
paper vs. wood. Young aerospace
hopefuls from across the country
flocked to Johnson City TN to learn
from and gain hands-on expertise.
CL Racing is recognized as a team sport in which pilot and
mechanic play vital roles in every race. David Betz is about
to catch, refuel, and launch—all in approximately 10 seconds.
Near right: Jim DeMeritte,
holding his modified Pearl
711, rode his motorbike all
over the 1,000-plus-acre
International Aeromodeling
Center property during
Outdoor FF competition.
Far right: Shown with
Monte Brock (L) at the
ready, Charles Anderson
(center) and David
Millner (R) participated
in the Class I and Class II
flybarless experiment.
The judges’ impression
almost extinguished the
existence of a system
advantage.
Thomas Alberty is shown admiring Robert Whitney’s
impressive CL Scale Profile entry. The four-blade
propellers are strictly for static judging.
24 MODEL AVIATION
Top left: Bob Burson won RC Electric
Sailplane Class B (Limited Motor Run)
with his Electron. Outstanding motor
performance convinced event
directors to reduce the allowed motor
run times.
Top right: Gordie Meade participated
in the FAI F3A RC Helicopter class
with his faithful Kyosho Caliber 90
that he converted to electric power.
Above: CL Navy Carrier official Bill
Calkins sends Jo Shoemaker’s
Guardian on its way. The engines used
in this event lack mufflers, so ear
protection is mandatory.
Above right: Mike Potter and Burt
Brokaw work on the control system of
Mike’s MO-1, to prepare it for Navy
Carrier competition.
Right: A squadron of Rubber Scale and
sport models is a typical sight at the
FF Indoor Nats. Looks fun!
November 2010 25
Left: Frank Alvarez built his Saab Draken from a Peter
Liebetrau kit. Frank finished sixth in RC Expert Scale,
even though landing gear problems plagued his model’s
performance.
Right: During lunch
breaks, some RC
Soaring competitors
played with models
entered in classes
other than theirs.
Mike Lachowski fires
off his Tanga used in
the F3B division.
Above left: RC Combat is the closest thing there is to a
live video game. Nick Windsor stands with a judge who
counts his cuts during a round of Slow Survivable
Combat.
As did several RC Helicopter competitors, Rolando Perez
enjoyed the setup options of machines such as his JR Vibe
90SG, which is capable of both precision and 3-D flight.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Left: The matching team
of the recently married
Rosanne and Boyce
Wellmaker earned first
place in RC Scale
Hel icopter with an
exquisitely modeled
Sikorsky S-76.
Right: Giant Scale
models are completely
disassembled on almost a
daily basis at the Nats.
This is a view inside the
cockpit on the RC Scale
Aerobatics Unlimitedclass
flightline.
Larry Cai l l iau’s F1D model f loats
seemingly forever. The big story
during the FF Indoor Nats was a
raging thunderstorm and subsequent
power outage that occurred, and the
aircraft still flew.
Left: Bill Geipel doesn’t have
eyes in the back of his head—
only on top. RC Combat pilots
have a great sense of humor and
a lot of fun at the AMA Nats.
The lovely pair of pilot Emile Sheriff and caller Brandy
Swords-May did well in RC Scale Helicopter. The Bell
OH-58D performed flawlessly!
Bruce Davidson launches his Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 with authority in
RC Hand-Launched Soaring—a great spectator sport.
November 2010 27
Right: Dave Pinegar
bui lt this Piper
Arrow II—one of
the smaller models
in RC Scale
competition. His
attention to detail
and pi lot ski l l
earned him the
national Expert
title.
John Kagan painstakingly maintains his secondplace-
f inishing F1D model . The practical ly
weightless aircraft are designed to be modular so
that they travel well.
Joel Rosenzweig found that electric power made his Vario Sikorsky water
bomber much more reliable. Electronic stabilization systems make these
aircraft fly solidly.
Above: John Brodak used 2 gallons of fuel test-flying his Shoestring so it
would be set up perfectly for CL Scale competition.
Right: Appearance points aren’t everything in CL Aerobatics, but they
sure are something for Eric Taylor to brag about. Maybe other national
events should have appearance-points programs.
30 MODEL AVIATION
Inside the cockpit of Phil Sibbile’s Super Cub. The
features he added to this model are outstanding!
Interior details are crucial to winning in the RC Scale
Expert and FAI classes.
Where would Nats competitors be without
their better halves backing them up? Our
helpers keep us honest, and we need to
remember to thank them more often.
Above: Twelve-year-old Blake Ziemba gave seasoned RC
Scale Aerobatics pilots in the Sportsman class a run for
their money. His model is a 77-inch-span, glow-powered
Great Planes Sukhoi.
Right: In case you were wondering what Nats event had the
largest attendance, it was RC Soaring. It’s also the longest
competition, requiring a full week to complete.
The spacious interior of the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome has been the
venue for the US Indoor Championships/AMA FF Indoor Nats for many years.
2010 Nats Management
Ron Morgan:
Nationals director/manager
Al Williamson: RC manager
Wayne Yeager: RC director
Brenda Schuette: CL manager
Phil Sullivan: FF manager
Joe Vislay: Assistant RC director
Event Directors
Gary Freeman Jr.: RC Pylon Racing
Craig Bradley: RC Helicopter
Kent Porter: RC Scale Aerobatics
Paul Walker: CL Precision Aerobatics
Dave Mark: CL Speed
Bob Whitney: CL Racing
Michael Potter: CL Navy Carrier
Wayne McDaniel: CL Combat
Dave Guerin: RC Aerobatics
Marc Gellart: RC Soaring
Tom Kallevang: RC Electrics
Charles Jones: FF Outdoor
Carl Bakay: FF Indoor
Rick Fraley: RC Combat
Dale Arvin and Paul Cain: RC Scale
Jack Sheeks: CL Scale
Nationals Sponsors
AeroWorks
Castle Creations
Ritch’s Brew
PSP ManufacturingAbove: Ray Harlan with his winning Electric FF Indoor model. There are now
electric-power competition categories in every Nats event.
Right: Hank Sperzel performs a textbook launch of his Super-D Satellite. He
finished third in B Gas. The Outdoor FF Nats welcomed competitors ranging in
age from kindergarten to senior citizen.
There are no bonus points for multiengine models in RC Scale, but entries such as this Top Flite B-25 ARF are competitive in the
Fun Scale category.
Top-five Walker Cup pilot Kenny Stevens
eyeballs his gorgeous Randy Smith SV-22.
Notice the addition behind the cockpit; it is
reported to enhance the Wingover maneuver
in CL Aerobatics.
November 2010 31
32 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Mike Schmitt built this Bob Gialdini Eclipse
for Classic and Advanced CL Aerobatics classes. The
design will be featured in a future issue of MA.
Left: Don Ogren (L) with his rendition of a Jim
Vornholt CL Aerobatics design. Don was pleased
that Jim showed up to judge and had another design
of his to show off.
Below: Tom Kallevang spots for John Diniz during
one of the gray days during RC Soaring competition.
Digital spread spectrum radio systems have almost
taken over the Nats.
The father/daughter team of Matt and Alexandria Russell
competed in both the Q-500 and Q-40 RC Pylon classes,
performing as both pilots and callers.
Paul Winter of the
United Kingdom
pull-tests his Jaguar
for the Advanced CL
Aerobatics event.
He was assisted by
his friend, John
Benzing, who also
made the trek from
near London.
Hank Kauffmann of
Calgary, Canada, who
competed in RC Pylon
Racing, commissioned
this in-the-mold paint
job to honor a classic
cartoon character.
Does Gumby look
angry?
An excellent RC Fun Scale entry—the Curtiss P-6A Hawk from a Great Planes
kit—can be detailed to a much greater degree than the stock ARF can. This one
has been dull-coated, with flying wires added.
Rocco Ferrario and kids from Napa, California, competed in Outdoor FF
Hand-Launched Glider. They had a busy but enjoyable week.
Deryck Taylor and Wayne Matthews of Team Jamaica flew RC Scale Aerobatics in
the Unlimited class, sharing this 42% Extreme Flight Extra 300.
November 2010 33
36 MODEL AVIATION
Above: Morgan Slater stands ready to launch in the Erv Rodemsky Limited
Pennyplane Pro/Am. This inaugural competition proved to be an outstanding
success.
Below: So the trick in RC Combat is to launch the model with its streamer
intact. Sometimes that’s more than a two-man job. Andrew Jesky takes a time-out while he waits for
the weather to clear on F3A Finals day. He
eventually won the captain title in the US FAI
Team Trials and is national champion.
Gary Hull hangs his Brewster Profile model on
the propeller in CL Navy Carrier, while
judge Mike Potter watches closely to
make sure that flight-angle limits
are in check.
Windy Urtnowski’s CL Aerobatics
models, such as this Tribute, get
high marks for their finishes. This
aircraft features a molded-carbon
fuselage and wing.
November 2010 37
Above: Bob Bush built his North American F-
100 Super Sabre from a BVM kit to compete
in RC Expert Scale. With hundreds of flights
logged, this full-house approach proved to be
realistic.
Below: FF Outdoor contestant Bud Romak
prepares his Mulvihill for flight. He won the
class, as he has in the past, narrowly besting
Joe Williams.
Right: Jason Noll routinely performed lowlevel
aerobatics during his optional RC Scale
Aerobatics Freestyle routine. The side force
generators added to his Edge 540T proved to
be beneficial.
Chris Starleaf launches his gorgeous P-82 Mustang to finish second in Flying
Aces Club Scale. It was great to see and fly with the enthusiastic FAC group
at the Nats.
38 MODEL AVIATION
Above: AJ Seaholm disassembles his Nelson Q-40
engine for inspection, which is protocol for RC
Pylon Racing Nats champions.
Left: Pat Crosby of the Chicago SOAR Club and
his beautifully prepared Aspire flew well in
Unlimited RC Soaring. Three-meter-wingspan
models such as this are pretty much standard.
Below: Landing points are a big factor even in the
Nostalgia class of RC Soaring. This Sailaire made
it back to the zone, gaining 50 points.
Ray Harlan’s Indoor Electric model has
turned consistent 30-minute flights year
after year, leaving the rest of the field far
behind. Someone has to figure out how to
challenge him. Fred Rash and Del Ogren
are among the few who are trying; they
finished second and third respectively.
Bill Gowen’s world-record F1M strutted
its stuff, taking the top spot with a
dominating 17:54 and 17:18. Larry Loucka
and John Diebolt finished approximately a
minute apart from each other in second and
third.
A few amateurs from the Pro/Am stuck
around to try what they learned in
Sportsman LPP—and it is clear that they
learned a lot. Morgan Slater won with a
great time of 13:12, Ken Achee was second
with 12:33, and J.P. Kish was close behind
in third with 12:26. I expect to see these
guys with their own models next year.
Carl Bakay did a great job as the tireless
event director. Having played that role, I
know how much of a thankless job it is. If
you do everything right, nobody notices
that there are no problems.
J.P. Kish ran the scoring software with
high efficiency. Abram Van Dover and
Dave Thompson processed many models
(and entertained themselves by devising
endless ways to give people grief). Phil Sullivan did AMA duty and subtly quelled
any technical or personnel issues that
threatened to surface.
If you’ve been to the US Indoor
Championships/AMA Indoor FF Nats, I
probably don’t need to convince you how
much fun it is. Our numbers are on the
rise—we had close to 80 entrants this
year—and the flying is great. Come out and
join us next year at the East Tennessee
State University Mini-Dome in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
If you’ve never been, I hope that the
issues of NN have given you a glimpse of
the excitement. See you in 2011—same
place, similar time!
John Kagan
[email protected]
RC Scale Aerobatics: The week of July 4
in Muncie, Indiana, provides for some great
fireworks shows, and this year they
coincided with the Scale Aerobatics Nats.
CD Kent Porter worked tirelessly to get
things ready for a fantastic week at the
International Aeromodeling Center.
Whether you’re interested in new
engines, new airframes, or new radios, the
Nats is a showcase of great products. Fourcylinder
200cc gas engines are becoming
the norm, as are models with wingspans of
120-126 inches or even longer.
All of those advances are made while
trying to adhere to the International
Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) ideals
and mandates regarding sound and
footprint. IMAC has always been at the
forefront of RC competition as it relates to
noise abatement and strives to continue this
trend.
Past editions of the Nats have brought
us extreme heat, extreme cold, and wind.
Each summer there seems to be the wind.
This year the weather was fantastic for
flying. Although temperatures were a bit
warm, skies were blue and winds were
light. Judges and line bosses kept things
moving, and the pilots were able to fly
quite a bit each day.
IMAC President Don Hamilton, along
with attending board members, announced
a great initiative that the IMAC Education
Committee put forth: an online judging
school and learning center. This is a
fantastic way to improve all IMAC
members’ skills and abilities, to help
improve the pilots and judging.
Competition was tight in all Scale
Aerobatics classes. The top two finishers in
Unlimited tied their flights for the finals;
the winner was decided by flights that were
carried in from previous days. The week
ended with Freestyle, which is fun for
spectators, and the awards ceremony.
Pilots and spectators enjoyed a treat
after the Freestyle competition, while
waiting for scores to be posted. A fantastic
Red Bull-style air race was held at the
Futaba Extreme Flight Championships in
June this year, and Jason Noll flew a
demonstration of the event with his 100cc
Edge at the Nats. The amount of stress that a model can
bear is amazing. Keep an eye out for that
competition near you.
Kurt Koelling won the Bennett Cup: an
award for the highest cumulative scores as
a percentage of perfection. It was a great
week, and I look forward to seeing
everyone next year.
Curtis Cozier
[email protected]
CL Scale: This is a fascinating event at the
Nats; it is static judged and flown in
conjunction with RC Scale. For the first
time in many years, CL Scale was
contested in sequence with the other CL
classes: Speed, Combat, Aerobatics
(Stunt), Racing, and Navy Carrier.
A fun part of CL Scale is the
opportunity to build and fly your favorite
airplane or surprise your colleagues with a
unique subject that is modeled for the first
time. Aircraft with two and four power
plants and sweet-sounding engines are
common. Motors bypass the starting issue,
but you can’t replace the sensation of
“nitro” engine reverberation.
Informal judging and critiques were
executed in contestants’ hotel lobbies the
night before flying began. Contestants
gathered around their masterpieces to point
out features and chat about practice flights.
The next day pilots gathered underneath
a big tent to assemble their aircraft.
Contestants held their models for threeview
conformance and color and
craftsmanship judging.
With AMA Scale discontinued and FAI
F4B (CL Scale) going away, the new
“museum class” event is Designer Scale. In
that category judges inspect up-close,
cockpits and all, instead of from 15 feet
away.
After Day One of flying, Frank Beatty
and his recently completed Hawker Fury
had a small lead over Charlie Bauer’s J-3
Cub. Chris Brownhill and his Hampton had
with highest static score and close to the
best flight score in Profile Scale. John
Wright with his long-in-the-tooth Corsair
FG-1 was close behind.
Fun Scale was dominated by the flight
score, and Allen Goff took a commanding
lead with his PT-17. He was also 9 points
up on John Brodak, because of his Sport
Scale static score. In Junior/Senior Sport
Scale Mindy Alberty had a solid lead over
Jason and Aaron Bauer, but the tables were
reversed in Junior/Senior Profile.
Several competitors learned that an
ounce of tip weight is not enough for
windy-day slow and high flight. Saturday’s
leads held.
Mindy slipped into second place in
Profile Scale. With the wind picking up,
Allen Goff passed on his last Sport Scale
flight with his WACO. John Brodak’s
persistence and wind-penetrating
Shoestring allowed him to nail his fourth
flight and earn the Grand National
Champion award.
The first-place-finishing models were
throttle only, winning on static judging and
skilled flying. The few multifunction
subjects with retracts, multiple engines,
bomb drops, or flaps were back in the pack.
Theodore C. Kraver
[email protected]
RC Scale: This year’s version was blessed
with beautiful weather featuring sunny
skies. By the end of Saturday the emerging
Scale National Champion had put himself
in first place with a high static score and
two flights in the 92-95 scoring range.
David Pinegar and his Top Flite Piper
Arrow II won Expert Sport Scale with a
total score of 192.25. He dispelled the old
belief that civil aircraft aren’t competitive
in Scale competition.
Mike Barbee flew his T-34C from a
Mark Frankel kit to second place in Expert
with a score of 188.625. Bob Bush finished
third with a Bob Violett Models F-100
Super Sabre.
Fun Scale had the largest number of
competitors, and the entry total was up
from last year’s Nats—an encouraging
sign. Young Zach Spychalla flew an A-4E
Hawk in Aggressor Squadron colors to first
place. At the beginning of the event he had
put 30 flights on the Tamjets kit. Peter
Goldsmith piloted a BAe Hawk jet trainer
to a close second place, by only .75 point.
John Boyko won Sportsman with his
Pitts Special, and runner-up was newcomer
Michael Wartman flying his Balsa USA
Fokker E.IV. Steve Eagle finished third
with another Balsa USA model—the 1/3-
scale Nieuport 17—on its first outing.
Chuck Snyder, who has been a
competitor in CL Scale, made the switch to
RC this year. He flew a Jerry Bates plans
Ki-61.
All in all it was a great Nationals, with
good competition, fun, friends, and food.
What better place is there to be than at the
International Aeromodeling Center in July?
Stan Alexander
[email protected]
CL Aerobatics: The skies remained calm
and bright for the final flights of this event,
which culminated on Saturday July 17.
This day is relegated to Junior, Senior, and
Open flyoffs, and the Walker Cup
competition that follows.
The Walker Cup is a non-appearancepoint
flying event between the best Junior,
the highest-scoring Senior, and the most
qualified Open contestant. Mike Paris won
the Junior class. Samuel Niebel won
Senior, after tussling with Pat Gibson for
the victory, and multitime champion Bill
Werwage captured the Open class.
The best five Open fliers took to Circle
4 on the “L” pad, and Bill Werwage
(1,067.50) earned the top spot to go on to
the Walker Cup. His first Walker Cup win
was in 1959, and he has accomplished a
win for each decade following that first
title. Will he do it again?
The Advanced class finished with its
champion determined on Friday afternoon; it was Eric Viglione (998.5) of Florida. Paul
Winter (983.5) of London, England,
finished second, and third place went to
Eric Taylor (969.5) of the New Albany,
Indiana, area.
Adrian Dominguez (965.5) of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, captured fourth
place, and Enrique Diez (965.0) of Miami,
Florida, rounded out the field of top
finishers in the fifth spot.
Jim Aron took home a plaque, which
Windy Urtnowski donated, in appreciation
of his 20-appearance-point model. The 65
Advanced and Open pilots also chose Jim’s
airplane as the Concours winner.
Bud Wieder was named Rookie of the
Year. Bill Werwage was presented his
AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque
at the Saturday-night banquet.
Allen Brickhaus
[email protected]
CL Racing: Rat Racing has been given the
nickname “Hamster,” because the required
engine size has been reduced from .40 cu.
in. to .15 cu. in. Airspeeds were
approximately 160 mph with the .40-size
power plant, and very few pilots could
handle it.
Although the speeds have become more
manageable, most teams still do not have
their equipment sorted out. A Goodyear
model currently holds the Rat Racing
record. This year eight teams entered a wide
variety of airplanes in the class.
Bill Lee used a Texas Quickie Rat with
a Nelson .15, several teams used Goodyear
aircraft, and there were three purpose-built
Rats. For the third year Bob Whitney
entered an F2C Team Race model with an
extended tank.
The preliminary races were well run and
times were close. The team of Les Akre/
Jason Allen was first with 2:58.34, followed
by Tim Stone/Bob Oge at 2:58.88, and
“King Rat” Bob Whitney/Jason Allen with
a 3:06.
When two 140-lap finals were contested,
the Muncie heat and humidity began to take
its toll on the glow engines. Bob Whitney’s
diesel-powered F2C model won easily with
a 6:05, followed by Les Akre with 6:31 and
Bill Lee/Tim Stone at 7:31.
The B Team Race was canceled because
of lack of entries. Tim Stone won the highpoint
trophy for this Nats. Bob Oge had
been his sole pitman. The NCLRA
(National Control Line Racing Association)
Sportsmanship Award was given to Zella
Betz for her tireless help in timing and
keeping things moving.
Thanks to all 2010 participants; there
was a level of involvement unlike at
previous Nats. Despite poor pre-entry
numbers, it turned out to be a good contest.
Tim Stone
[email protected]
CL Combat: On the last day of the Nats we
flew Fast Combat.
It was strange when I drove onto the
site; approximately 100 Boy Scouts were
sitting outside the museum. I continued
driving down the road and looked over at
the Combat site to see all of the tables and
chairs and the blue scoring stand gone. I
was wondering if they canceled something
and didn’t tell me.
Then I saw the scoring stand broken in
half, 100 yards from where I saw it the
night before. I looked around and saw all of
the portable toilets resting on their sides.
What did the Boy Scouts do? I knew
they were having a campout last night.
Then a Nats official pulled up and told
me that high winds the previous night tore
up several things. That ruined a good
theory. The Boy Scouts had to spend the
night in the new Claude McCullough
education building.
I thank all of my judges: Brad La Pointe,
Lou Scavone, Larry Scarinzi, Patrick
Gibson, Mike Gibson, Phil Cartier, and
Chris Gay. The best match was between
Jeff Rein and Phil Cartier; it was a good
minute-and-a-half of mayhem.
Models used were store-bought, mostly
from GRS and Foamies. Engines were
Foras and Nelsons. This might be the last
year of the big-dog engines in Fast Combat.
There is a rules-change proposal to fly F2D
power plants in 328 only. I hope it does not
pass.
Attendance at this Combat Nats was
low, but everybody seemed to enjoy
himself or herself. I don’t think anyone got
overly upset about anything. Make plans to
attend next year!
Wayne McDaniel
[email protected]
CL Navy Carrier: Contestants look
forward to unofficial events at the end of
the week. This year expectations were high,
with new models for some and a few
contestants trying different events. We had
a great time, despite the fact that strong,
gusty winds added challenges that tempered
some of the pure enjoyment and added a
risk factor to flying.
With wind making flying difficult, some
contestants chose not to fly. Others found
complete flights elusive as models touched
the ground during low speed or missed the
deck on landing; a few models were
damaged by unplanned “water” landings.
Art Johnson was an exception to the
trend. He entered four events and made
complete flights in each. All but one of his
landings were successful on the first
attempts; one required a second approach
when turbulence caused him to miss the
first landing.
Art’s consistent performance earned him
first-place honors in Electric Profile and
Electric Class I. He also won trophies in
Skyray Carrier and in the Sportsman class
of .15 Carrier.
The electric-power events were
supposed to featured new models at the
Nats, but time and other constraints resulted
in only one: Everett Shoemaker’s Fairey
Fulmar. He has been developing the Fulmar
for AMA classes, and this was a conversion of the basic design to electric power.
It flew well and looked great in the air.
Technical problems kept it from an
official flight.
Nostalgia events featured new models
including Dick Perry’s A4P design from
the early 1970s, Burt Brokaw’s new
Guardian and T-28 Trojan, and a Marvin
Martinez C6N1 Myrt that Everett
Shoemaker built. Ted Kraver entered a
Marvin Martinez Curtiss F6C Hawk
biplane and his Domizi Guardian.
There were a couple of nontraditional
models in Profile too, making it the bestattended
Nats Nostalgia event so far.
Everett Shoemaker took home the Roland
Baltes Award for C6N1 flights that earned
him a win in Class II.
Jo Shoemaker flew a new Fieseler Fi-
167, a dragonfly-like biplane, in .15
Carrier. Burt Brokaw won .15 Expert
class, with Gary Hull and Melvin Schuette
very close behind. The little models and
their pilots handled the wind well.
Full results of unofficial Carrier events
will be featured in the Navy Carrier
Society’s High-Low-Landing newsletter.
Richard Perry
[email protected]
RC Pylon Racing: The 53 Quarter 40 (Q-
40) contestants were pared down to the 32
fastest, best-prepared, and luckiest for
Saturday’s final six-round race.
Many pilots cut inside the pylons while
trying to out-turn the competition, and
others lost models to midair collisions.
This level of competition brings many
airplanes onto the same track, creating
wake turbulence that caused a few more
losses.
Those who lost aircraft earlier in the
week were forced to fly the last round
with only one model, because a pilot is
allowed to enter only two models in the
contest. Owing to attrition, roughly half of
the heats flown in the final were missing
at least one contestant.
AJ Seaholm, last year’s Q-40 victor
and overall Nats champion, flew five
rounds with a perfect score, finishing
several points ahead of his nearest
challengers. AJ’s caller, Scott Causey,
wrote a column for MA that emphasized
the importance of teamwork in racing; it
paid off for AJ.
Ralph Renaldo, this year’s Quickie 500
(Q-500) winner, was only a few points
back, but his airplane failed to become
airborne in the last heat. Super-smoothflying
Steve Vaclav was awarded second
place. His dad, John, called for him—
another example of well-executed
teamwork.
A soft-spoken John McDermott placed
third. He had to switch to his number-two
engine the night before the final round.
Although most of the contestants are good
people, you will have a hard time finding a
nicer person than John.
His caller, Terry Frazer, helped him
race his way to the top of the field by
performing consistently, even if they didn’t
win every heat.
Rounding out the top spots was Gino
Del Ponte, with the fast-time award of 1:03
and some change. Gino’s dad, Mike, called
for him; they are hard to beat as a team.
This put both father/son teams in the
winner’s circle, proving the value of focus
and cooperation. Mike and Gino even
practiced Wednesday night after everyone
else had called it quits, in an effort to
perfect their flying and timing.
Ralph Renaldo was awarded the overall
Nats Pylon Racing trophy. In addition to
winning Q-500, he managed a fourth place
in Q-40 despite a last-round zero score.
Ralph and his caller, Lloyd Burnham,
worked steadily throughout the contest to
win this well-deserved title.
Dedication, practice, skill, teamwork,
and a little bit of self-made luck allowed
each top competitor to obtain a welldeserved
award. CD Gary Freeman Jr. and
his helpers made this a great event.
Alexandria and Matt Russell
[email protected]
RC Aerobatics: The Nats was not the
kindest to the Masters pilots. When the
finals began, four of the eight contestants
were flying models other than those they
started with on Day One. Three had
airplanes that other pilots loaned them for
the finals, and the fourth borrowed parts
from a competitor’s aircraft to make his
complete.
When I mentioned to Ed Alt how
gracious it was of him to loan his airplane to
another pilot, he sort of dismissed this
amazing gesture—as if anyone would lend
someone an airplane costing thousands of
dollars.
However, Ed’s attitude is common
among the amazing and wonderful people
we see at the Nats each year. Yes, Ed, I was
very impressed with what you did, but, as
you said, it is what we do.
Paul Mathis attended his first Nats this
year, not as a competitor but as an observer.
He had an exciting week. The size of this
contest is awesome. Many aeromodelers
dream of attending the Nats, but Paul said
that to experience it is better than he thought
it would be.
He said:
“This is the number-one place for
modelers to be. The museum, well that is an
extra gift, like whipped cream on top of a
dish of strawberries. The library blew me
away.
“I now have a better appreciation for all
AMA does for us. The people here were the
best part of it all. I’ll be back.”
Were you here for the day or were you
here for the week, as most of us were? Did
you finish first or last in your class? Did
you run a line, tabulate a score, do a sound
check, or simply run the whole show? If
you did any of that, give yourself a trophy;
you are a winner. Start making plans to attend the FAI
F3A (RC Aerobatics) World
Championships in 2011, which will be held
at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling
Center. Immediately following the closing
ceremonies we will begin the AMA Nats
competition.
For the past seven years we’ve had the
pleasure of attending the Nats and enjoying
Dave Guerin’s steady hand in resolving
every issue and dissolving every challenge
that has come his way. Since Dave will be
heading the World Champs next year, he is
handing the responsibility of the Nats to the
extremely capable Rusty Fried.
Jim Quinn
[email protected]
RC Soaring: This continues to be one of
the most popular disciplines in
aeromodeling, as 118 pilots arrived at the
site to do battle in late July. This number of
individual Nats contestants is second only
to CL (144) and FF (160), and it shows that
the lure of chasing thermals continues to
attract many participants to Muncie for the
largest RC Soaring contest in the world.
This was some competitors’ first Nats,
even though they had been flying for years.
One such “newbie” was Mark Groves of
Columbus, Ohio, who flew a Paragon in
NOS (Nostalgia) on a day when the wind
was gusting at more than 20 mph.
“To have survived my first day of
competition at the Nats I felt like a
winner,” he said. “Sharon and I met some
really nice people and we’ll certainly
compete at this level again.”
Rather fickle winds caused the volunteer
flightline crew to switch direction of the
winches a couple of times, only to find that
contestants were launching downwind
anyway as the wind switched back during
the day. Combined with fairly short winch
lines of 500-600 feet to the turnarounds,
occasional downwind starts had pilots
“scratching” at lower-than-normal altitudes
early in their flights.
“We used 185-pound-test line for RES
[Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler Function] and 2M
[Two-Meter], and 275-pound line for
Unlimited,” said Flightline Director Jim
Thomas. “We used two spools on each
winch, then adjusted the turnarounds to the
flat distance available.”
Despite the winds on the ground,
soaring conditions were some of the best;
gloriously warm weather produced solid lift
everyday. With the MOM (man on man)
flight-group format, each contestant flew in
the same air as the others in his group.
The flightline staff did a fabulous job of
getting the set of eight or nine aircraft in
the air quickly and with little fuss. In fact
the League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats
would have to be the smoothest-organized
Soaring contest in the country, with an able
group of dedicated volunteers ensuring that
all who attend have a great experience and
get to fly their sailplanes in fair and fun
competition.
For many pilots the yearly sojourn to
Muncie is more about the friendships and
camaraderie than the contest itself. There
are old friends to catch up with and new
friends with whom to forge future
relationships.
No doubt the LSF Soaring Nats is the
best opportunity available for glider pilots
to share their unique passion with many
other Soaring aficionados and have a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t experienced “Glider
Camp,” I suggest that you start planning to
be there next July. I think you’ll have a
terrific time.
Gordon Buckland
[email protected]
Outdoor FF: Dan Berry had tried before,
with no luck. But on Friday morning he had
his model—a beaten and battered
Gollywock—humming.
Tens of thousands of aeromodelers have
built the venerable old Rubber design since
it was originally kitted in the late 1930s.
It’s the DC-3 of FF—a reliable, predictable
performer. And Dan Berry knows it.
He wound his model up for flight after
flight, knowing that each perfect “max”
attempt would get him closer to his goal:
winning. Numerous challengers gave chase,
but at the day’s end Dan had done it. He
posted six perfect maxes to become the
National Champion, besting 17 fellow
fliers.
The National Model Airplane
Championships began in 1926 with only
one type of aircraft: FF. Those models
offered autonomous stability and flightplan
control.
In 2011—84 years later—the tradition
continued, at Muncie’s International
Aeromodeling Center. A total of 216
competitors registered for this year’s FF
Nats, held August 2-6, making it one of the
largest of the last 10 years. Charlie Jones
was a first-time event director, and he did
an outstanding job.
FF Nats weeks in recent years have
featured volatile weather. This summer it
was relatively predictable throughout the
week, with generally light winds and no
major weather-related impacts on flying. A
squall line moved through on Wednesday
near lunchtime, but it quickly blew past and
interrupted the action for only
approximately 15 minutes.
Long after flying had ended, at roughly
3 a.m. Thursday, a draconian wind gust
awakened campers and even flattened some
tents. A local flier noted that it “ … was
one of the top five nastiest storms ever
seen.”
Major storylines of this FF Nats
involved 20-somethings; three young men
won three of the premier events. Tim
Barron was victorious in F1A, Kyle Jones
took F1H, and Evan Simon took first place
in F1B. All are former US Junior FF team
members, so they’re no strangers to toplevel
competition.
A large menu of Flying Aces Club
(FAC) events was added to the Nats this year. It was a great success and will surely
grow in popularity. Premier FAC fliers such
as Chris Starleaf and Ted Allebone competed.
The 2010 FF Grand National Champions
are: AMA Rubber, David Sechrist; AMA
Gas, Ronnie Thompson; AMA Classic Gas,
Brad Bane; AMA Glider, Tim Batiuk;
Nostalgia Gas, Bob Sowder; Nostalgia
Rubber, Joe Williams; and Senior, Ricardo
Samario.
Don DeLoach
[email protected]
RC Helicopters: A few things made 2010 a
banner year for the RC Helicopter Nats. The
season leading up to the four-day multiclass
contest consisted of a rash of “primer” events
held across the country, as an International
Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
(IRCHA) initiative to prepare and welcome
new pilots into the helicopter competition
pool.
By Nats time, those efforts increased
participation in Class I to a level matching
that of the FAI class, filled with mostly
untested world-class talent. Close to 40 pilots
registered to fly in aerobatics. Classes II and
III consisted of more than enough contestants
to take home all of the wood that was
engraved.
However, the trick, as usual, was to get
enough judges in the seats. Perhaps it was
expected that some of those who planned to
participate in the following week’s IRCHA
Jamboree would show up to help, but that
didn’t seem to happen. But competitors are
tough by nature, and they endured the pauses
between rounds as well as they did the brutal
heat. At least they had the IRCHA Jamboree
to pal up and visit.
Being a Team Selection year, the FAI
class, F3C, welcomed back the 2009 team
members and several pilots who were looking
to unseat them. That international team taught
us that electric power is the only way to go,
and this season reflected the demanded rules
update: higher maximum weight [smile],
allowing more batteries. A higher-voltage
system can be geared to run at a lower draw
and therefore reduce stress on the power
system.
The new F3C schedules demanded fun
stuff from the pilots: a touch of 3-D talent.
Perhaps that is why Nick Maxwell took a seat
on the team. He won the second chair,
between Curtis Youngblood, the captain, and
Wayne Mann.
Although many beautiful machines were
on display at the Scale venue (set up at the
IRCHA Jamboree site), only nine went
before Nats judges. The crowds of spectators
were thick, which was a good thing about
using the Jamboree site.
A wide range of static scores was
awarded, but in-air points were given out like
birthday presents. Scale pilots flew
magnificently, with complex machines. Only
a few years ago, these models had mechanics
that were frightening because of flybarless
stability issues. Today we have outstanding
electronic stabilization systems, and they
greatly helped the Scale pilots.
On the topic of flybarless, the
controversy is that those systems make
helicopters so stable that their use has been
prohibited in competition. A few pilots
played in classes I and II, to find out
whether or not a flybarless machine could
be judged as a leader against the others.
Witnesses noted that the flybarless
systems bobbled as the others did in a
hover but did appear to groove better in
flying maneuvers. It showed that a prepared
pilot is more likely to impress, which is a
concept that is as old as aeromodeling
sportsmanship. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.a
spx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org