CL Old Time Stunt (OTS) and Classic Stunt events were added to the contest for the first time in 2005. L-R: Lou Wolgast with his John Triolodesigned
Dragonfly Classic Stunt entry; past SAM president Don Bekins and his Brown Jr. LER Ethy, which is covered with nitrate-doped
Polyspan; and Dick Nelson gets the needle valve just right on his O.S. .35-powered class C Nostalgia FF Zeek.
THE 2005 SOCIETY of Antique Modelers
Championships, commonly known as the
SAM Champs, was held October 9-14. It
included Nostalgia categories, as usual, and
Control Line events for the first time. The
CL portion was flown at a Las Vegas airport
and the FF and RC classes were contested at
El Dorado Dry Lake, just outside
Henderson, Nevada.
This portion of the article will cover the
FF and RC information. Immediately
following is a report by Larry Renger about
the CL activities.
Participants from a few nations attended,
including Australia, England, Italy,
Germany, and the US of course. It gave the
competition an international flavor.
The dry lake bed provides our early
models—whether it’s a 30 Second Antique,
a Fuel Allotment Antique, or a Gas Scale
with unlimited fuel—with a happy place to
fly. The Goldberg Valkyries, Lanzo Record
Breakers, Taibi Powerhouses, MG2s, Lanzo
Bombers, and other such models can fly as
they did in the golden old days.
The weather for four days was perfect
for FF and RC. A five-minute max, which is
possible at few contests in America these
days, was no problem Tuesday through
Friday. Monday’s flying was canceled
because of high winds, which had helped
dry the field that was flooded just a couple
weeks before the contest.
On Sunday after the meet, the sixthlargest
recorded rainfall flooded the dry bed
again. It made the modelers thankful for the
window of opportunity they enjoyed the
previous days.
There were mass-launch or one-flight
events for the Twin Pusher, Thermal
Hunter, and Tomboy. Each category had
several contestants and provided good
competition. The Tomboy event probably
contributed to British and Australian
attendance. There were eight fliers in Twin
Pusher, 15 in Thermal Hunter, and 11 in
Tomboy.
Winning FF Rubber or Gas didn’t make
a competitor immune to disaster. Rubber
champ Herb Kothe crashed or blew up five
models and had a sixth broken on retrieval.
Herb’s Korda Wakefield exploded in
midair when the rear peg slipped out of the
anchor, and a torque-meter wire broke while
he was winding a model for launch. In
addition, the motor bunched up at the rear
on a Jimmie Allen Blue Bird flight, causing
him to barely miss his first max and sending
him to second place. Fortunately Herb had
backup models for the events in which
disaster struck.
Kevin Sherman, who beat Larry
Davidson by just one point to become the
FF Gas champ, flew his class C Hayseed
into his own tent and broke the fuselage just
in front of the stabilizer. He used a Comet
Clipper MK I to finish his flights.
The same day Kevin’s class A Strato
Streak came in after a max flight and
plowed into Sal Taibi’s Honda chase bike.
After minor repairs the model crashed on
takeoff. Kevin had a cranky engine (which
he has since repaired) in his Lanzo Bomber
Fuel Allotment Antique entry, which pushed
him out of contention.
Larry Davidson added just enough tilt to
the stabilizer to cause his Torp .29-powered
Alert to come in for a spectacular vertical
dive, which destroyed the model and the
engine. Being a FF champ is difficult and
the competition is intense!
With the help of engine-rework
specialist George Tallent, RC Gas and RC
Glow champ Bob Hawkins came out like a
NASCAR-equipped competitor, with
models and equipment that could scare the
competition.
His trouble came when a local Nevada
modeler who was flying for fun shot him
down; otherwise, he had smooth flying. In
class A Texaco RC Bob flew his Lanzo
Bomber with a Taifun .15 engine, swinging
a 14-inch propeller at just less than 4,000
rpm.
A Texaco RC was the event in which the
Australian fliers showed the best. Bob
Raadts was second, Max Rixon was third,
Allan Laycock was fourth, and David Owen
was fifth. This team usually employs diesel
power, but they switched to the O.S. 20
four-stroke with a 12-inch propeller and did
well on glow fuel.
David Owen is a diesel-engine maker.
He finished eighth in A Ignition LER
(limited engine run) flying a Brooklyn
Dodger with one of his Gordon Burford 250
diesels. He won the RC Brooklyn Dodger
event with an AMCO 3.5 diesel.
The Aussies did okay in FF too, with
fourth- (Allan Laycock) and seventh-place
(Bob Raadts) finishes in the Tomboy event.
There was a special RC event for the
Brooklyn Dodger: the Gas Model of the
Year. In FF the highest Dodger time in class
B Fuselage wins. Larry Davidson won B
Fuselage with the design to take both
events. This was is the same model that was
lost overnight at the Claremore, Oklahoma,
SAM Champs. Dick Nelson finished second
with his RB Special-powered Dodger.
I must mention our English visitors. In
the Tomboy event Bob Close had a
respectable seven minutes plus for second
place. John Maddaford did not do too well
March 2006 23
Twin Pusher mass-launch winners (L-R): Karl Morgan, fourth;
Mik Mikkelson, third; Hank Cole, first; Ed Lamb, fifth. Secondplace
finisher Phil Klintworth was out hunting his model when
the picture was taken!
The Australians took second through fifth places in class A
Texaco RC. L-R: Bob Raadts, Max Rixon, Allan Laycock, David
Owen. They usually fly diesels but chose early O.S. 20 fourstroke
glow engines for this contest.
Tomboy fliers (front L-R): Ian Easton, Geoff Knight, Bob Langdon (first),
Brad Levine (back L-R), Max Risson, Bob Raadts, Allan Laycock (fourth),
SAM President Mike Myers (fifth), Fernando Ramos (third), Charles Yost,
Bob Close (second).
Thermal Hunter one-flight winners: Stan Buddenbohm, first; Herb Kothe,
second; Al Lidberg, fifth; Bob White, third; and Carl Fonnesbeck, fourth.
Jim O’Reilly with a fully wound Reich Double
Feature, ready to light the DT fuse. The model body
is covered with Polyspan, and the wing and stabilizer
are covered with Japanese tissue.
Bruce Augustus puts a little juice in the tank for his
AMCO .21 diesel-powered Strato Streak. He uses a 9
x 5 Rev-Up wood propeller and does his own engine
rework.
Photos by the authors
24 MODEL AVIATION
Herb Kothe with the Wren with which he won Commercial
Rubber. It is powered with 20 strands of braided 1/8 Tan II rubber
wound to 40 inch-ounce of torque.
John Camp prepares to wind his gorgeous Carl Goldberg Comet
Gull. It is powered by 22 strands of Tan II he does not braid and is
wound to 45 inch-ounce of torque.
Ted Hidinger’s Lucky Lindy 1000 has a Fox .40 turning a 101/2 x
41/2 APC propeller at 17,000+ rpm on 35% nitro. The model is
covered with UltraCote: transparent on wing and tail and
opaque on the body.
Kevin Sherman stylishly launches his Polyspan-covered Sailplane.
A McCoy .60 swinging an 11 x 6 APC propeller powers it.
Dick Peterson and the 1937 Allen Orthot Hand Launch Glider
he converted to a Catapult Glider. He won with the model.
Walter Conrad won the Atom event with this Mylar-covered Baby
Bomber. He also won class C Fuselage, with an O.S. .40
conversion in a Playboy Cabin.Glen Poole Sr. flew this beautiful 67-inch-wingspan Playboy Jr.
An AstroFlight 05G motor drawing juice from a seven-cell, 800
mAh battery pack powers it.
Keith Trostle has been campaigning his Pagan in OTS for the past
few years. He reconstructed the design from a three-view in
Aeromodeler magazine.
Kevin Capitanelli performs the OTS pattern with his El Diablo.
Notice the beautiful
Pete Peterson added automotive “candy apple”-type colorant to his
dope top coats to get a beautiful, intense transparent-yellow finish.
Covering is silkspan.
No contest happens without a great registration and scoring crew.
Thanks to CL CD Eric Rule, pit boss Ken Kaiser, scorekeeper Larry
Lake, and runner Bill Holt.
National and World Champ Bob Gieseke brought a beautiful
Humongous but was unable to fly because of back problems.
Mike Scott took over piloting honors.
Bob Whitely did his usual magnificent job building a stock “Green
Box” Nobler. His decor included great striping in gold leaf. Bob
placed second in Classic.
Classic CL pilots (top row): Keith Trostle, Lou Wolgast, Burt Brokaw, Larry Renger, Jim
Rhodes, Grady Widener (bottom row), Pete Peterson, Bob Whitely. The weather for CL
was perfect both days.
Glen Allison flew respectable patterns with
his electric-powered Humongous. He was
able to compensate for some of the battery
weight with a lighter structure.
March 2006 27
in class A Fuselage, flying his Gordon
Murray Answer. However, he got four
Bantam .16 casting sets and did a great job
machining one for his model.
Gas Scale is seldom flown east of the
Mississippi River because of the SAM rule
allowing an unlimited engine run. Jean
Andrews flew an O.S. .25-powered Comet
Curtiss Robin spanning 6 feet. The 12 x 4
propeller was still turning when the model
went out of sight for the win. Later it was
found five miles from the field!
Norm Peterson was the high-point flier
in Nostalgia. He was active in the events,
with strong competition from Dick Nelson,
Ted Hidinger, and Frank Roberge. John
Maddaford made an impression in 1/4A Gas
and Towline Glider.
The awards banquet and engine collecto
took place Friday evening. The food was
great, as was the bean-feed spread earlier in
the week.
Frank Roberge won Rubber FF Concours
and Best of Show with a Skokie from an
Easy Built Models kit. Gary Sherman
received the Gas FF award, and John
Richards won the RC award. Bruce
Augustus (SAM Speaks editor), Gil Morris
(Kerswap designer), and Hank Cole
(Smoothie designer) were inducted into the
SAM Hall of Fame.
Ted Firster refused to accept the contestmanager
trophy until the nameplate read
“Ted and Sandra Firster.” SAM President
Mike Myers agreed that Sandra had done
enough work to deserve her name being on
the trophy.
In addition, Kevin Sherman presented a
Sweetheart of SAM award to his mother.
After a few goodbyes to our old friends,
SAM Champs 2005 was over. So we look
forward to the 2006 edition. Randy Ryan will
be contest manager for the 1,000+-acre field
at the International Aeromodeling Center in
Muncie, Indiana. (The Champs rotates
between El Dorado Dry Lake and the AMA
site each year.)
Earl Stahl Scale Rubber aircraft and his
Hurricane will be special-event designs. For
RC and FF Gas his Fokker D.VIII will be the
model.
Join SAM and come fly in this great field!
David Ramsey
[email protected]
In 2005 there was an addition to the longrunning
SAM Champs. The event directors
contacted Eric Rule of RSM Distribution,
and he agreed to be the CD for a SAMoriented
CL category.
This contest has always been limited to
the usual FF events with gliders, rubber
power, and gas engines, and there have
been classes for old-time FF models with
RC assist. Never has there been
competition honoring the old CL designs,
despite their dominance of the hobby in the
late 1940s through the early 1960s.
The “new” events attracted some of the
country’s top CL talent, including former
national Precision Aerobatics (Stunt)
champs Bob Gieseke, Keith Trostle, and
Bob Whitely. Unfortunately Bob “Bear”
Gieseke was unable to fly because of back
problems. Most of the CL aircraft entered
had superb fits and finishes, and the scores
were competitive with any contest,
anywhere.
The North Las Vegas Airport was kind
enough to provide an unused parking lot
(approximately 20 football fields worth),
shade, tables, chairs, free bottled water on
ice, barrier cones and tape, an aide-decamp,
and a street sweeper to make sure
the area was free of debris. Airport staff
even provided small squares of carpet to
assure that we didn’t drip raw fuel on their
smooth asphalt.
Bill Ervin at the airport made the initial
contacts to see if we could use the facility,
but the approval of Airport Manager Doug
McNeeley made it happen. Bill was with us
for setup day and the two days of
competition: Thursday and Friday, October
13-14. Doug stopped by and was so pleased
with what we were doing and how we were
keeping the site clean that he is inclined to
provide us with future access—not only for
the SAM event, but for whatever we want
to propose.
There is no financial benefit to the
airport for this munificent gift of personnel,
time, and facilities.
Old Time Stunt was held Thursday. The
aircraft in this category must be replicas of
airplane. Keith has been
campaigning this model for a few years and
has captured a pile of trophies with it.
Third place went to Leroy Black with his
Jamison Special. He powered it with a
Brodak .40 engine. The Jamison is currently
the most popular model in Old Time Stunt. It
features a large wing, generous airfoil,
decent numbers for the tail size and
moments, and extremely light construction.
The Classic Aerobatics category includes
designs dating from 1953 through 1969.
Leroy Black and Bill Ervin were the judges.
Competition was intense, and the lowest
score was a 420.00. Weather was even better
than on Thursday, with just enough wind to
keep the models from hitting their own wing
wake.
This time Keith Trostle came out on top.
(Keith is the only person to ever win Open
CL Aerobatics and CL Precision Scale at the
AMA Nats.) He flew his Al Rabe Bearcat to
a winning score of 565.5.
The Bearcat is reputed to fly far better
than any of Al’s original models. Modern
materials and more years of experience
since the designer’s heyday make the
difference, I guess. Al is still building, and
it would be interesting to compare his
newest models to Keith’s.
The consensus at any contest where Keith
competes is, “That model can’t be doing
that!” The airplane does not resemble a
performance Stunter, but does it fly!
Second place went to another Nats
winner: Bob Whitely. He had a beautiful
“Green Box” Nobler—a replica of the kit as
produced by Top Flite for many years. The
finish included a gold-leaf stripe down the
sides of the fuselage and in the lettering; it
was gorgeous. Bob scored a 562.00, so the
competition was very close.
Third place went to Pete Peterson, who
was not flying a model painted yellow for a
change. If he hadn’t brought a yellow
Jamison along, we would have thought he
was an impostor. Pete flew a wonderful
version of Jim Van Loo’s Chipmunk model
powered by a Brodak .40.
The trophies were SAM prize plaques
awarded for first through third places in each
event. In addition, Brodak Manufacturing
donated an ARF Smoothie to be presented to
the overall champion, as determined by the
highest aggregate score of all four flights in
Old Time and Classic. Keith Trostle won the
Smoothie. It was finished in yellow and
probably has some drool spots left on it from
Pete Peterson’s examination.
Friday evening we attended the SAM
banquet, and it featured an excellent buffet
followed by an astounding raffle.
I extend the thanks of all competitors to the
crew from the North Las Vegas Airport:
Doug McNeeley, Bill Ervin, and
Department of Aviation Coordinator Darla
Hook for her efforts in working out the
logistics.
The people who kept the contest running
need to be thanked individually. Ken Kaiser
did a marvelous job as pit boss. He made the
contest go smoothly; there was no waiting or
delays with him on the job. Larry Lake had
the tedious job of scorekeeping. Bill Holt
served as “runner,” to carry the scoresheets
from the judges to the scorekeeper.
This contest was a great time, and the
facilities couldn’t have been better. We’ll be
back for sure.
For a complete listing of SAM Champs
results and more information about the
organization, visit www.antiquemodeler.org. MA
Larry Renger
[email protected] magazine
Aeromodeler.