by Mike Hurley
24 MODEL AVIATION
Unlimited winners (L-R): Jason Shulman received a $3,979 cash
prize for first place, Frazer Briggs hauled in $1,703 for third, and
Chip Hyde garnered $2,271 for second. Chip was the overall money
earner, with an additional $3,407 for his Freestyle win.
NOW THAT THE Tournament of Champions (TOC) is history,
where will we go to find top-level flying events with top-name
competitors? If the people who put the Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout (TAS) together have anything to say about it, we’ll all
head to the heart of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, to
see the top names fly. And the best pilots in the world will duke it
out to claim today’s and future top honors.
With the passing of the TOC, the TAS may be taking its place
as the RC contest with the world’s largest cash and prize purse:
more than $50,000. That doesn’t mean it has the prestige of the
TOC—yet. But with that kind of booty on the line, you can bet
that the best of the best were drawn out of their respective hiding
places October 2-5 to vie for the loot! In every class from
Sportsman to Unlimited, the flying was top-notch. Frankly, some
of the Intermediate pilots who competed in the TAS would
probably do well flying in Unlimited at most local contests.
The TAS was run as a four-day International Miniature
Aerobatic Club (IMAC) contest ruled by AMA and IMAC
guidelines and procedures. The level of talent and competency
among the contest staff and the pilots made it one of the most
prestigious IMAC events in the US.
The TAS was open to any AMA member flying in any class
except Basic. A total of 60 pilots entered. Sign-up for the contest
was opened just 30 days before the event and was limited to 15
Ivan Kristensen (16-time TOC competitor) puts on a graceful
Freestyle routine with his 40% Carden CAP 232. His Knife
Edge Climbing Spiral Cone maneuver with smoke was one
of the most original figures of the contest.
May 2004 25
New Zealand IMAC and F3A champion Frazer Briggs creates a cloud of dust as he hovers his own-design composite Extra 260.
Sean McMurtry had one of the most precise and controlled Freestyle
routines of the contest with his 37% Aeroworks 300L.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a one-of-a-kind
prototype 40% Godfrey Extra 300L. He is quickly making
a name for himself as one of the top fliers in the US.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Bill Hempel starts the engine in his 52% Exclusiv-Modellbau Pitts Challenger for his
Freestyle flight. It has a 3W 206cc four-cylinder engine and weighs 53 pounds. Right: Bill
put on one of the most exciting routines of the show.
Talented Jeff Szueber Jr. flew his Stan’s Fiber Tech compositefuselage
Katana in Unlimited and Freestyle.
At this contest Jason Shulman (L) and Bill Hempel demonstrated
the type of sportsmanship for which IMAC is known.
Kolby Kuipers, who is 15 years old, was the only Advanced pilot
to perform in the Freestyle category at this contest.
May 2004 27
competitors each in Sportsman,
Intermediate, and Advanced and 20 in
Unlimited. The roster filled up quickly, but
several pilots had to drop out for one reason
or another, and the total number competing
settled at 43.
This contest’s director and supporters
were extremely serious about the quality of
the event. They made sure that an
experienced, competent individual handled
each specific task. Judges included some
well-known names in IMAC and
International Aerobatic Club (IAC) fullscale
aerobatics, and they came from as far
away as Germany to work at the event. Even
the line bosses were experienced and also
came from the IAC ranks.
There were two flightlines running at all
times, and the line of pilots was directed in
such a way that as soon as one finished a
routine and called “Out of the box,” the next
pilot was already in the air and ready to
enter the box to start the routine. The classes
moved quickly in this fashion. There were
three judges for each line, helping to
validate the scores. Most were there for the
sole purpose of judging at the event, with an
occasional contestant judge put to use.
Bob Sadler, “The Mouth from the
South,” came from South Carolina to emcee
the contest and kept spectators informed and
interested. The event was highlighted
locally on television and in the newspapers,
and a large group of spectators made it out
to watch on Saturday and Sunday. More
than 500 flights were flown, judged, and
tallied during the four days.
This was one of the safest, most well-run
events I’ve been to, ranking up there with
the TOC and the Don Lowe Masters. What
differentiates this contest from those two is
that it is an IMAC event and is open to the
lower classes.
Of course, that didn’t stop the big names
from attending, and it didn’t stop pilots from
around the globe from making the trip.
Frazer Briggs of New Zealand, Fabio Trento
of Brazil, and Ivan Kristensen of Canada
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout Results
Place Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Freestyle
1. Tony Quist Adam Bry Matthew Szueber Jason Shulman Chip Hyde
2. Brad Hooper Leonard Rulason Jeremy McKenna Chip Hyde Mark Leseberg Jr.
3. Dean Bird Andy Busutil Bill Adams Frazer Briggs Bill Hempel
4. Bill Ritchey Tony Holden Chris Boice Mark Leseberg Jr. Fabio Trento
28 MODEL AVIATION
Bob Sadler made the trip from
South Carolina to emcee the
contest and provide color
commentary for the crowds.
Left: Art Cloutier holds his 40-size
Extra 300 he used after he lost his
33% Aeroworks Extra. In front is
David Searles’ CA Yak-55—one of
the largest models in the contest.
CD Michael Marcellin (right) led a team of
experienced volunteers in putting on a successful
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout.
Right: Chip Hyde flew a 40% PL Products Extra 300
with a DA-150 and tuned pipes. In foreground is
Jason Shulman’s CA Extra.
CM
Charlene Moss
It’s rare for a competition of this caliber to attract a
woman pilot. Charlene Moss of the Tucson area has been
flying RC for more than two years. The Shootout was her
first IMAC contest.
Charlene flies a Great Planes Extra 300S ARF with a
Desert Aircraft DA-50 engine and a Futaba radio. She lost
her airplane on the first day and borrowed a similar model
from Dan Alley to finish the contest.
Charlene got interested in RC through her
participation in full-scale aerobatics. She had
attended and helped scribe a few full-scale
contests and was surprised that there were as many
women as men competing in full-scale IAC. She
has a competitive nature, having previously raced
cars and motorcycles. So she checked out RC
Aerobatics and was surprised to find so few/no women
pilots!
She enjoys the focus and intensity of the
competition and really likes the Unknowns.
Charlene did great for her first contest, and I know
she’ll be back. MA
—Mike Hurley
30 MODEL AVIATION
made it out to participate in the Tucson
Shootout, and the local big names were there
too. Chip Hyde, Bill Hempel, Sean
McMurtry, and Jason Shulman were present
to show the rest of us how it’s done.
The flying site in Tucson is located well
outside of town in the Saguaro National
Park. Sand, gigantic cactus, and scorpions
are the backdrop for a beautiful modelaircraft
venue called TIMPA: the Tucson
International Modelplex Park Association.
The weather was hot most days, with wind
picking up in the afternoon. An occasional
minitornado visited the flying site, sending
pilots and helpers scurrying to grab models
and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.
You could see these dust devils coming
from far away as a large plume of dirt and
debris raced across the desert.
Friday the wind was stronger than usual,
and many pilots had difficulty landing. With
a steady 25 mph crosswind, it became
standard practice to land cross-runway off to
each side of the pilot stations. At one point
Contest Director Michael Marcellin stopped
the contest to vote on whether to continue
flying for the day, and the pilots in each
class bravely voted to continue. A few
mishaps put at least a couple of pilots out of
the contest. Art Cloutier, flying in
Advanced, lost the landing gear on his 33%
Aeroworks Extra 330L, so he decided to
finish the contest flying a 40-size, 56-inchwingspan
Great Planes Extra 300.
If you are unfamiliar with IMAC, a
standard set of figures flown in each class
make up the sequence for the year. This is
called the “Known” sequence. In each
contest there is also a surprise sequence
made up of figures applicable to that class.
Pilots are not allowed to practice the
sequence or even see the aresti diagram
(maneuvers) until the night before they are
to be flown. This sequence is called the
“Unknown.”
Each class flew three Known rounds on
Thursday. Friday morning each class flew
the Unknown and two rounds of Known.
Saturday was limited to one Unknown and
one Known round, and the four-minute
Freestyle was flown at midday when the
largest gathering of spectators was expected.
Sunday the ranks were cut to the top four
places in Sportsman, Intermediate, and
Advanced and the top 12 pilots in
Unlimited. One Known and one Unknown
sequence were flown, and two rounds of
Freestyle capped off the event. In all, 12
Unknown rounds were flown in this contest.
It was clear from the beginning that this
was not your ordinary local IMAC contest.
Everybody down to the last Sportsman pilot
was a contender and would most likely
podium at the local field event. In
Intermediate, 2003 Nationals champion
Adam Bry also prevailed in Tucson to take
home top honors.
I came with my friend Erik Richard, who
flew in the Advanced class with the Project
Extra aircraft that we built for a construction
article that MA featured in the January to
June 2003 issues. Erik usually wins at local
contests, but he had a case of nerves out of
the gate Thursday and Friday that put him at
the back of the pack. Saturday he made up a
ton of ground, moving up four places.
Unfortunately that was not enough to put
him among the finalists for Sunday, but it
was a good showing for the AMA project
airplane. Way to go, Erik!
For most of us, the real story was the topranked
pilots flying in Unlimited. If you
came as a spectator you came to see the big
names, and the big names didn’t disappoint.
Flying was tight and spectacular.
Jason Shulman eked out an early lead
with flights that bordered on perfection.
However, his performances weren’t
problem-free. At one time an ignition pack
failed just before his flight, and he quickly
borrowed Bill Hempel’s 3W Extra 300S.
Later, Jason crashed his model during the
Freestyle on Saturday and had to finish the
remaining rounds with Bill’s airplane. He
still managed to squeak out the Unlimited
win, and his performance with a borrowed
aircraft was astounding.
At one point during the contest we were
privileged to witness one of the most
incredible saves in model-aviation history.
One of the less-experienced Sportsman
pilots, flying a 40% aircraft, had a flameout
while in a slow and low position. The pilot
froze and the model was headed for certain
destruction.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. saw
the incident from across the field and
sprinted to the pilot station, hurdling a fence
in the process. He wrestled the transmitter
from the perplexed pilot and maneuvered the
airplane just in time to set it down without
damage. It was one of the most amazing
feats I’ve ever seen, and a great deal of
gratitude should go to Mark for quick
thinking and fast action.
Despite the photos and the hype, the
competition at the 2003 TAS was not about
who could Torque Roll (TR) his or her
model the closest to the ground! The TR has
become an almost compulsory maneuver in
Freestyle competitions across the country,
but routines have become so sophisticated
and complex that TRs alone will never again
be enough to garner a win. The photos of the
Freestyle are impressive, and the Freestyle is
without a doubt the most fun to watch, but
the TAS was really about precision Scale
Aerobatics.
Flown according to AMA and IMAC
guidelines, Freestyle is a separate and
optional category. Let’s be realistic; most of
the pilots did not elect to fly in the Freestyle.
To be competitive in that event, you have to
be able to fly at the top of the sport, so most
Freestyle pilots came from the Unlimited
ranks, only one pilot came from Advanced,
and none came from the lower classes. The
Freestyle event had 11 competitors.
Freestyle is going to grow in popularity
and will continue to be a major part of any
top-notch aerobatic event. This portion of
32 MODEL AVIATION
the contest was, as it should be, quite
impressive and as well executed as any
other Freestyle in the world. Chip Hyde
was the overall winner of the 2003 TAS
Freestyle.
I’m not here to take anything away
from Chip or from the judges’ perspective;
I wasn’t sitting in the chair scoring. But
I’d like to present a few awards that I felt
were appropriate from a spectator’s point
of view. The point is to help you get a feel
for the absolute wonder of the whole thing,
which is next to impossible without
witnessing it in person. All the pilots were
masters of 3-D, and getting the airplanes
extremely close to the ground was part of
the excitement. TRs are almost
compulsory and make great pictures, so
you’ll see many of them, but they were not
key to winning the event.
My award for the smoothest and most
precise routine goes, without question, to
Sean McMurtry. His TR was the lowest
and most controlled. The model didn’t
drift; it didn’t even wiggle. His High
Alpha Rolling Circle was flawless. In fact,
his whole routine was so precise that I
think it lulled the judges into a sense of
simplicity or ease, but, to the contrary, he
did the most difficult maneuvers possible
with choreography and grace that was
unmatched. And he did them with more
precision and control than anybody in the
contest.
The biggest-adrenalin-rush award goes
to Mark Leseberg Jr., with his high-speed
routine capped off by a long series of
extremely high-roll-rate High Alpha
Rolling Circles. How he managed to move
that craft around with any control at that
rate of roll was beyond comprehension!
Mark showed a great deal of talent in the
Freestyle and the precision portions of the
contest, and he placed well (second in
Freestyle and fourth in precision) against
some of the top pilots in the world.
The award for pure air-show panache
and excitement goes to Billy Hempel. His
huge Scale 52% Pitts Challenger was the
aircraft highlight of the event. As usual,
Bill flew the Pitts with abandon—but not
reckless abandon. His routine was second
only to Sean McMurtry’s in precision and
control—but he did it at warp speed! Even
though his schedule had little new, it had
been polished to a new luster. Watching
that stubby scale Challenger skillfully blast
through a complex aerobatic and 3-D
combination was awesome.
The award for originality goes to Fabio
Trento. After his Freestyle, Mike Stokes of
Futaba looked over to me and said, “He’s
just raised the bar in Freestyle
competition.” Fabio performed a series of
high-alpha descending “S” figures that
took my breath away. And what has come
to be his signature style—his inverted
high-alpha routine—was magic.
In addition to his first place in
Unlimited, Jason Shulman was my top
pick for a good-sportsmanship award. He
had something to prove after his crash at
the 2002 TOC, but his bad luck held out
and he crashed again during his second
Freestyle at the TAS. Because of the crash,
Jason had no model to fly for the final
Sunday Freestyle. With a smile on his
face, he borrowed a 30-inch foam electricpowered
profile biplane and flew it to
music for his last Freestyle routine in full
3-D glory—not for points but just for
show. The crowd loved it!
For many of us who are entrenched up to
our eyeballs in this sport, originality has to
be one of the biggest differentiators when it
comes to the Freestyle event. In the last
several years, top-name pilots such as
Quique Somenzini and Christophe Paysant-
Le Roux would amaze us with new and
evermore exciting sequences or figures, and
each year the new figures would be the talk
of the event.
I remember reading about the 1994 TOC,
when Quique performed the first-ever
Elevator: a fairly basic maneuver for us
now. But at the time the crowd was agog.
How could it be possible? What magic was
he using? It took several seasons before 3-D
really started to catch on and people
understood how to perform these
maneuvers. Originality is the cornerstone of
excitement and progress in Aerobatics.
It was disappointing that most of the topranked
Freestyle pilots did not have new
routines for the TAS. Some had the same
routines they’ve used for years, and others
used portions of their old routines with the
same music. There might have been a
different music cut here or there and a
different figure wedged in, but generally
none of the top contenders came up with
anything new. I know that producing a new
Freestyle is tough, but when the pilots use
old routines, it’s almost like saying that this
event isn’t important enough to put in the
effort.
The 2003 TAS was a big success.
Everybody down to the last-place finishers
went home with substantial prizes. At least
12 Desert Aircraft engines and several large
aircraft were given out. The top three
finishers in Unlimited and Freestyle went
home with cash.
It’s pretty exciting to fly in a contest side
by side with some of the top pilots in the
world and pit your skill against the best in
your class. The TAS is likely to become an
annual event, so if you feel you’re up to it or
you just want to see the top pilots fly, make
plans now to attend in 2004. MA
Mike Hurley
11542 Decatur Ct.
Westminster CO 80234
[email protected]
2003 TAS sponsors:
Advanced Ceramics Research
Aerotech R/C Models
Aeroworks
AirWild
BME engines
Cactus Aviation Models
Carden Aircraft
Competition Hobbies
Desert Aircraft
Exclusiv-Modellbau
Extreme Graphics
Futaba
Hobbico
HobbyTown USA
Hobby Barn
HobbyTown of Tucson
Horizon Hobby
JR
MTW-Schalldampfer
PBG Composites
PowerfLite
RC Showcase
Smart-Fly
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/05
Page Numbers: 24,25,26,27,28,30,32
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/05
Page Numbers: 24,25,26,27,28,30,32
by Mike Hurley
24 MODEL AVIATION
Unlimited winners (L-R): Jason Shulman received a $3,979 cash
prize for first place, Frazer Briggs hauled in $1,703 for third, and
Chip Hyde garnered $2,271 for second. Chip was the overall money
earner, with an additional $3,407 for his Freestyle win.
NOW THAT THE Tournament of Champions (TOC) is history,
where will we go to find top-level flying events with top-name
competitors? If the people who put the Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout (TAS) together have anything to say about it, we’ll all
head to the heart of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, to
see the top names fly. And the best pilots in the world will duke it
out to claim today’s and future top honors.
With the passing of the TOC, the TAS may be taking its place
as the RC contest with the world’s largest cash and prize purse:
more than $50,000. That doesn’t mean it has the prestige of the
TOC—yet. But with that kind of booty on the line, you can bet
that the best of the best were drawn out of their respective hiding
places October 2-5 to vie for the loot! In every class from
Sportsman to Unlimited, the flying was top-notch. Frankly, some
of the Intermediate pilots who competed in the TAS would
probably do well flying in Unlimited at most local contests.
The TAS was run as a four-day International Miniature
Aerobatic Club (IMAC) contest ruled by AMA and IMAC
guidelines and procedures. The level of talent and competency
among the contest staff and the pilots made it one of the most
prestigious IMAC events in the US.
The TAS was open to any AMA member flying in any class
except Basic. A total of 60 pilots entered. Sign-up for the contest
was opened just 30 days before the event and was limited to 15
Ivan Kristensen (16-time TOC competitor) puts on a graceful
Freestyle routine with his 40% Carden CAP 232. His Knife
Edge Climbing Spiral Cone maneuver with smoke was one
of the most original figures of the contest.
May 2004 25
New Zealand IMAC and F3A champion Frazer Briggs creates a cloud of dust as he hovers his own-design composite Extra 260.
Sean McMurtry had one of the most precise and controlled Freestyle
routines of the contest with his 37% Aeroworks 300L.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a one-of-a-kind
prototype 40% Godfrey Extra 300L. He is quickly making
a name for himself as one of the top fliers in the US.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Bill Hempel starts the engine in his 52% Exclusiv-Modellbau Pitts Challenger for his
Freestyle flight. It has a 3W 206cc four-cylinder engine and weighs 53 pounds. Right: Bill
put on one of the most exciting routines of the show.
Talented Jeff Szueber Jr. flew his Stan’s Fiber Tech compositefuselage
Katana in Unlimited and Freestyle.
At this contest Jason Shulman (L) and Bill Hempel demonstrated
the type of sportsmanship for which IMAC is known.
Kolby Kuipers, who is 15 years old, was the only Advanced pilot
to perform in the Freestyle category at this contest.
May 2004 27
competitors each in Sportsman,
Intermediate, and Advanced and 20 in
Unlimited. The roster filled up quickly, but
several pilots had to drop out for one reason
or another, and the total number competing
settled at 43.
This contest’s director and supporters
were extremely serious about the quality of
the event. They made sure that an
experienced, competent individual handled
each specific task. Judges included some
well-known names in IMAC and
International Aerobatic Club (IAC) fullscale
aerobatics, and they came from as far
away as Germany to work at the event. Even
the line bosses were experienced and also
came from the IAC ranks.
There were two flightlines running at all
times, and the line of pilots was directed in
such a way that as soon as one finished a
routine and called “Out of the box,” the next
pilot was already in the air and ready to
enter the box to start the routine. The classes
moved quickly in this fashion. There were
three judges for each line, helping to
validate the scores. Most were there for the
sole purpose of judging at the event, with an
occasional contestant judge put to use.
Bob Sadler, “The Mouth from the
South,” came from South Carolina to emcee
the contest and kept spectators informed and
interested. The event was highlighted
locally on television and in the newspapers,
and a large group of spectators made it out
to watch on Saturday and Sunday. More
than 500 flights were flown, judged, and
tallied during the four days.
This was one of the safest, most well-run
events I’ve been to, ranking up there with
the TOC and the Don Lowe Masters. What
differentiates this contest from those two is
that it is an IMAC event and is open to the
lower classes.
Of course, that didn’t stop the big names
from attending, and it didn’t stop pilots from
around the globe from making the trip.
Frazer Briggs of New Zealand, Fabio Trento
of Brazil, and Ivan Kristensen of Canada
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout Results
Place Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Freestyle
1. Tony Quist Adam Bry Matthew Szueber Jason Shulman Chip Hyde
2. Brad Hooper Leonard Rulason Jeremy McKenna Chip Hyde Mark Leseberg Jr.
3. Dean Bird Andy Busutil Bill Adams Frazer Briggs Bill Hempel
4. Bill Ritchey Tony Holden Chris Boice Mark Leseberg Jr. Fabio Trento
28 MODEL AVIATION
Bob Sadler made the trip from
South Carolina to emcee the
contest and provide color
commentary for the crowds.
Left: Art Cloutier holds his 40-size
Extra 300 he used after he lost his
33% Aeroworks Extra. In front is
David Searles’ CA Yak-55—one of
the largest models in the contest.
CD Michael Marcellin (right) led a team of
experienced volunteers in putting on a successful
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout.
Right: Chip Hyde flew a 40% PL Products Extra 300
with a DA-150 and tuned pipes. In foreground is
Jason Shulman’s CA Extra.
CM
Charlene Moss
It’s rare for a competition of this caliber to attract a
woman pilot. Charlene Moss of the Tucson area has been
flying RC for more than two years. The Shootout was her
first IMAC contest.
Charlene flies a Great Planes Extra 300S ARF with a
Desert Aircraft DA-50 engine and a Futaba radio. She lost
her airplane on the first day and borrowed a similar model
from Dan Alley to finish the contest.
Charlene got interested in RC through her
participation in full-scale aerobatics. She had
attended and helped scribe a few full-scale
contests and was surprised that there were as many
women as men competing in full-scale IAC. She
has a competitive nature, having previously raced
cars and motorcycles. So she checked out RC
Aerobatics and was surprised to find so few/no women
pilots!
She enjoys the focus and intensity of the
competition and really likes the Unknowns.
Charlene did great for her first contest, and I know
she’ll be back. MA
—Mike Hurley
30 MODEL AVIATION
made it out to participate in the Tucson
Shootout, and the local big names were there
too. Chip Hyde, Bill Hempel, Sean
McMurtry, and Jason Shulman were present
to show the rest of us how it’s done.
The flying site in Tucson is located well
outside of town in the Saguaro National
Park. Sand, gigantic cactus, and scorpions
are the backdrop for a beautiful modelaircraft
venue called TIMPA: the Tucson
International Modelplex Park Association.
The weather was hot most days, with wind
picking up in the afternoon. An occasional
minitornado visited the flying site, sending
pilots and helpers scurrying to grab models
and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.
You could see these dust devils coming
from far away as a large plume of dirt and
debris raced across the desert.
Friday the wind was stronger than usual,
and many pilots had difficulty landing. With
a steady 25 mph crosswind, it became
standard practice to land cross-runway off to
each side of the pilot stations. At one point
Contest Director Michael Marcellin stopped
the contest to vote on whether to continue
flying for the day, and the pilots in each
class bravely voted to continue. A few
mishaps put at least a couple of pilots out of
the contest. Art Cloutier, flying in
Advanced, lost the landing gear on his 33%
Aeroworks Extra 330L, so he decided to
finish the contest flying a 40-size, 56-inchwingspan
Great Planes Extra 300.
If you are unfamiliar with IMAC, a
standard set of figures flown in each class
make up the sequence for the year. This is
called the “Known” sequence. In each
contest there is also a surprise sequence
made up of figures applicable to that class.
Pilots are not allowed to practice the
sequence or even see the aresti diagram
(maneuvers) until the night before they are
to be flown. This sequence is called the
“Unknown.”
Each class flew three Known rounds on
Thursday. Friday morning each class flew
the Unknown and two rounds of Known.
Saturday was limited to one Unknown and
one Known round, and the four-minute
Freestyle was flown at midday when the
largest gathering of spectators was expected.
Sunday the ranks were cut to the top four
places in Sportsman, Intermediate, and
Advanced and the top 12 pilots in
Unlimited. One Known and one Unknown
sequence were flown, and two rounds of
Freestyle capped off the event. In all, 12
Unknown rounds were flown in this contest.
It was clear from the beginning that this
was not your ordinary local IMAC contest.
Everybody down to the last Sportsman pilot
was a contender and would most likely
podium at the local field event. In
Intermediate, 2003 Nationals champion
Adam Bry also prevailed in Tucson to take
home top honors.
I came with my friend Erik Richard, who
flew in the Advanced class with the Project
Extra aircraft that we built for a construction
article that MA featured in the January to
June 2003 issues. Erik usually wins at local
contests, but he had a case of nerves out of
the gate Thursday and Friday that put him at
the back of the pack. Saturday he made up a
ton of ground, moving up four places.
Unfortunately that was not enough to put
him among the finalists for Sunday, but it
was a good showing for the AMA project
airplane. Way to go, Erik!
For most of us, the real story was the topranked
pilots flying in Unlimited. If you
came as a spectator you came to see the big
names, and the big names didn’t disappoint.
Flying was tight and spectacular.
Jason Shulman eked out an early lead
with flights that bordered on perfection.
However, his performances weren’t
problem-free. At one time an ignition pack
failed just before his flight, and he quickly
borrowed Bill Hempel’s 3W Extra 300S.
Later, Jason crashed his model during the
Freestyle on Saturday and had to finish the
remaining rounds with Bill’s airplane. He
still managed to squeak out the Unlimited
win, and his performance with a borrowed
aircraft was astounding.
At one point during the contest we were
privileged to witness one of the most
incredible saves in model-aviation history.
One of the less-experienced Sportsman
pilots, flying a 40% aircraft, had a flameout
while in a slow and low position. The pilot
froze and the model was headed for certain
destruction.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. saw
the incident from across the field and
sprinted to the pilot station, hurdling a fence
in the process. He wrestled the transmitter
from the perplexed pilot and maneuvered the
airplane just in time to set it down without
damage. It was one of the most amazing
feats I’ve ever seen, and a great deal of
gratitude should go to Mark for quick
thinking and fast action.
Despite the photos and the hype, the
competition at the 2003 TAS was not about
who could Torque Roll (TR) his or her
model the closest to the ground! The TR has
become an almost compulsory maneuver in
Freestyle competitions across the country,
but routines have become so sophisticated
and complex that TRs alone will never again
be enough to garner a win. The photos of the
Freestyle are impressive, and the Freestyle is
without a doubt the most fun to watch, but
the TAS was really about precision Scale
Aerobatics.
Flown according to AMA and IMAC
guidelines, Freestyle is a separate and
optional category. Let’s be realistic; most of
the pilots did not elect to fly in the Freestyle.
To be competitive in that event, you have to
be able to fly at the top of the sport, so most
Freestyle pilots came from the Unlimited
ranks, only one pilot came from Advanced,
and none came from the lower classes. The
Freestyle event had 11 competitors.
Freestyle is going to grow in popularity
and will continue to be a major part of any
top-notch aerobatic event. This portion of
32 MODEL AVIATION
the contest was, as it should be, quite
impressive and as well executed as any
other Freestyle in the world. Chip Hyde
was the overall winner of the 2003 TAS
Freestyle.
I’m not here to take anything away
from Chip or from the judges’ perspective;
I wasn’t sitting in the chair scoring. But
I’d like to present a few awards that I felt
were appropriate from a spectator’s point
of view. The point is to help you get a feel
for the absolute wonder of the whole thing,
which is next to impossible without
witnessing it in person. All the pilots were
masters of 3-D, and getting the airplanes
extremely close to the ground was part of
the excitement. TRs are almost
compulsory and make great pictures, so
you’ll see many of them, but they were not
key to winning the event.
My award for the smoothest and most
precise routine goes, without question, to
Sean McMurtry. His TR was the lowest
and most controlled. The model didn’t
drift; it didn’t even wiggle. His High
Alpha Rolling Circle was flawless. In fact,
his whole routine was so precise that I
think it lulled the judges into a sense of
simplicity or ease, but, to the contrary, he
did the most difficult maneuvers possible
with choreography and grace that was
unmatched. And he did them with more
precision and control than anybody in the
contest.
The biggest-adrenalin-rush award goes
to Mark Leseberg Jr., with his high-speed
routine capped off by a long series of
extremely high-roll-rate High Alpha
Rolling Circles. How he managed to move
that craft around with any control at that
rate of roll was beyond comprehension!
Mark showed a great deal of talent in the
Freestyle and the precision portions of the
contest, and he placed well (second in
Freestyle and fourth in precision) against
some of the top pilots in the world.
The award for pure air-show panache
and excitement goes to Billy Hempel. His
huge Scale 52% Pitts Challenger was the
aircraft highlight of the event. As usual,
Bill flew the Pitts with abandon—but not
reckless abandon. His routine was second
only to Sean McMurtry’s in precision and
control—but he did it at warp speed! Even
though his schedule had little new, it had
been polished to a new luster. Watching
that stubby scale Challenger skillfully blast
through a complex aerobatic and 3-D
combination was awesome.
The award for originality goes to Fabio
Trento. After his Freestyle, Mike Stokes of
Futaba looked over to me and said, “He’s
just raised the bar in Freestyle
competition.” Fabio performed a series of
high-alpha descending “S” figures that
took my breath away. And what has come
to be his signature style—his inverted
high-alpha routine—was magic.
In addition to his first place in
Unlimited, Jason Shulman was my top
pick for a good-sportsmanship award. He
had something to prove after his crash at
the 2002 TOC, but his bad luck held out
and he crashed again during his second
Freestyle at the TAS. Because of the crash,
Jason had no model to fly for the final
Sunday Freestyle. With a smile on his
face, he borrowed a 30-inch foam electricpowered
profile biplane and flew it to
music for his last Freestyle routine in full
3-D glory—not for points but just for
show. The crowd loved it!
For many of us who are entrenched up to
our eyeballs in this sport, originality has to
be one of the biggest differentiators when it
comes to the Freestyle event. In the last
several years, top-name pilots such as
Quique Somenzini and Christophe Paysant-
Le Roux would amaze us with new and
evermore exciting sequences or figures, and
each year the new figures would be the talk
of the event.
I remember reading about the 1994 TOC,
when Quique performed the first-ever
Elevator: a fairly basic maneuver for us
now. But at the time the crowd was agog.
How could it be possible? What magic was
he using? It took several seasons before 3-D
really started to catch on and people
understood how to perform these
maneuvers. Originality is the cornerstone of
excitement and progress in Aerobatics.
It was disappointing that most of the topranked
Freestyle pilots did not have new
routines for the TAS. Some had the same
routines they’ve used for years, and others
used portions of their old routines with the
same music. There might have been a
different music cut here or there and a
different figure wedged in, but generally
none of the top contenders came up with
anything new. I know that producing a new
Freestyle is tough, but when the pilots use
old routines, it’s almost like saying that this
event isn’t important enough to put in the
effort.
The 2003 TAS was a big success.
Everybody down to the last-place finishers
went home with substantial prizes. At least
12 Desert Aircraft engines and several large
aircraft were given out. The top three
finishers in Unlimited and Freestyle went
home with cash.
It’s pretty exciting to fly in a contest side
by side with some of the top pilots in the
world and pit your skill against the best in
your class. The TAS is likely to become an
annual event, so if you feel you’re up to it or
you just want to see the top pilots fly, make
plans now to attend in 2004. MA
Mike Hurley
11542 Decatur Ct.
Westminster CO 80234
[email protected]
2003 TAS sponsors:
Advanced Ceramics Research
Aerotech R/C Models
Aeroworks
AirWild
BME engines
Cactus Aviation Models
Carden Aircraft
Competition Hobbies
Desert Aircraft
Exclusiv-Modellbau
Extreme Graphics
Futaba
Hobbico
HobbyTown USA
Hobby Barn
HobbyTown of Tucson
Horizon Hobby
JR
MTW-Schalldampfer
PBG Composites
PowerfLite
RC Showcase
Smart-Fly
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/05
Page Numbers: 24,25,26,27,28,30,32
by Mike Hurley
24 MODEL AVIATION
Unlimited winners (L-R): Jason Shulman received a $3,979 cash
prize for first place, Frazer Briggs hauled in $1,703 for third, and
Chip Hyde garnered $2,271 for second. Chip was the overall money
earner, with an additional $3,407 for his Freestyle win.
NOW THAT THE Tournament of Champions (TOC) is history,
where will we go to find top-level flying events with top-name
competitors? If the people who put the Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout (TAS) together have anything to say about it, we’ll all
head to the heart of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, to
see the top names fly. And the best pilots in the world will duke it
out to claim today’s and future top honors.
With the passing of the TOC, the TAS may be taking its place
as the RC contest with the world’s largest cash and prize purse:
more than $50,000. That doesn’t mean it has the prestige of the
TOC—yet. But with that kind of booty on the line, you can bet
that the best of the best were drawn out of their respective hiding
places October 2-5 to vie for the loot! In every class from
Sportsman to Unlimited, the flying was top-notch. Frankly, some
of the Intermediate pilots who competed in the TAS would
probably do well flying in Unlimited at most local contests.
The TAS was run as a four-day International Miniature
Aerobatic Club (IMAC) contest ruled by AMA and IMAC
guidelines and procedures. The level of talent and competency
among the contest staff and the pilots made it one of the most
prestigious IMAC events in the US.
The TAS was open to any AMA member flying in any class
except Basic. A total of 60 pilots entered. Sign-up for the contest
was opened just 30 days before the event and was limited to 15
Ivan Kristensen (16-time TOC competitor) puts on a graceful
Freestyle routine with his 40% Carden CAP 232. His Knife
Edge Climbing Spiral Cone maneuver with smoke was one
of the most original figures of the contest.
May 2004 25
New Zealand IMAC and F3A champion Frazer Briggs creates a cloud of dust as he hovers his own-design composite Extra 260.
Sean McMurtry had one of the most precise and controlled Freestyle
routines of the contest with his 37% Aeroworks 300L.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a one-of-a-kind
prototype 40% Godfrey Extra 300L. He is quickly making
a name for himself as one of the top fliers in the US.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Bill Hempel starts the engine in his 52% Exclusiv-Modellbau Pitts Challenger for his
Freestyle flight. It has a 3W 206cc four-cylinder engine and weighs 53 pounds. Right: Bill
put on one of the most exciting routines of the show.
Talented Jeff Szueber Jr. flew his Stan’s Fiber Tech compositefuselage
Katana in Unlimited and Freestyle.
At this contest Jason Shulman (L) and Bill Hempel demonstrated
the type of sportsmanship for which IMAC is known.
Kolby Kuipers, who is 15 years old, was the only Advanced pilot
to perform in the Freestyle category at this contest.
May 2004 27
competitors each in Sportsman,
Intermediate, and Advanced and 20 in
Unlimited. The roster filled up quickly, but
several pilots had to drop out for one reason
or another, and the total number competing
settled at 43.
This contest’s director and supporters
were extremely serious about the quality of
the event. They made sure that an
experienced, competent individual handled
each specific task. Judges included some
well-known names in IMAC and
International Aerobatic Club (IAC) fullscale
aerobatics, and they came from as far
away as Germany to work at the event. Even
the line bosses were experienced and also
came from the IAC ranks.
There were two flightlines running at all
times, and the line of pilots was directed in
such a way that as soon as one finished a
routine and called “Out of the box,” the next
pilot was already in the air and ready to
enter the box to start the routine. The classes
moved quickly in this fashion. There were
three judges for each line, helping to
validate the scores. Most were there for the
sole purpose of judging at the event, with an
occasional contestant judge put to use.
Bob Sadler, “The Mouth from the
South,” came from South Carolina to emcee
the contest and kept spectators informed and
interested. The event was highlighted
locally on television and in the newspapers,
and a large group of spectators made it out
to watch on Saturday and Sunday. More
than 500 flights were flown, judged, and
tallied during the four days.
This was one of the safest, most well-run
events I’ve been to, ranking up there with
the TOC and the Don Lowe Masters. What
differentiates this contest from those two is
that it is an IMAC event and is open to the
lower classes.
Of course, that didn’t stop the big names
from attending, and it didn’t stop pilots from
around the globe from making the trip.
Frazer Briggs of New Zealand, Fabio Trento
of Brazil, and Ivan Kristensen of Canada
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout Results
Place Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Freestyle
1. Tony Quist Adam Bry Matthew Szueber Jason Shulman Chip Hyde
2. Brad Hooper Leonard Rulason Jeremy McKenna Chip Hyde Mark Leseberg Jr.
3. Dean Bird Andy Busutil Bill Adams Frazer Briggs Bill Hempel
4. Bill Ritchey Tony Holden Chris Boice Mark Leseberg Jr. Fabio Trento
28 MODEL AVIATION
Bob Sadler made the trip from
South Carolina to emcee the
contest and provide color
commentary for the crowds.
Left: Art Cloutier holds his 40-size
Extra 300 he used after he lost his
33% Aeroworks Extra. In front is
David Searles’ CA Yak-55—one of
the largest models in the contest.
CD Michael Marcellin (right) led a team of
experienced volunteers in putting on a successful
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout.
Right: Chip Hyde flew a 40% PL Products Extra 300
with a DA-150 and tuned pipes. In foreground is
Jason Shulman’s CA Extra.
CM
Charlene Moss
It’s rare for a competition of this caliber to attract a
woman pilot. Charlene Moss of the Tucson area has been
flying RC for more than two years. The Shootout was her
first IMAC contest.
Charlene flies a Great Planes Extra 300S ARF with a
Desert Aircraft DA-50 engine and a Futaba radio. She lost
her airplane on the first day and borrowed a similar model
from Dan Alley to finish the contest.
Charlene got interested in RC through her
participation in full-scale aerobatics. She had
attended and helped scribe a few full-scale
contests and was surprised that there were as many
women as men competing in full-scale IAC. She
has a competitive nature, having previously raced
cars and motorcycles. So she checked out RC
Aerobatics and was surprised to find so few/no women
pilots!
She enjoys the focus and intensity of the
competition and really likes the Unknowns.
Charlene did great for her first contest, and I know
she’ll be back. MA
—Mike Hurley
30 MODEL AVIATION
made it out to participate in the Tucson
Shootout, and the local big names were there
too. Chip Hyde, Bill Hempel, Sean
McMurtry, and Jason Shulman were present
to show the rest of us how it’s done.
The flying site in Tucson is located well
outside of town in the Saguaro National
Park. Sand, gigantic cactus, and scorpions
are the backdrop for a beautiful modelaircraft
venue called TIMPA: the Tucson
International Modelplex Park Association.
The weather was hot most days, with wind
picking up in the afternoon. An occasional
minitornado visited the flying site, sending
pilots and helpers scurrying to grab models
and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.
You could see these dust devils coming
from far away as a large plume of dirt and
debris raced across the desert.
Friday the wind was stronger than usual,
and many pilots had difficulty landing. With
a steady 25 mph crosswind, it became
standard practice to land cross-runway off to
each side of the pilot stations. At one point
Contest Director Michael Marcellin stopped
the contest to vote on whether to continue
flying for the day, and the pilots in each
class bravely voted to continue. A few
mishaps put at least a couple of pilots out of
the contest. Art Cloutier, flying in
Advanced, lost the landing gear on his 33%
Aeroworks Extra 330L, so he decided to
finish the contest flying a 40-size, 56-inchwingspan
Great Planes Extra 300.
If you are unfamiliar with IMAC, a
standard set of figures flown in each class
make up the sequence for the year. This is
called the “Known” sequence. In each
contest there is also a surprise sequence
made up of figures applicable to that class.
Pilots are not allowed to practice the
sequence or even see the aresti diagram
(maneuvers) until the night before they are
to be flown. This sequence is called the
“Unknown.”
Each class flew three Known rounds on
Thursday. Friday morning each class flew
the Unknown and two rounds of Known.
Saturday was limited to one Unknown and
one Known round, and the four-minute
Freestyle was flown at midday when the
largest gathering of spectators was expected.
Sunday the ranks were cut to the top four
places in Sportsman, Intermediate, and
Advanced and the top 12 pilots in
Unlimited. One Known and one Unknown
sequence were flown, and two rounds of
Freestyle capped off the event. In all, 12
Unknown rounds were flown in this contest.
It was clear from the beginning that this
was not your ordinary local IMAC contest.
Everybody down to the last Sportsman pilot
was a contender and would most likely
podium at the local field event. In
Intermediate, 2003 Nationals champion
Adam Bry also prevailed in Tucson to take
home top honors.
I came with my friend Erik Richard, who
flew in the Advanced class with the Project
Extra aircraft that we built for a construction
article that MA featured in the January to
June 2003 issues. Erik usually wins at local
contests, but he had a case of nerves out of
the gate Thursday and Friday that put him at
the back of the pack. Saturday he made up a
ton of ground, moving up four places.
Unfortunately that was not enough to put
him among the finalists for Sunday, but it
was a good showing for the AMA project
airplane. Way to go, Erik!
For most of us, the real story was the topranked
pilots flying in Unlimited. If you
came as a spectator you came to see the big
names, and the big names didn’t disappoint.
Flying was tight and spectacular.
Jason Shulman eked out an early lead
with flights that bordered on perfection.
However, his performances weren’t
problem-free. At one time an ignition pack
failed just before his flight, and he quickly
borrowed Bill Hempel’s 3W Extra 300S.
Later, Jason crashed his model during the
Freestyle on Saturday and had to finish the
remaining rounds with Bill’s airplane. He
still managed to squeak out the Unlimited
win, and his performance with a borrowed
aircraft was astounding.
At one point during the contest we were
privileged to witness one of the most
incredible saves in model-aviation history.
One of the less-experienced Sportsman
pilots, flying a 40% aircraft, had a flameout
while in a slow and low position. The pilot
froze and the model was headed for certain
destruction.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. saw
the incident from across the field and
sprinted to the pilot station, hurdling a fence
in the process. He wrestled the transmitter
from the perplexed pilot and maneuvered the
airplane just in time to set it down without
damage. It was one of the most amazing
feats I’ve ever seen, and a great deal of
gratitude should go to Mark for quick
thinking and fast action.
Despite the photos and the hype, the
competition at the 2003 TAS was not about
who could Torque Roll (TR) his or her
model the closest to the ground! The TR has
become an almost compulsory maneuver in
Freestyle competitions across the country,
but routines have become so sophisticated
and complex that TRs alone will never again
be enough to garner a win. The photos of the
Freestyle are impressive, and the Freestyle is
without a doubt the most fun to watch, but
the TAS was really about precision Scale
Aerobatics.
Flown according to AMA and IMAC
guidelines, Freestyle is a separate and
optional category. Let’s be realistic; most of
the pilots did not elect to fly in the Freestyle.
To be competitive in that event, you have to
be able to fly at the top of the sport, so most
Freestyle pilots came from the Unlimited
ranks, only one pilot came from Advanced,
and none came from the lower classes. The
Freestyle event had 11 competitors.
Freestyle is going to grow in popularity
and will continue to be a major part of any
top-notch aerobatic event. This portion of
32 MODEL AVIATION
the contest was, as it should be, quite
impressive and as well executed as any
other Freestyle in the world. Chip Hyde
was the overall winner of the 2003 TAS
Freestyle.
I’m not here to take anything away
from Chip or from the judges’ perspective;
I wasn’t sitting in the chair scoring. But
I’d like to present a few awards that I felt
were appropriate from a spectator’s point
of view. The point is to help you get a feel
for the absolute wonder of the whole thing,
which is next to impossible without
witnessing it in person. All the pilots were
masters of 3-D, and getting the airplanes
extremely close to the ground was part of
the excitement. TRs are almost
compulsory and make great pictures, so
you’ll see many of them, but they were not
key to winning the event.
My award for the smoothest and most
precise routine goes, without question, to
Sean McMurtry. His TR was the lowest
and most controlled. The model didn’t
drift; it didn’t even wiggle. His High
Alpha Rolling Circle was flawless. In fact,
his whole routine was so precise that I
think it lulled the judges into a sense of
simplicity or ease, but, to the contrary, he
did the most difficult maneuvers possible
with choreography and grace that was
unmatched. And he did them with more
precision and control than anybody in the
contest.
The biggest-adrenalin-rush award goes
to Mark Leseberg Jr., with his high-speed
routine capped off by a long series of
extremely high-roll-rate High Alpha
Rolling Circles. How he managed to move
that craft around with any control at that
rate of roll was beyond comprehension!
Mark showed a great deal of talent in the
Freestyle and the precision portions of the
contest, and he placed well (second in
Freestyle and fourth in precision) against
some of the top pilots in the world.
The award for pure air-show panache
and excitement goes to Billy Hempel. His
huge Scale 52% Pitts Challenger was the
aircraft highlight of the event. As usual,
Bill flew the Pitts with abandon—but not
reckless abandon. His routine was second
only to Sean McMurtry’s in precision and
control—but he did it at warp speed! Even
though his schedule had little new, it had
been polished to a new luster. Watching
that stubby scale Challenger skillfully blast
through a complex aerobatic and 3-D
combination was awesome.
The award for originality goes to Fabio
Trento. After his Freestyle, Mike Stokes of
Futaba looked over to me and said, “He’s
just raised the bar in Freestyle
competition.” Fabio performed a series of
high-alpha descending “S” figures that
took my breath away. And what has come
to be his signature style—his inverted
high-alpha routine—was magic.
In addition to his first place in
Unlimited, Jason Shulman was my top
pick for a good-sportsmanship award. He
had something to prove after his crash at
the 2002 TOC, but his bad luck held out
and he crashed again during his second
Freestyle at the TAS. Because of the crash,
Jason had no model to fly for the final
Sunday Freestyle. With a smile on his
face, he borrowed a 30-inch foam electricpowered
profile biplane and flew it to
music for his last Freestyle routine in full
3-D glory—not for points but just for
show. The crowd loved it!
For many of us who are entrenched up to
our eyeballs in this sport, originality has to
be one of the biggest differentiators when it
comes to the Freestyle event. In the last
several years, top-name pilots such as
Quique Somenzini and Christophe Paysant-
Le Roux would amaze us with new and
evermore exciting sequences or figures, and
each year the new figures would be the talk
of the event.
I remember reading about the 1994 TOC,
when Quique performed the first-ever
Elevator: a fairly basic maneuver for us
now. But at the time the crowd was agog.
How could it be possible? What magic was
he using? It took several seasons before 3-D
really started to catch on and people
understood how to perform these
maneuvers. Originality is the cornerstone of
excitement and progress in Aerobatics.
It was disappointing that most of the topranked
Freestyle pilots did not have new
routines for the TAS. Some had the same
routines they’ve used for years, and others
used portions of their old routines with the
same music. There might have been a
different music cut here or there and a
different figure wedged in, but generally
none of the top contenders came up with
anything new. I know that producing a new
Freestyle is tough, but when the pilots use
old routines, it’s almost like saying that this
event isn’t important enough to put in the
effort.
The 2003 TAS was a big success.
Everybody down to the last-place finishers
went home with substantial prizes. At least
12 Desert Aircraft engines and several large
aircraft were given out. The top three
finishers in Unlimited and Freestyle went
home with cash.
It’s pretty exciting to fly in a contest side
by side with some of the top pilots in the
world and pit your skill against the best in
your class. The TAS is likely to become an
annual event, so if you feel you’re up to it or
you just want to see the top pilots fly, make
plans now to attend in 2004. MA
Mike Hurley
11542 Decatur Ct.
Westminster CO 80234
[email protected]
2003 TAS sponsors:
Advanced Ceramics Research
Aerotech R/C Models
Aeroworks
AirWild
BME engines
Cactus Aviation Models
Carden Aircraft
Competition Hobbies
Desert Aircraft
Exclusiv-Modellbau
Extreme Graphics
Futaba
Hobbico
HobbyTown USA
Hobby Barn
HobbyTown of Tucson
Horizon Hobby
JR
MTW-Schalldampfer
PBG Composites
PowerfLite
RC Showcase
Smart-Fly
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/05
Page Numbers: 24,25,26,27,28,30,32
by Mike Hurley
24 MODEL AVIATION
Unlimited winners (L-R): Jason Shulman received a $3,979 cash
prize for first place, Frazer Briggs hauled in $1,703 for third, and
Chip Hyde garnered $2,271 for second. Chip was the overall money
earner, with an additional $3,407 for his Freestyle win.
NOW THAT THE Tournament of Champions (TOC) is history,
where will we go to find top-level flying events with top-name
competitors? If the people who put the Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout (TAS) together have anything to say about it, we’ll all
head to the heart of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, to
see the top names fly. And the best pilots in the world will duke it
out to claim today’s and future top honors.
With the passing of the TOC, the TAS may be taking its place
as the RC contest with the world’s largest cash and prize purse:
more than $50,000. That doesn’t mean it has the prestige of the
TOC—yet. But with that kind of booty on the line, you can bet
that the best of the best were drawn out of their respective hiding
places October 2-5 to vie for the loot! In every class from
Sportsman to Unlimited, the flying was top-notch. Frankly, some
of the Intermediate pilots who competed in the TAS would
probably do well flying in Unlimited at most local contests.
The TAS was run as a four-day International Miniature
Aerobatic Club (IMAC) contest ruled by AMA and IMAC
guidelines and procedures. The level of talent and competency
among the contest staff and the pilots made it one of the most
prestigious IMAC events in the US.
The TAS was open to any AMA member flying in any class
except Basic. A total of 60 pilots entered. Sign-up for the contest
was opened just 30 days before the event and was limited to 15
Ivan Kristensen (16-time TOC competitor) puts on a graceful
Freestyle routine with his 40% Carden CAP 232. His Knife
Edge Climbing Spiral Cone maneuver with smoke was one
of the most original figures of the contest.
May 2004 25
New Zealand IMAC and F3A champion Frazer Briggs creates a cloud of dust as he hovers his own-design composite Extra 260.
Sean McMurtry had one of the most precise and controlled Freestyle
routines of the contest with his 37% Aeroworks 300L.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a one-of-a-kind
prototype 40% Godfrey Extra 300L. He is quickly making
a name for himself as one of the top fliers in the US.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Bill Hempel starts the engine in his 52% Exclusiv-Modellbau Pitts Challenger for his
Freestyle flight. It has a 3W 206cc four-cylinder engine and weighs 53 pounds. Right: Bill
put on one of the most exciting routines of the show.
Talented Jeff Szueber Jr. flew his Stan’s Fiber Tech compositefuselage
Katana in Unlimited and Freestyle.
At this contest Jason Shulman (L) and Bill Hempel demonstrated
the type of sportsmanship for which IMAC is known.
Kolby Kuipers, who is 15 years old, was the only Advanced pilot
to perform in the Freestyle category at this contest.
May 2004 27
competitors each in Sportsman,
Intermediate, and Advanced and 20 in
Unlimited. The roster filled up quickly, but
several pilots had to drop out for one reason
or another, and the total number competing
settled at 43.
This contest’s director and supporters
were extremely serious about the quality of
the event. They made sure that an
experienced, competent individual handled
each specific task. Judges included some
well-known names in IMAC and
International Aerobatic Club (IAC) fullscale
aerobatics, and they came from as far
away as Germany to work at the event. Even
the line bosses were experienced and also
came from the IAC ranks.
There were two flightlines running at all
times, and the line of pilots was directed in
such a way that as soon as one finished a
routine and called “Out of the box,” the next
pilot was already in the air and ready to
enter the box to start the routine. The classes
moved quickly in this fashion. There were
three judges for each line, helping to
validate the scores. Most were there for the
sole purpose of judging at the event, with an
occasional contestant judge put to use.
Bob Sadler, “The Mouth from the
South,” came from South Carolina to emcee
the contest and kept spectators informed and
interested. The event was highlighted
locally on television and in the newspapers,
and a large group of spectators made it out
to watch on Saturday and Sunday. More
than 500 flights were flown, judged, and
tallied during the four days.
This was one of the safest, most well-run
events I’ve been to, ranking up there with
the TOC and the Don Lowe Masters. What
differentiates this contest from those two is
that it is an IMAC event and is open to the
lower classes.
Of course, that didn’t stop the big names
from attending, and it didn’t stop pilots from
around the globe from making the trip.
Frazer Briggs of New Zealand, Fabio Trento
of Brazil, and Ivan Kristensen of Canada
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout Results
Place Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Freestyle
1. Tony Quist Adam Bry Matthew Szueber Jason Shulman Chip Hyde
2. Brad Hooper Leonard Rulason Jeremy McKenna Chip Hyde Mark Leseberg Jr.
3. Dean Bird Andy Busutil Bill Adams Frazer Briggs Bill Hempel
4. Bill Ritchey Tony Holden Chris Boice Mark Leseberg Jr. Fabio Trento
28 MODEL AVIATION
Bob Sadler made the trip from
South Carolina to emcee the
contest and provide color
commentary for the crowds.
Left: Art Cloutier holds his 40-size
Extra 300 he used after he lost his
33% Aeroworks Extra. In front is
David Searles’ CA Yak-55—one of
the largest models in the contest.
CD Michael Marcellin (right) led a team of
experienced volunteers in putting on a successful
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout.
Right: Chip Hyde flew a 40% PL Products Extra 300
with a DA-150 and tuned pipes. In foreground is
Jason Shulman’s CA Extra.
CM
Charlene Moss
It’s rare for a competition of this caliber to attract a
woman pilot. Charlene Moss of the Tucson area has been
flying RC for more than two years. The Shootout was her
first IMAC contest.
Charlene flies a Great Planes Extra 300S ARF with a
Desert Aircraft DA-50 engine and a Futaba radio. She lost
her airplane on the first day and borrowed a similar model
from Dan Alley to finish the contest.
Charlene got interested in RC through her
participation in full-scale aerobatics. She had
attended and helped scribe a few full-scale
contests and was surprised that there were as many
women as men competing in full-scale IAC. She
has a competitive nature, having previously raced
cars and motorcycles. So she checked out RC
Aerobatics and was surprised to find so few/no women
pilots!
She enjoys the focus and intensity of the
competition and really likes the Unknowns.
Charlene did great for her first contest, and I know
she’ll be back. MA
—Mike Hurley
30 MODEL AVIATION
made it out to participate in the Tucson
Shootout, and the local big names were there
too. Chip Hyde, Bill Hempel, Sean
McMurtry, and Jason Shulman were present
to show the rest of us how it’s done.
The flying site in Tucson is located well
outside of town in the Saguaro National
Park. Sand, gigantic cactus, and scorpions
are the backdrop for a beautiful modelaircraft
venue called TIMPA: the Tucson
International Modelplex Park Association.
The weather was hot most days, with wind
picking up in the afternoon. An occasional
minitornado visited the flying site, sending
pilots and helpers scurrying to grab models
and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.
You could see these dust devils coming
from far away as a large plume of dirt and
debris raced across the desert.
Friday the wind was stronger than usual,
and many pilots had difficulty landing. With
a steady 25 mph crosswind, it became
standard practice to land cross-runway off to
each side of the pilot stations. At one point
Contest Director Michael Marcellin stopped
the contest to vote on whether to continue
flying for the day, and the pilots in each
class bravely voted to continue. A few
mishaps put at least a couple of pilots out of
the contest. Art Cloutier, flying in
Advanced, lost the landing gear on his 33%
Aeroworks Extra 330L, so he decided to
finish the contest flying a 40-size, 56-inchwingspan
Great Planes Extra 300.
If you are unfamiliar with IMAC, a
standard set of figures flown in each class
make up the sequence for the year. This is
called the “Known” sequence. In each
contest there is also a surprise sequence
made up of figures applicable to that class.
Pilots are not allowed to practice the
sequence or even see the aresti diagram
(maneuvers) until the night before they are
to be flown. This sequence is called the
“Unknown.”
Each class flew three Known rounds on
Thursday. Friday morning each class flew
the Unknown and two rounds of Known.
Saturday was limited to one Unknown and
one Known round, and the four-minute
Freestyle was flown at midday when the
largest gathering of spectators was expected.
Sunday the ranks were cut to the top four
places in Sportsman, Intermediate, and
Advanced and the top 12 pilots in
Unlimited. One Known and one Unknown
sequence were flown, and two rounds of
Freestyle capped off the event. In all, 12
Unknown rounds were flown in this contest.
It was clear from the beginning that this
was not your ordinary local IMAC contest.
Everybody down to the last Sportsman pilot
was a contender and would most likely
podium at the local field event. In
Intermediate, 2003 Nationals champion
Adam Bry also prevailed in Tucson to take
home top honors.
I came with my friend Erik Richard, who
flew in the Advanced class with the Project
Extra aircraft that we built for a construction
article that MA featured in the January to
June 2003 issues. Erik usually wins at local
contests, but he had a case of nerves out of
the gate Thursday and Friday that put him at
the back of the pack. Saturday he made up a
ton of ground, moving up four places.
Unfortunately that was not enough to put
him among the finalists for Sunday, but it
was a good showing for the AMA project
airplane. Way to go, Erik!
For most of us, the real story was the topranked
pilots flying in Unlimited. If you
came as a spectator you came to see the big
names, and the big names didn’t disappoint.
Flying was tight and spectacular.
Jason Shulman eked out an early lead
with flights that bordered on perfection.
However, his performances weren’t
problem-free. At one time an ignition pack
failed just before his flight, and he quickly
borrowed Bill Hempel’s 3W Extra 300S.
Later, Jason crashed his model during the
Freestyle on Saturday and had to finish the
remaining rounds with Bill’s airplane. He
still managed to squeak out the Unlimited
win, and his performance with a borrowed
aircraft was astounding.
At one point during the contest we were
privileged to witness one of the most
incredible saves in model-aviation history.
One of the less-experienced Sportsman
pilots, flying a 40% aircraft, had a flameout
while in a slow and low position. The pilot
froze and the model was headed for certain
destruction.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. saw
the incident from across the field and
sprinted to the pilot station, hurdling a fence
in the process. He wrestled the transmitter
from the perplexed pilot and maneuvered the
airplane just in time to set it down without
damage. It was one of the most amazing
feats I’ve ever seen, and a great deal of
gratitude should go to Mark for quick
thinking and fast action.
Despite the photos and the hype, the
competition at the 2003 TAS was not about
who could Torque Roll (TR) his or her
model the closest to the ground! The TR has
become an almost compulsory maneuver in
Freestyle competitions across the country,
but routines have become so sophisticated
and complex that TRs alone will never again
be enough to garner a win. The photos of the
Freestyle are impressive, and the Freestyle is
without a doubt the most fun to watch, but
the TAS was really about precision Scale
Aerobatics.
Flown according to AMA and IMAC
guidelines, Freestyle is a separate and
optional category. Let’s be realistic; most of
the pilots did not elect to fly in the Freestyle.
To be competitive in that event, you have to
be able to fly at the top of the sport, so most
Freestyle pilots came from the Unlimited
ranks, only one pilot came from Advanced,
and none came from the lower classes. The
Freestyle event had 11 competitors.
Freestyle is going to grow in popularity
and will continue to be a major part of any
top-notch aerobatic event. This portion of
32 MODEL AVIATION
the contest was, as it should be, quite
impressive and as well executed as any
other Freestyle in the world. Chip Hyde
was the overall winner of the 2003 TAS
Freestyle.
I’m not here to take anything away
from Chip or from the judges’ perspective;
I wasn’t sitting in the chair scoring. But
I’d like to present a few awards that I felt
were appropriate from a spectator’s point
of view. The point is to help you get a feel
for the absolute wonder of the whole thing,
which is next to impossible without
witnessing it in person. All the pilots were
masters of 3-D, and getting the airplanes
extremely close to the ground was part of
the excitement. TRs are almost
compulsory and make great pictures, so
you’ll see many of them, but they were not
key to winning the event.
My award for the smoothest and most
precise routine goes, without question, to
Sean McMurtry. His TR was the lowest
and most controlled. The model didn’t
drift; it didn’t even wiggle. His High
Alpha Rolling Circle was flawless. In fact,
his whole routine was so precise that I
think it lulled the judges into a sense of
simplicity or ease, but, to the contrary, he
did the most difficult maneuvers possible
with choreography and grace that was
unmatched. And he did them with more
precision and control than anybody in the
contest.
The biggest-adrenalin-rush award goes
to Mark Leseberg Jr., with his high-speed
routine capped off by a long series of
extremely high-roll-rate High Alpha
Rolling Circles. How he managed to move
that craft around with any control at that
rate of roll was beyond comprehension!
Mark showed a great deal of talent in the
Freestyle and the precision portions of the
contest, and he placed well (second in
Freestyle and fourth in precision) against
some of the top pilots in the world.
The award for pure air-show panache
and excitement goes to Billy Hempel. His
huge Scale 52% Pitts Challenger was the
aircraft highlight of the event. As usual,
Bill flew the Pitts with abandon—but not
reckless abandon. His routine was second
only to Sean McMurtry’s in precision and
control—but he did it at warp speed! Even
though his schedule had little new, it had
been polished to a new luster. Watching
that stubby scale Challenger skillfully blast
through a complex aerobatic and 3-D
combination was awesome.
The award for originality goes to Fabio
Trento. After his Freestyle, Mike Stokes of
Futaba looked over to me and said, “He’s
just raised the bar in Freestyle
competition.” Fabio performed a series of
high-alpha descending “S” figures that
took my breath away. And what has come
to be his signature style—his inverted
high-alpha routine—was magic.
In addition to his first place in
Unlimited, Jason Shulman was my top
pick for a good-sportsmanship award. He
had something to prove after his crash at
the 2002 TOC, but his bad luck held out
and he crashed again during his second
Freestyle at the TAS. Because of the crash,
Jason had no model to fly for the final
Sunday Freestyle. With a smile on his
face, he borrowed a 30-inch foam electricpowered
profile biplane and flew it to
music for his last Freestyle routine in full
3-D glory—not for points but just for
show. The crowd loved it!
For many of us who are entrenched up to
our eyeballs in this sport, originality has to
be one of the biggest differentiators when it
comes to the Freestyle event. In the last
several years, top-name pilots such as
Quique Somenzini and Christophe Paysant-
Le Roux would amaze us with new and
evermore exciting sequences or figures, and
each year the new figures would be the talk
of the event.
I remember reading about the 1994 TOC,
when Quique performed the first-ever
Elevator: a fairly basic maneuver for us
now. But at the time the crowd was agog.
How could it be possible? What magic was
he using? It took several seasons before 3-D
really started to catch on and people
understood how to perform these
maneuvers. Originality is the cornerstone of
excitement and progress in Aerobatics.
It was disappointing that most of the topranked
Freestyle pilots did not have new
routines for the TAS. Some had the same
routines they’ve used for years, and others
used portions of their old routines with the
same music. There might have been a
different music cut here or there and a
different figure wedged in, but generally
none of the top contenders came up with
anything new. I know that producing a new
Freestyle is tough, but when the pilots use
old routines, it’s almost like saying that this
event isn’t important enough to put in the
effort.
The 2003 TAS was a big success.
Everybody down to the last-place finishers
went home with substantial prizes. At least
12 Desert Aircraft engines and several large
aircraft were given out. The top three
finishers in Unlimited and Freestyle went
home with cash.
It’s pretty exciting to fly in a contest side
by side with some of the top pilots in the
world and pit your skill against the best in
your class. The TAS is likely to become an
annual event, so if you feel you’re up to it or
you just want to see the top pilots fly, make
plans now to attend in 2004. MA
Mike Hurley
11542 Decatur Ct.
Westminster CO 80234
[email protected]
2003 TAS sponsors:
Advanced Ceramics Research
Aerotech R/C Models
Aeroworks
AirWild
BME engines
Cactus Aviation Models
Carden Aircraft
Competition Hobbies
Desert Aircraft
Exclusiv-Modellbau
Extreme Graphics
Futaba
Hobbico
HobbyTown USA
Hobby Barn
HobbyTown of Tucson
Horizon Hobby
JR
MTW-Schalldampfer
PBG Composites
PowerfLite
RC Showcase
Smart-Fly
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/05
Page Numbers: 24,25,26,27,28,30,32
by Mike Hurley
24 MODEL AVIATION
Unlimited winners (L-R): Jason Shulman received a $3,979 cash
prize for first place, Frazer Briggs hauled in $1,703 for third, and
Chip Hyde garnered $2,271 for second. Chip was the overall money
earner, with an additional $3,407 for his Freestyle win.
NOW THAT THE Tournament of Champions (TOC) is history,
where will we go to find top-level flying events with top-name
competitors? If the people who put the Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout (TAS) together have anything to say about it, we’ll all
head to the heart of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, to
see the top names fly. And the best pilots in the world will duke it
out to claim today’s and future top honors.
With the passing of the TOC, the TAS may be taking its place
as the RC contest with the world’s largest cash and prize purse:
more than $50,000. That doesn’t mean it has the prestige of the
TOC—yet. But with that kind of booty on the line, you can bet
that the best of the best were drawn out of their respective hiding
places October 2-5 to vie for the loot! In every class from
Sportsman to Unlimited, the flying was top-notch. Frankly, some
of the Intermediate pilots who competed in the TAS would
probably do well flying in Unlimited at most local contests.
The TAS was run as a four-day International Miniature
Aerobatic Club (IMAC) contest ruled by AMA and IMAC
guidelines and procedures. The level of talent and competency
among the contest staff and the pilots made it one of the most
prestigious IMAC events in the US.
The TAS was open to any AMA member flying in any class
except Basic. A total of 60 pilots entered. Sign-up for the contest
was opened just 30 days before the event and was limited to 15
Ivan Kristensen (16-time TOC competitor) puts on a graceful
Freestyle routine with his 40% Carden CAP 232. His Knife
Edge Climbing Spiral Cone maneuver with smoke was one
of the most original figures of the contest.
May 2004 25
New Zealand IMAC and F3A champion Frazer Briggs creates a cloud of dust as he hovers his own-design composite Extra 260.
Sean McMurtry had one of the most precise and controlled Freestyle
routines of the contest with his 37% Aeroworks 300L.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a one-of-a-kind
prototype 40% Godfrey Extra 300L. He is quickly making
a name for himself as one of the top fliers in the US.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Bill Hempel starts the engine in his 52% Exclusiv-Modellbau Pitts Challenger for his
Freestyle flight. It has a 3W 206cc four-cylinder engine and weighs 53 pounds. Right: Bill
put on one of the most exciting routines of the show.
Talented Jeff Szueber Jr. flew his Stan’s Fiber Tech compositefuselage
Katana in Unlimited and Freestyle.
At this contest Jason Shulman (L) and Bill Hempel demonstrated
the type of sportsmanship for which IMAC is known.
Kolby Kuipers, who is 15 years old, was the only Advanced pilot
to perform in the Freestyle category at this contest.
May 2004 27
competitors each in Sportsman,
Intermediate, and Advanced and 20 in
Unlimited. The roster filled up quickly, but
several pilots had to drop out for one reason
or another, and the total number competing
settled at 43.
This contest’s director and supporters
were extremely serious about the quality of
the event. They made sure that an
experienced, competent individual handled
each specific task. Judges included some
well-known names in IMAC and
International Aerobatic Club (IAC) fullscale
aerobatics, and they came from as far
away as Germany to work at the event. Even
the line bosses were experienced and also
came from the IAC ranks.
There were two flightlines running at all
times, and the line of pilots was directed in
such a way that as soon as one finished a
routine and called “Out of the box,” the next
pilot was already in the air and ready to
enter the box to start the routine. The classes
moved quickly in this fashion. There were
three judges for each line, helping to
validate the scores. Most were there for the
sole purpose of judging at the event, with an
occasional contestant judge put to use.
Bob Sadler, “The Mouth from the
South,” came from South Carolina to emcee
the contest and kept spectators informed and
interested. The event was highlighted
locally on television and in the newspapers,
and a large group of spectators made it out
to watch on Saturday and Sunday. More
than 500 flights were flown, judged, and
tallied during the four days.
This was one of the safest, most well-run
events I’ve been to, ranking up there with
the TOC and the Don Lowe Masters. What
differentiates this contest from those two is
that it is an IMAC event and is open to the
lower classes.
Of course, that didn’t stop the big names
from attending, and it didn’t stop pilots from
around the globe from making the trip.
Frazer Briggs of New Zealand, Fabio Trento
of Brazil, and Ivan Kristensen of Canada
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout Results
Place Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Freestyle
1. Tony Quist Adam Bry Matthew Szueber Jason Shulman Chip Hyde
2. Brad Hooper Leonard Rulason Jeremy McKenna Chip Hyde Mark Leseberg Jr.
3. Dean Bird Andy Busutil Bill Adams Frazer Briggs Bill Hempel
4. Bill Ritchey Tony Holden Chris Boice Mark Leseberg Jr. Fabio Trento
28 MODEL AVIATION
Bob Sadler made the trip from
South Carolina to emcee the
contest and provide color
commentary for the crowds.
Left: Art Cloutier holds his 40-size
Extra 300 he used after he lost his
33% Aeroworks Extra. In front is
David Searles’ CA Yak-55—one of
the largest models in the contest.
CD Michael Marcellin (right) led a team of
experienced volunteers in putting on a successful
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout.
Right: Chip Hyde flew a 40% PL Products Extra 300
with a DA-150 and tuned pipes. In foreground is
Jason Shulman’s CA Extra.
CM
Charlene Moss
It’s rare for a competition of this caliber to attract a
woman pilot. Charlene Moss of the Tucson area has been
flying RC for more than two years. The Shootout was her
first IMAC contest.
Charlene flies a Great Planes Extra 300S ARF with a
Desert Aircraft DA-50 engine and a Futaba radio. She lost
her airplane on the first day and borrowed a similar model
from Dan Alley to finish the contest.
Charlene got interested in RC through her
participation in full-scale aerobatics. She had
attended and helped scribe a few full-scale
contests and was surprised that there were as many
women as men competing in full-scale IAC. She
has a competitive nature, having previously raced
cars and motorcycles. So she checked out RC
Aerobatics and was surprised to find so few/no women
pilots!
She enjoys the focus and intensity of the
competition and really likes the Unknowns.
Charlene did great for her first contest, and I know
she’ll be back. MA
—Mike Hurley
30 MODEL AVIATION
made it out to participate in the Tucson
Shootout, and the local big names were there
too. Chip Hyde, Bill Hempel, Sean
McMurtry, and Jason Shulman were present
to show the rest of us how it’s done.
The flying site in Tucson is located well
outside of town in the Saguaro National
Park. Sand, gigantic cactus, and scorpions
are the backdrop for a beautiful modelaircraft
venue called TIMPA: the Tucson
International Modelplex Park Association.
The weather was hot most days, with wind
picking up in the afternoon. An occasional
minitornado visited the flying site, sending
pilots and helpers scurrying to grab models
and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.
You could see these dust devils coming
from far away as a large plume of dirt and
debris raced across the desert.
Friday the wind was stronger than usual,
and many pilots had difficulty landing. With
a steady 25 mph crosswind, it became
standard practice to land cross-runway off to
each side of the pilot stations. At one point
Contest Director Michael Marcellin stopped
the contest to vote on whether to continue
flying for the day, and the pilots in each
class bravely voted to continue. A few
mishaps put at least a couple of pilots out of
the contest. Art Cloutier, flying in
Advanced, lost the landing gear on his 33%
Aeroworks Extra 330L, so he decided to
finish the contest flying a 40-size, 56-inchwingspan
Great Planes Extra 300.
If you are unfamiliar with IMAC, a
standard set of figures flown in each class
make up the sequence for the year. This is
called the “Known” sequence. In each
contest there is also a surprise sequence
made up of figures applicable to that class.
Pilots are not allowed to practice the
sequence or even see the aresti diagram
(maneuvers) until the night before they are
to be flown. This sequence is called the
“Unknown.”
Each class flew three Known rounds on
Thursday. Friday morning each class flew
the Unknown and two rounds of Known.
Saturday was limited to one Unknown and
one Known round, and the four-minute
Freestyle was flown at midday when the
largest gathering of spectators was expected.
Sunday the ranks were cut to the top four
places in Sportsman, Intermediate, and
Advanced and the top 12 pilots in
Unlimited. One Known and one Unknown
sequence were flown, and two rounds of
Freestyle capped off the event. In all, 12
Unknown rounds were flown in this contest.
It was clear from the beginning that this
was not your ordinary local IMAC contest.
Everybody down to the last Sportsman pilot
was a contender and would most likely
podium at the local field event. In
Intermediate, 2003 Nationals champion
Adam Bry also prevailed in Tucson to take
home top honors.
I came with my friend Erik Richard, who
flew in the Advanced class with the Project
Extra aircraft that we built for a construction
article that MA featured in the January to
June 2003 issues. Erik usually wins at local
contests, but he had a case of nerves out of
the gate Thursday and Friday that put him at
the back of the pack. Saturday he made up a
ton of ground, moving up four places.
Unfortunately that was not enough to put
him among the finalists for Sunday, but it
was a good showing for the AMA project
airplane. Way to go, Erik!
For most of us, the real story was the topranked
pilots flying in Unlimited. If you
came as a spectator you came to see the big
names, and the big names didn’t disappoint.
Flying was tight and spectacular.
Jason Shulman eked out an early lead
with flights that bordered on perfection.
However, his performances weren’t
problem-free. At one time an ignition pack
failed just before his flight, and he quickly
borrowed Bill Hempel’s 3W Extra 300S.
Later, Jason crashed his model during the
Freestyle on Saturday and had to finish the
remaining rounds with Bill’s airplane. He
still managed to squeak out the Unlimited
win, and his performance with a borrowed
aircraft was astounding.
At one point during the contest we were
privileged to witness one of the most
incredible saves in model-aviation history.
One of the less-experienced Sportsman
pilots, flying a 40% aircraft, had a flameout
while in a slow and low position. The pilot
froze and the model was headed for certain
destruction.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. saw
the incident from across the field and
sprinted to the pilot station, hurdling a fence
in the process. He wrestled the transmitter
from the perplexed pilot and maneuvered the
airplane just in time to set it down without
damage. It was one of the most amazing
feats I’ve ever seen, and a great deal of
gratitude should go to Mark for quick
thinking and fast action.
Despite the photos and the hype, the
competition at the 2003 TAS was not about
who could Torque Roll (TR) his or her
model the closest to the ground! The TR has
become an almost compulsory maneuver in
Freestyle competitions across the country,
but routines have become so sophisticated
and complex that TRs alone will never again
be enough to garner a win. The photos of the
Freestyle are impressive, and the Freestyle is
without a doubt the most fun to watch, but
the TAS was really about precision Scale
Aerobatics.
Flown according to AMA and IMAC
guidelines, Freestyle is a separate and
optional category. Let’s be realistic; most of
the pilots did not elect to fly in the Freestyle.
To be competitive in that event, you have to
be able to fly at the top of the sport, so most
Freestyle pilots came from the Unlimited
ranks, only one pilot came from Advanced,
and none came from the lower classes. The
Freestyle event had 11 competitors.
Freestyle is going to grow in popularity
and will continue to be a major part of any
top-notch aerobatic event. This portion of
32 MODEL AVIATION
the contest was, as it should be, quite
impressive and as well executed as any
other Freestyle in the world. Chip Hyde
was the overall winner of the 2003 TAS
Freestyle.
I’m not here to take anything away
from Chip or from the judges’ perspective;
I wasn’t sitting in the chair scoring. But
I’d like to present a few awards that I felt
were appropriate from a spectator’s point
of view. The point is to help you get a feel
for the absolute wonder of the whole thing,
which is next to impossible without
witnessing it in person. All the pilots were
masters of 3-D, and getting the airplanes
extremely close to the ground was part of
the excitement. TRs are almost
compulsory and make great pictures, so
you’ll see many of them, but they were not
key to winning the event.
My award for the smoothest and most
precise routine goes, without question, to
Sean McMurtry. His TR was the lowest
and most controlled. The model didn’t
drift; it didn’t even wiggle. His High
Alpha Rolling Circle was flawless. In fact,
his whole routine was so precise that I
think it lulled the judges into a sense of
simplicity or ease, but, to the contrary, he
did the most difficult maneuvers possible
with choreography and grace that was
unmatched. And he did them with more
precision and control than anybody in the
contest.
The biggest-adrenalin-rush award goes
to Mark Leseberg Jr., with his high-speed
routine capped off by a long series of
extremely high-roll-rate High Alpha
Rolling Circles. How he managed to move
that craft around with any control at that
rate of roll was beyond comprehension!
Mark showed a great deal of talent in the
Freestyle and the precision portions of the
contest, and he placed well (second in
Freestyle and fourth in precision) against
some of the top pilots in the world.
The award for pure air-show panache
and excitement goes to Billy Hempel. His
huge Scale 52% Pitts Challenger was the
aircraft highlight of the event. As usual,
Bill flew the Pitts with abandon—but not
reckless abandon. His routine was second
only to Sean McMurtry’s in precision and
control—but he did it at warp speed! Even
though his schedule had little new, it had
been polished to a new luster. Watching
that stubby scale Challenger skillfully blast
through a complex aerobatic and 3-D
combination was awesome.
The award for originality goes to Fabio
Trento. After his Freestyle, Mike Stokes of
Futaba looked over to me and said, “He’s
just raised the bar in Freestyle
competition.” Fabio performed a series of
high-alpha descending “S” figures that
took my breath away. And what has come
to be his signature style—his inverted
high-alpha routine—was magic.
In addition to his first place in
Unlimited, Jason Shulman was my top
pick for a good-sportsmanship award. He
had something to prove after his crash at
the 2002 TOC, but his bad luck held out
and he crashed again during his second
Freestyle at the TAS. Because of the crash,
Jason had no model to fly for the final
Sunday Freestyle. With a smile on his
face, he borrowed a 30-inch foam electricpowered
profile biplane and flew it to
music for his last Freestyle routine in full
3-D glory—not for points but just for
show. The crowd loved it!
For many of us who are entrenched up to
our eyeballs in this sport, originality has to
be one of the biggest differentiators when it
comes to the Freestyle event. In the last
several years, top-name pilots such as
Quique Somenzini and Christophe Paysant-
Le Roux would amaze us with new and
evermore exciting sequences or figures, and
each year the new figures would be the talk
of the event.
I remember reading about the 1994 TOC,
when Quique performed the first-ever
Elevator: a fairly basic maneuver for us
now. But at the time the crowd was agog.
How could it be possible? What magic was
he using? It took several seasons before 3-D
really started to catch on and people
understood how to perform these
maneuvers. Originality is the cornerstone of
excitement and progress in Aerobatics.
It was disappointing that most of the topranked
Freestyle pilots did not have new
routines for the TAS. Some had the same
routines they’ve used for years, and others
used portions of their old routines with the
same music. There might have been a
different music cut here or there and a
different figure wedged in, but generally
none of the top contenders came up with
anything new. I know that producing a new
Freestyle is tough, but when the pilots use
old routines, it’s almost like saying that this
event isn’t important enough to put in the
effort.
The 2003 TAS was a big success.
Everybody down to the last-place finishers
went home with substantial prizes. At least
12 Desert Aircraft engines and several large
aircraft were given out. The top three
finishers in Unlimited and Freestyle went
home with cash.
It’s pretty exciting to fly in a contest side
by side with some of the top pilots in the
world and pit your skill against the best in
your class. The TAS is likely to become an
annual event, so if you feel you’re up to it or
you just want to see the top pilots fly, make
plans now to attend in 2004. MA
Mike Hurley
11542 Decatur Ct.
Westminster CO 80234
[email protected]
2003 TAS sponsors:
Advanced Ceramics Research
Aerotech R/C Models
Aeroworks
AirWild
BME engines
Cactus Aviation Models
Carden Aircraft
Competition Hobbies
Desert Aircraft
Exclusiv-Modellbau
Extreme Graphics
Futaba
Hobbico
HobbyTown USA
Hobby Barn
HobbyTown of Tucson
Horizon Hobby
JR
MTW-Schalldampfer
PBG Composites
PowerfLite
RC Showcase
Smart-Fly
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/05
Page Numbers: 24,25,26,27,28,30,32
by Mike Hurley
24 MODEL AVIATION
Unlimited winners (L-R): Jason Shulman received a $3,979 cash
prize for first place, Frazer Briggs hauled in $1,703 for third, and
Chip Hyde garnered $2,271 for second. Chip was the overall money
earner, with an additional $3,407 for his Freestyle win.
NOW THAT THE Tournament of Champions (TOC) is history,
where will we go to find top-level flying events with top-name
competitors? If the people who put the Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout (TAS) together have anything to say about it, we’ll all
head to the heart of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, to
see the top names fly. And the best pilots in the world will duke it
out to claim today’s and future top honors.
With the passing of the TOC, the TAS may be taking its place
as the RC contest with the world’s largest cash and prize purse:
more than $50,000. That doesn’t mean it has the prestige of the
TOC—yet. But with that kind of booty on the line, you can bet
that the best of the best were drawn out of their respective hiding
places October 2-5 to vie for the loot! In every class from
Sportsman to Unlimited, the flying was top-notch. Frankly, some
of the Intermediate pilots who competed in the TAS would
probably do well flying in Unlimited at most local contests.
The TAS was run as a four-day International Miniature
Aerobatic Club (IMAC) contest ruled by AMA and IMAC
guidelines and procedures. The level of talent and competency
among the contest staff and the pilots made it one of the most
prestigious IMAC events in the US.
The TAS was open to any AMA member flying in any class
except Basic. A total of 60 pilots entered. Sign-up for the contest
was opened just 30 days before the event and was limited to 15
Ivan Kristensen (16-time TOC competitor) puts on a graceful
Freestyle routine with his 40% Carden CAP 232. His Knife
Edge Climbing Spiral Cone maneuver with smoke was one
of the most original figures of the contest.
May 2004 25
New Zealand IMAC and F3A champion Frazer Briggs creates a cloud of dust as he hovers his own-design composite Extra 260.
Sean McMurtry had one of the most precise and controlled Freestyle
routines of the contest with his 37% Aeroworks 300L.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a one-of-a-kind
prototype 40% Godfrey Extra 300L. He is quickly making
a name for himself as one of the top fliers in the US.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Bill Hempel starts the engine in his 52% Exclusiv-Modellbau Pitts Challenger for his
Freestyle flight. It has a 3W 206cc four-cylinder engine and weighs 53 pounds. Right: Bill
put on one of the most exciting routines of the show.
Talented Jeff Szueber Jr. flew his Stan’s Fiber Tech compositefuselage
Katana in Unlimited and Freestyle.
At this contest Jason Shulman (L) and Bill Hempel demonstrated
the type of sportsmanship for which IMAC is known.
Kolby Kuipers, who is 15 years old, was the only Advanced pilot
to perform in the Freestyle category at this contest.
May 2004 27
competitors each in Sportsman,
Intermediate, and Advanced and 20 in
Unlimited. The roster filled up quickly, but
several pilots had to drop out for one reason
or another, and the total number competing
settled at 43.
This contest’s director and supporters
were extremely serious about the quality of
the event. They made sure that an
experienced, competent individual handled
each specific task. Judges included some
well-known names in IMAC and
International Aerobatic Club (IAC) fullscale
aerobatics, and they came from as far
away as Germany to work at the event. Even
the line bosses were experienced and also
came from the IAC ranks.
There were two flightlines running at all
times, and the line of pilots was directed in
such a way that as soon as one finished a
routine and called “Out of the box,” the next
pilot was already in the air and ready to
enter the box to start the routine. The classes
moved quickly in this fashion. There were
three judges for each line, helping to
validate the scores. Most were there for the
sole purpose of judging at the event, with an
occasional contestant judge put to use.
Bob Sadler, “The Mouth from the
South,” came from South Carolina to emcee
the contest and kept spectators informed and
interested. The event was highlighted
locally on television and in the newspapers,
and a large group of spectators made it out
to watch on Saturday and Sunday. More
than 500 flights were flown, judged, and
tallied during the four days.
This was one of the safest, most well-run
events I’ve been to, ranking up there with
the TOC and the Don Lowe Masters. What
differentiates this contest from those two is
that it is an IMAC event and is open to the
lower classes.
Of course, that didn’t stop the big names
from attending, and it didn’t stop pilots from
around the globe from making the trip.
Frazer Briggs of New Zealand, Fabio Trento
of Brazil, and Ivan Kristensen of Canada
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout Results
Place Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Freestyle
1. Tony Quist Adam Bry Matthew Szueber Jason Shulman Chip Hyde
2. Brad Hooper Leonard Rulason Jeremy McKenna Chip Hyde Mark Leseberg Jr.
3. Dean Bird Andy Busutil Bill Adams Frazer Briggs Bill Hempel
4. Bill Ritchey Tony Holden Chris Boice Mark Leseberg Jr. Fabio Trento
28 MODEL AVIATION
Bob Sadler made the trip from
South Carolina to emcee the
contest and provide color
commentary for the crowds.
Left: Art Cloutier holds his 40-size
Extra 300 he used after he lost his
33% Aeroworks Extra. In front is
David Searles’ CA Yak-55—one of
the largest models in the contest.
CD Michael Marcellin (right) led a team of
experienced volunteers in putting on a successful
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout.
Right: Chip Hyde flew a 40% PL Products Extra 300
with a DA-150 and tuned pipes. In foreground is
Jason Shulman’s CA Extra.
CM
Charlene Moss
It’s rare for a competition of this caliber to attract a
woman pilot. Charlene Moss of the Tucson area has been
flying RC for more than two years. The Shootout was her
first IMAC contest.
Charlene flies a Great Planes Extra 300S ARF with a
Desert Aircraft DA-50 engine and a Futaba radio. She lost
her airplane on the first day and borrowed a similar model
from Dan Alley to finish the contest.
Charlene got interested in RC through her
participation in full-scale aerobatics. She had
attended and helped scribe a few full-scale
contests and was surprised that there were as many
women as men competing in full-scale IAC. She
has a competitive nature, having previously raced
cars and motorcycles. So she checked out RC
Aerobatics and was surprised to find so few/no women
pilots!
She enjoys the focus and intensity of the
competition and really likes the Unknowns.
Charlene did great for her first contest, and I know
she’ll be back. MA
—Mike Hurley
30 MODEL AVIATION
made it out to participate in the Tucson
Shootout, and the local big names were there
too. Chip Hyde, Bill Hempel, Sean
McMurtry, and Jason Shulman were present
to show the rest of us how it’s done.
The flying site in Tucson is located well
outside of town in the Saguaro National
Park. Sand, gigantic cactus, and scorpions
are the backdrop for a beautiful modelaircraft
venue called TIMPA: the Tucson
International Modelplex Park Association.
The weather was hot most days, with wind
picking up in the afternoon. An occasional
minitornado visited the flying site, sending
pilots and helpers scurrying to grab models
and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.
You could see these dust devils coming
from far away as a large plume of dirt and
debris raced across the desert.
Friday the wind was stronger than usual,
and many pilots had difficulty landing. With
a steady 25 mph crosswind, it became
standard practice to land cross-runway off to
each side of the pilot stations. At one point
Contest Director Michael Marcellin stopped
the contest to vote on whether to continue
flying for the day, and the pilots in each
class bravely voted to continue. A few
mishaps put at least a couple of pilots out of
the contest. Art Cloutier, flying in
Advanced, lost the landing gear on his 33%
Aeroworks Extra 330L, so he decided to
finish the contest flying a 40-size, 56-inchwingspan
Great Planes Extra 300.
If you are unfamiliar with IMAC, a
standard set of figures flown in each class
make up the sequence for the year. This is
called the “Known” sequence. In each
contest there is also a surprise sequence
made up of figures applicable to that class.
Pilots are not allowed to practice the
sequence or even see the aresti diagram
(maneuvers) until the night before they are
to be flown. This sequence is called the
“Unknown.”
Each class flew three Known rounds on
Thursday. Friday morning each class flew
the Unknown and two rounds of Known.
Saturday was limited to one Unknown and
one Known round, and the four-minute
Freestyle was flown at midday when the
largest gathering of spectators was expected.
Sunday the ranks were cut to the top four
places in Sportsman, Intermediate, and
Advanced and the top 12 pilots in
Unlimited. One Known and one Unknown
sequence were flown, and two rounds of
Freestyle capped off the event. In all, 12
Unknown rounds were flown in this contest.
It was clear from the beginning that this
was not your ordinary local IMAC contest.
Everybody down to the last Sportsman pilot
was a contender and would most likely
podium at the local field event. In
Intermediate, 2003 Nationals champion
Adam Bry also prevailed in Tucson to take
home top honors.
I came with my friend Erik Richard, who
flew in the Advanced class with the Project
Extra aircraft that we built for a construction
article that MA featured in the January to
June 2003 issues. Erik usually wins at local
contests, but he had a case of nerves out of
the gate Thursday and Friday that put him at
the back of the pack. Saturday he made up a
ton of ground, moving up four places.
Unfortunately that was not enough to put
him among the finalists for Sunday, but it
was a good showing for the AMA project
airplane. Way to go, Erik!
For most of us, the real story was the topranked
pilots flying in Unlimited. If you
came as a spectator you came to see the big
names, and the big names didn’t disappoint.
Flying was tight and spectacular.
Jason Shulman eked out an early lead
with flights that bordered on perfection.
However, his performances weren’t
problem-free. At one time an ignition pack
failed just before his flight, and he quickly
borrowed Bill Hempel’s 3W Extra 300S.
Later, Jason crashed his model during the
Freestyle on Saturday and had to finish the
remaining rounds with Bill’s airplane. He
still managed to squeak out the Unlimited
win, and his performance with a borrowed
aircraft was astounding.
At one point during the contest we were
privileged to witness one of the most
incredible saves in model-aviation history.
One of the less-experienced Sportsman
pilots, flying a 40% aircraft, had a flameout
while in a slow and low position. The pilot
froze and the model was headed for certain
destruction.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. saw
the incident from across the field and
sprinted to the pilot station, hurdling a fence
in the process. He wrestled the transmitter
from the perplexed pilot and maneuvered the
airplane just in time to set it down without
damage. It was one of the most amazing
feats I’ve ever seen, and a great deal of
gratitude should go to Mark for quick
thinking and fast action.
Despite the photos and the hype, the
competition at the 2003 TAS was not about
who could Torque Roll (TR) his or her
model the closest to the ground! The TR has
become an almost compulsory maneuver in
Freestyle competitions across the country,
but routines have become so sophisticated
and complex that TRs alone will never again
be enough to garner a win. The photos of the
Freestyle are impressive, and the Freestyle is
without a doubt the most fun to watch, but
the TAS was really about precision Scale
Aerobatics.
Flown according to AMA and IMAC
guidelines, Freestyle is a separate and
optional category. Let’s be realistic; most of
the pilots did not elect to fly in the Freestyle.
To be competitive in that event, you have to
be able to fly at the top of the sport, so most
Freestyle pilots came from the Unlimited
ranks, only one pilot came from Advanced,
and none came from the lower classes. The
Freestyle event had 11 competitors.
Freestyle is going to grow in popularity
and will continue to be a major part of any
top-notch aerobatic event. This portion of
32 MODEL AVIATION
the contest was, as it should be, quite
impressive and as well executed as any
other Freestyle in the world. Chip Hyde
was the overall winner of the 2003 TAS
Freestyle.
I’m not here to take anything away
from Chip or from the judges’ perspective;
I wasn’t sitting in the chair scoring. But
I’d like to present a few awards that I felt
were appropriate from a spectator’s point
of view. The point is to help you get a feel
for the absolute wonder of the whole thing,
which is next to impossible without
witnessing it in person. All the pilots were
masters of 3-D, and getting the airplanes
extremely close to the ground was part of
the excitement. TRs are almost
compulsory and make great pictures, so
you’ll see many of them, but they were not
key to winning the event.
My award for the smoothest and most
precise routine goes, without question, to
Sean McMurtry. His TR was the lowest
and most controlled. The model didn’t
drift; it didn’t even wiggle. His High
Alpha Rolling Circle was flawless. In fact,
his whole routine was so precise that I
think it lulled the judges into a sense of
simplicity or ease, but, to the contrary, he
did the most difficult maneuvers possible
with choreography and grace that was
unmatched. And he did them with more
precision and control than anybody in the
contest.
The biggest-adrenalin-rush award goes
to Mark Leseberg Jr., with his high-speed
routine capped off by a long series of
extremely high-roll-rate High Alpha
Rolling Circles. How he managed to move
that craft around with any control at that
rate of roll was beyond comprehension!
Mark showed a great deal of talent in the
Freestyle and the precision portions of the
contest, and he placed well (second in
Freestyle and fourth in precision) against
some of the top pilots in the world.
The award for pure air-show panache
and excitement goes to Billy Hempel. His
huge Scale 52% Pitts Challenger was the
aircraft highlight of the event. As usual,
Bill flew the Pitts with abandon—but not
reckless abandon. His routine was second
only to Sean McMurtry’s in precision and
control—but he did it at warp speed! Even
though his schedule had little new, it had
been polished to a new luster. Watching
that stubby scale Challenger skillfully blast
through a complex aerobatic and 3-D
combination was awesome.
The award for originality goes to Fabio
Trento. After his Freestyle, Mike Stokes of
Futaba looked over to me and said, “He’s
just raised the bar in Freestyle
competition.” Fabio performed a series of
high-alpha descending “S” figures that
took my breath away. And what has come
to be his signature style—his inverted
high-alpha routine—was magic.
In addition to his first place in
Unlimited, Jason Shulman was my top
pick for a good-sportsmanship award. He
had something to prove after his crash at
the 2002 TOC, but his bad luck held out
and he crashed again during his second
Freestyle at the TAS. Because of the crash,
Jason had no model to fly for the final
Sunday Freestyle. With a smile on his
face, he borrowed a 30-inch foam electricpowered
profile biplane and flew it to
music for his last Freestyle routine in full
3-D glory—not for points but just for
show. The crowd loved it!
For many of us who are entrenched up to
our eyeballs in this sport, originality has to
be one of the biggest differentiators when it
comes to the Freestyle event. In the last
several years, top-name pilots such as
Quique Somenzini and Christophe Paysant-
Le Roux would amaze us with new and
evermore exciting sequences or figures, and
each year the new figures would be the talk
of the event.
I remember reading about the 1994 TOC,
when Quique performed the first-ever
Elevator: a fairly basic maneuver for us
now. But at the time the crowd was agog.
How could it be possible? What magic was
he using? It took several seasons before 3-D
really started to catch on and people
understood how to perform these
maneuvers. Originality is the cornerstone of
excitement and progress in Aerobatics.
It was disappointing that most of the topranked
Freestyle pilots did not have new
routines for the TAS. Some had the same
routines they’ve used for years, and others
used portions of their old routines with the
same music. There might have been a
different music cut here or there and a
different figure wedged in, but generally
none of the top contenders came up with
anything new. I know that producing a new
Freestyle is tough, but when the pilots use
old routines, it’s almost like saying that this
event isn’t important enough to put in the
effort.
The 2003 TAS was a big success.
Everybody down to the last-place finishers
went home with substantial prizes. At least
12 Desert Aircraft engines and several large
aircraft were given out. The top three
finishers in Unlimited and Freestyle went
home with cash.
It’s pretty exciting to fly in a contest side
by side with some of the top pilots in the
world and pit your skill against the best in
your class. The TAS is likely to become an
annual event, so if you feel you’re up to it or
you just want to see the top pilots fly, make
plans now to attend in 2004. MA
Mike Hurley
11542 Decatur Ct.
Westminster CO 80234
[email protected]
2003 TAS sponsors:
Advanced Ceramics Research
Aerotech R/C Models
Aeroworks
AirWild
BME engines
Cactus Aviation Models
Carden Aircraft
Competition Hobbies
Desert Aircraft
Exclusiv-Modellbau
Extreme Graphics
Futaba
Hobbico
HobbyTown USA
Hobby Barn
HobbyTown of Tucson
Horizon Hobby
JR
MTW-Schalldampfer
PBG Composites
PowerfLite
RC Showcase
Smart-Fly
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/05
Page Numbers: 24,25,26,27,28,30,32
by Mike Hurley
24 MODEL AVIATION
Unlimited winners (L-R): Jason Shulman received a $3,979 cash
prize for first place, Frazer Briggs hauled in $1,703 for third, and
Chip Hyde garnered $2,271 for second. Chip was the overall money
earner, with an additional $3,407 for his Freestyle win.
NOW THAT THE Tournament of Champions (TOC) is history,
where will we go to find top-level flying events with top-name
competitors? If the people who put the Tucson Aerobatic
Shootout (TAS) together have anything to say about it, we’ll all
head to the heart of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, to
see the top names fly. And the best pilots in the world will duke it
out to claim today’s and future top honors.
With the passing of the TOC, the TAS may be taking its place
as the RC contest with the world’s largest cash and prize purse:
more than $50,000. That doesn’t mean it has the prestige of the
TOC—yet. But with that kind of booty on the line, you can bet
that the best of the best were drawn out of their respective hiding
places October 2-5 to vie for the loot! In every class from
Sportsman to Unlimited, the flying was top-notch. Frankly, some
of the Intermediate pilots who competed in the TAS would
probably do well flying in Unlimited at most local contests.
The TAS was run as a four-day International Miniature
Aerobatic Club (IMAC) contest ruled by AMA and IMAC
guidelines and procedures. The level of talent and competency
among the contest staff and the pilots made it one of the most
prestigious IMAC events in the US.
The TAS was open to any AMA member flying in any class
except Basic. A total of 60 pilots entered. Sign-up for the contest
was opened just 30 days before the event and was limited to 15
Ivan Kristensen (16-time TOC competitor) puts on a graceful
Freestyle routine with his 40% Carden CAP 232. His Knife
Edge Climbing Spiral Cone maneuver with smoke was one
of the most original figures of the contest.
May 2004 25
New Zealand IMAC and F3A champion Frazer Briggs creates a cloud of dust as he hovers his own-design composite Extra 260.
Sean McMurtry had one of the most precise and controlled Freestyle
routines of the contest with his 37% Aeroworks 300L.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a one-of-a-kind
prototype 40% Godfrey Extra 300L. He is quickly making
a name for himself as one of the top fliers in the US.
26 MODEL AVIATION
Bill Hempel starts the engine in his 52% Exclusiv-Modellbau Pitts Challenger for his
Freestyle flight. It has a 3W 206cc four-cylinder engine and weighs 53 pounds. Right: Bill
put on one of the most exciting routines of the show.
Talented Jeff Szueber Jr. flew his Stan’s Fiber Tech compositefuselage
Katana in Unlimited and Freestyle.
At this contest Jason Shulman (L) and Bill Hempel demonstrated
the type of sportsmanship for which IMAC is known.
Kolby Kuipers, who is 15 years old, was the only Advanced pilot
to perform in the Freestyle category at this contest.
May 2004 27
competitors each in Sportsman,
Intermediate, and Advanced and 20 in
Unlimited. The roster filled up quickly, but
several pilots had to drop out for one reason
or another, and the total number competing
settled at 43.
This contest’s director and supporters
were extremely serious about the quality of
the event. They made sure that an
experienced, competent individual handled
each specific task. Judges included some
well-known names in IMAC and
International Aerobatic Club (IAC) fullscale
aerobatics, and they came from as far
away as Germany to work at the event. Even
the line bosses were experienced and also
came from the IAC ranks.
There were two flightlines running at all
times, and the line of pilots was directed in
such a way that as soon as one finished a
routine and called “Out of the box,” the next
pilot was already in the air and ready to
enter the box to start the routine. The classes
moved quickly in this fashion. There were
three judges for each line, helping to
validate the scores. Most were there for the
sole purpose of judging at the event, with an
occasional contestant judge put to use.
Bob Sadler, “The Mouth from the
South,” came from South Carolina to emcee
the contest and kept spectators informed and
interested. The event was highlighted
locally on television and in the newspapers,
and a large group of spectators made it out
to watch on Saturday and Sunday. More
than 500 flights were flown, judged, and
tallied during the four days.
This was one of the safest, most well-run
events I’ve been to, ranking up there with
the TOC and the Don Lowe Masters. What
differentiates this contest from those two is
that it is an IMAC event and is open to the
lower classes.
Of course, that didn’t stop the big names
from attending, and it didn’t stop pilots from
around the globe from making the trip.
Frazer Briggs of New Zealand, Fabio Trento
of Brazil, and Ivan Kristensen of Canada
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout Results
Place Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Freestyle
1. Tony Quist Adam Bry Matthew Szueber Jason Shulman Chip Hyde
2. Brad Hooper Leonard Rulason Jeremy McKenna Chip Hyde Mark Leseberg Jr.
3. Dean Bird Andy Busutil Bill Adams Frazer Briggs Bill Hempel
4. Bill Ritchey Tony Holden Chris Boice Mark Leseberg Jr. Fabio Trento
28 MODEL AVIATION
Bob Sadler made the trip from
South Carolina to emcee the
contest and provide color
commentary for the crowds.
Left: Art Cloutier holds his 40-size
Extra 300 he used after he lost his
33% Aeroworks Extra. In front is
David Searles’ CA Yak-55—one of
the largest models in the contest.
CD Michael Marcellin (right) led a team of
experienced volunteers in putting on a successful
Tucson Aerobatic Shootout.
Right: Chip Hyde flew a 40% PL Products Extra 300
with a DA-150 and tuned pipes. In foreground is
Jason Shulman’s CA Extra.
CM
Charlene Moss
It’s rare for a competition of this caliber to attract a
woman pilot. Charlene Moss of the Tucson area has been
flying RC for more than two years. The Shootout was her
first IMAC contest.
Charlene flies a Great Planes Extra 300S ARF with a
Desert Aircraft DA-50 engine and a Futaba radio. She lost
her airplane on the first day and borrowed a similar model
from Dan Alley to finish the contest.
Charlene got interested in RC through her
participation in full-scale aerobatics. She had
attended and helped scribe a few full-scale
contests and was surprised that there were as many
women as men competing in full-scale IAC. She
has a competitive nature, having previously raced
cars and motorcycles. So she checked out RC
Aerobatics and was surprised to find so few/no women
pilots!
She enjoys the focus and intensity of the
competition and really likes the Unknowns.
Charlene did great for her first contest, and I know
she’ll be back. MA
—Mike Hurley
30 MODEL AVIATION
made it out to participate in the Tucson
Shootout, and the local big names were there
too. Chip Hyde, Bill Hempel, Sean
McMurtry, and Jason Shulman were present
to show the rest of us how it’s done.
The flying site in Tucson is located well
outside of town in the Saguaro National
Park. Sand, gigantic cactus, and scorpions
are the backdrop for a beautiful modelaircraft
venue called TIMPA: the Tucson
International Modelplex Park Association.
The weather was hot most days, with wind
picking up in the afternoon. An occasional
minitornado visited the flying site, sending
pilots and helpers scurrying to grab models
and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.
You could see these dust devils coming
from far away as a large plume of dirt and
debris raced across the desert.
Friday the wind was stronger than usual,
and many pilots had difficulty landing. With
a steady 25 mph crosswind, it became
standard practice to land cross-runway off to
each side of the pilot stations. At one point
Contest Director Michael Marcellin stopped
the contest to vote on whether to continue
flying for the day, and the pilots in each
class bravely voted to continue. A few
mishaps put at least a couple of pilots out of
the contest. Art Cloutier, flying in
Advanced, lost the landing gear on his 33%
Aeroworks Extra 330L, so he decided to
finish the contest flying a 40-size, 56-inchwingspan
Great Planes Extra 300.
If you are unfamiliar with IMAC, a
standard set of figures flown in each class
make up the sequence for the year. This is
called the “Known” sequence. In each
contest there is also a surprise sequence
made up of figures applicable to that class.
Pilots are not allowed to practice the
sequence or even see the aresti diagram
(maneuvers) until the night before they are
to be flown. This sequence is called the
“Unknown.”
Each class flew three Known rounds on
Thursday. Friday morning each class flew
the Unknown and two rounds of Known.
Saturday was limited to one Unknown and
one Known round, and the four-minute
Freestyle was flown at midday when the
largest gathering of spectators was expected.
Sunday the ranks were cut to the top four
places in Sportsman, Intermediate, and
Advanced and the top 12 pilots in
Unlimited. One Known and one Unknown
sequence were flown, and two rounds of
Freestyle capped off the event. In all, 12
Unknown rounds were flown in this contest.
It was clear from the beginning that this
was not your ordinary local IMAC contest.
Everybody down to the last Sportsman pilot
was a contender and would most likely
podium at the local field event. In
Intermediate, 2003 Nationals champion
Adam Bry also prevailed in Tucson to take
home top honors.
I came with my friend Erik Richard, who
flew in the Advanced class with the Project
Extra aircraft that we built for a construction
article that MA featured in the January to
June 2003 issues. Erik usually wins at local
contests, but he had a case of nerves out of
the gate Thursday and Friday that put him at
the back of the pack. Saturday he made up a
ton of ground, moving up four places.
Unfortunately that was not enough to put
him among the finalists for Sunday, but it
was a good showing for the AMA project
airplane. Way to go, Erik!
For most of us, the real story was the topranked
pilots flying in Unlimited. If you
came as a spectator you came to see the big
names, and the big names didn’t disappoint.
Flying was tight and spectacular.
Jason Shulman eked out an early lead
with flights that bordered on perfection.
However, his performances weren’t
problem-free. At one time an ignition pack
failed just before his flight, and he quickly
borrowed Bill Hempel’s 3W Extra 300S.
Later, Jason crashed his model during the
Freestyle on Saturday and had to finish the
remaining rounds with Bill’s airplane. He
still managed to squeak out the Unlimited
win, and his performance with a borrowed
aircraft was astounding.
At one point during the contest we were
privileged to witness one of the most
incredible saves in model-aviation history.
One of the less-experienced Sportsman
pilots, flying a 40% aircraft, had a flameout
while in a slow and low position. The pilot
froze and the model was headed for certain
destruction.
Unlimited pilot Mark Leseberg Jr. saw
the incident from across the field and
sprinted to the pilot station, hurdling a fence
in the process. He wrestled the transmitter
from the perplexed pilot and maneuvered the
airplane just in time to set it down without
damage. It was one of the most amazing
feats I’ve ever seen, and a great deal of
gratitude should go to Mark for quick
thinking and fast action.
Despite the photos and the hype, the
competition at the 2003 TAS was not about
who could Torque Roll (TR) his or her
model the closest to the ground! The TR has
become an almost compulsory maneuver in
Freestyle competitions across the country,
but routines have become so sophisticated
and complex that TRs alone will never again
be enough to garner a win. The photos of the
Freestyle are impressive, and the Freestyle is
without a doubt the most fun to watch, but
the TAS was really about precision Scale
Aerobatics.
Flown according to AMA and IMAC
guidelines, Freestyle is a separate and
optional category. Let’s be realistic; most of
the pilots did not elect to fly in the Freestyle.
To be competitive in that event, you have to
be able to fly at the top of the sport, so most
Freestyle pilots came from the Unlimited
ranks, only one pilot came from Advanced,
and none came from the lower classes. The
Freestyle event had 11 competitors.
Freestyle is going to grow in popularity
and will continue to be a major part of any
top-notch aerobatic event. This portion of
32 MODEL AVIATION
the contest was, as it should be, quite
impressive and as well executed as any
other Freestyle in the world. Chip Hyde
was the overall winner of the 2003 TAS
Freestyle.
I’m not here to take anything away
from Chip or from the judges’ perspective;
I wasn’t sitting in the chair scoring. But
I’d like to present a few awards that I felt
were appropriate from a spectator’s point
of view. The point is to help you get a feel
for the absolute wonder of the whole thing,
which is next to impossible without
witnessing it in person. All the pilots were
masters of 3-D, and getting the airplanes
extremely close to the ground was part of
the excitement. TRs are almost
compulsory and make great pictures, so
you’ll see many of them, but they were not
key to winning the event.
My award for the smoothest and most
precise routine goes, without question, to
Sean McMurtry. His TR was the lowest
and most controlled. The model didn’t
drift; it didn’t even wiggle. His High
Alpha Rolling Circle was flawless. In fact,
his whole routine was so precise that I
think it lulled the judges into a sense of
simplicity or ease, but, to the contrary, he
did the most difficult maneuvers possible
with choreography and grace that was
unmatched. And he did them with more
precision and control than anybody in the
contest.
The biggest-adrenalin-rush award goes
to Mark Leseberg Jr., with his high-speed
routine capped off by a long series of
extremely high-roll-rate High Alpha
Rolling Circles. How he managed to move
that craft around with any control at that
rate of roll was beyond comprehension!
Mark showed a great deal of talent in the
Freestyle and the precision portions of the
contest, and he placed well (second in
Freestyle and fourth in precision) against
some of the top pilots in the world.
The award for pure air-show panache
and excitement goes to Billy Hempel. His
huge Scale 52% Pitts Challenger was the
aircraft highlight of the event. As usual,
Bill flew the Pitts with abandon—but not
reckless abandon. His routine was second
only to Sean McMurtry’s in precision and
control—but he did it at warp speed! Even
though his schedule had little new, it had
been polished to a new luster. Watching
that stubby scale Challenger skillfully blast
through a complex aerobatic and 3-D
combination was awesome.
The award for originality goes to Fabio
Trento. After his Freestyle, Mike Stokes of
Futaba looked over to me and said, “He’s
just raised the bar in Freestyle
competition.” Fabio performed a series of
high-alpha descending “S” figures that
took my breath away. And what has come
to be his signature style—his inverted
high-alpha routine—was magic.
In addition to his first place in
Unlimited, Jason Shulman was my top
pick for a good-sportsmanship award. He
had something to prove after his crash at
the 2002 TOC, but his bad luck held out
and he crashed again during his second
Freestyle at the TAS. Because of the crash,
Jason had no model to fly for the final
Sunday Freestyle. With a smile on his
face, he borrowed a 30-inch foam electricpowered
profile biplane and flew it to
music for his last Freestyle routine in full
3-D glory—not for points but just for
show. The crowd loved it!
For many of us who are entrenched up to
our eyeballs in this sport, originality has to
be one of the biggest differentiators when it
comes to the Freestyle event. In the last
several years, top-name pilots such as
Quique Somenzini and Christophe Paysant-
Le Roux would amaze us with new and
evermore exciting sequences or figures, and
each year the new figures would be the talk
of the event.
I remember reading about the 1994 TOC,
when Quique performed the first-ever
Elevator: a fairly basic maneuver for us
now. But at the time the crowd was agog.
How could it be possible? What magic was
he using? It took several seasons before 3-D
really started to catch on and people
understood how to perform these
maneuvers. Originality is the cornerstone of
excitement and progress in Aerobatics.
It was disappointing that most of the topranked
Freestyle pilots did not have new
routines for the TAS. Some had the same
routines they’ve used for years, and others
used portions of their old routines with the
same music. There might have been a
different music cut here or there and a
different figure wedged in, but generally
none of the top contenders came up with
anything new. I know that producing a new
Freestyle is tough, but when the pilots use
old routines, it’s almost like saying that this
event isn’t important enough to put in the
effort.
The 2003 TAS was a big success.
Everybody down to the last-place finishers
went home with substantial prizes. At least
12 Desert Aircraft engines and several large
aircraft were given out. The top three
finishers in Unlimited and Freestyle went
home with cash.
It’s pretty exciting to fly in a contest side
by side with some of the top pilots in the
world and pit your skill against the best in
your class. The TAS is likely to become an
annual event, so if you feel you’re up to it or
you just want to see the top pilots fly, make
plans now to attend in 2004. MA
Mike Hurley
11542 Decatur Ct.
Westminster CO 80234
[email protected]
2003 TAS sponsors:
Advanced Ceramics Research
Aerotech R/C Models
Aeroworks
AirWild
BME engines
Cactus Aviation Models
Carden Aircraft
Competition Hobbies
Desert Aircraft
Exclusiv-Modellbau
Extreme Graphics
Futaba
Hobbico
HobbyTown USA
Hobby Barn
HobbyTown of Tucson
Horizon Hobby
JR
MTW-Schalldampfer
PBG Composites
PowerfLite
RC Showcase
Smart-Fly