Burt Brokaw had a good year in 2013! In addition to winning the Eugene Ely Award at the Nats with a first-place finish in Profile and Class II, and a second in Class I, he set two new records.
Burt’s new Class II record of 522.7 replaced Pete Mazur’s record, which had been on the books for nearly 13 years. Burt’s MO-1 is a Mazur design, built by Bill Melton and passed to Burt through Eric Conley, so it has a history.
Burt replaced the gear, control system, tank, and other items on the aircraft and substituted a Nelson .45 engine with a Nelson muffler. It runs on 10% fuel as required by the rules. The engine uses a carburetor from a Magnum .91 and muffler pressure. Its top speed was 105.5 mph and slow was less than 5 mph and the record flight was slightly more than 6 minutes. Conditions were perfect, according to Burt, and the record reflects that fact.
The Profile Carrier record fell to Burt at the Marschinke Memorial Contest in Tucson, Arizona, last September. Burt’s Messerschmitt Bf 109T was designed and built by Eric Conley. The model is powered by a muffler-equipped Nelson .36.
Again, the weather was great! Its high speed was 99.4 mph and slow speed was 4.6 mph. It flew more than 6 minutes and made a perfect 100-point landing for a score of 417.1. Congratulations, Burt. Well done!
New Carrier Modelers
New Carrier modelers are always welcome, and it has been great to see some new faces in the Carrier circles in the last year. I’m always happy to receive information—and especially photos—of new Carrier models and new Carrier modelers.
Danette Wallick has been seen at the Nats in the past with husband H. David Wallick. This year, Danette was at the handle in .15 Carrier and the Sportsman Profile Carrier events. She placed second in Sportsman .15 and first in Sportsman Profile. Her Profile Carrier entry was a Fairey Spearfish.
I met Laura and Greg Beers for the first time at the Carrier Plus contest in Phoenix. Both were flying in the Nostalgia events. Laura’s model was a Bob Smurthwaite-designed F8F Bearcat Profile. Greg entered Class II Nostalgia with a Grumman Guardian.
Gary Marchand is no stranger to Stunt fliers, but he has recently branched out into Carrier, flying a new Class I Nostalgia F4U Corsair. The model uses K&B power and is based on the Sterling kit.
On my last visit to Tucson for the Southwest Regionals, I ran into Randy Snow with his new Curtiss F6C-2 Hawk biplane. It wasn’t quite ready for flight last January, but it certainly is a great-looking model!
It’s not hard to see Randy’s family heritage in CL Scale in the design detail and workmanship apparent in his model. I’m hoping to see Randy fly it on my next trip to Arizona for a contest.
2.4 GHz Controls
The 2.4 GHz RC option for controlling any function on a Carrier model except the primary flight control (elevator) is being adopted by more of our Carrier modelers, especially as they build new models. Most radio installations are showing up on Profile models and on all forms of Electric Carrier. With the ESCs for electric motors able to process the throttle output directly from the receiver, it simplifies the setup of a model.
Eric Conley has been developing control line handles for the 2.4 GHz radios, and his efforts are shown in the accompanying photos. Eric uses a Spektrum car radio as the basis of his control system.
The original grip was removed from the radio and replaced by a new control handle suitable for our CL flying. The throttle trigger on the radio was retained and is used on Eric’s handle in the same way as the throttle control on the three-line handles that we traditionally employ.
The great innovation in Eric’s handle is that the radio head can be removed from the handle. The battery power for the radio is mounted on the bottom of the control handle for balance.
Power is provided through a wire and plug to the radio board when the radio portion is attached to the top of the handle. The attachment is via a tongue and groove and a wooden plug that fit in the holes in the radio head that result from removing the original handle. A rubber band completes the installation.
This feature allows for pull testing without having to subject the radio to potential damage.
