CL Navy Carrier
Dick Perry, 427 Live Oak Ln. NE, Albuquerque NM 87122; E-mail: [email protected]
The winner of the Mystery Airplane contest from the June issue is Craig Bartlett of Corvallis, Oregon. Craig's name was selected from those who correctly identified the Breguet Vultur. He will receive a year's membership in the Navy Carrier Society.
The Mystery Aircraft in the August issue was the Bristol Brigand. It was derived from the Beaufighter, which was in service with the Royal Air Force and with Fleet Support units of the Royal Navy.
Unfortunately, the Brigand didn't inherit the Beaufighter's good looks. I would have preferred to use the Beaufighter for the Mystery Aircraft, but I was unable to find data to support carrier operations or testing for it.
The Brigand is listed in The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft as a shipboard attack aircraft, along with the Blackburn Firebrand. They were the last of the piston-engine aircraft designed for the Fleet Air Arm.
The Brigand started as a torpedo bomber, but the specification was changed to attack bomber after the first flights; 11 were built as torpedo bombers.
The other Brigands served as bombers, trainers, and weather-observation aircraft. As such, it is likely that few, if any, actually made it into operational service aboard Royal Navy carriers.
Even though the Brigand lacks a colorful operational history as a carrier aircraft, it is still a candidate for the Navy Carrier events.
There is no Mystery Aircraft this month, because my work schedule keeps me away from the drawing board—and away from the workshop.
When I should be preparing models for the Nationals (Nats), I'm busy earning a living. It happens to the best of us, but I will be missing my annual pilgrimage to Muncie. Ted Kraver will provide coverage of the Navy Carrier events for the December issue. Thanks, Ted.
Nostalgia Carrier
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Control Line (C/L) Navy Carrier event at the Nationals.
Carrier was first flown at the Dallas Naval Air Station in 1950, when the US Navy hosted the Nats each year at a different naval air station. The Nats was a great recruiting tool and a wonderful gathering of all kinds of modelers, where all events except Indoor were flown during the same week. Flying was simpler then, with fewer events and significantly greater participation in the competition aspect of our hobby.
The first few years of Carrier were flown with Navy sponsorship, using Navy rules. There was only one class of Carrier in the beginning, although other Carrier events, including 1/2A, were introduced from time to time.
The first events were flown with two-speed engines, until Bob Smurthwaite's "Vari-Speed" exhaust throttle; then intake throttles became available.
The first Navy Carrier winner was Cal Smith. He flew a Douglas AD-2 Skyraider, with a wingspan right at the 44-inch limit. The O&R .60 ignition engine used two sets of points to achieve the two-speed operation. Cal's high speed was 13 mph above his low speed.
By 1952, pilots were trying many different speed-control options, including dual-needle valves and intake and exhaust restrictions on glow engines. Dual-ignition engines were also being used. Don Yearout flew an F4U Corsair to first place with an Anderson Spitfire .60.
Don's model was among the first to use the equivalent of today's electronic throttle control. His F4U had a servo that he operated from a switch at the handle, with the power transmitted through the lines. Don achieved a 30 mph speed difference.
You could buy a Berkeley F8F Bearcat for $4.95 in those days. The Sterling Corsair (kit C-9) was about to be introduced for $5.95, and the Sterling Guardian (C-11) wasn't available yet.
The Grumman Guardian had been discovered by 1953, and a quarter-century of dominance began.
Dave Domizi won Carrier that year, and again in 1954 with a smaller model more along the lines of a Team Racer. His Guardian was powered by a Fox .35, using an intake flapper to achieve the low speed. Ted Kraver "discovered" the Domizi Guardian in the February 1955 Model Airplane News while he was researching Carrier models at the AMA library. More research on the Internet produced the current address for Dave Domizi, which led to the best discovery of all—Dave still had the 1954 Nats winner!
Ted has led a campaign to have the Domizi Guardian accepted by the AMA museum. As I write this column in June, the museum's Acquisitions Committee is contemplating a decision.
Check the Nats report in the December issue for the latest developments in this exciting story.
Carrier Records
In the August issue, I mentioned the three records set by Bill Bischoff (Open Class I and Class II) and Andy Westerheim (Senior Profile). Andy has set other Junior and Senior records with the same aircraft. The model is a Bill Bischoff design, with a foam wing of 345 square inches. Power was a Fox .36 with a reverse-rotation crankshaft turning an APC 9 x 6P propeller.
The model weighed two pounds, 15 ounces when the record was set, including six ounces of tip weight to help accommodate the steady 10 mph winds. The winds made the spectacular low-speed performances for all three records possible. Andy's high speed was 83.1 mph, with a low time of 5:20.6, for a total score of 341.1 points.
Bill Bischoff's models have also achieved prior greatness; his Class I model set the record in 1994 with a different engine. That time the model weighed two pounds, 25 ounces, with a Webra .36 driving an APC 9 x 6P. The high speed was 96.7 mph, with a low time of 5:25.5, and a total score of 471.6 points.
Bill used a similar MO-1 for Class II, powered by a Webra .60, and weighing in at three pounds, four ounces. He achieved a high speed of 100.7 mph, a low time of 5:43.9, and a total score of 493.3. The Webra was modified for left-hand rotation, and it turned an APC 10 x 7P prop.
Congratulations to you both. Well done!
Thanks to John Brownlee of Yuba City, California, for sending photos of his latest projects.
John has two North American T-28 Trojans; the one in the photo is for the .15 Profile Carrier event. It is the same size as his Class I model, which was built from the Berkeley kit. Power for the Profile T-28 is an O.S. .15; the Class I model has a Veco .29.
The Ryan FR-1 Fireball photo is particularly timely. Quite a few readers identified the June Mystery Airplane as the Fireball; my hint must have been misleading. The Fireball had a propeller and a jet engine—just like the Vultures and the prototype Guardian.
John's Fireball has an O.S. .35 for power.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
