DOUG MAYER sent me a report on this year's Northwest Regionals. so I thought I would share it. Thanks, Doug. Each year the Northwest Regionals is held Memorial Day weekend. This event is probably the second biggest Control Line (CL) contest in the United States, just behind the Nationals (Nats) in Muncie. Indiana. Three full days of all the CL events are held, including Stunt. Speed, Carrier. Scale, Combat, and of course. Racing! This year there was a smaller turnout than usual, but the level of racing was still top-notch. Many thanks go out to John Thompson, who was the event director and ran a smooth contest. John has been the event director for many years, and he always does a good job. Mouse II has become many racers' favorite event in the past few years, thanks to the introduction of the Cyclon power plant. All seven entries were Cyclon-powered airplanes. Mike McCarthy showed up Friday morning with a new mini-Shark, inverted pan, perfectly scaled-down version of the original Fast Rat Shark that he called the Piranha. The competition looked stiff, with Todd Ryan also in attendance with his inverted half-pan Speed Mouse. Doug Mayer had his half-cowled sidewinder Mouse that placed second at last year's Nats and first in Tucson. Team S&S—Tom Strom and Bobby Arledge—Vic Garner. Bill Cave, and Rich Mclntyre had standard exposed engine and tank aircraft. An amazing fast heat time was posted by Team S&S at 3:01.02. The final race was a real kick. Mike McCarthy definitely had the airspeed advantage, but Bill Cave performed flawlessly pitting for Doug Mayer. A few miscues happened as pilot Rich Mclntyre seemed to get out of place in the pilots' circle during passing. The final outcome was Team S&S with a 6:31.41 (third), Mike McCarthy with a 6:20.57 (second), and winning entry Doug Mayer at 6:10.95. AMA Slow Rat had only four entries. In the finals, Doug Mayer ballooned his airplane in the wind and did a big. dumb nose bonk, which took his Slow Rat out of the race. Rich Mclntyre finished third with his third-fastest heat time of 2:59.04. Doug was second in the final with 36 laps, and Mike won with 61 laps. A light rain and ominous black skies loomed over the first few Mouse I heats of the day. Vic Garner dominated the first heats with his hybrid Cyclon front/Cox tank model. Vic posted a 2:20.71. Mouse I superstar Paul Gibeault of Canada posted a 2:15.63 for the fastest heat time of the day. Bill Cave posted a good time of 2:24.80 to make the finals. The final race of Vic. Paul, and Bill had a large cheering section gathered behind Paul's pit area. With every fire on the plug and spinning of the propeller, a loud "hurrah" was heard for miles. After all the cheering was finished, Vic beat Paul with a 5:09.26 to a 5:17.89. Bill had plug problems and came in third at 7:37.96. Bob Fogg showed up with his three awesome Fast Rat models. Bob's airplanes are of fiberglass construction on the wings, fuselage, and tail sections. You can see the guts of the airplanes when you hold them up to the sun. Bob was the man to beat in Fast Rat, and Todd Ryan did the flying for him. There were only five entries in this event. The first heat was Todd and Jim Holland. The other three entries of Bill Cave, Bob Fogg, and Mike McCarthy were run in a round-robin to assure all two-up races were equal. Bob and Todd unquestionably dominated the event. Todd logged a 2:24.21 heat time. The round-robins were the same, with Fogg/Ryan dominating. Bob logged a 2:18.21 heat time for the fastest heat of the day. Bill Cave had a respectable third-place heat time of 2:31.27. Since Fogg/Ryan won first and second heat times, one of its entries had to be scratched for the final. Bob took his fast entry to the final against Bill with Doug Mayer as pilot. The final race was tough, as Fogg/Ryan was working Cave/Mayer. Halfway through the final. Doug shut down Bill's model and glided into a pit stop and quit the race. Fogg/Ryan had a free run for the second half of the final. I am not in good enough physical condition to fly 140 laps safely. I decided that it was better to admit that I was in a difficult position and quit before I made a mistake and hurt somebody or crashed an expensive airplane. It was a humbling experience, and everybody was sympathetic. Now I can appreciate why everyone has difficulties with an event such as Fast Rat, and why the event needs to be modified if it is going to survive. Bill Cave got 65 short laps, and Bob Fogg won with a 4:45.50. AMA Scale Racing had a total of nine entries. The key word for Goodyear was consistency. Vic Garner had the fastest heat at 2:56.91. putting him in the final and making him the man to beat. Mac Ryan was fast and consistent. He logged the second and third fastest heat times with a 2:58.72 and a 3:00.87. Rich Mclntyrc also proved to be consistent, with the fourth and fifth fastest heat times at 3:12.66 and 3:11.63. Mike McCarthy plugged away and made the final with a 3:19.27 heat time. Some of the other teams had great airspeed, but also had bad starts, bad restarts, bad plugs, etc. The top four heat times went to two two-up finals. Mike and Rich had good starts and good pits and average airspeed, but consistency proved to be their key to success. They didn't miss a beat, and every start was quick in and out of the pits. They simply won the finals in the pits. Rich was first with a 6:26.56. Mike was second with a 7:09.02. Vic had good airspeed and wasn't far behind, but he lost to Mike and Rich in the pits with a 7:17.32. Mac had a tough time in the finals and struggled to the finish line with a 10:29.37. This was unfortunate because Mac put on a really good show in the heats. There were eight entries in NCLRA (National Control Line Racing Association) Quickie Rat, and John Thompson decided to run two-up heats with a three-up final. The two-up format may have contributed to the good times, or maybe it was the weather conditions. Nonetheless, the heat times were really fast. Jim Holland came out of Heat 1 with a time to beat of 3:03.2. Vic upped the ante in Heat 2 with a fast time of 3:02.47. Doug Mayer fell into place on the bubble after Heat 3 with a 3:04.06. Bill Cave blasted out of Heat 4 with an incredible 2:59.41 after some weird needle problems in the first run of Heat 4. 1 was on the handle for Bill, and I've got to say that this was the fastest Quickie heat I've ever witnessed. The final teams were Cave/Mayer, Garner/Ryan, and Holland/McCarthy. The final was just as intense as the heat races. On the signal go. all three airplanes blasted into the air immediately as the pilots jockeyed into position. Jim Holland had a slight edge in airspeed on the other two airplanes. Mike McCarthy did a great job pitting for Jim, and Bill Cave did a good job pitting for himself. Vic Gamer experienced a long pit because of a pit fire and was down for quite awhile. Vic had to settle for third with a 6:57.53. Bill Cave finished second with a 6:25.11. Jim finished first with a 6:19.70 for his first Quickie win of the year. Junior races were my favorite part of the weekend. Sisters Maria and Milissa Huber were on the scene Sunday morning, hanging out with Team S&S. 1 wish I had more details, but I did get a chance to talk to both girls. This was the first official CL Racing event for both. They patiently watched the Goodyear event, then Tom Strom and Bobby Arledge walked them through the finer points of the pilots' circle and the pitting circle, and they were off to the races.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2002/10
Page Numbers: 139, 140
Edition: Model Aviation - 2002/10
Page Numbers: 139, 140
DOUG MAYER sent me a report on this year's Northwest Regionals. so I thought I would share it. Thanks, Doug. Each year the Northwest Regionals is held Memorial Day weekend. This event is probably the second biggest Control Line (CL) contest in the United States, just behind the Nationals (Nats) in Muncie. Indiana. Three full days of all the CL events are held, including Stunt. Speed, Carrier. Scale, Combat, and of course. Racing! This year there was a smaller turnout than usual, but the level of racing was still top-notch. Many thanks go out to John Thompson, who was the event director and ran a smooth contest. John has been the event director for many years, and he always does a good job. Mouse II has become many racers' favorite event in the past few years, thanks to the introduction of the Cyclon power plant. All seven entries were Cyclon-powered airplanes. Mike McCarthy showed up Friday morning with a new mini-Shark, inverted pan, perfectly scaled-down version of the original Fast Rat Shark that he called the Piranha. The competition looked stiff, with Todd Ryan also in attendance with his inverted half-pan Speed Mouse. Doug Mayer had his half-cowled sidewinder Mouse that placed second at last year's Nats and first in Tucson. Team S&S—Tom Strom and Bobby Arledge—Vic Garner. Bill Cave, and Rich Mclntyre had standard exposed engine and tank aircraft. An amazing fast heat time was posted by Team S&S at 3:01.02. The final race was a real kick. Mike McCarthy definitely had the airspeed advantage, but Bill Cave performed flawlessly pitting for Doug Mayer. A few miscues happened as pilot Rich Mclntyre seemed to get out of place in the pilots' circle during passing. The final outcome was Team S&S with a 6:31.41 (third), Mike McCarthy with a 6:20.57 (second), and winning entry Doug Mayer at 6:10.95. AMA Slow Rat had only four entries. In the finals, Doug Mayer ballooned his airplane in the wind and did a big. dumb nose bonk, which took his Slow Rat out of the race. Rich Mclntyre finished third with his third-fastest heat time of 2:59.04. Doug was second in the final with 36 laps, and Mike won with 61 laps. A light rain and ominous black skies loomed over the first few Mouse I heats of the day. Vic Garner dominated the first heats with his hybrid Cyclon front/Cox tank model. Vic posted a 2:20.71. Mouse I superstar Paul Gibeault of Canada posted a 2:15.63 for the fastest heat time of the day. Bill Cave posted a good time of 2:24.80 to make the finals. The final race of Vic. Paul, and Bill had a large cheering section gathered behind Paul's pit area. With every fire on the plug and spinning of the propeller, a loud "hurrah" was heard for miles. After all the cheering was finished, Vic beat Paul with a 5:09.26 to a 5:17.89. Bill had plug problems and came in third at 7:37.96. Bob Fogg showed up with his three awesome Fast Rat models. Bob's airplanes are of fiberglass construction on the wings, fuselage, and tail sections. You can see the guts of the airplanes when you hold them up to the sun. Bob was the man to beat in Fast Rat, and Todd Ryan did the flying for him. There were only five entries in this event. The first heat was Todd and Jim Holland. The other three entries of Bill Cave, Bob Fogg, and Mike McCarthy were run in a round-robin to assure all two-up races were equal. Bob and Todd unquestionably dominated the event. Todd logged a 2:24.21 heat time. The round-robins were the same, with Fogg/Ryan dominating. Bob logged a 2:18.21 heat time for the fastest heat of the day. Bill Cave had a respectable third-place heat time of 2:31.27. Since Fogg/Ryan won first and second heat times, one of its entries had to be scratched for the final. Bob took his fast entry to the final against Bill with Doug Mayer as pilot. The final race was tough, as Fogg/Ryan was working Cave/Mayer. Halfway through the final. Doug shut down Bill's model and glided into a pit stop and quit the race. Fogg/Ryan had a free run for the second half of the final. I am not in good enough physical condition to fly 140 laps safely. I decided that it was better to admit that I was in a difficult position and quit before I made a mistake and hurt somebody or crashed an expensive airplane. It was a humbling experience, and everybody was sympathetic. Now I can appreciate why everyone has difficulties with an event such as Fast Rat, and why the event needs to be modified if it is going to survive. Bill Cave got 65 short laps, and Bob Fogg won with a 4:45.50. AMA Scale Racing had a total of nine entries. The key word for Goodyear was consistency. Vic Garner had the fastest heat at 2:56.91. putting him in the final and making him the man to beat. Mac Ryan was fast and consistent. He logged the second and third fastest heat times with a 2:58.72 and a 3:00.87. Rich Mclntyrc also proved to be consistent, with the fourth and fifth fastest heat times at 3:12.66 and 3:11.63. Mike McCarthy plugged away and made the final with a 3:19.27 heat time. Some of the other teams had great airspeed, but also had bad starts, bad restarts, bad plugs, etc. The top four heat times went to two two-up finals. Mike and Rich had good starts and good pits and average airspeed, but consistency proved to be their key to success. They didn't miss a beat, and every start was quick in and out of the pits. They simply won the finals in the pits. Rich was first with a 6:26.56. Mike was second with a 7:09.02. Vic had good airspeed and wasn't far behind, but he lost to Mike and Rich in the pits with a 7:17.32. Mac had a tough time in the finals and struggled to the finish line with a 10:29.37. This was unfortunate because Mac put on a really good show in the heats. There were eight entries in NCLRA (National Control Line Racing Association) Quickie Rat, and John Thompson decided to run two-up heats with a three-up final. The two-up format may have contributed to the good times, or maybe it was the weather conditions. Nonetheless, the heat times were really fast. Jim Holland came out of Heat 1 with a time to beat of 3:03.2. Vic upped the ante in Heat 2 with a fast time of 3:02.47. Doug Mayer fell into place on the bubble after Heat 3 with a 3:04.06. Bill Cave blasted out of Heat 4 with an incredible 2:59.41 after some weird needle problems in the first run of Heat 4. 1 was on the handle for Bill, and I've got to say that this was the fastest Quickie heat I've ever witnessed. The final teams were Cave/Mayer, Garner/Ryan, and Holland/McCarthy. The final was just as intense as the heat races. On the signal go. all three airplanes blasted into the air immediately as the pilots jockeyed into position. Jim Holland had a slight edge in airspeed on the other two airplanes. Mike McCarthy did a great job pitting for Jim, and Bill Cave did a good job pitting for himself. Vic Gamer experienced a long pit because of a pit fire and was down for quite awhile. Vic had to settle for third with a 6:57.53. Bill Cave finished second with a 6:25.11. Jim finished first with a 6:19.70 for his first Quickie win of the year. Junior races were my favorite part of the weekend. Sisters Maria and Milissa Huber were on the scene Sunday morning, hanging out with Team S&S. 1 wish I had more details, but I did get a chance to talk to both girls. This was the first official CL Racing event for both. They patiently watched the Goodyear event, then Tom Strom and Bobby Arledge walked them through the finer points of the pilots' circle and the pitting circle, and they were off to the races.
