CL Scale - 2012/12

day.
CL Scale at the 2012 Nats
by Ted Kraver
[email protected]
CL Scale turnout at the Nats was
good. More than 20 pilots/builders
competed with more than 40
Scale aircraft. For day-to-day, in-depth
coverage, go to the NatsNews link listed
in “Sources.”
During Nats static judging, the
models ranged from Richard Schneider’s
tiny 1/2A Cassutt Boo Ray to Clancy
Arnold’s 88-inch Taube and Ed Mason’s
16-pound C-124 Globemaster. Ed’s
O.S. 25 four-engine aircraft—two B-17s
and the C-124—fared poorly in the
flight circle. The Team Scale B-17 and
the Sport Scale C-124 with high wing
loading and poor flight characteristics
ended the first flight day in pieces.
Rules Concerns
John Brodak and Frank Beatty had
concerns about CL Scale rules and
judging knowledge in the field. They
planned a meeting the evening before
the first flying day. Co-event directors
John Brodak and Alan Goff, and chief
judge, Will Hinton, moderated the group.
They addressed how to call the start and
finish maneuver options, 10-lap flight
level, and Lazy Eight maneuvers (two
climbs and dives in one lap).
A number of issues were raised and
discussed including the disappearance of
AMA Precision Scale, the inadequacies
of Designer and FAI F4B Scale rules,
the loss of flight option diagrams from
the AMA rule book, and adequate
CL representation on the AMA Scale
Contest Board.
A small task team was organized to
address these issues, engage the CL Scale
community, and prepare for the 2013-
2014 rules-making cycle. I volunteered
to work communications for the task
team. Send me your contact information
if you want to contribute to the dialogue
and final recommendations.
Competition
Fun Scale Novice was won by Burt
Brokaw from Arizona, with his P-51, followed by James Jenson from Chicago, with
his T-28. Ken Stevens from Kentucky, took Fun Scale Advanced with his Yak 18
and a 102 score. The next two places were a battle between Chris Brownhill from
Toronto, flying a Gloster Gladiator to 96.50, and Bill Avera from Florida, and his
P-51 with a 95.13 score.
The only Senior, Jason Bauer, had a 159.88 with his A-26 Invader in Profile Scale
and a 142.85 with his Islander in Sport Scale.
Profile Scale was the most hotly contested with six fliers getting the full flight
set. John Wright from California, with his Corsair scoring 187.88, topped Chris
Brownhill’s Hampton with a score of 187.13. John had the two best flight scores
of the event because he has flown this Corsair for decades. Bill Avera squeaked into
third place with 180.38 flying his Russian La-5.
Sport Scale had John Brodak
from Pennsylvania, once more in
the winner’s circle with a 178 score,
and static points margin of 9.50. He
promised to hang up his multiple-
Nats-winning Shoestring, but time
will tell.Second place was taken by Richard
Schneider from Georgia, with his DH-
82 Tiger Moth at 169.88 points. Team
Scale saw team Ken Stevens Jr. and Ken
Stevens Sr. nail fi rst place with one good
fl ight by their Aeromaster, producing a
score of 140.63.
FAI F4B Scale had a solid, three-way
competition with Allen Goff from
Indiana, with a Ryan STA, producing a
2568.25 score. Richard Schneider took
second with 2516.25 with his DH-82
Tiger Moth. Charles Bauer from Illinois,
fl ew a Bristol M-1C to secure a thirdplace
slot with 2199.
1/2A Scale competition was held for
the fi rst time at the Nats with maximum
points of 80 for static, a multiengine
fi ve-point bonus, and 50 points for fl ight.
My Nats competition experience could
not have been more effi cient. I took
three fl ights with the Tigercat in 1/2A
Scale for fi rst place with 111.25 points
and high static score for two trophies.
John Wright had equal fl ight scores, but
his static score was 85.50. Jason Bauer’s
Volksplane was third with 73 points.
I only needed one fl ight with my
Loening M-8 Sportsman Carrier for
fi rst place and my third trophy. The rest
of the time I was shooting photos and
writing the NatsNews column for eight
days, which covered both events. From
now on it’s more CL Scale designing,
building, and fl ying while giving up my
Nats reporter job.
National Naval Air Museum
I had visited the National Naval
Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida,
a year ago and was amazed at the size
and beauty of its NC-4 that was fi rst to
cross the Atlantic in 1919. I was sold
on my next project after reading First
Across! from the Naval Institute Press by
Richard K. Smith, 1973.
I contacted the museum, which
sent me four photos and 20 pages of
construction articles, fi gures, three-views,
and paint formulas. Now all I have to
do is fi nd dry lead oxide, asbestine, and
lamp black, along with spar varnish and
orange shellac!
After talking with Keith Trostle, we
came to the conclusion that current
powerful 1/2A engines (.061 cu. in.)
could each handle 100 square inches of
wing area and one pound of weight for
CL Scale aircraft. The NC-4 has three
tractors and one centerline pusher and
fl ew with the four engines or with the
pusher out of service. The scale of the
126-foot wingspan aircraft will be 1/39
or 1/33 scale, depending on the number
of engines used. Cramming the needed
fuel volume into the small nacelles will
probably be the deciding factor.
Throttling engines will also be a
challenge for the 1/2A Unlimited event
and I might use 2.4 GHz. I could also
build exchangeable fuselages to fl y both