Author: Ted Kraver
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/12
Page Numbers: 127,128
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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, see 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-powered multi-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 raised concerns about CL Scale rules and judging knowledge in the field and 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, the 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 the need for 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 handle 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 of Arizona with his P-51, followed by James Jenson of Chicago with his T-28. Ken Stevens of Kentucky took Fun Scale Advanced with his Yak 18 and a score of 102. The next two places were a battle between Chris Brownhill of Toronto, flying a Gloster Gladiator to 96.50, and Bill Avera of Florida, flying his P-51 to 95.13.

The only Senior, Jason Bauer, scored 159.88 with his A-26 Invader in Profile Scale and 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 of California, with his Corsair, scored 187.88 to top Chris Brownhill's Hampton at 187.13. John had the two best flight scores of the event because he has flown this Corsair for decades. Bill Avera squeezed into third place with 180.38 flying his Russian La-5.

Sport Scale saw John Brodak of Pennsylvania back in the winner's circle with a 178 score and a static points margin of 9.50. He promised to hang up his multiple-Nats-winning Shoestring, but time will tell. Second place went to Richard Schneider of Georgia with his DH-82 Tiger Moth at 169.88.

Team Scale was won by Ken Stevens Jr. and Ken Stevens Sr., who nailed first place with one good flight by their Aeromaster, producing a score of 140.63.

FAI F4B Scale featured a solid three-way competition. Allen Goff of Indiana, flying a Ryan STA, produced a 2568.25 score. Richard Schneider took second with 2516.25 flying his DH-82 Tiger Moth. Charles Bauer of Illinois flew a Bristol M-1C to secure third place with 2199.

1/2A Scale competition was held for the first time at the Nats, with maximum points of 80 for static, a multiengine five-point bonus, and 50 points for flight. My Nats competition experience could not have been more efficient. I took three flights with the Tigercat in 1/2A Scale for first place with 111.25 points and the high static score, earning two trophies. John Wright had equal flight scores, but his static score was 85.50. Jason Bauer's Volksplane was third with 73 points.

I only needed one flight with my Loening M-8 Sportsman Carrier for first 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 flying while giving up my Nats reporter job.

National Naval Air Museum

I visited the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, a year ago and was amazed at the size and beauty of its NC-4, the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic in 1919. I was sold on my next project after reading First Across! (Naval Institute Press, Richard K. Smith, 1973).

I contacted the museum, which sent me four photos and 20 pages of construction articles, figures, three-views, and paint formulas. Now all I have to do is find dry lead oxide, asbestos, and lamp black, along with spar varnish and orange shellac!

After talking with Keith Trostle, we concluded that current powerful 1/2A engines (.061 cu. in.) could each handle about 100 square inches of wing area and one pound of weight for CL Scale aircraft. The NC-4 has three tractor engines and one centerline pusher and flew with all four engines or with the pusher out of service. The scale of the 126-foot wingspan aircraft will be 1/39 or 1/33, 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; I might use 2.4 GHz. I could also build exchangeable fuselages to fly both Profile and Sport Scale events because it all bolts together. It's fun to be in the designing stage, but decision time is upon me.

Keep your input coming. Each suggestion will be considered as I mold a theme for these columns.

SOURCES

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.