Control Line Aerobatics - 2004/02

February 2004 147
THE UNITED STATES F2B Team
Selection was held Labor Day weekend at
the AMA National Flying Site in Muncie,
Indiana. As with the Nationals, there is
always speculation about who will make the
trip and who will not. As in July, there were
situations at home that kept some
competitors away.
There was also a great deal of conjecture
about who was in contention for a spot on
the team. After all, it had been awhile since
this group had flown together. With a few
new faces in the Top 5 the past couple of
years, it was going to be interesting to see
where everyone stood.
The Team Selection is a two-day contest
in which every flight counts. The
contestants take this one seriously, and fliers
begin practice the Monday before the
contest. With pilots arriving all week long,
it was unclear who was going to enter until
the weigh-in.
The first person to put up a practice
flight was Bob Hunt with his RO-Jett .40-
powered, modernized Genesis. Bob worked
hard all week; he was the first there in the
morning, the last to break for pie, the one
with the shortest after-pie nap, and the last
to leave in the evening. At some points he
was struggling, but with his son Robbie
assisting they were determined to be in
contention for a spot on the team.
The last time Bob Hunt flew in this
contest (1995), he made the team. With a
run of bad luck that year he lost both of his
airplanes, which forced him to miss flying
in the World Championships and relinquish
his spot to Bill Werwage.
CONTROL LINE AEROBATICS
Curt Contrata, 6783 Nightwind Cir., Orlando FL 32818; E-mail: [email protected]
During the F2B Team Selection, Bob Hunt and his son Robby fuel
up the Genesis in the rain for the final flight on Sunday.
Don McClave launches for Paul Walker down on the Control Line
Racing circles during a day of practice.
The 2004 United States F2B team (kneeling left to right): Bill Werwage, Ted Fancher
(standing left to right), Rob Gruber, and Paul Walker.
Paul Walker also brought a model that
was new to Muncie: his second Miss
America P-51 Mustang. This one was lighter
than his last and powered by a Saito 72
engine. Paul ran the four-stroke because he
felt that it may score better with the
international judges; it was the only fourstroke-
powered model in the contest. Don
McClave was there to coach, and Paul
improved throughout the week.
Frank McMillan brought an older
Caudron, with which he placed second at the
Nationals a few years ago. With a piped PA
.61 for power, he felt that this version of the
model was the easiest to fly in the series.
Frank was putting in solid flights, and his
Caudron presented well in the air.
Richard Oliver flew a green-and-white
02sig5.QXD 11/25/03 9:55 am Page 147
Adding to the list of fliers who had
hopes of a spot on the team were Bill Rich
and Randy Smith. Bill was still upset that
he never got a flight in the wind on Friday
at the Nationals, and Randy was still sore
that a sticky set of solid lines was all that
kept him off of the team the last time
around. Both flew extremely well-trimmed
Katanas, with a piped PA .61 and PA .51
respectively.
After the Nationals Bill Rich and I
started flying together, and it felt good to be
back in the air after my wrist injury. For the
Team Trials I brought the Satona with a
piped PA .40. After a year off from flying
and only a few weeks of practice, I was
hoping for continued improvement through
the weekend.
Open Nationals champion David
Fitzgerald, Ted Fancher, and Brett Buck
practiced together and took turns coaching
each other. David and Ted flew piped PA
.61s, and Brett ran a piped RO-Jett .61. Ted
has suggested that he is building a new
airplane, but for this contest it was David
with his yellow Star Gazer, Ted and his
purple Final Edition, and Brett with a
repaired Infinity.
Advanced Nationals champion Kent
Tysor and Windy Urtnowski brought ROJett
.61-powered models; Kent flew a
Strega and Windy flew his Miss Ashley on
a pipe.
From the minute Bill Werwage arrived,
he put up beautiful flights. Bill flew his P-
47 and chose a piped PA .61 for power. Bill
was in a class by himself all week; he was
the most consistent flier, regardless of the
conditions. It seemed there was no way he
could not make the team.
The next most impressive flier after Bill
Werwage was Rob Gruber. Rob was
consistent during practice, and his patterns
looked locked. He continues to confidently
fly a piped PA .61-powered Dreadnought,
and he just keeps getting better. Much like
Bill, he did not seem to have a bad flight.
With six practice circles and 24 fliers, it
was never very crowded and the week of
practice was relaxed for most of the
competitors. The weather conditions were
warm, windy, and stormy, with less rain
than during July’s Nationals. The biggest
concern was about a front that was expected
to pass through which would bring cooler
air with it.
At Friday’s weigh-in and pilots’
meeting, the front came through. It was the
worst storm we had all week, and there was
to be no flying that evening. At the meeting
it was announced that the contest would not
be stopped for rain unless there was
lightning and that the weather conditions for
the weekend were expected to be poor.
Before the first flight Saturday morning,
Event Director Warren Tiahrt called a
pilots’ meeting. He explained that a storm
was forecast for the afternoon, with worse
weather expected the following days. We
were told to fly each flight as if it could be
our last. If the contest had to be stopped for
SV-22 with a piped RO-Jett .61. After a
third-place finish at the Nationals, he was
among the fliers to watch. Bob Gieseke and
Mike Scott flew Bears and powered them
with piped PA .61s.
Stan Powell brought last year’s Impact
with a new piped PA .61, and he made some
nice flights. He made the trip with Dave
Hemstrought, who was flying a new model
of his own design called the “Roulette.” It
uses a 10% enlarged PT-19 wing with a PA
.51 for power.
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02sig5.QXD 11/25/03 9:55 am Page 148
February 2004 149
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weather, the scores would stand and the
team would be chosen by the flights
completed. This added a bit of extra
pressure.
The air was cool and there was plenty of
bite and corner. The air we had practiced in
all week was gone, and the second corner of
the Wingover was a surprise to several
fliers. Fourteen of the 24 contestants would
be eliminated on Saturday, with 10 fliers
advancing to Sunday’s finals.
The scoring was going to be different
this year. With five judges, the high and low
scores would be thrown out and the three
remaining scores would be added instead of
averaged. This took awhile to get used to
since a single flight score typically
exceeded 3,000 points. The fliers wasted
little time, and the contest ran smoothly
through two rounds without weather being a
factor.
Bill Werwage and Paul Walker were
flying well Saturday, easily advancing to
Sunday. Odds were that they were going to
be on the team if they continued to fly the
way they were, but it looked as if there was
a definite opportunity for the third slot. In
the running, in the order of finish, were
David Fitzgerald, Bill Rich, Ted Fancher,
Bob Hunt, Brett Buck, Randy Smith, Windy
Urtnowski, and Richard Oliver.
On Sunday the flying started early
because a storm was heading toward
Muncie and Warren wanted to fly all three
rounds. Models in the pits were covered in
plastic, ponchos were passed around, and
the flying began. It was no surprise that Bill
Werwage continued to fly well, as did Paul
Walker. It was fairly certain that no one
would catch those two, so much attention
quickly focused on that third position.
The best two of three flights would be
added, and it was not over until the last
score was posted. To make it even more
exciting, the last few flights were made in
the rain and four fliers had a realistic shot at
making the team: Ted Fancher, David
Fitzgerald, Bob Hunt, and Bill Rich.
Three of the four put up good scores in
the final round, which changed everyone’s
order of finish but Ted’s. After all of the
scores were posted, it was Bill Werwage in
first place followed by Paul Walker and Ted
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Fancher. Bob Hunt is the team alternate,
who will fly if one of the team members is
unable to compete next year.
Bill Rich finished in fifth place followed
by David Fitzgerald in sixth. Rounding out
the rest of the 10 were Brett Buck, Richard
Oliver, Randy Smith, and Windy
Urtnowski.
Congratulations to Bill, Paul, Ted, and
Junior team member Rob Gruber. With Rob,
we have four talented fliers to represent the
United States at next year’s F2B World
Championships in Muncie. If you plan to
attend, you better already have hotel
reservations.
On September 23 we lost another friend:
Roger Barrett. My best memories of Roger
are of the time we spent together going
through his countless photos and listening
to the stories about each one. He will be
missed. MA
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