CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER - 2003/05

THE FLYING SEASON is upon us, even
for those of us outside the Sun Belt, and
it’s time to try out those winter creations.
As this column is being written, most
winter building plans are in the earliest
stages, so I have little to offer about what
will be showing up on the flying circles
this spring.
However, there have been quite a few
inquiries about the Nostalgia Navy Carrier
events at the Nationals. There are even
discussions about new models for the
official events—not just “new” MO-1s, but
new “No-MO” designs! I’m anticipating
being pleasantly surprised with the variety
of models at Muncie, Indiana. One can
always hope.
2003 Nationals: There will be three full
days of Carrier activity at Muncie July 9-
11, with Profile Carrier starting the
activities with processing Wednesday
evening and flying on Thursday. The
official Profile event and Sportsman
Profile Carrier will be flown that day.
Friday is reserved for official Class I and
Class II flying and the Navy Carrier
Society’s (NCS’s) annual meeting and
awards dinner that evening.
I hope to offer early processing—before
the end of official flying, at approximately
3-5 p.m.—Thursday afternoon for the
unofficial Carrier events. That should
allow flying to start earlier on Saturday
without the requirement of processing all
of the models Saturday morning.
There are still opportunities to volunteer
to help run the events all three days. Bill
Bischoff has accepted the duties of Carrier
event director for the official flying
Thursday and Friday. Thanks, Bill. We
need event directors for each unofficial
event, center judges, pull-testers, timers,
tabulators, and runners.
You may volunteer for any of the three
days of flying by contacting Bill Bischoff
([972] 840-2135, evenings; [972] 242-
4930, days) or NCS President Bill Calkins
(317 Snow St., Sugar Grove IL 60554;
Tel.: [630] 466-1531 after 5 p.m. Central
Standard Time; E-mail:
[email protected]). Experience is not a
requirement for most duties, and training
will be offered.
Nostalgia at the Nationals: The Nostalgia
events are shaping up nicely. As I
mentioned in the last column, the grand
prize is a 50-year-old, new-in-the-box
McCoy .60 engine.
There have been many queries about
CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER
Dick Perry, 427 Live Oak Ln. NE, Albuquerque NM 87122; E-mail: [email protected]
Bob Smurthwaite Bearcat, Corsair, and Skyraider qualify for historic-model bonus
points in Nostalgia. “Doc” Holliday entered this Bearcat in 2001 Nationals.
The Carrier pit area at the November contest in Phoenix put on by the Central Arizona
Control Line Club. Many models and contestants kept the deck busy all day.
Ron Duly (right) starts his Profile MO-1 entry at the Phoenix contest.
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May 2003 133
rules, and I will send copies to anyone
requesting them. This summer’s Nostalgia
event will provide plenty of data to help
shape future rules, but the event rules for
this Nationals are the ones established in
January 1999, and they have not changed
in the last four years. Although there is
no requirement for a model that was
designed before 1978, such models are
encouraged and there are bonus points for
such aircraft.
As the rules are written, models must
have been published or kitted prior to
January 1, 1978, to qualify for the bonus.
My interpretation of that requirement is
that the plans must have been published
or the kit advertised in a magazine or
newsletter. I will also accept kit plans
with a copyright date in 1977 or earlier.
I have a partial listing of models
(available for the asking) that meet that
requirement. I also have plans for many
of those models. The contestants should
be prepared to document their models.
Plans that can be used to verify model
configuration will be greatly appreciated.
If you have magazine-size plans, please
bring a copy to add to the database.
The Navy ran the Carrier events at the
Nationals for the first five years. Landing
gear was not required to exit the model in
the scale location. The Domizi Guardian
is an early Guardian Carrier model in
which the landing gear is mounted on the
fuselage. There are also some excellent
kits from the early years that are great
models, but they might not match threeviews
that are currently available.
The Berkeley F8F Bearcat (1947,
large version) does not have the small
bend in the wing leading edge near the
fuselage. In Class I and II Nostalgia
Carrier I will allow Scale models built to
the original plans to qualify for scale
bonus points. I will also allow Nostalgia
bonus points if minor modifications are
made to the original kit or design outlines
to allow them to conform to scale threeview
documentation.
Survivor: I heard from Bob Frogner
recently, and he was telling me about his
Profile Guardian. Bob had the loss of
control on the upwind side of the circle at
the 2002 Nationals; I mentioned that
mishap in the February column.
We all thought the model was a total
loss, but Bob took the pieces and a large
supply of epoxy to the hotel room and
rebuilt it in time to fly at the Fargo, North
Dakota, contest a week later. He also flew
it at Phoenix, Arizona, in November and
achieved a personal-best score. He has
been building a version of Bill Calkins’
profile Sea Vampire for this coming
season.
Glenn Simpson is planning MO-1s for
the coming season. Class I will have O.S.
power, and Class II will have a NovaRossi.
Class I will have the option of left-hand
rotation.
Rules: There are two rules currently under
consideration for the Navy Carrier events.
One deals with mufflers. There was strong
support at the last NCS annual meeting to
allow models with mufflers to compete in
Carrier events. The impetus for the change
comes from competitors who must use
mufflers on their home flying fields.
The last set of discussions on the topic,
some 15 years ago, was hung up on
defining mufflers to avoid performanceenhancing
devices such as tuned mufflers.
This time around, the proposal would allow
any exhaust extension (muffler, tuned pipe,
etc.) as long as the contestant used 10%
nitromethane fuel. The NCS is encouraging
contest directors to allow mufflers with
10% fuel this flying season to evaluate the
potential rules change.
The other change would exempt fourstroke
engines from the front-intake
restriction in the Profile Carrier event. The
majority of four-stroke engines have the
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throttle mounted at the rear of the engine to
protect it from damage and to keep the
modeler’s fingers farther away from the
propeller.
The change would allow a much greater
selection of four-stroke engines to be used if
a modeler wanted to fly with one. There is
no performance advantage with the
carburetor mounted on the rear of a fourstroke
engine.
The addresses of your CL Navy Carrier
Contest Board members are listed in the
“Competition Directory” near the back of
this issue. Please contact them to discuss
your opinions on these changes. MA