Control Line Navy Carrier - 2004/02

150 MODEL AVIATION
AS I USUALLY do in the February issue,
I’m going to discuss the equipment used at
the Nationals this past summer. There were a
couple of new models, including John Vlna’s
Consolidated XBY-1 in AMA Profile that I
mentioned in the Nationals coverage in the
December issue.
I’ll write about performance, although
conditions on Friday for Class I and II were
treacherous and many of the contestants
chose not to fly. Perhaps the crashes that
resulted from the wind will produce some
new models for next summer.
As usual, the dominant model in Class I and
II was the MO-1; four non-MO-1 models (a
Seafire, a Skyraider, a Myrt, and a Dauntless)
competed against 14 MO-1s. Of those who
chose to fly on Thursday, the MO-1 bested
all of the other types. In Profile Carrier
(Sportsman and AMA events), the five MO-
1s were outnumbered by 10 other designs.
Although an MO-1 finished in first place in
each of the Profile Carrier events, the other
designs performed well and took the majority
of the trophies.
A couple of new models this year were
newly produced MO-1 designs. Although it
isn’t surprising to see modelers developing
new versions of successful designs, MO-1s
are still MO-1s. I keep hoping for new types,
and I wasn’t disappointed this year.
John Vlna’s Profile Carrier entry was a
model of the Consolidated XBY-1, which
was flown for the Navy between the wars,
when many new designs and new concepts
were tried. The prototype was one of the
“Mystery Airplanes” in my column some
years ago. The XBY-1 was a single-engine,
high-wing aircraft like the MO-1, but the
mission was bombing—not dive-bombing, as
was the mission of the SBD Dauntless that
came later, but level bombing.
As you can see in the photograph, the
XBY-1 has a uniform taper to the wing,
readily lending itself to a foam-wing design
for those who are so inclined. With its highwing
design, the XBY-1 has the same
configuration as the MO-1 and the moments
are similar.
An exact-scale MO-1 builds to 345 square
inches of wing area if built to the 44-inchwingspan
limit, but the XBY-1 comes out to
only approximately 240 square inches under
the same conditions. That makes the design
best suited to the Profile Carrier event, in
which exact scale dimensions aren’t required.
John built his Profile model to 350 square
inches with a 441⁄2-inch wingspan, as allowed
by the Profile Carrier rules.
The XBY-1 was equipped with a Wiley
.36 engine with a left-hand crankshaft turning
a Zinger 9 x 7 pusher propeller, and it
weighed 44 ounces. John placed fifth in
Profile Carrier. His low speed was only 1
mph faster than the best of the day, at 8.7
mph (207 seconds).
The model is still relatively new, but I
suspect that the high speed could become
respectable with some work on the
tank/engine combination. This design has the
potential to become a contender in Carrier.
Although it’s not as new as John’s,
CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER
Dick Perry, 427 Live Oak Ln. NE, Albuquerque NM 87122; E-mail: [email protected]
Bob Frogner entered this Bill Calkins-designed Sea Vampire in
Sportsman Profile Carrier at the Nationals.
John Vlna’s XBY-1 Profile Carrier model is patterned after an
experimental Navy bomber designed between WW I and WW II.
Ted Kraver entered two of the four non-MO-1 models in Class I and II at the Nationals.
The Dauntless (L) and Seafire were developed from RC Combat kits.
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another interesting model was Bill Calkins’
de Havilland Sea Vampire which he debuted
last year. This year there were two of the
models; Bob Frogner entered one in
Sportsman Profile Carrier.
This year three models topped 90 mph in
Profile Carrier. Nelson engines held two of
the top three spots, with a Tune-Hill O.S.
conversion in second place. I achieved the
best high speed with a 97.2 mph, followed by
Pete Mazur and Mike Greb at 91.5 and 90.4
respectively.
There were seven high speeds exceeding
80 mph, and those engines consisted of three
Nelsons, two O.S. conversions, a Wiley, and
a Fox. All of the engines were less than .36-
cubic-inch displacement. There were none of
the newly legal 6.0-cubic-centimeter engines.
Speeds were generally irrelevant in
overall placing in Class I and II because the
winds dominated the flights so that landings
(only Bill Calkins accomplished a landing)
and completing a low speed determined the
highest places. Low speeds, for those whose
models accomplished them without touching
the ground (some hard), were all more than
40 mph.
In Class I there were three high speeds
faster than 90 mph, and Bill Calkins held top
honors at 97.3 mph. Class II also had three,
with Pete Mazur achieving the best high
speed at 100.6 mph. Jett and Nelson engines
vied for the top speeds with a much older but
still strong K&B .40S. Two competitors used
pressure fuel systems and one used suction.
In Class II the engine to beat was the
Webra Speed .61, which attained all three top
speeds. Again, there were two pressure
systems and one suction fuel system.
For those who specified a particular
brand, fuel was predominantly Red Max with
approximately half of all contestants using
nitromethane content of 50% or higher. Most
of the home-brew users mixed their fuel at
70% nitro.
The propeller of choice was APC, with 9
x 6 dominant in Profile and Class I and 10 x
7 leading in Class II. Those propellers
accounted for two-thirds of the top speeds in
each event, and custom-cast fiberglass
propellers finished in the other top places.
Nelson glow plugs were used in the
Nelson engines, and Fox plugs in various
configurations outnumbered the other single
brands roughly 2-to-1.
The Southwest Regionals is the longestrunning
AAA contest in the US. It is
scheduled for the January 24-25 weekend
(between the playoffs and the Super Bowl) in
Tucson, Arizona. This year Carrier will
include Profile, Class I, Class II, .15,
Nostalgia Profile, and Nostalgia Class I and
Class II.
Robin Sizemore is the contest director.
You can contact him for details at
[email protected] or check out the contest
PO BOX 141,
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phone: (203) 877-1670
fax: (203) 876-2731
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With building season in full swing and the
first contests of the season still months away
(except for the Southwest Regionals),
there’s plenty of time to produce that new
Carrier model for the 2004 season. When
it’s finished, send me a photo at the address
in the column header so I can share it
with readers. MA
02sig5.QXD 11/25/03 9:56 am Page 151