134 M ODEL AVIATION
cOnTROl line (CL) Team Scale has
been run at some local CL club meets for
several years. The Garden State Circle
Burners (GSCB) club in NJ has successfully
promoted the event at its annual all-scale
meet, using its own set of rules.
The event is offered to CL Scale builders
who would like to participate in the
sanctioned Scale competition, but are unable
to complete the flying portion. The inability
to fly the model is often caused by a
physical disability that precludes spinning in
a circle or enduring the model’s pull.
Based on experience and success of local
clubs, it was thought there might also be CL
Scale builders who would like to compete at the
national level, but are unable to fly their models.
Mike Welshans, vice president of the
National Association of Scale Aeromodelers
(NASA), and Chuck Meyers of the Queen
City U-Control Club (OH) informed me that
Team Scale will be offered at the 2001 Scale
Nationals, to be held July 6-8 at the national
flying site in Muncie IN. The event will be
sponsored by the Queen City U-Control Club.
These dates were posted in the
November/December 2000 issue of Replica,
NASA’s newsletter, and is a correction to the
dates published in the CL Scale Nationals
results in the December 2000 Model Aviation.
Rules that will be used at the national
competition are as follows.
Static and flight judging will be done in
accordance with the rules governing the CL
Sport Scale event (509), except as noted:
1) Eligibility: The team will consist of
the builder of the model and pilot/flier.
CONTROL LINE SCALE
Bill Boss, 77-06 269th St., New Hyde Park NY 11040
AMA District VI Vice President Charlie Bauer flew his turbine-powered U-2 model at the
June 2000 Wisconsin Circlemasters contest. All photos by Art Weber.
Good judges are hard to find! Don Adriano and Jim Nielson have
judged the Circlemasters contest for several years.
Dan Tetzlaff’s third-place PBY-6A spans 76 inches, weighs eight
pounds, and has three-line system for throttle control.
2) The model’s construction can also be
a team effort; i.e., the pilot/flier can be
involved in the building.
3) The builder of the model must be
listed as part of the team, and must be
present at the competition.
The object of promoting this event for
the national competition—as well as for use
at the local contest level—is not only to
promote more participation in CL Scale
modeling, but to give those who may have
retired from Scale events another chance to
put their work on display and in the air.
The event also provides a great
opportunity for modeling friends to get
together on a team project.
aeromodeling: Hobby or Sport? This
topic was explored in Frank McMillan’s
May 2001 135
CL Aerobatics column (February 2001
Model Aviation) and in the column by
Aeromodeling Editor Bob Hunt.
Their discussions were based on an item
by John Brodak in the November/December
2001 issue of Replica. I spoke with Bob by
telephone about the article, and at the
conclusion of our conversation I decided I
would provide some of my thoughts on the
subject.
Modeling activity has evolved from what
was called a “hobby of building and flying
model airplanes” to a highly sophisticated
sport of aeromodeling. Today’s aeromodeling
can be broken into two categories:
recreational and, competitive removing the
hobby connotation.
The recreational side of the sport can be
considered as belonging to those modelers
who participate in building and flying their
models for the great joy of seeing something
they have put together get into the air and
return to earth undamaged.
This modeler would most likely be
building or using Almost Ready to Fly
(ARF) and Ready to Fly (RTF)-type
models, whether CL, Radio Control (RC),
or Free Flight (FF).
At any model aircraft trade show you will
see many manufacturers promoting almostcompleted
models that have the shape, color,
and markings that make them look very much
like the real thing and interesting for any
spectator who may be watching.
This type of modeler is primarily
interested in enjoying a day of recreational
model flying, and doesn’t want the hassle
of rules and competition.
The other side of the sport is for the
more serious modeler who is dedicated to
the world of competition, whether it be
local, national, or international.
I part here in thought with a statement
in Bob Hunt’s column. He noted that the
flying of our models would indeed be a
sport, but that the building portion of our
activity might still be considered a
hobby.
I believe that for the competitor,
building and flying must be considered as
the whole sport.
Does the driver of a dragster consider
the building of his/her car a hobby, and
running down the strip a sport? Does the
builder of an experimental airplane
consider the building as his/her hobby, and
flying as the sport?
All the technical stuff that went into
building the car or airplane is certainly a
great part of the sport.
One of the things you must not forget
is that the competitor in our sport is
governed by rules and regulations, and is
compelled to build and fly his/her own
creation. All the technical things that we
employ in or build into our models, and
the time spent before the finished
product gets to the flying field, must be
considered in the competitive side of our
sport.
We are no longer in the years when our
models were limited to doing a few simple
things. We have come a long way in the
sophistication and operation of our models.
RC aircraft are so sophisticated in
control and power plants that they are
capable of performing any kind of
maneuver done by the prototype. This
applies to the earliest biplanes, as well as
the most technically advanced turbinepowered
jet models.
CL modeling has also seen some great
advances. How about Speed events, where
advances in engine technology have given
speeds in the 200 mph range? Is building or
modifying the engines to accomplish this
considered a hobby and flying considered
the sport? It is the engine development that
makes the event.
Use of the encoder and decoder
(electronic systems) and sending digital
signals up a pair of wires has allowed the
CL modeler (especially in Scale) to add
many independent operations to the
model in a reliable manner, such as
flaps, landing gear, bomb and tank drop,
opening and closing a canopy, operating
bomb bay doors, throttle control, engine
cutoff, etc.
I don’t think you can separate the
building from the flying, and you must
consider everything you do as part of the
136 M ODEL AVIATION
Hardware
Boca Bearing Company
K
sport. Promoting the “sport of
aeromodeling” is a task for all of us.
Every time you have the opportunity
to bring the activity before the public, you
must talk in terms of the “sport.” Clubs
and manufacturers who put on shows in
local malls or civic centers might refer to
their shows as the sport of aeromodeling,
rather than as hobby shows.
When dealing with city or town
officials, you must promote the idea that
the sport you are engaged in is not only
the flying of models, but includes many
hours, weeks, or months achieving what
is seen at the flying field. The educational
and learning experience, as well as the
development of the manual dexterity
aspect, should be stressed.
John Brodak said it best in his letter
when he noted that it is time to end the
“playing with toy airplanes” mind-set,
and that model aviation should be
recognized as a respected sport.
The sport of aeromodeling is in your
hands to promote.
contest activity: The Indy Sportliners
will hold the Al Pitts Memorial Contest
Sunday, June 3, 2001 at the AMA
International Aeromodeling Center,
Muncie IN. Beginner, Intermediate,
Advanced, and Expert Precision
Aerobatics will be flown.
AMA Sport and Profile and a Fun Scale
event using the flight scoring of the Sport
event will be offered in the Scale category.
John Davis ([317] 861-9990) will be
directing the Stunt events and George
Kite will be directing the Scale events.
Call or write to George Kite, 109 N.
Denny St., Indianapolis IN 46201; Tel:
(317) 356-4777, for a flyer.
The photos in this month’s column are of
the people and airplanes at the Wisconsin
Circlemasters 2000 Stunt and Scale
contest. Other photos from this contest
appeared in the March 2001 column.
please send ideas, notice of upcoming
CL Scale events, contest reports, and
photos of CL Scale activity to me at the
address at the top of this column. MA
