CONTROL LINE SCALE
Bill Boss, 77-06 269th St., New Hyde Park, NY 11040
FAI COMPETITION WORKSHOPS:
Are you a CL or RC scale modeler who is interested in FAI competition? Have you ever thought about becoming a U.S. Scale team member to compete internationally? Would you like to know more about the FAI contest rules — model requirements, K factors, and how models are scored in static and flight judging?
Last year's Scale Team Manager Lloyd Roberts, with the help of longtime Scale enthusiast and experienced FAI judge George Buso, has developed a program intended to answer those questions. The object of the program is to help any Scale modeler with FAI competition ambitions understand the rules and demands. It is also being implemented to increase participation in FAI team-selection trials and to provide top-notch Scale teams for the World Championships to be held in Sweden in 2006.
Selection of the U.S. teams (RC and CL) for the 2006 World Championships will take place at the AMA Nats, when the Scale events will be judged and flown August 5–7, 2005. Event directors and coordinators for the Nats are:
- Jim Rediske — RC Scale event director
- Mike Welshans — CL Scale event director
- Mike Gretz — FAI Team Selection Coordinator
(On the subject of the Nats: CL Fun Scale will be offered as a new event this year.)
FAI Competition Workshops are planned for Wittman, Arizona, and Huntersville, North Carolina. There are also plans to hold a session somewhere in the central part of the country before the 2005 Nats to accommodate Scale modelers across the country. Because of this column's publishing schedule, I was unable to provide information about the West Coast program, which was planned for March 11–13.
The Huntersville, North Carolina session is planned for April 8–10, 2005. It will be held at the David B. Weymer Flying Field on Holbrook Road, maintained by the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Commission. The Metrolina Control Line Society will host the event. George Buso will be the lead Contest Director (CD), and Charles (Sunny) Williams (423 Huntingcreek Rd., Mathews, NC 28104), president of the Metrolina organization, will be the assistant CD.
Each session will include RC and CL activity. Although these workshops are not competitions, there will be static judging and flying. Various aspects of FAI judging rules will be discussed and critiqued. Participants will act as judges, and experienced AMA judges who want to learn about FAI are welcome to participate.
The goal of the sessions is to make the Scale flying community more knowledgeable about FAI competition and ultimately assemble strong World Championships Scale teams to bring the USA to the top of the podium. This program is aimed at those with prior competition experience; however, any modeler is welcome to attend as an observer. What you see and hear might be the spark that gets you to try your hand at Scale-model building and flying.
Additional information about the program can be obtained from:
- George Buso, 11 Maple Ln., Hyde Park, NY 12538; Tel.: (845) 229-2371
- Lloyd Roberts, 140 Porter St., Rockport, ME 04856; Tel.: (207) 596-2095; E-mail: [email protected]
Contest Report:
Thanks to Lou Matustik of Saint Louis, Missouri, I received a report and photos of the Lafayette Esquadrille CL club's September 25, 2004 Scale contest. This annual event is held at Buder Park in Saint Louis. The turnout was good, with 20 models entered.
Notable entries included:
- Chuck Snyder (Cincinnati, Ohio): a great-looking and great-flying Hawker Typhoon powered by an O.S. 120 four-stroke engine with operational flaps, bomb drop, and other impressive features.
- Rich Raftery: a fine-looking profile P-47 powered with a Fox .35 engine.
- Charlie Bauer: an unusual Boomerang powered by two 30-size rotary Wankel engines. The Boomerang had a distinctive sound in the air and flew well.
Lou said the contest will be held in September this year at the Buder Park location, and he hopes the turnout will be even better than in 2004. Watch the AMA Contest Calendar for a specific date.
Lou also noted that he especially enjoyed the clear explanation of the throttle-control system's operation that I wrote in the November 2004 column. He related that "Even after many years of carrier flying, I still often had problems getting perfect operation." That article also resulted in a couple of telephone calls from modelers planning to build Scale models who had further questions. I'm glad it was enjoyed and helpful.
The XP-55 Ascender featured in the November 2004 column produced comments from Richard Moeller (Prunedale, California), Robert Burns (O'Fallon, Missouri), Leon Rykartsky (Detroit, Michigan), and Bill Young (Flagstaff, Arizona).
Richard Moeller said, "I almost couldn't believe what I saw in your column in November 2004 — the picture of a near-scale model of the XP-55." He noted that he had admired the XP-55 since he first saw it fly over his house during World War II and later saw the airplane take off from Saint Louis's Lambert Field, where the Curtiss-Wright facility was located. Richard has collected XP-55 data and learned that three airplanes were built: serials 278845, 278846, and 278847. He noted that 278845 and 278847 crashed during development and that the remains of 278846 rest in the Smithsonian Paul E. Garber Facility in Silver Hill, Maryland, awaiting restoration.
Richard and Bill Young noted that much detail has been published about the Ascender in the American Aviation Historical Society's AAHS Journal and that NACA/NASA have published many papers about the design. According to Bill, the aircraft was rigged as a flying wing, and the small foreplane carried no load but was there to improve the flying wing's low-speed pitch control.
Leon Rykartsky sent several pages of data about Circular Proposal R-40C, which called for development of a fighter powered by the Pratt & Whitney X-1800-A3G engine in an unconventional design. The information follows the aircraft's design and development; if you want a copy, please send me an SASE.
Robert Burns noted that the XP-55 Ascender has been a program subject on The History Channel; watch for replays, as that station frequently re-airs programs.
A rules-change cycle began with the first of the year. If you are inclined to propose a change to any rule, you have until the beginning of September to do so.
Bill Young, whom I mentioned above, provides electronic control systems for CL models. If you are interested in using electronic controls, contact Bill Young Designs at 4403 E. Rustic Knolls Ln., Flagstaff, AZ 86004; E-mail: [email protected].
Again I appeal to CL Scale modelers to keep this column alive by telling us about your latest projects and club happenings. Please send items, notices of upcoming CL Scale events, contest reports, and especially photos of CL Scale activity to me at the address at the top of this column.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
