September 2004 51
by Terry Terrenoire
This page: Quique Somenzini with his original-design Yak-54F. He placed a close
second behind George Hicks in the first E-TOC. Performances were outstanding!
THIS YEAR’S TRIP to the 50th annual
Toledo Weak Signals trade show was on my
agenda for one purpose: to learn more about
the emerging technology in electric flying.
Not only did I learn from the many
manufacturers and distributors on the show
floor, but I also made it to the first—and I
hope annual—Electric Tournament of
Champions, or E-TOC, at the University of
Toledo.
Tom Kroggel, Greg Poppel, and Mike
Skibinski conceived and organized this
incredible event, and it was sponsored by
TnT Landing Gear Products
(www.tntlandinggear.com), Fly RC
magazine (www.flyrc.com), and RC
Universe (www.rcuniverse.com).
The late Bill Bennett sponsored the TOC
invitational meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, in
which pilots flew challenging aerobatic
maneuvers with their RC Scale Aerobatics
models. Competitors flew three schedules: a
Known sequence that the pilots practiced, an
Unknown sequence that was revealed to the
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:08 am Page 51
52 MODEL AVIATION
Mike McConville placed fifth flying his George Hicks-designed
Tensor 4D. Notice the carbon-fiber-rod wing bracing.
Chip Hyde readies his Double Vision EP biplane for a flight. He flew an aggressive
program to Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and placed fourth.
Right: Frank Noll flew this Jason Noll-designed Yaxtra 540T to
Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” but had some bad luck. Photo
provided by Fly RC magazine.
L-R: John Glezellis,
who flew his Ikarus
Shock Flyer to
third place;
champion George
Hicks with his
original-design Eflite
Tensor 4D; and
runner-up Quique
Somenzini with his
E-flite Yak-54F.
Photos by the author
pilots the night before they had to fly it in
front of the judges, and a Freestyle sequence
during which the pilots demonstrated their
unique capabilities as well as their
airplanes’. The latter event evolved to be
flown to the pilot’s choice of music.
With Bill Bennett’s TOC as the basis,
Tom, Greg, and Mike set out to challenge
some of the best pilots to present a Freestyle
type of program using only electric-powered
airplanes in a low-ceiling gymnasium. This
contest was scheduled for Friday evening
during the Toledo trade show, held the first
weekend in April.
A total of 11 invitees attended the 2004 ETOC,
including George Hicks, Quique
Somenzini, John Glezellis, Mike
McConville, Andrew Jesky, Chip Hyde,
Jason Noll, Sean McMurtry, Jason
Shulman, Darren Eaton, and Frank Noll.
Those would have to be among the top
20 pilots in the country. In the past six years
of my officiating at the Nats in Muncie IN, I
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:09 am Page 52
September 2004 53
Chart courtesy Fly RC magazine
have been privileged to see most of them compete, I count a few as
friends, and they are all great ambassadors for our sport.
The participants flew two qualifying rounds, and the top six
combined scores from these rounds determined the finalists who
would fly one additional round to determine the winner.
The venue at Toledo University only had a 23-foot-high ceiling.
Despite that constraint, the pilots managed to present outstanding
two-minute routines choreographed to loud and exciting music that
integrated pitching and rolling maneuvers and spectacular hovering
and torque-rolling elements.
Many credit George Hicks with being among the first to develop
the type of model that was flown in this event. He flew a newly
designed biplane called the Tensor 4D. It was made from sheet foam
and had thin carbon-fiber-rod bracing “wires” to hold everything in
alignment.
George flew his routine to a moderately paced classical piece,
and his style was extremely fluid with many rolling circles and
knife-edge elements. He was particularly adept at performing
maneuvers right on the beat of the music. His routine included a
torque roll that reversed direction! George flew three outstanding
flights to capture the first-place prize of $1,000. Not bad for an
evening’s work!
Second place went to Quique Somenzini, who flew an originaldesign
Yak-54 that featured a full foam fuselage. All other
competitors’ airplanes had profile fuselages. His performance was
exciting to watch and was flown to up-tempo Latin beat music.
Quique’s routine included many dramatic pitching maneuvers,
including Square Loops that he flew between the roof supports for
clearance! He even threw in a few Knife Edge Loops. Always the
showman, Quique added streamers to his model’s wingtips to
accentuate the tight 3-D aspects. He took home a check for $500 for
his efforts.
John Glezellis flew a brightly colored Ikarus Shock Flyer that
looked a great deal like a Stephens Akro, and his third-place
performance can be summed up in one word: consistent. There were
fewer pitching maneuvers in his pattern, but the rolling maneuvers
were excellent and his routine had a nice pace. John was sneaky
smooth! He received a check for $250.
Space does not permit a complete report on all the competitors’
performances, but an aspect of Jason Noll’s routine is worthy of
note. He also flew the Ikarus Shock Flyer, and he began his routine
by having his helper place the wheels of the model against the top of
a table that had been set on end with the table portion vertical in the
air.
Jason “danced” the airplane against the vertical surface to the
music, and when the tempo increased, he shot the model off the
table and performed a tight knife-edge turn to begin the flying
portion of his performance. Jason did mostly rolling maneuvers, and
at the end of his flight he hovered the model back onto the table.
During one flight he even hooked the wheel pants over the top edge
of the table and shut off the motor at the end of the music. It was
spectacular!
The flying was great. It was fun to watch. But so what? Who is
going to benefit from seeing a few talented pilots fly “toy
airplanes”? I think we all will in the end.
How did you get started in model flying? Chances are that if you
are older than 45, you remember seeing low-flying private aircraft
and commercial propeller-driven airplanes in the air over your
house.
On weekends you would hear the sounds of a CL model flying at
the local school yard or in an empty parking lot. If you took a
couple-minute bike ride, you could watch the action firsthand.
Between flights the pilot would answer your questions and maybe
even give you a chance to launch his model for him.
There must be something addictive about the smell of burning
castor oil, because most of us who experienced this early exposure
are still seeking the “fix.”
You may have noticed that a few things have changed in the past
50 years. The kids are more likely to be inside playing computer
games than outside where they can hear the drone of the engine.
How many “local” school yards are left? Where can you find an
2004 E-TOC Results/Model Information
Pilot/Model Designer/Available From Span/Weight Motor Propeller Li-Poly Battery Speed Control
1 George Hicks/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.3 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Duralite 2S 860 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
2 Quique Somenzini/Yak-54F Quique Somenzini/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 33 inches/11.8 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Hacker
860 mAh
3 John Glezellis/ Martin Muller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Jeti Advance 8 amp
Super Star Shock Flyer 730 mAh
4 Chip Hyde/Double Vision EP Chip Hyde, Greg Ward/ 22 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 Kokam 3S 340 mAh 20C Jeti 18-3P
Hobby Lobby (Raptor 3D)
5 Mike McConville/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.5 ounces AXI 2208/26 E-flite 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 2S Castle Creations Phoenix-10
860 mAh
6 Andrew Jesky/Yak-54 Dewey Davenport/Andrew Jesky 39 inches/14 ounces Hacker brushless GWS 12 x 6 Duralite 3S 1320 mAh Hacker
7 Jason Noll/Super Star Shock Flyer Martin Mueller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/6 ounces Typhoon 6 GWS 9 x 5 Apogee 3S 830 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
8 Sean McMurtry/Ultimate 10-300 — — AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 FMA Direct Kokam 3S Jeti 18-3P
340 mAh 20C
9 Jason Shulman/The Guppy Jason Shulman/Shulman Aviation.com 30 inches/13.5 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 3.8 Thunder Power 1300 Hacker Master 18-B-F
geared 4:1
10 Darren Eaton/Yak-54 Nikitas Aircraft 37 inches/14 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 4.7 FMA Direct Kokam Castle Creations Phoenix-25
geared 4:1 3S 1500 mAh
11 Frank Noll/Yaxtra 540 T Jason Noll/NA 38 inches/17 ounces HiMax 5400 GWS 12 x 8 Duralite 3S 1050 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-25
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 53
empty parking lot? And if you can find one,
will the owner let you use it?
As far as seeing lightplanes fly over your
house, we have fewer small-airplane
airports every year. We have lost two in our
area in the past five years, and another is
under the gun as I write this!
The public has grown numb to flying. It
has become routine, safe, and efficient, and
it has been far removed from the general
populations. In the same manner, our
modeling activities have been relegated to
the far-off fields that present no intrusion on
the neighbors.
Residents will tolerate a 110-decibel
lawn mower running under their bedroom
window, but heaven forbid that the kid next
door start up a 90-decibel model-airplane
engine, let alone try to fly it.
Now along comes electric flight. Noise is
no longer an issue, and with most of the
small airplanes weighing less than 20
ounces, we can show the town officials or
landowners a minimal risk factor. We can
safely fly in large back yards, small baseball
fields, or even in a large gymnasium.
Once again we can expose the youth to
the joys and challenges of flight, and at the
same time we address another issue: cost.
The typical glow-powered trainer will take
$400-$500 to get airborne, but now we can
get the kid next door airborne for roughly
$200.
If you would like to learn more about the
models used in the first E-TOC, go to the
RC Universe Web site. It has a wonderful
spread of color photos of the event and highresolution
video clips of the pilot
introductions and clips from each flight. TnT
Landing Gear Products also has a large ETOC
Web site presentation, and it contains
all judging criteria and detailed event rules.
As I was finishing this piece, I received a
copy of SKS Video Productions’ E-TOC
video. It is an excellent production that
captures the excitement and action of the
event. It features interviews with all of the
competitors in which they discuss their
models and the equipment they used. Each
qualification and final flight is shown, and
the camera work is outstanding. The
program has a run time of 97 minutes.
I highly recommend this video to anyone
who has an interest in this type of flying. To
get a copy, call SKS Video Productions at
(800) 988-6488, E-mail
[email protected], or go to
www.sksvideo.com.
Don’t miss next year’s E-TOC; it’s bound to
become one of the major “things to do” at
the annual Toledo trade show. MA
Terry Terrenoire
101 Smithfield Dr.
Endicott NY 13760
(Editor’s note: The MA staff thanks Fly
RC magazine—one of the E-TOC’s primary
sponsors—for providing the equipmentinformation
charts included with this article.
Special thanks to Fly RC Editor in Chief
Tom Atwood for his personal involvement in
facilitating the use and delivery of this
material.)
54 MODEL AVIATION
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
E-TOC Radios
Pilot Transmitter Receiver Servos
Darren Eaton Futaba 9Z FMA M5 Futaba 3108
John Glezellis JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
George Hicks JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
Chip Hyde Futaba 9C GWS R-4PII/H HS-55
Andrew Jesky JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
Mike McConville JR 10X JR 610M (without case) JR281 Digital
Sean McMurtry Futaba 9Z Hitec Electron —
Frank Noll Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Jason Noll Futaba 8UAP FMA M5 Ikarus Lexor micro 100
Jason Shulman Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Quique Somenzini JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 54
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 51,52,53,54
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 51,52,53,54
September 2004 51
by Terry Terrenoire
This page: Quique Somenzini with his original-design Yak-54F. He placed a close
second behind George Hicks in the first E-TOC. Performances were outstanding!
THIS YEAR’S TRIP to the 50th annual
Toledo Weak Signals trade show was on my
agenda for one purpose: to learn more about
the emerging technology in electric flying.
Not only did I learn from the many
manufacturers and distributors on the show
floor, but I also made it to the first—and I
hope annual—Electric Tournament of
Champions, or E-TOC, at the University of
Toledo.
Tom Kroggel, Greg Poppel, and Mike
Skibinski conceived and organized this
incredible event, and it was sponsored by
TnT Landing Gear Products
(www.tntlandinggear.com), Fly RC
magazine (www.flyrc.com), and RC
Universe (www.rcuniverse.com).
The late Bill Bennett sponsored the TOC
invitational meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, in
which pilots flew challenging aerobatic
maneuvers with their RC Scale Aerobatics
models. Competitors flew three schedules: a
Known sequence that the pilots practiced, an
Unknown sequence that was revealed to the
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:08 am Page 51
52 MODEL AVIATION
Mike McConville placed fifth flying his George Hicks-designed
Tensor 4D. Notice the carbon-fiber-rod wing bracing.
Chip Hyde readies his Double Vision EP biplane for a flight. He flew an aggressive
program to Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and placed fourth.
Right: Frank Noll flew this Jason Noll-designed Yaxtra 540T to
Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” but had some bad luck. Photo
provided by Fly RC magazine.
L-R: John Glezellis,
who flew his Ikarus
Shock Flyer to
third place;
champion George
Hicks with his
original-design Eflite
Tensor 4D; and
runner-up Quique
Somenzini with his
E-flite Yak-54F.
Photos by the author
pilots the night before they had to fly it in
front of the judges, and a Freestyle sequence
during which the pilots demonstrated their
unique capabilities as well as their
airplanes’. The latter event evolved to be
flown to the pilot’s choice of music.
With Bill Bennett’s TOC as the basis,
Tom, Greg, and Mike set out to challenge
some of the best pilots to present a Freestyle
type of program using only electric-powered
airplanes in a low-ceiling gymnasium. This
contest was scheduled for Friday evening
during the Toledo trade show, held the first
weekend in April.
A total of 11 invitees attended the 2004 ETOC,
including George Hicks, Quique
Somenzini, John Glezellis, Mike
McConville, Andrew Jesky, Chip Hyde,
Jason Noll, Sean McMurtry, Jason
Shulman, Darren Eaton, and Frank Noll.
Those would have to be among the top
20 pilots in the country. In the past six years
of my officiating at the Nats in Muncie IN, I
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:09 am Page 52
September 2004 53
Chart courtesy Fly RC magazine
have been privileged to see most of them compete, I count a few as
friends, and they are all great ambassadors for our sport.
The participants flew two qualifying rounds, and the top six
combined scores from these rounds determined the finalists who
would fly one additional round to determine the winner.
The venue at Toledo University only had a 23-foot-high ceiling.
Despite that constraint, the pilots managed to present outstanding
two-minute routines choreographed to loud and exciting music that
integrated pitching and rolling maneuvers and spectacular hovering
and torque-rolling elements.
Many credit George Hicks with being among the first to develop
the type of model that was flown in this event. He flew a newly
designed biplane called the Tensor 4D. It was made from sheet foam
and had thin carbon-fiber-rod bracing “wires” to hold everything in
alignment.
George flew his routine to a moderately paced classical piece,
and his style was extremely fluid with many rolling circles and
knife-edge elements. He was particularly adept at performing
maneuvers right on the beat of the music. His routine included a
torque roll that reversed direction! George flew three outstanding
flights to capture the first-place prize of $1,000. Not bad for an
evening’s work!
Second place went to Quique Somenzini, who flew an originaldesign
Yak-54 that featured a full foam fuselage. All other
competitors’ airplanes had profile fuselages. His performance was
exciting to watch and was flown to up-tempo Latin beat music.
Quique’s routine included many dramatic pitching maneuvers,
including Square Loops that he flew between the roof supports for
clearance! He even threw in a few Knife Edge Loops. Always the
showman, Quique added streamers to his model’s wingtips to
accentuate the tight 3-D aspects. He took home a check for $500 for
his efforts.
John Glezellis flew a brightly colored Ikarus Shock Flyer that
looked a great deal like a Stephens Akro, and his third-place
performance can be summed up in one word: consistent. There were
fewer pitching maneuvers in his pattern, but the rolling maneuvers
were excellent and his routine had a nice pace. John was sneaky
smooth! He received a check for $250.
Space does not permit a complete report on all the competitors’
performances, but an aspect of Jason Noll’s routine is worthy of
note. He also flew the Ikarus Shock Flyer, and he began his routine
by having his helper place the wheels of the model against the top of
a table that had been set on end with the table portion vertical in the
air.
Jason “danced” the airplane against the vertical surface to the
music, and when the tempo increased, he shot the model off the
table and performed a tight knife-edge turn to begin the flying
portion of his performance. Jason did mostly rolling maneuvers, and
at the end of his flight he hovered the model back onto the table.
During one flight he even hooked the wheel pants over the top edge
of the table and shut off the motor at the end of the music. It was
spectacular!
The flying was great. It was fun to watch. But so what? Who is
going to benefit from seeing a few talented pilots fly “toy
airplanes”? I think we all will in the end.
How did you get started in model flying? Chances are that if you
are older than 45, you remember seeing low-flying private aircraft
and commercial propeller-driven airplanes in the air over your
house.
On weekends you would hear the sounds of a CL model flying at
the local school yard or in an empty parking lot. If you took a
couple-minute bike ride, you could watch the action firsthand.
Between flights the pilot would answer your questions and maybe
even give you a chance to launch his model for him.
There must be something addictive about the smell of burning
castor oil, because most of us who experienced this early exposure
are still seeking the “fix.”
You may have noticed that a few things have changed in the past
50 years. The kids are more likely to be inside playing computer
games than outside where they can hear the drone of the engine.
How many “local” school yards are left? Where can you find an
2004 E-TOC Results/Model Information
Pilot/Model Designer/Available From Span/Weight Motor Propeller Li-Poly Battery Speed Control
1 George Hicks/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.3 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Duralite 2S 860 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
2 Quique Somenzini/Yak-54F Quique Somenzini/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 33 inches/11.8 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Hacker
860 mAh
3 John Glezellis/ Martin Muller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Jeti Advance 8 amp
Super Star Shock Flyer 730 mAh
4 Chip Hyde/Double Vision EP Chip Hyde, Greg Ward/ 22 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 Kokam 3S 340 mAh 20C Jeti 18-3P
Hobby Lobby (Raptor 3D)
5 Mike McConville/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.5 ounces AXI 2208/26 E-flite 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 2S Castle Creations Phoenix-10
860 mAh
6 Andrew Jesky/Yak-54 Dewey Davenport/Andrew Jesky 39 inches/14 ounces Hacker brushless GWS 12 x 6 Duralite 3S 1320 mAh Hacker
7 Jason Noll/Super Star Shock Flyer Martin Mueller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/6 ounces Typhoon 6 GWS 9 x 5 Apogee 3S 830 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
8 Sean McMurtry/Ultimate 10-300 — — AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 FMA Direct Kokam 3S Jeti 18-3P
340 mAh 20C
9 Jason Shulman/The Guppy Jason Shulman/Shulman Aviation.com 30 inches/13.5 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 3.8 Thunder Power 1300 Hacker Master 18-B-F
geared 4:1
10 Darren Eaton/Yak-54 Nikitas Aircraft 37 inches/14 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 4.7 FMA Direct Kokam Castle Creations Phoenix-25
geared 4:1 3S 1500 mAh
11 Frank Noll/Yaxtra 540 T Jason Noll/NA 38 inches/17 ounces HiMax 5400 GWS 12 x 8 Duralite 3S 1050 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-25
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 53
empty parking lot? And if you can find one,
will the owner let you use it?
As far as seeing lightplanes fly over your
house, we have fewer small-airplane
airports every year. We have lost two in our
area in the past five years, and another is
under the gun as I write this!
The public has grown numb to flying. It
has become routine, safe, and efficient, and
it has been far removed from the general
populations. In the same manner, our
modeling activities have been relegated to
the far-off fields that present no intrusion on
the neighbors.
Residents will tolerate a 110-decibel
lawn mower running under their bedroom
window, but heaven forbid that the kid next
door start up a 90-decibel model-airplane
engine, let alone try to fly it.
Now along comes electric flight. Noise is
no longer an issue, and with most of the
small airplanes weighing less than 20
ounces, we can show the town officials or
landowners a minimal risk factor. We can
safely fly in large back yards, small baseball
fields, or even in a large gymnasium.
Once again we can expose the youth to
the joys and challenges of flight, and at the
same time we address another issue: cost.
The typical glow-powered trainer will take
$400-$500 to get airborne, but now we can
get the kid next door airborne for roughly
$200.
If you would like to learn more about the
models used in the first E-TOC, go to the
RC Universe Web site. It has a wonderful
spread of color photos of the event and highresolution
video clips of the pilot
introductions and clips from each flight. TnT
Landing Gear Products also has a large ETOC
Web site presentation, and it contains
all judging criteria and detailed event rules.
As I was finishing this piece, I received a
copy of SKS Video Productions’ E-TOC
video. It is an excellent production that
captures the excitement and action of the
event. It features interviews with all of the
competitors in which they discuss their
models and the equipment they used. Each
qualification and final flight is shown, and
the camera work is outstanding. The
program has a run time of 97 minutes.
I highly recommend this video to anyone
who has an interest in this type of flying. To
get a copy, call SKS Video Productions at
(800) 988-6488, E-mail
[email protected], or go to
www.sksvideo.com.
Don’t miss next year’s E-TOC; it’s bound to
become one of the major “things to do” at
the annual Toledo trade show. MA
Terry Terrenoire
101 Smithfield Dr.
Endicott NY 13760
(Editor’s note: The MA staff thanks Fly
RC magazine—one of the E-TOC’s primary
sponsors—for providing the equipmentinformation
charts included with this article.
Special thanks to Fly RC Editor in Chief
Tom Atwood for his personal involvement in
facilitating the use and delivery of this
material.)
54 MODEL AVIATION
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
E-TOC Radios
Pilot Transmitter Receiver Servos
Darren Eaton Futaba 9Z FMA M5 Futaba 3108
John Glezellis JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
George Hicks JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
Chip Hyde Futaba 9C GWS R-4PII/H HS-55
Andrew Jesky JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
Mike McConville JR 10X JR 610M (without case) JR281 Digital
Sean McMurtry Futaba 9Z Hitec Electron —
Frank Noll Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Jason Noll Futaba 8UAP FMA M5 Ikarus Lexor micro 100
Jason Shulman Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Quique Somenzini JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 54
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 51,52,53,54
September 2004 51
by Terry Terrenoire
This page: Quique Somenzini with his original-design Yak-54F. He placed a close
second behind George Hicks in the first E-TOC. Performances were outstanding!
THIS YEAR’S TRIP to the 50th annual
Toledo Weak Signals trade show was on my
agenda for one purpose: to learn more about
the emerging technology in electric flying.
Not only did I learn from the many
manufacturers and distributors on the show
floor, but I also made it to the first—and I
hope annual—Electric Tournament of
Champions, or E-TOC, at the University of
Toledo.
Tom Kroggel, Greg Poppel, and Mike
Skibinski conceived and organized this
incredible event, and it was sponsored by
TnT Landing Gear Products
(www.tntlandinggear.com), Fly RC
magazine (www.flyrc.com), and RC
Universe (www.rcuniverse.com).
The late Bill Bennett sponsored the TOC
invitational meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, in
which pilots flew challenging aerobatic
maneuvers with their RC Scale Aerobatics
models. Competitors flew three schedules: a
Known sequence that the pilots practiced, an
Unknown sequence that was revealed to the
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:08 am Page 51
52 MODEL AVIATION
Mike McConville placed fifth flying his George Hicks-designed
Tensor 4D. Notice the carbon-fiber-rod wing bracing.
Chip Hyde readies his Double Vision EP biplane for a flight. He flew an aggressive
program to Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and placed fourth.
Right: Frank Noll flew this Jason Noll-designed Yaxtra 540T to
Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” but had some bad luck. Photo
provided by Fly RC magazine.
L-R: John Glezellis,
who flew his Ikarus
Shock Flyer to
third place;
champion George
Hicks with his
original-design Eflite
Tensor 4D; and
runner-up Quique
Somenzini with his
E-flite Yak-54F.
Photos by the author
pilots the night before they had to fly it in
front of the judges, and a Freestyle sequence
during which the pilots demonstrated their
unique capabilities as well as their
airplanes’. The latter event evolved to be
flown to the pilot’s choice of music.
With Bill Bennett’s TOC as the basis,
Tom, Greg, and Mike set out to challenge
some of the best pilots to present a Freestyle
type of program using only electric-powered
airplanes in a low-ceiling gymnasium. This
contest was scheduled for Friday evening
during the Toledo trade show, held the first
weekend in April.
A total of 11 invitees attended the 2004 ETOC,
including George Hicks, Quique
Somenzini, John Glezellis, Mike
McConville, Andrew Jesky, Chip Hyde,
Jason Noll, Sean McMurtry, Jason
Shulman, Darren Eaton, and Frank Noll.
Those would have to be among the top
20 pilots in the country. In the past six years
of my officiating at the Nats in Muncie IN, I
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:09 am Page 52
September 2004 53
Chart courtesy Fly RC magazine
have been privileged to see most of them compete, I count a few as
friends, and they are all great ambassadors for our sport.
The participants flew two qualifying rounds, and the top six
combined scores from these rounds determined the finalists who
would fly one additional round to determine the winner.
The venue at Toledo University only had a 23-foot-high ceiling.
Despite that constraint, the pilots managed to present outstanding
two-minute routines choreographed to loud and exciting music that
integrated pitching and rolling maneuvers and spectacular hovering
and torque-rolling elements.
Many credit George Hicks with being among the first to develop
the type of model that was flown in this event. He flew a newly
designed biplane called the Tensor 4D. It was made from sheet foam
and had thin carbon-fiber-rod bracing “wires” to hold everything in
alignment.
George flew his routine to a moderately paced classical piece,
and his style was extremely fluid with many rolling circles and
knife-edge elements. He was particularly adept at performing
maneuvers right on the beat of the music. His routine included a
torque roll that reversed direction! George flew three outstanding
flights to capture the first-place prize of $1,000. Not bad for an
evening’s work!
Second place went to Quique Somenzini, who flew an originaldesign
Yak-54 that featured a full foam fuselage. All other
competitors’ airplanes had profile fuselages. His performance was
exciting to watch and was flown to up-tempo Latin beat music.
Quique’s routine included many dramatic pitching maneuvers,
including Square Loops that he flew between the roof supports for
clearance! He even threw in a few Knife Edge Loops. Always the
showman, Quique added streamers to his model’s wingtips to
accentuate the tight 3-D aspects. He took home a check for $500 for
his efforts.
John Glezellis flew a brightly colored Ikarus Shock Flyer that
looked a great deal like a Stephens Akro, and his third-place
performance can be summed up in one word: consistent. There were
fewer pitching maneuvers in his pattern, but the rolling maneuvers
were excellent and his routine had a nice pace. John was sneaky
smooth! He received a check for $250.
Space does not permit a complete report on all the competitors’
performances, but an aspect of Jason Noll’s routine is worthy of
note. He also flew the Ikarus Shock Flyer, and he began his routine
by having his helper place the wheels of the model against the top of
a table that had been set on end with the table portion vertical in the
air.
Jason “danced” the airplane against the vertical surface to the
music, and when the tempo increased, he shot the model off the
table and performed a tight knife-edge turn to begin the flying
portion of his performance. Jason did mostly rolling maneuvers, and
at the end of his flight he hovered the model back onto the table.
During one flight he even hooked the wheel pants over the top edge
of the table and shut off the motor at the end of the music. It was
spectacular!
The flying was great. It was fun to watch. But so what? Who is
going to benefit from seeing a few talented pilots fly “toy
airplanes”? I think we all will in the end.
How did you get started in model flying? Chances are that if you
are older than 45, you remember seeing low-flying private aircraft
and commercial propeller-driven airplanes in the air over your
house.
On weekends you would hear the sounds of a CL model flying at
the local school yard or in an empty parking lot. If you took a
couple-minute bike ride, you could watch the action firsthand.
Between flights the pilot would answer your questions and maybe
even give you a chance to launch his model for him.
There must be something addictive about the smell of burning
castor oil, because most of us who experienced this early exposure
are still seeking the “fix.”
You may have noticed that a few things have changed in the past
50 years. The kids are more likely to be inside playing computer
games than outside where they can hear the drone of the engine.
How many “local” school yards are left? Where can you find an
2004 E-TOC Results/Model Information
Pilot/Model Designer/Available From Span/Weight Motor Propeller Li-Poly Battery Speed Control
1 George Hicks/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.3 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Duralite 2S 860 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
2 Quique Somenzini/Yak-54F Quique Somenzini/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 33 inches/11.8 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Hacker
860 mAh
3 John Glezellis/ Martin Muller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Jeti Advance 8 amp
Super Star Shock Flyer 730 mAh
4 Chip Hyde/Double Vision EP Chip Hyde, Greg Ward/ 22 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 Kokam 3S 340 mAh 20C Jeti 18-3P
Hobby Lobby (Raptor 3D)
5 Mike McConville/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.5 ounces AXI 2208/26 E-flite 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 2S Castle Creations Phoenix-10
860 mAh
6 Andrew Jesky/Yak-54 Dewey Davenport/Andrew Jesky 39 inches/14 ounces Hacker brushless GWS 12 x 6 Duralite 3S 1320 mAh Hacker
7 Jason Noll/Super Star Shock Flyer Martin Mueller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/6 ounces Typhoon 6 GWS 9 x 5 Apogee 3S 830 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
8 Sean McMurtry/Ultimate 10-300 — — AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 FMA Direct Kokam 3S Jeti 18-3P
340 mAh 20C
9 Jason Shulman/The Guppy Jason Shulman/Shulman Aviation.com 30 inches/13.5 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 3.8 Thunder Power 1300 Hacker Master 18-B-F
geared 4:1
10 Darren Eaton/Yak-54 Nikitas Aircraft 37 inches/14 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 4.7 FMA Direct Kokam Castle Creations Phoenix-25
geared 4:1 3S 1500 mAh
11 Frank Noll/Yaxtra 540 T Jason Noll/NA 38 inches/17 ounces HiMax 5400 GWS 12 x 8 Duralite 3S 1050 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-25
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 53
empty parking lot? And if you can find one,
will the owner let you use it?
As far as seeing lightplanes fly over your
house, we have fewer small-airplane
airports every year. We have lost two in our
area in the past five years, and another is
under the gun as I write this!
The public has grown numb to flying. It
has become routine, safe, and efficient, and
it has been far removed from the general
populations. In the same manner, our
modeling activities have been relegated to
the far-off fields that present no intrusion on
the neighbors.
Residents will tolerate a 110-decibel
lawn mower running under their bedroom
window, but heaven forbid that the kid next
door start up a 90-decibel model-airplane
engine, let alone try to fly it.
Now along comes electric flight. Noise is
no longer an issue, and with most of the
small airplanes weighing less than 20
ounces, we can show the town officials or
landowners a minimal risk factor. We can
safely fly in large back yards, small baseball
fields, or even in a large gymnasium.
Once again we can expose the youth to
the joys and challenges of flight, and at the
same time we address another issue: cost.
The typical glow-powered trainer will take
$400-$500 to get airborne, but now we can
get the kid next door airborne for roughly
$200.
If you would like to learn more about the
models used in the first E-TOC, go to the
RC Universe Web site. It has a wonderful
spread of color photos of the event and highresolution
video clips of the pilot
introductions and clips from each flight. TnT
Landing Gear Products also has a large ETOC
Web site presentation, and it contains
all judging criteria and detailed event rules.
As I was finishing this piece, I received a
copy of SKS Video Productions’ E-TOC
video. It is an excellent production that
captures the excitement and action of the
event. It features interviews with all of the
competitors in which they discuss their
models and the equipment they used. Each
qualification and final flight is shown, and
the camera work is outstanding. The
program has a run time of 97 minutes.
I highly recommend this video to anyone
who has an interest in this type of flying. To
get a copy, call SKS Video Productions at
(800) 988-6488, E-mail
[email protected], or go to
www.sksvideo.com.
Don’t miss next year’s E-TOC; it’s bound to
become one of the major “things to do” at
the annual Toledo trade show. MA
Terry Terrenoire
101 Smithfield Dr.
Endicott NY 13760
(Editor’s note: The MA staff thanks Fly
RC magazine—one of the E-TOC’s primary
sponsors—for providing the equipmentinformation
charts included with this article.
Special thanks to Fly RC Editor in Chief
Tom Atwood for his personal involvement in
facilitating the use and delivery of this
material.)
54 MODEL AVIATION
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
E-TOC Radios
Pilot Transmitter Receiver Servos
Darren Eaton Futaba 9Z FMA M5 Futaba 3108
John Glezellis JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
George Hicks JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
Chip Hyde Futaba 9C GWS R-4PII/H HS-55
Andrew Jesky JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
Mike McConville JR 10X JR 610M (without case) JR281 Digital
Sean McMurtry Futaba 9Z Hitec Electron —
Frank Noll Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Jason Noll Futaba 8UAP FMA M5 Ikarus Lexor micro 100
Jason Shulman Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Quique Somenzini JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 54
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 51,52,53,54
September 2004 51
by Terry Terrenoire
This page: Quique Somenzini with his original-design Yak-54F. He placed a close
second behind George Hicks in the first E-TOC. Performances were outstanding!
THIS YEAR’S TRIP to the 50th annual
Toledo Weak Signals trade show was on my
agenda for one purpose: to learn more about
the emerging technology in electric flying.
Not only did I learn from the many
manufacturers and distributors on the show
floor, but I also made it to the first—and I
hope annual—Electric Tournament of
Champions, or E-TOC, at the University of
Toledo.
Tom Kroggel, Greg Poppel, and Mike
Skibinski conceived and organized this
incredible event, and it was sponsored by
TnT Landing Gear Products
(www.tntlandinggear.com), Fly RC
magazine (www.flyrc.com), and RC
Universe (www.rcuniverse.com).
The late Bill Bennett sponsored the TOC
invitational meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, in
which pilots flew challenging aerobatic
maneuvers with their RC Scale Aerobatics
models. Competitors flew three schedules: a
Known sequence that the pilots practiced, an
Unknown sequence that was revealed to the
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:08 am Page 51
52 MODEL AVIATION
Mike McConville placed fifth flying his George Hicks-designed
Tensor 4D. Notice the carbon-fiber-rod wing bracing.
Chip Hyde readies his Double Vision EP biplane for a flight. He flew an aggressive
program to Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and placed fourth.
Right: Frank Noll flew this Jason Noll-designed Yaxtra 540T to
Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” but had some bad luck. Photo
provided by Fly RC magazine.
L-R: John Glezellis,
who flew his Ikarus
Shock Flyer to
third place;
champion George
Hicks with his
original-design Eflite
Tensor 4D; and
runner-up Quique
Somenzini with his
E-flite Yak-54F.
Photos by the author
pilots the night before they had to fly it in
front of the judges, and a Freestyle sequence
during which the pilots demonstrated their
unique capabilities as well as their
airplanes’. The latter event evolved to be
flown to the pilot’s choice of music.
With Bill Bennett’s TOC as the basis,
Tom, Greg, and Mike set out to challenge
some of the best pilots to present a Freestyle
type of program using only electric-powered
airplanes in a low-ceiling gymnasium. This
contest was scheduled for Friday evening
during the Toledo trade show, held the first
weekend in April.
A total of 11 invitees attended the 2004 ETOC,
including George Hicks, Quique
Somenzini, John Glezellis, Mike
McConville, Andrew Jesky, Chip Hyde,
Jason Noll, Sean McMurtry, Jason
Shulman, Darren Eaton, and Frank Noll.
Those would have to be among the top
20 pilots in the country. In the past six years
of my officiating at the Nats in Muncie IN, I
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:09 am Page 52
September 2004 53
Chart courtesy Fly RC magazine
have been privileged to see most of them compete, I count a few as
friends, and they are all great ambassadors for our sport.
The participants flew two qualifying rounds, and the top six
combined scores from these rounds determined the finalists who
would fly one additional round to determine the winner.
The venue at Toledo University only had a 23-foot-high ceiling.
Despite that constraint, the pilots managed to present outstanding
two-minute routines choreographed to loud and exciting music that
integrated pitching and rolling maneuvers and spectacular hovering
and torque-rolling elements.
Many credit George Hicks with being among the first to develop
the type of model that was flown in this event. He flew a newly
designed biplane called the Tensor 4D. It was made from sheet foam
and had thin carbon-fiber-rod bracing “wires” to hold everything in
alignment.
George flew his routine to a moderately paced classical piece,
and his style was extremely fluid with many rolling circles and
knife-edge elements. He was particularly adept at performing
maneuvers right on the beat of the music. His routine included a
torque roll that reversed direction! George flew three outstanding
flights to capture the first-place prize of $1,000. Not bad for an
evening’s work!
Second place went to Quique Somenzini, who flew an originaldesign
Yak-54 that featured a full foam fuselage. All other
competitors’ airplanes had profile fuselages. His performance was
exciting to watch and was flown to up-tempo Latin beat music.
Quique’s routine included many dramatic pitching maneuvers,
including Square Loops that he flew between the roof supports for
clearance! He even threw in a few Knife Edge Loops. Always the
showman, Quique added streamers to his model’s wingtips to
accentuate the tight 3-D aspects. He took home a check for $500 for
his efforts.
John Glezellis flew a brightly colored Ikarus Shock Flyer that
looked a great deal like a Stephens Akro, and his third-place
performance can be summed up in one word: consistent. There were
fewer pitching maneuvers in his pattern, but the rolling maneuvers
were excellent and his routine had a nice pace. John was sneaky
smooth! He received a check for $250.
Space does not permit a complete report on all the competitors’
performances, but an aspect of Jason Noll’s routine is worthy of
note. He also flew the Ikarus Shock Flyer, and he began his routine
by having his helper place the wheels of the model against the top of
a table that had been set on end with the table portion vertical in the
air.
Jason “danced” the airplane against the vertical surface to the
music, and when the tempo increased, he shot the model off the
table and performed a tight knife-edge turn to begin the flying
portion of his performance. Jason did mostly rolling maneuvers, and
at the end of his flight he hovered the model back onto the table.
During one flight he even hooked the wheel pants over the top edge
of the table and shut off the motor at the end of the music. It was
spectacular!
The flying was great. It was fun to watch. But so what? Who is
going to benefit from seeing a few talented pilots fly “toy
airplanes”? I think we all will in the end.
How did you get started in model flying? Chances are that if you
are older than 45, you remember seeing low-flying private aircraft
and commercial propeller-driven airplanes in the air over your
house.
On weekends you would hear the sounds of a CL model flying at
the local school yard or in an empty parking lot. If you took a
couple-minute bike ride, you could watch the action firsthand.
Between flights the pilot would answer your questions and maybe
even give you a chance to launch his model for him.
There must be something addictive about the smell of burning
castor oil, because most of us who experienced this early exposure
are still seeking the “fix.”
You may have noticed that a few things have changed in the past
50 years. The kids are more likely to be inside playing computer
games than outside where they can hear the drone of the engine.
How many “local” school yards are left? Where can you find an
2004 E-TOC Results/Model Information
Pilot/Model Designer/Available From Span/Weight Motor Propeller Li-Poly Battery Speed Control
1 George Hicks/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.3 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Duralite 2S 860 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
2 Quique Somenzini/Yak-54F Quique Somenzini/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 33 inches/11.8 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Hacker
860 mAh
3 John Glezellis/ Martin Muller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 3S Jeti Advance 8 amp
Super Star Shock Flyer 730 mAh
4 Chip Hyde/Double Vision EP Chip Hyde, Greg Ward/ 22 inches/8 ounces AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 Kokam 3S 340 mAh 20C Jeti 18-3P
Hobby Lobby (Raptor 3D)
5 Mike McConville/Tensor 4D George Hicks/E-flite (Horizon Hobby) 26 inches/9.5 ounces AXI 2208/26 E-flite 10 x 4.7 Thunder Power 2S Castle Creations Phoenix-10
860 mAh
6 Andrew Jesky/Yak-54 Dewey Davenport/Andrew Jesky 39 inches/14 ounces Hacker brushless GWS 12 x 6 Duralite 3S 1320 mAh Hacker
7 Jason Noll/Super Star Shock Flyer Martin Mueller/Ikarus USA 31.5 inches/6 ounces Typhoon 6 GWS 9 x 5 Apogee 3S 830 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-10
8 Sean McMurtry/Ultimate 10-300 — — AXI 2208/34 APC 9 x 3.8 FMA Direct Kokam 3S Jeti 18-3P
340 mAh 20C
9 Jason Shulman/The Guppy Jason Shulman/Shulman Aviation.com 30 inches/13.5 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 3.8 Thunder Power 1300 Hacker Master 18-B-F
geared 4:1
10 Darren Eaton/Yak-54 Nikitas Aircraft 37 inches/14 ounces Hacker B20 26S APC 11 x 4.7 FMA Direct Kokam Castle Creations Phoenix-25
geared 4:1 3S 1500 mAh
11 Frank Noll/Yaxtra 540 T Jason Noll/NA 38 inches/17 ounces HiMax 5400 GWS 12 x 8 Duralite 3S 1050 mAh Castle Creations Phoenix-25
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 53
empty parking lot? And if you can find one,
will the owner let you use it?
As far as seeing lightplanes fly over your
house, we have fewer small-airplane
airports every year. We have lost two in our
area in the past five years, and another is
under the gun as I write this!
The public has grown numb to flying. It
has become routine, safe, and efficient, and
it has been far removed from the general
populations. In the same manner, our
modeling activities have been relegated to
the far-off fields that present no intrusion on
the neighbors.
Residents will tolerate a 110-decibel
lawn mower running under their bedroom
window, but heaven forbid that the kid next
door start up a 90-decibel model-airplane
engine, let alone try to fly it.
Now along comes electric flight. Noise is
no longer an issue, and with most of the
small airplanes weighing less than 20
ounces, we can show the town officials or
landowners a minimal risk factor. We can
safely fly in large back yards, small baseball
fields, or even in a large gymnasium.
Once again we can expose the youth to
the joys and challenges of flight, and at the
same time we address another issue: cost.
The typical glow-powered trainer will take
$400-$500 to get airborne, but now we can
get the kid next door airborne for roughly
$200.
If you would like to learn more about the
models used in the first E-TOC, go to the
RC Universe Web site. It has a wonderful
spread of color photos of the event and highresolution
video clips of the pilot
introductions and clips from each flight. TnT
Landing Gear Products also has a large ETOC
Web site presentation, and it contains
all judging criteria and detailed event rules.
As I was finishing this piece, I received a
copy of SKS Video Productions’ E-TOC
video. It is an excellent production that
captures the excitement and action of the
event. It features interviews with all of the
competitors in which they discuss their
models and the equipment they used. Each
qualification and final flight is shown, and
the camera work is outstanding. The
program has a run time of 97 minutes.
I highly recommend this video to anyone
who has an interest in this type of flying. To
get a copy, call SKS Video Productions at
(800) 988-6488, E-mail
[email protected], or go to
www.sksvideo.com.
Don’t miss next year’s E-TOC; it’s bound to
become one of the major “things to do” at
the annual Toledo trade show. MA
Terry Terrenoire
101 Smithfield Dr.
Endicott NY 13760
(Editor’s note: The MA staff thanks Fly
RC magazine—one of the E-TOC’s primary
sponsors—for providing the equipmentinformation
charts included with this article.
Special thanks to Fly RC Editor in Chief
Tom Atwood for his personal involvement in
facilitating the use and delivery of this
material.)
54 MODEL AVIATION
Chart information courtesy Fly RC magazine
E-TOC Radios
Pilot Transmitter Receiver Servos
Darren Eaton Futaba 9Z FMA M5 Futaba 3108
John Glezellis JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
George Hicks JR 10XJR 610M JR281 Digital
Chip Hyde Futaba 9C GWS R-4PII/H HS-55
Andrew Jesky JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
Mike McConville JR 10X JR 610M (without case) JR281 Digital
Sean McMurtry Futaba 9Z Hitec Electron —
Frank Noll Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Jason Noll Futaba 8UAP FMA M5 Ikarus Lexor micro 100
Jason Shulman Futaba 9CAP Futaba 114 Futaba 3108
Quique Somenzini JR 10X JR 610M JR281 Digital
09sig2.QXD 6/24/04 9:10 am Page 54