Free Flight Indoor - 2006/01

140 MODEL AVIATION
Big doings at the Kibbie Dome Annual
A thank-you-note airplane by Dave Gee. Text has details. Gee photo.
Also included in this column:
the Battle Near Seattle event by a similarly slim margin.
Expect more great battles between these two, and keep an eye out
for the next contender. Somewhere in the Science Olympiad ranks
hides a Little League pitcher with an airplane affinity!
HLG greats past, present, and from around the world showed up
for a rare head-to-head meet. It’s a moving experience to be in the
presence of people who take an activity seriously, whether it’s the
baseball World Series or the World Series of poker. These guys live
and breathe Gliders!
US F1D Team Selection: Another two-yearlong
US F1D Team Selection-program cycle
is complete, and the 2006 Junior and Senior
World Championships teams have been
selected.
The US Senior team consists of me,
Larry Calliau, and Brett Sanborn (Junior
Silver Medalist in the 2004 World
Championships), with Tom Sova as the
alternate. The Junior team is Ethan Aaron,
Nick Ray, and Justin Young, with Anjaney
Kottapalli as the alternate.
Jim Richmond is the defending World
Champion, and Doug Schaefer will return as
defending Junior World Champion
competing with the Seniors. Add the to-bedecided
team manager, and the US will be
fielding the largest possible contingent of
official participants. (I hope we get a bigger
work area this time!)
For the third consecutive cycle the Junior
Team Selection finals was contested by more
than three participants, making it a true battle
for the team spots. This is in contrast to
earlier years when an occasional Junior
would take the challenge and land an
Mark Bennett sports the latest must-have Indoor FF accessory.
See text for details. Buxton photo.
US 2006 F1D teams (top row L-R): defending WC Jim Richmond; Senior team members
Larry Calliau, John Kagan, and Brett Sanborn; defending Junior WC Doug Schaefer; (bottom
row L-R:) Junior team members Nick Ray, Ethan Aaron, and Justin Young. Schaefer photo.
automatic position on a one-person team. We can thank the Science
Olympiad program for priming a new batch of young contenders.
The Junior contest was close until the end; all of the competitors
were capable of placing. Their times were decent, but each of these
kids is on the steep part of the learning curve and is ready to pop up
to the next level at any moment.
The Junior fliers have varying amounts of mentoring and
resources, and it shows in their various building and flying
techniques. One common theme, though, is the speed at which they
have ramped up so far.
It’s simultaneously surprising and motivating to see the
difference between these kids’ first models and some of the ones they
campaigned in Moscow. Everyone has to start somewhere, and many
of the first airplanes were a bit, shall I say, rough. However, the
current models are approaching top caliber, with only a little more
flying experience missing.
Junior Tim Chang, who is absent from the places I listed, brought
beautifully crafted airplanes and rapidly developing flying skills. He
2005 USA F1D Senior Team Selection Finals
Place/Name Finals Points Regional Points Score
1. John Kagan 1,000.00 100.00 1,100.00
2. Larry Calliau 993.39 100.00 1,093.39
3. Brett Sanborn 958.36 100.00 1,058.36
4. Tom Sova 942.44 100.00 1,042.44
5. Steve Brown 941.95 100.00 1,041.95
6. Cezar Banks 949.30 88.99 1,038.29
7. Mark Bennett 927.01 100.00 1,027.01
8. Brian Johnson 896.89 100.00 996.89
2005 USA F1D Junior Team Selection Finals
Place/Name Finals Points Regional Points Score
1. Ethan Aaron 1,000.00 100.00 1,100.00
2. Nick Ray 994.75 100.00 1,094.75
3. Justin Young 978.70 100.00 1,078.70
4. Anjaney Kottapalli 889.47 100.00 989.47
5. Tim Chang 878.97 100.00 978.97
missed a spot on the team, but, fortunately
for the US, he is only 15 and has another
cycle as an FAI Junior. Expect to see more
of his name in the future.
The Senior competition was tight as
well; almost the entire field earned more
than 1,000 points out of 1,100. As fliers
become more familiar with the not-so-newanymore
55cm models, the gap between
times is shrinking to be much smaller than
with the previous models.
My experience in the finals started
tough. I struggled to find the right setup on
the first day, putting up a continuous stream
of partial-motor flights. Jim Lewis
commented that I was a “testing fool,” but
hey! If the partial-motor test doesn’t do the
time, what’s the point of flying an official?
Just when I thought I had it right, my
last full-motor flight of the day landed on
one of the curtain rods that sit approximately
15 feet from the top. I learned that the
Kibbie Dome has a strong jet stream near
the tiles and decided that the extra time
gained above the curtain rod wasn’t worth
the drift risk. I had one flight move roughly
100 feet down the building in five minutes,
flying through the two sets of cables
suspending the rods!
My models were retuned to fly just
below the curtain rods, and on the second
day I managed a 34:14 fourth-round flight.
Before I even got a chance to rest on my
laurels, Larry Calliau topped it with a 34:25.
In the sixth round he and I put up flights
at the same time. Our models slowly circled
each other to the top and then, just when
they were out of danger from getting into the
roof, they midaired and came down in a
clump. We disentangled the two airplanes
and headed back to our tables to try again.
On the relaunch Larry’s model got
approximately 4 feet away before something
failed and the model imploded—instant
confetti. Having a reasonably comfortable
lock on one of the top three slots, he decided
not to risk anymore models. My flight
bumped me into first, and I decided to sit
back and watch the field too.
Before Moscow, recent Junior-team
“Local Scene”
participant Brett Sanborn told me he was
hoping to go back to Romania. Without
realizing I was making an obnoxious
comment I asked, “In what capacity?” I
figured he wanted to be team manager, and
for some reason it didn’t even occur to me
that he was talking about trying to make the
Senior team.
As further evidence that my
unintentional slight was out of line, Brett
revealed to me on the last day of the finals
that he was sitting in the third spot! He was
in a great position, but the rest of the field
had a full day of rounds to try to knock him
off the “bubble.”
Cezar Banks, who holds a record six
World Championships second-place
finishes, was back in shape with the new
55cm models. Tom Sova, who was a
member of the last World Championships
team, and three-time World Champ Steve
Brown were working hard to get on top.
Science Olympiad grad Brian Johnson
was a threat throughout. Even Mark “YBM”
Bennett, who is the current F1D Category I
national record holder, showed great form.
However, in the end it came down to a
late charge by Tom Sova. He put up a 32:42
in the eighth round (the second to last
round) and needed only to exceed 32:31 in
the ninth round to take a team spot.
Brett Sanborn had been unable to
increase his time and could only fret as he
watched Tom Sova launch his final flight.
Tom got up into the drift near the ceiling
and headed for the dreaded nets at the end
of the dome. He was forced to steer but had
trouble seeing the model against the white
tiles.
The balloon didn’t get moved quickly
enough when the model first touched, and it
ended up turning over on the line—a
position that is basically impossible from
which to recover. Several minutes were
spent trying to coax the model loose, but
Tom eventually conceded. Brett Sanborn
made it and has become the youngest US
team member ever!
In the next column I’ll write about the
2008 US F1D Team Selection cycle and
show you how you can get in on the fun.
The Van Nuys, California, “Local Scene”:
Dave Gee, president of the Black Sheep
Exhibition Squadron, sent in the following
report.
“We’re a general-interest club based in
the Los Angeles area. Many of us fly
Indoor, so we’re always on the lookout for
new flying sites. Club member Tim Holly
works at CBS Studios and got high-level VP
Mike Klausman interested in modeling,
including making it possible for us to hold
occasional flying sessions inside empty
sound stages!
“We’re at the mercy of show schedules
of course, but these are really excellent
rooms. We flew demonstrations as
entertainment for their annual July 4th
charity bash and later held an all-day fun-fly
with the time divided between FF and RC.
“Needless to say, we were most grateful
for these opportunities. In lieu of a standard
thank-you note, I built a Scofflaw model
with our message and logo printed onto the
wing. Normally this would jam up the
printer and break the wood, so I printed the
tissue before covering. The Scofflaw is
designed for indoor Guerilla Flying, so it
will survive handling by nonmodelers.”
Great idea, Dave. Maybe we’ll see
Indoor models in an upcoming TV show!
You can reach Dave and the Black
Sheep Exhibition Squadron at BlackSheep
Sqdn@cs.com or Box 7081, Van Nuys CA
91409.
The week’s activities included two
special events in addition to the regular
Kibbie Dome Annual: the international
Battle Near Seattle Indoor Hand Launched
Glider (IHLG) extravaganza and the 2005
US F1D Team Selection Finals.
Battle Near Seattle: Jim Buxton is going to
provide an in-depth report on the Battle Near
Seattle IHLG competition in an upcoming
National Free Flight Society Digest. Look
for it and get the details about some
significant happenings in the Glider world.
Mark Benns proved the feasibility of
discus-launched FF Indoor models in a
major way by shattering the F1N record.
(That was shortly before he proved a case for
a wing strength/stiffness requirement by
shattering his Glider.)
This could be a positive development for
HLG, allowing more people to be
competitive at the highest levels. I think
HLG participation would benefit from
having separate discus- and javelin-launch
categories, but some feel it could splinter an
already small group.
Jim Lewis (who had recently swept the
Outdoor HLG and Old-Time HLG Nats) is
neck-in-neck with Jim Buxton as the
dominant force in the IHLG world. Jim
Buxton narrowly won the Kibbie Dome
Annual HLG contest, and Jim Lewis took
Free Flight Indoor John Kagan
[John_Kagan@hotmail.com]
KIBBIE DOME 2005: Every “game” has
its big events that cultivate lots of local
activity; college football has the bowl games
and dogs have the Westminster Kennel Club
show. For Indoor FF on the west half of the
country, it’s the Kibbie Dome Annual in
Moscow, Idaho.
For five days in July this fantastic site
hosts one of the US’s biggest competitions,
with a large number of local, nationwide,
and international competitors in attendance.
I had the opportunity to go this year, so for
those who haven’t had the pleasure of flying
there I’ll give you some of my impressions
on the venue and location.
Getting there was a breeze. Moscow is
an easy 1.5-hour drive south from the
Spokane, Washington, airport—a ride made
even more enjoyable by the spectacular
rolling hills and farmland scenery. I had
previously been under the impression that
this event was remote and difficult to reach,
but nothing could have been further from the
truth.
Spokane is a major airline hub, so
finding a flight was simple. At the same
time, the city is small enough that things
such as car rentals were affordable. This was
easy traveling.
The town of Moscow is college oriented,
with the University of Idaho situated
prominently in the center. The downtown
area has a young feel to it, with several
coffee houses, pawn shops with some pretty
cool stuff, and even a hobby store. There
were places to go, but not many people to go
there; this was summer break, and with all
the kids gone the streets were deserted.
We were supposed to begin our session
during the day Saturday, but a women’s
volleyball camp was finishing up in the
dome. Some modelers considered this a
problem; go figure!
The rest of us took the opportunity to
relax after all the traveling and watched the
final games from the stands. Later that
evening, after the local work crew
disassembled the nets and flooring, we
carted in our stuff and got to flying.
The Kibbie Dome is a great building.
One striking feature is the white ceiling tiles
suspended a few feet below the actual roof.
They make the place feel bright, but it’s also
much more difficult to see a model at high
altitude. That, along with the intense lights
lining the sides, makes steering quite a
challenge.
Mark Bennett came up with a unique
solution. He chopped a FedEx box into a set
of personal blinders, complete with ear holes.
(See the picture.) I don’t know how well it
worked, but it does teach one useful lesson:
don’t worry about anyone making fun of
you!
The ceiling tiles are also capable of
trapping airplanes that are unfortunate
enough to fly between the gaps. Several
MiniSticks, F1Ls, and an errant balloon
made it on top of the suspended platforms.
One Catapult Glider even knife-edged right
between two tiles, disappearing in an instant!
On the plus side, the dome staff was
often willing to go up into the space above
the ceiling and poke airplanes off the tiles
with a long pole. Many models were
retrieved this way, much to the delight of
their reunited owners.
Andy Tagliafico and company did a
superb job of arranging and running the
events. During the awards he happily
reported that this year’s turnout had been the
largest ever.
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