THE 2008 F1D World Championships US
Junior and Senior teams have been selected!
Representing the US will be defending World
Champ Larry Cailliau; Senior team members
Jim Richmond, Doug Schaefer, and I;
defending Junior World Champ Justin Young;
and Junior team members Tim Chang, Ethan
Aaron, and Garrett Gustafson.
Please join me in congratulating these
guys. I’m sure they’ll do us proud.
Team Selection Finals Report: The preceding
teams were determined at the F1D Team
Selection Finals, which was contested, again,
at the spectacular 145-foot Kibbie Dome in
Moscow, Idaho, alongside the regular annual
meet, which was held July 6-10. The 2008
F1D World Championships will be held in
October in Serbia.
Sporting plenty of floor space, there was
absolutely no problem with the mix of models
in the air. However, there were one or two
instances of errant Scale models forgetting
how to turn and sending the F1D fliersscrambling to protect their tables!
Competitors had a day to warm up before
getting into the three days of intense battle. A
time of 34-35 minutes is great for F1D at
Moscow, but practice day had many people
pushing nine minutes on one-quarter-motor
tests, hinting at a major shake-up in the Team
Selection’s “usual suspects.”
Reality set in once the first day of rounds
started, though, and more-anticipated times of
32 minutes began appearing on the board.
There may not have been a major jump in thetop scores, but there certainly was a stronger
concentration. By the end of the first day it
seemed that almost everyone had a 32
recorded.
It was going to take a special performance
to outpace this especially strong field and
earn a spot on the team. All the competitors
started digging deep for anything that would
give them that extra edge.
After watching eight-time World Champ
Jim Richmond put up an apparently effortless
33-plus-minute flight last year, Mark Bennettdecided to try to make Jim’s trademark
variable-diameter (VDi) propeller. Maybe
people have been talking about giving it a go,
but Mark’s is the first I’ve seen in a long
while.
With a couple respectable VP (variablepitch)
times on the board, Mark figured it was
time to break it out. The new propeller made
some promising flights, but, alas, it needed a
bit more tuning to be consistent. I’m sure
we’ll see more of it in the future.Jim was struggling with his own propellers
too. (And when I refer to “struggling,” I mean
only relative to his usual standards.) He
logged some decent times, but still found
himself in fourth place at the start of the final
day. And worse, his efforts to improve were
sending him backward—first to a 31 and then
a 29.
With just one round left and apparently
little hope, Jim called his wife and told her it
didn’t look like he was going to Serbia after
all. The events that followed his call still
have me in awe.
Jim slowly assembled a different
model that previously had good times.
(He later wondered aloud why he didn’ttake it out earlier.) He spent roughly 40
minutes carefully consulting his logbook and
replicating the recorded measurements.
Then, with nary as much as a trim flight,
Jim wound and launched. Did you read what I
wrote? He didn’t even make sure it still flew
the same! People just don’t do that.
I jokingly asked Jim when he planned tohave his propeller fold (the primary
adjustment for his propeller design, though
one that is severely nontrivial to do
accurately), and he replied, with confidence,
“Seven minutes.” Wouldn’t you know that the
propeller flipped shut at 6:58? I gave Jim
plenty of flak for being two seconds off.
Having used the rubber motor’s burst
energy efficiently, the model settled at a safe
altitude and finally cruised in for a 34:39,
which vaulted Jim from fourth to first place,
clinching the top spot by a mere seven
seconds! He went off to repeal his previous
call to his wife.
It’s awful to be the person on the bubble
when something like that goes down (and Jim
has pulled his last-round move on a whole lot
136 MODEL AVIATION
of competition). So who was the unfortunate
victim this time? I’ll just say Brett Sanborn
already knew his planets weren’t aligned on
this particular day. He was stuck on an
emotional rollercoaster. At the top of a loop.
Inverted.
After posting a top-notch 33:41 on Day
Two, a motor exploded approximately a half
circle from launch, destroying Brett’s airplane
and rekitting the propeller so badly that the
metal components were bent.
He got some rousing pep talks from his
peers and decided to regroup, spending the
evening piecing his best propeller back
together. On the second to last round Brett
used the repaired propeller to post a superb
34:17, apparently putting him in second place.
There was a problem, though. The Team
Selection Program uses regional points in
addition to the finals score, and Brett had
failed to secure a 100-point regional,
qualifying with just 94 points. Those six
points cost just enough to drop him into third
behind Doug Schaefer on the leader board.
Okay, no problem. Brett had one more
flight left. Things were set just right, and all
he needed to post was something close to his
last flight to get off the bubble. The launch
went smoothly and things were looking grand.
Then Brett confided to me that he had put
in some bonus torque and tweaked the high
pitch down a bit—both of which will make
the model climb higher. I know he was
looking for a little reassurance, but my wideeyed
expression must have given away my
true reaction. (What?)
The model clawed its way to the ceiling
tiles and began to bump, albeit rather gently.
After drifting a bit, it looked like Brett might
pull this off. And then the model hung, on
what we still don’t know. It was in the dead
center of a tile, far from anything dangerous.
But there it was, flight and contest over,
leaving Brett in position to get “Richmondized.”
Compared to all that, Doug Schaefer and I
took the easy route to our respective thirdand
second-place finishes. We posted
consistent flights that kept us out of too much
turmoil, briefly exchanged places, chose not
to fly the final rounds, and rolled our eyes
when Jim bumped us down a spot long after
our models were packed up. But the goal in
team selection is to be in the final three, so
mission accomplished.
The Junior competition featured Kibbie
Dome regular Tim Chang, wreaking havoc on
his peers. In the last cycle he narrowly missed
making the Junior team despite having
practice times that would have easily done the
job.
But rather than being crushed by the loss,
Tim quietly persevered, returning the
following year to break 30 minutes for his
first time. In this cycle his efforts showed; his
time of 34:42 not only topped the Junior
ranks, but bested all the Senior competitors as
well. Great work, Tim!
During the awards ceremony Tim received
a commemorative winder from his fellow
Oakland Cloud Dusters, recognizing both his
achievements to date and his future potential.Chuck Dorsett describes the device in the
following.
“The winder was made by Larry Parsons
who had made several winders, both indoor
and outdoor types, which were used by the
club members in the years during and after
WWII. He has never sold these winders or
received any money from his work. He has
done it purely for the love of the club and its
members.
“Fliers such as Joe Foster (Wakefield
World Champion), Manny Andrade, Hank
Cole and Carl Rambo used them, and Bud
Romak still uses one of the outdoor winders.
This particular winder was first presented to
Joe Bilgri the night before he left for the first
F1D World Championship and Joe became
the first world champ of that event. It has
been used by Erv Rodemsky and Bud
Romak when they, in turn, won their F1D
World Championships.
“Larry has kept track of most of his
winders and personally cleaned and serviced
them. I have had this winder for about 12
years and, having watched Tim Chang
develop, discussed presenting it to him with
Larry and Bud. We decided that Tim is
currently the best choice to use it.
“It is engraved ‘Joe Bilgri, the First F1D
Champion’ and ‘Oakland Clouddusters.’ The
case is machined out of two solid pieces of
aluminum, the gears are solid machined
brass, and the bearings are bronze sleeves.
Larry is a machinist and has worked for
Romak Iron Works and the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory.”
That’s quite an honor!
After finishing in second place at last
year’s World Championships, Ethan Aaron
joined his second Junior team, finishing
second at the finals. Ethan realizes that this is
a lot of “seconds” and is hoping to add a
“first” next year in Serbia.
Molly Neering finished a close third—
only roughly a minute and a half behind
Ethan—with excellent times that would have
won the previous team-selection cycle. She
became the first woman on any US F1D
team—almost.
It seems that some of mentor Brett
Sanborn’s bad mojo rubbed off, and, in acrushing development, they realized they had
misinterpreted the rules and Molly was
roughly five months too old to be on the
Junior team. It was heartbreaking, not just for
her, but for everyone who was enjoying the
gender breakthrough.
Not to worry, though. Molly is still flying
Indoor and has been spotted at Lakehurst
since. At least we didn’t cause an international
scandal by having this error discovered at the
World Championships.
Garrett Gustafson, who was the only other
Junior team-selection participant, was tapped
for the final spot. He has been working hard
on his F1D skills and makes a fine addition to
the Junior team, revitalizing its chances for the
all-important team win.
The Team Selection Finals ran quite
smoothly, in large part because of the efforts
of Andrew Tagliafico—the Kibbie Dome
Annual CD—and Chris Borland: the Team
Selection Finals CD. Thanks, guys!
Kibbie Dome Annual “Call to Arms”: I am
absolutely stunned that more people don’t
attend the Kibbie Dome Annual. Outside of
the team-selection participants and the Battle
Near Seattle Indoor Hand-Launched Glider
shindig a couple years ago, a surprisingly
small group of fliers is enjoying this worldclass
site.
Andrew Tagliafico has said he intends to
keep the event going, but the obvious reality is
that it might go away if not enough people
attend. Don’t let that happen!
Mark your calendars now for July 6-10,
2008; get some cheap tickets to Spokane,
Washington (or drive if you live close
enough); and have a great little vacation. You
won’t regret it. Aside from the huge flying
area, the camaraderie, and five days of
competition/fun-flying, there’s great dining
(we especially enjoyed sangrias), beautiful
scenery, and did I mention five days of flying
model airplanes?
It’s hard enough to find and arrange access
to stunning sites such as this. This one is a
“bird in the hand.”
The Comet Model News: Nancy Kapitanoff
recently E-mailed me the following.
“I have produced a short film
documentary, The Comet Model News, which
features a brief history of the Comet Model
Airplane & Supply Co. of Chicago,
established in 1929 by two high school boys
with an initial capital of $5. Model airplane
meets, Comet model events, and profiles of
the men and women who made Comet
prosper are depicted in 8mm color and 16mm
black-and-white film footage dating from
1937 to 1941.
“Some of that footage was shot by my
Dad, who became the West Coast sales
representative for Comet Model in 1933 and
opened a storefront office in Hollywood in
1934. My mother was the head bookkeeper
for the company, in Chicago, from 1936 until
1941, when she married my dad and moved to
Los Angeles.
“The DVD also includes a 12-minute
silent film produced by the Comet Model
company in 1939, Building and Flying a
Model Airplane.”
I obtained a copy of the DVD and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Nancy adds depth to
many famous names I’ve come to take for
granted, and the vintage film footage is
enthralling. Those who lived through the era
will find this a record of fond memories.
For people such as me, who are young
enough to have only heard stories, the video
provides a captivating glimpse at the
beginnings of our hobby. There are even some
moments of early Indoor models.
My only gripe is the tagline: “A Short
Documentary ode to a time when flying was
fun!” Hey, flying still is fun! But I get
Nancy’s point; back then “everyone” was
enamored with aviation.
As did many movies of the period,
Nancy’s leaves us with a cliffhanger and the
promise of more to come. I hope she has a big
stash of film and will keep the story rolling.
Til next time. MA
Sources:
The Comet Model News
(www.cometmodelnews.com):
Hannan’s Runway
(530) 873-6421
www.hrunway.com/shop
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/01
Page Numbers: 133,134,136,139,140
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/01
Page Numbers: 133,134,136,139,140
THE 2008 F1D World Championships US
Junior and Senior teams have been selected!
Representing the US will be defending World
Champ Larry Cailliau; Senior team members
Jim Richmond, Doug Schaefer, and I;
defending Junior World Champ Justin Young;
and Junior team members Tim Chang, Ethan
Aaron, and Garrett Gustafson.
Please join me in congratulating these
guys. I’m sure they’ll do us proud.
Team Selection Finals Report: The preceding
teams were determined at the F1D Team
Selection Finals, which was contested, again,
at the spectacular 145-foot Kibbie Dome in
Moscow, Idaho, alongside the regular annual
meet, which was held July 6-10. The 2008
F1D World Championships will be held in
October in Serbia.
Sporting plenty of floor space, there was
absolutely no problem with the mix of models
in the air. However, there were one or two
instances of errant Scale models forgetting
how to turn and sending the F1D fliersscrambling to protect their tables!
Competitors had a day to warm up before
getting into the three days of intense battle. A
time of 34-35 minutes is great for F1D at
Moscow, but practice day had many people
pushing nine minutes on one-quarter-motor
tests, hinting at a major shake-up in the Team
Selection’s “usual suspects.”
Reality set in once the first day of rounds
started, though, and more-anticipated times of
32 minutes began appearing on the board.
There may not have been a major jump in thetop scores, but there certainly was a stronger
concentration. By the end of the first day it
seemed that almost everyone had a 32
recorded.
It was going to take a special performance
to outpace this especially strong field and
earn a spot on the team. All the competitors
started digging deep for anything that would
give them that extra edge.
After watching eight-time World Champ
Jim Richmond put up an apparently effortless
33-plus-minute flight last year, Mark Bennettdecided to try to make Jim’s trademark
variable-diameter (VDi) propeller. Maybe
people have been talking about giving it a go,
but Mark’s is the first I’ve seen in a long
while.
With a couple respectable VP (variablepitch)
times on the board, Mark figured it was
time to break it out. The new propeller made
some promising flights, but, alas, it needed a
bit more tuning to be consistent. I’m sure
we’ll see more of it in the future.Jim was struggling with his own propellers
too. (And when I refer to “struggling,” I mean
only relative to his usual standards.) He
logged some decent times, but still found
himself in fourth place at the start of the final
day. And worse, his efforts to improve were
sending him backward—first to a 31 and then
a 29.
With just one round left and apparently
little hope, Jim called his wife and told her it
didn’t look like he was going to Serbia after
all. The events that followed his call still
have me in awe.
Jim slowly assembled a different
model that previously had good times.
(He later wondered aloud why he didn’ttake it out earlier.) He spent roughly 40
minutes carefully consulting his logbook and
replicating the recorded measurements.
Then, with nary as much as a trim flight,
Jim wound and launched. Did you read what I
wrote? He didn’t even make sure it still flew
the same! People just don’t do that.
I jokingly asked Jim when he planned tohave his propeller fold (the primary
adjustment for his propeller design, though
one that is severely nontrivial to do
accurately), and he replied, with confidence,
“Seven minutes.” Wouldn’t you know that the
propeller flipped shut at 6:58? I gave Jim
plenty of flak for being two seconds off.
Having used the rubber motor’s burst
energy efficiently, the model settled at a safe
altitude and finally cruised in for a 34:39,
which vaulted Jim from fourth to first place,
clinching the top spot by a mere seven
seconds! He went off to repeal his previous
call to his wife.
It’s awful to be the person on the bubble
when something like that goes down (and Jim
has pulled his last-round move on a whole lot
136 MODEL AVIATION
of competition). So who was the unfortunate
victim this time? I’ll just say Brett Sanborn
already knew his planets weren’t aligned on
this particular day. He was stuck on an
emotional rollercoaster. At the top of a loop.
Inverted.
After posting a top-notch 33:41 on Day
Two, a motor exploded approximately a half
circle from launch, destroying Brett’s airplane
and rekitting the propeller so badly that the
metal components were bent.
He got some rousing pep talks from his
peers and decided to regroup, spending the
evening piecing his best propeller back
together. On the second to last round Brett
used the repaired propeller to post a superb
34:17, apparently putting him in second place.
There was a problem, though. The Team
Selection Program uses regional points in
addition to the finals score, and Brett had
failed to secure a 100-point regional,
qualifying with just 94 points. Those six
points cost just enough to drop him into third
behind Doug Schaefer on the leader board.
Okay, no problem. Brett had one more
flight left. Things were set just right, and all
he needed to post was something close to his
last flight to get off the bubble. The launch
went smoothly and things were looking grand.
Then Brett confided to me that he had put
in some bonus torque and tweaked the high
pitch down a bit—both of which will make
the model climb higher. I know he was
looking for a little reassurance, but my wideeyed
expression must have given away my
true reaction. (What?)
The model clawed its way to the ceiling
tiles and began to bump, albeit rather gently.
After drifting a bit, it looked like Brett might
pull this off. And then the model hung, on
what we still don’t know. It was in the dead
center of a tile, far from anything dangerous.
But there it was, flight and contest over,
leaving Brett in position to get “Richmondized.”
Compared to all that, Doug Schaefer and I
took the easy route to our respective thirdand
second-place finishes. We posted
consistent flights that kept us out of too much
turmoil, briefly exchanged places, chose not
to fly the final rounds, and rolled our eyes
when Jim bumped us down a spot long after
our models were packed up. But the goal in
team selection is to be in the final three, so
mission accomplished.
The Junior competition featured Kibbie
Dome regular Tim Chang, wreaking havoc on
his peers. In the last cycle he narrowly missed
making the Junior team despite having
practice times that would have easily done the
job.
But rather than being crushed by the loss,
Tim quietly persevered, returning the
following year to break 30 minutes for his
first time. In this cycle his efforts showed; his
time of 34:42 not only topped the Junior
ranks, but bested all the Senior competitors as
well. Great work, Tim!
During the awards ceremony Tim received
a commemorative winder from his fellow
Oakland Cloud Dusters, recognizing both his
achievements to date and his future potential.Chuck Dorsett describes the device in the
following.
“The winder was made by Larry Parsons
who had made several winders, both indoor
and outdoor types, which were used by the
club members in the years during and after
WWII. He has never sold these winders or
received any money from his work. He has
done it purely for the love of the club and its
members.
“Fliers such as Joe Foster (Wakefield
World Champion), Manny Andrade, Hank
Cole and Carl Rambo used them, and Bud
Romak still uses one of the outdoor winders.
This particular winder was first presented to
Joe Bilgri the night before he left for the first
F1D World Championship and Joe became
the first world champ of that event. It has
been used by Erv Rodemsky and Bud
Romak when they, in turn, won their F1D
World Championships.
“Larry has kept track of most of his
winders and personally cleaned and serviced
them. I have had this winder for about 12
years and, having watched Tim Chang
develop, discussed presenting it to him with
Larry and Bud. We decided that Tim is
currently the best choice to use it.
“It is engraved ‘Joe Bilgri, the First F1D
Champion’ and ‘Oakland Clouddusters.’ The
case is machined out of two solid pieces of
aluminum, the gears are solid machined
brass, and the bearings are bronze sleeves.
Larry is a machinist and has worked for
Romak Iron Works and the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory.”
That’s quite an honor!
After finishing in second place at last
year’s World Championships, Ethan Aaron
joined his second Junior team, finishing
second at the finals. Ethan realizes that this is
a lot of “seconds” and is hoping to add a
“first” next year in Serbia.
Molly Neering finished a close third—
only roughly a minute and a half behind
Ethan—with excellent times that would have
won the previous team-selection cycle. She
became the first woman on any US F1D
team—almost.
It seems that some of mentor Brett
Sanborn’s bad mojo rubbed off, and, in acrushing development, they realized they had
misinterpreted the rules and Molly was
roughly five months too old to be on the
Junior team. It was heartbreaking, not just for
her, but for everyone who was enjoying the
gender breakthrough.
Not to worry, though. Molly is still flying
Indoor and has been spotted at Lakehurst
since. At least we didn’t cause an international
scandal by having this error discovered at the
World Championships.
Garrett Gustafson, who was the only other
Junior team-selection participant, was tapped
for the final spot. He has been working hard
on his F1D skills and makes a fine addition to
the Junior team, revitalizing its chances for the
all-important team win.
The Team Selection Finals ran quite
smoothly, in large part because of the efforts
of Andrew Tagliafico—the Kibbie Dome
Annual CD—and Chris Borland: the Team
Selection Finals CD. Thanks, guys!
Kibbie Dome Annual “Call to Arms”: I am
absolutely stunned that more people don’t
attend the Kibbie Dome Annual. Outside of
the team-selection participants and the Battle
Near Seattle Indoor Hand-Launched Glider
shindig a couple years ago, a surprisingly
small group of fliers is enjoying this worldclass
site.
Andrew Tagliafico has said he intends to
keep the event going, but the obvious reality is
that it might go away if not enough people
attend. Don’t let that happen!
Mark your calendars now for July 6-10,
2008; get some cheap tickets to Spokane,
Washington (or drive if you live close
enough); and have a great little vacation. You
won’t regret it. Aside from the huge flying
area, the camaraderie, and five days of
competition/fun-flying, there’s great dining
(we especially enjoyed sangrias), beautiful
scenery, and did I mention five days of flying
model airplanes?
It’s hard enough to find and arrange access
to stunning sites such as this. This one is a
“bird in the hand.”
The Comet Model News: Nancy Kapitanoff
recently E-mailed me the following.
“I have produced a short film
documentary, The Comet Model News, which
features a brief history of the Comet Model
Airplane & Supply Co. of Chicago,
established in 1929 by two high school boys
with an initial capital of $5. Model airplane
meets, Comet model events, and profiles of
the men and women who made Comet
prosper are depicted in 8mm color and 16mm
black-and-white film footage dating from
1937 to 1941.
“Some of that footage was shot by my
Dad, who became the West Coast sales
representative for Comet Model in 1933 and
opened a storefront office in Hollywood in
1934. My mother was the head bookkeeper
for the company, in Chicago, from 1936 until
1941, when she married my dad and moved to
Los Angeles.
“The DVD also includes a 12-minute
silent film produced by the Comet Model
company in 1939, Building and Flying a
Model Airplane.”
I obtained a copy of the DVD and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Nancy adds depth to
many famous names I’ve come to take for
granted, and the vintage film footage is
enthralling. Those who lived through the era
will find this a record of fond memories.
For people such as me, who are young
enough to have only heard stories, the video
provides a captivating glimpse at the
beginnings of our hobby. There are even some
moments of early Indoor models.
My only gripe is the tagline: “A Short
Documentary ode to a time when flying was
fun!” Hey, flying still is fun! But I get
Nancy’s point; back then “everyone” was
enamored with aviation.
As did many movies of the period,
Nancy’s leaves us with a cliffhanger and the
promise of more to come. I hope she has a big
stash of film and will keep the story rolling.
Til next time. MA
Sources:
The Comet Model News
(www.cometmodelnews.com):
Hannan’s Runway
(530) 873-6421
www.hrunway.com/shop
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/01
Page Numbers: 133,134,136,139,140
THE 2008 F1D World Championships US
Junior and Senior teams have been selected!
Representing the US will be defending World
Champ Larry Cailliau; Senior team members
Jim Richmond, Doug Schaefer, and I;
defending Junior World Champ Justin Young;
and Junior team members Tim Chang, Ethan
Aaron, and Garrett Gustafson.
Please join me in congratulating these
guys. I’m sure they’ll do us proud.
Team Selection Finals Report: The preceding
teams were determined at the F1D Team
Selection Finals, which was contested, again,
at the spectacular 145-foot Kibbie Dome in
Moscow, Idaho, alongside the regular annual
meet, which was held July 6-10. The 2008
F1D World Championships will be held in
October in Serbia.
Sporting plenty of floor space, there was
absolutely no problem with the mix of models
in the air. However, there were one or two
instances of errant Scale models forgetting
how to turn and sending the F1D fliersscrambling to protect their tables!
Competitors had a day to warm up before
getting into the three days of intense battle. A
time of 34-35 minutes is great for F1D at
Moscow, but practice day had many people
pushing nine minutes on one-quarter-motor
tests, hinting at a major shake-up in the Team
Selection’s “usual suspects.”
Reality set in once the first day of rounds
started, though, and more-anticipated times of
32 minutes began appearing on the board.
There may not have been a major jump in thetop scores, but there certainly was a stronger
concentration. By the end of the first day it
seemed that almost everyone had a 32
recorded.
It was going to take a special performance
to outpace this especially strong field and
earn a spot on the team. All the competitors
started digging deep for anything that would
give them that extra edge.
After watching eight-time World Champ
Jim Richmond put up an apparently effortless
33-plus-minute flight last year, Mark Bennettdecided to try to make Jim’s trademark
variable-diameter (VDi) propeller. Maybe
people have been talking about giving it a go,
but Mark’s is the first I’ve seen in a long
while.
With a couple respectable VP (variablepitch)
times on the board, Mark figured it was
time to break it out. The new propeller made
some promising flights, but, alas, it needed a
bit more tuning to be consistent. I’m sure
we’ll see more of it in the future.Jim was struggling with his own propellers
too. (And when I refer to “struggling,” I mean
only relative to his usual standards.) He
logged some decent times, but still found
himself in fourth place at the start of the final
day. And worse, his efforts to improve were
sending him backward—first to a 31 and then
a 29.
With just one round left and apparently
little hope, Jim called his wife and told her it
didn’t look like he was going to Serbia after
all. The events that followed his call still
have me in awe.
Jim slowly assembled a different
model that previously had good times.
(He later wondered aloud why he didn’ttake it out earlier.) He spent roughly 40
minutes carefully consulting his logbook and
replicating the recorded measurements.
Then, with nary as much as a trim flight,
Jim wound and launched. Did you read what I
wrote? He didn’t even make sure it still flew
the same! People just don’t do that.
I jokingly asked Jim when he planned tohave his propeller fold (the primary
adjustment for his propeller design, though
one that is severely nontrivial to do
accurately), and he replied, with confidence,
“Seven minutes.” Wouldn’t you know that the
propeller flipped shut at 6:58? I gave Jim
plenty of flak for being two seconds off.
Having used the rubber motor’s burst
energy efficiently, the model settled at a safe
altitude and finally cruised in for a 34:39,
which vaulted Jim from fourth to first place,
clinching the top spot by a mere seven
seconds! He went off to repeal his previous
call to his wife.
It’s awful to be the person on the bubble
when something like that goes down (and Jim
has pulled his last-round move on a whole lot
136 MODEL AVIATION
of competition). So who was the unfortunate
victim this time? I’ll just say Brett Sanborn
already knew his planets weren’t aligned on
this particular day. He was stuck on an
emotional rollercoaster. At the top of a loop.
Inverted.
After posting a top-notch 33:41 on Day
Two, a motor exploded approximately a half
circle from launch, destroying Brett’s airplane
and rekitting the propeller so badly that the
metal components were bent.
He got some rousing pep talks from his
peers and decided to regroup, spending the
evening piecing his best propeller back
together. On the second to last round Brett
used the repaired propeller to post a superb
34:17, apparently putting him in second place.
There was a problem, though. The Team
Selection Program uses regional points in
addition to the finals score, and Brett had
failed to secure a 100-point regional,
qualifying with just 94 points. Those six
points cost just enough to drop him into third
behind Doug Schaefer on the leader board.
Okay, no problem. Brett had one more
flight left. Things were set just right, and all
he needed to post was something close to his
last flight to get off the bubble. The launch
went smoothly and things were looking grand.
Then Brett confided to me that he had put
in some bonus torque and tweaked the high
pitch down a bit—both of which will make
the model climb higher. I know he was
looking for a little reassurance, but my wideeyed
expression must have given away my
true reaction. (What?)
The model clawed its way to the ceiling
tiles and began to bump, albeit rather gently.
After drifting a bit, it looked like Brett might
pull this off. And then the model hung, on
what we still don’t know. It was in the dead
center of a tile, far from anything dangerous.
But there it was, flight and contest over,
leaving Brett in position to get “Richmondized.”
Compared to all that, Doug Schaefer and I
took the easy route to our respective thirdand
second-place finishes. We posted
consistent flights that kept us out of too much
turmoil, briefly exchanged places, chose not
to fly the final rounds, and rolled our eyes
when Jim bumped us down a spot long after
our models were packed up. But the goal in
team selection is to be in the final three, so
mission accomplished.
The Junior competition featured Kibbie
Dome regular Tim Chang, wreaking havoc on
his peers. In the last cycle he narrowly missed
making the Junior team despite having
practice times that would have easily done the
job.
But rather than being crushed by the loss,
Tim quietly persevered, returning the
following year to break 30 minutes for his
first time. In this cycle his efforts showed; his
time of 34:42 not only topped the Junior
ranks, but bested all the Senior competitors as
well. Great work, Tim!
During the awards ceremony Tim received
a commemorative winder from his fellow
Oakland Cloud Dusters, recognizing both his
achievements to date and his future potential.Chuck Dorsett describes the device in the
following.
“The winder was made by Larry Parsons
who had made several winders, both indoor
and outdoor types, which were used by the
club members in the years during and after
WWII. He has never sold these winders or
received any money from his work. He has
done it purely for the love of the club and its
members.
“Fliers such as Joe Foster (Wakefield
World Champion), Manny Andrade, Hank
Cole and Carl Rambo used them, and Bud
Romak still uses one of the outdoor winders.
This particular winder was first presented to
Joe Bilgri the night before he left for the first
F1D World Championship and Joe became
the first world champ of that event. It has
been used by Erv Rodemsky and Bud
Romak when they, in turn, won their F1D
World Championships.
“Larry has kept track of most of his
winders and personally cleaned and serviced
them. I have had this winder for about 12
years and, having watched Tim Chang
develop, discussed presenting it to him with
Larry and Bud. We decided that Tim is
currently the best choice to use it.
“It is engraved ‘Joe Bilgri, the First F1D
Champion’ and ‘Oakland Clouddusters.’ The
case is machined out of two solid pieces of
aluminum, the gears are solid machined
brass, and the bearings are bronze sleeves.
Larry is a machinist and has worked for
Romak Iron Works and the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory.”
That’s quite an honor!
After finishing in second place at last
year’s World Championships, Ethan Aaron
joined his second Junior team, finishing
second at the finals. Ethan realizes that this is
a lot of “seconds” and is hoping to add a
“first” next year in Serbia.
Molly Neering finished a close third—
only roughly a minute and a half behind
Ethan—with excellent times that would have
won the previous team-selection cycle. She
became the first woman on any US F1D
team—almost.
It seems that some of mentor Brett
Sanborn’s bad mojo rubbed off, and, in acrushing development, they realized they had
misinterpreted the rules and Molly was
roughly five months too old to be on the
Junior team. It was heartbreaking, not just for
her, but for everyone who was enjoying the
gender breakthrough.
Not to worry, though. Molly is still flying
Indoor and has been spotted at Lakehurst
since. At least we didn’t cause an international
scandal by having this error discovered at the
World Championships.
Garrett Gustafson, who was the only other
Junior team-selection participant, was tapped
for the final spot. He has been working hard
on his F1D skills and makes a fine addition to
the Junior team, revitalizing its chances for the
all-important team win.
The Team Selection Finals ran quite
smoothly, in large part because of the efforts
of Andrew Tagliafico—the Kibbie Dome
Annual CD—and Chris Borland: the Team
Selection Finals CD. Thanks, guys!
Kibbie Dome Annual “Call to Arms”: I am
absolutely stunned that more people don’t
attend the Kibbie Dome Annual. Outside of
the team-selection participants and the Battle
Near Seattle Indoor Hand-Launched Glider
shindig a couple years ago, a surprisingly
small group of fliers is enjoying this worldclass
site.
Andrew Tagliafico has said he intends to
keep the event going, but the obvious reality is
that it might go away if not enough people
attend. Don’t let that happen!
Mark your calendars now for July 6-10,
2008; get some cheap tickets to Spokane,
Washington (or drive if you live close
enough); and have a great little vacation. You
won’t regret it. Aside from the huge flying
area, the camaraderie, and five days of
competition/fun-flying, there’s great dining
(we especially enjoyed sangrias), beautiful
scenery, and did I mention five days of flying
model airplanes?
It’s hard enough to find and arrange access
to stunning sites such as this. This one is a
“bird in the hand.”
The Comet Model News: Nancy Kapitanoff
recently E-mailed me the following.
“I have produced a short film
documentary, The Comet Model News, which
features a brief history of the Comet Model
Airplane & Supply Co. of Chicago,
established in 1929 by two high school boys
with an initial capital of $5. Model airplane
meets, Comet model events, and profiles of
the men and women who made Comet
prosper are depicted in 8mm color and 16mm
black-and-white film footage dating from
1937 to 1941.
“Some of that footage was shot by my
Dad, who became the West Coast sales
representative for Comet Model in 1933 and
opened a storefront office in Hollywood in
1934. My mother was the head bookkeeper
for the company, in Chicago, from 1936 until
1941, when she married my dad and moved to
Los Angeles.
“The DVD also includes a 12-minute
silent film produced by the Comet Model
company in 1939, Building and Flying a
Model Airplane.”
I obtained a copy of the DVD and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Nancy adds depth to
many famous names I’ve come to take for
granted, and the vintage film footage is
enthralling. Those who lived through the era
will find this a record of fond memories.
For people such as me, who are young
enough to have only heard stories, the video
provides a captivating glimpse at the
beginnings of our hobby. There are even some
moments of early Indoor models.
My only gripe is the tagline: “A Short
Documentary ode to a time when flying was
fun!” Hey, flying still is fun! But I get
Nancy’s point; back then “everyone” was
enamored with aviation.
As did many movies of the period,
Nancy’s leaves us with a cliffhanger and the
promise of more to come. I hope she has a big
stash of film and will keep the story rolling.
Til next time. MA
Sources:
The Comet Model News
(www.cometmodelnews.com):
Hannan’s Runway
(530) 873-6421
www.hrunway.com/shop
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/01
Page Numbers: 133,134,136,139,140
THE 2008 F1D World Championships US
Junior and Senior teams have been selected!
Representing the US will be defending World
Champ Larry Cailliau; Senior team members
Jim Richmond, Doug Schaefer, and I;
defending Junior World Champ Justin Young;
and Junior team members Tim Chang, Ethan
Aaron, and Garrett Gustafson.
Please join me in congratulating these
guys. I’m sure they’ll do us proud.
Team Selection Finals Report: The preceding
teams were determined at the F1D Team
Selection Finals, which was contested, again,
at the spectacular 145-foot Kibbie Dome in
Moscow, Idaho, alongside the regular annual
meet, which was held July 6-10. The 2008
F1D World Championships will be held in
October in Serbia.
Sporting plenty of floor space, there was
absolutely no problem with the mix of models
in the air. However, there were one or two
instances of errant Scale models forgetting
how to turn and sending the F1D fliersscrambling to protect their tables!
Competitors had a day to warm up before
getting into the three days of intense battle. A
time of 34-35 minutes is great for F1D at
Moscow, but practice day had many people
pushing nine minutes on one-quarter-motor
tests, hinting at a major shake-up in the Team
Selection’s “usual suspects.”
Reality set in once the first day of rounds
started, though, and more-anticipated times of
32 minutes began appearing on the board.
There may not have been a major jump in thetop scores, but there certainly was a stronger
concentration. By the end of the first day it
seemed that almost everyone had a 32
recorded.
It was going to take a special performance
to outpace this especially strong field and
earn a spot on the team. All the competitors
started digging deep for anything that would
give them that extra edge.
After watching eight-time World Champ
Jim Richmond put up an apparently effortless
33-plus-minute flight last year, Mark Bennettdecided to try to make Jim’s trademark
variable-diameter (VDi) propeller. Maybe
people have been talking about giving it a go,
but Mark’s is the first I’ve seen in a long
while.
With a couple respectable VP (variablepitch)
times on the board, Mark figured it was
time to break it out. The new propeller made
some promising flights, but, alas, it needed a
bit more tuning to be consistent. I’m sure
we’ll see more of it in the future.Jim was struggling with his own propellers
too. (And when I refer to “struggling,” I mean
only relative to his usual standards.) He
logged some decent times, but still found
himself in fourth place at the start of the final
day. And worse, his efforts to improve were
sending him backward—first to a 31 and then
a 29.
With just one round left and apparently
little hope, Jim called his wife and told her it
didn’t look like he was going to Serbia after
all. The events that followed his call still
have me in awe.
Jim slowly assembled a different
model that previously had good times.
(He later wondered aloud why he didn’ttake it out earlier.) He spent roughly 40
minutes carefully consulting his logbook and
replicating the recorded measurements.
Then, with nary as much as a trim flight,
Jim wound and launched. Did you read what I
wrote? He didn’t even make sure it still flew
the same! People just don’t do that.
I jokingly asked Jim when he planned tohave his propeller fold (the primary
adjustment for his propeller design, though
one that is severely nontrivial to do
accurately), and he replied, with confidence,
“Seven minutes.” Wouldn’t you know that the
propeller flipped shut at 6:58? I gave Jim
plenty of flak for being two seconds off.
Having used the rubber motor’s burst
energy efficiently, the model settled at a safe
altitude and finally cruised in for a 34:39,
which vaulted Jim from fourth to first place,
clinching the top spot by a mere seven
seconds! He went off to repeal his previous
call to his wife.
It’s awful to be the person on the bubble
when something like that goes down (and Jim
has pulled his last-round move on a whole lot
136 MODEL AVIATION
of competition). So who was the unfortunate
victim this time? I’ll just say Brett Sanborn
already knew his planets weren’t aligned on
this particular day. He was stuck on an
emotional rollercoaster. At the top of a loop.
Inverted.
After posting a top-notch 33:41 on Day
Two, a motor exploded approximately a half
circle from launch, destroying Brett’s airplane
and rekitting the propeller so badly that the
metal components were bent.
He got some rousing pep talks from his
peers and decided to regroup, spending the
evening piecing his best propeller back
together. On the second to last round Brett
used the repaired propeller to post a superb
34:17, apparently putting him in second place.
There was a problem, though. The Team
Selection Program uses regional points in
addition to the finals score, and Brett had
failed to secure a 100-point regional,
qualifying with just 94 points. Those six
points cost just enough to drop him into third
behind Doug Schaefer on the leader board.
Okay, no problem. Brett had one more
flight left. Things were set just right, and all
he needed to post was something close to his
last flight to get off the bubble. The launch
went smoothly and things were looking grand.
Then Brett confided to me that he had put
in some bonus torque and tweaked the high
pitch down a bit—both of which will make
the model climb higher. I know he was
looking for a little reassurance, but my wideeyed
expression must have given away my
true reaction. (What?)
The model clawed its way to the ceiling
tiles and began to bump, albeit rather gently.
After drifting a bit, it looked like Brett might
pull this off. And then the model hung, on
what we still don’t know. It was in the dead
center of a tile, far from anything dangerous.
But there it was, flight and contest over,
leaving Brett in position to get “Richmondized.”
Compared to all that, Doug Schaefer and I
took the easy route to our respective thirdand
second-place finishes. We posted
consistent flights that kept us out of too much
turmoil, briefly exchanged places, chose not
to fly the final rounds, and rolled our eyes
when Jim bumped us down a spot long after
our models were packed up. But the goal in
team selection is to be in the final three, so
mission accomplished.
The Junior competition featured Kibbie
Dome regular Tim Chang, wreaking havoc on
his peers. In the last cycle he narrowly missed
making the Junior team despite having
practice times that would have easily done the
job.
But rather than being crushed by the loss,
Tim quietly persevered, returning the
following year to break 30 minutes for his
first time. In this cycle his efforts showed; his
time of 34:42 not only topped the Junior
ranks, but bested all the Senior competitors as
well. Great work, Tim!
During the awards ceremony Tim received
a commemorative winder from his fellow
Oakland Cloud Dusters, recognizing both his
achievements to date and his future potential.Chuck Dorsett describes the device in the
following.
“The winder was made by Larry Parsons
who had made several winders, both indoor
and outdoor types, which were used by the
club members in the years during and after
WWII. He has never sold these winders or
received any money from his work. He has
done it purely for the love of the club and its
members.
“Fliers such as Joe Foster (Wakefield
World Champion), Manny Andrade, Hank
Cole and Carl Rambo used them, and Bud
Romak still uses one of the outdoor winders.
This particular winder was first presented to
Joe Bilgri the night before he left for the first
F1D World Championship and Joe became
the first world champ of that event. It has
been used by Erv Rodemsky and Bud
Romak when they, in turn, won their F1D
World Championships.
“Larry has kept track of most of his
winders and personally cleaned and serviced
them. I have had this winder for about 12
years and, having watched Tim Chang
develop, discussed presenting it to him with
Larry and Bud. We decided that Tim is
currently the best choice to use it.
“It is engraved ‘Joe Bilgri, the First F1D
Champion’ and ‘Oakland Clouddusters.’ The
case is machined out of two solid pieces of
aluminum, the gears are solid machined
brass, and the bearings are bronze sleeves.
Larry is a machinist and has worked for
Romak Iron Works and the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory.”
That’s quite an honor!
After finishing in second place at last
year’s World Championships, Ethan Aaron
joined his second Junior team, finishing
second at the finals. Ethan realizes that this is
a lot of “seconds” and is hoping to add a
“first” next year in Serbia.
Molly Neering finished a close third—
only roughly a minute and a half behind
Ethan—with excellent times that would have
won the previous team-selection cycle. She
became the first woman on any US F1D
team—almost.
It seems that some of mentor Brett
Sanborn’s bad mojo rubbed off, and, in acrushing development, they realized they had
misinterpreted the rules and Molly was
roughly five months too old to be on the
Junior team. It was heartbreaking, not just for
her, but for everyone who was enjoying the
gender breakthrough.
Not to worry, though. Molly is still flying
Indoor and has been spotted at Lakehurst
since. At least we didn’t cause an international
scandal by having this error discovered at the
World Championships.
Garrett Gustafson, who was the only other
Junior team-selection participant, was tapped
for the final spot. He has been working hard
on his F1D skills and makes a fine addition to
the Junior team, revitalizing its chances for the
all-important team win.
The Team Selection Finals ran quite
smoothly, in large part because of the efforts
of Andrew Tagliafico—the Kibbie Dome
Annual CD—and Chris Borland: the Team
Selection Finals CD. Thanks, guys!
Kibbie Dome Annual “Call to Arms”: I am
absolutely stunned that more people don’t
attend the Kibbie Dome Annual. Outside of
the team-selection participants and the Battle
Near Seattle Indoor Hand-Launched Glider
shindig a couple years ago, a surprisingly
small group of fliers is enjoying this worldclass
site.
Andrew Tagliafico has said he intends to
keep the event going, but the obvious reality is
that it might go away if not enough people
attend. Don’t let that happen!
Mark your calendars now for July 6-10,
2008; get some cheap tickets to Spokane,
Washington (or drive if you live close
enough); and have a great little vacation. You
won’t regret it. Aside from the huge flying
area, the camaraderie, and five days of
competition/fun-flying, there’s great dining
(we especially enjoyed sangrias), beautiful
scenery, and did I mention five days of flying
model airplanes?
It’s hard enough to find and arrange access
to stunning sites such as this. This one is a
“bird in the hand.”
The Comet Model News: Nancy Kapitanoff
recently E-mailed me the following.
“I have produced a short film
documentary, The Comet Model News, which
features a brief history of the Comet Model
Airplane & Supply Co. of Chicago,
established in 1929 by two high school boys
with an initial capital of $5. Model airplane
meets, Comet model events, and profiles of
the men and women who made Comet
prosper are depicted in 8mm color and 16mm
black-and-white film footage dating from
1937 to 1941.
“Some of that footage was shot by my
Dad, who became the West Coast sales
representative for Comet Model in 1933 and
opened a storefront office in Hollywood in
1934. My mother was the head bookkeeper
for the company, in Chicago, from 1936 until
1941, when she married my dad and moved to
Los Angeles.
“The DVD also includes a 12-minute
silent film produced by the Comet Model
company in 1939, Building and Flying a
Model Airplane.”
I obtained a copy of the DVD and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Nancy adds depth to
many famous names I’ve come to take for
granted, and the vintage film footage is
enthralling. Those who lived through the era
will find this a record of fond memories.
For people such as me, who are young
enough to have only heard stories, the video
provides a captivating glimpse at the
beginnings of our hobby. There are even some
moments of early Indoor models.
My only gripe is the tagline: “A Short
Documentary ode to a time when flying was
fun!” Hey, flying still is fun! But I get
Nancy’s point; back then “everyone” was
enamored with aviation.
As did many movies of the period,
Nancy’s leaves us with a cliffhanger and the
promise of more to come. I hope she has a big
stash of film and will keep the story rolling.
Til next time. MA
Sources:
The Comet Model News
(www.cometmodelnews.com):
Hannan’s Runway
(530) 873-6421
www.hrunway.com/shop
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/01
Page Numbers: 133,134,136,139,140
THE 2008 F1D World Championships US
Junior and Senior teams have been selected!
Representing the US will be defending World
Champ Larry Cailliau; Senior team members
Jim Richmond, Doug Schaefer, and I;
defending Junior World Champ Justin Young;
and Junior team members Tim Chang, Ethan
Aaron, and Garrett Gustafson.
Please join me in congratulating these
guys. I’m sure they’ll do us proud.
Team Selection Finals Report: The preceding
teams were determined at the F1D Team
Selection Finals, which was contested, again,
at the spectacular 145-foot Kibbie Dome in
Moscow, Idaho, alongside the regular annual
meet, which was held July 6-10. The 2008
F1D World Championships will be held in
October in Serbia.
Sporting plenty of floor space, there was
absolutely no problem with the mix of models
in the air. However, there were one or two
instances of errant Scale models forgetting
how to turn and sending the F1D fliersscrambling to protect their tables!
Competitors had a day to warm up before
getting into the three days of intense battle. A
time of 34-35 minutes is great for F1D at
Moscow, but practice day had many people
pushing nine minutes on one-quarter-motor
tests, hinting at a major shake-up in the Team
Selection’s “usual suspects.”
Reality set in once the first day of rounds
started, though, and more-anticipated times of
32 minutes began appearing on the board.
There may not have been a major jump in thetop scores, but there certainly was a stronger
concentration. By the end of the first day it
seemed that almost everyone had a 32
recorded.
It was going to take a special performance
to outpace this especially strong field and
earn a spot on the team. All the competitors
started digging deep for anything that would
give them that extra edge.
After watching eight-time World Champ
Jim Richmond put up an apparently effortless
33-plus-minute flight last year, Mark Bennettdecided to try to make Jim’s trademark
variable-diameter (VDi) propeller. Maybe
people have been talking about giving it a go,
but Mark’s is the first I’ve seen in a long
while.
With a couple respectable VP (variablepitch)
times on the board, Mark figured it was
time to break it out. The new propeller made
some promising flights, but, alas, it needed a
bit more tuning to be consistent. I’m sure
we’ll see more of it in the future.Jim was struggling with his own propellers
too. (And when I refer to “struggling,” I mean
only relative to his usual standards.) He
logged some decent times, but still found
himself in fourth place at the start of the final
day. And worse, his efforts to improve were
sending him backward—first to a 31 and then
a 29.
With just one round left and apparently
little hope, Jim called his wife and told her it
didn’t look like he was going to Serbia after
all. The events that followed his call still
have me in awe.
Jim slowly assembled a different
model that previously had good times.
(He later wondered aloud why he didn’ttake it out earlier.) He spent roughly 40
minutes carefully consulting his logbook and
replicating the recorded measurements.
Then, with nary as much as a trim flight,
Jim wound and launched. Did you read what I
wrote? He didn’t even make sure it still flew
the same! People just don’t do that.
I jokingly asked Jim when he planned tohave his propeller fold (the primary
adjustment for his propeller design, though
one that is severely nontrivial to do
accurately), and he replied, with confidence,
“Seven minutes.” Wouldn’t you know that the
propeller flipped shut at 6:58? I gave Jim
plenty of flak for being two seconds off.
Having used the rubber motor’s burst
energy efficiently, the model settled at a safe
altitude and finally cruised in for a 34:39,
which vaulted Jim from fourth to first place,
clinching the top spot by a mere seven
seconds! He went off to repeal his previous
call to his wife.
It’s awful to be the person on the bubble
when something like that goes down (and Jim
has pulled his last-round move on a whole lot
136 MODEL AVIATION
of competition). So who was the unfortunate
victim this time? I’ll just say Brett Sanborn
already knew his planets weren’t aligned on
this particular day. He was stuck on an
emotional rollercoaster. At the top of a loop.
Inverted.
After posting a top-notch 33:41 on Day
Two, a motor exploded approximately a half
circle from launch, destroying Brett’s airplane
and rekitting the propeller so badly that the
metal components were bent.
He got some rousing pep talks from his
peers and decided to regroup, spending the
evening piecing his best propeller back
together. On the second to last round Brett
used the repaired propeller to post a superb
34:17, apparently putting him in second place.
There was a problem, though. The Team
Selection Program uses regional points in
addition to the finals score, and Brett had
failed to secure a 100-point regional,
qualifying with just 94 points. Those six
points cost just enough to drop him into third
behind Doug Schaefer on the leader board.
Okay, no problem. Brett had one more
flight left. Things were set just right, and all
he needed to post was something close to his
last flight to get off the bubble. The launch
went smoothly and things were looking grand.
Then Brett confided to me that he had put
in some bonus torque and tweaked the high
pitch down a bit—both of which will make
the model climb higher. I know he was
looking for a little reassurance, but my wideeyed
expression must have given away my
true reaction. (What?)
The model clawed its way to the ceiling
tiles and began to bump, albeit rather gently.
After drifting a bit, it looked like Brett might
pull this off. And then the model hung, on
what we still don’t know. It was in the dead
center of a tile, far from anything dangerous.
But there it was, flight and contest over,
leaving Brett in position to get “Richmondized.”
Compared to all that, Doug Schaefer and I
took the easy route to our respective thirdand
second-place finishes. We posted
consistent flights that kept us out of too much
turmoil, briefly exchanged places, chose not
to fly the final rounds, and rolled our eyes
when Jim bumped us down a spot long after
our models were packed up. But the goal in
team selection is to be in the final three, so
mission accomplished.
The Junior competition featured Kibbie
Dome regular Tim Chang, wreaking havoc on
his peers. In the last cycle he narrowly missed
making the Junior team despite having
practice times that would have easily done the
job.
But rather than being crushed by the loss,
Tim quietly persevered, returning the
following year to break 30 minutes for his
first time. In this cycle his efforts showed; his
time of 34:42 not only topped the Junior
ranks, but bested all the Senior competitors as
well. Great work, Tim!
During the awards ceremony Tim received
a commemorative winder from his fellow
Oakland Cloud Dusters, recognizing both his
achievements to date and his future potential.Chuck Dorsett describes the device in the
following.
“The winder was made by Larry Parsons
who had made several winders, both indoor
and outdoor types, which were used by the
club members in the years during and after
WWII. He has never sold these winders or
received any money from his work. He has
done it purely for the love of the club and its
members.
“Fliers such as Joe Foster (Wakefield
World Champion), Manny Andrade, Hank
Cole and Carl Rambo used them, and Bud
Romak still uses one of the outdoor winders.
This particular winder was first presented to
Joe Bilgri the night before he left for the first
F1D World Championship and Joe became
the first world champ of that event. It has
been used by Erv Rodemsky and Bud
Romak when they, in turn, won their F1D
World Championships.
“Larry has kept track of most of his
winders and personally cleaned and serviced
them. I have had this winder for about 12
years and, having watched Tim Chang
develop, discussed presenting it to him with
Larry and Bud. We decided that Tim is
currently the best choice to use it.
“It is engraved ‘Joe Bilgri, the First F1D
Champion’ and ‘Oakland Clouddusters.’ The
case is machined out of two solid pieces of
aluminum, the gears are solid machined
brass, and the bearings are bronze sleeves.
Larry is a machinist and has worked for
Romak Iron Works and the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory.”
That’s quite an honor!
After finishing in second place at last
year’s World Championships, Ethan Aaron
joined his second Junior team, finishing
second at the finals. Ethan realizes that this is
a lot of “seconds” and is hoping to add a
“first” next year in Serbia.
Molly Neering finished a close third—
only roughly a minute and a half behind
Ethan—with excellent times that would have
won the previous team-selection cycle. She
became the first woman on any US F1D
team—almost.
It seems that some of mentor Brett
Sanborn’s bad mojo rubbed off, and, in acrushing development, they realized they had
misinterpreted the rules and Molly was
roughly five months too old to be on the
Junior team. It was heartbreaking, not just for
her, but for everyone who was enjoying the
gender breakthrough.
Not to worry, though. Molly is still flying
Indoor and has been spotted at Lakehurst
since. At least we didn’t cause an international
scandal by having this error discovered at the
World Championships.
Garrett Gustafson, who was the only other
Junior team-selection participant, was tapped
for the final spot. He has been working hard
on his F1D skills and makes a fine addition to
the Junior team, revitalizing its chances for the
all-important team win.
The Team Selection Finals ran quite
smoothly, in large part because of the efforts
of Andrew Tagliafico—the Kibbie Dome
Annual CD—and Chris Borland: the Team
Selection Finals CD. Thanks, guys!
Kibbie Dome Annual “Call to Arms”: I am
absolutely stunned that more people don’t
attend the Kibbie Dome Annual. Outside of
the team-selection participants and the Battle
Near Seattle Indoor Hand-Launched Glider
shindig a couple years ago, a surprisingly
small group of fliers is enjoying this worldclass
site.
Andrew Tagliafico has said he intends to
keep the event going, but the obvious reality is
that it might go away if not enough people
attend. Don’t let that happen!
Mark your calendars now for July 6-10,
2008; get some cheap tickets to Spokane,
Washington (or drive if you live close
enough); and have a great little vacation. You
won’t regret it. Aside from the huge flying
area, the camaraderie, and five days of
competition/fun-flying, there’s great dining
(we especially enjoyed sangrias), beautiful
scenery, and did I mention five days of flying
model airplanes?
It’s hard enough to find and arrange access
to stunning sites such as this. This one is a
“bird in the hand.”
The Comet Model News: Nancy Kapitanoff
recently E-mailed me the following.
“I have produced a short film
documentary, The Comet Model News, which
features a brief history of the Comet Model
Airplane & Supply Co. of Chicago,
established in 1929 by two high school boys
with an initial capital of $5. Model airplane
meets, Comet model events, and profiles of
the men and women who made Comet
prosper are depicted in 8mm color and 16mm
black-and-white film footage dating from
1937 to 1941.
“Some of that footage was shot by my
Dad, who became the West Coast sales
representative for Comet Model in 1933 and
opened a storefront office in Hollywood in
1934. My mother was the head bookkeeper
for the company, in Chicago, from 1936 until
1941, when she married my dad and moved to
Los Angeles.
“The DVD also includes a 12-minute
silent film produced by the Comet Model
company in 1939, Building and Flying a
Model Airplane.”
I obtained a copy of the DVD and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Nancy adds depth to
many famous names I’ve come to take for
granted, and the vintage film footage is
enthralling. Those who lived through the era
will find this a record of fond memories.
For people such as me, who are young
enough to have only heard stories, the video
provides a captivating glimpse at the
beginnings of our hobby. There are even some
moments of early Indoor models.
My only gripe is the tagline: “A Short
Documentary ode to a time when flying was
fun!” Hey, flying still is fun! But I get
Nancy’s point; back then “everyone” was
enamored with aviation.
As did many movies of the period,
Nancy’s leaves us with a cliffhanger and the
promise of more to come. I hope she has a big
stash of film and will keep the story rolling.
Til next time. MA
Sources:
The Comet Model News
(www.cometmodelnews.com):
Hannan’s Runway
(530) 873-6421
www.hrunway.com/shop
