Geneseo!
by Dennis O. Norman
Rolling hills and soft grass characterize the 2008 Flying Aces Club Nationals
Contestants from the US, Canada, England, and Australia met at Geneseo, New York, July 16–19 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Flying Aces Club (FAC) national competitions: FAC Nats Mark XVI. This premier event ranks as the largest of its kind in the world, though attendance was down about 10%, probably because of the sagging US economy and high travel costs.
The 135 contestants who did make the pilgrimage were not disappointed. Many times I overheard people saying that the models are getting better every year and the flight times are soaring.
Enthusiasts began arriving on Tuesday, July 15, to get comfortably situated, socialize, and flight-test their models before serious competition began on Thursday. Several vendors arrived that day too, ready to set up their displays the next morning.
Early Wednesday afternoon the doors to the Quality Inn reception area opened and the static judging (and vending) began. It continued until after 9 p.m., with hundreds of beautiful models and their proud makers. A few of the standout static entries included:
- Ted Allebone’s breathtaking Gotha G.IV.
- Bernard Dion’s Russian Belfagor 15 (a single-engine, jet-powered pusher).
- Clive Gamble’s innovative Sopwith Camel.
- Vance Gilbert’s impressive Short S.26 floatplane.
- Tom Hallman’s gorgeous Junkers J 1 biplane (winner of the Earl Stahl Award for Best Scale Model).
- Mike Isermann’s Ki-61 “Tony” (winner of the Earl Van Gorder Award for Best World War II model).
- Dave Mitchell’s colorful Vega.
- Andrew Ricci’s twin-engine Arado Ar.440 (30-inch wingspan with notable nacelles).
- Tom Nallen II’s large, ungainly but great-flying Pterodactyl.
- Chris Starleaf’s spectacular 37-inch-span B-47 Stratojet bomber, powered by Rapier rocket motors.
- Mike Stuart’s four-engine Jumbo Scale Armstrong Whitworth Argosy.
- Rich Weber’s Gunbus and award-winning Potez 29-2 (Walt Mooney Award — Best Peanut model).
I apologize for omitting many more deserving modelers and their creations.
FAC Nats Mark XVI Winners
- FAC Rubber Scale — Tom Hallman — Do X
- FAC Peanut Scale — Gene Smith — Tigercat
- FAC Hi-Wing Peanut Scale — Jeff Runnels — Nesmith Cougar
- FAC Jumbo Scale — Chris Starleaf — Savoia-Marchetti S.79
- FAC Giant Scale — Chris Starleaf — Dash 8
- FAC Powder Puff Scale — Marie Rees — Vega
- FAC Old Time Kit Scale — John Houck — Fairchild 45
- FAC Dime Scale — Gene Smith — Hawker Typhoon
- Pioneer Scale — Tom Hallman — Blériot 25
- WW I Combat — Stu Meyers — Grain Kitten
- Golden Age Civil Scale — Jack McGillivray — Cessna C-38
- Fairchild 24 Event — Orville Olm — Fairchild 24
- Golden Age Military Scale — Tom Hallman — Mureaux fighter
- WW II Combat — Jim De Tar — Curtiss SBC Helldiver
- AT-6 Endurance Event — Andrew Ricci — AT-6
- Modern Age Civil Scale — Walt Farrell — Navion
- Modern Age Military Scale — Don Srull — MiG-15
- Contra Prop Scale — Tom Hallman — Koolhoven F.K.5501
- Shell Speed Dash Race — Chris Starleaf — Rider Firecracker
- Thompson Trophy Race — Chris Starleaf — Cessna CR-3
- Greve Race — Al Lawton — Mr. Smoothie
- Aerol Trophy Race — Dallas Cornelius — Caudron C.460
- Blur Race — Pete Kaiteris — Jackrabbit
- Goodyear/Formula Race — Gene Smith — Ricochet
- FAC Fiction Flyer Scale — Rich Weber — Booth Ranger
- FAC No-Cal Profile Scale — John Stott — Extra 400
- Power Scale Single Engine — Tom Hallman — D.H.2
- FAC Embryo Endurance — Frank Romsome — Chrysalis
- FAC Old Time Stick — Vic Nippert — Thermalier
- FAC Old Time Rubber — Dan Driscoll — Wren
- FAC 2 Bit Plus 1 — Don DeLoach — Skokie
- FAC Jimmie Allen Event — Don Srull — Sky Raider
- FAC Old Time Gas Replica — Vic Nippert — Aerobo Rapier
- Rapier Jet Scale — Bernard Dion — Belfagor
- Low Wing Trainer Scale — Jim De Tar — Moth Minor
- AT-6 Mass Launch — Andrew Ricci — AT-6
- French Design — Tom Nallen Sr. — Potez 34
- GHQ Peanut Scale — Al Lawton — Folkerts SK-3
- FAC Old Time Sparky — Don DeLoach — Sparky
- FAC Rubber Powered — Paul Boyanowski — de Havilland Comet
- Jet Scale — Mike Isermann — Flying Horde
FAC Nats Mark XVI Facts
This was the 30th FAC national competition and the 16th biennial FAC Nats. FAC members with perfect Nats attendance include Ross Mayo, Jack Moses, Fernando Ramos, Juanita Reichel, and John Stott.
At this year’s contest:
- 135 contestants entered the competitions.
- 40 FAC events were flown.
- 1,029 official (timed) flights were recorded.
- 129 “maxes” (maximum-time-limit flights) were made.
- Contestants completed a total of 396 mass-launch flights.
Awards and Honors
- Earl Stahl Award (Best Scale Model) — Tom Hallman — Junkers J 1
- Walt Mooney Award (Best Peanut Model) — Rich Weber — Potez 29-2
- Earl Van Gorder Award (Best WWII Model) — Mike Isermann — Ki-61 “Tony”
- Cole Palen Award (WW I Combat Winner) — Stu Meyers — Grain Kitten
Highlights and Notable Moments
- Greg Thornton (Oswego, NY) purchased a Scientific Fury kit at the static judging and built it overnight. He completed it by Saturday afternoon and launched it into strong thermals for an impressive soaring flight.
- The flying site was unusually rough this year due to a major air show held a week earlier and torrential rains that left ruts. The ruts were baked hard in the hot days before the Nats, making walking precarious in places. Most contestants set up tents along the access road to avoid the worst ruts.
- Wind came mostly from the south, carrying models north across the field and away from nearby cornfields. A few westerly gusts pushed some models into potato patches east of the field.
- Thursday’s air was calm with booming thermals; Friday brought clouds, scattered showers, and unstable air; Saturday was sunny but windy.
- Clive Gamble’s 22-inch-span Sopwith Camel flew 1:45 with a dramatically shortened peg-to-hook length and sparked much conversation.
- Chris Starleaf’s B-47 Stratojet had dramatic flights and crashes: an attempted evening launch with four Rapier motors failed to ignite one motor on the first try; after replacement motors the bomber launched but stalled at low altitude and crashed, breaking a wing and tearing off engine pods. Chris repaired it and attempted a six-motor launch the next day; it initially climbed but then went out of control and crashed again, breaking nose and wings. His bold attempts drew cheers and admiration.
- Bernard Dion’s 19-inch-span Belfagor 15 biplane, powered by a single L2HP Rapier, won Rapier Jet Scale with a 35-second flight. Rapier-powered entries increased from 8 in 2006 to 28 in 2008.
- Steve Price’s Ukkie L-1 (16-inch-span, Jetex-derived) flew 49 seconds and won a $25 jackpot created by participants.
- Montreal’s Squadron 71 (Snowy Owl Squadron), led by Ronny Gosselin and Bernard Dion, attended with members including Luke Martin, Steve Price, and Molly Gosselin. Guests Maurice Taudevin and Christina Hansson traveled from Australia to join them.
- Fernando Ramos flew his 41-inch-span Jimmie Allen Sky Chief with a thrown propeller blade; the model flew 1:55 despite the imbalance and returned safely.
- AMA President Dave Mathewson attended, as did District III VP Bob Brown (who introduced two associate VPs, Mark Radcliff and Ken Karpinski). Bob gave FF-style flying lessons to children at the event.
- I met 92-year-old engineer Wayne Love, who worked at Bell Aircraft laying out full-scale designs and drew model plans for Cleveland Models during and after WWII. His stories and contributions enriched the event.
Vendors
Numerous vendors supported the Nats, including:
- FAC GHQ (General Headquarters) — commemorative T-shirts, caps, merchandise
- Air Ace Models
- Campbell’s Custom Kits (Lee Campbell)
- FAI Model Supply (John Clapp)
- GizmoGeezer (Orv Olm)
- Rees Industries (Dave and Marie Rees)
- Shorty’s Basement (Carole and Dan Kane)
- Thomas Designs (Greg Thomas)
- Wilson’s Balsa (Dan Wilson)
The Banquet
The 2008 FAC Nats concluded with a banquet featuring a buffet and an awards presentation. Special presentations included distribution of 50 kits from the Lin Reichel Estate to randomly selected banquet guests.
A quilt made from FAC T-shirts (including some of Lin’s), created by Bea Allebone, Janet Lang, Elaine Welshans, and Diana Gregg, was raffled for $416 in donations to the FAC. Cloudbusters member Fred Wunsche won the quilt and graciously donated it to Lin’s widow, Juanita Reichel.
Vance Gilbert provided one of the evening’s highlights in his character role as Captain Rutherford Lincoln Washington III, DFC, PAL, BMF — a 109-year-old black aviator. His high-spirited performance drew waves of laughter and a standing ovation.
Remembering Lin Reichel
Lin Reichel, FAC commander in chief from 1980 until his passing on June 16, 2008, was remembered for his dedication, fairness, kindness, enthusiasm, generosity, and patience. His leadership and spirit can never be replaced. Ross Mayo has been chosen as the new C-in-C to continue Lin’s work.
—Dennis O. Norman [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
