News and views from the 2005 NIRAC Championship!
Dave Robelen | [email protected]
HELLO, FELLOW MODELERS. I am ashamed to admit that the deadline for this column managed to blow right past me. With the help of the kind people at AMA Headquarters, I was still able to get some material in.
I have mentioned the National Indoor Remote-controlled Aircraft Council (NIRAC) Championship meet that was to be held in Waterford, Michigan, in several columns. It is now history.
Our timing was lousy because the meet was scheduled when gas prices were hitting a peak after the Gulf hurricanes. This led to quite a few cancellations from people who had planned to come. I am sorry you missed it; it was a great time.
I will give the results in just a bit, but first I want to share information about some pictures that represent a cross-section of the activity and the people who came to the event.
Highlights and people
- Cindy Malinchak is shown holding her RC Endurance model. Not only did she win a trophy with it, but she and Wanda Pasquet did heroic work at the registration table and helped with scorekeeping. Cindy was also inducted into the NIRAC Hall of Fame. Way to go!
- Bill Smead is pictured with his neat Fokker D.VII. Through incredible perseverance and a wonderful spirit, Bill took home a trophy with this model.
- Henry Pasquet not only won nearly everything he entered, he managed to fly an incredible 33:30 in AMA Endurance with only three 50 mAh Ni-Cd cells. For all his hard work and preparation, Henry took home the high-point and technical-achievement awards. You should have seen his racer lapping the field in Pylon — this man is good! One picture shows me handing Henry some of his award plaques.
- Scott and Marcia Christensen came to the event with Scott's Scale entries. Both models won their individual events, and it was richly deserved. Scott had put in a lot of practice time with his flying and it showed. He has been one of the strongest supporters of this annual meet and a helpful adviser to me. We were blessed by Scott and Marcia's attendance.
- The Scale judges, Henry Pasquet and I, are shown nit-picking one of the Sport Scale entries. No easy points were given away here. Modelers have a tough time matching the documentation to the model (or vice versa), and that remains a weakness in this event.
- Ken Coleman came all the way from chilly Canada to fly his lovely little WACO in Fun Scale. It was worth the trip — he earned a trophy for his efforts.
A rich thank you goes out to all of our supporters. Your contributions made this meet possible. Please consider their products when you are shopping:
- Air Age Media
- Balsa Products
- Castle Creations
- DWE / Dynamics Unlimited
- E Cubed R/C
- FMA Direct
- Kiona Publishing
- Hobby Lobby International
- Plantraco Ltd.
- Sig Manufacturing Co.
- Sky Hooks and Rigging
- Wilder Model Machine Works
Event results
Old-Timer Climb and Glide:
- Henry Pasquet
- John Gardner
- Joe Malinchak
RC Glider:
- Henry Pasquet
- Del Ogren
- John Gardner
Racing:
- Henry Pasquet
- Tim Wolff
- Joe Malinchak
Fun Scale:
- Scott Christensen
- Joe Malinchak
- Ken Coleman
Sport Scale:
- Scott Christensen
- Joe Malinchak
- Bill Smead
AMA Endurance:
- Henry Pasquet
- Del Ogren
- Cindy Malinchak
Wrapping this up, I want to give the Malinchaks a special thank you for their behind-the-scenes help. They also provided the pictures of the meet.
Plantraco-controlled model (John Krouse)
John Krouse, 1124 Pipestem Pl., Rockville MD 20854, sent a picture and description of his latest Plantraco-controlled model. He wrote that:
- All surfaces are thin Depron foam.
- The wing is 0.5 mm material bonded to 3/32" balsa ribs.
- The tail feathers are 1 mm thick.
- The wing center-section has two small washers that mate with magnets on the pylons for attachment.
- The drive is a Falcon PU04 with 6.5:1 reduction mated to a 6 x 12 mm, 4.5-ohm pager motor.
- Features include a high thrustline and a foam nose bumper (E*A*R hearing protector).
- Wingspan: 14 inches.
- Weight: roughly 2/3 ounce.
- Controls: rudder and throttle.
That's it this month. Let's see if I can get to the post office in time.
Dave Robelen | [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
