Nats 2011-2011/11

The first National Aeromodeling Championships, or Nats as it is commonly called, was held in 1923 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Since then, the Nats has traveled to several different locations, many of which were Naval Air Stations. In 1996 the Outdoor Nats found a home at AMA's International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, and the Indoor events landed at the Mini-Dome in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Indoor Free Flight Tom Iacobellis is kicking his F1D program into high gear, with his sights set on a World Championship Team spot. Jeff Hood photo.
Dave Mark, the seven-time CL Speed Formula 40 winner, launches Alberto Caballero. Warren Gregory photo.
85 years of competition and camaraderie
above: the top three competitors in the 2011 RC Scale Helicopter Nats are (L to R) Darrell Sprayberry, first; Stanley Kopreski, second; and Eric Babineaux, third. Rachelle Haughn photo.
Right: Caroline Goldsmith, assisted by her timer Craig Greening, scored a perfect 100-point landing with her Pike in the RC Soaring Nats. Gordon Buckland photo.
Left: Howard Rush was one of the two warm-up pilots for the CL Aerobatics Finals early on Thursday morning, July 7. Allen Brickhaus photo.
little help from fellow young’un and Indoor
FF expert, Max Zaluska.
David Aronstein brought his son, Zevi,
who was paired with Tom Iacobellis in the
Pro-Am. They were low in the standings,
but Tom shared good information and Zevi
is in great shape for next year. Tom
redeemed himself by topping the 21-
contestant field in Limited Pennyplane on
Sunday with a strong 15:48.
These are just a few of the fresh faces
who represent the future of Indoor FF. If
you have even a passing interest in the
“lighter side” of model aviation, you are
welcome to join us next year. It’s not just
fun and fierce competition, although that’s a
big part of it. It is also a week of great
flying, hanging out with like-minded
friends, and sharing knowledge. John wrote:
“You don’t have to be an expert to
attend. Newcomers are strongly
encouraged—we even have events designed
especially for you. If you like other forms of
challenging model aviation, you’re sure to
enjoy Indoor FF.
“Event Director Abram Van Dover ran a
laid-back, thoroughly organized contest.
Dave Thompson handled the processing
duties while Graham Webster wrangled with
the scoring system and debated with
attendees on a variety of topics. Thanks for
the great job!
“Thank you to our generous sponsors who
donated valuable merchandise for the raffle
and Pro-Am prizes.
“Thank you also to Liz Helms, Ashley
Rauen, and Rachelle Haughn, NatsNews
editors, who took my ramblings and photos
and produced masterpieces.
“Join us next year for the Indoor FF Nats.
Jeff Hood has signed up as the event director
and is sure to host an excellent contest.”
Radio Control
This year’s RC events were covered in
NatsNews by reporters Don Grissom, Ed
Franz, Jim Quinn, Gordon Buckland, Ted
Kraver, Phil Cartier, Chris Hockaday, Scott
Causey, Rachelle Haughn, and Matt and Allie
Russell.
RC Combat: The 2011 RC Combat Nats had
good weather and great flying. Some of the
best pilots in the country showed up to
compete. Up to 10 rounds were held each day.
After completing all rounds for all events, it
was clear that William Drumm III dominated
the competition.
William, a Wisconsin resident, finished in
first place in Limited B with a score of 3,824.
He flew an airplane he designed this year,
called the Willy Wing. It uses single u-rail
designs that are durable in case of a collision.
William also won Slow and Survivable
Combat (SSC) with a score of 4,508, and
Open B Combat with 3,340 points. William
also was the Overall Open Champion in the
2010 Nats.
The only event William didn’t win was
Scale 2948 Combat, which went to Eric
Gilkey. Eric is the younger brother of Brian
Gilkey, who has long dominated the RC
Combat events at the Nats.
There were many hard hits in Open B,
including one round where Keith Jones flew
the remaining 3 minutes of Combat alone
because the rest of the field had been
knocked out. The pilots learned not to let
Bob Loescher tell them to “fly the planes
like we stole them.”
RC Electric: The summer heat and strong
winds made competing in this year’s RC
Electric Sailplane Nats anything but easy.
Scorching temperatures during all four
days of the contest made it difficult for the
pilots to stay cool. Each day was a battle
with strong wind gusts, but some pilots still
came out on top.
On the fourth and final day of
competition, Bob Burson had a perfect flight
with 10s across the board, earning him first
place in the Class B Limited Motor Run
(LMR) event. Burson also walked away
with a first-place finish in 1/2A, posting a
score of 6,140.
Other winners throughout the event
included Don Richmond who took first in
Class A LMR, and David Registar who
placed first in ALES.
RC Helicopters: Attendance may have been
down from 2010, but the 2011 RC
Helicopter Nats went off without a hitch.
There was only one casualty when a
nosedive claimed one pilot’s helicopter.
However, his spirits were lifted by the fact
that his son took first place in his first Nats.
Rookie David Ford walked away with the
top spot in the Sportsman Class, but his
father, George S. Ford, landed in fifth after a
strong gust of wind crashed his heli.
Tracey Dickinson placed first in the
Advanced Class, Erich Freymann won the
Expert Class, and Curtis Youngblood, a
member of the US team that competed in the
World Championship in Italy, was named
winner of the FAI F3C Class.
The race for the F3C title was the
tightest, with Curtis earning a score of
3,000, and the second-place finisher, Nick
Maxwell, earning 2,938.445 points. Nick
also is a member of the World
Championship team, as is Wayne Mann,
who also finished in the top five.
In the RC Helicopter Scale competition,
there were only four entries—down quite a bit
from previous years. Static judging was held,
and then the pilots flew their helicopters in
simple maneuvers and in freestyle.
Darrell Sprayberry took first place in the
Scale Heli Nats with his Long Ranger
model. Stanley Kopreski followed in
second, and Eric Babineaux placed third.
RC Pattern: Two midair collisions in one
day could have put a damper on this year’s
RC Pattern Nats, but didn’t.
Airplanes flown by Jeff Hatton and Austin
Wingo collided at Site 4 on the first day of
competition. Both aircraft were destroyed. A
few minutes later, airplanes flown by Chris
Moon and Mickey Losardo also collided.
Some pilots had successful flights, and
champions were named for the
Intermediate and Advanced classes.
Brian Stachan was named Intermediate
Champion, with Houson Schweitzer
coming in second. In Advanced, Joseph
Szczur was crowned champion, with Scott
McHarg coming in second, and Victor
Diaz finished third.
RC Pylon: Exciting, close races were the
name of the game for the 2011 RC Pylon
Nats. The final day of competition was no
exception.
In the Q-40 event, 32 racers were rematrixed
for a five-round race. When the
dust settled, there was one flyoff to break
the tie for second and third place between
the engine manufacturers, Dub Jett of Jett
Engineering and Mike Langlois, who has
taken over production of the Nelson .40. In
a come-from-behind finish, Mike passed
Dub somewhere around lap eight and held
the lead to the end. Mike Helsel finished
first and Lee Von Der Hey set the fast time
of 1:01:81 for the contest.
The 426 Super Sport Quickie event
ended with a final flyoff for the top three
spots and pitted Gino Del Ponte against
Tom Scott and Dub Jett. Gino’s Ninja
nosed over just slightly on launch and
ground off the tips of his propeller. This
left the battle for the lead position to Tom
and Dub.
Tom held the lead until late in the race
when he cut a pylon and moved himself to
third behind Gino, with Dub Jett claiming
the title of first-ever 426 Super Sport
Quickie National Champion. Dub also
went on to be named the Overall Nats
Pylon Champion for his outstanding
performances in both the Q-40 and the 426.
The 428 Race also was a nail-biter.
Many mishaps occurred and those who
were still racing at the end of the day
considered themselves fortunate. Mike
Helsel won the 428, with Gino Del Ponte
coming in second, followed by Matthew
Fehling in third. Fast time was set by Terry
Frasier.
In the Q-20 competition, Allie Russell
was named Best Senior, Mike Helse took
first, Mike Langlois came in second, and
Dub placed third. Lee Von Der Hey had
the fastest time.
RC Scale: This year’s FAI-F4C Scale
contest determined that John Buckley, who
flew a Tiger Moth, will represent the USA
in the FAI World Championship. The event
will be held at the Los Santa Cilia Los
Pirineos airfield, near the city of Jaca in
Spain, in August 2012.
Fun Scale Advanced had the highest
number of entries with 17. Terry Nitsch
captured first place with his F-86 Saber.
Sport Scale Sportsman ended with
Steven Eagle and his Nieuport 17 in first
and Raymond Schmidt’s BU-133 in
second, 7 points back. Designer Scale
multiyear winner Dave Johnson (Albatros
D.V) was a scant .075 points ahead of Al
Kretz’s Dornier D023G. Al is also a past
Nats winner and has represented the USA
in the FAI International Championship.
In Expert Sport Scale, Robert Bush and
his F-100 finished in first, one point ahead
of the pack.
The RC Scale Flight Achievement
award was won by Billy Thompson with
four excellent flights on his Fokker D.VII.
The Designer Scale champion was David
Johnson.
The team of Dale Arvin and Jeremy
Arvin captured the RC Team Scale title
with an SNJ.
The RC Novice Fun Scale winner was
Steve Ort Jr.
RC Scale Aerobatics: After four days of
tough competition, six champions reined
over the 2011 RC Scale Aerobatics Nats.
Many notable competitors came to the
event, including Igor Spektor from New
York, New York, in his second year at the
Nats. His friend, Andy Fomin, (both
originally from Ukraine/Russia
respectively), joined in for his first year at
the AMA Nats, and flew a JTEC Extra to
compete in the Unlimited Class.
The International Miniature Airplane
Club (IMAC) North Central Regional
Director, Brian Sanik, tore up the sky with
his Carden Extra 300 Pro. Three-time
National Champion Kurt Koelling returned
to the Nats for his 11th time, making the
Unlimited sequences look easy. Kurt,
along with Dennis Gergits from Carden
Aircraft, designed the Carden Extra 300
Pro he flew.
Also in the Unlimited Class was Will
Berninger, from Cincinnati, and from
Ontario, Canada, Mike Milos. This was
Mike’s first year at the U.S. Nats. He was
the champion in Intermediate Class at the
Canadian Nats in 2008, and the Advanced
Class champion again in 2009.
The following champions were named:
Geoffrey Donati, Sportsman Class; Corey
Ford, Intermediate Class; Benjamin Batts,
Advanced and Freestyle; and Kurt Koelling,
Unlimited Class and Bennett Cup.
RC Soaring: Ever-changing winds meant
ever-changing leaders in the races for the
Two-Meter, Unlimited, RES, Nostalgia,
and F3J titles. After eight days of braving
the heat and coping with the wind,
champions in each contest were crowned.
In the final round of the Two-Meter
event, the wind slowed down a little, but
that made the lift weaker and more fickle
than ever. Regardless of the changing
conditions, some pilots managed to place
their models in the right place every round
and get the max.
The one person who achieved that was
Larry Jolly with a score of 13,760 in 13
rounds. Larry made the right choices
consistently and won all but three of his
rounds. Coming in second was Josh Glaab
with 13,437 points, and Mike Fox, flying a
“homebrew” aircraft, captured third with
13,089 points.
www.dubro.com
Micro E/Z Link
Micro2 E/Z Link
#849, 920, 940
Micro Pull-Pull System
#846
Mini E/Z Connector
#845, 915
GET CONTROL
November 2011 35
In the RES competition, Peter
Goldsmith was named champion with
6,976 points. Peter’s great flight was a
memorable one and made the difference
between a mediocre result and a
championship. Placing second was Kent
Nogy with 6,950 points, and Craig
Greening finished third with 6,912 points.
Nostalgia trophies were handed out by
Don St. Germain. First place went to Peter
Schlitzkus with 6,906 points flying a
Challenger. That was some great flying by
Peter, who had only one round at less than
900 points. Second place went to Peter
Goldsmith, who had 6,673 points, and Don
Harris finished third with 6,527 points.
The race for the top Junior in F3J was a
seesawing matchup between Dominick
Lewis and Dillon Graves, which
culminated in a close finish—courtesy of
some superb high-scoring landings.
Dominick was inches behind Dillon at the
end, placing second with a score of
9476.07.
The winner of the F3J contest was
Cody Remington with a score of 9991.57.
Rich Burnoski placed second with 9982.11
points, and Jim Monaco placed third with
a score of 9967.46.
The contest’s top Senior was Dave
Bradley who flew superbly to take outright
20th place with 9576.68 points. He will be
eligible to compete for the Junior Team at
the F3J World Championships Team
Selection contest in Florida in October.
Dave also is a full-scale glider pilot.
In the final contest, Cody Remington
was named 2011 National Unlimited
Champion, flying a new airplane, the
Egida from Jaro Mueller. Coming in
second was Mike Verzuh with a score of
10,758, and Skip Miller, last year’s
champion, was third with 10,701 points.
Control Line
Control Line week kicked off July 4. CL
registration stood at 175 for what
promised to be a great week weatherwise—
cool in the mornings with light
winds and hot in the afternoons. NatsNews
reporters for the CL events and this report
included Allen Brickhaus, Tim Stone,
Dick Perry, Warren Gregory, Ted Kraver,
and Phil Cartier.
CL Scale: Static judging started early and
by early afternoon, 26 aircraft had been
judged for 17 pilots and/or builders.
Holding static judging on-site under the
tent for the past couple of years has cut
costs and allowed fliers to take their
assembled aircraft out for a test flight.
FAI (F4B) had four entries, but
unfortunately, because of lack of European
competition in the last International
Championships, it is not being contested in
2012. The turnout was smaller than usual,
and that may be from holding Scale during
the Fourth of July weekend.
Erratic winds were a problem all week.
First-prize winner in CL Sport Scale was
John Brodak and Aaron Bauer took
Junior/Senior Sport Scale. Aaron
completed the Hat Trick with another
award in Profile Scale.
Team Scale placed father-and-son Ken
Stevens Sr. and Ken Stevens Jr. in first.
Chris Brownhill won CL Profile Scale
with his Hampton and Alan Goff was the
National Champion in F4B. Too bad FAI
decided to drop F4B from the International
Championships or Alan would be on his
way to Europe next summer.
Ed Mason held on (literally) to his
four-engine B-17 to win Fun Scale.
Charlie Bauer won top Static score in
Team Scale with his Bristol and Chris
Brownhill took top Static with his
Hampton in Profile Scale.
In FAI, Frank Beatty’s impeccable
yellow Borg Parakeet took the top Static
award. The final CL award was the AMA
Grand National which is the sum of the
Static score and all four flight scores. The
winner was Canadian Chris Brownhill.
CL Speed: The Open ½A Proto winner
was Jerry Rocha, second went to Chris
Montagino, and in third place was Glen
VanSant. In the Junior/Senior age group,
first place in ½A Proto went to James
VanSant and second went to 8-year-old
Ivan Valishev.
In ½A Speed, Carl Dodge flew a single
flight, but it was good enough for first.
Chris Montagino was second and third was
Charles Legg with his home-built engine.
Charlie turned 80 in August and is still
flying monoline and two-wire.
Open Sport Speed record-holder Jerry
Rocha’s first and only flight won the
event, followed by Chris Montagino and
Glenn Lee. Alberto Caballero placed first
in the .21 Sport Speed Junior/Senior
division and James VanSant was second.
In F2A, Carl Dodge nearly equaled the
first-place speed he had last year with a
flight of 290.696 mph. Alex Valishev was
second and Alberto Caballero Sr. was
third.
In Senior Formula 40, James VanSant
placed first. In Open, Dave Mark
triumphed over several serious
competitors to be the seven-time National
Champion. There were five Formula 40
airplanes designed by Dave in this event.
Second was Alberto Caballero and third
went to Chris Montagino.
Jerry Rocha won the .21 Proto event
with 138.002 mph, on the first and only
flight of the day. He joked that making
only one flight prolongs his engine’s life.
Second went to Bob Whitney and Glenn
Lee placed third
This year’s Perky event saw Carl
Dodge in first and the high-speed winner
at 102.889. Second place went to Bill
Hughes and third was Butch Andrews.
CL Racing: In the past on the Racing
circles, Floridian Bob Whitney has
dominated using an F2C airplane and
diesel engine. This year, some of the
glow-powered entries were game on,
including Canadian Les Akre and Arizonan
Steve Eichenberger.
Clown Race, once considered an entrylevel
event, has become one of the quickest
and most physically demanding CL Racing
events. Races are timed in 7½-minute
preliminary and 15-minute final races.
For the finals, Les Akre recruited New
Zealander Andrew Robinson and Dave
Hull enlisted veteran pitman Bob Oge for
the race.
In the finals, Les lasted a near-record
339 laps for the win.
Eight teams showed up for Slow Rat
Racing. The team of Jim Gall (New Jersey)
with Les Akre pitting, set a new
preliminary record of 3:01.52 for 70 laps.
In the first final, Tim Stone/Bob Oge
bested Gall/Akre with 7:01. In the second
final, the Oge/Stone team was disqualified
and Jim Demeritte/Jim Bradley coasted to
a 6:51 for first place.
Scale Racers are modeled after Formula
I air racers. Profile fuselages are used to
simplify the event. This year’s fastest heat
time was Les Akre/Dave Hull with Les’s
new Lil’ Mike—a fine-looking new build.
Perennial Goodyear winner Bob Oge took
home first place with a modest 7:15.
The easy-starting nature of the ringed
K&B .40 makes Texas Quickie Rat a
closely contested event and it appears to be
a spectator favorite. Eight teams took the
flightline and preliminary times were close
to record speeds. Only 8 seconds separated
the top four places. The three-up final had
Les Akre/Dave Hull scoring 6:19; Russ
Green/Mike Greb at 6:22; and Bill
Lee/Jason Allen finished in third with 6:31.
F2C FAI Team Race was diesel day.
F2C and F2CN Team Racers use .15 diesel
engines for greater mileage. The team of
Dave Fisher and Steve Wilk, running a
Cobra design, had fantastic airspeeds and
came within less than 2 seconds of the
current US record in the preliminaries.
The three-up, 200-lap final had Dave
Fisher/Steve Wilk setting a new US final
record time of 6:43. Aleksandr Elbert/
Aleksey Topunov took second and Bob
Whitney/Jason Allen came in third.
F2CN is a simplified version of F2C,
which uses profile fuselages, more
affordable engines, and simpler tank
setups. The final best time was Dave
Hallas/Bob Whitney with a great 8:54.
Mouse Racing wrapped up the CL
Racing Nats. Preliminary five-lap race
times were close and the results were Dave
Hallas/Bob Whitney with 2:21, Bill
Lee/Russ Green boasting a 2:27, and Les
Akre/Dave Hull in third with 2:29.
Canadian Les Akre won the High Point
Champion award for the second time. He
came well-prepared and put much effort
into his fleet. The National Control Line
Racing Association Sportsmanship Award
went to David Betz who is always the first
to lend a hand.
CL Navy Carrier: All on hand pitched in
to ready the CL Navy Carrier site as the
“USS Melton” was unloaded and set up. In
Profile Navy Carrier, Pete Mazur’s Nelsonpowered
Grumman AF2S Guardian had the
highest speed of the day (90.5 mph) as well
as the slowest. Pete managed a slow speed
of 5.5 mph in the light, steady winds.
Art Johnson’s Guardian earned second
place. Both Art’s and Pete’s models are
modifications of the Brodak Manufacturing
kit designed by Bill Calkins. The Smith
brothers, David and Michael, placed third
and fourth. Michael was flying an originaldesign
Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf.
Contestants brought out their Class I
and Class II Scale Carrier models, which
are more complex than the Profile models.
The Scale Carrier classes must be within
5% of scale dimensions of the full-scale
aircraft.
In Class I and Class II, flying was
dominated by Pete Mazur who flew his
Martin MO-1 models to first place. He also
dominated in Profile with a perfect
landing. The combined wins in all three
events cemented Pete’s claim to the
Eugene Ely Award—presented to the
Carrier competitor with the highest
combined scores in all three events.
In Class I, David Smith of North
Carolina overcame problems to fly a full
mission on his final attempt and take
second place. Third place went to Michael
Smith of South Carolina. This was
Michael’s first Nationals flying the AMA
Carrier events, and his consistent
performance earned him the Navy Carrier
Society’s Rookie of the Year Award.
In Class II, Dale Gleason, of Texas,
needed only one flight to place solidly in
second place. Dale’s MO-1 is a veteran
model that he’s shown off for many years.
David Smith placed third with a brightorange
paint scheme that definitely made
his Vought F4U Corsair easy to see!
Each year, the Navy Carrier Society
recognizes the volunteer who contributes
the most to the success of the Navy Carrier
Nationals. This year’s honoree was Bill
Calkins who served as event director for
both days of the competition.
Ted Kraver was center judge for both
days of the competition. Nathan Pierson
served as timer. Thanks to all who helped
make this year’s Carrier Nationals a
success—including those contestants who
used their spare time for pull tests, timing,
and recording.
CL Combat: Junior Rylan Rich, 10, from
Magnolia, Texas, competed in 1/2A
Combat, and got his first Combat lessons
from veteran Dave Fisher. Rylan got his
first cut, his first line tangle, his first loss,
and his first crash in a great first match.
Rylan placed fourth!
Winners in 1/2A were Donald Cranfill
from Lake Jackson, Texas, with a 4-1
score; Don McKay from Redmond,
Washington, placed second with a 3-2; and
in third was Robert E. Smith from Roy,
Washington, scoring 3-2.
In Combat, Donald Cranfill won with 6-
0; Pete Plunkett from Austin, Minnesota,
was second with 3-2; Phil Cartier from
Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, was third
with 2-2.
F2D competitors ran roughly 60
matches in slightly more than two days in
11 rounds. The final placings were
Alexander Prokofiev, South Plainfield,
New Jersey, in first with an 8-2 score;
Richard Stubblefield, Kingwood, Texas,
with 8-3 for second; and Mark Rudner of
Somerville, Massachusetts, was third with a
7-4 score.
CL Aerobatics: This event kicked off with
the Beginner and Intermediate events flown
on the grass circles. AMA’s maintenance
staff did a great job this year on the circles.
The top three in Junior/Senior
Beginner were Gavin Barry, first; Kevin
DeMauro, second; and Samantha Hines,
third. The top three Open Beginner
winners were Jeff Traxler, first; Robert
Schroeder, second; and David Felinczak,
third. Allen Brickhaus served as CD.
Mike Stinson won the 2010 Nats Open
Beginner event last summer and continued
his success this year with a win in
Intermediate. John Gladfelter placed a
close second and John Sopka placed third.
Bob Brookins and his crew managed the
Intermediate event.
Advanced and Open Precision
Aerobatics commenced on Wednesday.
Advanced had 28 competitors and Open
pilots totaled 33.
Ryan Young took the crown in
Advanced this year. In second and third
were Eric Taylor and Matt Colan
respectively.
In Open, David Fitzgerald placed first,
Paul Walker, second, and Brett Buck was
third. Derek Barry came in fourth with
Richard Oliver in fifth. Former World
Champion Bob Hunt missed the top five
by a mere quarter point.
Saturday morning began with
dedicated Stunt pilots competing for the
Advanced and Open crowns. Three Senior
competitors—Samuel Niebel, Matthew
Colan, and Ryan Young—vied for the
Senior title. Ryan Young took the top
honors and went on to compete for the
Walker Cup.
The Open pilots began with the
previous day’s top five fliers, but Richard
Oliver broke a line in the pull test, leaving
the competition to Paul Walker, Derek
Barry, Brett Buck, and David Fitzgerald.
The numbers were close, but David
Fitzgerald put two flights together that
separated him from the pack and he won
the Open Championship. Ryan Young and
David Fitzgerald then went on to the
Walker Cup competition. David will again
be able to display the Walker Cup in his
home in California.
Complete scores can be found on the
AMA website (www.modelaircraft.org) or
in the September/October edition of Stunt
News.
Outdoor Free Flight
According to Outdoor FF reporter David
Mills, when the fliers who competed at
the 2011 FF Nats reminisce, they’ll have
much about which to talk. And the first
topic will be the heat.
Each day dawned hot and stayed that
way. The humidity began to decline
midweek, but even so, thermometers on
the field read in the 98°-104° range and
the calculated heat index hovered in the
“low-teens.”
Winds were out of the southwest with
a moderate velocity, minimizing off-field
excursions. This was a blessing to many.
Still, the heat took its toll and most did
what they had to do and left for home
shortly thereafter. By midafternoon on the
final day, only 20 fliers remained.
It was fun while it lasted, though. The
performances by the P-30 fliers were
nothing short of heroic. Twenty-three
towed the line and only three maxed out.
Jim Jennings Sr. grabbed the top spot
after suffering a hard crash and
overseeing a group repair job for his
final, and clinching, flight. His score of
810 seconds was followed by John
Seymour with 750 and Don DeLoach with
655.
Several favorite events again drew
large fields. Old-Timer Hand-Launched
Glider drew 14 fliers, and Don DeLoach
won with 252 seconds. C NosGas drew a
whopping 18 fliers—most of whom
amassed impressive totals. Gene Smith
took first with 1,041 seconds. Matching
the field of fliers, a .020 Replica drew as
many but only Jerry Rocha maxed out and
beyond to win with 713 seconds.
1/2A Gas was another event that
proved popular. Several of the 18 fliers
maxed out and Bob Hanford won with
825 seconds. Payload drew seven fliers,
and Denny Dock took the gold with 323
seconds.
Moffett proved to be tops in
participation with 20 fliers and offered a
hard slog all day long, starting early and
finishing at the bell. John Seymour won a
hard-fought victory with 1,278 seconds.
The attrition in Moffett was horrendous
and began early. Half the field didn’t make
their three 2-minute maxes. It was tough.
The Flying Aces Club had a big day in
Scale. Ted Allebone took first in Gas
Scale. Peanut Scale and Rubber Scale
drew large fields, with Mike Fedor first in
the former and Don DeLoach taking the
latter.
Classic Towline continues to attract
many pilots and a diverse range of
designs. Only the top three fliers maxed
out and went into the flyoffs. Bob Sifleet
won with 1,020 seconds. Tim Batiuk and
Dan Berry trailed with 780 and 628
respectively.
It was Lanzo Sticks and Gollywocks
galore in OT Rubber Stick. Against a
solid field of 13 fliers, Dan Berry won by
a wide margin with 998 seconds. Ed
Hardin and Jim O’Reilly trailed with 743
and 631.
The oldest and most prestigious rubber
power FF event is Mulvihill. These
models are capable of extreme duration,
and yet can be simply constructed.
Participation typically is high and this
year was no exception, topping 27 fliers.
Conditions produced dogged performance
from the best fliers; the fly-offs went into
8- and 9-minute rounds.
John Shailor took first place with 2,846
seconds—setting a pending national
record. John Seymour was second with
2,326 seconds and Bud Romak and Paul
Crowley tied for third with 2,258 seconds.
Among the many gas events, two are
worth mentioning: Super D and Scale 1/4A
Nostalgia Gas.
Super D (aka the big guns) drew a
crowd-pleasing five fliers. Always a
spectacle, everything stops on the field
when these beasts take flight. Joe Clawson
maxed out for first with 360 seconds, and
Jack Marsh followed with 357. Hank
Sperzel placed third with 345.
Scale 1/4A Nostalgia Gas sported a
surprising 11 fliers and close competition.
Bob Sowder took the gold with 480
seconds.
Cargo provided Vic Nippert a great
opportunity to rack up an astounding
score of 2,046. Vic has won this event
many times and is always a threat when
there is a load to haul.
Overall, participation was up slightly from
last year with 223 registrants, contrary to what
was expected because of high gasoline prices.
And, it was hot—plenty hot. Locals testified
all week to the absurdly hot temperatures. The
local weather report stated three of the five
days were the hottest in 50 years. Of the four
injuries reported, only one was purely heatrelated—
a miracle considering the
circumstances.
The AMA and National Free Flight
Society know how to pull off a big contest.
Thanks to the many volunteers for their good
work, especially CD Phil Sullivan.
Want to do it again next year? MA
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.
aspx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org

The first National Aeromodeling Championships, or Nats as it is commonly called, was held in 1923 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Since then, the Nats has traveled to several different locations, many of which were Naval Air Stations. In 1996 the Outdoor Nats found a home at AMA's International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, and the Indoor events landed at the Mini-Dome in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Indoor Free Flight Tom Iacobellis is kicking his F1D program into high gear, with his sights set on a World Championship Team spot. Jeff Hood photo.
Dave Mark, the seven-time CL Speed Formula 40 winner, launches Alberto Caballero. Warren Gregory photo.
85 years of competition and camaraderie
above: the top three competitors in the 2011 RC Scale Helicopter Nats are (L to R) Darrell Sprayberry, first; Stanley Kopreski, second; and Eric Babineaux, third. Rachelle Haughn photo.
Right: Caroline Goldsmith, assisted by her timer Craig Greening, scored a perfect 100-point landing with her Pike in the RC Soaring Nats. Gordon Buckland photo.
Left: Howard Rush was one of the two warm-up pilots for the CL Aerobatics Finals early on Thursday morning, July 7. Allen Brickhaus photo.
little help from fellow young’un and Indoor
FF expert, Max Zaluska.
David Aronstein brought his son, Zevi,
who was paired with Tom Iacobellis in the
Pro-Am. They were low in the standings,
but Tom shared good information and Zevi
is in great shape for next year. Tom
redeemed himself by topping the 21-
contestant field in Limited Pennyplane on
Sunday with a strong 15:48.
These are just a few of the fresh faces
who represent the future of Indoor FF. If
you have even a passing interest in the
“lighter side” of model aviation, you are
welcome to join us next year. It’s not just
fun and fierce competition, although that’s a
big part of it. It is also a week of great
flying, hanging out with like-minded
friends, and sharing knowledge. John wrote:
“You don’t have to be an expert to
attend. Newcomers are strongly
encouraged—we even have events designed
especially for you. If you like other forms of
challenging model aviation, you’re sure to
enjoy Indoor FF.
“Event Director Abram Van Dover ran a
laid-back, thoroughly organized contest.
Dave Thompson handled the processing
duties while Graham Webster wrangled with
the scoring system and debated with
attendees on a variety of topics. Thanks for
the great job!
“Thank you to our generous sponsors who
donated valuable merchandise for the raffle
and Pro-Am prizes.
“Thank you also to Liz Helms, Ashley
Rauen, and Rachelle Haughn, NatsNews
editors, who took my ramblings and photos
and produced masterpieces.
“Join us next year for the Indoor FF Nats.
Jeff Hood has signed up as the event director
and is sure to host an excellent contest.”
Radio Control
This year’s RC events were covered in
NatsNews by reporters Don Grissom, Ed
Franz, Jim Quinn, Gordon Buckland, Ted
Kraver, Phil Cartier, Chris Hockaday, Scott
Causey, Rachelle Haughn, and Matt and Allie
Russell.
RC Combat: The 2011 RC Combat Nats had
good weather and great flying. Some of the
best pilots in the country showed up to
compete. Up to 10 rounds were held each day.
After completing all rounds for all events, it
was clear that William Drumm III dominated
the competition.
William, a Wisconsin resident, finished in
first place in Limited B with a score of 3,824.
He flew an airplane he designed this year,
called the Willy Wing. It uses single u-rail
designs that are durable in case of a collision.
William also won Slow and Survivable
Combat (SSC) with a score of 4,508, and
Open B Combat with 3,340 points. William
also was the Overall Open Champion in the
2010 Nats.
The only event William didn’t win was
Scale 2948 Combat, which went to Eric
Gilkey. Eric is the younger brother of Brian
Gilkey, who has long dominated the RC
Combat events at the Nats.
There were many hard hits in Open B,
including one round where Keith Jones flew
the remaining 3 minutes of Combat alone
because the rest of the field had been
knocked out. The pilots learned not to let
Bob Loescher tell them to “fly the planes
like we stole them.”
RC Electric: The summer heat and strong
winds made competing in this year’s RC
Electric Sailplane Nats anything but easy.
Scorching temperatures during all four
days of the contest made it difficult for the
pilots to stay cool. Each day was a battle
with strong wind gusts, but some pilots still
came out on top.
On the fourth and final day of
competition, Bob Burson had a perfect flight
with 10s across the board, earning him first
place in the Class B Limited Motor Run
(LMR) event. Burson also walked away
with a first-place finish in 1/2A, posting a
score of 6,140.
Other winners throughout the event
included Don Richmond who took first in
Class A LMR, and David Registar who
placed first in ALES.
RC Helicopters: Attendance may have been
down from 2010, but the 2011 RC
Helicopter Nats went off without a hitch.
There was only one casualty when a
nosedive claimed one pilot’s helicopter.
However, his spirits were lifted by the fact
that his son took first place in his first Nats.
Rookie David Ford walked away with the
top spot in the Sportsman Class, but his
father, George S. Ford, landed in fifth after a
strong gust of wind crashed his heli.
Tracey Dickinson placed first in the
Advanced Class, Erich Freymann won the
Expert Class, and Curtis Youngblood, a
member of the US team that competed in the
World Championship in Italy, was named
winner of the FAI F3C Class.
The race for the F3C title was the
tightest, with Curtis earning a score of
3,000, and the second-place finisher, Nick
Maxwell, earning 2,938.445 points. Nick
also is a member of the World
Championship team, as is Wayne Mann,
who also finished in the top five.
In the RC Helicopter Scale competition,
there were only four entries—down quite a bit
from previous years. Static judging was held,
and then the pilots flew their helicopters in
simple maneuvers and in freestyle.
Darrell Sprayberry took first place in the
Scale Heli Nats with his Long Ranger
model. Stanley Kopreski followed in
second, and Eric Babineaux placed third.
RC Pattern: Two midair collisions in one
day could have put a damper on this year’s
RC Pattern Nats, but didn’t.
Airplanes flown by Jeff Hatton and Austin
Wingo collided at Site 4 on the first day of
competition. Both aircraft were destroyed. A
few minutes later, airplanes flown by Chris
Moon and Mickey Losardo also collided.
Some pilots had successful flights, and
champions were named for the
Intermediate and Advanced classes.
Brian Stachan was named Intermediate
Champion, with Houson Schweitzer
coming in second. In Advanced, Joseph
Szczur was crowned champion, with Scott
McHarg coming in second, and Victor
Diaz finished third.
RC Pylon: Exciting, close races were the
name of the game for the 2011 RC Pylon
Nats. The final day of competition was no
exception.
In the Q-40 event, 32 racers were rematrixed
for a five-round race. When the
dust settled, there was one flyoff to break
the tie for second and third place between
the engine manufacturers, Dub Jett of Jett
Engineering and Mike Langlois, who has
taken over production of the Nelson .40. In
a come-from-behind finish, Mike passed
Dub somewhere around lap eight and held
the lead to the end. Mike Helsel finished
first and Lee Von Der Hey set the fast time
of 1:01:81 for the contest.
The 426 Super Sport Quickie event
ended with a final flyoff for the top three
spots and pitted Gino Del Ponte against
Tom Scott and Dub Jett. Gino’s Ninja
nosed over just slightly on launch and
ground off the tips of his propeller. This
left the battle for the lead position to Tom
and Dub.
Tom held the lead until late in the race
when he cut a pylon and moved himself to
third behind Gino, with Dub Jett claiming
the title of first-ever 426 Super Sport
Quickie National Champion. Dub also
went on to be named the Overall Nats
Pylon Champion for his outstanding
performances in both the Q-40 and the 426.
The 428 Race also was a nail-biter.
Many mishaps occurred and those who
were still racing at the end of the day
considered themselves fortunate. Mike
Helsel won the 428, with Gino Del Ponte
coming in second, followed by Matthew
Fehling in third. Fast time was set by Terry
Frasier.
In the Q-20 competition, Allie Russell
was named Best Senior, Mike Helse took
first, Mike Langlois came in second, and
Dub placed third. Lee Von Der Hey had
the fastest time.
RC Scale: This year’s FAI-F4C Scale
contest determined that John Buckley, who
flew a Tiger Moth, will represent the USA
in the FAI World Championship. The event
will be held at the Los Santa Cilia Los
Pirineos airfield, near the city of Jaca in
Spain, in August 2012.
Fun Scale Advanced had the highest
number of entries with 17. Terry Nitsch
captured first place with his F-86 Saber.
Sport Scale Sportsman ended with
Steven Eagle and his Nieuport 17 in first
and Raymond Schmidt’s BU-133 in
second, 7 points back. Designer Scale
multiyear winner Dave Johnson (Albatros
D.V) was a scant .075 points ahead of Al
Kretz’s Dornier D023G. Al is also a past
Nats winner and has represented the USA
in the FAI International Championship.
In Expert Sport Scale, Robert Bush and
his F-100 finished in first, one point ahead
of the pack.
The RC Scale Flight Achievement
award was won by Billy Thompson with
four excellent flights on his Fokker D.VII.
The Designer Scale champion was David
Johnson.
The team of Dale Arvin and Jeremy
Arvin captured the RC Team Scale title
with an SNJ.
The RC Novice Fun Scale winner was
Steve Ort Jr.
RC Scale Aerobatics: After four days of
tough competition, six champions reined
over the 2011 RC Scale Aerobatics Nats.
Many notable competitors came to the
event, including Igor Spektor from New
York, New York, in his second year at the
Nats. His friend, Andy Fomin, (both
originally from Ukraine/Russia
respectively), joined in for his first year at
the AMA Nats, and flew a JTEC Extra to
compete in the Unlimited Class.
The International Miniature Airplane
Club (IMAC) North Central Regional
Director, Brian Sanik, tore up the sky with
his Carden Extra 300 Pro. Three-time
National Champion Kurt Koelling returned
to the Nats for his 11th time, making the
Unlimited sequences look easy. Kurt,
along with Dennis Gergits from Carden
Aircraft, designed the Carden Extra 300
Pro he flew.
Also in the Unlimited Class was Will
Berninger, from Cincinnati, and from
Ontario, Canada, Mike Milos. This was
Mike’s first year at the U.S. Nats. He was
the champion in Intermediate Class at the
Canadian Nats in 2008, and the Advanced
Class champion again in 2009.
The following champions were named:
Geoffrey Donati, Sportsman Class; Corey
Ford, Intermediate Class; Benjamin Batts,
Advanced and Freestyle; and Kurt Koelling,
Unlimited Class and Bennett Cup.
RC Soaring: Ever-changing winds meant
ever-changing leaders in the races for the
Two-Meter, Unlimited, RES, Nostalgia,
and F3J titles. After eight days of braving
the heat and coping with the wind,
champions in each contest were crowned.
In the final round of the Two-Meter
event, the wind slowed down a little, but
that made the lift weaker and more fickle
than ever. Regardless of the changing
conditions, some pilots managed to place
their models in the right place every round
and get the max.
The one person who achieved that was
Larry Jolly with a score of 13,760 in 13
rounds. Larry made the right choices
consistently and won all but three of his
rounds. Coming in second was Josh Glaab
with 13,437 points, and Mike Fox, flying a
“homebrew” aircraft, captured third with
13,089 points.
www.dubro.com
Micro E/Z Link
Micro2 E/Z Link
#849, 920, 940
Micro Pull-Pull System
#846
Mini E/Z Connector
#845, 915
GET CONTROL
November 2011 35
In the RES competition, Peter
Goldsmith was named champion with
6,976 points. Peter’s great flight was a
memorable one and made the difference
between a mediocre result and a
championship. Placing second was Kent
Nogy with 6,950 points, and Craig
Greening finished third with 6,912 points.
Nostalgia trophies were handed out by
Don St. Germain. First place went to Peter
Schlitzkus with 6,906 points flying a
Challenger. That was some great flying by
Peter, who had only one round at less than
900 points. Second place went to Peter
Goldsmith, who had 6,673 points, and Don
Harris finished third with 6,527 points.
The race for the top Junior in F3J was a
seesawing matchup between Dominick
Lewis and Dillon Graves, which
culminated in a close finish—courtesy of
some superb high-scoring landings.
Dominick was inches behind Dillon at the
end, placing second with a score of
9476.07.
The winner of the F3J contest was
Cody Remington with a score of 9991.57.
Rich Burnoski placed second with 9982.11
points, and Jim Monaco placed third with
a score of 9967.46.
The contest’s top Senior was Dave
Bradley who flew superbly to take outright
20th place with 9576.68 points. He will be
eligible to compete for the Junior Team at
the F3J World Championships Team
Selection contest in Florida in October.
Dave also is a full-scale glider pilot.
In the final contest, Cody Remington
was named 2011 National Unlimited
Champion, flying a new airplane, the
Egida from Jaro Mueller. Coming in
second was Mike Verzuh with a score of
10,758, and Skip Miller, last year’s
champion, was third with 10,701 points.
Control Line
Control Line week kicked off July 4. CL
registration stood at 175 for what
promised to be a great week weatherwise—
cool in the mornings with light
winds and hot in the afternoons. NatsNews
reporters for the CL events and this report
included Allen Brickhaus, Tim Stone,
Dick Perry, Warren Gregory, Ted Kraver,
and Phil Cartier.
CL Scale: Static judging started early and
by early afternoon, 26 aircraft had been
judged for 17 pilots and/or builders.
Holding static judging on-site under the
tent for the past couple of years has cut
costs and allowed fliers to take their
assembled aircraft out for a test flight.
FAI (F4B) had four entries, but
unfortunately, because of lack of European
competition in the last International
Championships, it is not being contested in
2012. The turnout was smaller than usual,
and that may be from holding Scale during
the Fourth of July weekend.
Erratic winds were a problem all week.
First-prize winner in CL Sport Scale was
John Brodak and Aaron Bauer took
Junior/Senior Sport Scale. Aaron
completed the Hat Trick with another
award in Profile Scale.
Team Scale placed father-and-son Ken
Stevens Sr. and Ken Stevens Jr. in first.
Chris Brownhill won CL Profile Scale
with his Hampton and Alan Goff was the
National Champion in F4B. Too bad FAI
decided to drop F4B from the International
Championships or Alan would be on his
way to Europe next summer.
Ed Mason held on (literally) to his
four-engine B-17 to win Fun Scale.
Charlie Bauer won top Static score in
Team Scale with his Bristol and Chris
Brownhill took top Static with his
Hampton in Profile Scale.
In FAI, Frank Beatty’s impeccable
yellow Borg Parakeet took the top Static
award. The final CL award was the AMA
Grand National which is the sum of the
Static score and all four flight scores. The
winner was Canadian Chris Brownhill.
CL Speed: The Open ½A Proto winner
was Jerry Rocha, second went to Chris
Montagino, and in third place was Glen
VanSant. In the Junior/Senior age group,
first place in ½A Proto went to James
VanSant and second went to 8-year-old
Ivan Valishev.
In ½A Speed, Carl Dodge flew a single
flight, but it was good enough for first.
Chris Montagino was second and third was
Charles Legg with his home-built engine.
Charlie turned 80 in August and is still
flying monoline and two-wire.
Open Sport Speed record-holder Jerry
Rocha’s first and only flight won the
event, followed by Chris Montagino and
Glenn Lee. Alberto Caballero placed first
in the .21 Sport Speed Junior/Senior
division and James VanSant was second.
In F2A, Carl Dodge nearly equaled the
first-place speed he had last year with a
flight of 290.696 mph. Alex Valishev was
second and Alberto Caballero Sr. was
third.
In Senior Formula 40, James VanSant
placed first. In Open, Dave Mark
triumphed over several serious
competitors to be the seven-time National
Champion. There were five Formula 40
airplanes designed by Dave in this event.
Second was Alberto Caballero and third
went to Chris Montagino.
Jerry Rocha won the .21 Proto event
with 138.002 mph, on the first and only
flight of the day. He joked that making
only one flight prolongs his engine’s life.
Second went to Bob Whitney and Glenn
Lee placed third
This year’s Perky event saw Carl
Dodge in first and the high-speed winner
at 102.889. Second place went to Bill
Hughes and third was Butch Andrews.
CL Racing: In the past on the Racing
circles, Floridian Bob Whitney has
dominated using an F2C airplane and
diesel engine. This year, some of the
glow-powered entries were game on,
including Canadian Les Akre and Arizonan
Steve Eichenberger.
Clown Race, once considered an entrylevel
event, has become one of the quickest
and most physically demanding CL Racing
events. Races are timed in 7½-minute
preliminary and 15-minute final races.
For the finals, Les Akre recruited New
Zealander Andrew Robinson and Dave
Hull enlisted veteran pitman Bob Oge for
the race.
In the finals, Les lasted a near-record
339 laps for the win.
Eight teams showed up for Slow Rat
Racing. The team of Jim Gall (New Jersey)
with Les Akre pitting, set a new
preliminary record of 3:01.52 for 70 laps.
In the first final, Tim Stone/Bob Oge
bested Gall/Akre with 7:01. In the second
final, the Oge/Stone team was disqualified
and Jim Demeritte/Jim Bradley coasted to
a 6:51 for first place.
Scale Racers are modeled after Formula
I air racers. Profile fuselages are used to
simplify the event. This year’s fastest heat
time was Les Akre/Dave Hull with Les’s
new Lil’ Mike—a fine-looking new build.
Perennial Goodyear winner Bob Oge took
home first place with a modest 7:15.
The easy-starting nature of the ringed
K&B .40 makes Texas Quickie Rat a
closely contested event and it appears to be
a spectator favorite. Eight teams took the
flightline and preliminary times were close
to record speeds. Only 8 seconds separated
the top four places. The three-up final had
Les Akre/Dave Hull scoring 6:19; Russ
Green/Mike Greb at 6:22; and Bill
Lee/Jason Allen finished in third with 6:31.
F2C FAI Team Race was diesel day.
F2C and F2CN Team Racers use .15 diesel
engines for greater mileage. The team of
Dave Fisher and Steve Wilk, running a
Cobra design, had fantastic airspeeds and
came within less than 2 seconds of the
current US record in the preliminaries.
The three-up, 200-lap final had Dave
Fisher/Steve Wilk setting a new US final
record time of 6:43. Aleksandr Elbert/
Aleksey Topunov took second and Bob
Whitney/Jason Allen came in third.
F2CN is a simplified version of F2C,
which uses profile fuselages, more
affordable engines, and simpler tank
setups. The final best time was Dave
Hallas/Bob Whitney with a great 8:54.
Mouse Racing wrapped up the CL
Racing Nats. Preliminary five-lap race
times were close and the results were Dave
Hallas/Bob Whitney with 2:21, Bill
Lee/Russ Green boasting a 2:27, and Les
Akre/Dave Hull in third with 2:29.
Canadian Les Akre won the High Point
Champion award for the second time. He
came well-prepared and put much effort
into his fleet. The National Control Line
Racing Association Sportsmanship Award
went to David Betz who is always the first
to lend a hand.
CL Navy Carrier: All on hand pitched in
to ready the CL Navy Carrier site as the
“USS Melton” was unloaded and set up. In
Profile Navy Carrier, Pete Mazur’s Nelsonpowered
Grumman AF2S Guardian had the
highest speed of the day (90.5 mph) as well
as the slowest. Pete managed a slow speed
of 5.5 mph in the light, steady winds.
Art Johnson’s Guardian earned second
place. Both Art’s and Pete’s models are
modifications of the Brodak Manufacturing
kit designed by Bill Calkins. The Smith
brothers, David and Michael, placed third
and fourth. Michael was flying an originaldesign
Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf.
Contestants brought out their Class I
and Class II Scale Carrier models, which
are more complex than the Profile models.
The Scale Carrier classes must be within
5% of scale dimensions of the full-scale
aircraft.
In Class I and Class II, flying was
dominated by Pete Mazur who flew his
Martin MO-1 models to first place. He also
dominated in Profile with a perfect
landing. The combined wins in all three
events cemented Pete’s claim to the
Eugene Ely Award—presented to the
Carrier competitor with the highest
combined scores in all three events.
In Class I, David Smith of North
Carolina overcame problems to fly a full
mission on his final attempt and take
second place. Third place went to Michael
Smith of South Carolina. This was
Michael’s first Nationals flying the AMA
Carrier events, and his consistent
performance earned him the Navy Carrier
Society’s Rookie of the Year Award.
In Class II, Dale Gleason, of Texas,
needed only one flight to place solidly in
second place. Dale’s MO-1 is a veteran
model that he’s shown off for many years.
David Smith placed third with a brightorange
paint scheme that definitely made
his Vought F4U Corsair easy to see!
Each year, the Navy Carrier Society
recognizes the volunteer who contributes
the most to the success of the Navy Carrier
Nationals. This year’s honoree was Bill
Calkins who served as event director for
both days of the competition.
Ted Kraver was center judge for both
days of the competition. Nathan Pierson
served as timer. Thanks to all who helped
make this year’s Carrier Nationals a
success—including those contestants who
used their spare time for pull tests, timing,
and recording.
CL Combat: Junior Rylan Rich, 10, from
Magnolia, Texas, competed in 1/2A
Combat, and got his first Combat lessons
from veteran Dave Fisher. Rylan got his
first cut, his first line tangle, his first loss,
and his first crash in a great first match.
Rylan placed fourth!
Winners in 1/2A were Donald Cranfill
from Lake Jackson, Texas, with a 4-1
score; Don McKay from Redmond,
Washington, placed second with a 3-2; and
in third was Robert E. Smith from Roy,
Washington, scoring 3-2.
In Combat, Donald Cranfill won with 6-
0; Pete Plunkett from Austin, Minnesota,
was second with 3-2; Phil Cartier from
Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, was third
with 2-2.
F2D competitors ran roughly 60
matches in slightly more than two days in
11 rounds. The final placings were
Alexander Prokofiev, South Plainfield,
New Jersey, in first with an 8-2 score;
Richard Stubblefield, Kingwood, Texas,
with 8-3 for second; and Mark Rudner of
Somerville, Massachusetts, was third with a
7-4 score.
CL Aerobatics: This event kicked off with
the Beginner and Intermediate events flown
on the grass circles. AMA’s maintenance
staff did a great job this year on the circles.
The top three in Junior/Senior
Beginner were Gavin Barry, first; Kevin
DeMauro, second; and Samantha Hines,
third. The top three Open Beginner
winners were Jeff Traxler, first; Robert
Schroeder, second; and David Felinczak,
third. Allen Brickhaus served as CD.
Mike Stinson won the 2010 Nats Open
Beginner event last summer and continued
his success this year with a win in
Intermediate. John Gladfelter placed a
close second and John Sopka placed third.
Bob Brookins and his crew managed the
Intermediate event.
Advanced and Open Precision
Aerobatics commenced on Wednesday.
Advanced had 28 competitors and Open
pilots totaled 33.
Ryan Young took the crown in
Advanced this year. In second and third
were Eric Taylor and Matt Colan
respectively.
In Open, David Fitzgerald placed first,
Paul Walker, second, and Brett Buck was
third. Derek Barry came in fourth with
Richard Oliver in fifth. Former World
Champion Bob Hunt missed the top five
by a mere quarter point.
Saturday morning began with
dedicated Stunt pilots competing for the
Advanced and Open crowns. Three Senior
competitors—Samuel Niebel, Matthew
Colan, and Ryan Young—vied for the
Senior title. Ryan Young took the top
honors and went on to compete for the
Walker Cup.
The Open pilots began with the
previous day’s top five fliers, but Richard
Oliver broke a line in the pull test, leaving
the competition to Paul Walker, Derek
Barry, Brett Buck, and David Fitzgerald.
The numbers were close, but David
Fitzgerald put two flights together that
separated him from the pack and he won
the Open Championship. Ryan Young and
David Fitzgerald then went on to the
Walker Cup competition. David will again
be able to display the Walker Cup in his
home in California.
Complete scores can be found on the
AMA website (www.modelaircraft.org) or
in the September/October edition of Stunt
News.
Outdoor Free Flight
According to Outdoor FF reporter David
Mills, when the fliers who competed at
the 2011 FF Nats reminisce, they’ll have
much about which to talk. And the first
topic will be the heat.
Each day dawned hot and stayed that
way. The humidity began to decline
midweek, but even so, thermometers on
the field read in the 98°-104° range and
the calculated heat index hovered in the
“low-teens.”
Winds were out of the southwest with
a moderate velocity, minimizing off-field
excursions. This was a blessing to many.
Still, the heat took its toll and most did
what they had to do and left for home
shortly thereafter. By midafternoon on the
final day, only 20 fliers remained.
It was fun while it lasted, though. The
performances by the P-30 fliers were
nothing short of heroic. Twenty-three
towed the line and only three maxed out.
Jim Jennings Sr. grabbed the top spot
after suffering a hard crash and
overseeing a group repair job for his
final, and clinching, flight. His score of
810 seconds was followed by John
Seymour with 750 and Don DeLoach with
655.
Several favorite events again drew
large fields. Old-Timer Hand-Launched
Glider drew 14 fliers, and Don DeLoach
won with 252 seconds. C NosGas drew a
whopping 18 fliers—most of whom
amassed impressive totals. Gene Smith
took first with 1,041 seconds. Matching
the field of fliers, a .020 Replica drew as
many but only Jerry Rocha maxed out and
beyond to win with 713 seconds.
1/2A Gas was another event that
proved popular. Several of the 18 fliers
maxed out and Bob Hanford won with
825 seconds. Payload drew seven fliers,
and Denny Dock took the gold with 323
seconds.
Moffett proved to be tops in
participation with 20 fliers and offered a
hard slog all day long, starting early and
finishing at the bell. John Seymour won a
hard-fought victory with 1,278 seconds.
The attrition in Moffett was horrendous
and began early. Half the field didn’t make
their three 2-minute maxes. It was tough.
The Flying Aces Club had a big day in
Scale. Ted Allebone took first in Gas
Scale. Peanut Scale and Rubber Scale
drew large fields, with Mike Fedor first in
the former and Don DeLoach taking the
latter.
Classic Towline continues to attract
many pilots and a diverse range of
designs. Only the top three fliers maxed
out and went into the flyoffs. Bob Sifleet
won with 1,020 seconds. Tim Batiuk and
Dan Berry trailed with 780 and 628
respectively.
It was Lanzo Sticks and Gollywocks
galore in OT Rubber Stick. Against a
solid field of 13 fliers, Dan Berry won by
a wide margin with 998 seconds. Ed
Hardin and Jim O’Reilly trailed with 743
and 631.
The oldest and most prestigious rubber
power FF event is Mulvihill. These
models are capable of extreme duration,
and yet can be simply constructed.
Participation typically is high and this
year was no exception, topping 27 fliers.
Conditions produced dogged performance
from the best fliers; the fly-offs went into
8- and 9-minute rounds.
John Shailor took first place with 2,846
seconds—setting a pending national
record. John Seymour was second with
2,326 seconds and Bud Romak and Paul
Crowley tied for third with 2,258 seconds.
Among the many gas events, two are
worth mentioning: Super D and Scale 1/4A
Nostalgia Gas.
Super D (aka the big guns) drew a
crowd-pleasing five fliers. Always a
spectacle, everything stops on the field
when these beasts take flight. Joe Clawson
maxed out for first with 360 seconds, and
Jack Marsh followed with 357. Hank
Sperzel placed third with 345.
Scale 1/4A Nostalgia Gas sported a
surprising 11 fliers and close competition.
Bob Sowder took the gold with 480
seconds.
Cargo provided Vic Nippert a great
opportunity to rack up an astounding
score of 2,046. Vic has won this event
many times and is always a threat when
there is a load to haul.
Overall, participation was up slightly from
last year with 223 registrants, contrary to what
was expected because of high gasoline prices.
And, it was hot—plenty hot. Locals testified
all week to the absurdly hot temperatures. The
local weather report stated three of the five
days were the hottest in 50 years. Of the four
injuries reported, only one was purely heatrelated—
a miracle considering the
circumstances.
The AMA and National Free Flight
Society know how to pull off a big contest.
Thanks to the many volunteers for their good
work, especially CD Phil Sullivan.
Want to do it again next year? MA
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.
aspx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org

The first National Aeromodeling Championships, or Nats as it is commonly called, was held in 1923 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Since then, the Nats has traveled to several different locations, many of which were Naval Air Stations. In 1996 the Outdoor Nats found a home at AMA's International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, and the Indoor events landed at the Mini-Dome in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Indoor Free Flight Tom Iacobellis is kicking his F1D program into high gear, with his sights set on a World Championship Team spot. Jeff Hood photo.
Dave Mark, the seven-time CL Speed Formula 40 winner, launches Alberto Caballero. Warren Gregory photo.
85 years of competition and camaraderie
above: the top three competitors in the 2011 RC Scale Helicopter Nats are (L to R) Darrell Sprayberry, first; Stanley Kopreski, second; and Eric Babineaux, third. Rachelle Haughn photo.
Right: Caroline Goldsmith, assisted by her timer Craig Greening, scored a perfect 100-point landing with her Pike in the RC Soaring Nats. Gordon Buckland photo.
Left: Howard Rush was one of the two warm-up pilots for the CL Aerobatics Finals early on Thursday morning, July 7. Allen Brickhaus photo.
little help from fellow young’un and Indoor
FF expert, Max Zaluska.
David Aronstein brought his son, Zevi,
who was paired with Tom Iacobellis in the
Pro-Am. They were low in the standings,
but Tom shared good information and Zevi
is in great shape for next year. Tom
redeemed himself by topping the 21-
contestant field in Limited Pennyplane on
Sunday with a strong 15:48.
These are just a few of the fresh faces
who represent the future of Indoor FF. If
you have even a passing interest in the
“lighter side” of model aviation, you are
welcome to join us next year. It’s not just
fun and fierce competition, although that’s a
big part of it. It is also a week of great
flying, hanging out with like-minded
friends, and sharing knowledge. John wrote:
“You don’t have to be an expert to
attend. Newcomers are strongly
encouraged—we even have events designed
especially for you. If you like other forms of
challenging model aviation, you’re sure to
enjoy Indoor FF.
“Event Director Abram Van Dover ran a
laid-back, thoroughly organized contest.
Dave Thompson handled the processing
duties while Graham Webster wrangled with
the scoring system and debated with
attendees on a variety of topics. Thanks for
the great job!
“Thank you to our generous sponsors who
donated valuable merchandise for the raffle
and Pro-Am prizes.
“Thank you also to Liz Helms, Ashley
Rauen, and Rachelle Haughn, NatsNews
editors, who took my ramblings and photos
and produced masterpieces.
“Join us next year for the Indoor FF Nats.
Jeff Hood has signed up as the event director
and is sure to host an excellent contest.”
Radio Control
This year’s RC events were covered in
NatsNews by reporters Don Grissom, Ed
Franz, Jim Quinn, Gordon Buckland, Ted
Kraver, Phil Cartier, Chris Hockaday, Scott
Causey, Rachelle Haughn, and Matt and Allie
Russell.
RC Combat: The 2011 RC Combat Nats had
good weather and great flying. Some of the
best pilots in the country showed up to
compete. Up to 10 rounds were held each day.
After completing all rounds for all events, it
was clear that William Drumm III dominated
the competition.
William, a Wisconsin resident, finished in
first place in Limited B with a score of 3,824.
He flew an airplane he designed this year,
called the Willy Wing. It uses single u-rail
designs that are durable in case of a collision.
William also won Slow and Survivable
Combat (SSC) with a score of 4,508, and
Open B Combat with 3,340 points. William
also was the Overall Open Champion in the
2010 Nats.
The only event William didn’t win was
Scale 2948 Combat, which went to Eric
Gilkey. Eric is the younger brother of Brian
Gilkey, who has long dominated the RC
Combat events at the Nats.
There were many hard hits in Open B,
including one round where Keith Jones flew
the remaining 3 minutes of Combat alone
because the rest of the field had been
knocked out. The pilots learned not to let
Bob Loescher tell them to “fly the planes
like we stole them.”
RC Electric: The summer heat and strong
winds made competing in this year’s RC
Electric Sailplane Nats anything but easy.
Scorching temperatures during all four
days of the contest made it difficult for the
pilots to stay cool. Each day was a battle
with strong wind gusts, but some pilots still
came out on top.
On the fourth and final day of
competition, Bob Burson had a perfect flight
with 10s across the board, earning him first
place in the Class B Limited Motor Run
(LMR) event. Burson also walked away
with a first-place finish in 1/2A, posting a
score of 6,140.
Other winners throughout the event
included Don Richmond who took first in
Class A LMR, and David Registar who
placed first in ALES.
RC Helicopters: Attendance may have been
down from 2010, but the 2011 RC
Helicopter Nats went off without a hitch.
There was only one casualty when a
nosedive claimed one pilot’s helicopter.
However, his spirits were lifted by the fact
that his son took first place in his first Nats.
Rookie David Ford walked away with the
top spot in the Sportsman Class, but his
father, George S. Ford, landed in fifth after a
strong gust of wind crashed his heli.
Tracey Dickinson placed first in the
Advanced Class, Erich Freymann won the
Expert Class, and Curtis Youngblood, a
member of the US team that competed in the
World Championship in Italy, was named
winner of the FAI F3C Class.
The race for the F3C title was the
tightest, with Curtis earning a score of
3,000, and the second-place finisher, Nick
Maxwell, earning 2,938.445 points. Nick
also is a member of the World
Championship team, as is Wayne Mann,
who also finished in the top five.
In the RC Helicopter Scale competition,
there were only four entries—down quite a bit
from previous years. Static judging was held,
and then the pilots flew their helicopters in
simple maneuvers and in freestyle.
Darrell Sprayberry took first place in the
Scale Heli Nats with his Long Ranger
model. Stanley Kopreski followed in
second, and Eric Babineaux placed third.
RC Pattern: Two midair collisions in one
day could have put a damper on this year’s
RC Pattern Nats, but didn’t.
Airplanes flown by Jeff Hatton and Austin
Wingo collided at Site 4 on the first day of
competition. Both aircraft were destroyed. A
few minutes later, airplanes flown by Chris
Moon and Mickey Losardo also collided.
Some pilots had successful flights, and
champions were named for the
Intermediate and Advanced classes.
Brian Stachan was named Intermediate
Champion, with Houson Schweitzer
coming in second. In Advanced, Joseph
Szczur was crowned champion, with Scott
McHarg coming in second, and Victor
Diaz finished third.
RC Pylon: Exciting, close races were the
name of the game for the 2011 RC Pylon
Nats. The final day of competition was no
exception.
In the Q-40 event, 32 racers were rematrixed
for a five-round race. When the
dust settled, there was one flyoff to break
the tie for second and third place between
the engine manufacturers, Dub Jett of Jett
Engineering and Mike Langlois, who has
taken over production of the Nelson .40. In
a come-from-behind finish, Mike passed
Dub somewhere around lap eight and held
the lead to the end. Mike Helsel finished
first and Lee Von Der Hey set the fast time
of 1:01:81 for the contest.
The 426 Super Sport Quickie event
ended with a final flyoff for the top three
spots and pitted Gino Del Ponte against
Tom Scott and Dub Jett. Gino’s Ninja
nosed over just slightly on launch and
ground off the tips of his propeller. This
left the battle for the lead position to Tom
and Dub.
Tom held the lead until late in the race
when he cut a pylon and moved himself to
third behind Gino, with Dub Jett claiming
the title of first-ever 426 Super Sport
Quickie National Champion. Dub also
went on to be named the Overall Nats
Pylon Champion for his outstanding
performances in both the Q-40 and the 426.
The 428 Race also was a nail-biter.
Many mishaps occurred and those who
were still racing at the end of the day
considered themselves fortunate. Mike
Helsel won the 428, with Gino Del Ponte
coming in second, followed by Matthew
Fehling in third. Fast time was set by Terry
Frasier.
In the Q-20 competition, Allie Russell
was named Best Senior, Mike Helse took
first, Mike Langlois came in second, and
Dub placed third. Lee Von Der Hey had
the fastest time.
RC Scale: This year’s FAI-F4C Scale
contest determined that John Buckley, who
flew a Tiger Moth, will represent the USA
in the FAI World Championship. The event
will be held at the Los Santa Cilia Los
Pirineos airfield, near the city of Jaca in
Spain, in August 2012.
Fun Scale Advanced had the highest
number of entries with 17. Terry Nitsch
captured first place with his F-86 Saber.
Sport Scale Sportsman ended with
Steven Eagle and his Nieuport 17 in first
and Raymond Schmidt’s BU-133 in
second, 7 points back. Designer Scale
multiyear winner Dave Johnson (Albatros
D.V) was a scant .075 points ahead of Al
Kretz’s Dornier D023G. Al is also a past
Nats winner and has represented the USA
in the FAI International Championship.
In Expert Sport Scale, Robert Bush and
his F-100 finished in first, one point ahead
of the pack.
The RC Scale Flight Achievement
award was won by Billy Thompson with
four excellent flights on his Fokker D.VII.
The Designer Scale champion was David
Johnson.
The team of Dale Arvin and Jeremy
Arvin captured the RC Team Scale title
with an SNJ.
The RC Novice Fun Scale winner was
Steve Ort Jr.
RC Scale Aerobatics: After four days of
tough competition, six champions reined
over the 2011 RC Scale Aerobatics Nats.
Many notable competitors came to the
event, including Igor Spektor from New
York, New York, in his second year at the
Nats. His friend, Andy Fomin, (both
originally from Ukraine/Russia
respectively), joined in for his first year at
the AMA Nats, and flew a JTEC Extra to
compete in the Unlimited Class.
The International Miniature Airplane
Club (IMAC) North Central Regional
Director, Brian Sanik, tore up the sky with
his Carden Extra 300 Pro. Three-time
National Champion Kurt Koelling returned
to the Nats for his 11th time, making the
Unlimited sequences look easy. Kurt,
along with Dennis Gergits from Carden
Aircraft, designed the Carden Extra 300
Pro he flew.
Also in the Unlimited Class was Will
Berninger, from Cincinnati, and from
Ontario, Canada, Mike Milos. This was
Mike’s first year at the U.S. Nats. He was
the champion in Intermediate Class at the
Canadian Nats in 2008, and the Advanced
Class champion again in 2009.
The following champions were named:
Geoffrey Donati, Sportsman Class; Corey
Ford, Intermediate Class; Benjamin Batts,
Advanced and Freestyle; and Kurt Koelling,
Unlimited Class and Bennett Cup.
RC Soaring: Ever-changing winds meant
ever-changing leaders in the races for the
Two-Meter, Unlimited, RES, Nostalgia,
and F3J titles. After eight days of braving
the heat and coping with the wind,
champions in each contest were crowned.
In the final round of the Two-Meter
event, the wind slowed down a little, but
that made the lift weaker and more fickle
than ever. Regardless of the changing
conditions, some pilots managed to place
their models in the right place every round
and get the max.
The one person who achieved that was
Larry Jolly with a score of 13,760 in 13
rounds. Larry made the right choices
consistently and won all but three of his
rounds. Coming in second was Josh Glaab
with 13,437 points, and Mike Fox, flying a
“homebrew” aircraft, captured third with
13,089 points.
www.dubro.com
Micro E/Z Link
Micro2 E/Z Link
#849, 920, 940
Micro Pull-Pull System
#846
Mini E/Z Connector
#845, 915
GET CONTROL
November 2011 35
In the RES competition, Peter
Goldsmith was named champion with
6,976 points. Peter’s great flight was a
memorable one and made the difference
between a mediocre result and a
championship. Placing second was Kent
Nogy with 6,950 points, and Craig
Greening finished third with 6,912 points.
Nostalgia trophies were handed out by
Don St. Germain. First place went to Peter
Schlitzkus with 6,906 points flying a
Challenger. That was some great flying by
Peter, who had only one round at less than
900 points. Second place went to Peter
Goldsmith, who had 6,673 points, and Don
Harris finished third with 6,527 points.
The race for the top Junior in F3J was a
seesawing matchup between Dominick
Lewis and Dillon Graves, which
culminated in a close finish—courtesy of
some superb high-scoring landings.
Dominick was inches behind Dillon at the
end, placing second with a score of
9476.07.
The winner of the F3J contest was
Cody Remington with a score of 9991.57.
Rich Burnoski placed second with 9982.11
points, and Jim Monaco placed third with
a score of 9967.46.
The contest’s top Senior was Dave
Bradley who flew superbly to take outright
20th place with 9576.68 points. He will be
eligible to compete for the Junior Team at
the F3J World Championships Team
Selection contest in Florida in October.
Dave also is a full-scale glider pilot.
In the final contest, Cody Remington
was named 2011 National Unlimited
Champion, flying a new airplane, the
Egida from Jaro Mueller. Coming in
second was Mike Verzuh with a score of
10,758, and Skip Miller, last year’s
champion, was third with 10,701 points.
Control Line
Control Line week kicked off July 4. CL
registration stood at 175 for what
promised to be a great week weatherwise—
cool in the mornings with light
winds and hot in the afternoons. NatsNews
reporters for the CL events and this report
included Allen Brickhaus, Tim Stone,
Dick Perry, Warren Gregory, Ted Kraver,
and Phil Cartier.
CL Scale: Static judging started early and
by early afternoon, 26 aircraft had been
judged for 17 pilots and/or builders.
Holding static judging on-site under the
tent for the past couple of years has cut
costs and allowed fliers to take their
assembled aircraft out for a test flight.
FAI (F4B) had four entries, but
unfortunately, because of lack of European
competition in the last International
Championships, it is not being contested in
2012. The turnout was smaller than usual,
and that may be from holding Scale during
the Fourth of July weekend.
Erratic winds were a problem all week.
First-prize winner in CL Sport Scale was
John Brodak and Aaron Bauer took
Junior/Senior Sport Scale. Aaron
completed the Hat Trick with another
award in Profile Scale.
Team Scale placed father-and-son Ken
Stevens Sr. and Ken Stevens Jr. in first.
Chris Brownhill won CL Profile Scale
with his Hampton and Alan Goff was the
National Champion in F4B. Too bad FAI
decided to drop F4B from the International
Championships or Alan would be on his
way to Europe next summer.
Ed Mason held on (literally) to his
four-engine B-17 to win Fun Scale.
Charlie Bauer won top Static score in
Team Scale with his Bristol and Chris
Brownhill took top Static with his
Hampton in Profile Scale.
In FAI, Frank Beatty’s impeccable
yellow Borg Parakeet took the top Static
award. The final CL award was the AMA
Grand National which is the sum of the
Static score and all four flight scores. The
winner was Canadian Chris Brownhill.
CL Speed: The Open ½A Proto winner
was Jerry Rocha, second went to Chris
Montagino, and in third place was Glen
VanSant. In the Junior/Senior age group,
first place in ½A Proto went to James
VanSant and second went to 8-year-old
Ivan Valishev.
In ½A Speed, Carl Dodge flew a single
flight, but it was good enough for first.
Chris Montagino was second and third was
Charles Legg with his home-built engine.
Charlie turned 80 in August and is still
flying monoline and two-wire.
Open Sport Speed record-holder Jerry
Rocha’s first and only flight won the
event, followed by Chris Montagino and
Glenn Lee. Alberto Caballero placed first
in the .21 Sport Speed Junior/Senior
division and James VanSant was second.
In F2A, Carl Dodge nearly equaled the
first-place speed he had last year with a
flight of 290.696 mph. Alex Valishev was
second and Alberto Caballero Sr. was
third.
In Senior Formula 40, James VanSant
placed first. In Open, Dave Mark
triumphed over several serious
competitors to be the seven-time National
Champion. There were five Formula 40
airplanes designed by Dave in this event.
Second was Alberto Caballero and third
went to Chris Montagino.
Jerry Rocha won the .21 Proto event
with 138.002 mph, on the first and only
flight of the day. He joked that making
only one flight prolongs his engine’s life.
Second went to Bob Whitney and Glenn
Lee placed third
This year’s Perky event saw Carl
Dodge in first and the high-speed winner
at 102.889. Second place went to Bill
Hughes and third was Butch Andrews.
CL Racing: In the past on the Racing
circles, Floridian Bob Whitney has
dominated using an F2C airplane and
diesel engine. This year, some of the
glow-powered entries were game on,
including Canadian Les Akre and Arizonan
Steve Eichenberger.
Clown Race, once considered an entrylevel
event, has become one of the quickest
and most physically demanding CL Racing
events. Races are timed in 7½-minute
preliminary and 15-minute final races.
For the finals, Les Akre recruited New
Zealander Andrew Robinson and Dave
Hull enlisted veteran pitman Bob Oge for
the race.
In the finals, Les lasted a near-record
339 laps for the win.
Eight teams showed up for Slow Rat
Racing. The team of Jim Gall (New Jersey)
with Les Akre pitting, set a new
preliminary record of 3:01.52 for 70 laps.
In the first final, Tim Stone/Bob Oge
bested Gall/Akre with 7:01. In the second
final, the Oge/Stone team was disqualified
and Jim Demeritte/Jim Bradley coasted to
a 6:51 for first place.
Scale Racers are modeled after Formula
I air racers. Profile fuselages are used to
simplify the event. This year’s fastest heat
time was Les Akre/Dave Hull with Les’s
new Lil’ Mike—a fine-looking new build.
Perennial Goodyear winner Bob Oge took
home first place with a modest 7:15.
The easy-starting nature of the ringed
K&B .40 makes Texas Quickie Rat a
closely contested event and it appears to be
a spectator favorite. Eight teams took the
flightline and preliminary times were close
to record speeds. Only 8 seconds separated
the top four places. The three-up final had
Les Akre/Dave Hull scoring 6:19; Russ
Green/Mike Greb at 6:22; and Bill
Lee/Jason Allen finished in third with 6:31.
F2C FAI Team Race was diesel day.
F2C and F2CN Team Racers use .15 diesel
engines for greater mileage. The team of
Dave Fisher and Steve Wilk, running a
Cobra design, had fantastic airspeeds and
came within less than 2 seconds of the
current US record in the preliminaries.
The three-up, 200-lap final had Dave
Fisher/Steve Wilk setting a new US final
record time of 6:43. Aleksandr Elbert/
Aleksey Topunov took second and Bob
Whitney/Jason Allen came in third.
F2CN is a simplified version of F2C,
which uses profile fuselages, more
affordable engines, and simpler tank
setups. The final best time was Dave
Hallas/Bob Whitney with a great 8:54.
Mouse Racing wrapped up the CL
Racing Nats. Preliminary five-lap race
times were close and the results were Dave
Hallas/Bob Whitney with 2:21, Bill
Lee/Russ Green boasting a 2:27, and Les
Akre/Dave Hull in third with 2:29.
Canadian Les Akre won the High Point
Champion award for the second time. He
came well-prepared and put much effort
into his fleet. The National Control Line
Racing Association Sportsmanship Award
went to David Betz who is always the first
to lend a hand.
CL Navy Carrier: All on hand pitched in
to ready the CL Navy Carrier site as the
“USS Melton” was unloaded and set up. In
Profile Navy Carrier, Pete Mazur’s Nelsonpowered
Grumman AF2S Guardian had the
highest speed of the day (90.5 mph) as well
as the slowest. Pete managed a slow speed
of 5.5 mph in the light, steady winds.
Art Johnson’s Guardian earned second
place. Both Art’s and Pete’s models are
modifications of the Brodak Manufacturing
kit designed by Bill Calkins. The Smith
brothers, David and Michael, placed third
and fourth. Michael was flying an originaldesign
Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf.
Contestants brought out their Class I
and Class II Scale Carrier models, which
are more complex than the Profile models.
The Scale Carrier classes must be within
5% of scale dimensions of the full-scale
aircraft.
In Class I and Class II, flying was
dominated by Pete Mazur who flew his
Martin MO-1 models to first place. He also
dominated in Profile with a perfect
landing. The combined wins in all three
events cemented Pete’s claim to the
Eugene Ely Award—presented to the
Carrier competitor with the highest
combined scores in all three events.
In Class I, David Smith of North
Carolina overcame problems to fly a full
mission on his final attempt and take
second place. Third place went to Michael
Smith of South Carolina. This was
Michael’s first Nationals flying the AMA
Carrier events, and his consistent
performance earned him the Navy Carrier
Society’s Rookie of the Year Award.
In Class II, Dale Gleason, of Texas,
needed only one flight to place solidly in
second place. Dale’s MO-1 is a veteran
model that he’s shown off for many years.
David Smith placed third with a brightorange
paint scheme that definitely made
his Vought F4U Corsair easy to see!
Each year, the Navy Carrier Society
recognizes the volunteer who contributes
the most to the success of the Navy Carrier
Nationals. This year’s honoree was Bill
Calkins who served as event director for
both days of the competition.
Ted Kraver was center judge for both
days of the competition. Nathan Pierson
served as timer. Thanks to all who helped
make this year’s Carrier Nationals a
success—including those contestants who
used their spare time for pull tests, timing,
and recording.
CL Combat: Junior Rylan Rich, 10, from
Magnolia, Texas, competed in 1/2A
Combat, and got his first Combat lessons
from veteran Dave Fisher. Rylan got his
first cut, his first line tangle, his first loss,
and his first crash in a great first match.
Rylan placed fourth!
Winners in 1/2A were Donald Cranfill
from Lake Jackson, Texas, with a 4-1
score; Don McKay from Redmond,
Washington, placed second with a 3-2; and
in third was Robert E. Smith from Roy,
Washington, scoring 3-2.
In Combat, Donald Cranfill won with 6-
0; Pete Plunkett from Austin, Minnesota,
was second with 3-2; Phil Cartier from
Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, was third
with 2-2.
F2D competitors ran roughly 60
matches in slightly more than two days in
11 rounds. The final placings were
Alexander Prokofiev, South Plainfield,
New Jersey, in first with an 8-2 score;
Richard Stubblefield, Kingwood, Texas,
with 8-3 for second; and Mark Rudner of
Somerville, Massachusetts, was third with a
7-4 score.
CL Aerobatics: This event kicked off with
the Beginner and Intermediate events flown
on the grass circles. AMA’s maintenance
staff did a great job this year on the circles.
The top three in Junior/Senior
Beginner were Gavin Barry, first; Kevin
DeMauro, second; and Samantha Hines,
third. The top three Open Beginner
winners were Jeff Traxler, first; Robert
Schroeder, second; and David Felinczak,
third. Allen Brickhaus served as CD.
Mike Stinson won the 2010 Nats Open
Beginner event last summer and continued
his success this year with a win in
Intermediate. John Gladfelter placed a
close second and John Sopka placed third.
Bob Brookins and his crew managed the
Intermediate event.
Advanced and Open Precision
Aerobatics commenced on Wednesday.
Advanced had 28 competitors and Open
pilots totaled 33.
Ryan Young took the crown in
Advanced this year. In second and third
were Eric Taylor and Matt Colan
respectively.
In Open, David Fitzgerald placed first,
Paul Walker, second, and Brett Buck was
third. Derek Barry came in fourth with
Richard Oliver in fifth. Former World
Champion Bob Hunt missed the top five
by a mere quarter point.
Saturday morning began with
dedicated Stunt pilots competing for the
Advanced and Open crowns. Three Senior
competitors—Samuel Niebel, Matthew
Colan, and Ryan Young—vied for the
Senior title. Ryan Young took the top
honors and went on to compete for the
Walker Cup.
The Open pilots began with the
previous day’s top five fliers, but Richard
Oliver broke a line in the pull test, leaving
the competition to Paul Walker, Derek
Barry, Brett Buck, and David Fitzgerald.
The numbers were close, but David
Fitzgerald put two flights together that
separated him from the pack and he won
the Open Championship. Ryan Young and
David Fitzgerald then went on to the
Walker Cup competition. David will again
be able to display the Walker Cup in his
home in California.
Complete scores can be found on the
AMA website (www.modelaircraft.org) or
in the September/October edition of Stunt
News.
Outdoor Free Flight
According to Outdoor FF reporter David
Mills, when the fliers who competed at
the 2011 FF Nats reminisce, they’ll have
much about which to talk. And the first
topic will be the heat.
Each day dawned hot and stayed that
way. The humidity began to decline
midweek, but even so, thermometers on
the field read in the 98°-104° range and
the calculated heat index hovered in the
“low-teens.”
Winds were out of the southwest with
a moderate velocity, minimizing off-field
excursions. This was a blessing to many.
Still, the heat took its toll and most did
what they had to do and left for home
shortly thereafter. By midafternoon on the
final day, only 20 fliers remained.
It was fun while it lasted, though. The
performances by the P-30 fliers were
nothing short of heroic. Twenty-three
towed the line and only three maxed out.
Jim Jennings Sr. grabbed the top spot
after suffering a hard crash and
overseeing a group repair job for his
final, and clinching, flight. His score of
810 seconds was followed by John
Seymour with 750 and Don DeLoach with
655.
Several favorite events again drew
large fields. Old-Timer Hand-Launched
Glider drew 14 fliers, and Don DeLoach
won with 252 seconds. C NosGas drew a
whopping 18 fliers—most of whom
amassed impressive totals. Gene Smith
took first with 1,041 seconds. Matching
the field of fliers, a .020 Replica drew as
many but only Jerry Rocha maxed out and
beyond to win with 713 seconds.
1/2A Gas was another event that
proved popular. Several of the 18 fliers
maxed out and Bob Hanford won with
825 seconds. Payload drew seven fliers,
and Denny Dock took the gold with 323
seconds.
Moffett proved to be tops in
participation with 20 fliers and offered a
hard slog all day long, starting early and
finishing at the bell. John Seymour won a
hard-fought victory with 1,278 seconds.
The attrition in Moffett was horrendous
and began early. Half the field didn’t make
their three 2-minute maxes. It was tough.
The Flying Aces Club had a big day in
Scale. Ted Allebone took first in Gas
Scale. Peanut Scale and Rubber Scale
drew large fields, with Mike Fedor first in
the former and Don DeLoach taking the
latter.
Classic Towline continues to attract
many pilots and a diverse range of
designs. Only the top three fliers maxed
out and went into the flyoffs. Bob Sifleet
won with 1,020 seconds. Tim Batiuk and
Dan Berry trailed with 780 and 628
respectively.
It was Lanzo Sticks and Gollywocks
galore in OT Rubber Stick. Against a
solid field of 13 fliers, Dan Berry won by
a wide margin with 998 seconds. Ed
Hardin and Jim O’Reilly trailed with 743
and 631.
The oldest and most prestigious rubber
power FF event is Mulvihill. These
models are capable of extreme duration,
and yet can be simply constructed.
Participation typically is high and this
year was no exception, topping 27 fliers.
Conditions produced dogged performance
from the best fliers; the fly-offs went into
8- and 9-minute rounds.
John Shailor took first place with 2,846
seconds—setting a pending national
record. John Seymour was second with
2,326 seconds and Bud Romak and Paul
Crowley tied for third with 2,258 seconds.
Among the many gas events, two are
worth mentioning: Super D and Scale 1/4A
Nostalgia Gas.
Super D (aka the big guns) drew a
crowd-pleasing five fliers. Always a
spectacle, everything stops on the field
when these beasts take flight. Joe Clawson
maxed out for first with 360 seconds, and
Jack Marsh followed with 357. Hank
Sperzel placed third with 345.
Scale 1/4A Nostalgia Gas sported a
surprising 11 fliers and close competition.
Bob Sowder took the gold with 480
seconds.
Cargo provided Vic Nippert a great
opportunity to rack up an astounding
score of 2,046. Vic has won this event
many times and is always a threat when
there is a load to haul.
Overall, participation was up slightly from
last year with 223 registrants, contrary to what
was expected because of high gasoline prices.
And, it was hot—plenty hot. Locals testified
all week to the absurdly hot temperatures. The
local weather report stated three of the five
days were the hottest in 50 years. Of the four
injuries reported, only one was purely heatrelated—
a miracle considering the
circumstances.
The AMA and National Free Flight
Society know how to pull off a big contest.
Thanks to the many volunteers for their good
work, especially CD Phil Sullivan.
Want to do it again next year? MA
Sources:
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsne
ws.aspx
Official Nats scores:
www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.
aspx
National Free Flight Society
http://freeflight.org
International Miniature Aerobatic Club
www.mini-iac.com
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers
www.nasascale.org
Precision Model Aircraft Pilots Association
www.control-line.org
National Control Line Racing Association
www.nclra.org
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Navy Carrier Society
clflyer.tripod.com/ncs/ncs.htm
National Miniature Pylon Racing
Association
www.nmpra.org
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
http://nsrca.us
League of Silent Flight
www.silentflight.org
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
North American Speed Society
www.clspeed.com
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org