Author: Bob Angel
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/02
Page Numbers: 134,135
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SAM Champs 2010

The 2010 SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) Champs was held in Muncie, Indiana, in mid-September. Those interested in detailed results — who flew what and with what success — can find complete reports on the SAM website. Click on “Breaking News,” where you’ll find reports on FF (free flight) and RC (radio control) that are broken down by events flown each day.

Event results

There’s too much content to include here, but the website report lists each flier’s model, engine, wing area, and final scores. This information is useful for anyone considering starting SAM competition.

Overall champions are listed in several categories. Winning an overall championship requires flying in a number of events in that category and accumulating points for placing among the top five finishers. Overall champions were once determined similarly at early AMA Nats, but the many modeling specialties today have made that practice impractical.

Jimmie Allen and the Flying Aces Club

Jimmie Allen was a fictional character in a radio serial that ran from 1933 into the late 1940s. He was a 16-year-old aspiring pilot who soloed early in the series and was portrayed as an adventurer: air racer, world traveler, crime solver, and hero. His sidekick was Speed Robertson, with mechanic Flash Lewis completing the trio. Perpetual nemeses included Black Pete and Digger Dawson.

A major sponsor was the Skelly Oil Company, which promoted the Jimmie Allen Flying Club to youngsters. New members received a packet containing a set of pin-on metal wings and other promotional items, including rubber-powered model kits and a personal letter from Jimmie. Those metal wings are now prized collectors’ items. A periodic newsletter accompanied membership, and Jimmie Allen model air races drew thousands of youngsters and parents in major cities.

The radio program is gone, but Jimmie Allen is kept alive by the Flying Aces Club (FAC), SAM, and recordings of the original broadcasts. The FAC is a modern group devoted to rubber power; it took its name from the Flying Aces magazine of the 1930s and 1940s. FAC meets focus on Rubber Scale aircraft (works of art) and also feature special Jimmie Allen events. More than a dozen Jimmie Allen model plans or kits are available from various Old-Timer (OT) suppliers. The SAM rule book contains Jimmie Allen competition rules, and several SAM chapters participate in an annual Jimmie Allen postal contest.

Making gaskets

Making gaskets is often necessary to keep older engines running.

  • Usable gasket material can be found at auto-parts stores; choose the thinnest available stock.
  • Alternative materials include playing cards, flat coffee filters infused with room-temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone gasket material, or RTV itself.
  • Some well-machined engines (racing McCoys and many modern power plants) don’t require gaskets. Others use extremely thin gasket material that is available only from machine shops or specialty suppliers; those engines can sometimes be fitted without gaskets by carefully lapping with valve-grinding compound.

If the old gasket is split, use it as a template for a new one. Otherwise use the engine as the template.

Procedure for a backplate gasket:

  1. Cut the major-diameter hole and slip the gasket over the backplate, keeping the outside of the gasket oversized.
  2. Slip the backplate into place on the engine and draw the exterior outline with a pencil or pen.
  3. While keeping things in place, use a sharp pencil in the screw holes to locate them, or carefully punch small undersized holes with an ice pick.
  4. Remove the gasket and finish trimming it. Curved cuticle scissors work well; for peace of mind, a pair normally used for trimming Lexan RC car bodies is a good substitute.
  5. Punch out screw holes with a short length of appropriate-diameter brass tubing: sharpen one end with a #11 blade rotated inside the tube. A hand-squeezed rotary punch (used by leather craftsmen) is often better for accurately hitting hole centers.

Brian Winch (Australian engine guru and writer) uses a quicker method for trimming the exposed exterior of some gaskets: install the gasket, tighten the screws, and burn off the remainder with a propane torch.

For the original large hole, a set of punches found at Harbor Freight Tools works well; the set contains 13 punches ranging from 1½ inches to 1/4 inch in diameter. To make a ring-shaped gasket (such as an Ohlsson & Rice frontplate), punch the OD and then the ID; if the punch size isn’t exact, use the next closest size and finish trimming with curved scissors.

Metal gaskets (for cylinder heads) are more complex. One method requires a lathe: face off a large round piece of aluminum bar stock, drill and tap the center, screw the gasket material to the face, and cut the gasket OD and ID using a #11 X-Acto-type blade chucked on the cross slide.

Interference (radio anecdote)

I was flying an OT spark-ignition-powered aircraft on 72 MHz (channel 30) when a sudden, violent radio glitch caused multiple brief recoveries and ultimately a crash with minor damage. A thunder-and-lightning storm was building about 2 miles away. Other models on 2.4 GHz were unaffected. This incident supports the observation that 2.4 GHz is generally more resistant to stray radio-frequency interference, from lightning or spark-ignition systems.

A similar incident occurred at a SAM Champs in Colorado long before digital spread spectrum: an RC airplane was knocked out of the sky while a thunderstorm gathered about five miles away. In both cases no rain followed, but all RC flying was wisely suspended until the threat passed.

SAM Antique Events

The term "antique" might describe many OT aircraft, but SAM categorizes models by date of design, kit release, or publication to avoid confusion.

  • Old-Timer airplanes: designed, kitted, or published before the end of 1942.
  • Antique models: designed, kitted, or published before the end of 1938.

There are separate events for Antique aircraft flown as FF and two distinct events for RC.

Free Flight (FF) Antique events

  • 30 Second Antique: refers to the 30 seconds of allotted engine run time. Flight-time maximums are usually established according to contest conditions.
  • Fuel Allotment Antique: fuel is dispensed in proportion to the model weight at 1/8 ounce per pound, up to a maximum of 7/8 ounce. Flight time in the fuel-allotment event is unlimited (no maximum).

Radio Control (RC) Antique events

RC Antique events assign engine run times in seconds based on model weight and engine type, eliminating the need for contest management to measure fuel.

  • RC classes: Antique Glow and Pure Antique.
  • Antique Glow allots shorter engine run times for Schnuerle engines than for earlier cross-flow types. Scaling the aircraft up or down is allowed in the glow event.
  • Pure Antique does not allow scaling and requires an original spark-ignition engine. Run time is 8 seconds per pound of model weight, up to a maximum of 56 seconds. Maximum flight time is 10 minutes for either RC division.

MA

Sources

4707 Crosswinds Dr. Erie PA 16506 www.aeroaces.com/flyingaces.htm

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.