SAM Champs 2011
Bob Angell | [email protected]
The dry lake at Boulder City, Nevada, was once again the site of the 2011 Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) Champs. The venue moves between Muncie, Indiana, and Nevada on alternate years to split the travel burden. This time Mother Nature pointed out that even a dry lake needs some rain to retain its status as a lake. And with rain comes wind.
Fortunately, the lakebed dried quickly, so the RC pilots flew all five days. The free-flight (FF) fliers weren't as lucky because they require less wind and more clear space to operate, but they still fit their scheduled events into the time available.
Earlier in the week there was a daily wind pattern that, in hindsight, would have allowed more flights. Uphill in Boulder, where some of us stayed in an RV park, a "6-pound wind" blew each morning. For those unfamiliar with the term, a 6-pound wind is defined as capable of blowing a 6-pound rock across level ground.
Breakfast and the drive down to the field was a casual affair. Down on the flat lakebed, the morning hours were perfectly calm, so the early risers got in some good flying before the late-morning winds came. By the final two days we had the pattern figured out, and then there was ideal weather all day.
There were nearly 140 registered fliers, but the number of flights was definitely down this year because of the weather. I don't have room for contest results here, but complete event details—including model designs, engines, and flight scores—should be available in SAM Speaks and on the SAM website home page (click Contest Cal) by the time you read this.
Evening activities at the Champs included an early informal banquet called the "bean feed" and a swap meet, where one can find enough old and new engines, kits, and accessories to get a good start in the Old-Timer (OT) movement. The annual SAM membership meeting took place, along with the Friday banquet and awards. The Concours judging also took place during the evening hours.
When I entered the hall where the Concours voting was held, it was easy to spot the eventual Best of Show winner. The striking rendition of the Snow White model was the obvious choice. Winners in several other categories were less predictable because there were so many finely crafted models. To qualify for Concours judging, each entry must make at least one qualifying flight. Some of the models were flown in regular competition, while others put in only the qualifying flight. The Snow White was flown for qualification and later made a demonstration flight by popular demand.
When this column features a picture of a particularly nice-looking model, I often receive requests for a plans source from potential builders. I'm sure the Snow White will generate that kind of interest. Roland Friestad, editor of SAM Speaks, can supply the plans along with many other OT designs (see Sources).
Electric power is gaining in popularity even in the OT movement. There was little electric-powered flying in the early days, but it did exist. Today "E" power isn't a concession to the green movement but rather reflects the tremendous performance improvements of the equipment in recent years. Possibly for the first time, the 25 electric entries in the RC Speed 400 event surpassed those of both the popular 1/2A Texaco and Class C Ignition events.
Compressed-air power is also seeing a resurgence among FF fliers. In the early years, compressed air was flown quite a bit, along with rubber power, before gas engines began to dominate. There are some new and better compressed-air motors currently being built, and modelers have been exchanging information about constructing lightweight tanks and airframes. There's still a low power-to-weight ratio, but that's being slowly overcome.
At a couple of recent SAM Champs, Ron Boots put up a $100 cash prize for the winner in the compressed-air category. That, combined with the fascination of something different, brought a nice turnout of at least 13 fliers. The rules consist of four short sentences in the SAM rule book. One can build to a published model design or design your own. For safety, the air-tank pressure is limited to 150 psi.
Compressed-air motors are simple but interesting. They are available from one to five cylinders, with the multicylinder power plants normally arranged in radial fashion. Compressed-air enthusiast Tom Lay recommends Bert Pond's book, Expansion Engine Powered Model Aircraft, for anyone who is interested. It has pictures, plans, and is well narrated. Unfortunately, it's out of print, but it can sometimes be found at swap meets or on eBay.
The 1/2A Scale event was discussed in the October 2011 column, where I mentioned the decline in participation. I arbitrarily assigned the reason to be the small number of competitive designs available. This didn't sound right to one enthusiast who did some research, which we then discussed at the SAM Champs. This man has been a top competitor in the event but prefers to remain anonymous. He presented some interesting data, charts, and graphs showing that there have actually been more than 50 different designs flown at the SAM Champs in 16 years. Nearly half had, at one time or another, placed in the top five.
The decline in event participation follows a general trend but has seen a more dramatic drop than average. Between 1998 and 2004, an average of 17 fliers participated. In the following seven years the average dropped to six.
Many of us have noticed that there seems to be a broader variety of designs flown in regular (non-scale) 1/2A Texaco than in most other SAM events. The consensus is that the sensitive little Cox reed-valve engines are harder to master to get a full run without a flameout. Getting a steady, complete engine run is often as important as the aircraft design chosen, but for consistent success in either 1/2A event you need both a reliable engine run and a clean soaring design.
Mailbag: Glow-fuel question
“Bob: I read your article in the MA October issue and was especially interested in spark-ignition fuels. Circa 1946, I switched my Torp 29 (which I still have) from ignition to glow. If memory serves me, I ran the glow engine on 3:1 gas and oil, until converting to alcohol and Baker’s castor oil. Is that possible? I’m not sure whether I used my new high-compression head or not.
Best regards, Frank Slavin.”
Yes, you can run gas-and-oil as a glow fuel. The engine can be harder to start and adjust, and in a few cases you might have to leave a small battery connected because you don’t get that catalytic action between the methanol and the exotic metal on the plug. You have to rely on mechanical heat alone to keep the plug lit. High compression and high speed help keep the temperature up. An idle-bar plug also might help.
I’ve flown the Texaco event with a four-stroke engine using a 50/50 mix of gasoline and methanol plus compatible oil. Gasoline stretches the measured fuel allotment and also runs at a slightly higher temperature, making most four-strokes happier, while there’s enough methanol to help keep the plug lit.
It’s not as effective as installing custom breaker points to allow a spark plug to fire gasoline/oil mix, but breaker points add a little drag, so you can get good results either way.
Engine restoration services are in short supply after the passing of a couple of our artisans who had performed this work for years. Walter Craig contacted me a while back asking that I mention his services. Walt is a member of the Model Engine Collectors Association (MECA) and also of SAM. He advertises restoration services, including cosmetic detailing as well as tune-up. Because I haven’t used Walt’s services, I can’t comment on the quality of his work, but I’ve never heard any complaints. See Sources for contact information.
MA
Sources:
- SAM: www.antiquemodeler.org
- Roland Friestad: (309) 342-7474, [email protected]
- Walter Craig Jr.: (717) 229-2840, [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
