Eurochamps 2012
Old-Timer modeling activity is alive and well worldwide.
The annual Eurochamps is the largest of the overseas versions of the US Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) Championships. The models, events, and rules are similar to ours.
Now in its 10th year and drawing fliers from several countries, the participation level this year was the highest ever. In most events the number of entrants surpassed that of our own championships. The venue moves from country to country each year, receiving local support, possibly because of the healthy competition between the countries.
In 2012, SAM Chapter 119 in Slovakia was sponsored by 38 companies. There were trained local volunteers to help with such matters as shagging and managing the 20-plus bungees provided for approximately 120 Old-Timer Glider entrants. Backup timing and recording was provided by 20 young ladies who made the hot weather — up to 95° F — more bearable by wearing bikinis while recording flight times.
Population density and the resulting lack of open space don’t allow FF events to be offered consistently from year to year, so all events were RC. I’m told the last FF events were during the 2010 Champs in the Czech Republic when three or four FF events, mainly Rubber and Hand-Launched Glider, were offered. Fortunately, the US and several other countries can still find a few locations with room to accommodate FF at the Old-Timer Championships.
Gliders, or sailplanes if you prefer, are more popular in Europe, which accounts for the high level of participation. Those 20 hi-starts and line shaggers were needed to accommodate the 286 flights made during six rounds of flying.
By the end of the day, competition had narrowed to four fliers going into the flyoff round. The top finishers were:
- 1st: Gyorgy Berko (Hungary)
- 2nd: Alois Hrabacek (Czech Republic)
- 3rd: Filippo Bezzi (Italy)
The fourth flier, Petr Svoboda (Czech Republic), missed the awards podium by only eight seconds.
Electric Old-Timer had 85 entries, ending with a 13-pilot flyoff. The top three were:
- 1st: Rover Mersecchi
- 2nd: József Szennyei
- 3rd: Gyorgy Berko
As Mersecchi came down for the last flyoff landing, the crowd gave him an ovation. Immediately following that, a large stork glided low and slow over the flightline. The crowd reacted with applause, shouting, “The stork wins.”
Texaco is the most popular of the engine-powered events and the second most popular overall. European fliers excel at this event and most use diesel power to squeeze the longest run time out of the limited fuel allotment. More than half of the models flown were originally designed in the US, unlike the Glider entries that were predominantly European designs.
Of the approximately 50 fliers in Texaco, Miroslav Camaj of Slovakia emerged the winner, flying the popular US design, the Lanzo Bomber.
More than 90% of the pilots used 2.4 GHz radios, which has made things easier for international travel and competition, but designing take-apart models and packing cases still presents challenges. This year, Ed Hamler and Roy Brown were the only US entrants. Ed is the current SAM USA president and he provided most of the detail for this report. He flew various sizes of Chet Lanzo’s 1938 Airborn design. By accumulating two first places, two seconds, and a third, Ed emerged as the meet’s grand champion. Nick Bruschi of San Marino and Gyorgy Berko were runners-up.
Next year’s SAM Eurochamps is planned for June 23–28, 2013, at the airfield in Jakabszaállás, Hungary.
Chester "Chet" Lanzo
Chet Lanzo is one of the most recognized names among Old-Timer modelers. During roughly 65 years as a modeler, he progressed with the hobby, starting with rubber models, later gasoline powered, then on to RC. He was a top competitor in all of those categories, winning many meets, setting records, creating new designs, and having models published and kitted by various publishers and manufacturers. During the heyday of rubber power, Chet won national meets in indoor and outdoor categories and often led the way in design trends. His plans appeared in many publications and one of his Wakefield designs is often duplicated and flown.
Chet designed a popular model for the Rubber Stick event. It set endurance records and is also a favorite build today. Later he designed a different gasoline-powered stick model, known as the Lanzo Stick.
Chet is often credited with being the father of RC. He was a licensed amateur radio operator and designed and flew with some of the first RC systems. As with most new developments, others were working in the same direction at the time, but Chet was more visibly successful. He won the first national RC championship in 1937. During three successive years the event was won by the Good brothers, who are also well-recognized RC pioneers. In 1941, Jim Walker, considered the father of CL, won that RC event.
Frank Zaic’s 1938 Model Aeronautics Yearbook features seven of Chet’s schematics for RC systems. He even installed one in a model car. In the book, Chet describes an airborne transmitter which provides a signal for finding a lost model. That was a forerunner of the Walston retrieval system widely used by FF fliers today.
Chet’s antique radio model, the RC-1, is frequently flown in SAM events. Its size makes it a good selection for the Brown Junior and Ohlsson sideport single-engine events where scaling is not allowed. His later, larger, and more successful RC aircraft is known as the Racer, and sometimes appears as a candidate for the Texaco fuel-allotment event.
Chet’s all-time favorite—at least in Old-Timer RC circles—is the Bomber. The model is a fairly easy build, easy to fly, and a competitive soaring machine. It’s a pre-1939 Antique-category design, which makes it eligible for nearly all the engine-powered events.
It has been built in numerous sizes and classes for spark ignition, glow, and electric flying. The Bomber is a superior RC training model, especially for those who aren't destined to excel at pattern flying, 3-D, or pylon racing within a couple of months.
The Lanzo Airborn design is rapidly gaining in popularity and is beginning to rival the Bomber as a competition favorite. It began as an RC glider and later had an engine added. The engine-powered version is the most frequently seen, but at least one has been built as a "convertible" and campaigned both in engine-powered and glider events.
We'll know the Airborn has fully arrived when we begin to hear complaints about seeing too many in competition.
The Record Breaker is another Lanzo design, popular with FF and RC modelers. It's often flown in Texaco events. The wing appears to be the same as that of the Bomber, but it's mounted on cabane struts rather than a pylon.
Those who knew Chet Lanzo describe him as modest, unassuming, and a gentleman.
Seldom Seen Models
Seldom-seen models are favorites among many Old-Timer enthusiasts. There is even a special Concours category for them at the annual SAM Champs: Miss Seldom Seen.
Franny Brodigan's great-looking Shereshaw Cumulus was pictured in my April 2012 column. I mentioned that she was constructing a rare Shereshaw XP-3.
The model has been completed and it lives up to Franny's high standards of construction and finish. The photo explains it better than I can.
Errors
Some common and often comical construction errors were cited in the last column. I've recalled another that should be classified as more maddening than comical. It might have even caused some less-tenacious people to quit the hobby. There was once a product on the market called Liquid Solder.
Some modelers took the name at face value and used it to join their spark ignition wire connections, but the product was nothing more than silver-colored glue, with little or no electrical conductance.
Few people, especially kids, had ohmmeters or other test equipment at that time. Imagine the frustration of trying to sort that one out when an engine wouldn't start.
Upcoming Event
The 37th Annual John Pond Commemorative Old-Timer RC contest will be held October 27–28 this year.
The venue is once again Taft, California's Condor Field, which has sometimes been described as the world's best FF site.
Taft has the most reliable flying weather, but many of the scheduled FF events have moved to Lost Hills, about 30 miles to the north. Creeping encroachment of civilization has begun to shrink the open chase area at Taft, while Lost Hills is an almost endless open desert, devoid of obstacles.
Check the Contest Calendar for more information.
SOURCES
- SAM Eurochamps: www.mesam2012us.meu.zoznam.sk
- Chet Lanzo: www.modelaircraft.org/files/LanzoChesterChet.pdf
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
