Ni-Starter: A brand name—not a noun!
Eric Henderson [[email protected]]
One of the best aspects of being a columnist is the mail and phone calls I receive. I never know what the subject or content is going to be. Sometimes it is a thank you and sometimes it is a bit of admonishment for facts that are wrong or could be misleading. More often than not it develops into a chat between two modelers, such as when I got a call from Hank Hankinson of Sonic-Tronics.
I used the word "Ni-Starter" in a column when describing some modifications I had made to the older-style (orange) Pro-Drivers sold by Radio South. Hank gave me an education on the use of the word Ni-Starter, which is the name on a range of products sold by Sonic-Tronics (see photo).
I had fallen into the practice of calling all my glow lighters Ni-Starters; this is a brand name and not a noun. After Hank straightened me out, we had a long chat about modeling, its history, and a whole bunch of hobby-related general topics.
So I apologize for misusing the product brand name and I thank Hank for understanding my honest mistake. Not only can I correct my mistake, but I can salute these great McDaniel Ni-Starter products. Not only do they make it easier to start our engines, but they may have also changed our modeling dictionary.
The 2005 FAI F3A World Championships was held in Saint-Yan, France, in August. The US team went in as the defending World Champions! We were hoping for a repeat win. We were also hoping that one of our own would unseat Christophe Paysant-Le Roux (CPLR) in his own country to become the individual World Champion.
I was hoping to have some photographs and information from Bryan Hebert for this month's column. However, Bryan and his assistant manager Brian Clemmons live in Louisiana, and they returned to the US in the midst of Hurricane Katrina. They battled for 28 hours to get home, and they eventually rented a car and drove into the teeth of the storm, only to find domestic damage. Then the second hurricane beat them up some more. I have had little success getting through on the phone or using e-mail. Understandably so; both have been tied up in repairs and hosting "refugees" from New Orleans. (Brian Clemmons is a minister in his church.)
I can report on the results I obtained from the French web site. The Japanese regained the team trophy after the preliminaries were completed. Following are the individual results of the finals and the engines/motors used.
- Christophe Paysant-Le Roux (CPLR): 2,000 points (YS 1.70)
- Tetsuo Onda: 1,948 points (YS 1.70)
- Roland Matt: 1,891 points (Hacker)
- Chip Hyde: 1,871 points (Hacker)
- Benoit Paysant-Le Roux: 1,856 points (YS 1.70)
- Jason Shulman: 1,851 points (Hacker)
- Yoichiro Akiba: 1,838 points (YS 1.70)
- Kouji Suzuki: 1,821 points (YS 1.70)
- Sebastiano Silvestri: 1,804 points (Hacker)
- Wolfgang Matt: 1,729 points (Hacker)
Again, Christophe won every round and is still the World Champion. Although all of our pilots made it into the semifinals, only Chip Hyde and Jason Shulman made it into the finals. The World Championships is becoming quite a family affair, with two brothers and a father and son in the finals.
Staying with the competition theme, the AMA RC Aerobatics (Pattern) Nationals was held at AMA's Muncie, Indiana, site in July. The event had 113 contestants registered, 107 of whom actually made it and stayed. Two of the US world team members showed up. To accommodate that number of contestants, all three AMA flying sites were used with two flightlines on each runway. Sunday afternoon is when the contest actually begins. Mickey Losardo started with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem. Contest flying began the next day with some moderately poor visibility because of some mist, which soon cleared as the wind increased. By noon the air was clear with the wind blowing over the pilots' left shoulders as they flew.
The large Masters group flew from the two paved sites and was able to complete its rounds by 11:59 a.m. At 1 p.m. FAI flew using the same sites. The Intermediate class flew in the morning on the third site. Advanced flew in the afternoon with no problems at all.
There were many more electric-powered airplanes this year, and you could see extension cords running out from AMA's 115-volt outlets. For the first time 12-volt generators could be heard as they supplied electricity to charge the 6000 mAh and 8000 mAh Li-Po batteries.
Tuesday began with two rounds for all classes already in the bag. The pilots concentrated on improving scores. Tuesday had the best weather; it was perfect for competitive flying. There was a slight summer breeze in the afternoon and some local heat thermals.
The larger classes flew using a daily matrix system. It was not perfect, but it did let the pilots know who was in the lead and who would be the winner if the weather turned bad.
At the Tuesday National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA) banquet, AMA CD Ron Morgan presented Dave Guerin with the AMA Event Director Recognition award. Lamar Blair gave a "State of the NSRCA" address. Brian Kennedy (Mr. Cathy Reuther!) was a last-minute substitute who gallantly ran the FAI/NSRCA fund-raising auction.
There were no surprises in the FAI F3A top eight except for one: Tony Frackowiak was back on the Pattern scene after a foray into jets. The Masters contest was a repeat of last year, with the addition of one new pilot, Jeff Carder.
Thursday was the last day of flying. The weather gods were good to us; we were extremely happy not to have to activate the "bad weather plan." The two finals events were run in parallel on separate sites.
NSRCA President Lamar Blair announced the winners at the closing ceremonies, which the NSRCA hosted. I thank all the people who worked so hard to make this Nationals work. Yet another Nationals is now in the history books, along with a personal treasure trove of great memories.
Intermediate
- Brett Wickizer: 4,000.00
- Mark Hunt: 3,948.74
- Dennis Bodary: 3,823.00
- Erik Newsholme: 3,661.34
- Jim Sheffield: 3,612.17
- Keith Hoard: 3,599.45
- David Borrow: 3,581.77
- Ken Alexander: 3,545.05
Advanced
- Albert (A.C.) Glenn: 3,983.808
- Scott Pavlock: 3,905.475
- Robert Mairs: 3,866.255
- Mike Hester: 3,856.581
- Wayne Galligan: 3,846.665
- Michael Radeke: 3,839.022
- Joe Dunnaway: 3,833.835
- Roddy Ory: 3,826.416
F3A
- Quique Somenzini: 2,000.00
- Chip Hyde: 1,937.71
- Don Szczur: 1,937.60
- Dave Lockhart: 1,827.46
- Todd Blose: 1,921.47
- Tony Frackowiak: 1,876.41
- Andrew Jesky: 1,862.86
- Troy Newman: 1,782.10
Masters
- David Snow: 2,000.00
- Gerald Budd: 1,958.74
- Michael Hill: 1,948.81
- Archie Stafford: 1,931.55
- Kenneth Velez: 1,926.77
- Vern Koester: 1,925.41
- Jeff Carder: 1,923.34
- Jeff Carris: 1,913.86
In looking at the World Championships and the Nationals, there are definitely some trends emerging at the national and international levels. The most significant is electric motors, which are showing that they are truly competitive.
I admit to being a bit cautious about the electric power plants. Every time I write about electrics, I seem to get into some kind of hot water with someone somewhere. This is most likely to happen if I seem not to be supportive of the big electrics.
I have flown and have seen many of the smaller sport electrics. They are no doubt viable and practical. In most cases the family car battery will give you almost endless recharges, and the airplanes function as well and last as long as their glow-powered equivalents.
Pattern is, by its competitive nature, a leading-edge sport. Pattern power plants have a long track record of leading-edge status. My firsthand knowledge began with smaller two-strokes and soon moved to the YS .61 and O.S. .61 Hanno specials. These were a cut above the sport versions out there but needed special exhaust systems called tuned pipes, etc. Then along came the YS 120 supercharged four-strokes, and the engine-size limit was changed to allow them to be used. O.S. even produced supercharged blower 120 engines. Some of these power plants made it into the sport arena, but not all of them.
Then came electronic fuel injectors — pump injectors with O.S. EFIs and YS DZs respectively. Some of this technology made it into sport engines we see at the field today.
In the case of electrics, it seems to have developed the other way. Park flyers, electric sport models, and the like are already well established with brushless motors and ESCs. Pattern has pushed the biggest brushless motors and leading-edge huge Li-Po packs to produce power at least equal to that of the mighty YSs and O.S.s.
I have already conceded that the "electric solutions" being put into Pattern models are viable. I have judged more than one Nationals winner flying these setups. But I continue to raise the question: what are the practical limits of the big motors and batteries?
It is not a battle of one religion versus another; it is much more a battle of "practical" versus "viable." In the past, most of us accepted that to be competitive you had to own three glow engines—one in the model, one in the car, and one in the mail to the service department. Did that make exotic glow engines viable and practical?
The parallel issue with electrics is how long motors, speed controllers, and expensive battery packs last. What may be practical for a sponsored pilot may be impractical for the average budget.
A less contentious observation is that the takeoff procedures changed with the advent of the Pattern electrics. There is no need to start the stopwatch and put the pilot "on the clock" as the motor is being fired up; with electric power you just put the airplane out on the runway. The pilot moves the throttle stick, and the model is in the air.
The AMA Nats saw electrics win the finals of Masters and F3A. The World Championships saw the YS 1.70 push back and take the top two spots. However, most would argue that at that level the pilot is probably the biggest factor—not the power plant!
What I worry about most is that the cost of glow power is probably within the reach of the typical, unsponsored Pattern pilot. If a technology we cannot all afford becomes dominant, will this reduce the ranks of competitors?
We, as human beings, can rationalize the use of various technologies. Inevitably, those with the latest "toys" will defend their investments to the death! Do yourself a favor and ask the hard questions about longevity and durability before you spend your hard-earned money.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
