Radio Control Scale - 2006/12

A detailed look at the 2006 RC Scale Nats
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Radio Control Scale Stan Alexander
THE 80TH SCALE National
Championships was held the first week in
August. This Scale competition is held each
year at the end of the Nats calendar. There
are classes for any AMA member with a
Scale model that has been tested and can fly
adequately.
Why the different classes? Holding the
Scale Nats gives the rank novice the
opportunity to pit next to and fly with the
experts. It also allows the novice to fly
against competitors who have similar
experience. I touched on this in the
November RC Scale column.
The Scale Nats started Thursday, August 3
with the Scale RC Indoor Classic held at
The crew from Pittsburgh PA worked to make the 80th Scale
Nationals a success. Event Director Jim Rediske is at far right. Some competitors lined up at the edge of the pits Saturday.
Jim Rediske (L) awards the Fun Scale Open plaque to Mark
Lanterman, who also won the NASA Flight Achievement Award.
Designer Scale National Champion Hal Parenti with second-place
finisher Dick Konkle and third-place finisher Dave Johnson.
Ball State University’s Worthen Arena in
Muncie, Indiana. This site’s flying space is
adequate for the small, indoor, electricpowered
Scale models.
Many, including myself, hoped there
would be an increase in the number of
competitors this year, but it was roughly the
same as in 2005. Later that week I talked to
Bob Walker of Robart at the site, and he
stated that every event he had attended had
been down in attendance from 10%-25%;
fuel prices were topping $3 a gallon in early
August.
Static judging took place at Worthen
Arena Friday as the Outdoor FF portion of
the Nats finished up at AMA’s National
Flying Site. With multiple judging lines this
year it didn’t take all day for the models to
be processed. Event Director Jim Rediske
worked all year at putting together a good
crew for the competitors; his and his wife
Bonnie’s efforts are much appreciated.
There were two new competitors this
year: twins Jay Steward of Phoenix,
Arizona, and Jack Steward of Faribault,
Minnesota. Jack built a beautiful Nieuport
28 for Team Scale, and Jay flew a rarely
modeled Curtiss F8C-4 Hellcat. It’s not the
World War II monoplane you might be
thinking of, but the world’s first production
“dive bomber.”
Friday evening everyone set up canopies
and started practice-flying for the next two
days’ events. There is nothing prettier than
December 2006 129
12sig5.QXD 10/25/06 12:26 PM Page 129Scale models flying during the twilight
hours close to sunset.
Later that night the local restaurants on
McGalliard Road were full of Scale
modelers and officials, catching up on
others’ families, the past year’s activities,
and what it cost them to get to the Nats
this year.
The grounds at the AMA flying site were
in great shape this year, and several pilots
elected to take off and land their models in
the grass. Even though the wind was light,
Sportsman Scale National Champion William Thompson, runnerup
Kevin Knebel, and third-place winner Tom Poole.
R-L: Expert Champ Dennis Crooks, runner-up Kim Foster, thirdplace
finisher Mike Barbee, and Greg Hahn in fourth place.
models with a skid still preferred nice, shortcut
grass. New canopies were in use this
year, and everyone seemed to enjoy them.
Many people were asking what happened
to Greg Hahn’s B-25. It had a nose-gear
collapse on landing on the second flight, and
the two propellers were unsafe to use after
that. There was no damage to the airplane,
but the propellers were shot.
“Usually when you do enough damage to
destroy the props on a B-25, you can’t fly it
anymore,” Greg told me. So that took him
out of rounds three and four.
After the first two rounds of flight it
looked like Hal Parenti had a good lead in
Designer Scale and Dennis Crooks was in
the lead in Expert with his P-38. Two of this
year’s winning aircraft weren’t supposed to
be at the Nats, including Dennis’s P-38.
That goes to show that modelers who fly
their competition models usually do better
with them!
Saturday night the Scale Nats group
stayed at the field. It was a special time, and
people enjoyed the circus-tent setup. There
were burgers, brats, hot dogs, corn on the
cob, desserts, etc. Those present ate their
fill at this year’s Nats banquet.
Special guests included Ron and Jane
Morgan, Jay Mealy and his daughter, AMA
District VIII Vice President Sandy Frank,
and Dolly Wischer. Next year there will
surely be two tents and two or three grills
going. Bonnie Rediske organized all this
and set it up for everyone at the Indoor, RC,
and CL Scale Nats.
Shannon Ort had several prize packs,
and raffles were held after everyone ate.
Several modelers took the opportunity to
put in some flights in calm air as the site
cooled off for the day.
Sunday dawned another perfect day for the
Nats. Many of the World War I modelerswere wishing they could fly early and late
in the day, but with a light wind it didn’t
make much difference.
In Expert class the “Pumpkin Crew” of
Futaba took first through fourth place with
an unbroken string of competitors. They
included new Expert National Champion
Dennis Crooks, second-place finisher Kim
Foster flying his D.H.94 Moth Minor, Mike
Barbee in third place with his 1/3-scale
WACO, and fourth-place finisher Greg
Hahn with his B-25.
The title of Designer Scale Champion
went to veteran Scale competitor Hal
Parenti with another version of his Ryan
Fireball. I’ll bet he has built six of those
models in the past several years; sticking to
the same one seems to pay off for Hal.
There might be a lesson there!
Second place in Designer went to Dick
Konkle with his Aeronca Champ. The 1/3-
scale airplane was highly detailed, and Dick
flew it in an extremely scalelike manner.
Third place went to Dave Johnson with his
familiar Albatros D.III, also in 1/3 scale. The
Albatros was powered by a G-62 engine.
Team Scale continues to gain dedicated
builders who want great pilots to fly their
models. Someone who has taken advantage
of this and swept almost every event he has
entered is builder George Maiorana with his
Tu-4 “Bull”—a Russian copy of the
American Boeing B-29. Dave Pinegar flew
the electric-powered veteran model.
George is working on something new: a
little Tu-95 turboprop model. I hope to see
it at the Toledo Show in the spring.
Brothers Steward and Steward built and
flew the Nieuport 28 to a second-place
finish in Team Scale. Father-and-son team
Dale and Jeremy Arvin finished in third
place with their SNJ built from a Yellow
Aircraft kit.
Sportsman is for Scale modelers who
are working with documentation for the
first couple years and learning the flight
routines. Art Shelton graduated to Expert
class this year with his Fokker E.I and
eventually finished sixth his first time out.
William Thompson won the Sportsman
class with his Balsa USA Sopwith Pup.
Second place went to new Nats competitor
Kevin Knebel with his Stearman, which
was built from a Flair kit and covered with
Nelson urethane. Third place went to Tom
Poole with his Piper Tri-Pacer, which I
covered in an earlier column.
Fun Scale Open has become one of the
most popular classes in Scale competition.
Bring your ARFs, models that you may
have bought, etc. I wish I could have gotten
a photo of Mark Lanterman’s reaction when
his name was called as this year’s Fun
Scale Open National Champion. That he
was dumbstruck is an understatement.
Mark brought his Great Planes
Shoestring racer again this year. He greased
the takeoffs and landings as well as the rest
of the flight to win. Second place went to
Jeremy Arvin with his Extra 330L.
Jeremy’s dad Dale and he have matching
Scale 330Ls. Greg Hahn finished third with
his electric-powered B-25, which is to be a
new Great Planes kit.
Thanks to all the Scale Nats supporters,
which include:
• Platinum sponsors Pacer Technology,
Airborne Media, The Aeroplane Works,
Great Planes, and Sig Manufacturing.
• Gold sponsors Balsa USA, Brodak
Manufacturing, and Jack Stafford Models.
• Silver sponsors RC Report, FMA Direct,
Precision Cut Kits, and Nick Ziroli Plans.
• Bronze sponsors Bob Banka’s Aircraft
Documentation, Vintage RC Plans, Master
Airscrew, Northeast Screen Graphics,
Micro Fasteners, Dynamic Balsa, SR
Batteries, and Lone Star Models.
Bonnie Rediske wanted to thank the
Grill Crew: Ed Terry, Bill Brucken, and
Mike Gretz. Shucking a few hundred ears
of corn was a team effort, with help coming
from Paula Hass, Jay Mealy, Scott
Christensen, and Judy Hemphill.