SAM Champs
by David L. Ramsey and Larry Renger
Free Flight (FF) and Radio Control (RC)
The 2005 Society of Antique Modelers Championships, commonly known as the SAM Champs, was held October 9–14. It included Nostalgia categories, as usual, and—for the first time—Control Line events. The CL portion was flown at a Las Vegas airport and the FF and RC classes were contested at El Dorado Dry Lake, just outside Henderson, Nevada. This section covers the FF and RC information. A report by Larry Renger about the CL activities follows.
Participants came from several nations, including Australia, England, Italy, Germany, and the United States, giving the contest an international flavor.
The dry lake bed provides a great flying site for our early models—whether it's a 30-Second Antique, a Fuel-Allotment Antique, or a Gas Scale with unlimited fuel. Goldberg Valkyries, Lanzo Record Breakers, Taibi Powerhouses, MG2s, Lanzo Bombers, and other classic designs flew as they did in the golden old days.
Weather was ideal for FF and RC for four days. Five-minute maxes—rare at many contests today—were routine Tuesday through Friday. Monday's flying was canceled because of high winds, which had helped dry the field that was flooded a couple of weeks before the contest. After the meet, Sunday brought heavy rain that flooded the dry bed again; competitors were grateful for the earlier window of good weather.
There were mass-launch or one-flight events for Twin Pusher, Thermal Hunter, and Tomboy. Each category had several contestants and good competition. Participation counts:
- Twin Pusher: 8 fliers
- Thermal Hunter: 15 fliers
- Tomboy: 11 fliers
Many top fliers experienced misfortune despite winning credentials. Rubber champ Herb Kothe crashed or destroyed five models and had a sixth broken on retrieval. Herb’s Korda Wakefield exploded in midair when the rear peg slipped out of the anchor, and a torque-meter wire broke while winding another model. On a flight of Jimmie Allen’s Blue Bird the motor bunched up at the rear, causing him to barely miss a max and finish second. Fortunately Herb had backups for several events.
Kevin Sherman narrowly beat Larry Davidson by one point to become the FF Gas champ. Kevin flew his class C Hayseed into his own tent, breaking the fuselage just in front of the stabilizer, then used a Comet Clipper MK I to finish his flights. That same day his class A Strato Streak came in after a max and plowed into Sal Taibi’s Honda chase bike; after minor repairs the model crashed on takeoff. A cranky engine in his Lanzo Bomber Fuel-Allotment Antique entry put him out of contention—he has since repaired it.
Larry Davidson added a little too much stabilizer tilt to his Torp .29-powered Alert, resulting in a spectacular vertical dive that destroyed the model and engine. Being a FF champ is difficult and the competition is intense.
With help from engine-rework specialist George Tallent, RC Gas and RC Glow champ Bob Hawkins arrived with models and equipment that were extremely competitive. His troubles came when a local Nevada modeler flying for fun shot him down; otherwise he flew smoothly. In A Texaco RC Bob flew his Lanzo Bomber with a Taifun .15 engine, swinging a 14-inch prop at just under 4,000 rpm.
A Texaco RC was the event in which the Australian fliers excelled. Results included:
- Bob Raadts — 2nd
- Max Rixon — 3rd
- Allan Laycock — 4th
- David Owen — 5th
The Aussies usually run diesels, but they switched to an O.S. .20 four-stroke with a 12-inch prop and did well on glow fuel.
David Owen, a diesel-engine maker, finished eighth in A Ignition LER (Limited Engine Run) flying a Brooklyn Dodger with one of his Gordon Burford 2.50 diesels. He won the RC Brooklyn Dodger event flying an AMCO 3.5 diesel.
The Australians did respectably in FF as well, with Allan Laycock finishing fourth and Bob Raadts seventh in Tomboy.
There was a special RC event for the Brooklyn Dodger: Gas Model of the Year. In that event the highest Dodger time in Class B Fuselage wins. Larry Davidson won B Fuselage with the current design; this was the same model that had been lost overnight at Claremore, Oklahoma, SAM Champs. Dick Nelson finished second with his RB Special–powered Dodger.
I must mention our English visitors. In the Tomboy event Bob Close had a respectable 7+ minutes for second place. John Maddaford did not do particularly well in Class A Fuselage, flying his Gordon Murray Answer. He obtained four Bantam .16 casting sets and did a great job machining one for his model.
Gas Scale is seldom flown east of the Mississippi because of the SAM rule allowing an unlimited engine run. Jean Andrews flew an O.S. .25–powered Comet Curtiss Robin spanning 6 feet. The 12 x 4 prop was still turning when the model went out of sight, and the aircraft was later found five miles from the field—resulting in the win.
Norm Peterson was the high-point flier in Nostalgia, competing strongly against Dick Nelson, Ted Hidinger, and Frank Roberge. John Maddaford made an impression in 1/4A Gas and Towline Glider.
The awards banquet and engine collector show took place Friday evening. The food was excellent, and earlier in the week there had been a well-attended bean feed.
Concours and awards:
- Frank Roberge — Rubber FF Concours and Best of Show (Skokie from an Easy Built Models kit)
- Gary Sherman — Gas FF award
- John Richards — RC award
- SAM Hall of Fame inductees: Bruce Augustus (SAM Speaks editor), Gil Morris (Kerswap designer), Hank Cole (Smoothie designer)
Ted Forster refused to accept the contest-manager trophy until the nameplate read "Ted and Sandra Forster." SAM President Mike Myers agreed Sandra had done enough work to deserve her name on the trophy. In addition, Kevin Sherman presented a Sweetheart of SAM award to his mother.
After a few goodbyes, SAM Champs 2005 was over. We look forward to the 2006 edition. Randy Ryan will be contest manager at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana (the Champs rotates between El Dorado Dry Lake and the AMA site each year).
Special-event designs for 2006:
- Earl Stahl Scale Rubber: Hurricane
- FF and RC Gas: Fokker D.VIII
Join SAM and come fly in this great field!
David Ramsey [email protected]
Control Line (CL) Report
by Larry Renger
In 2005 there was an addition to the long-running SAM Champs. Event directors contacted Eric Rule of RSM Distribution, and he agreed to be Contest Director (CD) for a SAM-oriented CL category.
Historically, the SAM Champs focused on FF events—gliders, rubber power, and gas engines—with classes for old-time FF models with RC assist. Competition honoring old CL designs, which dominated the hobby from the late 1940s through the early 1960s, had been missing until this year.
The new CL events attracted top CL talent, including former national Precision Aerobatics (Stunt) champions Bob Gieseke, Keith Trostle, and Bob Whitely. (Unfortunately, Bob "Bear" Gieseke was unable to fly due to back problems.) Most CL aircraft entered had superb fits and finishes, and scores were competitive with any contest.
The North Las Vegas Airport provided an unused parking lot (roughly 20 football fields), shade, tables, chairs, free bottled water on ice, barrier cones and tape, an aide-de-camp, and a street sweeper to keep the area clean. Airport staff even provided small carpet squares to prevent raw fuel from contacting the asphalt.
Bill Ervin made the initial contacts, and Airport Manager Doug McNeeley approved use of the facility. Bill was with the crew for setup day and the two days of competition (Thursday and Friday, October 13–14). Doug stopped by and was pleased with how the site was maintained; he is inclined to provide future access for SAM and other proposals. There was no financial benefit to the airport for this generosity.
Old Time Stunt (Thursday)
- Aircraft in this category must be replicas of CL stunters designed from the beginning to the end of 1952.
- Eric Rule and Robin Sizemore served as judges.
- Early morning winds were about 15 mph, but conditions calmed by flying time; it was so calm competitors had to step back to avoid their own wing wake.
Top placings:
- Lou Wolgast — Viking (large, light model with thin airfoil and smallish tail volume); powered by a SuperTiger .46.
- Keith Trostle — Pagan (small model powered by an O.S. .25; design sourced from Aeromodeller).
- Leroy Black — Jamison Special (powered by a Brodak .40). The Jamison is currently the most popular model in Old Time Stunt.
Classic Aerobatics (1953–1969 designs)
- Judges: Leroy Black and Bill Ervin.
- Competition was intense; the lowest score was 420.00. Weather was slightly breezy—just enough to prevent wing-wake issues.
Top placings:
- Keith Trostle — Al Rabe Bearcat — winning score: 565.5. (Keith is the only person to win Open CL Aerobatics and CL Precision Scale at the AMA Nats.)
- Bob Whitely — "Green Box" Nobler — score: 562.00. Beautiful finish with gold-leaf stripe and lettering.
- Pete Peterson — Jim Van Loo Chipmunk replica, powered by a Brodak .40.
Prizes and overall champion
- SAM prize plaques were awarded for first through third places in each event.
- Brodak Manufacturing donated an ARF Smoothie for the overall champion, determined by the highest aggregate score of all four flights in Old Time and Classic. Keith Trostle won the Smoothie.
Banquet and raffle
- Friday evening featured an excellent buffet and an outstanding raffle.
Acknowledgements The contest crew and airport staff deserve special thanks:
- North Las Vegas Airport: Doug McNeeley, Bill Ervin, Darla Hook (Department of Aviation Coordinator)
- Contest staff and volunteers:
- Ken Kaiser — Pit boss (kept the contest running smoothly; no waiting or delays)
- Larry Lake — Scorekeeper
- Bill Holt — Runner (carried scoresheets from judges to scorekeeper)
The contest was a great time and the facilities were outstanding. We'll be back.
For a complete listing of SAM Champs results and more information about the organization, visit www.antiquemodeler.org.
Larry Renger [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
