n Stan Alexander
Steve Gabrys’ (Griffith IN) MiG-15bis makes a slow pass.
a Bob Violett Models kit designed by David Ribbe.
Shailesh Patel’s (Eureka CA) 96-inch-span F-86 Sabre, just wheeled out from the
hangar. This scratch-built model finished eighth overall. Phil Bousquet photo.
14 M ODEL AVIATION
Cliff Tacie’s Aeronca L-16A US Air Force
trainer from Bud Nosen plans spans 115
inches. The scale pilot by Roy Vaillancourt
looks like Cliff!
Kim Foster’s (Mansfield OH) 16-pound Sopwith Pup, built from Mick Reeves plans, sets up for
a landing. Kim finished 18th with this model.
Wayne Siewert/Jim Sandquist P-47 Thunderbolt was fifth in Team Scale. Bousquet photo.
March 2001 15
Bob Patton’s ninth-place Beechcraft T-34C in US Navy trainer color
scheme. Note that flaps aren’t extended for landing.
A close-up of the cockpit in Terry Nitsch’s (Grove City OH)
Rafale B.01, which garnered a victory in Expert class.
Dayton, Ohio became the cradle of
aviation 97 years ago; that is where
the Wright Brothers designed the first
powered aircraft that eventually flew
at Kitty Hawk NC.
This year, the Scale Masters
Association landed at Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base on the US
Air Force Museum grounds in
Dayton, which is the oldest and
largest military aviation museum in
the world. It officially became the US
Air Force Museum in 1956, although
it was originally located at McCook
Field in 1923.
Many aircraft in the museum are
presented in dioramas, which depict
the time and era of the airplane type.
The history of aviation is represented,
from the Wright 1909 Military Flyer
to the latest F-117 Stealth Fighters
and the YF-22. The aircraft range in
size from the B-52 and the B-36 to
the J-3 Cub.
Besides aircraft, missiles,
hardware, uniforms, art prints,
engines, models, and a host of other
artifacts fill the museum.
The 221⁄2-pound jet was constructed from
16 M ODEL AVIATION
George Mariano’s Russian Tu-4, flown by Dave Pinegar, has
super detail. It placed third in Team Scale. Bousquet photo.
Dan Pierson’s (Sadorus IL) 53-pound Beechcraft Bonanza V35B-
2. Dan won the award for Best Documentation. Bousquet photo.
Nick Ziroli Jr.’s scratch-built Grumman Avenger executes the
torpedo drop. He placed fifth overall. Bousquet photo.
Pilot Dave Patrick (L) and
builder Graeme Mears with
their Team Scale-winning
D.H.82 Tiger Moth. This
model is a veteran of the
contest circuit.
March 2001 17
Expert winner Terry Nitsch with his BVM Rafale B.01. This large jet is powered by two AMT turbines and weighs 38 pounds.
Dave Lovitt’s (Willits CA) impressive 24-pound Lockheed HC-130H was built from Skip Mast plans. Bousquet photo.
Dave Ribbe’s MiG-15 climbs out and retracts the gear,
with Sophia turbine. Dave finished 12th. Bousquet photo.
John Chevalier’s Piper Tri-Pacer comes in for a smooth landing. John earned
17th place in Expert. Pilots are by his wife Diane. Bousquet photo.
Photos by Stan Alexander, except as noted Graphic Design by Carla Kunz
The contestants and officials who
attended this event felt very lucky that it
wasn’t held a week earlier; the weather
was poor at best, with 30° temperatures
and snow flurries.
However, a high-pressure front moved
into the area and provided great weather
during the five days of activities, October
11-15. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief
that Mother Nature cooperated.
Most scale competitions begin with static
judging; this is where the models are
evaluated compared to the documentation of
the full-scale aircraft presented to judges by
the contestants.
18 M ODEL AVIATION
Notice that I wrote that contestants
are judged by the “documentation.” A
poor documentation package (photos,
color chips, and scale three-view
drawings) can ruin a good static score
quickly. Everything on the model
should match the provided material.
The Masters program is run the
same way. It guarantees that all
competitors receive static scores before
they put in their second flight.
However, you have put in that first
flight to receive a static score.
Static judging was held in front of
the museum, in the memorial area. All
76 aircraft were judged Thursday, and
the process took roughly nine hours to
complete.
The field was good; more than 60 of
the 76 aircraft scored 90 points or higher in
this part of the competition.
A dinner was held Thursday evening in
the Modern Flight Hangar. This was to be
open-cockpit night for everyone with the
Masters Championships, but the cockpits
were off-limits because of a variety of
problems.
Talking to a volunteer in the World
War II hangar, I learned that a group there
earlier in the year damaged several
aircraft; the cost was too great for the
limited museum staff to keep repairing
seats and replacing stolen parts.
It’s shameful that people can’t respect
20 M ODEL AVIATION
these museum aircraft, and revel in the
opportunity to sit in some of the most
historic aircraft on the planet.
During the Scale Masters dinner in
1995, many of us were able to sit in the
cockpit of a B-17, a B-24, a B-36, an SR-
71, and an F-117.
Mike Barbee held a brief pilots’
meeting after the dinner, and announced
the flight order for the next day.
Mike and the Westerville Model
Aeronautics Association organized the
contest, and they have a commitment with
the USAF Museum to hold the event again
in 2003—the 100th anniversary of
powered flight.
Many of us were able to “go behind the
ropes” and get close-up shots of cockpits
and other interesting displays that fill the
museum.
There were two classes contested: Expert
and Team Scale.
The Expert class had the majority of the
modelers, with 66 entries, and the Team
event drew 10 entries.
Flight competition began on a crisp
Friday the 13th, with little or no wind. The
runway is situated so the sun is at your back
the entire day; that really helped the judges,
who put in long days, with sunny skies
most of the contest.
A variety of aircraft types, which is
common at any Scale competition, is what
many modelers and spectators enjoy. This
year was no different; almost every era
was represented.
In the group competing this year were
four jets; 10 World War I subjects; 27
World War II models; 18 civil aircraft
models; six multiengine models; three
electric-powered subjects; and seven
military models.
Several models could have been
classified in two or more categories. The
rest of the entries were spread throughout
decades of aviation history.
Many of the aircraft were impressive—
some of which have been on the contest
circuit for several years. However, each
year new aircraft stand out in one or
more ways.
The most impressive model this year
was the Team Scale entry built by George
Mariano of Warren MI; it was a Scale
replica of a Tu-4—a Russian copy of the
B-29.
George designed this 271⁄4-pound
model around four motors, and the
covering was aluminum. This was the
most impressive of the four electricpowered
entries at this championships.
An impressive jet that wasn’t quite
ready to fly was Shailesh Patel’s North
American F-86. Shailesh built the model
from factory drawings and measurements
he took while at the USAF Museum a few
years ago.
The F-86’s wingspan was 96 inches
and the length was 96 inches. Covering
was Coverite™ Presto Metallic Chrome
and PPG paint. Powered by an Olympus
turbine with 35 pounds of thrust, Shailesh
controlled the model with a Futaba ZAP
radio.
The F-86 had operational lights,
sliding canopy, and retracts. Its
construction was a fiberglass fuselage
with a foam wing. Shailesh contracted the
machinist at Glennis Aircraft to make the
landing gear.
The big jet weighs in at 49-51
pounds—depending on the batteries used.
This is the definite upper end, as far as
expensive aircraft go; Shailesh has close
to $20,000 in this model.
The site of pilot Dave Patrick and
builder Graeme Mears in the winner’s
circle isn’t surprising. This year they
returned with the familiar D.H.82 Tiger
Moth—a veteran of the contest circuit and
the winner’s circle.
The big biplane spanned 111 inches
and was powered by a Moki 3.6 in-line
twin two-stroke engine. Built from
Frederick Beard plans, the British trainer
weighed in at 35 pounds.
Dave and Graeme took first place in
a hotly contested class this year; the top
three teams finished less than two points
apart.
Greg Hahn and builder Tim Schurick
brought a 96-inch-span OV-10 Bronco to
compete in Team Scale. Combining
Greg’s smooth flying with a static score of
96.00, the team finished second—just
ahead of George and Dave’s Tu-4, which
also received a static score of 96.00.
The Tu-4 was quiet, graceful, and
strangely realistic in the air. Up-close you
could see the detail work and application of
all the individual aluminum panels. George
used new MaxCim MaxNEO-13Y electric
motors in the 115-inch-span model. The
batteries consumed the bomb bays, and
George utilized them for battery-access
panels.
Newlywed Dave Pinegar performed
the Tu-4’s piloting duties, and he
skillfully guided the big bomber to a
third-place finish.
In Expert class, familiar names and
faces were in the top five: Nick Ziroli
Jr., Jeff Foley, Greg Hahn, and Mike
Barbee.
For the first time in memory, Terry
Nitsch made a clean sweep of the year’s
three major Scale competitions. Awarding
him a broom would have been appropriate
after his Masters win.
Terry won at Top Gun five times with
three different aircraft! The year 2000 was
his Rafale B.01’s first in competition. It
usually it takes a year or two to break in a
new model in competition.
Terry built his documentation packet,
then modeled the airframe for which he had
the most data. Then he took his model out
and practiced with it.
“This is the best jet I’ve flown; it really
handles great,” he stated.
Vanguard leader Mike Barbee did a
great deal of the legwork to make sure
everything went smoothly, and that the
Scale Masters was able to land at Dayton
this year.
Mike is also a competitor, and his
bright-yellow WACO YMF-5 biplane is a
familiar site at contests and fly-ins. The
model had a smoke option in flight—
much like in the air shows in which these
aircraft were flown. Mike finished a close
second to Terry Nitsch with a total score
of 192.167.
Greg Hahn rounded out the top three
with his SBD Dauntless. The Dauntless
is a favorite of modelers around the
world. Greg won this event in Arizona
last year.
The big dive-bomber was built from
Ziroli plans, and weighed in at 44 pounds.
Greg finished the model in the paint
scheme of the Atlantic sub-hunters, using
a color photo from the era as reference.
next year’s site hasn’t been chosen yet; it
might be Arizona or Oregon.
This is the only national Scale
championships that still travels around the
country. Top Gun seems to have landed
for good at the West Palm Beach Polo
Club (FL), and the Scale National
Championships is held each year at AMA
Headquarters in Muncie IN.
We look forward to hearing where the
Scale Masters will land in 2001.
sponsors play a big part in any Scale
competition. For the past 21 years, Pacer
Technology has been onboard with the
US Scale Masters Championships.
Director of sales Herschel Worthy
represented Pacer at this event. The Zap
Tap Room at the local Holiday Inn has
become a standard, as a place to let your
hair down and cool off after a long day at
the field. Bob Walker of sponsoring
Robart Manufacturing (landing-gear
struts, retract systems) also attended.
The Scale Masters Association thanks
the following sponsors, without which the
Championships could have not taken place.
Platinum: Airtronics Radio Systems,
Cal Crop USA; Gold: Barbee Concrete &
Construction Co., ZAP-Pacer
Technology; Silver: Bob Smith Industries,
Proctor Enterprises, Sun Valley Fliers,
and Vailly Aviation.
Patron: Bob Holman Plans, Funkshun
Graphics, William Brothers, Inc.;
Associate: Gene Barton Landing Gear,
Hansen Scale Aviation Videos, Scale
Model Research, Scale Specialties;
Friends: Lockheed Martin Fairchild
Systems, SKS Video Productions,
USSMA Webmaster Art Newland. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
