USA-1 - 2004/03

“IF YOU BUILD an airplane that’s bigger than you are, sooner or
later it will whup you!” I uttered those words in a weak moment during
some high-wind practice time, and I’ve come to regret it. Why?
Because at the time I was flying my USA-1—a model that was more
successful for me in competition Control Line Precision Aerobatics
(Stunt) flying than any other I have designed so far.
When I first saw Lew McFarland’s Shark 45 (originally named the
Humbler) fly in 1960, I was sure that the larger Stunt airplane would
someday replace the smaller .35-powered models most of us were
flying at the time. I was also sure that this changing of the guard
wouldn’t happen for me anytime soon. Why? The answer is simple:
power.
There was really only one engine that could pull an airplane the
size of the Shark at all effectively, and that was the K&B Torpedo .45.
It was fairly powerful and light, but we lacked the knowledge about
propellers to fully utilize it. At least that’s how I felt. I’ve always
believed that the power system is at least half of the equation in our
quest to come up with the ultimate Stunt model.
by Bill Werwage
March 2004 43
Les McDonald holds the USA-1 while Bill tunes the SuperTigre
.46 for a practice flight at the 1984 World Championships.
A two-time world
and two-time
national champion
CL Stunt design
44 MODEL AVIATION
Bill prepares for a practice flight with the refinished and restyled
USA-1 in late 1969 at his home field in Berea OH.
This is how the original USA-1 appeared at the 1969 Nationals. It
was soon to receive an entirely new look!
The 1980 version of the USA-1 featured a swept-forward trailing
edge and a thicker airfoil—not Bill’s favorite!
The K&B was a good engine, and I used it for my first ventures into
the world of “Big Stunt.” The first model I designed around this power
plant was the Mariah, which was essentially an enlarged Ares. It had a
57-inch wingspan, which was enormous by the standards of the day;
53-inch-span Stunters were considered large then.
The Mariah in its original form was a complete dog. The airfoils I
used produced a wing that had a too-far-aft center of pressure, and the
model was prone to stall severely. I reribbed this airplane with a
farther-forward high-point airfoil, and it ended up flying quite well,
even with the extra weight.
Looking back, I realize that I overcompensated for the larger
airframe and designed a model that had too much structure. I used
wood thicknesses that were proportionately larger than those I used in
my smaller .35-size models. After the lessons I learned from the
Mariah, I rethought this and started to design with the same-size
materials I used in the smaller models.
The next large Stunter I designed was the Super Ares. It was bigger
than the Mariah, with a 60-inch span, but finished 2 ounces lighter. The
Super Ares flew well right off the board, and the first day at the field
with it I knew I’d made some gains.
The Super Ares featured long nose and tail moments. The nose was
10.5 inches long (measured from the leading edge of the wing at the
root to the backplate of the spinner), the tail moment was 17.75 inches
(measured from hinge line to hinge line), and the wing root chord was
11.5 inches.
When you consider that the Ares’ corresponding moments were
8.625 inches for the nose, 13.625 inches for the tail, and 10.25 inches
for the wing root chord, you get an idea of how large this new model
appeared.
At the same time I was building that Super Ares I was building a
large model I called the “Vulcan” (not to be confused with my earlier
.35-size Vulcan from 1955). It featured a higher-aspect-ratio wing and
aesthetic shapes that were later incorporated into my Juno. These
shapes were originally inspired by Ray Marlo’s Pegasus, which I first
saw in 1956.
The Super Ares came out on target weightwise, but the new Vulcan
suffered from a faulty trigger on my spray gun; I got carried away with
some neat-looking red metal-flake paint, and the result was a 55-ounce
model. Actually it didn’t fly all that bad, even at the higher wing
loading, and I even won a few local Stunt contests with it. The trigger
on the spray gun was repaired and I refinished the model. The second
time it came out at 50 ounces, and I renamed it Super Ares.
Both Super Ares had relatively thick wings. The first was 2.25
inches thick at the root, and the second was 2.375 inches thick. The
first flew well with the K&B for power, but the second, with the
thicker wing, needed more power.
Today we have engines that would have made the second Super
Ares an excellent airplane, and I’m seriously considering building a
replica of it for Classic Stunt competition. And I’m currently having
my spray-gun trigger serviced.
In stock form, the K&B .45s I used in those days were good. Not
being one to leave well enough alone, I started an engine-development
Type: CL Aerobatics
Wingspan: 61.5 inches
Engine: SuperTigre .40 or .46 (See text.)
Flying weight: 51 ounces
Construction: Balsa and plywood
Covering/finish: Silkspan and modeling dope
March 2004 45
Bill prepares to start USA-1 at 1970 World Champs in Belgium.
Teammates Bob Gieseke (L), Gerry Phelps help. Laird Jackson
photo.
Bill after winning 1981 Nats with USA-1. He also won 1971 Nats
and 1970 and 1972 World Champs with it. Bob Hunt photo.
Graceful USA-1 scribes winning flight in Belgium. This was first
World Champs Stunt win by a US pilot. Jackson photo.
Look at how wingtip assembly was built on I-Beam wing
structure. It’s light but strong construction. Werwage photo.
Bill and Bob Gieseke confer at 1974 World Champs in
Czechoslovakia. Bob won; Bill finished close second. Jackson photo.
program that included opening the stock venturi, cylinder-head work,
and an extremely serious tipping of the nitromethane bottle! I was
eventually running these engines on as much as 45% nitro-content fuel.
Boy, did my program smell good!
The K&B reacted favorably to the addition of nitro and the rest of
the changes I’d made, but it was nearing the limits of what I could get
out of it. As I mentioned, the first Super Ares flew well with this
combination, but the second was marginal, I guess because of the
slightly thicker wing. Again, I had reached the edge. I needed an
engine from which even more power could be realized, but it also
needed to be light.
I briefly tried the Veco .45, but it was too heavy and behaved
“angrily.” Some other modelers were beginning to have success with
this engine, but I never got what I wanted out of it.
In the near past, Dean Pappas and I were discussing the neverending
search for ever more power, when it hit both of us that there has
always been the hidden problem. Every time we find or develop an
engine with more power, instead of being happy that we can properly
power the models we have, we end up building even larger models to
use the excess power, and the whole problem begins anew. Part of the
Photos from Winn Paul Collection except as noted
46 MODEL AVIATION
Full-Size Plans Available—see page 191
following will certainly bear that out! Yes,
hindsight is at least 20-20.
The Super Ares was never as well known
as the original Ares, the USA-1, or any of my
other competition regulars. This is sad
because it was, and still is, a great airplane,
and I still like to fly it. Why wasn’t it as well
known as the others? Because it was
developed at almost the same time I was
entering the Army, and I could not get to the
large contests or practice on a regular basis.
I did continue to work with the model as
best I could and even teamed with Steve
Wooley to develop larger and longer tail
assemblies. This was a marginal step forward
at the time, and we may have even gone a bit
overboard with this technology today, but at
the time it seemed to improve our models’
flying characteristics.
I did get out to several local meets with the
Super Ares, and I even got to the 1963
Nationals (Nats) to compete with it. Even
with the less-than-ample practice time, it
managed to capture second place in the Open
Stunt event, just behind a man I believed to be
selling ice cream at the field. Bob Gialdini
won that contest flying his futuristic Sting
Ray.
Bob showed up at the 1965 Nats with a
much larger version of that design called the
Eclipse. It was one of the few egg-bearing
models of the time. (Are you still with us,
Bob?)
The Eclipse did serve, along with a couple
others, to convince me that an even larger and
more jetlike Stunt design was in my future.
The others that drove this thought home were
Jerry Worth’s Apterix and Dave Gierke’s
NOVI III. These models came shortly after
the Eclipse, but they cemented that thought.
An idea was forming.
The USA-1: At the 1968 Nats I practiced
with Jerry Worth, who was flying his Apterix.
Jerry was using a SuperTigre .40.—an
exceptionally strong SuperTigre .40. Ahem.
This package was eye-opening, especially in
the wind. The Apterix was large, with a 62-
inch span, and it had a fairly thick wing with a
blunt leading edge.
At this point I had decided on my new
large design and had even framed up a wing.
However, that wing was much thinner than
the Apterix’s. I felt that a thinner wing would
“tow” easier through the wind and allow the
SuperTigre .40’s (that I had tested and
decided to use) extra horsepower to be put to
better use while maintaining the look of the
large, white jet.
I first flew the USA-1 at the 1969 Nats. It
was painted white, with purple, two shades of
blue, and black trim. It also had a subtle lace
effect that many found attractive. I really liked
this model, and apparently so did the judges—
right up to the last flight of the finals. I had
won the first round of the finals but had to fly
early in the second round, and the scores just
kept going up. The balloon left without me!
A month later at that year’s Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Team
Trials, the balloon was grounded and I was
fortunate enough to capture my first spot on
the United States Stunt team. I was happier
than Todd Lee at an Adamisin family reunion.
After the contest Jerry and I swapped
models for a flight. This confirmed my
thoughts about the thinner wing. I didn’t like
the way his model flew, and he didn’t like
mine! But I did love the way his airplane
looked from the handle. I told him to keep his
wing, but I stole his fuselage shape and paint
trim! That seemed fair.
Right after the Team Trials I refinished the
USA-1 and added the pirated canopy, rudder,
and wingtip shapes. The model was finished
in late October, so I had some time to fly it
and make a few minor trim changes. I was
more than ready for the trip to Belgium for the
World Championships; I was eager.
It’s funny what goes through your mind
while you’re waiting for scores to be posted at
a World Championships. Bob Gieseke—I
hardly even knew him at that time—and I
couldn’t even look at each other, and there we
were; one was about to be crowned the first
US F2B World Champion and the other was
about to be crowned a miserable American.
And that’s how it is in world competition.
Second place, or Silver Medalist as they say,
just doesn’t have the ring of “Maquettes Et
Vol Circulaire Modeles D’ Acrobaties
Champion.”
Bob would get his chance to savor Gold in
1974, and I would taste the bitterness of the
Sliver then. But on this occasion, the Gold
stopped here. I won my first World
Championships, and I was delirious.
Right after the 1970 World
Championships, Doc Jackson, our perennial
FAI team manager, informed me that mufflers
would be required at future World
Championships. Great! We finally got the
right blend of power and airframe, or at least
an acceptable setup, and now we were going
to need to find even more power to
compensate for the expected losses we’d
experience by adding a muffling device.
Enter the SuperTigre .46 (or “Gee, Jerry,
they make a .46?”). Not knowing where to
start with the .46, I spoke to the few who had
any experience with the engine. Out of
nowhere, Art Adamisin came up to me at a
contest in Michigan and started discussing the
.46. He said that the one I really wanted was
an older, narrow-bypass version. He
generously supplied me with one from his
collection with which to work.
This version of the engine, along with the
muffler testing I subsequently did, proved to
be a better combination than the open-stack
.40 I had been running. I thank Art for that
critically important information and for the
engine.
That was just the beginning of my
development of the SuperTigre .46 for Stunt,
and that entire story would make for a
substantial-sized coffee-table book! I
continued to use the Tigre all the way through
1984.
During all of this development I was also
trying every likely engine candidate that came
onto the market. Although I briefly used other
brands and types, the SuperTigre .46, in its
many variations, remained the standard bearer
for me in the power department. With the
SuperTigre .46-powered USA-1 there were a
few more successes along the way.
The next couple of years was one of those
rare periods when almost everything goes as
you hope and plan it will. Enjoy these times.
In 1971, armed with the new SuperTigre
.46 and the muffler, the USA-1 captured both
rounds of the finals and gave me my first,
long-awaited Open Nats title and my second
Walker Trophy. I was one of few at that Nats
who used a muffler, and the overall
performance of my model, with its new
power-train combination, was excellent.
The Team Trials that year was contested
on my home field in Cleveland, Ohio. Things
went favorably, and I ended up winning the
top spot on the team that would head for
Finland the following year.
During the winter of 1971-1972, I built the
second USA-1. It was basically the same
airplane. Why mess with success? This model
finished up slightly lighter than the first one.
The original USA-1 was relegated to backup
and engine-test duties, and there were plenty!
I began in earnest to better my stable of
SuperTigre .46 engines.
I concentrated on head design, venturi
experimentation, cylinder honing, and
rechroming. My friend Dave Wallick and I
knew most of the people who worked at
World Engines—the company that imported
the SuperTigre line of engines and parts—and
we were able to go there and carefully inspect
every SuperTigre .46 piston ring that came
into the country. That was certainly to our
advantage, and we made full use of the
opportunity.
The result of all of this testing was a clear
understanding of what this engine needed to
produce more consistent power; realize a
much longer life; and have better, more
adjustable run characteristics.
I used a Grish 10 x 6 gray nylon threeblade
propeller the previous year on the first
USA-1. Most of these propellers actually
pitched out at 10 x 5. And if you took the time
to really look for them, you could find
propellers that were much more rigid than
normal. These were the ones I used initially
and even on the second USA-1 until later in
its life.
In 1972 the US Stunt team consisted of the
same people: me, Bob Gieseke, and Gerry
Phelps. Working together at big meets had
brought us closer together, and Bob and I
liked and respected Gerry.
Bob and I learned that our competition
personalities were similar; neither of us liked
to lose! My father had become good friends
with Bob during the previous few years, and
through him I got to know Bob better. Also,
through the years since those teams, Bob and
Gerry have come to be close friends as well
as fellow competitors.
In Finland Bob started out scoring really
well, and I was close behind. In the finals I
led from wire to wire. Running out of fuel
prematurely on one of his flights, Bob didn’t
help his chances, and I had captured my
second World Championships. The European
fliers and judges really seemed to like the
clean, large jet look.
However, my luck was about to change. In
Finland I used up one of my best-running
SuperTigre .46s but won with a good backup
engine. When we returned home, we went to
the Nats. Somewhere along the line my good
backup engine had ingested something that
scored the piston and ring, resulting in lower
performance. I couldn’t straighten this out in
time and finished somewhere around fifth or
sixth.
Al Rabe captured that Nats flying his
impressive Hawker Sea Fury. Imagine
someone winning a big Stunt meet such as the
Nats with a Scale airplane.
In those days I was a traveling musician
by trade, and because of scheduling conflicts I
was forced to sit out the next two Nats.
However, the engine testing and my quests to
make the FAI world team continued as strong
as ever.
Through all of this, the two USA-1s
soldiered on with little to no maintenance or
retrimming. These were great airplanes right
off the board and through all the years I
would use them. And at that point, their story
was far from over.
In 1973 I made my third team, flying the
second USA-1, and along with Bob Gieseke
and team rookie Gene Schaffer, I headed for
the 1974 World Championships in
Czechoslovakia. There, Bob reversed the
results from 1970 and captured his Gold
Medal. I wasn’t happy with the taste of Silver,
but I was happy for my friend.
The last use of the USA-1 for a few years
was at the 1975 FAI Team Trials in Dayton,
Ohio. The last flight of that meet for me was a
do-or-die proposition. When it came my turn
to fly, the wind had picked up considerably,
and the field was prone to extreme turbulence
because of the trees that surrounded it and the
fact that it was located in the bottom of a
bowllike depression.
I was sitting in fourth and needed a highscoring
flight to qualify. Les McDonald was
occupying the last team spot, having flown
outstandingly with his sleek Stiletto 700. The
USA-1 cut through the rocky air, as it always
had at the turbulent European sites, and when
the wind died down I had made my fourth
team.
The team for the following year’s
Championships was set as me, Gene Schaffer,
and Bob Gieseke. But in an unselfish act, Bob
stepped down to go and fly as the defending
champion, allowing a deserving Les
McDonald to move onto the team.
Les went on to win the Championships the
next year in Holland. At that contest I used
my much smaller (Ares-sized) Perroquet,
powered by an HP .40, to place a close
second (four points!) behind Les.
For the next few years I used other designs
for various reasons. There are many different
ways to attack the problems presented by this
event, and I wanted to try other solutions.
The USA-1 came back into the picture in
1980. This was the third version, but it was
distinctly different from the first two.
Following the success of Bob Hunt’s Genesis
in winning the 1978 World Championships,
and my favorable impressions of the model
and his flying, I decided to try something with
a thicker wing such as he was using.
By this time the O.S. .40 FSR had come
onto the scene, along with the stroked
SuperTigre .46/.51, so we had more than
enough power to pull a bigger, heavier
airplane.
52 MODEL AVIATION
Remember what I wrote about wanting
more power, and then when we get it we build
bigger models instead of using the extra power
in existing designs? Here we are.
I unwittingly began to practice the ancient
art of self-deception in talking myself into
believing that this was a superior design
compared to the original USA-1. And although
it did capture third at the 1980 World
Championships and the 1980 Nats, in reality it
was taking a giant step back into the Bronze
Age.
This airplane was difficult to deal with and
certainly underscores the first sentence of this
article; it whupped me! After the 1980 season I
conducted a flyoff between the second USA-1
and the 1980 version. The older USA-1 was
the hands-down winner in every aspect, and
that convinced me to give the USA-1 another
try.
That winter I cleaned up and touched up
the second USA-1 and built a new one with
the same numbers. In the spring I had a flyoff
again, but this time it was between two
airplanes that were essentially identical. The
new one flew well, but it was slightly heavier.
I decided to use the old one for the 1981 Nats
and was rewarded with another Nats crown
and Walker Trophy win.
I also used that USA-1 later that year to
qualify for the 1982 team. I flew it the
following year in Sweden and again in 1984 in
Chicopee, Massachusetts. Even though I didn’t
win either of those contests, I decided to retire
that great old model that bore the name “USA-
1” at the first US-hosted World Championships.
56 MODEL AVIATION
Occasionally I take the USA-1 out for a day
trip away from its retirement home in the attic
of my mother’s house, and it still reminds me of
what a close partner it was through those golden
Stunt years. It still flies great and makes me
smile.
And who knows? It may have yet another
life in the desert at Tucson, Arizona, in the
Vintage Stunt Championships. It may also
eventually have a new, and as yet unborn,
young brother to carry on its Nats and World
Championships legacy. I still like the way it
looks, Jerry W.
This was not intended to be a normal
construction article but rather a history of what
I, and many others, consider one of the more
influential models of its era. I do not
recommend this as a first Stunt model, nor do I
think it is a good candidate for your first try at
building an I-Beam-wing design.
If you are serious about trying the USA-1,
first consider building my Ares or one of the
other popular, smaller I-Beam models that have
been published. The Ares was presented in the
July 2002 Model Aviation.
Before attempting any type of I-Beam
construction project, I highly recommend
getting a copy of the video How to Build IBeam
Wings from Robin’s View Productions. It
will answer in detail all of your questions about
the technique.
The USA-1 would make an excellent Classic
Stunt design, fitted with one of Aero Products’
side-exhaust .40, .51, or .61 Precision Aero
engines. It would also be a competitive modern
Stunt warrior, fitted with one of the rear-exhaust
Precision Aero engines and a carbon-fiber tuned
pipe.
The USA-1 wing was so successful in its
original form that I used it in several other Stunt
models, such as the USA-1P, the Hungarian
Bull (don’t ask), the Junar series, and eventually
the Geo-XL series. For a more detailed
explanation of those models, read my Geo-XL
article in the April 2001 Model Aviation.
Thanks to my buddy Warren Tiahrt for
drawing and inking this model for me. His work
is excellent, and he expended lots of extra time
and effort to come to my home to work with me
to carefully check the original USA-1 model
and plans against his redraw to ensure complete
accuracy. Although he may occasionally take
off with his flying handle upside-down, he’s
never been known to draw with his drafting pen
upside-down! MA
Bill Werwage
111 Jacqueline Dr.
Berea OH 44017
Sources:
Precision Aero Engines:
Aero Products
1880 Scenic Hwy. N.
Snellville GA 30078
(770) 979-2035
I-Beam how-to video:
Robin’s View Productions
Box 68
Stockertown PA 18083
(610) 746-0106
www.modelaircraft.org
F u l l - S i z e P l a n s
953 USA-1 ..........................................................................................................$11.25
Multiple-award-winning CL Stunt model by Werwage spans 611/2 inches
954 B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber: ......................................................................$7.50
Electric FF model by Ken Johnson spans 42 inches
955 Electric Flash: ...........................................................................................$11.25
Electric-powered RC park flyer by Stewart spans 28 inches
No. 904 Y2K Racer: Sport Electric FF by Charles Fries spans 18 inches A
No. 905 Buhl Sport Airsedan: RC Scale model by Phillip S. Kent spans 72 inches E
No. 906 Grumman Ag-Cat: Rubber powered FF FAC Giant Scale by Rees spans 36 inches C
No. 907 Bristol Brownie: RC Scale by Robelen for geared six-volt Speed 400 spans 44 inches C
No. 910 3Quarters: RC sport model by Randolph for Norvel .074 spans 45 inches B
No. 911 P-47: RC Scale Electric model by Ryan for Speed 400 spans 31 inches C
No. 912 Simple Simone: CL trainer by Netzeband for glow .15 engine spans 36 inches B
No. 916 Piper Malibu Mirage: Rubber-powered Giant Scale by Fineman spans 431/2 inches C
No. 917 Sir Lancelot: RC sport model by Henry for O.S. .61 spans 72 inches D
No. 918 Skyraider: CL 1/2A Profile by Sarpolus for Norvel BigMig .061 spans 29 inches B
No. 925 Bird-E-Dog: Ernie Heyworth and Ed Lokken’s RC Electric Sport Scale model C
No. 926 JoeCat: RC sport jet by Beshar for Toki .18 DF unit spans 37 inches C
No. 927 Kairos: CL Stunt model by Dixon for .46-.61 engine spans 58 inches C
No. 928 Beta Blue Chip Racer: Rubber-powered FF Scale model designed by Tom Derber B
No. 929 Dewoitine D.338: Multimotor RC Electric Scale by Mikulasko spans 781/2 inches E
No. 930 Westland Lysander: RC Scale model by Baker for .25 spans 56 inches E
No. 931 1959 Ares: Champion RC Aerobatics model by Werwage spans 501/2 inches C
No. 932 Wing400: RC Electric flying wing by Hanley for Speed 400 spans 36 inches B
No. 933 Kepler 450: CL speed-limit Combat model by Edwards for .21-.32 two-stroke A
Plan does not include full-size template shown on page 40 of the August 2002 issue.
No. 934 VariEze: FF Peanut Scale canard by Heckman spans 13 inches A
No. 935 Classic 320: 1/2A Classic Power design by Pailet for Cyclon .049 or equivalent B
No. 936 Prince: RC sport Pattern model by Robelen for O.S. .25 spans 51 inches C
No. 937 Clean Cut: RC sport aerobatic model by Sarpolus spans 90 inches E
No. 938 Diamond Gem: Compressed-air-powered FF sport model by Ken Johnson B
No. 939 Project Extra: RC Scale Aerobatics model by Mike Hurley spans 106 inches **$49.50
No. 940 Cessna No.1: RC Electric Sport Scale by Papic spans 321/2 inches B
No. 941 Mooney and Beechcraft Bonanza CL 1/2A profile sport models by Rick Sarpolus B
No. 942 Zenith CH 801: FF Rubber Scale model by Fineman spans 20 inches A
No. 943 Wildman 60: Old-Time Ignition CL Stunt model by Carter spans 59 1/2 inches C
No. 944 Shoestring: Semiscale RC sport Pattern design by de Bolt spans 60 inches D
No. 945 F-86 Sabre: Semiscale CL Stunt model by Hutchinson spans 56 inches E
No. 946 Electric Zephyr: Electric RC Pylon/sport model by Smith spans 40 inches B
No. 947 Chester Special: O.S. .40-powered CL Scale model by Beatty spans 43 inches **$27.00
No. 948 Moffett Reduxl: High-performance Rubber-powered FF design by Langenberg C
No. 949 Scratch-One: Electric RC sailplane/basic trainer by Aberle spans 45 inches B
No. 950 BareCat 650-C: CL sport Stunt model by Netzeband spans 54 1/4 inches E
No. 951 Douglas O-46A: RC Sport Scale model by Baker spans 54 inches E
No. 952 Lavochkin LaGG-3: Felton’s CL Sport Scale design made from cardboard E
Full-size plan list available. A complete listing of all plans previously published
in this magazine through no. 955 may be obtained free of charge by writing
(enclose 78¢ stamped, pre-addressed #10 business-size letter envelope) Model
Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302

“IF YOU BUILD an airplane that’s bigger than you are, sooner or
later it will whup you!” I uttered those words in a weak moment during
some high-wind practice time, and I’ve come to regret it. Why?
Because at the time I was flying my USA-1—a model that was more
successful for me in competition Control Line Precision Aerobatics
(Stunt) flying than any other I have designed so far.
When I first saw Lew McFarland’s Shark 45 (originally named the
Humbler) fly in 1960, I was sure that the larger Stunt airplane would
someday replace the smaller .35-powered models most of us were
flying at the time. I was also sure that this changing of the guard
wouldn’t happen for me anytime soon. Why? The answer is simple:
power.
There was really only one engine that could pull an airplane the
size of the Shark at all effectively, and that was the K&B Torpedo .45.
It was fairly powerful and light, but we lacked the knowledge about
propellers to fully utilize it. At least that’s how I felt. I’ve always
believed that the power system is at least half of the equation in our
quest to come up with the ultimate Stunt model.
by Bill Werwage
March 2004 43
Les McDonald holds the USA-1 while Bill tunes the SuperTigre
.46 for a practice flight at the 1984 World Championships.
A two-time world
and two-time
national champion
CL Stunt design
44 MODEL AVIATION
Bill prepares for a practice flight with the refinished and restyled
USA-1 in late 1969 at his home field in Berea OH.
This is how the original USA-1 appeared at the 1969 Nationals. It
was soon to receive an entirely new look!
The 1980 version of the USA-1 featured a swept-forward trailing
edge and a thicker airfoil—not Bill’s favorite!
The K&B was a good engine, and I used it for my first ventures into
the world of “Big Stunt.” The first model I designed around this power
plant was the Mariah, which was essentially an enlarged Ares. It had a
57-inch wingspan, which was enormous by the standards of the day;
53-inch-span Stunters were considered large then.
The Mariah in its original form was a complete dog. The airfoils I
used produced a wing that had a too-far-aft center of pressure, and the
model was prone to stall severely. I reribbed this airplane with a
farther-forward high-point airfoil, and it ended up flying quite well,
even with the extra weight.
Looking back, I realize that I overcompensated for the larger
airframe and designed a model that had too much structure. I used
wood thicknesses that were proportionately larger than those I used in
my smaller .35-size models. After the lessons I learned from the
Mariah, I rethought this and started to design with the same-size
materials I used in the smaller models.
The next large Stunter I designed was the Super Ares. It was bigger
than the Mariah, with a 60-inch span, but finished 2 ounces lighter. The
Super Ares flew well right off the board, and the first day at the field
with it I knew I’d made some gains.
The Super Ares featured long nose and tail moments. The nose was
10.5 inches long (measured from the leading edge of the wing at the
root to the backplate of the spinner), the tail moment was 17.75 inches
(measured from hinge line to hinge line), and the wing root chord was
11.5 inches.
When you consider that the Ares’ corresponding moments were
8.625 inches for the nose, 13.625 inches for the tail, and 10.25 inches
for the wing root chord, you get an idea of how large this new model
appeared.
At the same time I was building that Super Ares I was building a
large model I called the “Vulcan” (not to be confused with my earlier
.35-size Vulcan from 1955). It featured a higher-aspect-ratio wing and
aesthetic shapes that were later incorporated into my Juno. These
shapes were originally inspired by Ray Marlo’s Pegasus, which I first
saw in 1956.
The Super Ares came out on target weightwise, but the new Vulcan
suffered from a faulty trigger on my spray gun; I got carried away with
some neat-looking red metal-flake paint, and the result was a 55-ounce
model. Actually it didn’t fly all that bad, even at the higher wing
loading, and I even won a few local Stunt contests with it. The trigger
on the spray gun was repaired and I refinished the model. The second
time it came out at 50 ounces, and I renamed it Super Ares.
Both Super Ares had relatively thick wings. The first was 2.25
inches thick at the root, and the second was 2.375 inches thick. The
first flew well with the K&B for power, but the second, with the
thicker wing, needed more power.
Today we have engines that would have made the second Super
Ares an excellent airplane, and I’m seriously considering building a
replica of it for Classic Stunt competition. And I’m currently having
my spray-gun trigger serviced.
In stock form, the K&B .45s I used in those days were good. Not
being one to leave well enough alone, I started an engine-development
Type: CL Aerobatics
Wingspan: 61.5 inches
Engine: SuperTigre .40 or .46 (See text.)
Flying weight: 51 ounces
Construction: Balsa and plywood
Covering/finish: Silkspan and modeling dope
March 2004 45
Bill prepares to start USA-1 at 1970 World Champs in Belgium.
Teammates Bob Gieseke (L), Gerry Phelps help. Laird Jackson
photo.
Bill after winning 1981 Nats with USA-1. He also won 1971 Nats
and 1970 and 1972 World Champs with it. Bob Hunt photo.
Graceful USA-1 scribes winning flight in Belgium. This was first
World Champs Stunt win by a US pilot. Jackson photo.
Look at how wingtip assembly was built on I-Beam wing
structure. It’s light but strong construction. Werwage photo.
Bill and Bob Gieseke confer at 1974 World Champs in
Czechoslovakia. Bob won; Bill finished close second. Jackson photo.
program that included opening the stock venturi, cylinder-head work,
and an extremely serious tipping of the nitromethane bottle! I was
eventually running these engines on as much as 45% nitro-content fuel.
Boy, did my program smell good!
The K&B reacted favorably to the addition of nitro and the rest of
the changes I’d made, but it was nearing the limits of what I could get
out of it. As I mentioned, the first Super Ares flew well with this
combination, but the second was marginal, I guess because of the
slightly thicker wing. Again, I had reached the edge. I needed an
engine from which even more power could be realized, but it also
needed to be light.
I briefly tried the Veco .45, but it was too heavy and behaved
“angrily.” Some other modelers were beginning to have success with
this engine, but I never got what I wanted out of it.
In the near past, Dean Pappas and I were discussing the neverending
search for ever more power, when it hit both of us that there has
always been the hidden problem. Every time we find or develop an
engine with more power, instead of being happy that we can properly
power the models we have, we end up building even larger models to
use the excess power, and the whole problem begins anew. Part of the
Photos from Winn Paul Collection except as noted
46 MODEL AVIATION
Full-Size Plans Available—see page 191
following will certainly bear that out! Yes,
hindsight is at least 20-20.
The Super Ares was never as well known
as the original Ares, the USA-1, or any of my
other competition regulars. This is sad
because it was, and still is, a great airplane,
and I still like to fly it. Why wasn’t it as well
known as the others? Because it was
developed at almost the same time I was
entering the Army, and I could not get to the
large contests or practice on a regular basis.
I did continue to work with the model as
best I could and even teamed with Steve
Wooley to develop larger and longer tail
assemblies. This was a marginal step forward
at the time, and we may have even gone a bit
overboard with this technology today, but at
the time it seemed to improve our models’
flying characteristics.
I did get out to several local meets with the
Super Ares, and I even got to the 1963
Nationals (Nats) to compete with it. Even
with the less-than-ample practice time, it
managed to capture second place in the Open
Stunt event, just behind a man I believed to be
selling ice cream at the field. Bob Gialdini
won that contest flying his futuristic Sting
Ray.
Bob showed up at the 1965 Nats with a
much larger version of that design called the
Eclipse. It was one of the few egg-bearing
models of the time. (Are you still with us,
Bob?)
The Eclipse did serve, along with a couple
others, to convince me that an even larger and
more jetlike Stunt design was in my future.
The others that drove this thought home were
Jerry Worth’s Apterix and Dave Gierke’s
NOVI III. These models came shortly after
the Eclipse, but they cemented that thought.
An idea was forming.
The USA-1: At the 1968 Nats I practiced
with Jerry Worth, who was flying his Apterix.
Jerry was using a SuperTigre .40.—an
exceptionally strong SuperTigre .40. Ahem.
This package was eye-opening, especially in
the wind. The Apterix was large, with a 62-
inch span, and it had a fairly thick wing with a
blunt leading edge.
At this point I had decided on my new
large design and had even framed up a wing.
However, that wing was much thinner than
the Apterix’s. I felt that a thinner wing would
“tow” easier through the wind and allow the
SuperTigre .40’s (that I had tested and
decided to use) extra horsepower to be put to
better use while maintaining the look of the
large, white jet.
I first flew the USA-1 at the 1969 Nats. It
was painted white, with purple, two shades of
blue, and black trim. It also had a subtle lace
effect that many found attractive. I really liked
this model, and apparently so did the judges—
right up to the last flight of the finals. I had
won the first round of the finals but had to fly
early in the second round, and the scores just
kept going up. The balloon left without me!
A month later at that year’s Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Team
Trials, the balloon was grounded and I was
fortunate enough to capture my first spot on
the United States Stunt team. I was happier
than Todd Lee at an Adamisin family reunion.
After the contest Jerry and I swapped
models for a flight. This confirmed my
thoughts about the thinner wing. I didn’t like
the way his model flew, and he didn’t like
mine! But I did love the way his airplane
looked from the handle. I told him to keep his
wing, but I stole his fuselage shape and paint
trim! That seemed fair.
Right after the Team Trials I refinished the
USA-1 and added the pirated canopy, rudder,
and wingtip shapes. The model was finished
in late October, so I had some time to fly it
and make a few minor trim changes. I was
more than ready for the trip to Belgium for the
World Championships; I was eager.
It’s funny what goes through your mind
while you’re waiting for scores to be posted at
a World Championships. Bob Gieseke—I
hardly even knew him at that time—and I
couldn’t even look at each other, and there we
were; one was about to be crowned the first
US F2B World Champion and the other was
about to be crowned a miserable American.
And that’s how it is in world competition.
Second place, or Silver Medalist as they say,
just doesn’t have the ring of “Maquettes Et
Vol Circulaire Modeles D’ Acrobaties
Champion.”
Bob would get his chance to savor Gold in
1974, and I would taste the bitterness of the
Sliver then. But on this occasion, the Gold
stopped here. I won my first World
Championships, and I was delirious.
Right after the 1970 World
Championships, Doc Jackson, our perennial
FAI team manager, informed me that mufflers
would be required at future World
Championships. Great! We finally got the
right blend of power and airframe, or at least
an acceptable setup, and now we were going
to need to find even more power to
compensate for the expected losses we’d
experience by adding a muffling device.
Enter the SuperTigre .46 (or “Gee, Jerry,
they make a .46?”). Not knowing where to
start with the .46, I spoke to the few who had
any experience with the engine. Out of
nowhere, Art Adamisin came up to me at a
contest in Michigan and started discussing the
.46. He said that the one I really wanted was
an older, narrow-bypass version. He
generously supplied me with one from his
collection with which to work.
This version of the engine, along with the
muffler testing I subsequently did, proved to
be a better combination than the open-stack
.40 I had been running. I thank Art for that
critically important information and for the
engine.
That was just the beginning of my
development of the SuperTigre .46 for Stunt,
and that entire story would make for a
substantial-sized coffee-table book! I
continued to use the Tigre all the way through
1984.
During all of this development I was also
trying every likely engine candidate that came
onto the market. Although I briefly used other
brands and types, the SuperTigre .46, in its
many variations, remained the standard bearer
for me in the power department. With the
SuperTigre .46-powered USA-1 there were a
few more successes along the way.
The next couple of years was one of those
rare periods when almost everything goes as
you hope and plan it will. Enjoy these times.
In 1971, armed with the new SuperTigre
.46 and the muffler, the USA-1 captured both
rounds of the finals and gave me my first,
long-awaited Open Nats title and my second
Walker Trophy. I was one of few at that Nats
who used a muffler, and the overall
performance of my model, with its new
power-train combination, was excellent.
The Team Trials that year was contested
on my home field in Cleveland, Ohio. Things
went favorably, and I ended up winning the
top spot on the team that would head for
Finland the following year.
During the winter of 1971-1972, I built the
second USA-1. It was basically the same
airplane. Why mess with success? This model
finished up slightly lighter than the first one.
The original USA-1 was relegated to backup
and engine-test duties, and there were plenty!
I began in earnest to better my stable of
SuperTigre .46 engines.
I concentrated on head design, venturi
experimentation, cylinder honing, and
rechroming. My friend Dave Wallick and I
knew most of the people who worked at
World Engines—the company that imported
the SuperTigre line of engines and parts—and
we were able to go there and carefully inspect
every SuperTigre .46 piston ring that came
into the country. That was certainly to our
advantage, and we made full use of the
opportunity.
The result of all of this testing was a clear
understanding of what this engine needed to
produce more consistent power; realize a
much longer life; and have better, more
adjustable run characteristics.
I used a Grish 10 x 6 gray nylon threeblade
propeller the previous year on the first
USA-1. Most of these propellers actually
pitched out at 10 x 5. And if you took the time
to really look for them, you could find
propellers that were much more rigid than
normal. These were the ones I used initially
and even on the second USA-1 until later in
its life.
In 1972 the US Stunt team consisted of the
same people: me, Bob Gieseke, and Gerry
Phelps. Working together at big meets had
brought us closer together, and Bob and I
liked and respected Gerry.
Bob and I learned that our competition
personalities were similar; neither of us liked
to lose! My father had become good friends
with Bob during the previous few years, and
through him I got to know Bob better. Also,
through the years since those teams, Bob and
Gerry have come to be close friends as well
as fellow competitors.
In Finland Bob started out scoring really
well, and I was close behind. In the finals I
led from wire to wire. Running out of fuel
prematurely on one of his flights, Bob didn’t
help his chances, and I had captured my
second World Championships. The European
fliers and judges really seemed to like the
clean, large jet look.
However, my luck was about to change. In
Finland I used up one of my best-running
SuperTigre .46s but won with a good backup
engine. When we returned home, we went to
the Nats. Somewhere along the line my good
backup engine had ingested something that
scored the piston and ring, resulting in lower
performance. I couldn’t straighten this out in
time and finished somewhere around fifth or
sixth.
Al Rabe captured that Nats flying his
impressive Hawker Sea Fury. Imagine
someone winning a big Stunt meet such as the
Nats with a Scale airplane.
In those days I was a traveling musician
by trade, and because of scheduling conflicts I
was forced to sit out the next two Nats.
However, the engine testing and my quests to
make the FAI world team continued as strong
as ever.
Through all of this, the two USA-1s
soldiered on with little to no maintenance or
retrimming. These were great airplanes right
off the board and through all the years I
would use them. And at that point, their story
was far from over.
In 1973 I made my third team, flying the
second USA-1, and along with Bob Gieseke
and team rookie Gene Schaffer, I headed for
the 1974 World Championships in
Czechoslovakia. There, Bob reversed the
results from 1970 and captured his Gold
Medal. I wasn’t happy with the taste of Silver,
but I was happy for my friend.
The last use of the USA-1 for a few years
was at the 1975 FAI Team Trials in Dayton,
Ohio. The last flight of that meet for me was a
do-or-die proposition. When it came my turn
to fly, the wind had picked up considerably,
and the field was prone to extreme turbulence
because of the trees that surrounded it and the
fact that it was located in the bottom of a
bowllike depression.
I was sitting in fourth and needed a highscoring
flight to qualify. Les McDonald was
occupying the last team spot, having flown
outstandingly with his sleek Stiletto 700. The
USA-1 cut through the rocky air, as it always
had at the turbulent European sites, and when
the wind died down I had made my fourth
team.
The team for the following year’s
Championships was set as me, Gene Schaffer,
and Bob Gieseke. But in an unselfish act, Bob
stepped down to go and fly as the defending
champion, allowing a deserving Les
McDonald to move onto the team.
Les went on to win the Championships the
next year in Holland. At that contest I used
my much smaller (Ares-sized) Perroquet,
powered by an HP .40, to place a close
second (four points!) behind Les.
For the next few years I used other designs
for various reasons. There are many different
ways to attack the problems presented by this
event, and I wanted to try other solutions.
The USA-1 came back into the picture in
1980. This was the third version, but it was
distinctly different from the first two.
Following the success of Bob Hunt’s Genesis
in winning the 1978 World Championships,
and my favorable impressions of the model
and his flying, I decided to try something with
a thicker wing such as he was using.
By this time the O.S. .40 FSR had come
onto the scene, along with the stroked
SuperTigre .46/.51, so we had more than
enough power to pull a bigger, heavier
airplane.
52 MODEL AVIATION
Remember what I wrote about wanting
more power, and then when we get it we build
bigger models instead of using the extra power
in existing designs? Here we are.
I unwittingly began to practice the ancient
art of self-deception in talking myself into
believing that this was a superior design
compared to the original USA-1. And although
it did capture third at the 1980 World
Championships and the 1980 Nats, in reality it
was taking a giant step back into the Bronze
Age.
This airplane was difficult to deal with and
certainly underscores the first sentence of this
article; it whupped me! After the 1980 season I
conducted a flyoff between the second USA-1
and the 1980 version. The older USA-1 was
the hands-down winner in every aspect, and
that convinced me to give the USA-1 another
try.
That winter I cleaned up and touched up
the second USA-1 and built a new one with
the same numbers. In the spring I had a flyoff
again, but this time it was between two
airplanes that were essentially identical. The
new one flew well, but it was slightly heavier.
I decided to use the old one for the 1981 Nats
and was rewarded with another Nats crown
and Walker Trophy win.
I also used that USA-1 later that year to
qualify for the 1982 team. I flew it the
following year in Sweden and again in 1984 in
Chicopee, Massachusetts. Even though I didn’t
win either of those contests, I decided to retire
that great old model that bore the name “USA-
1” at the first US-hosted World Championships.
56 MODEL AVIATION
Occasionally I take the USA-1 out for a day
trip away from its retirement home in the attic
of my mother’s house, and it still reminds me of
what a close partner it was through those golden
Stunt years. It still flies great and makes me
smile.
And who knows? It may have yet another
life in the desert at Tucson, Arizona, in the
Vintage Stunt Championships. It may also
eventually have a new, and as yet unborn,
young brother to carry on its Nats and World
Championships legacy. I still like the way it
looks, Jerry W.
This was not intended to be a normal
construction article but rather a history of what
I, and many others, consider one of the more
influential models of its era. I do not
recommend this as a first Stunt model, nor do I
think it is a good candidate for your first try at
building an I-Beam-wing design.
If you are serious about trying the USA-1,
first consider building my Ares or one of the
other popular, smaller I-Beam models that have
been published. The Ares was presented in the
July 2002 Model Aviation.
Before attempting any type of I-Beam
construction project, I highly recommend
getting a copy of the video How to Build IBeam
Wings from Robin’s View Productions. It
will answer in detail all of your questions about
the technique.
The USA-1 would make an excellent Classic
Stunt design, fitted with one of Aero Products’
side-exhaust .40, .51, or .61 Precision Aero
engines. It would also be a competitive modern
Stunt warrior, fitted with one of the rear-exhaust
Precision Aero engines and a carbon-fiber tuned
pipe.
The USA-1 wing was so successful in its
original form that I used it in several other Stunt
models, such as the USA-1P, the Hungarian
Bull (don’t ask), the Junar series, and eventually
the Geo-XL series. For a more detailed
explanation of those models, read my Geo-XL
article in the April 2001 Model Aviation.
Thanks to my buddy Warren Tiahrt for
drawing and inking this model for me. His work
is excellent, and he expended lots of extra time
and effort to come to my home to work with me
to carefully check the original USA-1 model
and plans against his redraw to ensure complete
accuracy. Although he may occasionally take
off with his flying handle upside-down, he’s
never been known to draw with his drafting pen
upside-down! MA
Bill Werwage
111 Jacqueline Dr.
Berea OH 44017
Sources:
Precision Aero Engines:
Aero Products
1880 Scenic Hwy. N.
Snellville GA 30078
(770) 979-2035
I-Beam how-to video:
Robin’s View Productions
Box 68
Stockertown PA 18083
(610) 746-0106
www.modelaircraft.org
F u l l - S i z e P l a n s
953 USA-1 ..........................................................................................................$11.25
Multiple-award-winning CL Stunt model by Werwage spans 611/2 inches
954 B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber: ......................................................................$7.50
Electric FF model by Ken Johnson spans 42 inches
955 Electric Flash: ...........................................................................................$11.25
Electric-powered RC park flyer by Stewart spans 28 inches
No. 904 Y2K Racer: Sport Electric FF by Charles Fries spans 18 inches A
No. 905 Buhl Sport Airsedan: RC Scale model by Phillip S. Kent spans 72 inches E
No. 906 Grumman Ag-Cat: Rubber powered FF FAC Giant Scale by Rees spans 36 inches C
No. 907 Bristol Brownie: RC Scale by Robelen for geared six-volt Speed 400 spans 44 inches C
No. 910 3Quarters: RC sport model by Randolph for Norvel .074 spans 45 inches B
No. 911 P-47: RC Scale Electric model by Ryan for Speed 400 spans 31 inches C
No. 912 Simple Simone: CL trainer by Netzeband for glow .15 engine spans 36 inches B
No. 916 Piper Malibu Mirage: Rubber-powered Giant Scale by Fineman spans 431/2 inches C
No. 917 Sir Lancelot: RC sport model by Henry for O.S. .61 spans 72 inches D
No. 918 Skyraider: CL 1/2A Profile by Sarpolus for Norvel BigMig .061 spans 29 inches B
No. 925 Bird-E-Dog: Ernie Heyworth and Ed Lokken’s RC Electric Sport Scale model C
No. 926 JoeCat: RC sport jet by Beshar for Toki .18 DF unit spans 37 inches C
No. 927 Kairos: CL Stunt model by Dixon for .46-.61 engine spans 58 inches C
No. 928 Beta Blue Chip Racer: Rubber-powered FF Scale model designed by Tom Derber B
No. 929 Dewoitine D.338: Multimotor RC Electric Scale by Mikulasko spans 781/2 inches E
No. 930 Westland Lysander: RC Scale model by Baker for .25 spans 56 inches E
No. 931 1959 Ares: Champion RC Aerobatics model by Werwage spans 501/2 inches C
No. 932 Wing400: RC Electric flying wing by Hanley for Speed 400 spans 36 inches B
No. 933 Kepler 450: CL speed-limit Combat model by Edwards for .21-.32 two-stroke A
Plan does not include full-size template shown on page 40 of the August 2002 issue.
No. 934 VariEze: FF Peanut Scale canard by Heckman spans 13 inches A
No. 935 Classic 320: 1/2A Classic Power design by Pailet for Cyclon .049 or equivalent B
No. 936 Prince: RC sport Pattern model by Robelen for O.S. .25 spans 51 inches C
No. 937 Clean Cut: RC sport aerobatic model by Sarpolus spans 90 inches E
No. 938 Diamond Gem: Compressed-air-powered FF sport model by Ken Johnson B
No. 939 Project Extra: RC Scale Aerobatics model by Mike Hurley spans 106 inches **$49.50
No. 940 Cessna No.1: RC Electric Sport Scale by Papic spans 321/2 inches B
No. 941 Mooney and Beechcraft Bonanza CL 1/2A profile sport models by Rick Sarpolus B
No. 942 Zenith CH 801: FF Rubber Scale model by Fineman spans 20 inches A
No. 943 Wildman 60: Old-Time Ignition CL Stunt model by Carter spans 59 1/2 inches C
No. 944 Shoestring: Semiscale RC sport Pattern design by de Bolt spans 60 inches D
No. 945 F-86 Sabre: Semiscale CL Stunt model by Hutchinson spans 56 inches E
No. 946 Electric Zephyr: Electric RC Pylon/sport model by Smith spans 40 inches B
No. 947 Chester Special: O.S. .40-powered CL Scale model by Beatty spans 43 inches **$27.00
No. 948 Moffett Reduxl: High-performance Rubber-powered FF design by Langenberg C
No. 949 Scratch-One: Electric RC sailplane/basic trainer by Aberle spans 45 inches B
No. 950 BareCat 650-C: CL sport Stunt model by Netzeband spans 54 1/4 inches E
No. 951 Douglas O-46A: RC Sport Scale model by Baker spans 54 inches E
No. 952 Lavochkin LaGG-3: Felton’s CL Sport Scale design made from cardboard E
Full-size plan list available. A complete listing of all plans previously published
in this magazine through no. 955 may be obtained free of charge by writing
(enclose 78¢ stamped, pre-addressed #10 business-size letter envelope) Model
Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302

“IF YOU BUILD an airplane that’s bigger than you are, sooner or
later it will whup you!” I uttered those words in a weak moment during
some high-wind practice time, and I’ve come to regret it. Why?
Because at the time I was flying my USA-1—a model that was more
successful for me in competition Control Line Precision Aerobatics
(Stunt) flying than any other I have designed so far.
When I first saw Lew McFarland’s Shark 45 (originally named the
Humbler) fly in 1960, I was sure that the larger Stunt airplane would
someday replace the smaller .35-powered models most of us were
flying at the time. I was also sure that this changing of the guard
wouldn’t happen for me anytime soon. Why? The answer is simple:
power.
There was really only one engine that could pull an airplane the
size of the Shark at all effectively, and that was the K&B Torpedo .45.
It was fairly powerful and light, but we lacked the knowledge about
propellers to fully utilize it. At least that’s how I felt. I’ve always
believed that the power system is at least half of the equation in our
quest to come up with the ultimate Stunt model.
by Bill Werwage
March 2004 43
Les McDonald holds the USA-1 while Bill tunes the SuperTigre
.46 for a practice flight at the 1984 World Championships.
A two-time world
and two-time
national champion
CL Stunt design
44 MODEL AVIATION
Bill prepares for a practice flight with the refinished and restyled
USA-1 in late 1969 at his home field in Berea OH.
This is how the original USA-1 appeared at the 1969 Nationals. It
was soon to receive an entirely new look!
The 1980 version of the USA-1 featured a swept-forward trailing
edge and a thicker airfoil—not Bill’s favorite!
The K&B was a good engine, and I used it for my first ventures into
the world of “Big Stunt.” The first model I designed around this power
plant was the Mariah, which was essentially an enlarged Ares. It had a
57-inch wingspan, which was enormous by the standards of the day;
53-inch-span Stunters were considered large then.
The Mariah in its original form was a complete dog. The airfoils I
used produced a wing that had a too-far-aft center of pressure, and the
model was prone to stall severely. I reribbed this airplane with a
farther-forward high-point airfoil, and it ended up flying quite well,
even with the extra weight.
Looking back, I realize that I overcompensated for the larger
airframe and designed a model that had too much structure. I used
wood thicknesses that were proportionately larger than those I used in
my smaller .35-size models. After the lessons I learned from the
Mariah, I rethought this and started to design with the same-size
materials I used in the smaller models.
The next large Stunter I designed was the Super Ares. It was bigger
than the Mariah, with a 60-inch span, but finished 2 ounces lighter. The
Super Ares flew well right off the board, and the first day at the field
with it I knew I’d made some gains.
The Super Ares featured long nose and tail moments. The nose was
10.5 inches long (measured from the leading edge of the wing at the
root to the backplate of the spinner), the tail moment was 17.75 inches
(measured from hinge line to hinge line), and the wing root chord was
11.5 inches.
When you consider that the Ares’ corresponding moments were
8.625 inches for the nose, 13.625 inches for the tail, and 10.25 inches
for the wing root chord, you get an idea of how large this new model
appeared.
At the same time I was building that Super Ares I was building a
large model I called the “Vulcan” (not to be confused with my earlier
.35-size Vulcan from 1955). It featured a higher-aspect-ratio wing and
aesthetic shapes that were later incorporated into my Juno. These
shapes were originally inspired by Ray Marlo’s Pegasus, which I first
saw in 1956.
The Super Ares came out on target weightwise, but the new Vulcan
suffered from a faulty trigger on my spray gun; I got carried away with
some neat-looking red metal-flake paint, and the result was a 55-ounce
model. Actually it didn’t fly all that bad, even at the higher wing
loading, and I even won a few local Stunt contests with it. The trigger
on the spray gun was repaired and I refinished the model. The second
time it came out at 50 ounces, and I renamed it Super Ares.
Both Super Ares had relatively thick wings. The first was 2.25
inches thick at the root, and the second was 2.375 inches thick. The
first flew well with the K&B for power, but the second, with the
thicker wing, needed more power.
Today we have engines that would have made the second Super
Ares an excellent airplane, and I’m seriously considering building a
replica of it for Classic Stunt competition. And I’m currently having
my spray-gun trigger serviced.
In stock form, the K&B .45s I used in those days were good. Not
being one to leave well enough alone, I started an engine-development
Type: CL Aerobatics
Wingspan: 61.5 inches
Engine: SuperTigre .40 or .46 (See text.)
Flying weight: 51 ounces
Construction: Balsa and plywood
Covering/finish: Silkspan and modeling dope
March 2004 45
Bill prepares to start USA-1 at 1970 World Champs in Belgium.
Teammates Bob Gieseke (L), Gerry Phelps help. Laird Jackson
photo.
Bill after winning 1981 Nats with USA-1. He also won 1971 Nats
and 1970 and 1972 World Champs with it. Bob Hunt photo.
Graceful USA-1 scribes winning flight in Belgium. This was first
World Champs Stunt win by a US pilot. Jackson photo.
Look at how wingtip assembly was built on I-Beam wing
structure. It’s light but strong construction. Werwage photo.
Bill and Bob Gieseke confer at 1974 World Champs in
Czechoslovakia. Bob won; Bill finished close second. Jackson photo.
program that included opening the stock venturi, cylinder-head work,
and an extremely serious tipping of the nitromethane bottle! I was
eventually running these engines on as much as 45% nitro-content fuel.
Boy, did my program smell good!
The K&B reacted favorably to the addition of nitro and the rest of
the changes I’d made, but it was nearing the limits of what I could get
out of it. As I mentioned, the first Super Ares flew well with this
combination, but the second was marginal, I guess because of the
slightly thicker wing. Again, I had reached the edge. I needed an
engine from which even more power could be realized, but it also
needed to be light.
I briefly tried the Veco .45, but it was too heavy and behaved
“angrily.” Some other modelers were beginning to have success with
this engine, but I never got what I wanted out of it.
In the near past, Dean Pappas and I were discussing the neverending
search for ever more power, when it hit both of us that there has
always been the hidden problem. Every time we find or develop an
engine with more power, instead of being happy that we can properly
power the models we have, we end up building even larger models to
use the excess power, and the whole problem begins anew. Part of the
Photos from Winn Paul Collection except as noted
46 MODEL AVIATION
Full-Size Plans Available—see page 191
following will certainly bear that out! Yes,
hindsight is at least 20-20.
The Super Ares was never as well known
as the original Ares, the USA-1, or any of my
other competition regulars. This is sad
because it was, and still is, a great airplane,
and I still like to fly it. Why wasn’t it as well
known as the others? Because it was
developed at almost the same time I was
entering the Army, and I could not get to the
large contests or practice on a regular basis.
I did continue to work with the model as
best I could and even teamed with Steve
Wooley to develop larger and longer tail
assemblies. This was a marginal step forward
at the time, and we may have even gone a bit
overboard with this technology today, but at
the time it seemed to improve our models’
flying characteristics.
I did get out to several local meets with the
Super Ares, and I even got to the 1963
Nationals (Nats) to compete with it. Even
with the less-than-ample practice time, it
managed to capture second place in the Open
Stunt event, just behind a man I believed to be
selling ice cream at the field. Bob Gialdini
won that contest flying his futuristic Sting
Ray.
Bob showed up at the 1965 Nats with a
much larger version of that design called the
Eclipse. It was one of the few egg-bearing
models of the time. (Are you still with us,
Bob?)
The Eclipse did serve, along with a couple
others, to convince me that an even larger and
more jetlike Stunt design was in my future.
The others that drove this thought home were
Jerry Worth’s Apterix and Dave Gierke’s
NOVI III. These models came shortly after
the Eclipse, but they cemented that thought.
An idea was forming.
The USA-1: At the 1968 Nats I practiced
with Jerry Worth, who was flying his Apterix.
Jerry was using a SuperTigre .40.—an
exceptionally strong SuperTigre .40. Ahem.
This package was eye-opening, especially in
the wind. The Apterix was large, with a 62-
inch span, and it had a fairly thick wing with a
blunt leading edge.
At this point I had decided on my new
large design and had even framed up a wing.
However, that wing was much thinner than
the Apterix’s. I felt that a thinner wing would
“tow” easier through the wind and allow the
SuperTigre .40’s (that I had tested and
decided to use) extra horsepower to be put to
better use while maintaining the look of the
large, white jet.
I first flew the USA-1 at the 1969 Nats. It
was painted white, with purple, two shades of
blue, and black trim. It also had a subtle lace
effect that many found attractive. I really liked
this model, and apparently so did the judges—
right up to the last flight of the finals. I had
won the first round of the finals but had to fly
early in the second round, and the scores just
kept going up. The balloon left without me!
A month later at that year’s Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Team
Trials, the balloon was grounded and I was
fortunate enough to capture my first spot on
the United States Stunt team. I was happier
than Todd Lee at an Adamisin family reunion.
After the contest Jerry and I swapped
models for a flight. This confirmed my
thoughts about the thinner wing. I didn’t like
the way his model flew, and he didn’t like
mine! But I did love the way his airplane
looked from the handle. I told him to keep his
wing, but I stole his fuselage shape and paint
trim! That seemed fair.
Right after the Team Trials I refinished the
USA-1 and added the pirated canopy, rudder,
and wingtip shapes. The model was finished
in late October, so I had some time to fly it
and make a few minor trim changes. I was
more than ready for the trip to Belgium for the
World Championships; I was eager.
It’s funny what goes through your mind
while you’re waiting for scores to be posted at
a World Championships. Bob Gieseke—I
hardly even knew him at that time—and I
couldn’t even look at each other, and there we
were; one was about to be crowned the first
US F2B World Champion and the other was
about to be crowned a miserable American.
And that’s how it is in world competition.
Second place, or Silver Medalist as they say,
just doesn’t have the ring of “Maquettes Et
Vol Circulaire Modeles D’ Acrobaties
Champion.”
Bob would get his chance to savor Gold in
1974, and I would taste the bitterness of the
Sliver then. But on this occasion, the Gold
stopped here. I won my first World
Championships, and I was delirious.
Right after the 1970 World
Championships, Doc Jackson, our perennial
FAI team manager, informed me that mufflers
would be required at future World
Championships. Great! We finally got the
right blend of power and airframe, or at least
an acceptable setup, and now we were going
to need to find even more power to
compensate for the expected losses we’d
experience by adding a muffling device.
Enter the SuperTigre .46 (or “Gee, Jerry,
they make a .46?”). Not knowing where to
start with the .46, I spoke to the few who had
any experience with the engine. Out of
nowhere, Art Adamisin came up to me at a
contest in Michigan and started discussing the
.46. He said that the one I really wanted was
an older, narrow-bypass version. He
generously supplied me with one from his
collection with which to work.
This version of the engine, along with the
muffler testing I subsequently did, proved to
be a better combination than the open-stack
.40 I had been running. I thank Art for that
critically important information and for the
engine.
That was just the beginning of my
development of the SuperTigre .46 for Stunt,
and that entire story would make for a
substantial-sized coffee-table book! I
continued to use the Tigre all the way through
1984.
During all of this development I was also
trying every likely engine candidate that came
onto the market. Although I briefly used other
brands and types, the SuperTigre .46, in its
many variations, remained the standard bearer
for me in the power department. With the
SuperTigre .46-powered USA-1 there were a
few more successes along the way.
The next couple of years was one of those
rare periods when almost everything goes as
you hope and plan it will. Enjoy these times.
In 1971, armed with the new SuperTigre
.46 and the muffler, the USA-1 captured both
rounds of the finals and gave me my first,
long-awaited Open Nats title and my second
Walker Trophy. I was one of few at that Nats
who used a muffler, and the overall
performance of my model, with its new
power-train combination, was excellent.
The Team Trials that year was contested
on my home field in Cleveland, Ohio. Things
went favorably, and I ended up winning the
top spot on the team that would head for
Finland the following year.
During the winter of 1971-1972, I built the
second USA-1. It was basically the same
airplane. Why mess with success? This model
finished up slightly lighter than the first one.
The original USA-1 was relegated to backup
and engine-test duties, and there were plenty!
I began in earnest to better my stable of
SuperTigre .46 engines.
I concentrated on head design, venturi
experimentation, cylinder honing, and
rechroming. My friend Dave Wallick and I
knew most of the people who worked at
World Engines—the company that imported
the SuperTigre line of engines and parts—and
we were able to go there and carefully inspect
every SuperTigre .46 piston ring that came
into the country. That was certainly to our
advantage, and we made full use of the
opportunity.
The result of all of this testing was a clear
understanding of what this engine needed to
produce more consistent power; realize a
much longer life; and have better, more
adjustable run characteristics.
I used a Grish 10 x 6 gray nylon threeblade
propeller the previous year on the first
USA-1. Most of these propellers actually
pitched out at 10 x 5. And if you took the time
to really look for them, you could find
propellers that were much more rigid than
normal. These were the ones I used initially
and even on the second USA-1 until later in
its life.
In 1972 the US Stunt team consisted of the
same people: me, Bob Gieseke, and Gerry
Phelps. Working together at big meets had
brought us closer together, and Bob and I
liked and respected Gerry.
Bob and I learned that our competition
personalities were similar; neither of us liked
to lose! My father had become good friends
with Bob during the previous few years, and
through him I got to know Bob better. Also,
through the years since those teams, Bob and
Gerry have come to be close friends as well
as fellow competitors.
In Finland Bob started out scoring really
well, and I was close behind. In the finals I
led from wire to wire. Running out of fuel
prematurely on one of his flights, Bob didn’t
help his chances, and I had captured my
second World Championships. The European
fliers and judges really seemed to like the
clean, large jet look.
However, my luck was about to change. In
Finland I used up one of my best-running
SuperTigre .46s but won with a good backup
engine. When we returned home, we went to
the Nats. Somewhere along the line my good
backup engine had ingested something that
scored the piston and ring, resulting in lower
performance. I couldn’t straighten this out in
time and finished somewhere around fifth or
sixth.
Al Rabe captured that Nats flying his
impressive Hawker Sea Fury. Imagine
someone winning a big Stunt meet such as the
Nats with a Scale airplane.
In those days I was a traveling musician
by trade, and because of scheduling conflicts I
was forced to sit out the next two Nats.
However, the engine testing and my quests to
make the FAI world team continued as strong
as ever.
Through all of this, the two USA-1s
soldiered on with little to no maintenance or
retrimming. These were great airplanes right
off the board and through all the years I
would use them. And at that point, their story
was far from over.
In 1973 I made my third team, flying the
second USA-1, and along with Bob Gieseke
and team rookie Gene Schaffer, I headed for
the 1974 World Championships in
Czechoslovakia. There, Bob reversed the
results from 1970 and captured his Gold
Medal. I wasn’t happy with the taste of Silver,
but I was happy for my friend.
The last use of the USA-1 for a few years
was at the 1975 FAI Team Trials in Dayton,
Ohio. The last flight of that meet for me was a
do-or-die proposition. When it came my turn
to fly, the wind had picked up considerably,
and the field was prone to extreme turbulence
because of the trees that surrounded it and the
fact that it was located in the bottom of a
bowllike depression.
I was sitting in fourth and needed a highscoring
flight to qualify. Les McDonald was
occupying the last team spot, having flown
outstandingly with his sleek Stiletto 700. The
USA-1 cut through the rocky air, as it always
had at the turbulent European sites, and when
the wind died down I had made my fourth
team.
The team for the following year’s
Championships was set as me, Gene Schaffer,
and Bob Gieseke. But in an unselfish act, Bob
stepped down to go and fly as the defending
champion, allowing a deserving Les
McDonald to move onto the team.
Les went on to win the Championships the
next year in Holland. At that contest I used
my much smaller (Ares-sized) Perroquet,
powered by an HP .40, to place a close
second (four points!) behind Les.
For the next few years I used other designs
for various reasons. There are many different
ways to attack the problems presented by this
event, and I wanted to try other solutions.
The USA-1 came back into the picture in
1980. This was the third version, but it was
distinctly different from the first two.
Following the success of Bob Hunt’s Genesis
in winning the 1978 World Championships,
and my favorable impressions of the model
and his flying, I decided to try something with
a thicker wing such as he was using.
By this time the O.S. .40 FSR had come
onto the scene, along with the stroked
SuperTigre .46/.51, so we had more than
enough power to pull a bigger, heavier
airplane.
52 MODEL AVIATION
Remember what I wrote about wanting
more power, and then when we get it we build
bigger models instead of using the extra power
in existing designs? Here we are.
I unwittingly began to practice the ancient
art of self-deception in talking myself into
believing that this was a superior design
compared to the original USA-1. And although
it did capture third at the 1980 World
Championships and the 1980 Nats, in reality it
was taking a giant step back into the Bronze
Age.
This airplane was difficult to deal with and
certainly underscores the first sentence of this
article; it whupped me! After the 1980 season I
conducted a flyoff between the second USA-1
and the 1980 version. The older USA-1 was
the hands-down winner in every aspect, and
that convinced me to give the USA-1 another
try.
That winter I cleaned up and touched up
the second USA-1 and built a new one with
the same numbers. In the spring I had a flyoff
again, but this time it was between two
airplanes that were essentially identical. The
new one flew well, but it was slightly heavier.
I decided to use the old one for the 1981 Nats
and was rewarded with another Nats crown
and Walker Trophy win.
I also used that USA-1 later that year to
qualify for the 1982 team. I flew it the
following year in Sweden and again in 1984 in
Chicopee, Massachusetts. Even though I didn’t
win either of those contests, I decided to retire
that great old model that bore the name “USA-
1” at the first US-hosted World Championships.
56 MODEL AVIATION
Occasionally I take the USA-1 out for a day
trip away from its retirement home in the attic
of my mother’s house, and it still reminds me of
what a close partner it was through those golden
Stunt years. It still flies great and makes me
smile.
And who knows? It may have yet another
life in the desert at Tucson, Arizona, in the
Vintage Stunt Championships. It may also
eventually have a new, and as yet unborn,
young brother to carry on its Nats and World
Championships legacy. I still like the way it
looks, Jerry W.
This was not intended to be a normal
construction article but rather a history of what
I, and many others, consider one of the more
influential models of its era. I do not
recommend this as a first Stunt model, nor do I
think it is a good candidate for your first try at
building an I-Beam-wing design.
If you are serious about trying the USA-1,
first consider building my Ares or one of the
other popular, smaller I-Beam models that have
been published. The Ares was presented in the
July 2002 Model Aviation.
Before attempting any type of I-Beam
construction project, I highly recommend
getting a copy of the video How to Build IBeam
Wings from Robin’s View Productions. It
will answer in detail all of your questions about
the technique.
The USA-1 would make an excellent Classic
Stunt design, fitted with one of Aero Products’
side-exhaust .40, .51, or .61 Precision Aero
engines. It would also be a competitive modern
Stunt warrior, fitted with one of the rear-exhaust
Precision Aero engines and a carbon-fiber tuned
pipe.
The USA-1 wing was so successful in its
original form that I used it in several other Stunt
models, such as the USA-1P, the Hungarian
Bull (don’t ask), the Junar series, and eventually
the Geo-XL series. For a more detailed
explanation of those models, read my Geo-XL
article in the April 2001 Model Aviation.
Thanks to my buddy Warren Tiahrt for
drawing and inking this model for me. His work
is excellent, and he expended lots of extra time
and effort to come to my home to work with me
to carefully check the original USA-1 model
and plans against his redraw to ensure complete
accuracy. Although he may occasionally take
off with his flying handle upside-down, he’s
never been known to draw with his drafting pen
upside-down! MA
Bill Werwage
111 Jacqueline Dr.
Berea OH 44017
Sources:
Precision Aero Engines:
Aero Products
1880 Scenic Hwy. N.
Snellville GA 30078
(770) 979-2035
I-Beam how-to video:
Robin’s View Productions
Box 68
Stockertown PA 18083
(610) 746-0106
www.modelaircraft.org
F u l l - S i z e P l a n s
953 USA-1 ..........................................................................................................$11.25
Multiple-award-winning CL Stunt model by Werwage spans 611/2 inches
954 B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber: ......................................................................$7.50
Electric FF model by Ken Johnson spans 42 inches
955 Electric Flash: ...........................................................................................$11.25
Electric-powered RC park flyer by Stewart spans 28 inches
No. 904 Y2K Racer: Sport Electric FF by Charles Fries spans 18 inches A
No. 905 Buhl Sport Airsedan: RC Scale model by Phillip S. Kent spans 72 inches E
No. 906 Grumman Ag-Cat: Rubber powered FF FAC Giant Scale by Rees spans 36 inches C
No. 907 Bristol Brownie: RC Scale by Robelen for geared six-volt Speed 400 spans 44 inches C
No. 910 3Quarters: RC sport model by Randolph for Norvel .074 spans 45 inches B
No. 911 P-47: RC Scale Electric model by Ryan for Speed 400 spans 31 inches C
No. 912 Simple Simone: CL trainer by Netzeband for glow .15 engine spans 36 inches B
No. 916 Piper Malibu Mirage: Rubber-powered Giant Scale by Fineman spans 431/2 inches C
No. 917 Sir Lancelot: RC sport model by Henry for O.S. .61 spans 72 inches D
No. 918 Skyraider: CL 1/2A Profile by Sarpolus for Norvel BigMig .061 spans 29 inches B
No. 925 Bird-E-Dog: Ernie Heyworth and Ed Lokken’s RC Electric Sport Scale model C
No. 926 JoeCat: RC sport jet by Beshar for Toki .18 DF unit spans 37 inches C
No. 927 Kairos: CL Stunt model by Dixon for .46-.61 engine spans 58 inches C
No. 928 Beta Blue Chip Racer: Rubber-powered FF Scale model designed by Tom Derber B
No. 929 Dewoitine D.338: Multimotor RC Electric Scale by Mikulasko spans 781/2 inches E
No. 930 Westland Lysander: RC Scale model by Baker for .25 spans 56 inches E
No. 931 1959 Ares: Champion RC Aerobatics model by Werwage spans 501/2 inches C
No. 932 Wing400: RC Electric flying wing by Hanley for Speed 400 spans 36 inches B
No. 933 Kepler 450: CL speed-limit Combat model by Edwards for .21-.32 two-stroke A
Plan does not include full-size template shown on page 40 of the August 2002 issue.
No. 934 VariEze: FF Peanut Scale canard by Heckman spans 13 inches A
No. 935 Classic 320: 1/2A Classic Power design by Pailet for Cyclon .049 or equivalent B
No. 936 Prince: RC sport Pattern model by Robelen for O.S. .25 spans 51 inches C
No. 937 Clean Cut: RC sport aerobatic model by Sarpolus spans 90 inches E
No. 938 Diamond Gem: Compressed-air-powered FF sport model by Ken Johnson B
No. 939 Project Extra: RC Scale Aerobatics model by Mike Hurley spans 106 inches **$49.50
No. 940 Cessna No.1: RC Electric Sport Scale by Papic spans 321/2 inches B
No. 941 Mooney and Beechcraft Bonanza CL 1/2A profile sport models by Rick Sarpolus B
No. 942 Zenith CH 801: FF Rubber Scale model by Fineman spans 20 inches A
No. 943 Wildman 60: Old-Time Ignition CL Stunt model by Carter spans 59 1/2 inches C
No. 944 Shoestring: Semiscale RC sport Pattern design by de Bolt spans 60 inches D
No. 945 F-86 Sabre: Semiscale CL Stunt model by Hutchinson spans 56 inches E
No. 946 Electric Zephyr: Electric RC Pylon/sport model by Smith spans 40 inches B
No. 947 Chester Special: O.S. .40-powered CL Scale model by Beatty spans 43 inches **$27.00
No. 948 Moffett Reduxl: High-performance Rubber-powered FF design by Langenberg C
No. 949 Scratch-One: Electric RC sailplane/basic trainer by Aberle spans 45 inches B
No. 950 BareCat 650-C: CL sport Stunt model by Netzeband spans 54 1/4 inches E
No. 951 Douglas O-46A: RC Sport Scale model by Baker spans 54 inches E
No. 952 Lavochkin LaGG-3: Felton’s CL Sport Scale design made from cardboard E
Full-size plan list available. A complete listing of all plans previously published
in this magazine through no. 955 may be obtained free of charge by writing
(enclose 78¢ stamped, pre-addressed #10 business-size letter envelope) Model
Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302

“IF YOU BUILD an airplane that’s bigger than you are, sooner or
later it will whup you!” I uttered those words in a weak moment during
some high-wind practice time, and I’ve come to regret it. Why?
Because at the time I was flying my USA-1—a model that was more
successful for me in competition Control Line Precision Aerobatics
(Stunt) flying than any other I have designed so far.
When I first saw Lew McFarland’s Shark 45 (originally named the
Humbler) fly in 1960, I was sure that the larger Stunt airplane would
someday replace the smaller .35-powered models most of us were
flying at the time. I was also sure that this changing of the guard
wouldn’t happen for me anytime soon. Why? The answer is simple:
power.
There was really only one engine that could pull an airplane the
size of the Shark at all effectively, and that was the K&B Torpedo .45.
It was fairly powerful and light, but we lacked the knowledge about
propellers to fully utilize it. At least that’s how I felt. I’ve always
believed that the power system is at least half of the equation in our
quest to come up with the ultimate Stunt model.
by Bill Werwage
March 2004 43
Les McDonald holds the USA-1 while Bill tunes the SuperTigre
.46 for a practice flight at the 1984 World Championships.
A two-time world
and two-time
national champion
CL Stunt design
44 MODEL AVIATION
Bill prepares for a practice flight with the refinished and restyled
USA-1 in late 1969 at his home field in Berea OH.
This is how the original USA-1 appeared at the 1969 Nationals. It
was soon to receive an entirely new look!
The 1980 version of the USA-1 featured a swept-forward trailing
edge and a thicker airfoil—not Bill’s favorite!
The K&B was a good engine, and I used it for my first ventures into
the world of “Big Stunt.” The first model I designed around this power
plant was the Mariah, which was essentially an enlarged Ares. It had a
57-inch wingspan, which was enormous by the standards of the day;
53-inch-span Stunters were considered large then.
The Mariah in its original form was a complete dog. The airfoils I
used produced a wing that had a too-far-aft center of pressure, and the
model was prone to stall severely. I reribbed this airplane with a
farther-forward high-point airfoil, and it ended up flying quite well,
even with the extra weight.
Looking back, I realize that I overcompensated for the larger
airframe and designed a model that had too much structure. I used
wood thicknesses that were proportionately larger than those I used in
my smaller .35-size models. After the lessons I learned from the
Mariah, I rethought this and started to design with the same-size
materials I used in the smaller models.
The next large Stunter I designed was the Super Ares. It was bigger
than the Mariah, with a 60-inch span, but finished 2 ounces lighter. The
Super Ares flew well right off the board, and the first day at the field
with it I knew I’d made some gains.
The Super Ares featured long nose and tail moments. The nose was
10.5 inches long (measured from the leading edge of the wing at the
root to the backplate of the spinner), the tail moment was 17.75 inches
(measured from hinge line to hinge line), and the wing root chord was
11.5 inches.
When you consider that the Ares’ corresponding moments were
8.625 inches for the nose, 13.625 inches for the tail, and 10.25 inches
for the wing root chord, you get an idea of how large this new model
appeared.
At the same time I was building that Super Ares I was building a
large model I called the “Vulcan” (not to be confused with my earlier
.35-size Vulcan from 1955). It featured a higher-aspect-ratio wing and
aesthetic shapes that were later incorporated into my Juno. These
shapes were originally inspired by Ray Marlo’s Pegasus, which I first
saw in 1956.
The Super Ares came out on target weightwise, but the new Vulcan
suffered from a faulty trigger on my spray gun; I got carried away with
some neat-looking red metal-flake paint, and the result was a 55-ounce
model. Actually it didn’t fly all that bad, even at the higher wing
loading, and I even won a few local Stunt contests with it. The trigger
on the spray gun was repaired and I refinished the model. The second
time it came out at 50 ounces, and I renamed it Super Ares.
Both Super Ares had relatively thick wings. The first was 2.25
inches thick at the root, and the second was 2.375 inches thick. The
first flew well with the K&B for power, but the second, with the
thicker wing, needed more power.
Today we have engines that would have made the second Super
Ares an excellent airplane, and I’m seriously considering building a
replica of it for Classic Stunt competition. And I’m currently having
my spray-gun trigger serviced.
In stock form, the K&B .45s I used in those days were good. Not
being one to leave well enough alone, I started an engine-development
Type: CL Aerobatics
Wingspan: 61.5 inches
Engine: SuperTigre .40 or .46 (See text.)
Flying weight: 51 ounces
Construction: Balsa and plywood
Covering/finish: Silkspan and modeling dope
March 2004 45
Bill prepares to start USA-1 at 1970 World Champs in Belgium.
Teammates Bob Gieseke (L), Gerry Phelps help. Laird Jackson
photo.
Bill after winning 1981 Nats with USA-1. He also won 1971 Nats
and 1970 and 1972 World Champs with it. Bob Hunt photo.
Graceful USA-1 scribes winning flight in Belgium. This was first
World Champs Stunt win by a US pilot. Jackson photo.
Look at how wingtip assembly was built on I-Beam wing
structure. It’s light but strong construction. Werwage photo.
Bill and Bob Gieseke confer at 1974 World Champs in
Czechoslovakia. Bob won; Bill finished close second. Jackson photo.
program that included opening the stock venturi, cylinder-head work,
and an extremely serious tipping of the nitromethane bottle! I was
eventually running these engines on as much as 45% nitro-content fuel.
Boy, did my program smell good!
The K&B reacted favorably to the addition of nitro and the rest of
the changes I’d made, but it was nearing the limits of what I could get
out of it. As I mentioned, the first Super Ares flew well with this
combination, but the second was marginal, I guess because of the
slightly thicker wing. Again, I had reached the edge. I needed an
engine from which even more power could be realized, but it also
needed to be light.
I briefly tried the Veco .45, but it was too heavy and behaved
“angrily.” Some other modelers were beginning to have success with
this engine, but I never got what I wanted out of it.
In the near past, Dean Pappas and I were discussing the neverending
search for ever more power, when it hit both of us that there has
always been the hidden problem. Every time we find or develop an
engine with more power, instead of being happy that we can properly
power the models we have, we end up building even larger models to
use the excess power, and the whole problem begins anew. Part of the
Photos from Winn Paul Collection except as noted
46 MODEL AVIATION
Full-Size Plans Available—see page 191
following will certainly bear that out! Yes,
hindsight is at least 20-20.
The Super Ares was never as well known
as the original Ares, the USA-1, or any of my
other competition regulars. This is sad
because it was, and still is, a great airplane,
and I still like to fly it. Why wasn’t it as well
known as the others? Because it was
developed at almost the same time I was
entering the Army, and I could not get to the
large contests or practice on a regular basis.
I did continue to work with the model as
best I could and even teamed with Steve
Wooley to develop larger and longer tail
assemblies. This was a marginal step forward
at the time, and we may have even gone a bit
overboard with this technology today, but at
the time it seemed to improve our models’
flying characteristics.
I did get out to several local meets with the
Super Ares, and I even got to the 1963
Nationals (Nats) to compete with it. Even
with the less-than-ample practice time, it
managed to capture second place in the Open
Stunt event, just behind a man I believed to be
selling ice cream at the field. Bob Gialdini
won that contest flying his futuristic Sting
Ray.
Bob showed up at the 1965 Nats with a
much larger version of that design called the
Eclipse. It was one of the few egg-bearing
models of the time. (Are you still with us,
Bob?)
The Eclipse did serve, along with a couple
others, to convince me that an even larger and
more jetlike Stunt design was in my future.
The others that drove this thought home were
Jerry Worth’s Apterix and Dave Gierke’s
NOVI III. These models came shortly after
the Eclipse, but they cemented that thought.
An idea was forming.
The USA-1: At the 1968 Nats I practiced
with Jerry Worth, who was flying his Apterix.
Jerry was using a SuperTigre .40.—an
exceptionally strong SuperTigre .40. Ahem.
This package was eye-opening, especially in
the wind. The Apterix was large, with a 62-
inch span, and it had a fairly thick wing with a
blunt leading edge.
At this point I had decided on my new
large design and had even framed up a wing.
However, that wing was much thinner than
the Apterix’s. I felt that a thinner wing would
“tow” easier through the wind and allow the
SuperTigre .40’s (that I had tested and
decided to use) extra horsepower to be put to
better use while maintaining the look of the
large, white jet.
I first flew the USA-1 at the 1969 Nats. It
was painted white, with purple, two shades of
blue, and black trim. It also had a subtle lace
effect that many found attractive. I really liked
this model, and apparently so did the judges—
right up to the last flight of the finals. I had
won the first round of the finals but had to fly
early in the second round, and the scores just
kept going up. The balloon left without me!
A month later at that year’s Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Team
Trials, the balloon was grounded and I was
fortunate enough to capture my first spot on
the United States Stunt team. I was happier
than Todd Lee at an Adamisin family reunion.
After the contest Jerry and I swapped
models for a flight. This confirmed my
thoughts about the thinner wing. I didn’t like
the way his model flew, and he didn’t like
mine! But I did love the way his airplane
looked from the handle. I told him to keep his
wing, but I stole his fuselage shape and paint
trim! That seemed fair.
Right after the Team Trials I refinished the
USA-1 and added the pirated canopy, rudder,
and wingtip shapes. The model was finished
in late October, so I had some time to fly it
and make a few minor trim changes. I was
more than ready for the trip to Belgium for the
World Championships; I was eager.
It’s funny what goes through your mind
while you’re waiting for scores to be posted at
a World Championships. Bob Gieseke—I
hardly even knew him at that time—and I
couldn’t even look at each other, and there we
were; one was about to be crowned the first
US F2B World Champion and the other was
about to be crowned a miserable American.
And that’s how it is in world competition.
Second place, or Silver Medalist as they say,
just doesn’t have the ring of “Maquettes Et
Vol Circulaire Modeles D’ Acrobaties
Champion.”
Bob would get his chance to savor Gold in
1974, and I would taste the bitterness of the
Sliver then. But on this occasion, the Gold
stopped here. I won my first World
Championships, and I was delirious.
Right after the 1970 World
Championships, Doc Jackson, our perennial
FAI team manager, informed me that mufflers
would be required at future World
Championships. Great! We finally got the
right blend of power and airframe, or at least
an acceptable setup, and now we were going
to need to find even more power to
compensate for the expected losses we’d
experience by adding a muffling device.
Enter the SuperTigre .46 (or “Gee, Jerry,
they make a .46?”). Not knowing where to
start with the .46, I spoke to the few who had
any experience with the engine. Out of
nowhere, Art Adamisin came up to me at a
contest in Michigan and started discussing the
.46. He said that the one I really wanted was
an older, narrow-bypass version. He
generously supplied me with one from his
collection with which to work.
This version of the engine, along with the
muffler testing I subsequently did, proved to
be a better combination than the open-stack
.40 I had been running. I thank Art for that
critically important information and for the
engine.
That was just the beginning of my
development of the SuperTigre .46 for Stunt,
and that entire story would make for a
substantial-sized coffee-table book! I
continued to use the Tigre all the way through
1984.
During all of this development I was also
trying every likely engine candidate that came
onto the market. Although I briefly used other
brands and types, the SuperTigre .46, in its
many variations, remained the standard bearer
for me in the power department. With the
SuperTigre .46-powered USA-1 there were a
few more successes along the way.
The next couple of years was one of those
rare periods when almost everything goes as
you hope and plan it will. Enjoy these times.
In 1971, armed with the new SuperTigre
.46 and the muffler, the USA-1 captured both
rounds of the finals and gave me my first,
long-awaited Open Nats title and my second
Walker Trophy. I was one of few at that Nats
who used a muffler, and the overall
performance of my model, with its new
power-train combination, was excellent.
The Team Trials that year was contested
on my home field in Cleveland, Ohio. Things
went favorably, and I ended up winning the
top spot on the team that would head for
Finland the following year.
During the winter of 1971-1972, I built the
second USA-1. It was basically the same
airplane. Why mess with success? This model
finished up slightly lighter than the first one.
The original USA-1 was relegated to backup
and engine-test duties, and there were plenty!
I began in earnest to better my stable of
SuperTigre .46 engines.
I concentrated on head design, venturi
experimentation, cylinder honing, and
rechroming. My friend Dave Wallick and I
knew most of the people who worked at
World Engines—the company that imported
the SuperTigre line of engines and parts—and
we were able to go there and carefully inspect
every SuperTigre .46 piston ring that came
into the country. That was certainly to our
advantage, and we made full use of the
opportunity.
The result of all of this testing was a clear
understanding of what this engine needed to
produce more consistent power; realize a
much longer life; and have better, more
adjustable run characteristics.
I used a Grish 10 x 6 gray nylon threeblade
propeller the previous year on the first
USA-1. Most of these propellers actually
pitched out at 10 x 5. And if you took the time
to really look for them, you could find
propellers that were much more rigid than
normal. These were the ones I used initially
and even on the second USA-1 until later in
its life.
In 1972 the US Stunt team consisted of the
same people: me, Bob Gieseke, and Gerry
Phelps. Working together at big meets had
brought us closer together, and Bob and I
liked and respected Gerry.
Bob and I learned that our competition
personalities were similar; neither of us liked
to lose! My father had become good friends
with Bob during the previous few years, and
through him I got to know Bob better. Also,
through the years since those teams, Bob and
Gerry have come to be close friends as well
as fellow competitors.
In Finland Bob started out scoring really
well, and I was close behind. In the finals I
led from wire to wire. Running out of fuel
prematurely on one of his flights, Bob didn’t
help his chances, and I had captured my
second World Championships. The European
fliers and judges really seemed to like the
clean, large jet look.
However, my luck was about to change. In
Finland I used up one of my best-running
SuperTigre .46s but won with a good backup
engine. When we returned home, we went to
the Nats. Somewhere along the line my good
backup engine had ingested something that
scored the piston and ring, resulting in lower
performance. I couldn’t straighten this out in
time and finished somewhere around fifth or
sixth.
Al Rabe captured that Nats flying his
impressive Hawker Sea Fury. Imagine
someone winning a big Stunt meet such as the
Nats with a Scale airplane.
In those days I was a traveling musician
by trade, and because of scheduling conflicts I
was forced to sit out the next two Nats.
However, the engine testing and my quests to
make the FAI world team continued as strong
as ever.
Through all of this, the two USA-1s
soldiered on with little to no maintenance or
retrimming. These were great airplanes right
off the board and through all the years I
would use them. And at that point, their story
was far from over.
In 1973 I made my third team, flying the
second USA-1, and along with Bob Gieseke
and team rookie Gene Schaffer, I headed for
the 1974 World Championships in
Czechoslovakia. There, Bob reversed the
results from 1970 and captured his Gold
Medal. I wasn’t happy with the taste of Silver,
but I was happy for my friend.
The last use of the USA-1 for a few years
was at the 1975 FAI Team Trials in Dayton,
Ohio. The last flight of that meet for me was a
do-or-die proposition. When it came my turn
to fly, the wind had picked up considerably,
and the field was prone to extreme turbulence
because of the trees that surrounded it and the
fact that it was located in the bottom of a
bowllike depression.
I was sitting in fourth and needed a highscoring
flight to qualify. Les McDonald was
occupying the last team spot, having flown
outstandingly with his sleek Stiletto 700. The
USA-1 cut through the rocky air, as it always
had at the turbulent European sites, and when
the wind died down I had made my fourth
team.
The team for the following year’s
Championships was set as me, Gene Schaffer,
and Bob Gieseke. But in an unselfish act, Bob
stepped down to go and fly as the defending
champion, allowing a deserving Les
McDonald to move onto the team.
Les went on to win the Championships the
next year in Holland. At that contest I used
my much smaller (Ares-sized) Perroquet,
powered by an HP .40, to place a close
second (four points!) behind Les.
For the next few years I used other designs
for various reasons. There are many different
ways to attack the problems presented by this
event, and I wanted to try other solutions.
The USA-1 came back into the picture in
1980. This was the third version, but it was
distinctly different from the first two.
Following the success of Bob Hunt’s Genesis
in winning the 1978 World Championships,
and my favorable impressions of the model
and his flying, I decided to try something with
a thicker wing such as he was using.
By this time the O.S. .40 FSR had come
onto the scene, along with the stroked
SuperTigre .46/.51, so we had more than
enough power to pull a bigger, heavier
airplane.
52 MODEL AVIATION
Remember what I wrote about wanting
more power, and then when we get it we build
bigger models instead of using the extra power
in existing designs? Here we are.
I unwittingly began to practice the ancient
art of self-deception in talking myself into
believing that this was a superior design
compared to the original USA-1. And although
it did capture third at the 1980 World
Championships and the 1980 Nats, in reality it
was taking a giant step back into the Bronze
Age.
This airplane was difficult to deal with and
certainly underscores the first sentence of this
article; it whupped me! After the 1980 season I
conducted a flyoff between the second USA-1
and the 1980 version. The older USA-1 was
the hands-down winner in every aspect, and
that convinced me to give the USA-1 another
try.
That winter I cleaned up and touched up
the second USA-1 and built a new one with
the same numbers. In the spring I had a flyoff
again, but this time it was between two
airplanes that were essentially identical. The
new one flew well, but it was slightly heavier.
I decided to use the old one for the 1981 Nats
and was rewarded with another Nats crown
and Walker Trophy win.
I also used that USA-1 later that year to
qualify for the 1982 team. I flew it the
following year in Sweden and again in 1984 in
Chicopee, Massachusetts. Even though I didn’t
win either of those contests, I decided to retire
that great old model that bore the name “USA-
1” at the first US-hosted World Championships.
56 MODEL AVIATION
Occasionally I take the USA-1 out for a day
trip away from its retirement home in the attic
of my mother’s house, and it still reminds me of
what a close partner it was through those golden
Stunt years. It still flies great and makes me
smile.
And who knows? It may have yet another
life in the desert at Tucson, Arizona, in the
Vintage Stunt Championships. It may also
eventually have a new, and as yet unborn,
young brother to carry on its Nats and World
Championships legacy. I still like the way it
looks, Jerry W.
This was not intended to be a normal
construction article but rather a history of what
I, and many others, consider one of the more
influential models of its era. I do not
recommend this as a first Stunt model, nor do I
think it is a good candidate for your first try at
building an I-Beam-wing design.
If you are serious about trying the USA-1,
first consider building my Ares or one of the
other popular, smaller I-Beam models that have
been published. The Ares was presented in the
July 2002 Model Aviation.
Before attempting any type of I-Beam
construction project, I highly recommend
getting a copy of the video How to Build IBeam
Wings from Robin’s View Productions. It
will answer in detail all of your questions about
the technique.
The USA-1 would make an excellent Classic
Stunt design, fitted with one of Aero Products’
side-exhaust .40, .51, or .61 Precision Aero
engines. It would also be a competitive modern
Stunt warrior, fitted with one of the rear-exhaust
Precision Aero engines and a carbon-fiber tuned
pipe.
The USA-1 wing was so successful in its
original form that I used it in several other Stunt
models, such as the USA-1P, the Hungarian
Bull (don’t ask), the Junar series, and eventually
the Geo-XL series. For a more detailed
explanation of those models, read my Geo-XL
article in the April 2001 Model Aviation.
Thanks to my buddy Warren Tiahrt for
drawing and inking this model for me. His work
is excellent, and he expended lots of extra time
and effort to come to my home to work with me
to carefully check the original USA-1 model
and plans against his redraw to ensure complete
accuracy. Although he may occasionally take
off with his flying handle upside-down, he’s
never been known to draw with his drafting pen
upside-down! MA
Bill Werwage
111 Jacqueline Dr.
Berea OH 44017
Sources:
Precision Aero Engines:
Aero Products
1880 Scenic Hwy. N.
Snellville GA 30078
(770) 979-2035
I-Beam how-to video:
Robin’s View Productions
Box 68
Stockertown PA 18083
(610) 746-0106
www.modelaircraft.org
F u l l - S i z e P l a n s
953 USA-1 ..........................................................................................................$11.25
Multiple-award-winning CL Stunt model by Werwage spans 611/2 inches
954 B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber: ......................................................................$7.50
Electric FF model by Ken Johnson spans 42 inches
955 Electric Flash: ...........................................................................................$11.25
Electric-powered RC park flyer by Stewart spans 28 inches
No. 904 Y2K Racer: Sport Electric FF by Charles Fries spans 18 inches A
No. 905 Buhl Sport Airsedan: RC Scale model by Phillip S. Kent spans 72 inches E
No. 906 Grumman Ag-Cat: Rubber powered FF FAC Giant Scale by Rees spans 36 inches C
No. 907 Bristol Brownie: RC Scale by Robelen for geared six-volt Speed 400 spans 44 inches C
No. 910 3Quarters: RC sport model by Randolph for Norvel .074 spans 45 inches B
No. 911 P-47: RC Scale Electric model by Ryan for Speed 400 spans 31 inches C
No. 912 Simple Simone: CL trainer by Netzeband for glow .15 engine spans 36 inches B
No. 916 Piper Malibu Mirage: Rubber-powered Giant Scale by Fineman spans 431/2 inches C
No. 917 Sir Lancelot: RC sport model by Henry for O.S. .61 spans 72 inches D
No. 918 Skyraider: CL 1/2A Profile by Sarpolus for Norvel BigMig .061 spans 29 inches B
No. 925 Bird-E-Dog: Ernie Heyworth and Ed Lokken’s RC Electric Sport Scale model C
No. 926 JoeCat: RC sport jet by Beshar for Toki .18 DF unit spans 37 inches C
No. 927 Kairos: CL Stunt model by Dixon for .46-.61 engine spans 58 inches C
No. 928 Beta Blue Chip Racer: Rubber-powered FF Scale model designed by Tom Derber B
No. 929 Dewoitine D.338: Multimotor RC Electric Scale by Mikulasko spans 781/2 inches E
No. 930 Westland Lysander: RC Scale model by Baker for .25 spans 56 inches E
No. 931 1959 Ares: Champion RC Aerobatics model by Werwage spans 501/2 inches C
No. 932 Wing400: RC Electric flying wing by Hanley for Speed 400 spans 36 inches B
No. 933 Kepler 450: CL speed-limit Combat model by Edwards for .21-.32 two-stroke A
Plan does not include full-size template shown on page 40 of the August 2002 issue.
No. 934 VariEze: FF Peanut Scale canard by Heckman spans 13 inches A
No. 935 Classic 320: 1/2A Classic Power design by Pailet for Cyclon .049 or equivalent B
No. 936 Prince: RC sport Pattern model by Robelen for O.S. .25 spans 51 inches C
No. 937 Clean Cut: RC sport aerobatic model by Sarpolus spans 90 inches E
No. 938 Diamond Gem: Compressed-air-powered FF sport model by Ken Johnson B
No. 939 Project Extra: RC Scale Aerobatics model by Mike Hurley spans 106 inches **$49.50
No. 940 Cessna No.1: RC Electric Sport Scale by Papic spans 321/2 inches B
No. 941 Mooney and Beechcraft Bonanza CL 1/2A profile sport models by Rick Sarpolus B
No. 942 Zenith CH 801: FF Rubber Scale model by Fineman spans 20 inches A
No. 943 Wildman 60: Old-Time Ignition CL Stunt model by Carter spans 59 1/2 inches C
No. 944 Shoestring: Semiscale RC sport Pattern design by de Bolt spans 60 inches D
No. 945 F-86 Sabre: Semiscale CL Stunt model by Hutchinson spans 56 inches E
No. 946 Electric Zephyr: Electric RC Pylon/sport model by Smith spans 40 inches B
No. 947 Chester Special: O.S. .40-powered CL Scale model by Beatty spans 43 inches **$27.00
No. 948 Moffett Reduxl: High-performance Rubber-powered FF design by Langenberg C
No. 949 Scratch-One: Electric RC sailplane/basic trainer by Aberle spans 45 inches B
No. 950 BareCat 650-C: CL sport Stunt model by Netzeband spans 54 1/4 inches E
No. 951 Douglas O-46A: RC Sport Scale model by Baker spans 54 inches E
No. 952 Lavochkin LaGG-3: Felton’s CL Sport Scale design made from cardboard E
Full-size plan list available. A complete listing of all plans previously published
in this magazine through no. 955 may be obtained free of charge by writing
(enclose 78¢ stamped, pre-addressed #10 business-size letter envelope) Model
Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302