The Wonderful World of WestFAC
A Refuge for Devotees of Classic Stick-and-Tissue Free Flight
by Don DeLoach
Photos by the author except as noted
In this modern age of faster, bigger, and louder, the Flying Aces Club (FAC) is, well, out of place. FAC is a refuge for devotees of classic stick-and-tissue free flight—a throwback club where the provincial charm of the golden age of simple model aviation—and aviation in general—is forever alive. FAC competitors know how to fly. These modern models may look like hangar queens, but looks are deceiving. Modern power systems and flight-trimming techniques have launched a new era in FF Scale excellence in the last couple of decades, and FAC is at the forefront.
To win at the Western FAC Championships (WestFAC) requires flights in excess of 100 seconds in all but a few events. The expanse of the WestFAC III flying site—the 27,000-acre Former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range east of Denver—provides welcome elbow room.
Wednesday, June 22
Wednesday kicked off the WestFAC weekend in grand style with static judging in the lovely Hampton Inn ballroom in Parker, Colorado. Judging day is part reunion and part celebration of achievements during the building season. Think newborn babies being shown off to proud family members. A number of new “babies” were unveiled for the first time on this day, including Chris Starleaf’s immaculate Breda 88 rubber twin and Mike Isermann’s flawless Grumman Martlet, among others. Judging day whetted appetites for the ensuing three days of official flying.
Thursday, June 23
Thursday dawned cool and mostly clear, with a southwest breeze blowing 5 to 8 mph. As is normal for the Denver area in summertime, this morning breeze steadily decreased until roughly 10 a.m., at which time ideal breezes—0 to 3 mph—arrived under sunny skies and over green grass. Thursday’s regular noontime “lull” started slightly early and lasted well into the afternoon, making for heavenly FF conditions.
A highlight of Thursday’s flying was the Low Wing Trainer Mass Launch under bright blue skies and nearly calm winds. AMA and FF Hall of Famer Herb Kothe won it over a stacked field, flying a veteran Miles Magister from Earl Stahl plans.
I was eliminated early in Low Wing Trainer with a bent propeller shaft, but this presented an opportunity. I quickly wound my Vought F4U Corsair for an official flight in FAC Rubber Scale and launched into a stunning calm-air thermal. The gently rising air carried the bent-wing model to more than a 300-foot altitude and a 3-plus-minute duration. It glided in softly less than 200 yards from the launch point. I love this hobby!
This great flight was quickly upstaged by Chris Starleaf’s gorgeous Breda 88 twin. On its maiden flight, Chris coaxed the big 88 to a nearly 3-minute flight in soft lift to the southeast. The lightweight model seemed to hover at a low forward speed—a product of its extremely light wing loading. This max flight, plus the 30 bonus points (25 for a twin and 5 for a midwing aircraft), combined with a nearly perfect static score of 61.5 out of a possible 62.5, put Chris in first place in FAC Scale by a wide margin. His winning total of 174.0 points is the highest final score I’ve seen in FAC Rubber Scale in more than 25 years.
Friday, June 24
The next day's weather was nearly a carbon copy of Thursday's. By the first scheduled mass launch at 10 a.m., early morning winds had lightened to approximately 3 mph and competitors busily put up official flights.
One of FAC's premier events, the Greve Race, is a mass launch for the sleek inline racing airplanes of the 1920s and '30s. Timeless prewar aircraft such as the Chambermaid, Goon, Brown B-2, and Mr. Smoothie are iconic in this event, staging miniature rematches of the races of yesteryear. The weather was ideal for the three rounds of flying in this event and John Donelson’s excellent Goon emerged the winner in the final heat.
Flying Aces is not just about Scale modeling. The most popular nonscale event is Old-Time Rubber Cabin. This category is for wheeled designs with windshields that were published before 1946. Scaling is allowed and wingspans may not exceed 36 inches. Against a crowded field that included some of the best Cabin modelers in the country, Mike Isermann posted a maxout and three flyoff flights to win, flying a new Korda Victory finished resplendently in blue and checkerboard tissue.
World War I Combat is another mass-launch event that garners much interest from fliers and spectators. There's just something about biplanes! The three-heat event kicked off as scheduled despite a stiff breeze intermixed with calm spots between thermals.
Two of the favorites were eliminated early and the second heat was flown in a nice thermal. The top three (including me) wound for the final heat with high hopes, but the launch signal came during a period of turbulent, sinking air. Keith Sterner's Albatros hit hard in less than 10 seconds. Meanwhile Mike Midkiff's S.E.5 climbed out well, while my Martinsyde F4 dipped low and failed to climb, holding for a while at roughly 20 feet.
It was looking like another win for "Iron" Mike, an FAC Hall of Famer and one of my modeling heroes, but the Martinsyde still had some fight in it. Struggling below 15 feet and then down to only 10, the Martinsyde then began climbing just as Mike’s S.E.5 began its descent. My model momentarily hit some good air after struggling for so long in the muck, and although I probably didn't deserve it, I won the event by a slim margin with plenty of turns still left in the motor. A round of applause from spectators and timers back in the trenches topped off this memorable experience.
Saturday, June 25
Saturday featured an unusual beginning for the Denver site: cloudy skies and calm winds. This caught a number of competitors off guard because they had grown accustomed to sleeping in a little and arriving in time for the expected late-morning lull. Not so on this day. Early risers were rewarded with stunning conditions for the first three hours of the day.
One of the first to become officially airborne was Herb Kothe with his beautiful Taylorcraft for Golden Age Scale. He finished in second place because of a bad third flight; otherwise he would have easily won.
The showcase event for WestFAC was the Grumman Military Mass Launch, which drew a large cadre of enthusiastic fliers. John Donelson's outstanding Guardian, Thursday's breakaway winner of Modern Military Scale, would have been a big favorite in this event had he not left it in the hotel room by mistake!
Five Hellcats, two Avengers, and two Wildcats showed up to fly, and the weather was nearly perfect for the three mass-launch rounds.
World War II Combat is FAC's premier mass-launch event, usually drawing the most fliers and stiffest competition. At WestFAC III, this was absolutely the case, with several of FAC's top aces in the fray. Held in the afternoon in 5 mph breezes, the wind was not ideal but pilots still flew well. Experienced fliers Tom Arnold, Duke Horn, and Mike Isermann flew splendidly in the first round (with flights of 73, 64, and 125 seconds respectively), only to be eliminated with sudden crashes in round two. It must have been the turbulence.
The final round was a showdown between Chris Starleaf's Fairey Barracuda (a past FAC Nationals winner) and Herb Kothe's outstanding Yak-3. They ended in first and third; my F4U Corsair sneaked into second place a scant 2 seconds ahead of Kothe.
Wrap-up
Saturday night's awards banquet was well attended by the fliers and their wives, and was enjoyed by all. Two of FAC's greatest luminaries attended and gave short speeches about their Hall of Fame careers in Scale FF.
Fernando Ramos is an FAC Hall of Fame member who has attended every FAC Nationals since the first one in 1978. He wrote the FF Scale columns for Model Builder and MA for many years. Fernando is a top competitor and craftsman who brought the FAC tradition west to California more than 35 years ago.
Mike Midkiff was involved in FAC from the beginning as a 20-something kid in 1960s Erie, Pennsylvania. He carried the FAC movement south and west to Texas in the 1970s, where it still flourishes. The WestFAC Grand Champion trophy is named the Midkiff Cup in appreciation of Mike's decades of devotion to the hobby.
Roger Willis, chairman of the WestFAC Committee and a District IX AMA associate vice president, is the visionary who founded WestFAC in 2006. Roger addressed the crowd: "I had been to the FAC Nationals in New York, which was a lot of effort to get to from my home in California." He added, "I saw the strength of FAC clubs in the West and thought we should hold our own major FAC meet out here on a two-year rotation similar to the Nationals."
Roger continued, "My squadron hosted the first WestFAC in Perris, California, in 2007. Then WestFAC II went off in Gainesville, Texas, in 2009. WestFAC III in Denver this year completed the circuit. We plan to rotate among three sites again over the next six years."
As a proud and loyal attendee of all three WestFACs, here's hoping there are many more to come.
—Don DeLoach [email protected]
Sources
- WestFAC: www.westernfac.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
