Control Line: Precision Aerobatics
The sign at the front gate boldly read "71st National Model Airplane Championships," which set off a series of Nats memories and a great sense of anticipation. How would this edition be? It didn't take long to get the answer during the Control Line Aerobatics competition, held Monday, July 14 to Saturday, July 19. Bene Rodrigues, longtime international competitor from Brazil, was there early working to get his setup tuned to the site. It was to be a very hot Nats in more ways than one! Led by international competitor and former US resident Kaz Minato, the Japanese sent a strong, experienced team. In Open Precision Aerobatics, Masaru Hiki and Shoichiro Nosome placed eighth and ninth respectively to Kaz's strong seventh place showing. Mitsuru Yokoyama also showed well at 14th. This was a highly competitive Nationals; five of the US's guests placed in the Top 20.
Control Line: Aerobatics
THE US Control Line Precision Aerobatics community has a new international F2B team. As has become customary, the members were selected at the International Aeromodeling Center, Muncie, Indiana, during Labor Day weekend. Operating according to published rules for team selection using AMA guidelines, the team selection committee chose the judges from a highly experienced cadre. Head Judge was Chief National Judge Gary McClellan, with previous Head Judge Dave Cook in attendance to assist in training and tabulating. Warren Tiahrt, Event Director and Nationals Event Director, ensured strict adherence to FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) rules.
Control Line: Aerobatics
Each year I review my competition season for "events" to see if I can analyze what happened and how I can prevent the unfortunate situations from recurring. It usually gives me much to write about, so that you don't have to go through the pains that I've suffered. As I share, you'll see that no matter how long you participate in this event, you still strive for perfection, but the road gets rocky along the way. There were a bunch of days this season when I wanted to cry rather than laugh, but I kept going. That's what has kept my interest in Stunt - you get out of it what you put in. Effort counts.
Control Line: Aerobatics
The story of and solutions to things that went wrong during the past competitive season continues. (The trend suggests that it may be next year before I finish.) This part of the tale needs a preface to demonstrate why it took me so long to find out what my problem was. The root of this situation, and many that you run into, is assumptions. Having said that, many of you may be wondering, "Is this guy going off the deep end?" I'm getting at "Problem Solving for Stunt Fliers 101." Making assumptions will devastate your program, and you won't know it. Many fliers do it, but the more aware you are of the traps, the quicker and more accurately you can solve your problem.
Control Line: Aerobatics
Flying Tips: It's been said that "there's nothing new under the sun," so this hint has probably been related somewhere before. The story started when I was at the Nationals (Nats) site trying to make some sense out of what could loosely be described as "my pattern." Generally the rounds and squares were okay, but a certain preciseness was missing, particularly in the "bottoms." There was a slight climb or overturn that I couldn't suppress. Nothing I tried, whether center of gravity adjustment or handle adjustment, proved very effective until I decided to check the propeller pitch to see if it had changed. It hadn't, but for some reason not related to the bottoms, I decided to go down an increment on pitch (from 4.0-3.9 inches); that small adjustment immediately produced the easy bottoms, "locked in."
