Control Line: Speed
WHAT is FAI Speed? Well, the rules for this event are simple: 1) Engine displacement less than .1526 cu. in.; 2) fuel is 80% methanol and 20% lubricant; 3) minimum total area is 77.55 sq. in. for a 15 engine; 4) maximum area loading is 17.64 oz. for a 15 engine; 5) line length is 52.2 ft.; 6) aircraft must R.O.G. and fly for two non-timed laps, plus ten timed laps after the pilot enters the pylon yoke; 7) the aircraft must remain within a 3- to 10-ft. altitude band, and the control handle must not leave the pylon yoke. Prior to entering the pylon whipping is allowed. The design of the airplane has evolved from upright engine and symmetric planform layouts to the presently favored high-aspect-ratio asymmetric sidewinder designs of Chuck Schuette, and asymmetric upright-engine designs of Emil Rumpel. My own airplane is of medium aspect ratio and sidewinder design.
Control Line: Speed
THE contest season is almost finished, and I finally have some time to gather all my notes together and write this month's column. The first noteworthy piece of information is about the excellent newsletter called Flying Lines, written by Mike Hazel and John Thompson. These fellows are doing a beautiful job of editing this newsletter. It covers a broad spectrum of articles concerning Speed and CL Racing. If you are interested, please send $7.00 for a year's subscription to: Flying Lines, 1411 Bryant Ave., Cottage Grove, OR 97424. They need your support to make this newsletter a success. It is well worth the seven bucks.
CL Speed
SOMETIMES we forget to express our appreciation and thanks to all who helped execute and administer the Speed events. If it wasn't for the Nats volunteers who run things, there would be no Nats. The Speed event director for this year was Bob Vojslavek, with Bob Sargent as his assistant. This year's Nats site for Speed was poor, due to the conditions of the flying circles. Before flying could begin, the tar strips had to be chipped away from the expansion joints, and the large cracks had to be filled with plaster to make the surface acceptable for flying. With everyone working hard to clear the flying circles, there was a certain amount of joking and griping going on. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to assemble together to swap ideas and war stories.
Control Line: Speed
THE U.S. Control Line Championships, held June 21-22 at Winston-Salem, NC, was attended by 140 contestants, and it was by far the best Speed contest I have attended this year. At the last moment I decided to fly by commercial airline to Winston-Salem. This was quite an experience. It is approximately 1,200 miles from Garland, TX to Winston-Salem, and it was very refreshing to cover the distance in only 2 1/2 hours by air, compared to the usual two-day trip by automobile. The only problem with traveling by air is the transporting of models. Since I was unprepared to do this, I left all my equipment at home. This offered an opportunity for me to socialize with all of the control line modelers.
Control Line: Speed
WHY fly Speed? "After all, aren't all those guys just a bunch of old retread hot dogs who make the competition too tough and put the records up in the twilight zone?" Such a thought may sum up the feelings of some who have considered getting into this ultimate go-fast activity of modeling, and then backed off. With this introduction, I would like for you to consider if speed flying might be for you. (Probably only 2% of you reading this now fly the event.) The speed events are, by nature, somewhat technical, and can be demanding of your time, energy, and money (and sanity). But you will find this to be true of any other competition event where maximum performance is strived for. And of course maximum performance is what speed flying is all about.
