Control Line: Racing
WINTER months in the Midwest area bring our engine-testing and flying to a halt. The short days and low temperatures keep us inside doing our winter building projects. Several readers from Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Wisconsin have written me concerning their building projects and possible information on various products. One product earning creditable mention when finishing my new Goodyear and Sport Race airplanes for 1986 is the product introduced last year by Pettit. Fast Fill was brought out almost a year ago, and Kenneth Williams, the Hobbypoxy sales manager, wrote me asking for my opinion of the product. It was extremely light-weight and filled well, but I felt it sanded hard. Apparently other people thought so too. The first of this year he sent me a letter and another sample of the product saying they had improved Fast Fill to incorporate better sanding properties. The new product has the same good filling and light weight and now sands much easier.
Control Line: Racing
LET'S LOOK at .21 racing. Last year at the Nationals, we had at least two pseudo entries in .21 Rat Racing; and last fall we had several competitors build these little aircraft. We found that many of the nylon, store-bought propellers were quite satisfactory, and the engines performed well on 10% nitro. It is my understanding that several of the Midwest contests this year will feature .21 racing. My old speed colleague, Al Stegens from Cleveland, has sent me a ".21 Fun Speed" event flyer for a contest on June 15 in Cleveland. Fliers utilize 10% nitro, solid lines at .016 diameter, 60 feet long, and timed for seven laps. At the bottom of the contest circular, Al wrote: "An event where a superhuman effort would not be necessary." I think this more than aptly explains the .21 Racing event, since the little planes at this time are flying about 75-80 miles an hour, and the propellers, engines, tank and accessories certainly have a reasonable price tag.
Control Line: Racing
MIDWEST SPORT RACE has become one of the events having the most participants and being most hotly-contested in our contest area. By looking at the various newsletters which I receive every month from all parts of the U.S., I would say that the "Big Goodyear" or variations of Sport Race are extremely popular in their parts of the country. This month, I'm including the "consolidated" plans of a Midwest Sport Racer. The plans have been drawn after spending considerable time adjusting the type of wing and body construction and fuselage configuration for the best balance, flying properties, and durability.
Control Line: Racing
HALF-A MOUSE RACING. I have attended several regional AMA Racing events in the Midwest area and have noticed a general upswing in the participant level in Mouse Racing. The Ohio area seems to be a hotbed of activity-especially around the annual Control Line contests in both Dayton and Cleveland. One trick I have noticed which seems to bring the ultimate in power from these little .049 engines is the selection and rework of the propeller. At a recent contest, I found propellers from no less than six different manufacturers on the little engines used by the racers that particular day. The most popular ones seemed to be the Tornado nylon and the Cox wide-paddle racing propeller.
1986 Nats: CL Racing
FIRST OFF, there is no truth to the rumor that awning salesmen, ice chest vendors, and the Gatorade folks had any hand in designing the Nats weather at Chennault Air Base. Early morning temperatures were in the low 80s; from noon on, 100º + was the norm. A stiff wind blew steadily with occasional gusts during the morning hours. After lunch each day the air became still, and the heat and humidity were overpowering. After a day or two of "runway life," the red sunburned look of the officials and contestants resembled the Cajun lobsters at the famous local restaurant, Paw-paw's. The order of events, restructured for the 1985, was retained for 1986. Open Scale Racing was on Monday, with FAI Team Racing and Mouse Racing on Tuesday. Jr.-Sr. Scale Racing was on Wednesday and Rat on Thursday, followed by Slow Rat on Friday. This left two full travel days for the contestant's return home.
