Control Line: Racing
Taming the TRs: For as long as I have flown F2C Team Race (more than 25 years), there have been rumors that the Federation Aeronautiqe Internationale (FAI) would make a draconian rules change to slow the models down. The engine size would be reduced to .09, suddenly rendering everyone's equipment obsolete. When smaller engines were proposed in 1976, the top competitors were just beginning to consistently break the four-minute barrier. Despite persistent debate, neither engine-size reduction nor any other rules change has transpired-in fact, no significant changes have occurred since 7cc tanks arrived in 1967! Rules stability is good - except now, 20 years later, 3:14 is the heat record and anything more than the mid-3:20s is too slow! Years ago, only a few teams went fast, but now competitive equipment from eastern Europe combined with dropping the builder-of-the-model rule lets virtually anyone achieve warp speeds just by spending a few bucks (okay - many bucks!).
Control Line: Racing
GETTING STARTED in Racing: My first Control Line (CL) racing experience was in England in the early 1960s; a new event called Rat Race was to be held at a nearby United States Air Force base. My local clubmates and I flew mostly "A" Combat with .15 diesels at the time, so glow .35 racing was new ground. One fellow produced a well-used Fox .35, I built a boxy all-sheet model around it, and off we went to the contest. We did quite well; there was no blistering speed, but our model possessed the other important attribute of a racing airplane - it restarted! In the finals we succumbed to a condition that we later learned is almost endemic with Foxes - the pitstop fire! It melted the fuel line I had neatly (but inaccessibly) routed under the engine to the tank. A lesson was learned, but the racing bug had bitten - by the late 1960s I was flying Rat Race, Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), Team Race (TR), and Goodyear!
Control Line: Racing
US TEAM RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The sixth annual T/R Champs was held in mid-April at the Whittier Narrows Control Line site in Southern California. The contest has a format similar to the FAI F2C team trials, with six races flown over the two-day weekend, so it provides a good early season workout. Unfortunately, the turnout was low-just three teams - but that's a quorum for Team Race, so the contestants at least were happy! All teams used Nazin/Vorobiev engines and kitplanes with Willoughby/Oge and Kusik/Brau employing the latest side-exhaust engine variant. My model was new and unflown, so we had to deal with the usual teething troubles, such as tightening the shutoff spring. The engine comes with a restrictor in the exhaust prime line. When we removed this on the second day, we found an immediate improvement in restarting.
Control Line: Racing
A GOOD SITE, excellent weather, and a more-than-15% increase in entries combined to make Nats Control Line Racing a success. Competitors came from all points of the US, from Canada, and from France. I was pleased to see several new faces at the Racing circle, and the return of a few old ones. AMA improved the site since last year by installing permanent posts for the safety nets, which eliminated the previous years' problem of the nets sagging. The National Control Line Racing Association (NCLRA) plans to upgrade further, including the provision of a height marker/windsock, a jury tower, a public address system, and timing equipment. The only other item on the wish list is a practice circle; it will probably take more time to achieve. For now, the racing community is still excited about the smooth blacktop and painted circle markings; a far cry from the pitted and cracked airport ramps that we have had to deal with at past Nats.
Control Line: Racing
THE FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) F2C team trials for the 1998 World Championships (to be in Kicv, Ukraine) were the first weekend in October 1997 at the Whittier Narrows site in California. Eight teams participated and each flew six races, with the best three times combined to determine final placing. The team of John Ballard/Dick Lambert flew consistently, using Mazniak equipment, and won first place with 3:19, 3:24, and 3:25. John got a good working-over at the 1996 World Champs in Sweden, but his knee has nearly recovered from surgery, so look for his team to place high in Kiev.
