Author: T. Naccarato

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Author: M. Naccarato
Edition: Model Aviation - 1986/08
Page Numbers: 76, 77, 78, 79, 157
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12th Electric Championships

Tony and Marylou Naccarato

This quiet form of powered flight hasn't been around very long in the overall scheme of things, but it already has attracted many followers for sport flying and competition. With today's readily available equipment, performance is reaching a very high level. Is there an electric model in your future?

This year the event was held in April instead of February. To everyone's delight, the weather turned out nearly perfect: warm (about 80°F) with a light sea breeze in the afternoon.

Due to the large number of events to be flown, the contest was expanded from the previous two days to three — over two weekends. Free Flight and Control Line events were held on Sunday, April 20, at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, CA. RC Sailplane and Old-Timer events were on Saturday, April 26, at the Harbor Soaring Society field in Costa Mesa. At that site, competitions for the Seven-Cell Pylon Race, Stand-Off Scale, and Aerobatics were flown on Sunday, April 27.

The Electric Championships is the oldest and largest such event held in the U.S. Thirteen different events were flown, and 107 models were entered. The contest organizer/sponsor, Astro Flight, Inc., included a very popular raffle in which each entrant could win an Astro Flight electric motor or one of the many kits donated by Carl Goldberg Models, Top Flite Models, Ace RC, Adams RC Products, Midway Models, Hobby Shack, Larry Jolly Model Products, and Jim Zarembski Models. Trophies were presented to first-, second-, and third-place winners; there were also plenty of raffle prizes. The event would not have been possible without the help of members and the facilities of the Aeromodeling Assn., Harbor Soaring Society, Flight Masters, and the Blacksheep Squadron.

Because the flying field was small and limited, contestants voted for 2-min maxes instead of the standard 3-min. Motor runs were 25 seconds for the first four flights and 20 seconds thereafter (unless otherwise noted for specific classes).

Contest organization and timing

  • Free Flight Contest Director: Bill Stroman, assisted by Cyndy Kim Waddell — excellent job timing models and keeping scores.
  • Control Line Contest Director: Tony Naccarato, backed by the Blacksheep Squadron.
  • Event sponsor/organizer: Astro Flight, Inc.

Free Flight

Class B

  • John Qian — Voltair model powered by an Astro .15 cobalt with 12 cells (800 mAh). The plane had no problem poking a hole in the sky when thermals were present.
  • Ken Redding — Starduster-X that climbed out of the site and de-thermalized.

Free Flight Scale

  • John Smith — Fokker Trimotor with a VL-100 motor, took first place.
  • Farrel Papic — Bleriot VII with an Astro .035, captured second place with a steady vintage feel.
  • Carlo Godel — Fike Model E (one of the lightest entries at about 36 oz) powered by a VL-111 motor that weighs just over 1 oz. With a 208 sq in wing area the flights seemed marginal; adding another 100 mAh cell might improve performance.
  • Barnaby Wainfan — flying-wing design "Superconductor," powered by an Astro .035 turning a 6-2 prop; took first in its class.

Notes

  • Because of the small site, contestants voted for 2-min maxes (instead of 3 min). Motor runs: 25 sec for the first four flights, 20 sec thereafter.

Control Line

  • Aerobatics used the 1952 Old-Timer flight pattern to allow flyers more time to complete the pattern with fewer overhead maneuvers.
  • First place in Aerobatics: Tony Naccarato — Lil' Star with an Astro .035 motor.
  • Second place: Addie Naccarato — Lil' Star powered by an Astro .05 cobalt; 240 sq in, weighed 23 oz, flown on 40-ft lines.
  • Ron Duly — flew a Mongoose II (Bede-SA) powered by a Keller .25; also reported a crash of another model after winds picked up. He later felt his .012-in. lines were too long and should have been shortened by about 4 ft.
  • CL Scale: Ken Redding surprised spectators by dropping torpedoes and bombs from his twin-powered North American PBJ-1H (38 oz) and took first place. Addie Naccarato's XR-11 Aerobinator (made from a Guillows P-39 kit) flew well. John Sheaffer took third with an Me-109. Many scale entries were from 1/2-in.-scale Guillow kits (Fokker DR-1, P-47, Hellcat, Zero).

RC Sailplanes and Old-Timers

  • Motor-run allowances (shortened due to advances in the electric field):
  • Seven-Cell Old-Timers: 1-min motor runs.
  • Seven-Cell Sailplanes and Open Old-Timers: 45-sec motor runs.
  • Open Sailplanes: 30-sec motor runs.
  • Max glide retained at 7 min; scoring was man-on-man.
  • Seven-Cell Sailplane: Ed Depue — Modicus (modified Electrius for two-meter sailplane contests) with an Astro .05 geared cobalt and Geist folding prop; he took first place.
  • Open Sailplane: After two rounds Craig Christensen, Frank Chastler, and John Luppgerer tied with perfect scores, prompting a three-way flyoff. Craig Christensen won the flyoff with an Astro .40-powered Olympian.
  • Old-Timers were heavily affected by wind. Mike Charles' Super Quaker (Astro .60, Geist 13-7 folder, 26-cell battery 800 mAh) was spectacular and capable of very steep climb rates; it won its class. Frank Chasteler declined a flyoff against the Super Quaker due to high winds.

RC Scale

  • There was a great turnout of giant-sized models judged by Contest Director Bob Boucher's staff.
  • First place: Bill Young — Stephens Akro (black-and-orange) with a cobalt .40 and 28 cells; 11 lb and flew all maneuvers in under 3 min.
  • Second place: Brian Chan — BD-5 powered by a Keller .25.
  • Third place: Ken Holcomb — Porterfield Collegiate (Astro 15 Super Ferrite), 69-1/2 in span, about 4 lb.
  • Tony Naccarato — 1/3 Cub with an Astro .60 cobalt, weighing 10.3 lb (noted among the large entries).
  • Addie Naccarato — Ritz-A (true 1/5-scale structure, 12-ft span, 15 lb). The flight looked smooth and graceful until an inside loop when a wing strut broke; the model went into a vertical dive and crashed. Addie plans to beef up the strut on the next build.

RC Aerobatics and Seven-Cell Pylon Racing

  • Aerobatics entries were down due to prior commitments by top pilots, but the field remained world-class.
  • Steve Neu — Mk Arrow powered by a Keller .50 on 14 cells (1.2 Ah); smoother flyer of the day and took first place in Aerobatics.
  • Larry Jolly — Quatro with a Keller .80 and 28 cells (1.2 Ah); strong contender and took second.
  • Ed Depue — Kyosho Etude (placed third) and vowed to return next year.
  • Seven-Cell Pylon Racing:
  • Typically small models (25–30 in wingspan) powered by .05-size motors with seven 1.2-Ah cells. Timing was for 10 laps on the small Quarter Midget course; race times were around 1 min. 36 sec (about 12 sec faster than last year).
  • Larry Jolly — won Pylon with his new design "Ohmen" (all-balsa, 29 oz; 20 oz power unit, 9 oz airframe plus three-channel radio), powered by an Astro .05 cobalt.
  • Tight racing among Steve Neu, Larry Jolly, and Mike Charles is typical; these pilots planned to fly at a contest in Belgium in August.

General impressions

There wasn't much radically new in equipment, but more people have become acquainted with the quirks of electric flight. There was a lot of good flying and many great models. It was wonderful to have three full days of flying with no noise and no grease. All those interested in electric flight should contact the Electric Aeromodeling Association, P.O. Box 9, Midway City, CA 92655.

(Editor's note: Thanks to Larry Jolly for his assistance with words and pictures concerning the RC Old-Timer, Sailplane, and Pylon Racing events.)

Results

RC Old-Timer, Seven-Cell

  1. Paul Hinton — Playboy, Astro Co. .05, 7 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 2020 pts
  2. Bob Sliff — Playboy, Astro Co. .05, 7 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 2008 pts
  3. Larry Jolly — Interceptor, Astro Co. .05, 7 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 1996 pts
  4. Chuck Hollinger — Nomad, Astro Co. .05, 7 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 1865 pts
  5. Jim Hall — Playboy, Elose .05, 7 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 1860 pts

RC Old-Timer, Open

  1. Mike Charles — Super Quaker, Astro Co. .60, 26 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 2020 pts
  2. Frank Chasteler — Lanza, Keller .35, 16 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 2020 pts
  3. Ross Thomas — Lanza, Astro Co. .40, 26 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 2013 pts
  4. Lowell Howe — Sunduster, Astro Co. .25, 16 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 1660 pts
  5. Larry Jolly — Interceptor, Astro Co. .05, 7 × 800 mAh Sanyo, 1619 pts

RC Stand-Off Scale

  1. Bill Young — Stephens Akro, Astro Co. .60, 30 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 204 pts
  2. Brian Chan — Bede-5N, Keller .25, 14 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 177 pts
  3. Ken Holcomb — Porterfield, Astro SF .15, 12 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 135 pts
  4. Tony Naccarato — J-3 Cub, Astro Co. .60, 28 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 129 pts
  5. Bob Sliff — Monocoupe, Astro SF .40, 18 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 127 pts

RC Aerobatics

  1. Steve Neu — Mk Arrow, Keller .50, 14 × 1200 mAh G.E., 150 pts
  2. Larry Jolly — XC-40, Keller .80, 28 × 1200 mAh G.E., 145 pts
  3. Ed Depue — Etude, Astro .05, 7 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 71 pts
  4. Bob Sliff — Snark, Astro .05, 7 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 50 pts

RC Pylon Racing, Seven-Cell

  1. Larry Jolly — Ohmen, Astro Co. .05, 7 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 275 pts
  2. Frank Chasteler — Lanz, Keller .35, 16 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 250 pts
  3. Ross Thomas — Lanz, Astro Co. .40, 26 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 240 pts
  4. Lowell Howe — Sunduster, Astro Co. .25, 16 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 220 pts
  5. Mike Charles — Super Quaker, Astro Co. .60, 26 × 1200 mAh Sanyo, 200 pts

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.