FF Indoor Scale
Larry Kruse
Following the lead of indoor non-scale events, Indoor Scale at the Nats took on distinctly biblical overtones this year. As Dave (VTO) Linstrum observed, like ancient Egypt's plague of locusts, Pershing Auditorium was beset by a veritable plague of Laceys and Fikes. Bob Peck's kitting of Butch Hadland's Lacey, for all practical purposes, made Scale a one-design event. While it was nice to see many of the younger modelers participating in Scale events, it didn't take long for boredom to set in. Judging 20 essentially identical aircraft for scale fidelity had to be a real ho-hummer for Bill Pepin and company.
One of the more pleasant departures from the Fike–Lacey derby was Tom Norell's 1912 Cessna Peanut Scale. Tom comes from a family of essentially all RC fliers; his father Clyde works closely with him in a very empirical fashion. Each flight attempt — winds, trim adjustments, and flight time — appeared to be recorded in a cumulative ledger for future reference. Given Tom's considerable building skills and his methodical approach to scale flying, he has all the marks of a future winner.
Perry Peterson, a hometown modeler from Lincoln, had two very pretty scale entries: an Eaves Cougar in Peanut Scale and a Tailwind look‑alike called the Daphne. Perry elected not to fly the Daphne indoors because he was having some trimming problems and did not want to damage the ship prior to flying it outdoors. The green-and-yellow Daphne was, beyond doubt, the class of the scale competition and likely scored well on static points.
Such dual indoor/outdoor entries bring to mind an unfortunate tendency that has cropped up in recent years — entering the same airplane in both Peanut and AMA Scale, or even entering the same airplane in four events (indoor/outdoor Peanut and indoor/outdoor AMA Scale). While the rules permit it, the practice creates headaches for judges (speaking from experience) and cuts down on the variety, type, and number of aircraft entered. One might almost be tempted to propose that AMA Scale be limited to aircraft spanning over 13 inches.
Bill Pepin of Albuquerque, N.M., served as scale judge for both indoor and outdoor scale. Tireless, he was last seen positioning Sport Scale ships and AC/CL Scale judges.
Results
- Open AMA Scale
- 1st: Dan Domina — venerable Piper Cub, 163.00 points (accurate structure from Piper's factory drawings, dyed covering)
- 2nd: Curt Sanford — Lacey
- 3rd: Bill Baker — large entry
- Senior winner: Susan Brown (uncontested)
- Peanut Scale — Junior
- Top placings: Melanie Sanford and David Brown
- 3rd: Archie Adamison, Jr. — nicely built Old Ironsides (apparently modified from Walt Mooney plans)
- Peanut Scale — Senior
- 1st: Brad Fulmer — 143.00
- 2nd: Bryan Fulmer — 142.00 (brothers battled to within one point)
Notable entry: Tom Norell's 1912 Cessna
Built from Gene Thomas plans, Tom Norell's Peanut-scale 1912 Cessna features a nicely detailed scale engine, Fulton/Hungerford wire wheels, and an emaciated-looking profile befitting a Peanut pilot. Tom built and flew the model himself, using his methodical flight-logging approach to refine trim and performance.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
