1986 Nats: CL Scale
Mike Pratt
The word was hot for the 1986 Lake Charles Nationals. Temperatures at the flying site reached about 95°F, and humidity was in the 90% range, which made conditions uncomfortable for everyone. My hat is off to Jack Sheeks, the event director, and his wife Shirley, who tabulated and posted all the scores—also to Burt Duggan and Ron Sears, who were the flight judges and did a fine job while enduring the hot Louisiana weather. The total number of CL Scale entries was down from previous years, but that didn't make the competition any less exciting.
Sport Scale
Sport Scale had the largest number of contestants of the three CL Scale events: 10.
- 1st: Jack Stolly (Dallas, TX) — P-38 Lightning. Jack also posted the highest flight score and earned the National Association of Scale Aeromodeling (NASA) Flight Achievement Award.
- 2nd: Steve Ashby (Indianapolis, IN) — DH Mosquito. Despite some engine problems, Steve finished second and recorded the highest static score.
- 3rd: Richard Schneider (Marietta, GA) — Curtiss Gulfhawk, powered by an O.S. Max .61 four-stroke.
Other Sport results:
- Sr. Sport Scale 1st: Julie Abel (Florissant, MO) — Pilatus PC-7.
- Jr. Sport Scale 1st: Jason Stolly (Dallas, TX) — profile P-51 Mustangs.
FAI Scale
Top honors went to Jeff Perez (Larned, KS) with his B-17F Flying Fortress, a very smooth-flying model. The sound of the four O.S. Max .25 engines and the fine operation of the retractable landing gear and flaps helped Jeff post the highest flight score by far.
- 1st: Jeff Perez (Larned, KS) — B-17F Flying Fortress (highest flight score).
- 2nd: Julie Abel — Sig Clipped Wing Cub (highest static score). Julie, a member of the U.S. CL Scale World Champs team that went to Norway, did detailed finish work (seam pinning and rib stitching) and flew the Cub realistically, slow-towing and dropping a banner.
- 3rd: Clancy Arnold (Lawrence, IN) — C-74 Caribou. Clancy belly-landed in the final round when his electronically controlled retracts failed; thanks to his piloting skills the Caribou suffered very little damage. His electronic system also controlled throttle and cargo-door operation. Electronic control systems are becoming more popular in CL Scale events for the wide variety of operating options they allow.
Precision Scale
First place went to Charles Bauer (Chicago, IL), who flew the new Top Flite prototype Skyraider/Dauntless II. This large 11-lb. model was powered by a Super Tigre .75 and featured electronically controlled flaps, retractable landing gear, and throttle. Charles also recorded the highest flight score.
- 1st: Charles Bauer (Chicago, IL) — Top Flite prototype Skyraider/Dauntless II (highest flight score).
- 2nd: Walter Bailey (Lauderdale Lakes, FL) — Grumman XF5F Skyrocket. Despite its small size, Walter's Skyrocket flew extremely well.
- 3rd: John Wright (Long Beach, CA) — Bell P-63A King Cobra.
Senior Precision:
- 1st (Senior): Julie Abel — second Pilatus PC-7; she flew very realistically and posted the highest static score.
One other notable event was Walter Bailey flying his 12-year-old Gee Bee R1 for the last time. It was an emotional experience for Walter and his wife; after his first flight in Sport Scale he permanently retired the Gee Bee by cutting off the lead-out wires. I guess old scale models never die; they just hang around.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
