1986 Nats: FF Outdoor Glider
A-1 Glider (F1H)
A-1 glider flying took place on Monday, the first day of Free Flight competition. Wind was light and thermals were spotty; the breeze dwindled to nil later in the afternoon as temperature and humidity rose to uncomfortable levels. Competition heated up across age classes in the afternoon. Although no flyoff was required, Junior, Senior and Open times were so close that little difference was evident.
Top results and notable performances:
- Open A-1
- 1st: Tom Loerger — 496 sec
- 2nd: Jack Nix — 491 sec
- 3rd: Bob Hatschek — 483 sec
- 4th: Fred Blom — 481 sec
- Junior
- 1st: Rod Loerger — 483 sec (would have placed 3rd in Open)
- 2nd: David Brown — 391 sec
- Senior
- 1st: Aaron Markos — 392 sec
Rod Loerger (age 10) proved an accomplished flier and placed pressure on his father, Tom, in Open. David Brown and Aaron Markos, winners in Junior and Senior slots, would also have been competitive in the Open standings.
Bob Hatschek’s technical contributions deserve special mention. His Circulator design (published November 1985 in MA) incorporates features more commonly seen on larger towline gliders: a latching tow hook, a circle-tow rudder mechanism, and a two-piece wing for easy transport. Additional refinements, such as turbulators (his “exciter”) behind the airfoil’s high point and precisely machined parts, make the Circulator an outstanding example of contemporary A-1 design.
The fairer sex was represented by two entrants:
- Dana Wile — 1st among women, 188 sec
- Melanie Sanford — 2nd among women, 75 sec (hampered by an airplane-eating tree)
Electric (A & B)
David Brown was the only entrant in Junior for both Electric A and Electric B.
Electric B (seven or more Ni-Cd cells) results:
- 1st: Robert Nichols — 270 sec (same ship with a beefed-up battery pack)
Dana Wile added another first-place trophy in Senior Electric with a 176-sec flight.
Officials and Thanks
A special note of appreciation is due to the hard-working officials who manned the officials’ tent throughout five days of severe heat and humidity. We owe a large debt of gratitude to:
- Murray Frank
- Sandy Frank
- Linda Brown
- Kay Brown
Their tireless, selfless efforts were essential to the Free Flight competition.
HL Glider
HL Glider drew the largest field of Free Flight entrants, with 52 fliers scheduled. Due in part to the heat and in part to the difficulty of picking good air in sporadic breezes, flight times did not threaten national records.
A variety of designs appeared, including square-tipped Mathis Flash variants, recent magazine designs, and classics such as the Polly. One modeler was seen test-flying a canard design the evening before competition, but the model did not fly during the contest because of other event commitments.
Bob Siffert flew a version of Ray Acord’s giant Monster HL Glider (circa 1950s). The ship performed well and narrowly missed first place by only 3 seconds to Bill Hutchins, who won Open with 399 sec.
An apology and note of regret: a photograph of Bob Siffert and his giant HL was lost. The roll of film and its negatives were apparently removed from the camera (and camera case) by unknown persons and have not been returned. The missing picture—and camera—are sorely missed.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
