1986 Nats: RC Scale

1986 Nats: RC Scale

Bob and Dolly Wischer

Overview

Returning to our air-conditioned Nats dormitory at McNeese University at the end of each day's flying at Chennault Air Base, we noted the digital thermometer across the street registering 100° to 103°F. Accompanied by high humidity from the nearby Gulf of Mexico, the heat was more of a concern than the competition and affected the performances of both models and pilots. Temperatures on the runway pavement at the Nats site were even higher; a varying wind (across the runway, of course) helped relieve the baked feeling at times. A fortunate few competitors made cool early-morning flights when the wind was light. The Air Base, now inactive, has vast areas of pavement that absorb and store heat.

Static judging was done in a gymnasium adjacent to Nats headquarters, which, like many other locations that year, was not air conditioned. AMA HQ staff, static judges, and hobby-shop operators suffered along with everyone else under only a roof for protection from the searing sun. Because of the large number of Giant Scale entries and the combining of RC and CL models, the gym was quite crowded with models. Despite the high temperature, a large crowd came to see the display; at the flying site, however, most spectators did not stay long because of the discomfort. Larger Scale models were often kept under cover until their engines were started.

There were 47 total RC Scale entries at the 1986 Nats:

• Giant Scale: 21 aircraft
• Sport Scale Expert: 16 aircraft
• Sport Scale Sportsman: 7 aircraft
• FAI Precision (FAI Scale): 3 aircraft

Judging was by five judges: the highest and lowest scores from the five were deleted and the remaining three averaged for each flight.

Giant Scale

1. Ramon Torres — Beechcraft T-34C-1 (winner, repeated 1985 victory)

• Completely detailed: thousands of rivets (Zap-Lok), detailed cockpit, camouflage finish in K & B epoxy, accurately made landing gear.
• Notable feature: accurately reproduced Fowler flap system that extends outward as well as downward; gear and flaps sequence precisely.
• Power: Moki 1.5 cu. in. engine (very loud, unmuffled sound).
• Weight: 23 lb.; fiberglass fuselage from Ramon’s original molds.

1. Dennis Crooks — Grumman TBM-3 Avenger (second place)

• Folding wings operated via RC; Supertigre 2500 engine; 19 lb.
• On the second flight the heat damaged the folding-wing mechanism and the right wing suddenly unfolded while taxiing. Subsequent flights were made with the wings permanently extended and locked. Static score was slightly low.

1. Bob Hanft — 1/3-scale Fokker E.V./D.VIII (third place)

• Novel audio system simulating machine-gun fire via a tiny transducer, loud enough to be heard above the two-horsepower Super-Tartan engine.

1. Frank Thomas — scale Spitfire (fourth place)

• Built from a Dave Platt kit; powered by a Supertigre 2500 engine.
• Dave Platt was present flying Free Flight Scale with a large rubber-powered Grumman Guardian.

Other notable Giant Scale finishes and entries:

• Francis McCracken — a pair of Ryan PT-22s (one 1/4-scale and the other 1/5-scale), both scratch-built, polished-metal look by burnished MonoKote; larger model powered by Supertigre 2500, smaller by Supertigre .90. By coincidence, both models finished sixth in their respective classes.
• Mike Grecz and Maxey Hester — Morrisey Bravos in seventh and eighth places respectively. Mike repainted the prototype owned by Hazel and Maxey. Mike’s model had an OS .240 Super Gemini twin; Maxey’s an OS .160 twin. Both weighed about 18 lb. Maxey used DuPont Centauri paint over Koverall heat-shrink fabric.
• Dave Fahlenbach — 1/4-scale clipped-wing Cub (ninth place) using an OS Gemini 1.20 twin.
• Tom Street — 1/10-scale Boeing B-17, 10-ft span (tenth place). Powered by four OS .60 four-stroke engines; model weighed 39 lb. Flown without retracts and in rather steep bomber-like turns; bomb drop placed accurately.

Sport Scale Expert

• 1st — Bill McCallie: 1/6-scale Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat (Royal kit)
• Power: OS .90
• Flights noted for smooth landings despite very long, scale-like landing gear legs. Large drop tanks; Bill preferred to place them in the grass just off the runway edge to minimize damage.

• 2nd — Art Johnson: North American F-100D Super Sabre (second place)
• Scratch-designed and -built ducted-fan model driven by a Rossi .81 engine.
• Construction: balsa and ply fuselage, molded plastic afterburner nozzle, foam flying surfaces with carbon-fiber reinforcement, operational wing slats and full-flying stabilizer, sequenced retract gear doors.
• Flying weight: approximately 13½ lb. Heat caused a few problems, but the drag chute deployment at flight’s end drew spectator enthusiasm.

• 3rd — Dale Cordes: 3/4-scale Ryan PT-20
• Started as a Sig kit modified to a military version.
• Power: OS .120 four-stroke.

• 4th — Larry Jensen: 1/4-scale clipped-wing Cub
• Power: Webra .90.

Sport Scale Sportsman

• 1st — Louis Escalona: DH Tiger Moth (1/2 scale)
• Weight: 6½ lb.
• Power: OS .61 four-stroke.
• Traditional construction: silk covering and nitrate dope finish.

• 2nd — Elmer Hebranson: Waco UMF-3
• Elmer is one of the RC old-timers, along with Larry Jensen, Ed Izzo, and Maxey Hester.

FAI Scale

FAI Scale was sparsely attended with only three entries.

• 1st — Hal Parenti: Savoia Marchetti SM.79 bomber
• Hal made one successful flight; with the 25% bonus this was enough for first place.
• Midway through his second flight the right engine quit and the model became difficult to control; the extremely hot air and loss of an engine combined to cause a crash. This was the third Savoia Marchetti bomber Hal had built; all three have suffered severe damage.

• 2nd — Bob Wischer: Ryan SCW (resurrected)
• The model had suffered severe damage at Reno in 1982 and was rebuilt. Low bonus (5%) limited competitiveness despite a high static score. Heat softened the aileron control system and there were concerns about servo whirring during flight preparation.

Other Noteworthy Models

• Gary Underhill — 3/4-scale Morane-Saulnier Type L (third place in its class)
• Extremely out-of-the-ordinary; scale-size tail surfaces appeared small yet the model was quite stable. Weight about 7 lb.; duplicated wing-warping lateral control instead of ailerons. Power: OS .60 four-stroke.
• Gary’s second airplane: 1/4-scale Fieseler Storch in the Sport Scale class, built from a Svenson kit with a Supertigre .75 engine.

• Ernest Harwood — Henschel HS-126A1 (1/2 scale)
• Finished in auto enamel over silkspan and dope. Power: OS .60. Weight: 12 lb.

• Jim Fields — Fleet (Concept Models kit)
• Best detailing of a radial dummy engine: a Kinner five-cylinder dummy made from plywood, dowels, and basswood.
• Power: Quadra .35. Electronics: 500 mAh receiver battery and a separate 1,200 mAh pack for servos.

• Wayne Moore — 1/2-scale Smith Miniplane
• Span 88 in., weight 26 lb., power: Kioritz 3.7 engine.

• Bud Atkinson — Northrop A-17 (1/5-scale)
• Weight 23 lb., power: Zenoah 2.3 G38 engine.

• John Dorman — 3/4-scale Piper Cub finished as an Army L-4
• Power: Supertigre 2000 engine.

Awards

• George Meyer Craftsmanship Award (RC Scale): Dennis Crooks for his Grumman Avenger (same model that received Best-of-Show at Toledo). The Avenger flies in a very scale-like manner and competes well in the air as well as statically.

• Flight Achievement Award (National Association of Scale Aeromodelers — NASA): Bill McCallie for his outstanding performance with the Grumman Bearcat (first in Expert class).

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