1986 U.S. Free Flight Championships
Herb Robbins and Sal Fruciano
Photos by Herb Robbins, Sal Fruciano, and Mik Mikkelson
Overview
Summer arrives early in California's interior, and this year's Memorial Day weekend was typical for the U.S. Free Flight Championships at Taft—bright, sunny, and about 95°F. Survival for three days of sun required tents, campers and other shade structures, plus a large amount of common sense.
This was the 15th annual event, sponsored by the Free Flight Model Airplane Association of Southern California. Contest Director was Carlo Godel. Roger Gudahl of Phoenix, attending for the first time, described it well: "So much happening at one time, like a three-ring circus and county fair combined. It seems to have something for everyone. If you fly Free Flight, there are events for you." Counting all age divisions, there were 48 events and about 250 fliers, many competing in several events.
Notable winners and performances
- Randy Archer (Phoenix): entered three events and took first in Class C Power with 47:46 (NFFS Model of the Year), first in FAI Power (F1C) with 10 straight maxes—winning a six-man flyoff—and second in Night Flying with 39:44 (just shy of Scott Reid's 40:00). Randy's official flight total for those three events was nearly two hours. He flew a modified Roger Simpson design powered by Ron Young's "Cossi" engine (a cross between a Cox and a Rossi) consistently running about 28,000 rpm. His model climbed to an estimated 600–700 feet in the allowed seven seconds.
- Mike Mulligan: won both the Behrens Giant Scale and AMA Scale events with a large Cranwell CLA-3 model. Flights of 3–4 minutes were common; he executed long, floaty flights and perfect three-point landings.
- Roger Simpson: posted 54:39 in Class A, flying his FAI Power (F1C) model.
- Mike Mulligan and Ed Lidgard: teamed up (Hi Ho design) to win Old-Timer Cabin.
- Mike Mikkelson: won Stick with Ray Smith's 1941 Stick.
Wakefield Rubber
Wakefield Rubber remains popular. Thirty-nine entrants began the 7 a.m. starting round, and after Round 7 there were 11 full-house maxes. The 6 p.m. flyoff was notable: only Steve Beebe (Taft) achieved the 4-minute max while the other 10 dropped out—decided in a single round.
Meuser Mulvihill (dawn, one unlimited-duration flight)
- Entrants: 15.
- Winner: Bob White, flying a 78-gram Twin Fin with 300 sq. in. area, posted 7:42. This was Bob's seventh victory in nine years.
- Conditions: a slight early-morning breeze kept times lower than previous years.
- Defending winner Laurie Barr (England) recorded only half the 14 minutes he won with last year, placing him fifth.
- Designs: a wide range, including several Bob White Twin Fins. The emphasis remains on good power-to-weight ratio: keep them light and use lots of rubber.
- Notable competitor: Sal Cannizzo (New York City) vied with Laurie Barr for farthest traveler.
Night Flying
Night flying of P-30 models is a long-standing tradition. John Oldenkamp's Night Fly for Mulvihill and P-30 models was very popular among rubber fliers. Models were made visible with one-gram chemical glow sticks glued or rubber-banded to wingtips or fuselages.
Coauthor Herb Robbins described the highlight: night flying P-30 with his nine-year-old son Scott. After daytime test flights and inspections, models were wound to 110% of the daytime limit, checked for alignment and stopwatch setting, then launched into a starlit sky. Father and son followed glowing models across the desert flat; the grass acted like fiber optics showing where models had come down. Glow sticks were also used on HLGs with flight times comparable to daytime.
Towline Glider duel
Martyn Cowley and Matt Gewain both maxed in A-2 Towline Glider, requiring a flyoff. The contest extended to five flyoff rounds, with Cowley winning in the B-minute round. Cowley's plane has a relatively short wingspan, contrary to the trend toward higher aspect ratios; he uses a twanger tow hook with his own modifications. Martyn also won A-1 Towline Glider, well ahead of Antonio Abaunza (Mexico).
Indoor flying
The Taft High School gymnasium provided enough room for indoor flying, though it was warm. Easy B fliers decided to use plastic covering next year because high temperatures warped condenser-paper-covered surfaces. Clarence Mather won Easy B.
Other indoor winners:
- Open Indoor HL Glider: Phedon Tsiknopolis (several spectacular 36-sec. flights).
- Jr. HL Glider: Jeff Wittman (nice 23-sec. flights).
- Earl Hoffman: Pennylane.
- Clarence Mather: Peanut Scale.
- Ron Wittman: Peanut Scale, Mooney Rules.
Statistics and records
- Participants came from: Canada, England, Mexico, Argentina, and many U.S. states including New York, Idaho, Arizona, Michigan, Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, New Mexico, Maryland, Ohio, Utah, and Texas.
- Five women registered to fly.
- At least four national records were claimed:
- 1/2A Power Open: Bob Sundberg, 40:00.
- CO2 Jr.: Jeff Wittman, 4:15.
- B Electric Jr.: Robert Ilies, 7:23.
- B Electric Open: John Oian, 41:31.
Organization and conclusion
Contest Director Carlo Godel organized the events smoothly; procedures generally followed a one-fly, one-time format without problems.
The U.S. Free Flight Championships remains a worthwhile trip and an opportunity to compete with the very best.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
