AMA NATS 1983: CL Scale
Bill Boss
FABULOUS is the only way to describe the 1983 Nats, and if you weren't there, you missed one of the best we've had in many years. The AMA headquarters arrangement and all motels at which the contestants stayed were within a few minutes of the flying areas at Westover AFB. The competition-convention theme of this year's event went over real well. There seemed to be something to do, or be involved in, day or night. After a day's flying, you could take advantage of various seminars on building techniques, covering methods, reviews of new products by some manufacturers, and so on.
Of special interest to the Scale modeler was a seminar by the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA), in which Bob Underwood, past president (and overall Scale Category Director this year), addressed a standing-room-only audience. Bob introduced the newly elected NASA officials and spoke about the future goals and aims of the organization. A major highlight of the seminar was a talk and question-and-answer session on scale building techniques by Bob Wischer that was well received by all present. I'll have more on NASA and its new officers in a future column.
Entries and Judging
The Control Line Scale events were fabulous, too. We had a total entry of 40 models:
- 24 in Sport
- 6 in Precision
- 10 in the newly added FAI event
While the addition of the FAI event may well have contributed to the increased Scale entry, it caused a decrease in Precision entries. I feel the main reason more entered FAI rather than Precision was the recent change in the FAI rules that eliminated the requirement of a scale ruler and the actual measuring of the models. Overall, adding FAI appeared to be beneficial; we had more entries than in the past few years.
As has been the practice for several years, Precision (and, this year, FAI) models had to be turned in by Wednesday of the week for static judging. Static judging was done by:
- Bill DeVerna
- John Gunther
- Ed McCollough
- John Preston
Sport Scale model turn-in and judging was accomplished on Friday and was done by:
- Al Novotnik
- Bob Adair
- Mario Yederlinick
Flying and Officials
Flying was done as scheduled on Saturday and Sunday. John Preston performed the CL Scale Event Director's duties and, as usual, did a great job. He was ably assisted on the flying circle by flight judges Burt Dugan and Bob Adair, while Bill Peppin and Ken Uzdanovich performed pull-testing and circle administration chores.
Winners and Results
FAI Scale was won by Jeff Perez (Larned, KS) with a Boeing B-17. This model placed high in the 1982 CL Scale World Championships. Power is provided by four OS .25s. This 11½-lb. model flies well and is a very impressive sight with its landing gear retracted.
Junior Class contestant Julie Abel (St. Louis, MO) was the season's most successful Scale modeler, placing first in three events — uncontested FAI, Precision, and Sport — and besting Reuben MacBride Jr. (Clifton, NJ), who flew a PT-19 in the Sport category, by seven points for a 109 total score. Julie flew a J-3 Cub (FAI), Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer (Precision), and Nesmith Cougar (Sport). Both the Pilatus PC-7 and the J-3 Cub were winners at last year's Nats, giving Julie five firsts in two years. It should also be noted that among Junior Class entrants, Billy Force (Sweetwater, NJ) was one of the youngest Scale contestants, flying a Hellcat at just five years of age.
Senior Class saw only four entries this year, three in Sport and one in Precision, which was Mathew Bauer (Chicago, IL), flying his Cessna Skymaster.
In the Sport category, Phil Amico (Mt. Sinai, NY), entering a Nats for the first time, took top honors with a P-47 scoring 139 points, 40 more than Chris Scott (Dayton, OH), who flew a Cierva C-4 autogyro. In addition to taking second place, Scott was awarded NASA's Flight Achievement Award for successfully flying his .049-powered craft. Mathew Bauer was third, flying his well-tried P-40.
Open Class turnout:
- FAI: 9 entries
- Sport: 18 entries
- Precision: 4 entries
Both the FAI and Sport events were hotly contested for top honors.
FAI category details: static scores for almost all entrants were within 100 points of each other, making flight performance decisive. When all three flight rounds were completed, Jeff Perez (Larned, KS), one of last year's World Scale team members, amassed 1,202.48 points to finish first with his Boeing B-17. Ron Sears (Pontiac, MI) flew his PT-17 (last year's Precision category winner) to second place with 1,162.90, only 40 points behind Perez. Third place went to Ed Rhoads (Cinnaminson, NJ) with his Douglas Skyraider, scoring 1,155.62 — seven points behind Sears.
Open Sport Scale: Steve Ashby (Indianapolis, IN) flew his D.H. Mosquito to top honors with a score of 175. In second place, Mike Gretz (Montezuma, IA) posted 170.67 with a great-flying PT-19. Ron Sears (Pontiac, MI), flying a P-47, and Australian Graves, flying a Brown B-2 Racer, tied for third with scores of 155.33. Places from fourth to eleventh were separated by only a total of 15 points, with most places separated by tenths of points. Sport Scale results indicated a very close competition.
Open Precision Scale: I took top honors with the D.H. Mosquito, posting a 495.50 total score (364 static, 131.50 flight). My friend and competitor Sam Abdow (Fall River, MS) took second place with his impressive Howard DGA-15. The other two competitors in the Open Precision event were Charles and Peter Bauer (father and son), who finished third and fourth respectively. Charles flew a great-looking Pitts Special, while Peter flew a Shoestring Racer.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
Of the 40 Scale entries, there were 34 different planes modeled. Duplicates were:
- three Zeros
- three P-47s
- two B-25s
- two D.H. Mosquitos
Not a single P-51 Mustang was seen!
Four models employed electronic control systems using servos for the models' operational functions rather than the familiar bellcrank and pushrod systems. Of the four contestants using this type system, Ed Rhoads (Cinnaminson, NJ), flying a Skyraider, had the most successful flight. All options run by this new system (bomb and tank drops, arresting hook extension and retraction, dive brake, and engine shutoff) worked perfectly.
Most models weighed in the 7–10 lb range, had wingspans of 55 to 65 in., and the majority seemed to be amply powered. Good size, weight, and proper power in most models contributed to the large number of very successful flights. It appears that CL Scalers have come a long way in improving the flying aspects of their models.
Acknowledgements
Before closing this Nats Scale report, I'd like to once again say thanks to all CL Scale officials for a superb job; to all the contestants, some applause for the great way many of them conducted themselves during the competition; and finally, a personal thanks to my good friend and New York Scale Team member Pete Bianchi (who didn't fare too well with his C-47 — broken wing) for his assistance and support in making this a successful and satisfying Nats.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
