AMA Nats: FF Indoor Duration
Larry Kruse
Overview
INDOOR flying at all levels has seen a resurgence in the past several years, and the activity at this year's Tidewater Nationals exemplified the trend. Scheduled less than two months after the successful FAI World Championships and the well-attended U.S. Indoor Championships held in Johnson City, TN, this year's Nationals had a respectable 170+ event entries preregistered and scheduled to be flown by 58 individual modelers.
The cancellation of the Nats Outdoor FF events meant that several fliers who ordinarily would have come to compete in the Indoor events as well did not attend at all. As a consequence, the 58 individual entries in Indoor compare favorably to last year's 64 modelers entered in the highly successful Indoor competition in Lincoln, NE.
Venue
The suitability of the flying site is always a question in Indoor contests. This year's Scope Coliseum in downtown Norfolk proved to be relatively hospitable to all fliers able to keep their ships away from a central hanging scoreboard and a light ring which circumscribed the arena about 65 ft. from the floor.
The bulk of the contestants were able to avoid the hanging obstacles, either by judicious steering or by gauging motor lengths correctly. Those models which ran afoul of the perils were released in due time by helpful personnel from the Scope manning overhead catwalks. Few significant complaints were heard, and as one wag put it, "The site got better as times went up."
Organization
Much of the success of Nationals Indoor flying, both this year and last, is directly attributable to the hard work of Richard and Melody Doig, the husband-and-wife CD team who have jointly brought Indoor back to a true Nationals-level competition. The Doigs' organizational skills, no-nonsense approach, and almost fanatic attention to contest details give the competition a framework within which each contestant knows he (or she) will be treated fairly and impartially, and that the contest will progress as it should.
Events and Results
#### Hand-Launch Glider (HLG) Indoor competition began in earnest with the "heaviest" event, Hand-Launch Glider, being flown on Sunday. Junior Jeff Plassman served notice of how things would go by posting an excellent 68.6 to win handily over Fredrik Silverin of Alefors, Sweden, who was enjoying his first Nats as a guest of Dr. and Mrs. Austin Hill of Haworth, NJ. Seven-year-old Chad Hill wrapped things up for the Hill clan and their guest by winning the third-place plaque in his first-ever contest.
Jim Buxton and Don Slusarczyk proved they were both "flangers" in Senior HLG by playing leapfrog with their respective times most of the morning. Mighty-mite Buxton finally bested Slusarczyk by a tick over two seconds at 97.3 to Don's 95.2. Pat Scuro came in a distant third to the more experienced pair.
#### Open HLG The names Plassman and Slusarczyk showed up again in Open HLG, where dads Gerald and Chuck drew the attention of the audience as their times climbed to take advantage of the 65-ft-plus ceiling. Slusarczyk's plane had initial trim problems that put it in the seats on several occasions, resulting in a broken tail boom. As might be imagined, trim improved as such happenings occurred.
Plassman's ship, on the other hand, had a most unusual climb pattern — it went up straight as a string at about a 60° angle and then made a flat turn into its glide pattern. Gerald's best flight, over 58 seconds, ultimately gave him a 22-sec advantage over Chuck and posted a final 112.9.
#### Pennyplane Novice Pennyplane and Senior Pennyplane were carbon copies of each other in Junior and Senior, with Mark Richmond (a name to watch) and Chris Scum finishing that way in Junior; Don Slusarczyk and Jim Buxton reversing their HLG postings in Senior.
Open Pennyplane was once again the Gordon Wisniewski show as it has been for the last several Nats. "Da Wiz" has a mighty tough biplane to beat. Joe Krush and Pete Staehling both gave it a try, but finished almost a full minute back. Canadian John Marett, who was fourth in Pennyplane, narrowly edged out Bob Nichols for first in Novice with a 10:54 to Nichols' 10:36. Tony Becker got as close as you can get at 10:35, and Jim Richmond (another name to watch) and Tom Iacobellis tied for fourth at 10:15.
#### Manhattan Cabin Manhattan Cabin found Marett continuing the stride he had in Novice Pennyplane. Flying against National Record holder Walt Van Gorder, Marett pushed his spindly-legged bird to a fine 9:50. Joe Krush came from the rail, squeezing in between Marett and Van Gorder at 9:35, and dropped Walt to an unexpected third.
#### F1D and Hand-Launch Stick The big F1Ds appeal to the aesthetics more than any other event. This year's aerial ballet of the biggies was particularly special due to the presence of five-time World Champion Jim Richmond, on hand to receive long-overdue recognition from AMA. Watching Jim's meticulous, well-practiced preparations for flight, from simply opening his model box, through assembly of the aircraft, to selection of motors to fit the requirements of the site, was a lesson in aesthetics—everything carefully thought out, carefully planned, and precisely executed.
The results speak for themselves. Jim posted a 74:16 in FAI, and everyone else followed. The pattern continued in Hand-Launch Stick. Jim posted a 35:43 here, and everyone followed. It was a marvelous demonstration of how indoor should be flown. Certainly those who don't get the opportunity to fly against Jim regularly will recount again and again the time they flew against the best in the world. It was a most impressive demonstration of planning, skill, and experience, all put together with a sense of style and class by a true champion: Jim Richmond.
#### Easy B Easy B found Walt Van Gorder on the attack. Apparently his unexpected third-place finish in Manhattan Cabin got his attention, because he attacked Easy B with a purpose. Each of his successive flights climbed perilously close to disaster with the scoreboard and encircling lights. All the while, Walt was reducing the motor size and length to get something to fit within the confines of the Scope. Finally, as his well-tested Easy Pieces responded to his motor adjustments, Walt put up an excellent 18:08, besting Gordon Wisniewski's 17:05 by over a full minute—almost unheard of in an event that measures victory by ticks of the stopwatch.
In Senior Easy B, Don Slusarczyk was an easy winner; in Junior, Mark Richmond, although uncontested, flew a very nice 10:18 to help announce his arrival as an indoor flier.
#### ROG Cabin ROG Cabin, the dinosaur of the AMA Indoor events, was the scene of another exciting head-to-head battle. Don Slusarczyk, a Senior, was one of the participants, and Dan Belieff, a well-known name in Open circles, was the other. They alternated lead changes as the midnight launch deadline in ROG approached. Cracking the 20-minute mark at 20:40, it appeared that Belieff was the new winner of the Stout Indoor trophy. But, no! Young Don had gone for broke on his last flight, and his model touched the floor after a flight of 21:18 just scant minutes before the witching hour.
Not willing to let the coveted trophy escape, Dan Belieff wound quickly, but in his haste to launch damaged his ship. Hurried repairs were effected, and the ship was launched despite the damage. It was, of course, badly out of trim and went to the floor with many turns still on the motor. Young Don Slusarczyk had done it. As one pundit said upon strolling out of the auditorium, "That was really beyond Belieff, wasn't it?" Most within earshot hurried on out without reply.
Thanks and Closing
Credit for another good Indoor Nats certainly goes to the contestants who put forth their best efforts, both in helping their fellow modelers and in competing against them. Richard and Melody Doig also deserve a large measure of thanks for their tireless efforts on behalf of Indoor fliers. As long as a well-run contest can be assured, as it most certainly can under the supervision of the Doigs, Indoor at the Nats will continue its rightful place of prominence.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
