AMA NATS: FF Outdoor Scale
By Larry Kruse
Miraculously, Outdoor Scale slipped between two weather fronts that dominated Free Flight during Nats week and landed on a perfect day for flying. Scale Category Manager John Guenther arranged the previous day to move the Outdoor Scale site to the same sod farm being used for RC Soaring events, providing a more appropriate setting for ROG launches and for retrieval of sometimes-delicate scale birds.
Through the efforts of Contest Director Mike Gretz and his workers, material for a suitable ROG surface appeared overnight at the southern edge of a broad expanse of sod regrowth and was quickly assembled into a takeoff surface Wednesday morning. Light early-morning breezes were predominantly from the south but were moderated by the trees bordering the field. The trees provided a windbreak and a picturesque setting as models circled smoothly up over the tree line into the bright blue sky.
Notable aircraft
Beautiful aircraft were abundant in all categories. Several contestants chose to bring outdoors ships they had previously flown indoors at Pershing Auditorium.
- Ken Groves' well-detailed Fike Dream, winner of Indoor Peanut, took on an almost stained-glass appearance outdoors as sunlight lit the tissue.
- Ed DeLoach brought a particularly nice red Rearwin Speedster being trimmed for AMA Rubber Scale.
- Dave Platt entered a characteristically large and well-done Brewster SB2A in AMA Rubber Scale; it was visually impressive but suffered a structural failure on its first official flight when the wing folded as the model lifted into its power pattern.
- Eric Dittman built a striking 54-inch-span gas-scale maroon-and-silver Taylorcraft. Started as a Comet kit, it gained a fully detailed interior (padded seats, full instrument panel, control system), scale shock-absorbing landing gear, and even a shrunken copy of Flying magazine on the dash. Powered by a dieselized Cox .049, the model weighed a little over 13 oz.
- Jack McGillivray's large SE-5, designed for Flying Aces Club (FAC) Scale, was a true knockdown model with four separate wing panels, interplane struts hung together with brace wires, a dethermalizer (DT) timer, and an unusual single-spar, ribless stabilizer that pivoted on its spar for dethermalizing.
Competition and results
Competition in each event was keen. Highlights and placings included:
#### Open Peanut Scale
- 1st: Ken Groves (Fike)
- 2nd: Jack McGillivray (SE-5)
- 3rd: Bob Willey (Fike) — 148.69 points
- 4th: William Rogers (Tailwind) — 148.50 points
Ken Groves continued his outstanding form, winning Outdoor Peanut with his exceptional Fike. McGillivray flew the same venerable SE-5 outdoors that he had used indoors. Lincolnite Bob Willey preserved his city's honor with a strong third-place showing.
#### Junior and Senior Peanut A bevy of Lacey and Fike models populated the Peanut classes. A notable exception was the tiny Volkspane flown by Melinda Anderson. Arriving late after flying all day at the Denton site, she quickly wound and re-wound her plane and put up as many flights as she could before time was called, earning third place in Senior Peanut.
#### Open AMA Rubber Scale
- 1st: Ken Groves
- 2nd: Jim Miller (Fike)
- 3rd: Jack McGillivray
Doc Martin flew his Dremwell very well. Larry Kruse's Mauboussin tandem-wing ship, which had high scale points, climbed to impressive altitudes but spun out of good air on two occasions. Dave Platt's Brewster was expected to contend strongly but was eliminated when the wing folded on its first official flight.
#### Senior notable
- Don DeLoach flew a very nice Corben to an excellent score of 160, bucking the Fike–Lacey trend in the Senior ranks.
#### AMA Gas Scale Motor type dominated this category. CO2 was the most popular powerplant, especially in the Junior and Senior classes and among top placers in Open.
- Open AMA Gas Scale:
- 1st: Larry Kruse — Felco Turbo–powered 1917 Cessna Comet
- 2nd: Mike Welch — CO2-powered entry
- Other placings included Bob Schneider and several attractive, well-trimmed models
On such an unusual day and setting (given the circumstances surrounding the rest of Outdoor Free Flight), the fortunate weather and the move to the sod farm made for memorable flying and a very successful Outdoor Scale contest.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
