AMA Nats Lincoln '79: CL Navy Carrier
Frank Kelly
It is a privilege to fill in for Dick Perry, who couldn't make it to Lincoln. I had been apprehensive about the winds in the Nebraska cornfields. Sunday morning at 8:30 I measured 10 mph gusting to 20 on my Dwyer wind meter. Sunday afternoon and through the night we had a tornado watch. We don't have those in Los Angeles, and I was sure that on Friday the wind gods would repossess my airplane during my low-speed flight. Tuesday it rained a little, but Wednesday it was hot, clear and windless.
Two carrier decks were set up for practice flights and I got in a few with Bob Reynolds, who had three beautiful Fairey Fireflies.
Carrier I and II Day
Thursday was Carrier I and II day, but I flew Jet Speed in the adjacent circle. Rat Race was on the other side of the carrier circle — not a great help for the low-speed segment, where it's nice to be able to hear your engine. I found, however, that with the necessary total concentration during the low-speed run my mind tuned out all interference, and it was not a serious problem.
Pete Mazur demonstrated his flying skill again with some 350+ flights in both Class I and Class II with his fleet of Martin MO-1s. Bob Reynolds had the highest high speed of the day at 112 mph in Class II. Consistent Pete Mazur scored the three lowest low speeds (21 mph) of the day in both classes. His planes wobble more than I like at low speed, but his over-60° attitude deviations were only momentary, if not inadvertent.
Bob Hawk and Harry Higley both scored under 30 mph on the low-speed runs and looked smooth. Harry made an arrested landing but his hook then disengaged and the plane remained on the deck. He was denied landing points and politely appealed the decision through appropriate channels. Nats officials ruled that the zero landing score would stand, but that for Profile the following day such a landing would score 100 points. Only three 100-point landings were made in Class II with eight zeros. Class I had only two 100-point landings, five in between, and one zero.
Watch out for Lou Matustik, the only Senior — he's getting it all together.
Profile Day
Friday was Profile day; the Speed circle was closed but Rat Race continued. The weather was perfect again and I took pains to be first up, still expecting tornadoes. Early in my attempts I discovered something hung up in my linkage, preventing the throttle from going to full high speed. I called it an attempt and went back to the pits. Fortunately it wasn't serious and I went back for another attempt. By then several others were up and going.
On my next flight the needle was way off from the previous problem so the high wasn't great at 78.4 mph. I did my low-speed run at 14.8 mph and landed normally for 241 points — pretty good but by no means unbeatable given the competition.
Notable flights and scores that day:
- Frank Kelly: high 78.4 mph, low 14.8 mph, 241 points.
- Pete Mazur (Bearcat with OS Tune Conversion 36): high 84.5 mph, low 19.8 mph, 237 points.
- LeRoy Cordes: high 83.9 mph, low 15.9 mph, 237 points.
- Harry Higley (Super MO-1): high 80.3 mph, low 15.2 mph, 233 points.
- Pete Mazur (other flight): high 81.2 mph, low 16.6 mph, 240 points.
I later screwed the needle in a full turn from the previous setting and that was too much — 74.2 mph high and 14.6 mph low, and I touched the "water" on my final approach for no landing points. I had to sweat out my 1-point lead even beyond the 5 p.m. cut-off.
Les Pardue came back from flying Combat at about 4:45 with his nice-looking Guardian and turned 86.5 mph and 26.3 mph. Then on landing the arresting line broke loose from the sandbag (gold dust? — the bags were marked "Property of U.S. Mint") and the plane flipped over on its back.
George Lieb, Nats Navy Carrier Director, ruled that since the AMA equipment failed, Pardue could have another attempt even after the 5 p.m. cut-off time. Dave Reiber, NATS Speed Director all week (though he flew Profile Carrier on Friday), argued the 5 p.m. cut-off was the rule and no further flight should be permitted. Higher authorities were summoned and another ruling was made that Pardue could have one more flight. Pardue resolved the whole matter quietly by waiting to be called, then deliberately allowing the two-minute time limit to expire while rolling up his lines.
In the end I won first place, with Pete Mazur second and LeRoy Cordes third. It should be noted that scale points made a difference — with 10 scale points LeRoy Cordes would be first and Harry Higley would be second.
Equipment and Handles
I was delighted to see Carl Miller flying with two Hot Rock handles. The right handle went to a conventional bellcrank in his Ringmaster with eight inches chopped off the right wing. The left handle controlled a third line against a rubber-band return for throttle control. The system worked well. All others used the J. Roberts/GS handle — except me. I use a Hot Rock handle with a trigger made of coat-hanger wire, and a homemade double bellcrank for throttle and elevator. There is some interaction but I prefer the lightweight handle and low-friction movement. This leaves my left hand free so I can check lap times with my Cronus stopwatch during the low-speed run. I know what my plane can do, and if it's not good enough, I speak sternly to myself and try harder.
Statistical Analysis and Commentary
After the results were in I examined the details at the AMA office. Mike Pratt had the highest plane at 28 oz., and there were seven 28-oz. planes, including Riley Page's with a Fox 36. There were seven Schnuerle engines and most of these planes were heavy. Pete Mazur's Bearcat with OS was the heaviest at 41 oz. Generally, the planes with hot engines weighed around 36 oz., and the norm for the ST 35/Dec was 28 oz. Superete was the clear favorite, with 14 entries.
There was not a clear correlation between weight and speed, nor between Schnuerle engines and speed. Conclusion: build a light scale plane with a reliable engine, and practice low speed and landings.
Awards and Closing
The Eugene Ely Award was presented to Pete Mazur Friday evening at the annual meeting of the Navy Carrier Society for best performance in the two-year cycle. The present engine rule will probably be retained, and "arrested landing"...
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Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
