AMA Nats Lincoln '79: CL Speed
Gene Hempel
Event staff and overview
I want to express appreciation and thanks to all who helped execute and administrate the speed events at the '79 Nats. The event director for this year's speed events was Dave Reiber, with Bev and Mindy Wisniewski as his assistants. This year's Nats were well attended and the overall speed entries were up from the '78 Nats. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the B/S sessions flowed faster than the speeds.
Monday, July 30 — FAI, F-40 and A speed
FAI Speed
- 1st: Akeshi Kusumoto — 137.74 mph (prototype OS MAX .15; outward appearance resembled a Rossi .15, incorporated a brass sleeve and electroless nickel coating)
- 2nd: Frank Hunt — 135.33 mph
- 3rd: Glenn Lee — 125.81 mph
Note: Akeshi's OS MAX .15 prototype showed beautiful workmanship and may be available in the U.S. within 4–6 months.
F-40
- 1st: Glenn Lee — 166.99 mph (Kelly 8-8 glass prop)
- 2nd: Gene Hempel — 155.04 mph (Rev-Up 8-9N)
- 3rd: Robert Oge — 152.48 mph
Additional F-40 results:
- Senior William Hughes — 144.93 mph
- Junior Glenn Fultz — 138.99 mph
- Quay Barber — 132.64 mph
Notes: F-40 speeds were relatively close, with K&B 6.5 engines dominating. I am convinced there are extra mph in using glass props.
A Speed
- 1st: Fred Margarido — 173.01 mph (M&M speed team)
- 2nd: Joyce Margarido — 171.85 mph
- 3rd: Akeshi Kusumoto — 162.83 mph
Other A speed results:
- Senior record holder Dimmie Perkins — 146.05 mph
- Senior William Hughes — 86.67 mph
- Junior David Hooke (only Junior entrant) — 103.64 mph
Comment: Too bad there are not more Juniors flying A speed — it is a very easy event to fly.
Tuesday — 1/2A Speed
Overall
- 1st: Dub Jett — 124.78 mph (homebuilt 1/2A DJS)
- 2nd: David Layman — 120.43 mph (DJS)
- 3rd: Al Stegens — 111.20 mph (COX TD049 open face)
Notes: David broke his beautiful 1/2A speed model when it hit one of the tar expansion joints; this presented a problem for all speed fliers and much equipment was torn up. Al treats the 1/2As like small watches that have to be tuned very precisely.
Senior 1/2A Speed
- 1st: Mary Kirn — 103.29 mph (COX TD049 open face)
- 2nd: Dimmie Perkins — 89.16 mph
- 3rd: Doug Hinckly — 85.60 mph
Junior 1/2A Speed
- 1st: Mike Clem — 86.34 mph
- 2nd: David Barber — 75.28 mph
Wednesday — B speed and Senior C
B Speed
- 1st: David Layman (Texas) — 196.43 mph (X-29)
- 2nd: Bev and Mindy Wisniewski — 196.21 mph (K&B 29)
- 3rd: Frank Hunt — 192.23 mph (X-29)
- 4th: Dub Jett — 191.01 mph (DJS 29)
Notes: David added more nitro to sneak past the Wisniewskis. The majority of B speed models utilized a metal suction tank except for Frank Hunt, who used a fuel regulator. Rev-Up 7x10 1/2 speed props were used primarily in all B speed models. The subject of which pipe was faster was a toss-up between the Rossi B pipe and the OPS 40 pipe — what works for one engine may not work well for another.
Senior C Speed
- 1st: Dimmie Perkins — 168.47 mph
- Junior: Glenn Fultz — 148.46 mph
- Junior: Quay Barber — 108.39 mph
Thursday — D speed and Jet speed
D Speed
- 1st: Glenn Lee — 201.49 mph (new D speed record; bored-out OPS 60 brought up to 0.65)
- 2nd: Tom Lauerman — 197.29 mph
- 3rd: Nick Sher — 194.73 mph
- 4th: Akeshi Kusumoto — 193.79 mph (OS MAX 65 on a suction tank)
Notes: OS outdid themselves on the OS MAX 65. There has been more activity in D speed with the mini-pipe rule; modelers concede they are having more fun and going as fast without the pipe. This year D speed had 12 entries, which is good compared to past Nats.
Jet Speed
- 1st: Charlie Davis — 204.00 mph
- 2nd: Dimmie Perkins — 199.70 mph
- 3rd: Frank Marcenaro — 193.89 mph
Notes: The controversy continues — which is faster, the upright or the sidewinder? The first three places were sidewinders (engine mounted on the outboard side of the fuselage). Charlie Davis, Dimmie Perkins, and Frank Marcenaro used modified Raven engines; Frank Marcenaro was one of the first to start modifying the Raven engine.
Meetings and proposals
- Speed Advisory Committee meeting (August 1): Discussed upcoming rules proposals to recommend to the CLCB members. I feel the outcome was very good; only time will tell if the CLCB members follow through with these recommendations.
- Informal meeting on Old Time Speed Society (August 9, University of Nebraska cafeteria): Charlie Davis submitted a rough proposal that generated a lot of interest. Everyone feels starting an Old Time Speed Society will bring back speed fliers. I will discuss these proposals in a later column.
This has been the most enjoyable Nats I have attended.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
