AMA Nats: RC Helicopters
By Dan Melnik
This year's AMA National RC Helicopter Championship event was held July 13–15 in Lincoln, NE. While the competition had relatively small numbers—39 total entries—it proved large in talent, including all three members of the U.S. 1987 World Champs team who had just returned from competing in Switzerland.
Event organization and conditions
Dwayne Stevens, event director, was well organized and had enough manpower to run a smooth contest. Unlike some years past, the flying field was excellent: good grass cover, a central location, and plenty of room to spread out. The weather cooperated for the most part—moderate temperatures and mostly light wind—with only a little rain on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Mike Mas was flying his third round of FAI when the rain let go; predictably, he posted his lowest score of the contest in that round.
With 39 competitors and three full days to fly four rounds, Stevens kept things moving and finished the contest without delays. On-field scoring via Decker Daggett's computer helped keep things efficient. One set of judges scored the entire contest, with five judges for the FAI class (dropping the high and low scores and keeping the middle three), which maintained scoring consistency.
Schedule
- Monday: two rounds of FAI, followed by one round each of Intermediate and Novice.
- Tuesday: one round of FAI, two rounds of Intermediate, and one round of Novice.
- Wednesday: two rounds of Novice and the final round of FAI.
The staggered order of flight allowed contestants scheduled in the afternoon to arrive shortly before their events and to view other Nats activities, contributing to a low-key, low-stress atmosphere that felt much like a fun-fly.
Classes and entries
There were four RC helicopter classes at the Nationals:
- Novice: 15 pilots
- Intermediate: 6 pilots
- FAI: 14 pilots
- Scale: 4 pilots
Several Intermediate fliers had moved up to FAI, making this one of the larger FAI classes at the Nats. During the post-contest fun flying, it was obvious some Novice pilots might have been competitive in Intermediate; in the contest itself, Novice piloting skill was generally better than in Intermediate.
Results
After four rounds the scores in all classes were very tight.
Novice
- 1st: Peter Chow — GMP Competitor, score 292
- 2nd: William Johnson — Schluter Champion, 3 points behind
- 3rd: Silas Kwok — Cobra Jet Ranger
Intermediate
- 1st: Gilbert Ruiz — King Cobra (1 point ahead)
- 2nd: Greg Sawyer — Champion
- 3rd: Vincent Petracek — Champion (7 points behind)
FAI
- Top three were members of the 1987 U.S. World Champs team: Curtis Youngblood, Robert Gorham, and Mike Mas.
- After the scheduled four rounds Youngblood and Gorham were tied for first; the contest was decided by a flyoff. Curtis Youngblood, 1987 World Champion, won the flyoff. The flying was very close—Gorham flew very smooth, Youngblood a bit more precise following cones.
- Curtis Youngblood: GMP Jet Ranger; Competitor mechanics with OS 60 long-stroke engine and Supertigre carburetor; push-pull cyclic system to eliminate play; Tru-Spin rotor blades ballasted 200 grams.
- Robert Gorham (2nd): Cobra Jet Ranger powered by an OS Max 60 FSR.
- Mike Mas (3rd): Schluter Champion. Mike posted the highest single-round score, but rain in round three likely affected his overall placement.
Scale
There were four Scale entries: two Bell 222s and two Hughes 500s. Final placings were largely determined by flying skill; two entries apparently received no static points due to lack of documentation.
- 1st: Silas Kwok — Bell 222 using Cobra mechanics
- 2nd: Don Chapman — Rotary Wing Concepts Hughes 500; exceptionally quiet model using a Whisper-Tec muffler and rubber-damped Champion mechanics
- 3rd: Bill Crain — Eberle Hughes 500 using Competitor mechanics and a multi-bladed head
Demonstrations and extras
After the contest there was demonstration flying. Robert Hamilton and Robert Gorham performed formation flying with their new Limited Edition Storks. There was also some impromptu helicopter pylon racing; results of one heat were documented photographically.
Acknowledgments
Congratulations to the AMA, Dwayne Stevens and his crew, and all the volunteers and sponsors who made the event possible. Thank you all—hope to see you next year.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
