Brodak Fly-In
By Phil Spillman
Each year Aunt Buzz and Uncle John Brodak invite a few hundred of their special friends to come to Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, to frolic and compete with special model airplanes in their back yard in the rolling hills of southwestern Pennsylvania.
This year's event, held June 13–16, saw 273 entrants put up just less than 700 flights in a bewildering array of events including Old-Time Stunt, Classic Stunt, Profile, and PAMPA (Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association) Stunt (with four skill classes in each). There was also Clown Racing, Foxberg Racing, Speed Limit Combat, Navy Carrier Classes I and II, Profile Carrier, and Sportsman Carrier.
On the wild and different side, two new, unusual events were added this year: Junkyard Wars and Ladies-Only Basic Flight. A mother-and-daughter duo, Jeanna and Olivia Mills from North Carolina, bracketed the ladies-only event. Olivia was the youngest contestant ever to attend the fly-in.
William Davis traveled up from North Carolina and brought his daughter so she could see what her dad was, and has been, up to all these years. He was delighted to see her having a fine time hanging out with all the fliers and competing in the ladies-only event. Sarah's happiness might have been the best Father's Day gift William has ever received!
Not to be slighted in any way were our friends in the Scale circles, where Fun, Profile, and Sport were contested. There were some beautiful airplanes.
George Marenka's B-17 was impressive as a competition model, but he went a step further and presented a flying scale demonstration to the entire group. George flew his big model off the grass circle on the green to the delight of many of us who were unable to go up on the hill to see the big heavy fly from the tarmac.
A most unusual competitor from north-central Pennsylvania attended; we here in the Keystone area have come to know him as "That 1/2A Guy." Bob Crusan of Clarion competed with a scale World War II Japanese autogiro. This little thing actually flew off a part of the circle and would have done all required of the larger entries if the circle had been solid and not a doughnut!
It was amazing! Last year Bob competed with a 1/2A Gee Bee with a working throttle!
You have to get to the next edition of this fly-in to see the many different models in action! This is the largest control-line contest in the world!
Which event is which is quite a list: it's just as revealing to read who finished at the top five in each event as it is to see who was included. I've given you the results for the first five spots in each category; please see the sidebar.
The judges were as follows:
- Old-Time Stunt: Beginner — Bob Brookins and Wayne Buran; Intermediate — Dan Banjock and Carl Lovie; Advanced — Ted Heinritz and Terry McDowell; Expert — William Davis and Bob Zambelli.
- Profile Stunt: Beginner — Dale Berry and Walt Moore; Intermediate — Mike Almonor and Kevin Stewart; Advanced — Kenneth Dawson and Allen Goff; Expert — Ed Culver and Kent Tysor.
- Classic Stunt: Beginner — Wes Eakin and Reuben MacBride; Intermediate — Phil Spillman and Clayton Berry; Advanced — Jim Damerell and Andy Patterson; Expert — Kent Tysor and Jim Renkar.
- PAMPA: Beginner — Bob Brookins and Lynn Stewart; Intermediate — Tom McChin and Scott Richlen; Advanced — Richard Houser and David Midgley; Expert — Doug Taffinder and Woody Midgley.
- Junkyard Wars: Kevin Stewart.
As I age, I am grateful to be able to return to events such as this. However, each year a few more of our number pass away. At this event a sober moment was marked by the prayers and eulogy by Father Regis Roda, a fellow modeler, who eloquently made note of our departed. Al Knight played a stylized version of the national anthem while Dan Banjock flew his double-sized Flight Streak and painted the sky red, white, and blue. Many of us shared happy memories of flying and enjoying the designs of those remembered.
In light of this, it is clearly in the interest of the survival of our sport that we recruit and nurture newcomers to our ranks. We need to accentuate the positive and make it easier for new people to join us to promote our sport.
An excellent example of who we are was reflected in Neal Beckman; this year's Keeper of the Sport Award winner. Neal is a retired New York Fire Department member who came out of retirement to help with the search-and-rescue work after the events of 9/11/01 at Ground Zero. Neal has been a loyal supporter of the fly-in since its inception six years ago. It was clear by his reaction that he felt truly honored by winning this award. He earned it, and we are proud of him and his efforts.
Family reunions in general have never been too high on my list of things to attend. The Brodak Fly-In mimics a family reunion and is a must-attend thing for me! Our activity is a sport, but it is also a social, therapeutic thing. We owe it to ourselves to continue to attract new members to our group, the family of ours, by attending this event and others like it.
Please join the family and come to next year's reunion on Father's Day weekend in Carmichaels. Uncle John and Aunt Buzz Brodak would love to see you!
Phil Spillman
RESULTS
PAMPA
Beginner (14 entries)
- Ryan Nau
- Dick Hodge
- Roger Johnson
- John Jordan
- David Courtney
Intermediate (27 entries)
- Gil Reedy
- Steven MacBride
- Nick Erbs
- Wes Eakin
- Jim Brooks
Advanced (24 entries)
- Andy Patterson
- Clayton Berry
- Al Knight
- Garry Lutz
- William Davis
Expert (20 entries)
- Windy Urtnowski
- Dan Banjock
- Tom Dixon
- Kent Tysor
- Gerald Phelps
Profile Precision Aerobatics
Beginner (12 entries)
- Ryan Nau
- David Courtney
- Dick Hodge
- David Reyes
- Alex Courtney
Intermediate (20 entries)
- Nick Erbs
- Gil Reedy
- Bob Reeves
- Steven MacBride
- John
Advanced (15 entries)
- Terry McDowell
- Clayton Berry
- Price Reese
- Chris Jackson
- John Paris
Expert (8 entries)
- Dale Berry
- Dan Banjock
- Mike Alimov
- Jim Damerell
- John Saunders
Classic Stunt
Beginner (10 entries)
- Dick Hodge
- Roger Johnson
- David Courtney
- Alex Courtney
- Ken LeLacheur
Intermediate (13 entries)
- Eric Taylor
- Bill Mitchell
- Ron Lutz
- Warren Wagner
- Patrick Rowan
Advanced (18 entries)
- Roy Trantham
- Terry McDowell
- Bob Zambelli
- Tom McClain
- Jim Svitko
Expert (10 entries)
- Kevin Stewart
- Tom Dixon
- Gerald Phelps
- Allen Goff
- Robert Lampione
Old-Time Stunt
Beginner (5 entries)
- Ryan Nau
- Ken LeLacheur
- Alex Courtney
- David Courtney
- Chris Saunders
Intermediate (8 entries)
- Wes Eakin
- Walt Moore
- Clyde Ritchey
- Bill Hubbard
- Jim Brooks
Advanced (10 entries)
- Andy Patterson
- Phil Spillman
- Roy Trantham
- Bob Zambelli
- Owen Richards
Expert (10 entries)
- Terry McDowell
- John Saunders
- Jim Damerell
- Dale Berry
- John Paris
Ladies-Only Basic Flight (5 entries)
- Jeanna Mills
- Susan Tarnofsky
- Mary Phelps
- Sarah Davis
- Olivia Mills
Fun Scale (9 entries)
- Chris Jackson
- George Marenka
- Dan Banjock
- Jack Jackson
- Robert Crusan
Profile Scale
- Al Knight
- Mary Knight
Sport Scale
- Frank Beatty
- Reuben MacBride
Foxberg Racing
- John Tate / Willis Swindell
- Phil Spillman / Patrick Rowan
- Ron Lutz / David Heinzman
- Ryan Nau / friend
Clown Racing (11 entries)
- Christina Saunders
- Mary Knight
- Dave Edwards
- Ted Heinritz
- Neal Beckman
Carrier Class I and II
- Gary Hull
- Arthur Johnson
Carrier Profile
- Gary Hull
- Rich Essex
- Price Reese
- Arthur Johnson
Carrier Sportsman
- George Marenka
Speed Limit Combat (10 entries)
- Roy Glenn
- Louis Lopez
- Phil Cartier
- Gil Reedy
- Andy Patterson
Junkyard Wars T (team) (18 people)
- Team Absurd: Dan Banjock and Ted Heinritz
- Cheap Like Crazy: Ward Van Duzer and Tom Hampshire
- B&B Stunt Team: Neal Beckman, Bob Brookins, and Bob Zambelli
- Team Long Island: Mike Chiodo, John Passalaqua, and Duain Rothman
- Team M&M Stunt: Sarah Davis, Jeanna Mills, Olivia Mills, and Walt Moore
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
