CL: Speed
Overview
The turnout was outstanding and the weather just as great for this year's Speed events. Though the 1990 Nats was a week earlier than usual, that didn't seem to affect the number of Speed fliers who attended. The total of 148 entrants included the expected representation from all parts of the U.S., plus groups from Japan and Russia. Approximately 217 successful official flights were completed during the four days of competition, with 149 attempts resulting in no-times. Flying continued right up sometimes past 5:00 pm (quitting time). Sometimes two circles were in operation at once. Overall, the weather was the best I can remember at a Nats, with just a light breeze and temperatures around 90° — not too hot. The takeoff pavement was far from perfect, but better than some others we've had. It gave my Jet trouble — I was unable to skid it off.
Monday — 1/2A Speed, 1/2A Profile Proto, Youth Speed
Day one began with 1/2A Speed, 1/2A Profile Proto, and Youth Speed. There were lots of kids — great to see so many Juniors who could fly like pros. Notable young modelers included:
- Russell Whitney (Florida)
- Bobby Fogg (California)
- Henson Battle (California)
- Jeramiah McMillin (St. Louis)
- John and Charles Curtis (Illinois)
- Justin McWilliams (Kansas)
- Howell Pugh (Texas)
The morning's weather was calm and cool. Charlie Legg had a nice flight of 141.60 with his home-built engine and tuned pipe in a sidewinder-style .12 job. He then rolled up the line, put the airplane away, and sat back to watch the others fly. George Brown and Tom Hartvigsen had some nice flights, but they were not close to Charlie's. Meanwhile, the Juniors and Seniors were putting in flight after flight. Bobby Fogg had three flights almost 90 mph — watch out for him in the future.
Senior Todd Lee, from Topeka, is an excellent aerobatics flier and flies 1/2A Profile Proto for fun using a stock TD .049 and 10% nitro stunt fuel. He tried hot fuel for his second flight, going up to 25% nitro, and picked up another three mph for a first place.
Tuesday — Sport Speed, A Speed, FAI Speed
Tuesday morning's weather was beautiful again, and the 21 Sport Speed fliers arrived to have fun and battle it out. Fourteen Open entrants put up 30 official flights with only 10 attempts and went over 145 mph 14 times! At this point everyone was flying .21s, since A Speed wasn't flown until later in the day — just shows you how much fun it is.
Bob Ytuarte ended up with a record-setting 149.44 mph, with several others right behind him. No one broke the 150-mph barrier. Mainly Rossi power plants were used, with some OPS and Picco engines as well. Russell Whitney tried to set a Junior record but couldn't get two flights within the required five mph.
Three rounds of FAI Speed were flown by the six contestants. None of the 1990 U.S. Speed team was there, but word arrived that Carl Dodge is World Champion — it's great to see an American on top again.
The A Speed turnout was quite good with 12 Open entrants. It's tough to get these high-nitro, full-tuned-pipe screamers going, and the highlight of the day was George Brown's son, "Slugger," flying his dad's airplane. His first flight was a fair 160 mph, but his second one scorched the A Speed record that had stood for 13 years. The airplane took off, the prop kicked in, Slugger made it into the pylon, and the stopwatch showed 185.45 mph!
The score had to be backed up within 5 mph, so preparations were made and the model checked over. A few minutes later they went up again for another perfect run — only faster at 186.97 mph. I timed Slugger's next lap after the official one, and my watch showed a speed of 190.00 mph. This plane has a lot of potential.
Thursday — Formula 40 and B Speed
Formula 40 and B Speed were flown on Thursday, again with almost ideal weather. Bill Wisniewski turned a near-record speed of over 166 mph with his metal-tanked Pink Lady, but Carl Aloise was right behind him at 165-plus. Carl has been highly competitive in Navy Carrier for many years, and he's now a force to be reckoned with in several Speed classes. His airplanes were beautiful and well built — some of the best-looking ones I've seen.
George Brown wiped everyone out in B with an excellent flight of 205 mph, while Bill Wisniewski was right behind at 195 mph.
Friday — Jet and D Speed
Friday brought out the big honkers: Jet and D Speed. There were 37 flights in D, 11 of them over 200 mph. Akeshi Kusumoto, from Japan, racked up three flights over 200 mph with his 209.30, putting him in first place. Carl Aloise surprised everyone with his 208 mph for second, while the "Old Reliable" Frank Garzon settled for third.
Two new fliers, Carl Aloise and Bob Ytuarte (who had a 202), joined the 200-mph club. The day ended with 13 entrants, and after all the dust, Mike Fiske/Doc Davis took the top speed. Jerry Thomas, using an experimental job with tuned pipe, again came in near the top. Bob Middleton, from Texas, has been around Speed for years, but it took a few attempts before he cracked 200. He had a D ship and a Jet his first day, and finally went over the 200 barrier after a lot of coaxing and some friendly persuasion from his Texas buddies.
Officials and Thanks
Don't forget the officials who worked so hard during the Speed events. Fred Randall did an admirable job as Event Director, with the able assistance of Santo Rizzoto. Tabulation was handled by two lovely ladies, Roxy Brown and Fran Garzon. Many thanks to them all, and to the other volunteers who helped at pull test and timing.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
