CL Stunt FAI Team Finals
Wynn Paul
STUNT FLIERS take note. You can fly backwards and still win the contest. Clockwise-flying Gene Schaffer, who has had an abundance of second-place finishes in national meets, won his first big title as he piled up 1880.67 points at the August 31 FAI tryouts in Dayton, Ohio. He will lead the United States team to Holland for the 1976 World Championships. Gene had a new airplane, a 47-ounce version of his time-tested Stunt Machine called the Statesman, with power by a Supertigre .46. His plane has a very slim silhouette but the judges seemed to be able to spot it often enough as they awarded the most points to the "New York style" of hard corners and small figures.
World Champion, and four-time National Champion Bob Gieseke flew in the rain on Saturday and then was able to pass his last flight with a spot clinched on the team. What else? Fox .35 up front on a Gieseke version of the Nobler was the steady combination that put Bob on the team for the sixth time. His plane was built in 1974 and utilized a wing from his 1968 airplane.
A real battle for third place developed between two-time world champion Bill Werwage and the pride of Miami, Fla., Les McDonald. The selection went down to the 14th flight of the 15 finalists on the last day as Les tried to pick up the 21 points he needed to catch Bill. Flying his 1972 U.S.A.-1, Werwage made his fourth berth on the team and will get a chance to become the first person to be World Champion three times. He won in 1970 and 1972. Bill had started the summer flying a .35-powered Ares, but switched to his old plane in July after deciding that it was the plane that would win for him.
Twenty-one contestants showed up at Dayton's two circles for the tryouts. Keith Trostle, PAMPA president, acted as event director and his flawless administration was applauded by all contestants. Judges Bernie Ash, Jim Fasimpaur, Bob Gialdini, Roger Greene, and Jerry Phelps have a combined total of years in stunt that would make football veteran George Blanda envious. The flying consisted of two flights each day with the best flight from each day being added for a total score. This is the procedure at the World Championships.
Saturday opened up with Bob Hunt, Greenbrook, N.J., leading the early fliers at 815. Bob was flying his Genesis, foam wing, ST .46 and 53 ounces. Next came Al Rabe, forced to fly his 1972 rebuilt Sea Fury with a ST .60. He has incorporated a fuel pump for this big engine and it seems to be working well for him. Al's flights always have the spectators watching; the unique sound of the muffled .60 and the sight of that very big airplane doing tricks is eye catching. However, his score showed only 857.67, and it usually takes the 900's to make the team.
Final Standings in F.A.I. Tryouts
- Gene Schaffer, New City, N.Y. — 1880.67
- Bob Gieseke, Irving, Tex. — 1872.67
- Bill Werwage, Brooklyn, Ohio — 1864.67
- Les McDonald, Miami, Fla. — 1843.33
- Al Rabe, Irving, Tex. — 1765.33
- Wynn Paul, Irving, Tex. — 1726.67
- Jerry Pilgrim, Dallas, Tex. — 1647.67
- Bob Hunt, Greenbrook, N.J. — 1587.00
- Kent Rogers, Charlotte, N.C. — 1500.33
- Fred Miles II, Ossining, N.Y. — 1498.33
- Joe Musumeci Jr., Richardson, Tex. — 1416.00
- Jim Young, Greenville, Tex. — 1412.67
- Dave Hemstrought, Moncks Corner, S.C. — 1403.00
- Dan Shafer, Clayton, Ohio — 1366.00
- Mike Ditrich, Erie, Pa. — 1358.00
As the wind started picking up, some new FAI fliers put in flights. Kent Rogers, Dennis Duvall, Gary McClellan, Fred Miles, Mike Ditrich, and Senior Bob McDonald; most were scored in the five and six hundreds. Then Bob Gieseke went up and it started to rain. He finished his flight in a downpour, but fortunately for him the wind wasn't so bad and he scored 938.67, highest for the round. After a short delay Jim Young, back in national competition for the first time since 1972, flew his good-looking Roadrunner X for a 698.67, followed by Wynn Paul, who seemed to have worked out his engine problems. Nationals Gene Schaffer then put up a 922.33, good for second place; Jerry Pilgrim flew an 808; young Joe Musumeci, the AMA junior champion, had 680.00; then Les McDonald bumped Gene into second with a 923; Bill Werwage took over fourth with 918.33. The first round of the FAI usually gives a good indication of the top five or six who have a mathematical chance for the team and this year was no exception.
As the second round opened Saturday afternoon, the winds picked up to about 10–15 mph with intermittent calm spells. Gieseke, Gene Schaffer, Al Rabe, Wynn Paul, Kent Rogers, Fred Miles, Mike Ditrich, Joe Musumeci, Dennis Duvall, Gary McClellan, Bob McDonald and Larry Lauer raised their scores. To show how tough all the fliers are in this event, Nationals finalists Dennis Duvall (9th) and Remel Cooper (14th) failed to make the 15 finalists cut.
After Saturday the top six were: Gieseke, Gene Schaffer, Les McDonald, Bill Werwage, Al Rabe and Wynn Paul. Sunday the winds were already up as the first round started. Dave Hemstrought led off the flying, a spot which hounded him at the Nationals and the FAI. His PT-19 is a good flying plane with another ST 46 and PAMPA members look for him to improve as he gets back into competition after a lay-off. Les McDonald (920.33), Gene Schaffer (929.67), Wynn Paul (896.33), Jerry Pilgrim (839.66), Bob Gieseke (888.0) and Al Rabe (855.0) were the leaders on this round, but the best score was posted by Bill Werwage at 946.33 which vaulted him past the Stiletto man into third place.
In the words of Bob Gieseke, "This is one contest you don't have to win, third is good enough here." And the last round was a patient wait for flight number 14 to see if Les McDonald would improve enough to catch Werwage. Fifth through eighth places didn't change with Al Rabe, Wynn Paul, Jerry Pilgrim, and Bob Hunt holding down these positions. A lot of shuffling went on, however, down the line as Kent Rogers made his best big contest finish in ninth place, and Fred Miles showed that the Schaffer-Simons-Hunt triumvirate had better pull up another chair as he finished tenth. Les McDonald then flew a smooth, accurate pattern but scored 918.67. Fourth place in the FAI event is probably the least liked position: ask Les, ask Al Rabe, ask Lew McFarland, ask Jim Silhavy. The smile on Bill Werwage's face when the scores went up was the most sun the fliers had all day at the contest. Fourteen-year-old Joe Musumeci finished a very good 11th place followed by Jim Young, Dave Hemstrought, Dan Shafer, and Mike Ditrich.
The six FAI trophies were presented by AMA executive director John Worth, who was present to watch the proceedings. This was the first time that trophies have been given. The idea was inspired by PAMPA president Keith Trostle. Keith was subsequently presented a silver bowl in the name of PAMPA for his dedicated service to the Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association for the past three years.
Zac Wright sets new National AMA Junior endurance record
On June 29, 1975, 14-year-old Zac Wright flew a control-line airplane 52.23 minutes to break a five-year-old AMA Junior division record which stood at 46:00 minutes. Flying in the Capital City Controllers Annual Contest held at Rickenbacker Air Force Base, Columbus, Ohio, Zac used a stock Fox .19 engine in an original airplane that carried 30 ounces of fuel for an overall weight of 64 ounces. He had a pressurized fuel system on the Fox engine. The plane recorded a total of 576 laps over the 52.23 minutes.
Zac is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Wright and has four flying brothers; their father and the boys are a sanctioned AMA club known as "Wright Flyers," club No. 818. The weigh-in was certified by Fred Clem, Columbus Division of Weights and Measures, and by Bill Ranier of Rickenbacker Air Force Base Information Office.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
