Edition: Model Aviation - 1981/09
Page Numbers: 93, 94, 95, 96, 97
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1981 U.S. CONTROL LINE CHAMPIONSHIPS

B. B. Brown Photos by the author

WHAT do you do with 12 acres of smooth asphalt and four acres of grass, cleanly mowed to a height of 1-1/2 in.? You put in two Speed, four Racing, three Aerobatic, one Scale, one Carrier, and two Combat circles—plus plenty of practice circles as well. Mix well with contestants and officials and you have the 1981 U.S. Control Line Championships.

The scene was Winston-Salem, NC in the last days of spring. Sudden rain squalls came and went; the nights were soft, the days warm—but sometimes hot and muggy (just like almost anywhere else in mid-June, 1981).

By Friday evening, all was in readiness—the circles were outlined, the parking area roped off, and the concession stand had claimed its place. You didn't come? Don't let it happen again—you hear? You guys (and gals) who don't understand this report, please go and read the AMA rule book!

Some fliers really came early—they went to the Hobby Park, about six miles away. There they found two paved circles and acres of grass. The Guru Gator of FAI Team Racing, Walt Perkins, and his pilot, J. E. Albritton (four times on the U.S. CL Team at the World Championships), came on Thursday to fly and test—a necessity, since Walt lives in Ocala, FL, and J. E. lives in Vienna, VA! Other equally rabid Team Racers came from all over—places like the state of Washington (Tom Knoppi) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (Alberto Cromborg). Canadian Speed, Racing, and Combat fliers arrived early and stayed late.

Ken Hicks walked away from Byron Reynolds and Sheldon Ybanez in Jr./Sr. Goodyear. Ken's model was a Rossi-powered Ohm Special. His dad was the pit man.

Down on the grass, 1/4 Combat had a lot of entries. The matches were Jr./Sr./Open combined, and a Junior, Andy Patterson, beat the hot Senior and Open competitors.

Carrier was big here at the Champs. After registration ended, there were enough contestants to have a total of 190 possible flights for scores. The contestants flew and flew, and at 6:00 p.m., the judges said, "Fly 'til 8:30," and so they did! That's 10½ hours of Carrier flights. There were Guardians with big, big engines—also with middle-sized engines. Myriads of OPSs, Rossis, K&Bs, and Supertigres powered equal numbers of Skyraiders, Wildcats, and Profile Martins—it looked like the airborne navies of two wars. It took hours of calculations to compute the scores!

Gail Foster earned many thanks by keeping things going in the Combat circles for two days.

Goodyear (called Scale Racing in the AMA rule book) was flown at its customary time—Saturday morning. There were only 10 entries in Open—way down from last year. The decline is probably due to the fact that there is a lack of engines for the event, a lack of parts, and the high cost of nitromethane, propellers, glow plugs, etc. have made CL Racing very expensive. Just think, Goodyear started out as a beginner's or just-for-fun event. At any rate, Open Goodyear is an exciting event, particularly when two of the best end up in the finals. Bobby Oge had a needle valve break inside the spraybar in the final heat! The scores may look a little odd, but that's because Scale Racing has adopted the peculiar habit of scoring like Rat: adding the two heat scores, instead of taking the best of the heats as the one to count.

AMA Rat Race (known as Fast Rat) is a visceral event—far more so than Fast Combat. The sound rumbles inside your body. The strain shows in the pilots' faces. After witnessing Fast Rat, one can see why a Rat pilot thinks everything else is tame, even the FAI Team Race event. Filling a 5-oz. tank compared to a 1/2-oz. tank in FAI, the Rat pitting is almost as fast. The heavy, 20-oz.-plus planes flying at over 145 mph are slowed down for pit stops in the same time and space as the light, 12–15-oz. Team Racers.

A late spring squall cut down the time scheduled for Fast Rat, so all the entries flew the 140-lap final. Class I Mouse (with reed-valve engines) also suffered the rain, so everyone in this event flew only a final, too. There were 18 entries in this growing, fun-filled event.

Speed was flown all day Saturday and Sunday. Again, as last year, the details of the Speed events will appear in Gene Hempel's regular Model Aviation column, but I've hit some of the highlights for those who can't wait.

One new record hit the books. Don Beneschi flew a Class D to 205.39 mph, with a verification flight of 201.04 mph. Al Stegens flew his jewel-powered 1/2A at 124.17 mph, beating the tuned-pipe entries by a couple of mph.

Nats/MECA (continued)

Some of the goodies which will be on display include old ignition engines and parts. Light refreshments (coffee, doughnuts) will be available at low cost.

For more information, contact Dirk F. Tollenaer, P.O. Box 181, McKinney, TX 75069, telephone (214) 542-2206 (9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. only, please).

1981 U.S. Control Line Championships—Summary

COMBAT

  • Fast
  1. Mack Henry
  2. Dave Owen
  3. Charlie Perkinson
  • FAI
  1. Daniel Segouin
  2. Pierre Segouin
  3. Mack Henry

NAVY CARRIER

  • Profile (Open)
  1. Dr. Herb Patrick
  2. Carl Schaefer
  3. Leroy Cordes
  4. Ed Jacoby
  • Class I
  1. Robert Whitfield
  2. John Ebersbach
  3. Carl Schaefer

PRECISION AEROBATICS

  • Novice/Beginner
  1. Karl Siefert — 454.0
  2. Terry Meidroth — 442.5
  3. Dick Maddox — 431.0
  4. John Gajewski
  5. Rich Siefert
  6. Steve Siefert
  • Advanced
  1. Tom Hagen
  2. Jimmy Paul
  3. Mike Mustain
  • Expert
  1. Bob McDonald
  2. Dave Hemstrought
  3. Stan Powell
  4. Roland McDonald

SPEED SUMMARY

  • 1/2A Profile
  1. Al Stegens — 102.70
  • 1/2A
  1. Al Stegens — 124.17
  2. Sam Burke — 122.00
  • B
  1. Jim Van Sant — 179.34
  • D
  1. Don Benesch — 205.39 * (verification 201.04)
  • Jet
  1. Frank Garzon — 192.03
  • FAI
  1. Sam Burke — 146.21
  • Form 21
  1. Robin Shaw
  • Form 40
  1. Glenn Lee — 154.58

(* = new record)

SPORT SCALE

  1. Dale Campbell — Piper Cub J-3
  2. Clement Caldwell — Zero
  3. Frank Del Guidice — Steen Skybolt
  4. James Bennet — Brown B-2 "Miss Los Angeles"

RACING

  • FAI Team Race
  1. Perkins / Albritton — 7:18.67
  • Fast Rat
  1. John Ballard — 4:42.1
  2. Dick Lambert — 4:49.3
  3. Harold Lambert — 4:54.4
  4. Bobby Oge
  5. Billy Hughes
  • Slow Rat
  1. Jerry Mayer — 5:56.88
  2. Mark Barrows — 6:25.53
  3. Larry Dziak — 6:30.59
  • Goodyear (Open)
  1. Harold Lambert — 6:00.74
  2. John Ballard — 6:05.34
  3. Larry Dziak — 6:29.11
  4. Bobby Oge
  • Goodyear (Jr./Sr.)
  1. Ken Hicks
  2. Byron Reynolds
  3. Sheldon Ybanez
  • 1/2A Goodyear
  1. Jerry Kasmer — 5:00.00
  2. George Caldwell — 5:15.29
  3. Willis Swindell — 5:16.11
  4. Jim Welch — 5:18.00
  • 1/2A Mouse I (Open)
  1. Jerry Kasmer — 4:51.5
  2. Jim Welch — 5:12.4
  3. Willis Swindell — 5:18.4
  4. George Caldwell
  5. Tom Hurlocker
  • 1/2A Mouse II (Open)
  1. Tommy Carr — 9:25.58
  2. James Deane — 9:38.45
  3. Chris Pugh — 9:45.00
  • 1/2A Mouse II (Jr./Sr.)
  1. Robin Shaw — 11:03.28
  2. Sheldon Ybanez — 12:33.00

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.