CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER
Dick Perry 427 Live Oak Ln. NE, Albuquerque NM 87122 E-mail: tailhooker@comcast.net
Introduction
As I usually do in the February issue, I’m going to discuss the equipment used at the Nationals this past summer. There were a couple of new models, including John Vlna’s Consolidated XBY-1 in AMA Profile that I mentioned in the Nationals coverage in the December issue.
I’ll write about performance, although conditions on Friday for Class I and II were treacherous and many of the contestants chose not to fly. Perhaps the crashes that resulted from the wind will produce some new models for next summer.
General Observations
As usual, the dominant model in Class I and II was the MO-1. Four non-MO-1 models (a Seafire, a Skyraider, a Myrt, and a Dauntless) competed against 14 MO-1s. Of those who chose to fly on Thursday, the MO-1 bested all of the other types.
In Profile Carrier (Sportsman and AMA events), the five MO-1s were outnumbered by 10 other designs. Although an MO-1 finished in first place in each of the Profile Carrier events, the other designs performed well and took the majority of the trophies.
A couple of new models this year were newly produced MO-1 designs. Although it isn’t surprising to see modelers developing new versions of successful designs, MO-1s are still MO-1s. I keep hoping for new types, and I wasn’t disappointed this year.
John Vlna’s Consolidated XBY-1 (Profile Carrier)
John Vlna’s Profile Carrier entry was a model of the Consolidated XBY-1, which was flown for the Navy between the wars, when many new designs and new concepts were tried. The prototype was one of the “Mystery Airplanes” in my column some years ago.
The XBY-1 is a single-engine, high-wing aircraft like the MO-1, but the mission was level bombing rather than dive-bombing (as with the later SBD Dauntless). The XBY-1 has a uniform taper to the wing, readily lending itself to a foam-wing design. With its high-wing configuration, the XBY-1 has similar moments to the MO-1.
- Exact-scale MO-1 wing area (at 44" span): 345 sq in.
- XBY-1 wing area (same span): ~240 sq in — better suited to Profile Carrier, where exact-scale dimensions aren’t required.
- John built his Profile model to 350 sq in with a 44½" wingspan, within Profile Carrier rules.
The XBY-1 was equipped with a Wiley .36 engine with a left-hand crankshaft turning a Zinger 9×7 pusher propeller. The model weighed 44 ounces. John placed fifth in Profile Carrier. His low speed was 8.7 mph (207 seconds), only 1 mph slower than the best of the day. The model is still relatively new, but the high speed could become respectable with further tank/engine tuning. This design has the potential to become a contender in Carrier.
Other Notable Models
Although not as new as John’s, another interesting model was Bill Calkins’ de Havilland Sea Vampire, which he debuted last year. This year there were two of the models; Bob Frogner entered one in Sportsman Profile Carrier.
Profile Carrier — Top Speeds and Engines
This year three models topped 90 mph in Profile Carrier. Nelson engines held two of the top three spots, with a Tune-Hill O.S. conversion in second place.
Top three high speeds (Profile Carrier):
- 97.2 mph — Dick Perry
- 91.5 mph — Pete Mazur
- 90.4 mph — Mike Greb
There were seven high speeds exceeding 80 mph. The engines represented among those were:
- Three Nelsons
- Two O.S. conversions
- One Wiley
- One Fox
All of these engines were less than .36 cu in displacement. There were none of the newly legal 6.0 cc engines.
Class I and Class II — Conditions and Results
Speeds were generally irrelevant in overall placing in Class I and II because the winds dominated the flights; landings (only Bill Calkins accomplished a landing) and completing a low speed determined the highest places. Low speeds, for those models that completed them without touching the ground (some hard), were all more than 40 mph.
Class I:
- Three high speeds faster than 90 mph.
- Top speed: 97.3 mph — Bill Calkins.
Class II:
- Three high speeds faster than 90 mph.
- Top speed: 100.6 mph — Pete Mazur.
- Jett and Nelson engines vied for top speeds along with an older but still strong K&B .40.
- Two competitors used pressure fuel systems and one used suction.
For Class II (.61 category), the engine to beat was the Webra Speed .61, which attained all three top speeds. Again, there were two pressure systems and one suction fuel system.
Fuel, Props, and Plugs
For those who specified a particular brand, fuel was predominantly Red Max. Approximately half of all contestants used nitromethane content of 50% or higher. Most of the home-brew users mixed their fuel at 70% nitro.
Propeller of choice: APC.
- 9×6 predominant in Profile and Class I.
- 10×6 leading in Class II.
These propellers accounted for two-thirds of the top speeds in each event; custom-cast fiberglass propellers filled the other top places.
Glow plugs:
- Nelson plugs were used in Nelson engines.
- Fox plugs (various configurations) outnumbered other single brands by roughly 2-to-1.
Southwest Regionals
The Southwest Regionals is the longest-running AAA contest in the U.S. It is scheduled for the January 24–25 weekend (between the playoffs and the Super Bowl) in Tucson, Arizona.
This year Carrier will include:
- Profile
- Class I
- Class II
- .15
- Nostalgia Profile
- Nostalgia Class I and Class II
Robin Sizemore is the contest director. Contact: ExpStunt@aol.com. You can also check the contest and contact information on the AMA Web site Contest Calendar: http://modelaircraft.org/comp/contest.htm
Closing
With building season in full swing and the first contests of the season still months away (except for the Southwest Regionals), there's plenty of time to produce that new Carrier model for the 2004 season. When it's finished, send me a photo at the address in the column header so I can share it with readers.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
