Control Line: Speed
Gene Hempel
With the contest season almost finished, I finally have some time to gather all my notes together and write this month's column.
Newsletter news
The first noteworthy piece of information is about the excellent newsletter Flying Lines, edited by Mike Hazel and John Thompson. They are doing a beautiful job. The newsletter covers a broad spectrum of control line topics, with much good information on racing. Send $10.00 for a year's subscription to:
- Flying Lines, 1411 Bryant Ave., Cottage Grove, OR 97424
They need your support to make this newsletter a success.
Western States Control Line Champs (Merced, CA — September 5–6)
Frank Hunt and Mike Hazel mailed comments and results from the Western States Control Line Champs held at Merced, CA on September 5 and 6. There were 15 speed fliers participating over Labor Day weekend. Two full days gave plenty of opportunity to get flights in. The most popular event was FAI, with seven entries.
Top results and notes:
- FAI: Chuck Schuette — 164 mph; Bob Spahr — 162 mph. Newton-style sidewinders predominated, some with the new tail assembly. Chris Sackett suffered an up-line break that destroyed his plane. It seems nearly everyone who has pushed their alcohol burners to high speeds has experienced line failure; there should be an answer for this.
- Class A: The Margarido team led with 173.17 mph (Rossi power).
- Class B: No consistently good runs; the best was Jon DeFries — 175.23 mph (OPS engine).
- Class D: No official flights were made.
Jet is showing signs of a resurgence. While only two fliers made official flights, there were others attempting, plus ships under construction and on the drawing board. I expect lots more entries next year.
- Chris Sackett: 185.30 mph (upright metal job)
- Jim Rhoades: followed with a sidewinder
- Jim Wade: World record attempt for the 1.0 cc category in a conventional-design plane using a piped Cox; recorded 111.0 mph (below potential, but the record was wide open)
Tim Gillott posted 139.59 mph for top place in Formula 40. His pilot, FAI flier Charlie Lieber, got a taste of how a Fast Rat is handled in pylon.
It was an enjoyable meet. Saturday night most everyone gathered at CD Frank Hunt's home for brew, laughs, and bench flying.
Cleveland Control Line Classic (December 5–6, 1981)
The second noteworthy item is from Bob Sargent concerning the upcoming Cleveland Control Line Classic set for December 5 and 6, 1981. Forty years ago, on December 7, 1941, the first organized contest for control line model aircraft was held at Brookside Park in Cleveland, OH. That contest was organized and sponsored by Scripps-Howard Newspapers (who then owned and published The Cleveland Press and employed a young aviation writer named Charles Tracy) and the Division of Recreation, City of Cleveland. That team exemplified the effort and spirit that made Cleveland the world's capital of model aviation. The contest was inspired by flying demonstrations presented by Jim Walker. This year's contest celebrates 40 years of competitive control line model aviation. Celebrate with the Cleveland gang and help them launch another year of competition.
For more information write to:
- Bob Sargent, 1694 Wright Ave., Rocky River, OH 44116
Southwest Modelers Show (Dallas) — tools and hardware
Several months ago I attended the Southwest Modelers Show in Dallas and visited with several manufacturers. The item that really caught my attention was a finishing tool manufactured by Addis Elmore. When you glue two pieces of balsa together with epoxy and then try to sand the joint, you normally cut the wood on each side of the glue joint. The "Wandit" eliminates this problem. It does an excellent job for those special sanding chores. The tool is basically a hand-size reciprocating motor with a chuck that holds interchangeable wands, which have various grades of self-adhesive sandpaper. The sandpaper can be replaced when worn.
Wandit is available direct from:
- Addis Elmore, P.O. Box 226, Mesquite, TX 75149
Also on display I observed a V-8 model engine with dual overhead cams, designed and built by John Thompson. A beautiful job of machining.
- John Thompson, Rt. 2, Box 313, Mulvane, KS 67110
Before I end this, I would like to wish all modelers a Happy Turkey Day and a Merry Christmas.
Gene Hempel 301 N. Yale Dr., Garland, TX 75042
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
