FF Outdoor Scale
Larry Kruse
Overview
FREE FLIGHT SCALE is certainly alive and well in the Northwest, if this year's entry of beautiful ships is any indication. Representation from Washington, Oregon, California, and several Canadian provinces, while not large, marked the strength and high quality of Scale activity in the region. As static judging progressed at the Shiloh Riverside Motor Inn on Wednesday, anticipation built as contestants and spectators alike looked forward to seeing these outstanding models take to the air.
Notable entries
- Ric Dittman — Wiley Post biplane: Ric's Gas Scale entry was done in a flawless silver-and-blue color scheme. Powered by a diesel engine, the model showed uncanny attention to both scale and functional detail. Twin rubber hoses from the radiator mounted beneath the top wing even had tiny scale hose clamps. Ric feared the radiator might blank out the propwash to the rudder, so he made the radiator hollow and installed baffle plates inside to redirect the airflow. A cockpit complete to the last airframe gusset made the plane a real showpiece.
- Fernando Ramos — Sopwith Triplane (AMA Gas Scale): Pendulum-actuated controls enhance flight stability and a diesel engine provides power. Overall olive-drab finish and sewn access-panel lacing provided superb realism.
- Eugene Evenson (Seattle, WA) — Stinson L-5: Modified from a Sig kit designed long ago by Henry Struck. The Cox .020-powered ship was painted in eye-catching red and silver.
- Larry Kruse — 1988 Nats-winning AMA Rubber Scale Drzewiecki canard pusher: The '88 Nats winner met its end in the winds of '89 just after being launched.
- James Woods (Seattle, WA) — CP-65 Porterfield Collegiate (Open Rubber Scale): Neatly done, with a nicely carved freewheeling propeller. Its lines and structure are reminiscent of an Earl Stahl design.
- Greg Davis — Etrich Taube (AMA Gas Scale): Wealth of detail and excellent craftsmanship. Greg powered the ship with a Cox .049 throttled via a timer, allowing maximum revs on launch and a more leisurely pace during cruise; this helps prevent speed buildup and the torque-inspired spiral dive.
- Larry Olson (Kent, WA) — Blackburn monoplane (Gas Scale): A large entry with terrific cockpit details, including a cleverly woven wicker seat and an excellent replication of Blackburn's patented triple steering column.
- Clarence Mather — Tipsy Jr. (Rubber Scale): An immaculate blue-and-yellow ship that later flew in Indoor Scale.
- Peanut Scale highlights: The usual quota of Fikes and Liacoxes, plus Dick Peterson's neat little LETX-277 (which appeared to have an agricultural heritage). Ken Groves entered an immaculately crafted Bristol Scout biplane. I also flew a Don Srull–designed Vision canard floatplane in the biplane category.
Overall, there was a good representation of aircraft types, quality, and scale detail to make it a pleasant—and in some cases—anticipated event.
Flights and weather
Scale director John Guenther and FF CD Stan Alexander made a concerted and successful effort to find a suitable flying site and at least a marginally acceptable ROG surface. Unfortunately, capricious weather, which victimized all free flight throughout the week, chose Thursday to settle in and blow any potential contest away. Despite light and variable winds on Wednesday, it was evident before 8:00 a.m. on Thursday that there would be no reprieve from the 25-30 mph zephyrs.
Only five brave (or foolhardy, in my case) souls chose to put up even a single flight in either AMA Rubber or Peanut Scale. No one dared to risk a ship in Gas Scale, although Charlie Bauer caused a stir when he test-fired the engine in his ducted-fan U-2 spyplane.
Dwight Larks, Howard Breshears, Jane Breshears, and I put up successful Peanut Scale flights. Charles Schaaf put in an official flight with his Lacey AMA Rubber Scale but damaged it considerably, and I destroyed my '88 Nats-winning Drzewiecki canard by foolishly tempting the wind gods.
Little Dwight Larks, in Junior, was the only one to fly both AMA Scale and Peanut with impunity as he lofted his Pietenpol into the Washington gales and recovered it essentially unharmed.
Scores for the above Rubber flights are posted with the rest of the Nats results in the "Competition Newsletter" section elsewhere in this issue.
Results
In a compromise decision, since there were no flights in Gas Scale, the judges opted to award the trophies on the basis of scale points only:
- Ric Dittman — Wiley Post (first)
- Larry Kruse — Cessna Comet (second)
- Greg Davis — Etrich Taube (third)
And so, this year’s Nats Outdoor FF Scale contest was, sadly, more a contest of who might have flown than of actual flying. As a postscript, a late telephone conversation with Stan Alexander revealed that he will be seeking a backup day for Outdoor FF Scale next year to prevent a repetition of this occurrence. Stan and his crew are to be commended for doing the best they could with circumstances totally beyond anyone’s control.
Acknowledgments
A large thank-you is in order for Stan’s crew:
- Hal Winters
- Bert Dugan
- Mike Welshans
- Al Culver
- Cliff Tacie
- Paul Parks
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
