Free Flight: Scale-Sport
Bill Warner
FLYING Aces Fever is what Lin Reichel, C. D. of the first-ever Flying Aces Club Nats held recently at Johnsville N.A.S., near Philadelphia, calls it. The FAC Nats, Mecca for free-flight scale rubber modelers who believe in the "good old days" of modeling when one enjoyed the "simple fun of simple models," climaxed 13 years of growth for what has to be called a full-fledged movement.
The five FAC groups attending included:
- the GHQ Squadron from Connecticut
- the Detroiter Geschwader from Michigan
- the Cleveland Free Flight Society from Ohio
- the Erie Model Aircraft Association from Pennsylvania
- the D.C. Maxecuters
Many of the fliers were associate and spiritual members, coming from 13 states as far away as California. With 252 models entered in 13 rubber events (and one power event, a concession to the invention of the gas engine), one might have expected some great flying from the cream of the nation's tissue trimmers. The great Earl Stahl, present at the meet, allowed that he had never seen scale jobs, even his own, fly so stably, so long, and so well.
Bill Noonan, pride of the Flightmasters/Scale Staffel bunch in California, was amazed at the variety of models which turned out. He figures it must be a combination of the FAC handicap rules, the flying sites with real model-saving grass on them, and being snowed in for half of the year with nothing to do but build neat models!
Notable flights and winners
- Tom Nallen’s Focke-Wulf Stoesser: a masterpiece 32-minute flight.
- Jack Moses’ Jumbo Boulton-Paul Defiant: many superb flights and cleaned up the big-ship event.
- Dennis Norman’s SK-3: bested a field of 32 hot Peanuts.
- Pat Daily (Fiat G-50) and Mike Midkiff (Hellcat): first and second respectively in the WWII Combat event; also dueled in the sun in the Two-Minute category.
- Don Srull: won AMA Rubber Scale with his Waterman Racer, FAC Rubber Scale with his HE-100 Heinkel, and "No-Cal" (profile) Scale; was crowned FAC National Champion.
- Walt Eggert Jr. (7 years old): won the Embryo Endurance event, nudging Don Srull out of second spot.
- Dennis Norman of the CFFS: bested 28 other Embryos.
- Bill Henn: took both first and second in the Shell Speed Dash with a Mr. Smoothie and a Chambermaid.
- Joe Whiting: won the Thompson Trophy flying his Caudron.
- Mick Nallen: outlasted the Unlimiteds with his Druine Turbulent.
- Gordon Roberts’ P-51: dominated against Peanut WWII combatants.
- Power-Scale event: Pat Daily’s Sopwith Tabloid edged out Fernando Ramos’ CO2 A.B.C. Robin.
Spectacular and unusual models
- Dennis Norman’s twin-engine Tigercat.
- Von Rottensock’s (aka Ralph Kuenz) A-26 twin-engined rubber ships.
- Tom Nallen’s Miles M-39 canard Libellula vs. John Stott’s Mauboussin.
- Ed Heyn’s Sikorsky SZ quad.
- Don Srull’s Schweizer-Schlepp Swiss target tug.
The Hungorilla
If Hung is the modeler’s friend, who is responsible for the evil which befalls models? According to the Flying Aces, it’s a mischievous simian aptly named the "Hungorilla." It sometimes takes the form of a tightly wound ball of broken rubber rampaging in the tail of a hapless model, or at other times it inexplicably eats a plane out of the air.
The Hungorilla was in evidence at the meet:
- It took care of Chuck Schobloher’s Jumbo Spitfire in an agonizing crash.
- It piloted a WW I Albatross for Jim Daily that rammed Joe Whiting’s DH-4 out of the action and then returned unbowed.
- It snapped John Stott’s rear motor peg during his fly-off windings against Joe Whiting’s Caudron, giving Joe the heat by forfeit.
Banquet and FAC philosophy
At the banquet following the Saturday flying, the intrepid birdmen made merry, exchanged lies, listened to the venerable Bill Brown (of Brown Jr. and Campus CO2 fame) reminisce about the Golden Age of the "gasoleros" in the ’30s, and watched films of some vintage FAC meets.
About the only thing missing from this epic meet was "Lt. General" Dave Stott of G.H.Q., the heart, soul, and sparkplug of the FAC phenomenon, who stayed home due to his wife’s illness. Bob Thompson, co-editor of the Flying Aces Club News along with Dave, filled in and summed up the FAC philosophy for all present: "We are here for one reason, to have fun, fun, fun...."
Although there are no plans to have another FAC Nats at this time, we can only hope it will happen in one form or another sooner than later. Helmets off to the FAC—the guys who gave us Peanut Scale and Embryo Endurance.
International Free Flight contest — Woodvale, England
More serious modelers have had their eyes on the first International Free Flight contest held in Woodvale, England this August. To round out the spectrum of free-flight scale events, such a meeting has long been needed.
Results and highlights:
- 1st: Eric Coates’ winning superscale DH.9a.
- 2nd: W. Dennis’ daring twin-engined Handley Page H.P. 400.
- 3rd: Terry Manly’s Blackburn Swift.
- 4th: Bill Hannan’s CO2 Farman Moustique (proxied).
- 5th: My MacDonald S-21 (the only rubber ship to qualify), flown to fifth by Joe Barnes.
- 6th: D. Hunt’s CO2 Comper Swift.
Five ships could not make the 30-second qualifying flight. Total entries numbered under 20 this year, but with more notice and participation it can succeed in becoming an annual international event. Rumor has it Canada may be next year’s site. Don’t be scared off by the word "international"—a good, solid, stable and flyable model has as much chance as a seldom-flown superscale that is more prone to problems.
TWA of the month
"Iron Mike" Midkiff’s rubber-powered wheels-up Hellcats are becoming legend. Built from Bill Hannan plans in Flying Scale Models of WW II (available for $6.95 from 621 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627), not one but two of Mike’s mini-masterpieces have flown away on five- and six-minute flights.
Model details:
- Span: 21"
- Weight: 1.2 oz and 1.4 oz (without rubber)
- Propellers: 8½" (20° pitch)
- Motors: 24" long motors; one with two loops of ½" rubber, one with a loop of 3/16" flat rubber
- Performance: climbed left and glided right
Mike feels the design’s stability is partly due to the Navy’s insistence on good low-speed handling characteristics when the Hellcat was in service.
Hints, tips, photos, and TWAs are welcome.
Bill Warner 423-C San Vicente Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
