1985 NATS: CL Racing
By John Ballard
Overview
Racing at the 1985 Westover Nats is history. With the 10% nitro fuel rule in all CL Racing events (except Mouse), performance was only slightly down. The rule brought heat times very close, and the finals in each event were often decided by time spent in the pits. The circles were laid out in the same basic area as at the 1983 Nats, but a much better job was done in hole-filling and tar-strip removal.
The Quality Inn in Chicopee was again the focal point for AMA HQ, but due to space restraints some of the hobby shop and processing was handled in a building on the base that served as AMA HQ from about midweek until the end. This building was located at the entrance to the Nats flying site, and colored signs directed spectators to specific events. A carnival atmosphere dominated the area around the entrance, with numerous vendors selling food, drink, and souvenirs.
Schedule changes
The CL Racing event schedule was modified for the first time this year:
- Monday: Scale Racing
- Tuesday: FAI Team Racing and Mouse Racing
- Wednesday: Rat practice (rainout this year)
- Thursday: Rat (premier Racing event)
- Friday: Slow Rat (moved from Saturday to give competitors two days for travel home)
Scale Racing (Monday)
Scale Racing practice on Sunday saw competitors testing new propellers. The old standard 6–6¼ pitch high-nitro props would not perform well on 10% nitro, so several new designs were tried; most teams had four or five props to test. After experimentation, times of 150–158 seconds were achieved using props with about 5-inch pitch and 5-inch diameter. Size, blade area, and blade thinness were extremely critical.
Race day dawned with surface temperatures around 85°F and a light gusty wind. Event Director Ralph Biddle modified qualifying to allow each competitor’s best time from two preliminary 70-lap heats to be used. Seventy-lap times ranged from about 2:57 to 3:14; finalists’ 70-lap times were in the 3:01–3:06 range. In the final, Lawrence Dziak’s superior airspeed and slow pits edged out Bill Lees for the win with a 6:13 time; Lawrence’s son Larry was third at 6:16.
Team Race (Tuesday)
Team Race Tuesday had minimal participation; U.S. modelers’ Canadian neighbors sent four teams, including both Kelly Fairey teams. Kelly Fairey’s teams showed excellent teamwork and equipment:
- 1st: Kelly Fairey, 7:59
- 2nd: Fairey (second team), 8:29
- 3rd: Jed Kusik (flying an engine built by entrepreneur Henry Nelson), 8:58
Several competitors were running one-bladed propellers; entries without pitting problems performed well. One hopes premier FAI racers elsewhere were preparing for upcoming team trials.
Mouse Race (Tuesday)
Mouse Race was affected by gusty winds and several mishaps. In one incident, Karyn Foster’s pitman started the engine at a scheduled stop using the starter spring. The engine did catch after the spring spun the prop, but at the last instant the engine fired up in reverse and the model ran under the pits, wrapping around the pitman’s legs twice before he stopped the engine with a rag.
Rat (Wednesday practice and Thursday racing)
Rat practice day (Wednesday) was a complete rainout; one downpour after another inundated the field. Racing teams spent most of the day watching the Speed boys flying Formula 40 and B Speed in the downpour.
Thursday brought clear skies and windy conditions. The wind affected takeoffs and landings but not the racing itself. Competitors voted to combine times from both 70-lap preliminaries. Heat times were in the 2:21–2:26 range. The usual problem with burnt plugs was largely eliminated by the 10% nitro rule.
The final race featured excellent pitting and very close times:
- 1st: Larry Dziak — 5:00
- 2nd: John Ballard — 5:01
- 3rd: Bob Oge — 5:06
The quickest competitor in both practice and the first heat was Dick Lambert. His new Viper design flew very well, but he clipped the prop on his second 70-lap preliminary and failed to advance to the finals.
Slow Rat (Friday)
Slow Rat on Friday brought several new faces from East Coast racing circles. A Thursday-night practice session produced mid-15 second times, which is good on 10% nitro and slightly better than last year’s Reno Nats (the first mandatory 10% fuel event).
Preliminary heats went as expected. Event Director Ralph Biddle took six teams to the finals. The three two-up 140-lap final races resembled an episode of the Keystone Kops:
- First final: Last year’s winner Jerry Meyer versus John Ballard. Thirty laps in, Ballard’s engine disintegrated. Meyer, presumably unopposed, caught fire during his second pit stop and burned most of the MonoKote covering on top of his wing.
- Second final: Mike Grebb damaged his tank on a pit catch and Lawrence Dziak blew a plug.
- Third final: The teams that placed first and second faced off. Frank Williams had the slowest airplane but the quickest pit crew and no problems; Larry Dziak had better airspeed but slower pits. Final result: Frank Williams beat Larry Dziak by two seconds.
Final Slow Rat results:
- 1st: Frank Williams — 6:05
- 2nd: Larry Dziak — 6:07
- 3rd: Jerry Meyer — 6:47 (nicknamed “Fireman of the Year” for his pit fire incident)
Notes
- Several competitors experimented with new propeller designs and one-bladed props; those with reliable pitting avoided problems.
- We should clarify one item: Lawrence Dziak is Larry Dziak’s father. Future reports will need to be careful to distinguish between the two.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
